ReJoiCe, ReVeNgE & ReCoNciLiaTiOn

Wow.

LOL, got to love when I start a post with wow.

There was some powerful medicine done at the spirit tree and it seems all my prayers have been answered.

Love and life is a cruel teacher. Sometimes you don't notice the lesson or don't see it cause your mind is clouded by the emotions and the pain. But, everyone in life is entitled to a second chance especially when choices were made under extreme pressure or confusion. Everything does indeed happen for a reason and when its happening its awful, but after, in moments of clarity you can see the lessons that were being shared. Everyone has been that person who has made the wrong choice or has been the one feeling the pressure of being pulled in a thousand directions.

I got a Metric Ton of advice over the past month and would like to list the top ten things that stuck out:

1. There are no rules.
2. There are no boundaries.
3. Dont let the word Cant in your heart.
4. Feel the pain.
5. Dont be in such a rush all the time.
6. Dont deny what your heart tells you and what the universe shows you.
7. Never take what is not yours.
8. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.
9. True Love does return if you release it.
10. Being 100% honest is easier said, then done, but it should be done regardless, even if the honesty may cause the other person pain.


Sundays Dirty 100 miler, Was Awesome. I never really hurt, no cramps, didn't suffer not even a little bit. Im still a weird bike rider eater though. For example, the first four hours, I didn't eat a thing. But it worked, I didn't bonk, I didn't cramp, I had a flawless ride. Granted Mike Kanning and Rob Roberts were always a couple of minutes up the road from me, but from the beginning I had agreed that I was going to ride my pace and no one else, I took the opportunity to do a trial run.

The entire day I had a smile on my face and only the last mile or so was bothered, but that was being born out of anxiousness than any real physical pain. For the first time in a long time I felt Bulletproof, and it was an awesome feeling.

I feel good today. A little sleep deprived still, and consequently a little buzzed from the lack of sleep. But If I plan to do well at the CFiTT, the win will go to the one who can ride the longest with the little amount of sleep. So let's call this practice....

Have a great Tuesday folks, make this day your best day ever,

The NaKeD InDiaN

Important CFITT UPDATE

Prospective CFiTT Competitors:

I have some good news.

We are removing the time restrictions for the race. In fact, as long as it takes you is a long as it takes.

Scoring is going to be worked out, but rest assured you will need a camera and a cell phone to be able to compete and get scored.

The bad news is that we mapped out the first 100 miles yesterday and it was Challenging. In fact, I expect in the first 15 miles someone to drop out and then the next 85 miles someone will drop out. And then by the time you reach Santos, everyone is gonna wanna stop. I see only the most elite athletes in the world being able to continue after you ride all the stuff we ride in the ONF. Its a tough course and I have some serious warnings that you need to consider. IF you think I am trying to scare you off, your right I am.

What I dont want is people to have any false hope or pretenses. This is truly a dirty event, as dirty as any of the Hundies that you find around the nation. The accumulated climbing from day one will have many competitors camping early. Its going to be a ball buster and every bit harder than you imagined it would be. It presents and requires you to have a combination of skills that some of you may simply not posses. I recommend you have a good escape route planned as this is a self supported race bound by the honor code and if you DNF you may want to have a friend on stand by to come retrieve you.

I want only the people who feel that they are up too and want this challenge to participate in this race. If you are questioning your abilities, I encourage you to stay home. There is no fee for this time trial, I am not profiting from it financially, so I have no problem telling people stay home, this is probably too hard for you.

DO NOT RIDE A CROSS BIKE AND JOIN THIS EVENT FULLY PREPARED FOR ANYTHING.

That is all,

thanks,

The NaKeD InDiaN

I ChECkEd ANd It DoEs STiNk...

Humble pie.

Its what I have been eating for a month now.

I am a super confident, strong and happy guy, and for a month I have been the exact opposite. Most of us already know about what happened and I don't even want to recap as I am trying to hard to forget.

Honestly, I am a hopeless Romantic. I enjoy the joy that comes out of taking care of a woman that you love and spending time with them and entertaining them. But after the past 4 years and one month I am left wondering, if I ever want to go down that road again and experience the feelings I have been feeling.

Am I destined to roam this planet a loveless zombie, sleeping with hot sexy girl after hot sexy girl, never finding the one I want to commit and be with. Or do I venture head long again into Love and hope that I don't end up F***ED all over again.

Decisions, decisions.

Fellas. Ya I'm talking to the Fellas. If you love your wife, girlfriend, significant other, do this for me tonight. Take her to BED and treat her right! Worship her Flesh like its the last time you will ever see her. Take her higher then she has ever been and give her the gift that is you, like this is your last day in physical existence. Appreciate her every curve, her every inch of flesh from head to toe. Taste her nature and her beauty and soak it all in. Cause if your still with a lady and your still in Love and you still feel its real, you at least owe her and yourself that much. Make this Friday, wifey, girlfriend, main squeeze appreciation night.

Do it for the one that doesn't know if he will ever get to feel that deep soulful love ever again!

Enjoy,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDian

The Blog Is UP and Running Thanks to Ryan Shroeder!!!

I got a blog just for the race now... check it out....

Thanks,

ThE NaKed InDian

http://crossfloridaindividualtimetrial.blogspot.com/

ThiS WeeKenD

Kinda excited I guess. Looking forward to hanging with friends and getting in a super long day on Sunday. Got to start thinking about food for the ride, ugghhhh, I hate thinking about food. Why cant I just not eat. That plan has not worked in the past so I dont plan on following threw with that.

Saturday will be spent, working in the morning, then house chores and basketball in the Afternoon and evening. Then the party begins. Got a couple of riders who are planning to help with Mapping on Sunday that are coming over so that its easier and more practical for the early start that we have pending on Sunday. Should be a good time. My friday night is open however, so I am thinking of maybe trying to ask a friend out to a movie. Go see that Bruno Film everyone is talking about.

Just Saw some pics on Facebook of the Trans Georgia route. I been eye balling this thing for two years now and plan on going and completing it. It looks amazing from what I saw.

As well, all the new interest in the CFiTT has got me kind of worried, I may have to actually "prepare" so I dont get embarassed on my own course. I would love to pull a Matt Lee and beat everyone in my own race, but well see what happens, I am not going to discuss my strategy publicly as it seems that the field is growing and it appears that it will be competitive. CAnt wait.

So Looking forward to the weekends and lots of fun and distractions.

How bout you?

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

DuBBa U OH DuBBa U

Spells Wow.

I just read on the Tour Divide web site and off of bikepacking dot net, that Deanna Adams, the Fixie Rider I admired so much was DQ'd from the Tour Divide race for cutting course. I dont know here side of the story, but damn....

Wow,.... O well right...


The NaKeD InDiaN

TrUSt

Your intuition folks. It speaks volume of truth to you. So often we ignore it. I have all too often ignored my intuition and paid the price.

Your intuition is a tiny little voice in your head that gives you deep insight into a higher level of consciousness. It almost always gives you the right choice and the right answer. The individuals who are more perceptive and attentive to their intuition actually have a name, they are called psychics. Thats right folk, they have no special gift, they just trust and listen to their intuition more.

You would think after 36 years of strolling the planet as a renegade warrior I would of learned to trust my intuition more. And often I do, in crisis mode, this is where I go to to find the strongest source of wisdom and understanding. But, alas, no one is exempt from the trappings of humanity so we ignore this intuition and reason steps in to feed us tons of Bull sh*t.

My advice to everyone on this Wenesday is to listen to your Intuition. I should have, could have would have, are signs that your dwelling in the past. Living in the past is the equivalent to a Ghost roaming hallways repeating the same task over and over again in a manner where they constantly drift back and forth, back and forth.

In other news I may have to take a trip to North Carolina very soon, Although its all business Im excited by the prospect of some solo travel. As well, Im contemplating, maybe making a move in the near future. Colorado sure is looking real sweet to me. New places, new faces, new beginnings.

I think a Shred is in order. Go out and shred that trail for me if you can today, or shred the curb, or shred your desk, or shred some papers... Just go out and devastate...

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

CFiTT news...

Well, all of the sudden there seems to be an increased curiousity about this ride and race. Sunday I am going to go GPX the first half of the route in preparation to get everyone what they need to be ready to race.

There is an inherent need in all of us, to push our limits and adventure further then we ever had before. A need to see another side of the place that we live in.

The route that I have layed out together with Rob Roberts, gives you a glimpse into off road touring that you never thought was possible in the wonderful state of Florida.

I know this is a new idea and a new concept so if anyone is interested and wants to participate and they have questions, I have an open ear and I am ready to answer. I am willing to share my ideas and concepts and experience.

This Sunday, Paisley MTB trailhead 7am, we are rolling out. If you want to join, just be there, but I tell you this. There will be single track, there will be road, there will be long climbs and there will be some beautiful sights to behold as we roll about 120 miles or less into Santos.

Come join the fun, challenge yourself, once the route is realeased its open to be enjoyed and toured at anytime by anyone.

Enjoy the fruits of my labor!

Thanks,

The NaKeD InDiaN

BBBT

Beeer Bomb Bike tour

ThE GIFt AND ThE CuRse: CaSe ClOSed

This day was chock full of ceremony and symbolism. Its funny how as it happens you dont see the ceremony or notice the symbolism, but when you sit back and reflect it becomes all too clear.

Where we last left off, the Indian, had a mission to return a coin that he picked up off the ground at the Famous Spirit Tree in Croom. Today was the day for him to return the coin and rid himself of the curse that followed.

The day started at 430am, I could barely get out of bed, I was just so so tired, that I ended up snoozing my alarm till about 530 am and then heading out Late as always. I was super cautious on the drive as I knew I was making the final drive to be rid of this ill fortune that has plagued me since June 1st.

I arrived safely, and saw that Bill Hoover was indeed in the house as he had promised he would be. That's when the Ceremony began, as I took time to recount all the things that happened in the previous month, all the tales of the unusually bad luck I have had. It was a key element in the Ceremony since, It needed to be spoken, Bill was the immediate ears that the story fell upon, but the Universe was ever vigilant as well.

Mike showed up to assist and accompany me to the tree. His plan was an All day Epic, but that was soon cut short as he only came with one shoe. So Flip Flop still joined me on the journey, wearing one cycling shoe on one foot and one flip flop on the other. As we started rolling out, Mike noticed he forgot his Helmet and went back for it, as I was standing there I had noticed that I had mounted the tread on my front tire backwards. IN retrospect this was a fitting thing to do, it gave me a chance to ride forward, yet still move backwards and literally rewind the journey that I took on June 1st to get to the tree.

We made the tree, there was not much talk, I pulled out my portable smudging kit, and burned a mound of sage. I cleaned myself, then pulled out the coin and put it on the ground in about the same exact spot I remember picking up, gently covering it with brush and leaves so that no one else ever makes the mistake I made. While I sat there and blew the pile of sage in the burning shell I said several prayers. Prayers for forgiveness, prayers for humility and humbleness, prayers for awakenings, prayers for safety, prayers for good fortune, prayers for appreciation and emancipation.

I inhaled the sage smoke and stood up to let my prayers be carried into the heavens. Just as I did that I received my first omen that the ceremony was successful as a Black butterfly with white markings danced threw the smoke and came ever so close to landing on me.

Shortly thereafter I walked around and looked for an item that the Bird and I had hung on the tree long ago that the last time I visited I could not find. It was a Dolphin made of Hematite stone. I found it, and rehung it, keeping my prayers and thoughts in my mind.

I grabbed my bag as I made sure every piece of the sage burned, and packed my smudge kit. We got on our bikes and rode away feeling blessed to have finally returned what was not mine to the Spirit tree.

While rolling, I commented to Bill about the Butterfly, then I said to him, are you ready for the rain. And sure enough, not even a 10 seconds after I asked him that question, the rain began, the second omen of a good cleansing of my ill condition. Then I told him, the only way this could be better is if the Taino Spirit of Thunder joined the day, Guatauba, and sure enough, the thunder and lighting began to crack the sky and the rain began to come down harder and my legs began to push the pedals faster as I became one with the power and the energy of the storm, with every stroke ridding myself of this Ungodly curse that had befallen me.

Before I knew it we were back at the lot, I was wishing I could have pedaled more, the first time in a week or more I had made that wish. WE hid under a small cover as the storm raged on for another thirty minutes and LIghtning cracked menancingly all around us. The storm got pretty intense, and the weather turned cool, knowing that it would rain, I pulled out my jacket and put it on as I waited the storm out comfortably.

The storm stopped, the ceremony was complete and I was now free of this wreched curse.

Never again, will I remove something from around that Spirit Tree. Never again will I take from that place even though It appeared that it was not attached to any particular memorial, apparently I was wrong.

I do however pray that the prayers I said this day come true and the blessings that I asked for befall all those I directed them too.

This mission is now accomplished and I am ready to move on.


Laters,

The NaKed InDiaN

ThE BiZZneZZ

At the risk of offending anyone I will type a disclaimer at the heading of this next post:

This post expresses the beliefs of this particular Indian. It is not implied to impose or encourage anyone to believe what I believe it is only my beliefs and my opinions and feelings, I dont want to hear not a single comment regarding how you dont believe this, and if you do put one up I will track back your I.P. address and challenge you to a fight in the Octagon, win or lose, I will at least give you a black eye and or break your ankle or arm.


So, I have had a significant string of bad luck lately. It aint stopping neither. Yes, Warrior Princess moving out was bad luck, but there were many circumstances involved in that, and it is not a particular incident that I consider to be a part of my current string of bad luck.

June 1st or so I went with W.P. to Croom. We met up with Catman. We took a ride, to the Spirit Tree and toured the whole place. At the Spirit Tree while walking around, I found a coin on the ground. It was not attached to any particular memorial, it was just a coin on the ground. I picked it up and decided I would care take it, since indeed it was not attached to any particular memorial.

WELL, Fast forward to now and I believe I have picked up a curse with this coin and have every intention of returning it this saturday. Matter of fact I did not realize the connection till at the end of my road trip, when the coin popped up out of anywhere as I was reflecting on why I had so much bad luck lately. The bad luck started immediately as well, I could give you a long list of things that have been bad that normally dont happen that Have happened since I have possessed this coin, but I wont get into it. Let's just say not even a couple of hours after having the coin, I broke my chain, something I hardly ever do. And then it all went downhill from there.

Now I am left wondering the best possible method to return the coin, try to put it back on the grouund, put it up in the tree, maybe a little bit of smudging ceremony and some of Feathers from my medicine bundle, I am not quite sure on what ceremony I will use to return it, only sure that it has to be returned ASAP.

On a lighter note.... I realized yesterday, that I am 36 turning 37 this year. I thought I was 37 turning 38, now thats freaking hilarious. I bet you can even Ask W.P. How old I am and she wont even get it right since I even had it wrong... LMAO, life is funny at times.

Now if anyone has any ideas on the ceremony I should do to return the coin, I am ALL ears. I may even type up a warning note and post it on the TREE, do not by any circumstances remove any items that may be attached to a memorial whether its obvious or not that they are from this area, even if they are not hanging or have fallen, just leave them be, bad luck may follow....

who knows, feedback??

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

ThaNkS! KoaCh KaRLoS STriKeS AgAin

I received a message today and without anyone's expressed permission I am going to share it with everyone.

The names have been left out to protect the kind:

Karlos...Hopefully you will be checking these PM's. I havnt seen you on the Swamp sight so I thought I'd drop you a line. I have read many of your blogs. I can relate to alot you are going through. Rather than harp on that I want to thank you. You dont even know me. You have taught me how to build a bike for my son, encouraged me to get him out with me....hell you even offered to give me some shoes for him...again you dont even know me......As my (very spiritual wife) would say we all are connected and you get back what you put in. My son is now riding the blue trails at Boyette. I have had some of the best times as father and son with him in the past two weeks...on the bike YOU encouraged me to build. I was going to try and ride with you saturday...I want to see the spirit tree...but I broke two ribs today....WTF did I do wrong with the Karma thing?
Anyway...I hope I get to give you the opportunity to kick my ass on the bike some day.
peace.


Dear Kind Sir,

I found your note to be very touching indeed and its the bright spot of my day so far.

Email me at Nakedindian99 at aol dot com and I will gladly send you a free copy of "You dont have to crash" maybe that will help give you some info on how not to bounce of them trees.

Thanks so much for real, I appreciate it, and definetely I am always down to kick the ass of somebody on some trail, just let me get my fixie back up and running so it can be more significant.(kidding of course)

Anytime anywhere, we can ride,

ShREd,

The NaKeD InDiaN

20 In 20 OuT

So, since the Walkabout I hadnt touched the bike. By touched I mean ridden, I been wrenching alot lately all part of project keep my brain busy. I decided to put some skinny road tires on my Salsa Mamasita 29er and ride home from work.

I am an Instructor for a company and I teach all day long. I sent my students out in the field for a task expecting them to return by midday only to have them return with 1.5 hours of class time left, so I sent them home, packed up, left work early into the sun on my bike.

You got to love a 29er and the verstatility it offers when it comes to tinkering, I absolutely love to tinker with my bikes and this wheel size I believe gives you the most option. Road tires on an MTB is FAST, LOL.

I will be the first to admit, at times, I eat emotionally. I decided on the way home I would stop and get a couple of slices of New York style pizza. So I stop in, buy some slices, wait for them to come out, eat them up and then continue on my way home. I could see dark clouds looming over my shoulder and all that balled up food in my stomach made it hard for me to stand and crank without feeling a lil ill.

Regardless, I made it home in good time, before any storms caught me. I got changed and decided to take a nap, since for the past three nights I have been waking up at 3am and have tossed and turned till my alarm went off.

Took a nap, cooked dinner, watched wipe out and japanese game show with my skinny boy, then after watching the last hour of the tour I went to bed.

Got up at 430am to ride back into work today. The ride in, felt like TRAINING, LOL. AS I was hammering and hammering the whole way to make sure I made it to work on time by 630 am. It was hard though cause at that time in the morning there is no time to eat so I had to ride them 20 miles on an empty stomach. When I would exceed my effort limits I could feel the hunger pangs in my stomach demand that I back down, it was amusing.

A nice good ride, 40 miles in a lil over 2 hours of total ride time, not bad for a Wenesday to a Thursday.

I may ride home tonight, Im still tossing it around, but definetely a great way to end and start the day...


Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

NeW HoRiZonS

I am finding it increasingly difficult to Occupy my mind lately.

So yesterday I spent sometime researching. Found a site that talked about the top 10 ways to quiet your mind. Although I read it and it was helpful I cant seem to find the article on Google now, even though I found it on my mobile device.

Anyhow, I have always heard about Transcendental Meditation and have always been very curious about it, and I started researching that last night. Even scored a 4 cd disc series that I could listen too that allegedly teaches you the process. From what I read on the actual certified TM site, its better to take the class with personal instruction, although its somewhat pricey.

If you cant tell, I am doing my best to find things to make myself even better. Take myself to the NEXT level. Discover and explore new things that have nothing to do with my body, I think I have done a good measure of that already, be it with physical challenges or sexual escapades.

As well, I want to get into YOGA but want to find a class, and they all seem to be pricey and I would not even know the first thing on how to shop for a good yoga class. What I would eventually like to do is be as good at Yoga as I am at Cycling, only because for YEARS my body has been telling me to do it and I have been ignoring it.

I am not going to ignore much anymore. I think as people sometimes we ignore our intuition too much and we take too many things for granted. I am going to do my best to not do either of them anymore.

Do you believe in LUCK? How bout Karma? To me its pretty much the same thing. And looking back, I seem to be able to trace my current string of misfortune to one single event. That is an event I intend to rectify!

Ok, enough chit, chat, back to the task of distracting my mind,

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

I goT SpiRiT Tree BusIneSS to HanDlE

Good Day All,

This coming Saturday I will be at the Tucker Hill Trailhead to do the entire yellow loop and make a stop at the Spirit Tree. There is something I need to drop off. I have resolved to do this ride alone, but would love company.

Will be rolling at 730 to 8am, your welcome to join.


thanks,

The NaKeD InDiaN

TenTaTive DatE BikEpaCkinG TriP All Are WelcOme

Ok, so I have decided, July 25 & 26 we are gonna roll and do the route.

Goal is to Start at paisley at the beginning of the CFiTT route, ride to Silver Glenn, eat lunch take a dip, cruise on, to eventually reach Santos for Camping and Drinks. Sunday Morning, we Ride on to Croom. This will get us the official route GPS'd so I can submit the GPX file to the racers who are doing the Cross Florida Time Trial.

All are welcome, Bring your own camping gear or make your own arrangements, meaning you can either bike pack it, or just have someone shuttle your stuff to Santos.

Who's interested? Let me know ASAP so we can Start planning.

This is Tentative, based on me finding someone to join me mostly...LOL

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

TaLk ABouT FURy!!!

Wow, I thought I was amazing doing these little events all Fixie and doing some bikepacking fixie, well, Deanna Adams, became the first person to complete the Entire Tour Divide Route on a Fixed Gear Bike.

I am inspired by her effort, her tenacity, her attitude and her achievements.

When I grow up, if I ever grow up, I want to be like her.

And not only does she have a great attitude after listening to her talk off and on for 31 days, but she is a cute young lady as well, My hats off to you, I hope one day to find the strength and power you already posses.

The NaKeD InDiaN

Important CFITT UPDATE: Date MovEd to OcToBer 10th, 2009

Another CFiTT update guys, an email will be going out to all who expressed interest.

A good buddy of mines is getting married that day so I have pushed the big day back a week. Should be a good move, gives the weather more time to cooperate.


thanks,

The NaKeD InDiaN

InSults, InJurY and IGnoRance

I'm sure everyone at some point has heard the phrase insult to injury.

I think that's been my mantra for the past 24 hours.

I assume as well, that everyone knows what that means.

If not I will take a moment to explain as I understand it.

Insult to injury is when your already down, and someone goes on about kicking you while you are down.

Sometimes individuals are so absorbed in their universes that they don't even realize that they are doing it. They don't even realize that they are being insulting. They may not even realize that they have been insulting, thus I guess threw ignorance, they add insult to injury and have no knowledge of it. Sometimes, its electronically done and the individual is not even aware that another person could have seen or read the comment that they found insulting.

No matter what the reality of a situation may have been, Is it true that perception is reality, meaning, even if there is another side to the story, if thats the way a person sees it as real, does it indeed make it real for them?

I had lots of questions answered over the past couple of days and just as many questions have come up in my mind.

One in particular in the past 24 hours has been pride.

How much does one value this feeling? How much does one place anything of merit in this feeling when its based on self imposed standards?

We are the possesosrs and controllers of our mind and our emotions, yet at times many individuals lose control of one or both on a regular basis or basically have no control at all.

Some individuals are trapped by their emotions and their minds and never have enough of a moment of clarity to emancipate themselves from the mental slavery. Some are only temporarily guilty of this, while others, spend their life living this nightmare and then spread their poison as they see fit, using their own mind as the measuring stick for righteousness as they plow along blindly threw their existence. Creating and destroying as they see fit.

Intention is another thing I have been thinking about alot lately as well. The word keeps popping in my head. When reflecting, do you look at someones actions or their words. Do those two things necessarily coincide, do they exist together, is it a guarantee. Do the actions have to match the intentions, do the intentions have to match the actions?

Take all emotion out of something and look at the actions, when do you sit back and say, man, I need to take a hint???

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

RoaD TrIp Back HomE AgaIn

This week off I took to recalibrate and rediscover and reconnect, did exactly what I wanted it to do. I am now refocused, recharged and ready to carry on.

The NaKed InDiaN

RoaD TriP 5

She is Marg for Margarita..

RoAd TrIP 4

White Sands 3.55 Mile Skate. Ok so far.

RoAd TrIp 3

Skate Packing to the beach boiiiii!

CFiTT news...

Please pass this around and announce to all who are interested.

We will be setting up a date to tour the route for the purpose of obtaining a good GPS file for the racers.

I have chosen to LINE UP and do head to head battle on the 3rd of October but everyone, racers and non racers alike are invited to join in.

On one Saturday or Sunday we will do Paisley to Santos, then the following weekend do Santos to Croom.

If anyone is interested in touring the route, email me at Nakedindian99 at aol dot com and I will keep you posted on the actual date, should be soon.

thanks,

The NaKeD InDiaN

Road TriP 2

Last night was fun. I have to admit that emotions will make us think and feel certain things that are not necessarily real. I dont think God hates me. As the days pass, I see more and more the wisdom that was communicated to me on my walkabout, slowly the messages are becoming clearer. Lesson one, I am a unique and powerful individual, I need to accept that.

The NaKed InDiaN

RoAd TrIp

And He's Off

The NaKed InDiaN

LeSSOnS FrOm ThE EdGE

"Ya... Don't push me cause I'm Close to the Edge, I'm trying not to lose my head...."

I had a List Monday morning comparable to a NASA launch check list that needed to get done and it took a whopping amount of time to do it. Finally I was ready, but Frankly I was upset by how the skies looked and dreaded the thought of rolling out there and getting drenched and having to hope my gear would keep the water out.

I got one small rain storm and I managed to roll into the super market and wait 5 min and it was gone, didn't even get wet, but the threat was looming and it was something I was considering carefully. I didn't want to get caught in a storm in the middle of the forest if I didn't have too.

I got to Seminole Forest and I was already thinking about food. I just am pretty sure that I don't eat enough. I just don't, I guess I'm an idiot. I thought, all I had today was breakfast? How many calories do I need, how many hours will I be out here, I didn't even think. I was NOW while in the middle of the first forest section starting to contemplate it. Ok. I had bought a bag of Almond Clusters I usually love them but they tasted Blah this time to me.

So as I am rolling Threw the Seminole forest I notice that everything is a mess. I'm riding threw standing puddles that if I was on a 26er would have been hub deep, the ground is mushy and loamy and soft, and its over grown and there are more downed trees then the last time I came threw here in spring, all momentum robbers for sure.

I pop out of the Forest, drink, and start mentally preparing myself for the Maggie Jones section. The first time I rode it, it was an ass kicker, I was on my cross and it was traction issues and wash boarded, a real battle. The second time I rode it I was with the Bird and we had tried to follow single track over to that spot, with no success, ended up lost, then ended up on Maggie Jones where the Bird started Schooling me. This time though I did it pretty quick and made Paisley MTB trail head before dark.

Refueled, strapped on the lights, took a deep breath and started my 17 mile or so single track ride to Big Buck. This section of the woods that I call the Alexander Springs section, has kicked me in the ass more then I have kicked in the ass, so I took a page from other riders books and took it easy. I had to anyways, the trail was a mess, over grown, loamy, wet, standing water, trees down, you name it.

I was watching my GPS counting down the alleged miles to be out that thing. I had already started contemplating taking an alternate route for this day and then just cutting across the forest on NFR595 over to Santos the Next day cause of how conditions were. It was slow going and not very fun.

I hit a boardwalk, and instantly crash. It was slick as ice, while I laid there in PAIN, I slowly regained my footing and picked up the bike gave everything a once over and started walking. Even walking was dangerous, at times I would stop my forward motion but the slickness kept me moving forward a couple of inches. I finally get off of there, my hip and my shin are in pain, but I keep moving, eventually I can feel that I am in FULL BONK MODE. As I got onto the road, I felt really nauseous and started dry heaving??WTF??? I think, OK, what time is it, 11pm, nope that store wont be open. Ok, Imma hit Alexander springs and see what I can do there. OF course, the gate was locked, but I zig zagged past it went inside found a bathroom and started cooking.

The Mosquitos were on me as soon as I got there, and my bug spray was like seasoning for them, they did not care. No Natural Bug spray was going to keep them off, maybe some deet would of did the trick. I got my food going quick. Started eating, and then about 5 spoon fulls in, I threw it all back up. Fantastic, its the Big O all over again. After throwing up for a good 5 minutes, I decided I'm going to hijack a campsite, take a shower and sleep till 5am and then pedal home, I'm over this crap, I am not having ANY fun and all this ride was doing was rehashing memories of how terribly lonely I have been lately.

I shower, I put up my hammock, I lay in there. The mosquitoes are just outside my hammock making such a racket that I cant sleep. I'm exhausted, but I cant sleep, I'm pretty sure this is not a good thing at all. My stomach is empty, and I cant sleep, don't people die in these conditions?? Anyhow, I somehow fall asleep for an hour, I know it was an hour cause I kept checking the clock. Finally I decide, well let me see if I can find a vending machine, maybe a snack and a coke.(I know its not primal but I am in survival mode here)

I roll out, it felt kinda good to be moving and not hearing the annoying sound of skeeters. I rolled all over that place and found nothing, came back to camp and decided that my situation was desperate and I needed to start chipping away at the 50 to 60 road miles I was gonna have to do to get home.

50 to 60 miles is not really a big deal, BUT it is a big deal when your stomach is empty and you have not slept, at least at the moment it was to me. I figured if I do get tired maybe it will be daylight and the mosquito's will be gone and I can put up my hammock and sleep for a little and just keep going till I get home.

I take off, I have no Idea how far it is to Astor Park but I know its gonna be there. I keep riding and eventually I reach Astor park, I'm hooting and hollering, singing my music at the top of the lungs, typical stuff someone does that's riding bike at 4 something in the morning.

I start seeing the flashing light that tells people to slow down, I am at the moment on SR40. I then see the beautiful green sign that signifies BP, and I roll into that sucker celebrating like I just found an Oasis in the middle of the desert. I park the bike, look for my lock and discover I left it back at Alexander springs. O well.... I go in, and make a list, I bought a Large Gatorade, a bag of cool ranch Doritos's(been over a year since I had these) and a snickers bar.

I sat on the bench out front and ate them, slowly, savoring every morsel of all my food. This is when the guy came out and talked to me about the bike, and the cop showed up, and then eventually after refueling on ICE and WATER, I took off again. Barberville, 10 miles to go.

Along the way to Barberville, I saw another owl on a street sign, as he took off from the street sign, the name of the street on the sign was "BIRD". Then when I reached BArberville which felt great by the way, and that's when I saw the Ram. The Bird, is an Aries...Sigh....

Anyhow, I turn towards Deleon Springs 7 miles till I can grab some breakfast at the Mcdonalds. I start making my way up the final climb towards Mcdonalds, when I can feel my rear giving the unmistakable shift of a flat. I decide to just walk to the place. I walk there, get there, have a BACON EGG AND CHEESE BAGLE and a Medium Iced Coffee, cream only. I eat that up, sip my drink, while I fix the bike, get it going, start rolling a mile or two later its flat, I grab a spare tube it wont even pump up, I try and patch it, it had two huge gashes in it, I guess from rolling against tools. Mental note, check your tubes before epics or keep them separate from your tools in your emergency pouch. I take out the one that flatted and try to patch that, and after two hours of sitting there trying to make something happen, I give up, pack up and load myself onto the bus. Thank god for the bus.

It was a pleasant enough air condition ride on the bus home. I really wanted to make it and I estimate I had about 17 miles to go.

Got home, put the bike in the garage, and just laid in bed and slept. I was an emotional mess by the time I got home.

Its like I have noticed, that locally, around here, I have no friends. I have no one to hang out with, I have friends all the way on the other side of the state and all over the place, but no one here locally. Things would be alot easier I figure if I had someone to help me be distracted, when Paloma moved out, my best friend moved out.

Laters,

ThE NaKeD InDiAn

WaLkAbout: The LosEr

See my face,see the bus. Im a loser.

WalkaBout: and the BeAt goEs On!

All my spare tubes have holes and my patch skills suck. If this thing dont hold air, Im have to take the bus home. Yes Im sure now God hates me, thanks!

WalKabouT: Make that a double!

Dear God,
Why do you hate me?
Its not enough that I have been threw so much in the past month, not enough all the things I HAVE ENDURED in the past twenty four hours, but now a second flat on the same tire....

I demand to know why you hate me.....

WAlKabOut: WTF???

I must look destitute and desperate as some random lady just came up to give me flat repair advice...WTF!

WaLkAbout: The NaiL in the CoffIn

Not even tubeless would of stopped that.

WalKabOut: w.e.

Ok. sure. whatever.

waLkaBout: In deep

Im not superstitious but....

WalkAboUt: ReFlections in front of the Oasis

You want to know what I have reflected on today after all thid ridiculousness..

I used to be constantly happy with brief moments of misreableness.

Now Im constantly misreable with brief moments of hapiness...

Life's a Joke.

wAlKaboUt: PolIce?

He's not Harrassin, he's on the Clock!! YiPeEEEE

WalkAbout: Losing It...Does this guy ever shut up...

Dont you Love it when at 5 something A.M. in the morning after little to no sleep some complete stranger starts telling you how cool your bike is. Dear Sir, sorry im not enthused, I am angry and tired, and I hate that cool as bike right now.

WalKabout: Animalia Roll Call

So Imma eat and then keep rolling. Animalia roll call: 3 coons, 1 owl, 9 deer, 1 fox, 1 armadillo, one cool ass Moth.

ThE WaLkaBouT: The MuTharTrucKin SaGa ContinuEs

What the heck ever... Is theFUn gonna stop. ...

ThE WaLkAbout: Drama continues

Its 4:07 am and im leaving. Screw this.

WaLkaBouT upDate: I found HeLL FolKs

I think... That If when I passed on to the afterlife and the creator saw fit to punish me for something, if he put me in a place where I can hear a swarm of mosquitos at my ears all the time, that would be pretty HeLLacious. At the moment, I am wide awake, Im tired and want to sleep, but cant.

Hammock Camping is awesome. Just not right this minute. Its the equivalent of being in a shark cage in the middle of a feeding frenzy.. Sure your not getting bit, but who the heck can sleep with all that noise and commotion..

WaLkAboUt UpdAtE: the end???

In life sometimes things happen... They happen to everyone. Right now, Im not really finding what Im looking for on this walkabout. Instead of waiting four days and hoping it manifest Imma pedal my way home in the morning and cut the trip short, think of another way to find what I am searching for.. Point Blank for the first time in my life the pedals are bringing me more emotional pain the emotional escape.

Just took a massive ass kicking by the trail. Stopped at Alexander Springs to eat, not feeling so good. Need some warm food.

WalKabout UPdatE: PAisLey MTb TrAil Head

Update before dark time starts.

WalkAbout Update : Maggie Jones

almost to paisley.

WaLkaBout Update Seminole shelter

The Drama builds... How wet will I get??

walkabout: crossing to sanford

Update, listen, I need intel

updates on the fly

WaLkAbout Tour: Start Homebase

Let the Game begin!

GoInG On WaLkAbOuT!

Well I decided Monday I am undertaking a ridiculous journey. Gonna give my self four days to do it.
All other details will come later. Check blog for rolling updates.

The NaKeD InDiAn

WaNtS, InTeReSt and NEeDs.....

Well, Going to Georgia this weekend is out of the question. I am just not gonna have the time to make it out there.

The TWO TREE tour may not happen.

I have not been invited anywhere and I got a week of of Mental Health Break Starting Tomorrow after End of Business.

A week to realign my Chakra and seek some peace amongst all my recent Chaos. A week to do not much or very little in terms of grown people work.

A week to just BE with just ME.

Anyhow, usually I am like Mr. Planning, but I got nothing. I have no real ideas and no real plans, I guess I should think about it. But I dont know...Gosh Im so blah right now its pathetic, I am not my usual self at all.

Maybe if I was a drinker I could go drown myself in Alcohol and put myself into a small coma for a couple of days.

Maybe if I was rich I could jump onto a plane and fly off to a far off place for a week, I hear Costa Rica is pretty rad.

Maybe go back to Puerto Rico and Recharge in my mother land.

Limitless Ideas, limited possibilities and funds.

Laters,

The NaKeD InDiaN

O Ya, I am A ChiCk MaGnET

Dear Pleasantly Plump women,

Although I am indeed newly single. Please, give me some time to grieve and recover from my loss. I am currently not taking any applications for TEAM NAKED INDIAN, and the there is no sure fire Dead line for when I will start taking applications.
I have heard that Bigger chicks do more stuff, but I'm just not in a safe mental place right now to give you the attention you deserve and or need.
Yes I am talking to you CVS counter girl and you Wal Mart Counter girl, I am free, but not interested in dating at this time.
And the emails and pix have to stop ladies, can you just give me some time to recover, just a little bit of time, a month or two, I know your just wanting to scoop me up with your pleasantly plump greedy little hands, but I need time.

Thanks for your support,

The NaKeD InDian

And On This DaY , HaTe is the FlaVOr!

What exactly am I currently hating today...

My BLOG, I hate it, IT SUCKS....


I need to get off my butt and make it even more interesting........

Anybody ever take a week of for Mental Repair.... Seems like I am about to do this....

Im CURRENTLY exploring my options.

I am thinking of a two tree tour next week....

What is a two tree tour, well, I make a route, based on anyone offering two trees in their backyard for me to camp at.... ride for 5 days.... have fun.... I guess.....

Just brainstorming at the moment....

Laters,
LOS

PS: I HATE YOUR FACE...

ThE ShOw MuSt Go On!

Stay tuned and check back for some CFiTT related news.

There is a blog up, that I will be directing you too that will give out all the related updates.

For now, news and updates continuing, it looks like I will NOT be able to do the Great Divide Race or the Tour Divide.

I dont see this being financially possible with my current situation, and I am NOT going to beg for money.

Thats all for today,

Check back later for updates,

LOS

ItS CoMpLiCaTeD FoLkS

Dont Pity me.

Dont be sad for me.

Feel free to pick at me about it, but risk a punch in the mouth at your own expense.

But Warrior Princess is moving away to a far off place.

And I understand.

As spiritual beings that we both are, she has a calling and a need that is the only calling and need higher then the need of the person you love, your family.

So she is moving on in that direction.

Who knows what the future holds for her and I, but I can tell you this, whatever it is, its complicated.

I love her, she loves me, this has not changed, but other things need attention.

I will go on, I will continue and so will she, and if our paths do cross again, they will, if they dont, they wont.

Why am I telling you this? Because I am a person who walks a walk and talks the talk and I feel that its good that I speak on what is going on, and give a final elaboration and closure to the drama I have experienced over the past couple of weeks.

I wish her the best of fortune and the creators blessings on the path she has chosen, she can go, knowing that I will always have a place for her in my heart, and a place for her to rest her head at in my home

Wish her luck everyone and keep her in your prayers as she was and remains a blessing in my life, who gave me and taught me so much and made me the powerhouse and athlete I am today,

Laters,

LOS

SoRRy FoR the DraMatiX

Its been a very drama filled 24 hours.

I'm really getting good at the sleep deprivation thing.

For now, the Blog will live on. For now, I will limp along, only feeling half as bad as I did earlier today.

Sometimes in life, its tough, the situations we end up in.

Sometimes in life, you have to make tough choices to fix the situations.

Sometimes that situation involves elements that cannot be changed and the only way to obtain change is to actively seek it.

Have I done a good job of camouflaging what happened to me over the past 24?

Probably have, I'm a pretty good wordsmith.

I'm OK for now, well see how it all pans out,

Laters,

LOS

....................................

Sometimes. Its hard to see what path god has laid in front of us.

For me its one of those times.


I may not be around for awhile. Or this Blog may just end up disappearing in the end.

As everything has a beginning, it so as well does have an end....

Laters,

LOS

DaddY dAy SoLsTiCe Tour suCcEss!

Well Thats all folks, 66 to 68 miles. Ride started saturday round 1030 pm, ended today at 228pm. Great ride, I feel rejuvenated and I kicked the heat in the butt.

Laters,

LOs

DaddY daY SolStIce ToUr

well i made it to heathrow as planned forty miles total less than 3 miles on the road. Fantastic route!

cont.... past oviedo....

DaDDy DaY SoLsTicE Tour

DaDdY DaY SolStIcE TouR

Its early...

DaDdY dAy SoLstIce ToUr

Glad I stuck to the plans....

relaxed&readyForFirstGame

Black&white

GiFt & ThE CuRsE

I am a huge believer in Sociobiological aspects in direct relation to certain aspects of Human behavior.

In short, I believe I carry certain Gifts and certain curses in my genetic make up.

The Taino, the people who first met Columbus, the same people who are the Indigenous people of BoriKen aka Puerto Rico, were very kind. In fact, when they met Columbus, Columbus threw trial and error managed to ask them who were they?

They responded, "TainO", which means "we are good people".

I am a good person. Generous, Righteous. I share willingly and offer myself wholeheartedly to help out my fellow man. This Gift can also be a curse.

With this Gift comes certain perks, and certain dangers. Too often people think that just cause you are polite and nice and generous, that you are weak. Please dont mistaken my politeness for weakness.

This Gift will sometimes gain you many friends, notoriety, schwag, etc.

These things go hadn in hand. The Gift, being generous, begets good positive energy, and the return is the "perks".

But this gift is also a curse. Thus the reason, my ancestors exist as a fragment of the complete identity of another entire cultural group. Recognizing my ancestors at times was a jig saw puzzle of opening my eyes and looking deep into the land where I lived and seeing the Taino still did exist hidden deep within the existing population.

Peanut Butter Jelly with a Baseball BAT.

Laters,

LOS


PS: Bikepack dAddy day solstice tour is gonna kick off, check for video post, and regular tomfoolery.

ThE OffiCiaL DaDDy DaY WeekenD

I actually already celebrated with my family.

We did it the first weekend of the month. The Bird went to Mexico on the 9th, and she is not here this weekend, so we accelerated the holiday.

Lil NK has his Basketball Season opener on Saturday at 5pm. As part of my preparation for my future endeavors and adventures I am practicing riding late and sleeping short and rising quick. That being the case I plan to after the game and dropping the boys off, to pack up the bike for a little overnight Bike pack trip.

I plan to cruise over to Little Econ forest, camp out, then ride trails and paths over to Lake mary some 30 or 40 miles away on Sunday. Eat breakfast and such, then do another 20 miles to my mothers to pick up the Truck that had its window repaired on this last Tuesday.

A little 70 ish mile adventure, just me, myself and I. Should be fun.

Happy DAddy Day to all the Daddies out there.

Remember, we are an IMPORTANT part of the Family Unit, so enjoy your day and your time and celebrate your FAtherhood!!!

Laters,

LOS

ItS my FaVoRiTe...

I love the rain season. For a minute I didn't think it was gonna come. I actually was worried. But I love watching a storm form in the distance, then roll threw rumbling and shaking the windows. Lightning cracking the sky and flashing in all directions. I love how it breaks the heat and everything instantly gets 20 degrees cooler. As a kid, there was many a time I got trapped by the storm and had to huddle under some foreign roof waiting for the turbulent thunder system to pass.
I know some of you dislike it, ruins your plans for a ride, but its a season and it does not last forever. Eventually, the season will change and the excessive dryness will return, but for now, I will enjoy the joys and relief that the benevolent rainstorms bring.

Laters,

LOS

WHat DiD U PuT In ThEm FeeDBaGs!!

I am not the worlds first primal athlete, but I consider myself to be 98% primal most of the time.

What does that mean? It means I try to eat whole and natural every chance I get. No preservatives, chemicals, additives, etc...

So what did I take to eat with me or what was my nutritional plan for my Ride around the Big Lake?

Well I can tell you, that my biggest mistake was drifting into that 2% range by having some Fried Potatoes. What I should have done for Lunch was a baked potato, the meat and that's it. Regardless, what did I eat before lunch.

Well my strategy for Saturday actually started a couple of weeks before the ride. I intentionally fattened myself up about 10 extra lbs. That's right, I like to burn fat when I run long and I sometimes fatten myself up for events. It actually took awhile to retool my system to burn the fat instead of going for quick carbs, but it works better, FOR ME. Ever since I leaned out, I can do a pinch test on my stomach and tell how much I got extra and if I am running out.(dead serious I can) Sometimes its 10 sometimes its 5, depends on the length of the event.

SO, the night before I hit Publix.

I bought:
3 Organic Kiwi's
1 pack of Natural colby jack cheese
1 package full of Organic Strawberries
1 pack of True North Almond Clusters
1 pack of the New Natural Planters Dark Chocolate Trail Mix
1 Large BAr of Organic 70% Dark Chocolate
5 pack of Nut-Tritious mixed nuts, individual sized.

The cheese and Strawberries I ate the morning of the ride. At the first regroup spot I shared the Dark Chocolate bar with everyone. The Almond Clusters I ate while riding, the Nut Tritious packets I ate when we waited for others to regroup, same with the Kiwi's. I never got to the trail mix and I never finished the Almond Clusters nor the mixed nuts, cause of LUNCH.

Anyhow, I had enough food to make it to the end. Next time I will make better choices when it comes to eating the restaurant food. But take note, in that list, no gels, no magic powders or concoctions. Im not preaching, its my choice to eat the way I eat, I just wanted to share what I consumed before I went off my primal plan and then got sick.

O well, its all in the past now,

Laters,

LOS

PS: I stepped on the scale and I am back down to the weight that I was at before I started prepping for this ride, I burned 10lbs over that one day.

ShAkEdOWn

Ok, some side notes from the Big O, what I will use, what I wanna do different.

I like the 2 x 9 with a 12 - 27 rear cassette. Seemed very well suited to my style of riding. I had to learn though when shifting to the middle ring to work my front Derailleur close to my middle ring with the grip shift so it would act as a chain guide in the rough stuff.

I love the aero bars! If your gonna be riding lots of straight dirt or pavement, the aero bars do help.

I love my mountain feedbags, very versatile, as a matter of fact, I felt my pack strategy was spot on, probably the same packing I will do for the CFiTT, probably a lil lighter and more refuel spots.

The place where I had my Etrex mounted was not working for me. I need to find a good stem mount for that thing so that it can be functional and practical with the Aero Bars on.

That being said, I have been asking around how they would handle a 180 mile straight effort and getting some interesting answers.

My focus for the next couple of weeks is preparation for my shot, I am working on doing everything I can to be as prepared as possible.

That is all, Now the some pics I borrowed from FE, I decided to put up all the shots I liked the most.

Laters,

LOS

BiG O....My NeMeSiS

I heard that word more than once this weekend.....

Man, if there is such thing as bad luck, well I experienced it.

As we rolled out of town in my Vehicle, I forgot to strap down the rear wheel of my tire. Hit a particular cool whoopty whoop section on the Turnpike which caused my bike to raise up and over and take out my rear glass on my car.

Scared the crap out of Rob and I, but we backtracked back to his house and switched everything around. Whatever is all I could say, its a $310 repair, yay!!!

Eventually we make it to Okeechobee, find a mexican restaurant, grab food, Bill and Kevin Hoover show up to join in the pre ride day festivities and not long after Jonathan showed up.

The plans to stealth camp were laid to waste by the sheer fact that we didnt know what the locals would be like, and you know what they say about things that go bump in the night. Let's just say we didnt want to become anyones Idea of something to bump at night, we opted to accept Bill's offer for floor space. I was super cool with the concept and after I emerged from the bathroom, Bill apparently felt the need to ONE UP himself and offered me his double bed and he slept with his son. I really felt it was entirely too generous, but didnt put up much of a fight either and Rob joined in on the other half of the bed that felt as hard as the floor. Jonathan grabbed some floor space and I gave him my sleeping bag to help him stay warm.

The sleep was deep but brief and without much fuss, everyone got up and got ready and we rolled out. I admittedly had a score to settle and got right to work. I was on the pedal and the bars from jump putting down a steady pace. We checked out the new docks, rolled off the pavement into the dirt, all the while continuing to put a steady pace down. Eventually you could see the hints of dawn coming and I suggested that we stop and observe the sun rising over the lake.

At that point, rob had found a sweet spot to do this at, and his GPS said it would take us to the lakes edge. We rolled parallel to the canal, but never quite made it, and just stopped at a good spot and observed the sun rise, then got rolling again. The miles were clicking away and it all seemed alot easier then the first time I did it.

I was not only out to seek revenge on this gigantic lake, but I was also out to do a shakedown ride for my CFITT exploring the set up and the new gear combo. I was in love with the gear combo but did notice some skipping while pacing with Jonathan threw the tall bumpy grassy area. Maybe its the chain???

Anyhow, we tried a store for coffee, no dice, we continued on and made the next stop and scored snacks and coffee, good times.

We kept the pace up and going and eventually, conditions got hotter and we had a really long stop at the moorehaven campground while we waited to regroup and I basically took a bath fromm the faucet.

Once we regrouped we rode on, made Clewiston, at this point, the heat was getting good and we were all refilling on water at each spot. We rode on, and finally made Belle Glade, only to find out a section was closed for construction, we took the road into town and found a restaurant to eat at.

Up to this point, I was having an extremely good ride. Considering this was my third ride of the month, I was in as top a form as I could be. I ordered, some jack cheese, grilled chicken sandwich, with Fries. I thought it was just meat and fries, but it turned out to be a sandwich. I would later regret this choice.

Immediately aftef I left I didnt feel right. Then we hit the nap spot, I took a short but brief rest, and then everyone kind of left before I could catch them. I honestly didnt even try to catch them cause I didnt feel I had the energy. Symptom number one Lethargic.

Then, When we finally made Port Mayaka, I let the group know that I really needed to rest. My body just kept telling me to lay down. I did, and that is when we made an epic mistake. We realized that there was no water for the next 20 miles. There actually was a bar, and some houses, but at that point we didnt know that. They wanted to go ahead and get water as we were all low, I told them, I am going to ride. I kept riding, they sped off, in fact everyone sped off. The Lathargic feeling came on stronger than ever. I stopped in the shade. I was HOT and Sleepy.

Then I dry heaved like two times, experienced the single worst stomach pain I have ever experienced, felt like someone stabbed me with a sword threw my gut, and I started throwing up. I did that for a couple of minutes. Got tired of smelling it, decided to move down aways from it. I laid down again, was getting tired of laying in the sand and gettting bit by mosquitos and ants crawling on me. I figured this is what hell must be like.

I drank some water, and the vomit came up again.... Fantastic, the chunks were flying. After the final session of release, I got up and felt suprisingly chipper. I felt strong again and decided, well let me get going again. It was at that point that I realized it must have been the food, and at that point I made the connection, last time I felt like this after a meal was on the spring love bike tour with the bird, and I had Fries that day too??? And I did it again, after talking to the bird the next day she suggested it was the Grease that they fried the fries in. Mental note, next time, baked potato. Regardless, I got on the bike, the temp was cool, and I had 16.5 miles left. I was going good, I looked at my GPS and I was steady rolling at 16mph for miles and miles when I saw the Rob Roberts pull up. I stopped to speak to him.

I immediately tell Rob, "I am going to finish".

Rob says, "no your gonna hurt yourself", and I said "seriously I feel fine, Im good, I been riding good, Im going".

Reluctantly, Rob says "Well I got some sugar if you need it?" . I turn down the snickers, and I accept to take a sip of Gatorade. That small sip, had me feeling nauseous about a mile later and brought all the old feelings back, I knew that I was not ready to consume again, but I tried, next time Listen better to the body.

With a sad, sad overall body expression I cleaned up, and packed up, and got in the car and slept the whole way back to Rob's. Got up, got my stuff together and went home, depressed. Spent a good part of Sunday depressed till the Bird explained to me what the culprit was, fried freaking food!

I am super bummed about it. Twice I have failed and this time I only had 8.5 miles left, how awful. The first 90 miles I rode like a world class champion, my pace was strong steady and fast. I had it all together, I was drinking, I was eating, I was doing the right thing. The last 30 miles, not so much, from now on going forward I know to stay away from the fries or anything fried. After going Primal a year ago, I see that my body has no tolerance for greasy food, I should know better, and Now I DO know better.

When I go back, which will probably be soon, LOL, I am going clockwise and I am not riding between 12 pm and 7pm, its just too damn hot...

Laters,

LOS

PS: I still feel like a failure... O the triumphs and the defeats, they both teach you lessons. Not many people can say they were laid up throwing up for an hour and still got back on the bike and soldiered on, so I give myself some Endurance props for that one!

SHRED!

Check out the pics and another P.O.V. on the ride here! I got some great pics of my guns gleaming!! LMAO!!

ChaSiNg TaIL

Ya, I am a happily married man, happily, but for the past two weeks I have been chasing PUSSY kitten all over my house.

It started on a Tuesday, or it could have been just any day, Lil Naked Indian called and ask if he could bring a kitten home.

Now the Clan had made a pact, no more cats, cause we have lost like four of them. To either predators or animal control, I'm speculating cause we really don't know.

I said yes, and I should not have, cause as a Clan we had agreed n o more kittens.

For three days this kitten was hiding under Lil NK's bed and it would not come out. SO, I got the fire in my soul that it was time to resolve this issue. After an exhausting chase, the cat, climbed in a hole I had cut in the wall to check on a possible water leak.

And for three days this cat holed him self up like Geronimo hiding from the Calvary. All night he would Meow, in the walls. I had no Idea what I would do.

Well Mrs. Trebor Strebor suggested that I hide in the shower, wait for the Kitten to come out, then cover up the hole. SO, for 20 minutes I stood in the shower, frozen, waiting for the kitten to emerge from the wall. He did, I pounced covered up the wall, Lil Kitten figured out what was up and took off. Once I repaired the hole, I had to hunt him down in the house and grab her when a fight ensued.

I have never seen a Kitten with so much fight in them. She scratched me, bit me, made me bleed, not before I got her into a box with water, litter and food. I put the box in the garage, cut a couple of air holes in it and left it for the night.

Checked the box in the morning, only to discover she had chewed a hole in the box and had escaped. I thought the cat was gone, out the garage when Kai and Gabe went on their morning commute to school. But NO, Lil NK spotted her and the chase was on again. I caught her, and returned her to the room.

The problem with the cat at this point, is that since it was so baby, it did not know exactly where to pee and poo. So she required training, and after several days of pooing and peeing up Lil NK's room I decided I needed to take over.

Phase 1 was socializing her to the rest of the family and making sure she doesn't hide from us. CHECK
Phase 2 teach her to pee and poo in the right spot.

So after we tried to put litter inn the spot she liked to have accidents in, she moved her accidents to another location. So we got a small cage, and decided we would try to restrict her area so she would poo in the right spot. Cats unlike some humans don't like to poo and pee where they eat. That didn't work as she spent a whole hour shaking the cage and acting crazy, beating her face into the cage trying to get out and getting cat litter all over the cage and her food.

SO, I decided to just lock her in the bathroom, cover up all the corners with obstacles, thus restricting her space, but not as confined as a cage. Reports are in that she has so far successfully pooed and peed in the right spot twice.

If she continues at this pace, maybe on Wednesday we can letter her roam the house free this time. Also, since I broke the agreement and invited another kitten in our lives, I plan on getting this one Micro chipped so we don't lose it like we lost the other ones. Plan is as well to keep her strictly indoors to not have to put her at risk from whatever jabberwocky is taking our cats when they go out doors.

Chasing tail, at my age, who woulda thunk it!!!

Laters,

LOS

Some quick stats: 42 - 32 in front, 12 - 27 9 speed rear cassete. XO drivetrain. Should work well.

Shred!

LOS

VeNtS OpeNem UP!!

I feel like venting. I know I do that sometimes on here. But this time its like kinda serious.

Early in the year I had two kick ass bikes built up.

My Mamasita was a 27speed piece of mastery and I had my fixie war machine.

One day while cruising and popular social networking site, I got an message. This message was referring to a thread on a forum about buying a particular bike and how I should not buy it, etc, etc. I responded that I was not planning on buying it, (too much money) and that I was trying to get a frame sponsor for my Great Divide Ride.

Well back and forth the conversation went, and I was given the suggestion to submit a proposal. I did, was told it was good, was told I would get a frame and long story short it never happened.

Now, little ole naive me, I went ahead and based on this Intel, and build up the dream fixie, took apart the war machine and the geared bike.

Now fast forward nearly 5 months later, I am in the process of rebuilding the Black to Gearey, although now it has a better fork and brakes, and rebuilding the war machine back into a single speed. NO free frame, and after this interaction, no desire to send any proposal to get a bike frame. I figure I will raise and save money and just buy another mamasita before the race since the bike has done nothing but treat me well.

Am I bitter about what happened. In away I refuse to be, I have been dealing with sponsors and representing for 10 years and admittedly I am spoiled by the attention I get from my sponsors who I can call and speak to and they take care of me as if I was a PRO, when in fact I am an average guy trying to create his own dream reality.

Do I want to talk bad about this company, absolutely not, I think they got good product and make good bikes and I KNOW the individual in question has way more going on then to worry about me and my needs, thus the reason in the end, I am not taking what happened personal.

Will I ever deal with them again? Who knows.... Probably not.

If anyone wants to have their frame ridden in the GDR, and have their bike ridden and tested in extreme conditions, drop me a line. If not, I will ride my Mamasita from one border to the next.

In life, we cannot ever let anyone, whether its intentional or accidental, take away our dreams. In the end Im sure what happened was not intentional, or who knows, maybe there is someone out there, jealous of my reality, plotting my sabotage. Regardless, I am known for enduring and overcoming, as my ancestors have done for 600 years, I will continue to follow in their steps.

Laters,

LOS

SSSssSSSuNnnnDay

We got up, feeling a little fatigued still from the previous days deprivation.
We got going quick, hit a place for breakfast and Latte's and as usual I was late. Man this has not been the weekend to be on time, O well.
Rob and Dawn were amicable as always and so nice and polite. We got suited up, I got my cross bike ready, and we rolled out.
Clermont is a different world, and if I were ever to buy another house it would probably be there. Lots of hills, lots of climbing, lots of fun. The route was hilly till we hit a dirt road, that was unrideable with my skinny cross tires. I had to walk some, and when I did ride, it was taking every bit of my effort to keep the bike moving. Eventually we hopped a fence and hiked up to the roadway and started the long road to dirt section. It actually was not a bad ride and not long before I spotted a church and went for a refuel on water.
The entire weekend I never really got "HOT". The sun was bright and it was shining, but I didnt think it was HOT anytime this weekend, at times I thought the weather was absolutely perfect. We refueled, kept riding, nice backroads, barely a car passing us by and we came up on a Moto Rider Broke down on the side of the road.
I stopped and asked him if he needed help. He explained his kick stand came off and the bike just shut down and he could not get it to go in gear. Rob, being the mechanical genius he is, noticed a magnetic switch. We asked him to zip tie the kick stand on to see if it would fix it, no dice. Then the man pulls out his Iphone, only to find out, it didnt have bars in that place. I pulled out my IPHONE KILLER and let him use it to make a call. He got help, told us the Van Fleet trail crossin was right there an we were on our way. We checked the Van Fleet map, then started hitting the dirt. Again, for like 2 or 3 miles the dirt was fine for fatties, but not so good for my cross tires, I shifted into my 28 ring up front and did my best to pace and keep Rob in sight. We eventually hit some old limestone road and that was the condition of the road for miles. Eventually, a man drove up and asked us if we had seen a broke down vehicle, we said no. Rode up about two more miles and found a flipped over SUV being recovered via tow ropes and pick up trucks from a drainage creek on the forest road side.

At this point we were traversing what is know as the Ritch Loam Tract(sp), we came out to pavement and then saw a ranger station with a tall look out tower. We stopped, looked at the maps, got some of the hiking trail maps and as we did this we were surrounded by stray dogs. Hungry looking stray dogs, One of which followed us till the end of the road were we came out on SR 50. The only problem was, we feared he would get hit.

I saw a sign that said Little River Recreation area, we had 1.5 miles to go to be done, but It was along 50 and we didnt want the dog to get killed. So I suggested we ride to the park and have the girls pick us up there, well after a couple of miles turned arouond and went back to 50 and Rob figured out away to get him back across the road and back towards his buddies.

Eventually the girls came. I had sun burn on my farmers tan areas, cramps were setting in, my left pinky was numb, I had all kinds of issues. I didnt feel so good, ate food, felt a little better, but the Bird had to drive us home after dinner, Drank 3 32 0z glasses of water, and I was still not where I needed to be with my hydration. In fact I was so bad off, that Monday I stayed home from work. My legs are a little sore, But I feel fine today, Monday, I ended up needing the day to recover and rehydrate. The penalties of poor planning.

The Moustache bars may go, I may give them another chance and see if I like em or if it was just a fluke of the ride. As well, my current tire set up on the cross is fine for hardpack, but not for exploratory rides, exploratory rides require 42c or bigger. Good to know for the future, cause that means for the Big O and the CFiTT I will be gearing up the Black Beauty to 27 gears to help put down a good time.

Unfortunately, it looks like the 20th I will not be able to do my CFiTT attempt and may have to push it to July as that is opening day for Little Naked Indians' Baskteball season and I think there are times, that you need to prioritize. I think instead, maybe me and my 9 year old will go bikepacking the Naked Indian trail instead.

Laters,

LOS

SaTurrDaYyY

In this world of crazy, crazy, Saturdays are a nice way to escape. I had been planning to do a ride with the Birdy. Gave her options...

Shall we go on a roadie tour....

Shall we go on a one day bikepacking trip in the ONF....

Shall we go do the Spirit Tree Ride in Croom.....

After Careful consideration she opted for Option 3 Croom Spirit Tree ride.

Like always I like to Stack my chips, and set it all up for fun and adventure and make it into a weekend ChOCk full of fun. So the plan was to make Croom at 10am and get suited up and hit the trail for 4 or 5 hours then head to my Friends house in Apopka for a fun evening and chillin.

Well, the day before, the Bird and I didnt eat much.. The morning off, we barely ate enough to top ourselves off, but still went out and did our thing. Its funny, cause I am probably the most awful person to make plans with. I had planned to be there at 10am, and meet up with SEVERAL people. Well, we were there after 10, saw our friends from BADDR, then Met up with JOSH, aka Catman from the Forum. Now Josh, had never seen Croom, and I wrote him a diatribical response on the forum about how cool Croom was. Well, the Bird and I, took off out of the parking lot into that first downhill section. Mind you, I dont know how to Navigate Croom well myself, but I did have a route loaded on to my Etrex, so I was not too concerned. After about 6 miles of riding and some slight bushwacking we found the spirit tree.

I immediately noticed that there was Garbage everywhere, I picked it up, squished the cans, and loaded it all up in my Osprey 22 pack. So for the rest of the ride, I indeed rode with a backpack full of garbage.
Paintboy showed up, out of nowhere which its always cool to be in the middle of the woods and see a familiar face. We hung out a little longer and then hauled ass, as to which Paintboy gave us a course correction for future referance.
I then thought, that since we had successfully finished the first find, that I wanted him to see one of the highest points in the forest. What I call the Enormous Sandy Hill. Now the Sandy hill, has a cool wicked switch back climb on the front side, and a ridiculous steep dirt climb on the other. Last time I rode threw that spot with MK, I didnt make the climb. I wanted revenge.

After that I managed to find some of the pits and even the "freeride" area. Broke my chain, but fixed it super quick, we kept going and I started growing concerned. I know the Birdy had not had a ride in a long time and we were riding a good steady pace with lots and lots of rolling terrain. Lots of LONG ups. I recognized this place. We were going what I was perceiving to be backwards. Wow, it sure seemed like it went up hill so much more this time. Anyways I was digging it, and I was in the rhythym but the route had become rather challenging.

We made Bailout 12, descended to Bailout8, and shortly after 8 we jumped on Nobleton Road. I dont mind a good Forest road route, I prefer that to road riding everytime. So I got on there, rode up, circled back, saw Treadlight and FE, continued riding, we were just hustling on down that road, after 25 miles of relatively break free riding, we were ready for a break. I did the road climb up Tucker Hill, and as I did it, I Visualized the early morning finish of the the CFiTT, so I took to hammering up that climb time trial style. Tucked my arms in, found a steady rhythym, nothing but smooth steady strong spin. Its one of the biggest self induced rushes you can manifest on yourself, a good heart in the throat, stomach panting effort. Sat down under the shaded tree, caught my breath and went down to get the bird up the hill.

Birdy had decided she needed to walk it off when we reunited at the bottom of the hill. And I decided to just roll up and down this sucker a couple of times to visit with the Bird. I came across Marcel, it was nice to see him, he looked really fast. We chatted as we reclimbed that road again and then I backtracked one more time to push the bird as she pedaled up the hilll. (hint to Dads looking to coach your kids in off road riding. You have to learn the skill of riding next to your child as they ride and possibly, ride one handed and push them at the same time, it takes practice)

I pushed her about 200 feet, the road finally leveled out and we made it to the car to begin the repair work.

She had run out of water a while back on Nobleton Road, but we scored some water from TL and kept the ride alive all the way to the end. Josh kicked ass the whole way, dood didnt even eat for 3 hours or more, he is machine, I think Croom may have a new believer.

It was awesome as always riding with the wife.

We spent the rest of the day recovering. Had to take a little rest stop break. The night before I slept barely 3 hours chasing a loose kitten around my house all night. So I not only had a food deficit, but a water deficit as well.

We eventually reached my friends house at 7pm and spent the night, eating, chatting and watched Role Models on the TV. (Funny Film)

Got to bed early for SUuuuUUuuNNNNDay.......

ToBeCoNt...