"It's not that bicycling is so important, it is that everything else is equally unimportant."

Busy Weekend  
Let's see, Friday night was my Dad's retirement. They definitely put on a good show with lots of snacks and dinner at the Tavern. Late night with the family and it was good to catch up in person.

Saturday was shopping with Kristin, but I managed to get over to REI's attic sale. Not much at the store location I ventured over to, but figured it probably had more than the brand new store. Walked out with two long sleeve cold weather shirts for wearing under the bike gear. One was a Hammerhead or whatever it's called, the other was REI branded. I like the REI one a lot better. Managed to get home with enough time to jump on the fixie and cruise into DC to the Westin Embassy Row where MORE was having their Trail Liaison Meeting. Big props to Stuart who hooked us up with room and dinner on the hotel. They also validated valet parking, but I just chained up to the light post, ha.

The meeting was fruitful, in addition to being a liaison for Colt's Neck (which is Lake Fairfax Park and now an officially newly adopted section of the Fairfax CCT that completes the loop), I am also the assistant Trail Boss for VA. Scud is the actual Trail Boss, so I'm more or less his minion I suppose. Still not sure on our April 3rd workday, because it coincides with a TCC visit and it's all up in the air for now (just saw about a 15 email exchange on the subject that I have yet to go through). Got some IMBA swag while as Scud is now the DC metro area rep. and I was also lucky enough to be picked out of a hat to take home a pocket chainsaw, pretty cool. As closing time approached I noticed the full on snow storm outside. After the meeting I touched base with a couple of people, including Stu the Fountainhead liaison. Turns out we are probably going to do some MORE led night rides out there once a month and I'll be helping Joe P. and Scud to lead them. After a quick conversation I rushed out to the bike and rolled on home. The snow was almost blinding as it had a tendency to land in my eyes. This was good wet snow, pefect for making snowmen. I pushed through traffic and had an enjoyable ride, thinking of nothing but the ride. I must say, I quite enjoy ridin in traffic. It's that combination of not knowing when someone is going to do something completely stupid and the reaction you have without even thinking. Keeps you on your toes and severly heightens your awareness in all directions... Before finishing my ride I stopped in Whole Foods and picked up some 90 Minute IPA to go with the 60 Minute IPA I bought earlier, then on impulse grabbed a Stone Ruination IPA. I haven't tried it yet, but the description matches my taste in hops - "Stone Ruination IPA. So called because of the immediate ruinous effect on your palate. The moment after the first swallow, all other food and drink items suddenly beomce substantially more bland than they were just seconds before." I'm looking forward to trying this one...

Sunday was a volunteer activity for MORE. They were offered a free booth at the Adventures in Travel Expo at the DC Convention Center. We accepted, but needed people to man the booth. We basically had the MORE banner up and a table setup to hand out the "About MORE" page from the website with the web address listed. Granted this was pretty last minute, but it would have been cool to have a couple more people at the booth and have some more exciting stuff to show people. I rode the pink Surly in and set it up at the booth, working two-fold, people interested in bikes would come by and other people were just shocked that they are looking at a pink mountain bike. I probably had over 100 people throughout the day, a pretty good turnout I think with the snow. Got a visit from Erik, the MORE pres about 30 minutes before the end of the show and got a chance to walk around the expo, pretty cool stuff out there. I particularly liked the pool that PADI setup so people could go scuba diving. If we do this next year we need to setup a skills course and have a few bikes on hand. After walking around I mounted up and rode on home.

While I didn't touch the dirt this weekend, I took advantage of the snowy conditions and still got on the bike and put in some good long miles. Feels good to be back. Hoping to get another ride in with Steve tonight.

DT
posted by DT at 1:04:03 PM
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Decompress  
Yesterday was a bit hectic around the office. A lot happening later in the day, meaning I had to stay late. Running out of the office and heading home for the 1+ hour commute din't help much either. By the time I got home the headache was in full effect. I had planned on riding up to the Kennedy Center to see my friend John conduct a show on the Millenium stage, but got home with no time to ride. I would of had to jump right back in the car and make the drive into DC, which at that point in time was the last thing I wanted to do. Instead I took some time to decompress and give the dog a good run around outside. Sorry I didn't make it John, but next time I'm there.

Today is much better, taking a half day so I can go to my Dad's retirement party. The man loves Maryland crab cakes (among other things), so the food should be outstanding! Also looking forward to see what he comes up with after retirement. This is his second time and I don't see him slowing down anytime soon. I still like his "I'm going to buy a barge and put a bar on it and run day trips back and forth from Assateague Island". Good stuff, maybe I could man the bar and make sure we don't run out of Dogfish Head...

DT
posted by DT at 11:50:50 AM
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Snow Ride  
Met up with Spearman last night for a 6:30pm ride at Wakefield. We were going to park in the first lot, but after a look around we were the only cars in that lot and with all the recent break-ins we decided to park by the recycling bins with all the other cars. Ended up seeing a few MORE people there, but not many. Guess the snow is keeping most people off the trails. The recent thefts have had a big impact as there was a cop sitting in his cruiser in the lot, I guess hoping to scare off would be villains.

Steve and I suited up and got ready to ride. Just before I left the house to meet him, I found a package waiting for me. Turns out the Lake MX300 Winter boots I bought used from Ed in Richmond over the weekend arrived...overnight even! Pretty impressive. So last night was their first test in the cold. While it wasn't below freezing, it was in the upper 30's and there was a couple inches of snow still on the ground.

We headed out to the snowy path that leads up and into the Bowl area. There was one track of animal prints, but nothing else. We made fresh tracks in the snow and worked our way up to the top of the hill, only to enjoy bombing back down on the other side. We looped back around on the 495 side and out of the bowl and into the race section. A couple of these areas the snow had been churned and was definitely loose going through the curves. Only lost it a few times while carving and always managed to save it just before going down. The creek trail was by far the most fun though. We managed to ride it a couple of times. The snow didn't slow us down much and we carved it up from one end to the next. Definitely a fun ride, got in about an 1:20 or so. The snow made the hills more slow and grinding, but the pain equaled pleasure tonight. My light died out, but we continued riding for another 30 minutes or so. Nothing quite like working your tail off, navigating by the reflection of the moon off the snow.

After the ride we headed out and grubbed at the 4P's, where more talks of Chiapos in '05 ensued. Sadly I won't be making it, the whole revolution thing doesn't quite fit into the wedding plans... But I am making it a point to learn more about what's going on, starting with the foundation - reading The Zapatista Reader by Tom Hayden.

DT
posted by DT at 11:32:57 AM
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Live Pixies Disc  
So last night I had intended on doing some riding in the snow at Wakefield, but it looks like it will be pushed to tonight. Last night I ended up going to the Fairfax CCT Caucas. A lot of stuff planned to go off this year. MORE is looking to adopt another section of trail, the Tamarack Park section, and although I've been doing work on it already, it would be nice to have it officially clumped in, so it's not just Lake Fairfax Park. I got the call from Scud on the way home, so it was sort of last minute. I knew about the meeting before hand, but figured they didn't need me there, but I'm glad I went. Got a chance to meet all the big players in the trails game.

Anyway, when I got home from my long commute, longer than usual with more snow falling, I grabbed the mail. The usual junk mail with a notable exception, the live Pixies CD of the Dec. 8, 2004 show at DAR that I bought was here! With an ear to ear grin, I ripped it open and turned on the stereo. My first impressions are just how clear the sound comes across. When I attended the show I was lucky to be in front row, but like I said, being in the front has certain disadvantages. The music was overpowering, in this case a good thing, but the lyrics got drowned. Listening to the CD was like hearing the show again...for the first time.

So I'm listening away making some food. While I'm eating I start checking out the CD packaging - you see, I'm what you call a packaging whore. Part of the reason I buy physical CDs instead of downloading is because I like to read liner notes, I like to hold the case in my hand and inspect every aspect, it's all about design. Imagine my surprise when inside there is a photo that stretches across both sides. Turns out it's a picture taken by Joey Santiago during his Vamos solo. Grabbed that little bit of info from the Pixiediscs.com Weblog. So who wants to see the interior photo?



Yep, that's me in all my glory wearing my bright yellow 2 Skinnee J's t-shrit. So go to CDBaby and get your copy, because there's only 1000 of this disc that's being made. And who doesn't want to own a little piece of DT...

DT
posted by DT at 1:40:55 PM
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Inauguration Day  
Thursday, Jan. 20, I took the day off of work to take part in the Critical Mass ride at 7:30am. I forwarded the email about the event out to a few people and a couple people decided to back me up, Gary, Steve, and Zach. What follows is the abreviated version. For a much longer version check out Gary's blog and for some bitchin' writing skills, check out Steve's rendition over on Singlespeed Outlaw.

Early to rise, we met in Arlington to so we could take one car into the city. We pack into Gary's truck and drive on in finding parking a few blocks before Union Station. Pull out the bikes and it's on with a quick spin to the Station. We run into a few NYC'ers who are down for the ride and point them in the right direction. When we get to the spot, lots of bikers milling around, hanging out in the cold. Zach was pulling in media attention all over, local and national, because he's a media whore, ha. More like he actually had something to say being he lives in DC, commutes by bike, and he actually knew what he was talking about and was able to make his opinions very clear. After the media frenzy, Zach decided to lead us out, not because he was the leader, but because it was getting cold just standing there. That's the beauty of critical mass - it's unorganized...it's also it's major downfall. Catch-22 I guess.

So Zach leads us out and he's following a little placard of directions that was floating around. At some point we stop for coffee and hot chocolate at the J20 Law center. Pretty cool place if you can find it. It's evident at this point that the cops aren't going to be arresting people like in years past. There were three police cars along with a couple of vans and some media trucks that were following the mass. At busy intersections we didn't even get a chance to ride through before a cruiser would rush into the intersection with sirens blaring to stop traffic for us. While some don't like the police being that involove, I'm all for not getting arrested and I feel the loudness of the police sirens actually brought more attention to us. There were a couple of wrong turns, but Zach eventually got us back on track. At one point an ass tries to go around our large group in his Mercedes on the wrong side of the road, only to have to stop at the light about 3 feet ahead of us. At that point bikers stopped directly in front of the car so he couldn't move forward. He finally was able to go left and proceeded to tear ass down a little side street. He's such a badass! It was pretty hilarious to see this guy having a coniption about not being able to drive 50 through the streets, even though half the city is shutdown for the inauguration. I'm sorry...sorry that you feel you own the streets and see only objects (obsticles) on bicycles rather than your fellow man.

After all that we finally ended up at Malcom X Park where some protests were going on. They were building the cardboard coffins and draping flags over them, pretty powerful imagery, just like those picture that got past the government censors of all the coffins being unloaded from a plane once it got back from Iraq. Lot's of people around and the wind is picking up a little. We decide to ride out to Dupont Circle and see what's going on there...turns out to be a lot of pink (CODE PINK), the Surly 1x1 fit in just fine. We decide to warm up and what better place than Krispy Kreme Donuts. Then it's back to riding in traffic. We eventually end up at RFD for some food and brews. Nothing like some 90 Minute IPA when it's cold outside, although a good barleywine was also in order.

After grubbing out, we hit traffic again. This time heading to where we heard there was some protest trouble going on. Nothing there by the time we made it, either that or the media was completely exagerating and sensationalizing some really small things...imagine that. We ended up playing derby in a few different intersections and chatting it up with people. Eventually made it over to Zach's office where we first embarrased him in front of his CEO (I swear we didn't know that's who it was, ha) and then testing the limits of his coworkers who were actually trying to get work done. We cut out just in time to make happy hour at Capital City Brewing for some more brews and some chili to keep us warm.

We tried to make the evening Critical Mass, but it looks like we missed it. We formed our own group and rode out into the evening. People dropped off and it was a pretty small group, eventually down to the four of us. We decided to head back to the truck after playing with the cops on motorcycles. Back at the truck, Zach peaces out and we pile in. Back to get my car so I can get back to Buster. Not a bad day of riding, something on order of 20+ miles, all on the mountain bike running 34x17.

Glad I was able to take part in the day's activities, even better that I had some company. If you get a chance, check out Gary's photos, he has the links up on his blog.
posted by DT at 1:17:06 PM
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Patriots Win...Again  
Sunday night I pulled out the Pista and road into DC to meet up with some friends to watch the game. I tend to forget my routes when I'm riding, usually because there is more than one way to go and don't take the time to think of the fastest route. The route I took last night had me riding straight up Connecticut Ave to Woodley Park. Let's just say I forgot how long the climb is up the avenue. At least I wasn't cold having to work hard mostly out of the saddle.

The game was pretty unexciting for the most part as the Steelers just couldn't put it together and were way behind pretty much the whole game. A little 60 Minute IPA and a few Stone IPA's, along with some Pac-Man and things were starting to look up. Some homemade chili got the blood flowing and before long, it was time to throw on the cold weather clothes again and head out into the wind. I could have taken the shorter route this time, but decided to take the longer way, the same way I came since this time it would be mostly downhill. Felt good to blast down the street, hardly any cars out and never had to slow down once. Pretty uneventful out on the roads, which at night, with the fixie, in the snow...is a good thing. Made it home safe and sound. Hoping to get out and ride some dirt, I mean snow tonight! Wonder if the MORE ride is still going off?

DT
posted by DT at 1:14:24 PM
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Rough Riding  
With the long weekend I was hoping to get in some good old dirt riding. While the ground still had a lot of moisture, with temps not rising above the low 30's, everything would be frozen solid. I really wanted to ride down in H'Burg, but with little interest from the others I decided staying local wouldn't be too bad, especially since this was to be my first back testing dirt ride. Saturday riding was out, had things to do around the house and the ground was still freezing. I instead opted to show up and ride Peter's Great Falls/Riverbend ride on Sunday. The day started off as any other except that the ride start time was 11:30am, I actually get to sleep in. Put all my stuff in the car and load up the IF. Pulling into the parking lot, I have my first mishap. The entrance to the lot is a steep down with chucks of dripped concrete to make it a little bumpy, well it turns out that although I had locked the bike in the rack, the front fork must not have been tight enough. So you guessed it, the bike falls over onto the roof of the car, no damage to the bike, but a scratch from the pedal on top of the car. Damn.

Anyway, things finally get under way and we are riding the sandy shores of Great Falls. The first section is flat and easy and then you get to the big hill climb leading to the ridge. This is less than 10 minutes into the ride. Lots of people on the ride and most are moving to an easier spinning gear, so I move to the outside and start mashing. About 4 pedal strokes from the top I hear the tell tale sign. This isn't going to be pretty...just as I reach the top there is a nice crunch. A look down just to reconfirm, yes I've folded my chainring in half. I expected this, but was hoping it would last until I found an appropriate spider. So I walked/coasted back to the car and went home. Decided to just tear the bike down and give it a good cleaning, hopefully install the cranks Arliegh hooked me with. So I set to cleaning, then I hit a snag. One of my ebb set screws is stripping. Hit up the Home Depot, but they didn't hae what I needed. Double damn. Guess I'll have to look around. A little later Gary called to see if I wanted to ride on Monday morning in Moco, MD. Hmm, well now that my bike is in pieces, stripped parts and all, what to do...oh yea, change over the wheels and front disc to the Surly 1x1 that was currently setup as a commuter rig. Easy, done, pick me up in the morning and we'll head out.

Gary picks me up and we load up and head out to ride the Seneca Greenway. After changing and making the gearing 34 instead of 44, I'm ready, except for one small thing...I forgot my clipless shoes. Damn damn damn! Oh well, at least with the Candy pedals I can wear my regular shoes.

The first mile or so is fairly flat and easy, but the farther we get, the harder the hills. The bike was holding strong as was my lungs. After a few of these hills and a couple miles in, Gary decided to call it quits and head back to the car. I continued on with the leader, Dave Magill for another couple of miles. This trail was great! It's a lot like the Fairfax CCT, except there was enough room to run the trail 20 feet high on the side of a hill. A lot of bench cutting yes, but a trail that holds up to water too. We crossed a road and headed back into the woods. We climbed what I'm guessing was the biggest climb of the day and by the top I could feel the tension in my back growing. Knowing that I have to ride the same stuff backwards, I decided to try and catch Gary heading back to the cars. He said I missed him by about 5 minutes, close, but no cigar. I did about 8 miles, so not too bad for my first real ride back on the dirt. I'm continually impressed with the workhorse that is the Surly 1x1. We hit the local Sev on the way home and warmed up. Not a bad day, just wish I had my shoes...guess it takes a little while to get back into the groove of things.

DT
posted by DT at 10:50:01 AM
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Wedding Webpage  
Well we finally created our wedding webpage through The Knot. It's got all the cutesy stuff along with the real info...who can resist.

DT
posted by DT at 10:47:49 AM
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On The Road Again  
Gary and I got out for a ride on Thursday night. I got out of work a little early and managed to get home right around 4pm, giving me plenty of time to take Buster for a jog. It's been so long since I ran that a short couple miles jog made my calf muscles start to twitch, super tight and sore now. Got home and finished wrapping my bars after Arleigh gave me some helpful tips (along with a set of Deore cranks with bottom bracket, thanks!) and decided to call Gary and see if wanted to take a quick spin. He's down and we are meeting at the caboose in Vienna in no time. I got a chance to try out my New Belgium Brewing Fat Tire Ale jersey that Kristin's parents gave me, it rocks.

So we headed out into the evening, it was already dark and my light was dead, but on the W&OD it's pretty easy to get by if your riding partner has a light and you stay together. The pavement was still wet, but the unseasonable 70 degree weather made this a super ride for getting back on the bike and stretching the legs. My back felt good and the fixie roared. We put in about 16 miles and rode for about 1:15. It's good to be back, gonna try some dirt this weekend hopefully.

In other news, surprise, Webcyclery didn't have the AC spider, just like everyone else. Supposedly you can use an LX, XT, or XTR spider, but the LX is super thick and doesn't always work and XTR is of course a weird size, 112 I think. They might make a 110, but that still doesn't help me. The XT is thinner than the LX and it's 94mm so I might give it a try, but it would be nice to know it works before buying it. Arleigh hooked me with some Deore Octalink cranks with the bottom bracket, so I'm going to put them on for now. Eventually I'm selling the whole XTR crank setup and getting something like RaceFace, once the cranks are gone, I'll have a Shimano free bike...

Anything else...oh yea, I went to my second Mat Fusion class and it's definitely getting harder. We are working all the core muscles and starting to work on balance and I'm digging it. Had my chiro appointment this morning and all is good in the world. My boy Burns sent me this today, Wedding Crashers and it looks hilarious! Anyway, a lot of stuff going on, but work has been keeping me busy. Looking forward to the long weekend, would love, absolutely love to get a Harrisonburg ride in...

DT
posted by DT at 2:07:25 PM
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Good Deals Abound  
So I've been trying to decide what I want to do with regards to my cracked chainring. Right now I've got a Jericho Spiderless ring. It's Aluminum and it cracked down by the base clear through. It's basically being held on by the lockring that backs up to it. There is definite wiggle room and that's what was throwing my chain as of late. It's pretty obvious it's going to fail soon and I'd rather not be riding when that time comes.

What I'd really like to do is buy a new crankset. I'm not entirely impressed with the XTR spline system in this particular bottom bracket and how the crank interfaces. I also don't like how the lockring that holds the spiderless ring loosens when I ride it fixie. Not very safe. So if I could afford to buy some new cranks I would, well not "if" I could afford it, but more like "if" Kristin and I weren't paying for a wedding ceremony in 7 months I'd get a new pair of cranks. Actually I'd probably be able to get 70% of the cost of new cranks by selling the XTR cranks as they are a pretty hot item. Instead, I just found an AC spider from WebCyclery for $28.

Being that I already have a Spot chainring and RaceFace bashguard that should fit that spider, this is the cheapest solution I can think of. That will at least solve my problem and have me riding again and it's cheaper than buying a new spiderless chainring by a whole lot. Then the bike will be in good shape and ready to rock, well I still have to get by City Bikes to pick up my rear brake. My thinking right now is to keep it off the bike until I really need it. Figure I've been riding for months now without it.

So with the new parts coming in sometime next week, the mountain bike is looking good. Last week I picked up a pair of Crank Brothers Candy pedals in white. While I wish they were a better color, I figure how often do you see the pedals anyway. With price matching, coupons, and sales I managed to buy the Candy pedals, a 3 pack of 700c x 19-26 road tubes, and renew my Performance membership for a total of $23, not bad. Add to that the black bar wrap I got for $5 and the Pista is going to be all ready to go after tonight. Can't wait...it had to be ready for the Inaguration Bike Ride on Jan. 20th.

DT
posted by DT at 1:10:38 PM
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Is Chiro Crap?  
Ok, so with all my back stuff going on I've started going to the chiropractor again. Gary, as I'm sure many others out there, think most of it is crap (not his words, but hey it's my blog, ha). I'm not picking on Gary or anyone else, so don't take this post as an in your face post. To those that doubt, all I can say is don't knock it until you try it. Now of course if you go to someone that says,

"I enjoy clearing up anorexia and bulimia, breast cysts, infertility, menopause, feminine discharge, PMS, male disorders, bedwetting, colic, earaches, learning disabilities, hyperactivity, parasites, swollen tonsils, teething, digestive disorders, gout, arthritis, migraines, sinus and immune disorders, acne, asthma, bladder incontinence, colds and flu, fatigue syndromes, herpes, hypoglycemia, kidney and bladder complications, lung disorders, memory loss, motion sickness, chronic skin disorders, laryngitis, warts, obesity, anxiety, depression, and insomnia on a daily basis."

then yes, that person is full of it. The chiropractor I see doesn't claim to have healing powers and has never once told me this will absolutely solve your problems. Usually it's more like I can do this to alleviate some of this, but then the ball is in your court.

It would take too long to explain all the in and outs of chiro, but suffice to say, my good friend is currently in school to be a chiropractor. He was able to disspell the myths I had accumulated in my mind. Let's see, when he is done with school, he will have 3 times more anatomy training than a doctor. So he will have 3 times the amount of schooling in what I consider a pretty significant area of being a doctor than the person that might be cutting into you...think about that one.

As far as her diagnosis being hokie...have a look at my xrays and then decide for yourself. All I can say is it's pretty noticeable - in my head I imagine a future timeline and it ends with me having a hunch back (like when Lisa gets braces on the Simpsons). Every time I've been to the chiropractor it's been for a very specific reason. First was because of an accident on the W&OD - the immigrant incident... The second was my back giving out. With the first incident I couldn't even fully turn my head to the side for over 4 weeks. After one session I could move pain free. I did have to go back a few more times to regain all my previous movement, but most of the pain was eliminated in one trip. With my recent back issue, after my first visit back to her, I was able to bend over and put my socks and shoes on, which was a pretty big step for me.

Is going to a chiropractor the answer for everyone, probably not. Is it malarky though? I would beg to differ from my personal experiences. This is coming from a person who used to think chiropractors were basically insurance fraud kings/queens and probably cause more harm than good. I also used to think yoga was for new wave nature nuts, which once again I've proved myself wrong. I figure the first visit is free, what's there to lose?

DT
posted by DT at 1:50:38 PM
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Mat Fusion  
Last night Kristin and I attended our Mat Fusion class at the Audrey Moore Rec Center (Wakefield). Definitely a good time, way better than sitting in front of the television melting away. Mat Fusion is supposed to be a combination of yoga and Pilates, which gave Kristin the idea we would be doing more posture type of moves (I think I know what posture moves are...when you do those funny stances and then hold them forever), but in essence it was mostly stretching out the core muscles and working them specifically.

We focused on keeping our abs tight the entire class. I was surprised when after our warm up and got into the thick of things, it seemed like a lot of the things we were doing were things I used to do when I played soccer in high school. Except for soccer we tried to do things uber fast and never concentrated on breathing and things were always followed by a sprint. Anyway, I was totally shocked when doing one of the moves my abs started violently shaking. Ok, not violently shaking, but definitely trembling. Proves to me my core muscles are serious lacking - and you would think the spare tire that has grown around my buddha would have been a good indication, ha.

So yea, it was a great workout and I learned a lot of stuff that I can easily do at home. Kristin found the class to be super easy, but she has taken full on yoga classes before, so she's ahead of the game as I see it. I even was asked if I'm a dancer, because I'm so flexible (her words, not mine - I would disagree). I'm looking forward to the next 10 weeks of class. I think I'll come away from this in much better shape, muscles will be toned (if I can drop some of this weight), and more mentally relaxed.

Only thing that pissed me off was outside of class. I saw a flyer for Accotink Night Nature Hikes. WTF! Granted, it's entirely possible they stick to the trail around the creek, but I doubt it. How can you have FCPA leading night time nature hikes, but not allow a single mountain bike night ride for a 6 month pilot period. Give me a break. You know, if you don't like mountain biking then just come out and say it.

If you live around Accotink and your complaining that people are actually using the trails, then take the money and run. Sell your place to the highest bidder and make that money. Lots of people would kill to live right up against one of the most popular parks in northern VA.

For the most part I hold the FCPA in high esteem, they have a hell of a job to do and they get it done. But I feel like there are a lot of uninformed decisions that get made, without any scientific background. I'm done ranting, it just pisses me off sometimes.

DT
posted by DT at 1:25:45 PM
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Off To A Good Start!  
Last year was a good year, ended bad with the back thing, but this year has already started as another good year. Back is starting to feel better, I managed to get a ride in with Kristin, I'm eating healthier - lots more fruits, veggies, and fiber (celery is my new favorite snack), and tonight is my first time at trying a new activity - Mat Fusion (also known as yoga, ha).

For the next eleven Wednesdays, Kristin and I will be taking a yoga class, once a week, for 55 minutes. I'm looking forward to this as I've wanted to try yoga for a long time now, but was always so busy I never got around to it. Since our winter has been more like spring this year (warm and wet), gotta figure now is a good time to start up. Also, I'll still be able to make it to any of the MORE group night rides if I choose.

Ok, gotta find a yoga mat for tonight.

DT
posted by DT at 10:10:12 AM
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2nd Annual New Years Ride  
For the second year in a row, Kristin and I went out for a bike ride on the first day of the new year. I obviously haven't ridden anything since my back went out just before Christmas, so this was a good ride. The day was perfect, sunny and about 65 degrees. I pulled out the pink 1x1 and Kristin's Giant Boulder, both setup with mountain biking tires, even though we would only be riding on the road. I have the 1x1 setup in a very upright position, which I figured would be better for my back than being bent over on the fixie.

We headed out and decided to cruise around our neighborhood. We managed to string the streets together without riding the same rides too often. All together we did about an hours worth of easy riding. The back held up well, but I could feel it a little on some of the longer hills. A feeling that would probably be compounded when riding up technical singletrack, so I'm not quite ready for off-road just yet.

It was a beautiful day for a beautiful ride with my beautiful soon to be wife, doesn't get much better than that!

DT
posted by DT at 9:48:12 AM
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Back It Up!  
So I got into the Chiropractors office on Friday, Dec. 30, 2004. Managed to get in just before the new year. After checking out my back the verdict is in, I've lost the curve in my lower back. It was probably a combination of many things, but the major contributing factor was my 80 mile round trip commute that started mid September. Why would this be a problem? Well I broke the lower lumbar support piece that's inside my seat a while back, so it's now flat there. This means I'm spending at least an additional 2 hours of my day sitting in a bad position. Time to remedy - I'm borrowing one of those back cushions for lumbar support from Dr. Kathy's office.

Dr. Kathy set my spine straight, but said the trick will be to get the spine to take on it's natural curve again. So the plan right now is to go get adjusted two more times, hopefully each time being easier than the last. This will give the muscles a chance to relax their hold. Then on Jan. 21, 2005, I'll start Fulcrum Training. I think most people know what a fulcrum is, the idea being that I will somehow use a fulcrum to regain the curve in my back.

The difference between before going to see the chiropractor and after is amazing. I can pretty much move pain free, with the only limitation being heavy lifting. While I can lift most stuff, the feeling of stress in the lower back is there and I'm not trying to push it too hard.

DT
posted by DT at 9:27:52 AM
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