velomech - Heeeellllloooooooo??????

11:38 pm - Heeeellllloooooooo??????

Man, I havent sat down in front of the laptop in quite a while. Super busy.


Lots of changes at da shop, busy kids, busy wife, car after car of mine breaking down. Ten dogs running around the house. No cashola, no time, no patience...


Last weekend was thomson day. It was awesome. As long as awesome is cold, nasty, rainy, sleety, freezing, muddy, windy...wet.

Raise a hand if you got stuck in the mud. Thought so.

The race was insane. I started in 3rd to last. We did a parade lap into the woods. I figured I better get to the front asap, Once into the woods, the leaders would walk away from the slower folks. I passed all but four or five people before the woods, and nestled in behind a guy that was behind Odea. Oh yeah, Odea. I was wondering if the pace was gonna stay high, and my answer came when the dude in front tried to match the pace and faltered a few times, finally just letting me past. I shot past odea just because of the shape of the corner. Odea yelled out something about "simmering down" Which I thought was funny. Odea knows his pace and this was a 4 hr and 20 minute race, so he was settling into his own race. I have no idea what pace to ride, so I chased 1st place for two or three laps, getting closer by little bits.

When 1st place pitted on the third or fourth lap, I went flat out. Every 10 seconds I would look back over my shoulder fully expecting Odea or Lindner to come by. You cant give guys like that a single second, or they will rip you apart.

Man, I can not convey how stressful racing is. Constantly stressing about your pace, is it fast enough? How close are the fast guys?? at what point will I cramp??

The answers always come, and you never like them.

It was freezing. I was soaked. I couldnt feel my feet or hands. On the third lap, I lost all of my brakes, I kept stopping to try and adjust them. I was rubbing metal on metal. I tried to use my feet for brakes and kept falling off the bike.

I was sooooo beaten down by lap five. I wasnt eating enough, I was freezing to the point that I thought I was doing permanent damage to my feet. Really. On lap six, I ate it hard, going over the bars as I came to a climb, I couldnt feel my hands so when I reached for the bar end with my right hand, I missed and all my wieght went forward. Over the bars I go.


At this point, I wanted to give up. Unfortunatley I wont ever quit anything. If I think for a second I cant do something, I wont start it. I cant quit, I saw what it looks like when you tell your little girls you quit, and it's not something I want to see again. So, quitting will never be an option. I did start cussing myself for starting though.

Im actually kind of shocked that they had the race. At least dickman asked evryone, and he got a resounding "YES"...I also, regret telling him that they should keep it 4 hours and twenty minutes, after he asked if they should shorten it to two.

Dumb mistake. Next time opt for the short race.

By lap six I was getting pissed. I was in first, and I kept getting sent back out. I didnt want to do 7, I wanted off my bike. I was out of food and drink, and patience. Dickman, came over and asked me If I wanted to give up first? wtf? Im not giving up anything, So I started pedalling.Pissed.

No brakes, No feeling in my feet or hands.

I showed up to race, so I raced.

As I was finishing the last lap, I crashed for the billionth time, but this time when I went over the bars, I ended up upside down in a HUGE puddle, that was no less than a foot deep. Drowning came to mind, and the water was almost ice, so I got up quick. I said aloud to myself, "Nice way to finish a race Hodge" as if I was listening.

I was a little pissed that all the guys that said they were gonna show, didnt. If your gonna race your bike, you should race your bike. Not only when it's nice, or when conditions favor you or you have a better chance to win due to the course, you should show up and race no matter what. It's what you chose to do 5 months ago when you started training.

It's also more respectful to your competitors, it says to them ,that yeah, that race is important.

Ofcourse, the outcome of the race would probably have been different if a lot more fast guys showed up, so Im not that pissed. but still.

So, immediately after the finish, I went to the showers to try not to die. Odea warned me about water temp and my feet swelling.

OMG. I actually started moaning really loud because the pain was SO bad. My feet were purple, and they swelled up so bad and got so tight thought the skin was going to split. I was scared I was gonna have my foot rupture and I was gonna start bleeding. After the shower, I couldnt fit them in my shoes.

Ive never seen anything like it, I dont ever want to again. It was very painful, I liek to think pain is something I deal with pretty well, but this humbled me pretty bad.

Im glad Code red and mattycakes had my back, I would have been in deep shit without them.

You should check out their blogs for a race description, to see how tough the weekend was.

On the way back my car died, so not only was I wet and cold, I was stuck on the side of the road with matty and code red, and working on a car that was not to run for the next few days, unbeknownst to me.

In fact, I had to leave it in griffin GA, in a parking lot. So, yesterday, I put 320 miles on my wifes car going to junk yards and part stores and going down to try and fix it. No dice.

this am I went by Bobby thrash's shop to borrow some parts to try and fix it, and he felt I was getting in over my head, so he sent down Chris, one of his mechanics with me.

we worked on it for hours, still nothing. we ended up having to get it towed to a shop nearby, who happens to be a friend of bobby's. So, if my credit card is not at it's limit already it will be when I drive down to get it in the am. Phuck, I couldnt catch a break with a damn baseball mit.

Ofcourse, as soon as I say that kind of thing to myself, I remember I woke up today, my kids and wife are healthy and none of my friends died on me, so I should quit my bitching. Someone ALWAYS has it worse, remember that.

So, If Im lucky enough to wake up in the am, Im gonna poour a big ass cup of jittery joes coffee, go get my car, then go to work, and relieve Code red, who hasnt had a day off in two weeks. No, working the the wet and cold and mud over the wekend or racing in it isnt a day off.

So, WHO WANTS A PUPPY?!?!?!?

The mom has pretty muched kicked them out of the "Nest" so they have been eating soft puppy food for three days, come get one, they are freaking cute. She wont let them anywhere near her. We found a home for her already and one of the puppies is going to code red, whether he likes it or not. Hell, I might make him take two, he could use a little more stress in his life anyway.

Hoff is gonna try and get out of it, But Im gonna drop one in his lap for sure.

Who else wants one? Im gonna post a pic of each one, and their puppy names...

PLEAAAAAAASEEEEEEEEEEEE take a puppy.

So, Im pretty happy with my form, seeing as how I not riding the hours I should be, because of all this phukin around with shit, but NAte says I gotta ramp it up next week.

Also, I havent used any intraxcel, or rez-v in two months because I ran out. I did start using the dedicated athlete stuff, multi vitamin and epno, and so far its working good...

Still wieghin 151 lbs. I think for snake I will be a little stronger than last month, if I eat right, and sleep right, I might race right. I might break 3:25. Thats my goal. Race it smart. I definetly wont start the same time as my fast buddies, I would be too worried about keeping them in sight or out of sight...did I mention racing is stressful?

Im beat, I dont want to check my email, last time I glanced I have 1800 plus emails...most of which will be spam, but still, it's a whole can of worms I dont want right now...

Gonna go stare at the kids for aminute, then hit the sack.

Thanks to everyone for your help on saturday, and thanks to the thomson family for having us.

Cheers and beers

Hodge