May 02 2008
bits and pieces
It’s now May and perhaps, just perhaps, La Nina will let go and give us something resembling spring.
So what’s new…
I’ll most likely be taking May off from racing. First, my right hand is a long ways from being 100%. I’m getting it worked on now but I know from the riding I have done that a lot of pressure, like from a sprint, is not possible yet. Second, we’ve got some work around the house to do that will keep me busy for most, if not all, the weekends in May. I’d love to be able to sneak out for something like Bear Springs but odds are that I’ll have to pass.
Off-road racing isn’t all that much of an option anyway as my eggbeaters are on their way back to Crank Bros. in CA. I’ve had them a year and a half so they snuck in under the 2 year warranty. I’m a little concerned because I don’t thrash them that much and certainly don’t use them on a day to day basis. I may look into different options for cross. I hear Time pedals/clips work ok. We’ll see.
Even though I’m not racing, a smart person would be banking miles for TOE 50. A smarter person would also be getting their ass to Alpenrose during the week for Track Development. More on that later.
It’s rags to riches with beer lately. A slew of brewing in April, a few 2-a-days, have me with a pretty exciting inventory of beer for the summer; ipa, imperial ipa, imperial red, stout, porter, pilsner, and a low-gravity bitter. More beer, combined with the new nitro creamer tap I picked up last month, will make for a hopalicious summer.
The bitter just finished fermenting under the Pacman yeast from Rogue. Ideally I’d be repitching this yeast once or twice more because yeast is pretty expensive. I need to think if I have time to brew. Not every beer is suitable for the nitro tap so I need to pick a decent style or two. An ESB and a nut brown ale are sounding good right now.
After the Mudslinger crash, my dad noted “You’re not having that great a start to your season, are you?”. No. No I am not. After May, I do hope that I enter short track season fairly healthy, relatively rested, and motivated for cross training in the heat of the summer. I have the feeling I’ll be needing to put a little extra time to stay competitive up in Master A’s. I haven’t set a goal for cross yet except ‘go faster’. Duh.