Jurrdooey

That's what Lolly has this week. She got summonzdid ta jurrdooey...and got selected. Fun for her and an eyeopening reminder how blessed we are that Lolly is only working part time right now.

KR is doing well - she getting closer and closer to becoming self dependent with her pacifier, eating her cereal, laughing a lot, and generally being the star of stars and queen of queens.

And me, well, I do have a presentation to make Wednesday morning but that shouldn't be a big deal. I did have something worth mentioning though...

My race in Oxford.

I headed up on Saturday afternoon with B-rad to maybe ride a little bit of the course, grab some food, and then some shuteye before heading over to race Sunday morning. We eneded up riding for about 30mins. and gabbing with some acquaintances for another 45. The Good Times Crock Pot was set to simmer and things were warming up. We met up with Max and Jo-Jo for dinner at Old Venice on the square in Oxfjord. Mmmmm, Pizza! The we took it to la casa for some rest. The start was going to be early:

After watching the Beginners start I needed to warm up. So, I hit the trails...apparently the photo man thought I was racing and this photo was born:

There was a large Expert pay-out so I hung back to watch those guys (Ex 30-39) start. Wowzie! Fast! and one might even say Furious! Fast and furious?! The team had 3 guys in this group and J. Divola was able to grab the final podium spot against the stiffest competition in any MS race I have ever seen! Good on ya, son!

My race went well enough. I improved on my time from 2007 by 4 minutes. And came in 3rd place in the SS event...out of 3. Those guys are pretty fast though and I didn't beat myself so I'll try again next time.

Now we're racing!

Hope your bars aren't too wide!

Catching Paul from the Sport 30-39 Group. He said, "Man, you're STRONG!" I tried not to puke.

In the clear...

Taking it to la casa!!

It's On Like Donkey Kong...

Eatin' a chicken bone. Wearin' a thong?

Anyway. It's on! A++ race weekend! McWeSSon this is it son!

My lady friends are packing up for a weekend getaway of their own as I speak, er, type. They are whisking themselves away to StarkVeg for some R&R. I will miss them but have some old scores to settle in Ox-fjord.

Awjeah! The legs are feeling good. The mindset is oh pos. The bike will get squared away tonight. New tube, some lube...and we're good to gizzo.

Make or break race this weekend for a lot of the teammates. The plan is to wage war on the competition. Stay focused. Do what we need to do. The training is done. Time for 'what ifs' is over. Put up or shut up.

Pre-race jitters: I am ate-up with 'em. What can I say? I think it's best summed up by a story I once heard...actually the story is pretty long - I'll spare you the details, but it ends with someone saying, "I LOVE THIS RACING SHIT!"

And I do. Perhaps more since the past 3 months without racing is one of the longest stretches I have gone in the past 3 years without pinning a number on.

At this point it's automatic. I've done this so many times in the last few years it's old hat.

Stay hydrated. Stay fueled. Stay rested. Stay loose. Checklist all your gear. Think POSITIVELY! Kick azz!

The Foto Sez:

"PPPPFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!"



"Uncle Jay-Bird teaches me words like BEEEYOTCH!"



"I'm torn Princess, 'cause my dress has the animals stitched right in, but your dress has the sweet satin wings. Huh? Those are REAL wings?!"



"Another one of these 'propped up against the pillows' shots eh?"



"AARRGHH! Please save me from the giant duck!!!"

Not Katrina But Still Powerful

My sis, bro-n-lizzle, and 2 nizzles live on the OBX in NC...so they know the real dope when it comes to Hurricanes. But MS has been holding its own the last few years. (By 'holding its own' I mean getting the snot knocked out its locker). Below are a sampling of pics from the most recent installation...Mr. Gustav. These pics are all of the MS Gulf Coast. The media focuses primarily on New Orleans so you may not have seen these.



Some surge action.



"Captain, you're not allowed to park your boats here!"
"Er, we're not parking them...We're abandoning them!"



Ken is going to be so pissed!

The sign, although well-intentioned, did little to impede the storm's progress.



Sweet Jesus, Gustav has released the Kraken!

Long Weekends and Feeling Good!

The McWessons were happy about having a long weekend. Gustav was looming so plans were non-existent except a planned day trip to pre-ride the Oxford race course on Sunday. We elected to finally watch Juno - a movie Lolly had seen and enjoyed - Friday night. Lolly had bought the DVD late in her pregnancy but, alas, life has been intervening. Summing up the movie is easy enough: GREAT! I was very pleasantly suprised by this very well written, exceptionally witty, and even cute little movie. KR even cooperated and allowed us to get through the whole thing. PERFECT!

Saturday was a much anticipated event in this country - the 1st full day of collegiate football. Vandy - a family favorite - had gotten things properly started with a win on Thursday night. Lolly and McWesson's alma maters fared less well however, both losing heartbreakers - MSU to unheralded LA Tech and UT to UCLA in an OT thriller on Monday night. No biggie - the McWessons are not 'superfans.'

KR was very happy to have her Grandparents get back after a 2.5 week long absence to visit the fjords and glaciers of Alaska. She entertained with side rolls, head hold ups, and belly laughs - some of her new 'tricks.' We also got to have a nice get-together Monday night complete with all 'the fixins' - burgers, chicken, sweet taters, salad, and fellowship. Good times fosha!

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I'll have to ride this twice next weekend...in 90 degrees, high humidity, oxygen depletion, lactic acid overload mode.

I can't wait!

We had 12 people at our pre-ride on Sunday. All but two I knew were faster than me the last time we all rode together. We had 8 'experts', 1 'sport', and 2 'beginners' - and one moron who chooses to only ride with one gear - completely disavowing those 26 other pesky gears. WHO NEEDS 'EM!

Bottom line: I felt great and rode a nice steady pace - not race pace mind ya - and bested 2 of the expert level racers on what they claimed was a 'bad day' and/or 'bad form.' No disrepect to those guys at all - they're still very fast - but I felt great. I put a cap on it after one lap and elected to just cruise through half of a second lap for kicks.

Keeping the legs fresh is priority numero uno this week...

Well, KR is always numero uno...and then Lolly...so maybe 'priority numero tres' is more apt...

Peace suckas!

At Least It Wasn't That AFLAC Duck!

Wednesday night, we had a fright.
A silly fright, on Wednesday night.
Just got in the tub and was feeling alright.
Lolly then shrieked, "what a horrible sight!'
Try as I might to ignore her plight...
She soon was in sight demanding I fight.
What should I fight on this peaceful night?
A 2 inch gecko? That just ain't right.
Back story on Lolly for a sec if I might.
She's chased me with frogs that she catches at night.
Now, I don't like reptiles of any ilk, stripe, or type.
But, Lolly - come'on geckos don't bite.
A cottonmouth in the house? Now that is a plight.
But the bath is so warm, you can handle it right?
Cover it with a tupperware and it'll be allright.
Then I'll take it outside to enjoy the warm night.
Something then happened - you could feel it ignite
A renewed sense of urgency, tensions were spiked.
Up and out of the tub, to the rescue I hiked
And saved the young ladies from a dragon that night.

Why I Like Carrots

Not the 'eh - what's up doc?' variety - although thems ain't too shabby - but the dangling in front of you, give you something to chase, metaphorical variety. Do they have Vitamin A?

We all needs carrots. Long term carrots, short term carrots, and orange crunchy ones. I, today, am focusing on very short term carrots.

The carrots that might be in front of me in my next race...

Racing psychology is a very convoluted and difficult aspect of the deal. MTB tends to reward the guys and gals who go off the front in the beginning. There is no 'pack mentality' like in road racing. No draft to benefit those who are patient and choose to conserve energy in the early stages. Lolly and I were watching the women's Olympic MTB race last weekend on-line and within the first 1/2 lap (of 6) I said, "Oh well, the Americans are out of it." Lolly said there was plenty of time left - but MTB just doesn't work that way...the start is 95% of the race. The whole shot is VITAL!

Conserving energy in an MTB race will get your doors blown off! Can you say last place?

The U.S. gals did place a very respectable 7th and 8th but were never in it. Although, losing to Sabine Spitz of Germany is not so hard to take...she's is amazingly talented!

In the lead pack there are carrots and rabbits. The natural tendency is to be a carrot...the guy leading the race, but psychologically it can be very demoralizing to look around and see x number of racers riding your wheel. Especially if you can't ride them off your wheel.

So, in these next few races I want to be a rabbit...a rabbit that can keep up with the carrot, mark him, and pass him near the end of the race when he is psychologically and physically drained and I am only the latter.

Mmmm, carrots!

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Hit the road early this morning on the SS (Voodoo Dambala 29er geared at 32x18).

Not an especially good gear for road work but I wanted to simulate some race starts - vital for that whole shot - and what better way to do that than to do it on the bike you will be racing. Rode for just under an hour, mostly in recovery mode (HR Zones 1-2) but added in 5x90 second AT (anaerobic threshold) efforts to simulate race starts. I rolled up to the 'starting' line, unclipped and put my left foot down, counted 3-2-1 and launched into it! Felt pretty good for the first 3 - the last 2 kinda hurt...but fortunately each race only has one start! And I am putting the finishing touches on a pretty intense 4 week Build phase of my training. I should be sore!

Pretty much have just one 'effort' ride left over the next 10 days as I begin to taper off the intensity before the race. I'll be doing a good bit of 'speed' work (high cadence stuff) and form drills with little bursts thrown in to keep the pistons lubed and ready.

YEE-HAW! Come on Oxford!