Current state of things

Okay, I've been lax about posting, but I'm turning over a new leaf as of today. IndiaHippy is back which is a blessing and a relief. Also a cause for concern because now the he's all fixed up, the guy's gonna be ON it when it comes to going fast, it's one of those things you know will happen, like an earthquake or a thunderstorm. That's a great thing though and I know we're all pulling for him to be back out there with us on the two wheeled sweat machine.

I was calculating my drive to work and the current high price of gas. I drive 21 miles one way, which is just about what my truck gets per gallon of gas. With that in mind, commuting one day saves me $5.60 at current price! I'm planning on riding to work and back 3 times a week as it's my easy ride between suffering days on the Hellclimb and the Thursday night oney ride. I figure I'll save $16.80 a week. I feel it's the only way I can fight back. Plus I hope the extra mileage will mean more speed, endurance or whatever on the race course.

The early season turnouts have been small for the Hellclimb, but I guess it's somewhat expected this time of year. I can say I've missed two which is unusual for me, but both have involved some kind of mishap. Broken car one day, and flu recovery another. Who the hell expects to get the flu this late in the year? I 've been lucky this entire offseason and hadn't caught even a cold until last Friday. That was a miserable deal for sure. The last time I had hurled was a few years ago, and my body had kind of forgotten the biomechanics involved it seemed. Oh well, everything has a bright side and the weight loss that came with this is welcomed. I lost 5 lbs due to not eating anything but an egg for 72 hours, so I guess I can't complain. Worst part was that it was tough to even drink water, and I appear to be ruined on coffee. I still can't take a sip of it and it's been almost a week, what's up with that?.

Since it's now race season, I sure hope you guys will send your race results in so I can put it up on here. I'll make a post with some of our Gang's results as soon as I gather them. I know of a few I want to look at and make sure I get them right before I put them up. I'm also going to post everybody's team affiliations so that we all know. There have been some changes.

Well I have been remiss for not posting much lately, but I've been so damn busy I haven't had time. First, for anybody who hasn't been keeping track of Indiahippy, our man in Asia, be sure to check out his blog www.indiahippy.blogspot.com. Very cool watching him get fixed up so he can come back and kick all our asses AGAIN....

The Hellclimb's coming along nicely so far this year. I've been trying to think of a previous season when we were doing the whole route by the first week or two of April and I just can't remember ever doing it. This bodes well for the season. Last week was great, a good turnout and nice to see the Sons of the Hellclimb come out and blow our doors off going up Lookout. Actually, Indiahippy Jr was kind enough to give myself and a couple other old farts a push up the early part of the climb.

Another fun thing to see was Deadly Fredly blast ahead at the beginning of the Gennessee loop then miss the turnoff for the back section. Mississippi G and I were yelling to get his attention, but he was in a zone and didn't hear us at all. Didn't see him again until we were descending Lookout. That's what he gets for ripping that climb and dropping us. He'll think twice about doing that again.

There was one thing that happened that made me wish I'd packed my camera. As Danaco, Mississippi and I were ascending Paradise Hills Rd a big herd of Elk ran down the hill, crossed the road in front of us and leaped the guardrail on the other side. I wish I could post a picture of it here. I need to pack that thing, but it seems like alot to bring along on a ride as hard as the Hellclimb. Guess I'd better get tough and do it.

The weather is supposed to be crappy tomorrow for the ride, hope they're wrong....