Best 'Dam' Century of My Life

Well, the trip is approaching and as normal, the blogging has been getting a little slow. Sounds the story of my life, but that’s just the way it goes. Well some people have asking me a few questions about my ‘training’ for this upcoming little jaunt through the Rockies. I’d have to say that the word ‘training’ seems to be a little bit overkill. I try to treat the bike as a sort of way of life- therefore I guess you could say that I’m ‘training’ just about all of the time. If I’m not on a two-wheeled machine powered with a clif bar fed motor, my happiness factor tends to just fade away. I didn’t really notice this fact until I drove my car for the first in a few weeks, ended up in a small amount of traffic, and just about had a nervous breakdown. For a second it made me think, ‘what have I become’, but then I just tried to embrace it.

If I had to pinpoint my training schedule- I would say I’ve been developing a strong foundation ever since I purchased my fixed gear track bike- a beautiful, loving, and caring Bianchi Pista. She rides like a dream and keeps me spinning my little toosh off. It’s been a funny balance of how much time to spend on the bike as well. While commuting to school about 6 months ago, I got hit by car turning left into a parking lot. I dislocated my hip, destroyed my ankle, and partially tore my MCL (med-school lingo for messed up knee). So now I’ve become a linear athlete. I have bypassed some of my favorite lateral sports, like ultimate Frisbee, soccer, squash, full contact beer pong, and thoroughly aggressive farming. It’s been a little bit of a tradeoff- but my knee’s feeling pretty good now.

One of my final tests for my knee was a 103 mile bike ride at Clarks Hill Lake in South Carolina a few weeks ago. Of course- being a fundamentalist single speeder, I decided to hit the ride on the ‘ol fixie. All was progressing well for the first 30 miles, until I felt my rim bouncing on the ground- not the best of feelings while ‘spinning like a DJ’ in my 48:16 at 32 miles per hour. But, hey- it happens. After changing out the tube- I made my way and got picked up by the mega-friendly Outspoking crew. They nurtured me back to health, cleaned up my battle wounds, and let me ride with them for the rest of ride. It was a spectacular ride- and I would even say it was the “best dam ride of my life”, pun intended. So after spinning for 103 miles, I was certainly ready to get my little booty off of the bike and place some calories back into this little vegan belly (Moe’s was super-dope!). Feeling solid on the ride definitely gave me a little bit of confidence for the summer. My single speed beast – “UNCUS” – will require a little bit of ‘elbow grease’ on the climbs. But a little hike-a-bike never really hurt anyone.

So that’s the word. Mad props to Outspokin’- a great family of bikers from Augusta. The trip kicks off in less two weeks- I’m doing some mad planning right now at my mom’s house. Exciting- more to come in the near future. Laterzz!!