Dog vs Bike

Dog wins!




Those pictures are from velonews.com (link on the left).

I've been getting some good tour updates and analysis from the masiguy (also linked on the left). It's good stuff, you should check it out.

Starkville, MS Bike Race

Awesome. A bike rice in the ol' college town. Where was this when I was there? Not that it would have mattered since I've only been biking a year and a half. Anyway, it was scheduled for August 25th but it seems to have been postponed till the Spring of '08. It's a crit with a road ride (apparently not a road race) on Sunday. I've never done a crit before, but they have a relay, which could be a nice intro for some folks. Here is the link:

http://www.starkvilleinmotion.org/Starkville%20Cup/Home.html

JMC July the 4th Cruisin' Clinton Club Ride

The Clarion Ledger posted some pictures. So here is proof I at least woke up in time to make it to the thirty mile ride. The route was great and so was the turn out. It was a great holiday morning (despite threatening to rain all day).

Clarification and the Friday Brew

When I said my knee was acting up (in the previous post), here is why:


Those screws are holding in my posterior cruciate ligament. Well, it's not my ligament per se. It used to belong to some kind cadaver. Now it's bolted to the femur and tibia, and threaded through my right knee. There was also some MCL stuff they had to fix. It was quite cool before the surgery. My tibia would move back and forth and twist a bit. A great way to gross a lot of people out. Eventually, though, it became painful to run, so I had the operation to tighten things up a bit. The Doc was surprised I could walk into his office.

What was the point of that story? Well, it's how I got into cycling. The orthopedist and the therapist said a bike would a great non-impact excercise that I could do. It would keep the strength in that leg, and I would be able to do it as an endurance sport (I was training for my first triathlon when I had to go in and get the operation..... bummer). Needless to say, I got hooked.


Then the doc made the mistake of telling me I was cleared to do whatever I wanted. The next day I signed up for the Mardis Gras Marathon. Since then I've done the marathon, two triathlons and a metric century. This isn't that astounding to some people, but it is my first summer of endurance sports. So, I'm pretty happy with the way things are going.


Anyway, I think the knee pain was just a little reminder. You know, a "hey jackass, did you forget what you're working with down here?" But, I'm back to normal. I've put 60 miles in this week and I hope to do another 30-40 this weekend. I've got some new pedals and shoes coming in for the Trek that I hope to break in on an easy Natchez Trace out and back.


Now, on to the beer:



Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is probably the best American Style that is readily available at the local grocery. It may be the only one, actually. That is no matter, it is still a great pale.

Been a while...

Couple of things happened recently that have kept me away:

1. The knee started acting crazy. It hurt like hell for a while, but it has passed.

2. Work got a little crazy as well, but that has passed.

3. They cut my cable line doing prep work for the foundation of the house being built next door.

Anyway, enough excuses. Hope everyone enjoyed their Independence Day. Here are two things that helped me enjoy mine:


That's the Specialized Tri-vent and four pints of Boddingtons Pub ale.

The Jackson Metro Cyclist had a club ride on the morning of the 4th out in Clinton, MS. It was a great route and a great time. I had planned to do the metric century, but I over slept. So I ended up rushing out there to do a 30 mile loop. After that I headed home for more sleep (since that's how I spend most holidays). I eventually got out of bed and watched the History Channel for a while. They had a great series called 'Revolution' on. Definitely worth Tivo-ing if you can. Then, a few pints of Boddington's and the neighbours setting off fireworks capped the day. So, all in all, I had a good day off.

However, I really just wanted to show off those shoes.