The blog without a name?

19 Credit Hours

2009-09-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

The school year has started and I am taking 19 credit hours. We will just have to wait and see to see if the blog survives.

Summer!!!

2009-05-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Summer has arrived, and the blog is alive. Stay Tuned for more updates soon.

NAHMBS 2009

2009-03-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Mik Teibs (Mike Teiber) and myself drove up to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 5th annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show. The craftsmanship that was on display was just unbelievable. The best pictures just cannot do it justice. One of the reasons for this trip is that I am in the market for a new XC bicycle frame, and as many of you know I require a custom frame due to my tall body. The intent of going to the show was to narrow down my choices. Before going to the show I had 3 choices. Needless to say that did not work very well because I now have about 7 different manufactures that I am looking at. Although I will probably end up getting a bike from Kent Eriksen of Eriksen Cycles. I will post some pictures a bit later.

Long Time No Blog-Toes Froze at Froze Toes

2009-02-27T21:51:00.000-08:00

So it's been a while since I have last updated my blog, well a while might be an understatement. A lot has happened over the past month or so, so I will try to catch you up on the important events. There are 3 events that I will touch on. First of all, school has started back up. We are 5 weeks in right now and it has provided me with enough of a challenge to keep me interested, but leave me with enough time to have a life.
Cycling, now that is an interesting topic for me to write about right now, mostly because I would only be writing about training this time of year. The only races that are going on right now are road races, which I do not compete in, well that was true until last weekend. I have entered the dark side of bicycle racing. I raced in the my first ever road race last sunday. The name of the race was Froze Toes, and I have to say that after 31 miles of freezing windy temperatures, my toes were indeed froze. I ended up averaging a little over 18 miles per hour. I am happy with that for my first road race.
Moving on, as some of my readers know that last year around this time I volunteered for the 100 Acre Wood Rally in Salem, Missouri, and that is where I am again. Today I was a course marshal, which basically means that we block a road with our car and tell the people that the road is closed for an auto race, and that they have to keep back and even then there are in danger because all auto racing is dangerous. Blah Blah. The real reason I am marshaling is so I don't have to watch the race from the spectator points. It provides great photo opportunities. However they position you at your location so you can't go where you want to go. This year we were at a straight where they were passing us upwards of 130 miles per hour on a gravel road. So here are the photos that I took from day 1. The 4th photo down is Dave Mirra. He used to be a pro BMX rider. He was the first to do a double back flip on a BMX bike.

Restaurant, I think not

2009-01-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine has been telling me about this amazing Chinese restaurant that she goes to. She has been going on and on about this place for weeks, so I decided that it was time to give it a go. I met her up at her house to go to this "restaurant." Upon arrival I was informed that this restaurant was in a Dierburgs, but it was still the best Chinese food in St. Louis. At this point in time I am thinking that this place it going to be a place like Supersmokers was in the front of the store, but no, wrong again. In the car I was informed that this place really didn't have any tables and chairs, and I began to be a bit suspect of a restaurant without any tables or chairs, but I was assured that it was going to be great. Coming up to the Dierbergs I ask "where in Dierbergs is this?" What I was told next shocked me, the "restaurant" that I was going to was located close to the deli counter. At this time I realize that the wool has been pulled over my eyes. We get there and shocked I find that this Chinese restaurant is not only near the deli counter, but an extension of the deli counter, so the question remains, Restaurant or not, I think not.

Colorado

2008-12-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

After finals I decided to take a little road trip with Zak to Cyclocross Nationals in Kansas City, but that is not a road trip, so we decided to hit up Colorado to meet Ian to go skiing. We arrived in Kansas City Saturday, so Zak could pre-ride the course. Sunday morning we woke up to get to the race in time for Zak to warm up. We arrived and met up with our new Coach, Adrienne Murphy. She is on top of things. Zak suffered through the race but managed to get 27th out of 42. I pre-rode the course and decided that I ought to get a cross bike. I think I will enjoy racing cross.

After he got done we got on the road to head out to Golden, Colorado to stay the night with a friend from Lindenwood. It was awesome to have a place to stay for the night. On the way through Denver on I-70 the roads were horrible, It was literally like an ice rink. We woke up at 6:00AM to get to Keystone to get Zak's rental skis and lift tickets. We ended up getting skis and hitting the slopes in Keystone around 9:00AM. We skied until Zak decided he needed bigger boots, so be the nice guy that I am I went back to car and we drove to the rental place to exchange his boots. We got back to the slopes to ski the rest of the afternoon.

Today we went snowmobiling and had a blast. We rented to Polaris 600 snowmobiles. I got stuck once, but Zak got stuck twice. There is nothing quite like the feeling of making fresh tracks in 5 feet of snow. Tomorrow we will head back home to St. Louis. I could stay here forever. There is nothing like the beauty of the mountains.

New Hoops

2008-12-06T00:57:00.000-08:00

I spent most of this evening lacing up my new 29er wheels. I was breaking spokes frequently due to a funky lace pattern, so I decided to lace this set up standard 3 cross. What is out of the ordinary for MTB wheels is the spoke that I used, Sapim CX-Ray spokes. These spokes are some of the lightest spokes on the market, and the amazing thing is that they are the strongest spokes on the market. They are slightly bladed spokes, the same ones that Zipp uses. I used my old Chris King Hubs, and Mavic TN719 disc rims. This wheels built up awesome. They weighed in at a modest 1850 grams for the pair, which is respectable considering that they are 36 hole rims.

Later on tonight Mike Teiber and I decided to go check out Hidden Valley because we heard that they were blowing snow. We brought a sled with us just in case. Well sure enough there was a solid 12 inch base, perfect for sledding. All in all it was a good night.

Ray's MTB Pictures

2008-11-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

It's been a while

2008-11-16T16:13:00.001-08:00

It has been a very long time since I have updated my blog. I got a new car, a black Saab 9-3 Aero. I went to Ray's Indoor MTB park in Cleveland, Ohio. I just raced the Suson Park cross race.

For those of you who haven't heard of Ray's Indoor MTB park, it is a old warehouse with all sorts of cycling to be done. Most of it is geared towards the freeride or jump crowd, however they do have an XC loop. There are all sorts of jumps and wall rides.

On an early Friday morning Mike Gibson, Mike Teiber, Barry Hughes and I all met up at Mike Teiber's house to depart for Cleveland. We loaded up the Saab for its maiden road trip. It did quite well and we even averaged 20mpg with four bikes on the roof, four people, and a full trunk. I was impressed. Out of our group Barry was the only person who had not been to Ray's. We arrived at Ray's Friday night just in time for the night session. We rode and all had a great time.

I just raced today at Bubba #5. I just about died. I really thought I wasn't going to be able to finish, but that darn "Pfoodman" made me finish. He said I would be disappointed if I did not finish and he would have been right. I also thank Cody for riding behind me pushing me, as well as Boz. And everyone else who cheered for the guy on the big bike.

I will post some more pictures of Ray's later.

Grandparents

2008-09-10T20:54:00.001-07:00

My grandparents are amazing. My Grandma is the sweetest lady I have ever met. Every thing she does is for other people. I don't think she has a mean bone in her body. I remember one time about 10 years ago when she took me to IHOP and she poured syrup in her coffee instead of cream. I don't know what made it so funny, but we laughed for hours. My Grandpa, who I call Papa is awesome. He has survived 3 heart attacks and is still kicking. He is 91 years old. He always used to take me to the Museum of Transportation. I love them both so much.

Collegiate MTB racing.

2008-09-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

I have almost completed 3 weeks of college already. I have competed in two collegiate MTB races. Time really goes fast.

The first race was at Mizzou. I got 11th place out of 18 people entered in the XC race on Saturday, and the Short track scoring was all messed up but I got somewhere in-between 5th and 7th.

The second race was at Illinois. I was working on my bike in the stand and my avid matchmaker just snapped off. I didn't really know what to do so I pulled off both of my shifters and limited out my derailer to my highest gear in the rear cassette. I was going to run single speed. What a mistake. I tortured myself on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's race went ok with the exception of going over the bars on one of the downhills. I got 25th out of 3.Sundays race was a different story, it was muddy and exhausting. I finished 3rd, but it was 3rd from last. The good news is despite my fitness not being there and running singlespeed I was still able to finish both races. A good friend (Ralph) once told me that there is never an excuse for not finishing a race. I kept this in my head the whole time racing.

Move In

2008-08-20T15:59:00.000-07:00

So tonight will be my first night in my dorm room. I have gotten everything settled and am felling pretty good about the whole college experience. I was a little apprehensive at first though. I brought some wall decoration from home to make my room feel a little more home like. I wonder if my roommate knows what Beretta is? I think it will be a good experience for me.

My roommate is a cross country runner from St. Genevieve, Missouri. He seems like a pretty cool guy. I think we will get along just fine. As nervous as I am about the whole living on my own thing, I know it will be good for me.

R.I.P. LeRoi Moore

2008-08-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

Dave Matthews Band will always have a place in my heart. DMB is what first got me excited about music. They had this uncanny ability to make me listen to all the parts of the music individually as well as a whole. I soon realized after listening to them that music is more than a bunch of sounds put together. It is a way of self expression, an extension of ones self. For that reason the Dave Matthews Band remains one of my favorite bands.

I keep up on DMB news fairly regularly. So as some of you may have know the bands saxophonist, LeRoi Moore was in an ATV accident in early June. He was seriously injured but recovering well. He recently returned home to L.A. where he was set to begin rehabilitation, when he was forced to return to the hospital for unforeseen complications. He died Tuesday afternoon.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend one of LeRoi Moore's last shows at Busch Stadium. As usual he was amazing. I am not your stereotypical DMB fan, but still enjoy there live shows.

Tubeless Update

2008-08-12T01:54:00.001-07:00

Ok, so about 15 minutes after my last post my tire deflated. I guess it needs sealant, but there wont be any of that for me, at least for now. It is time to stick a tube back in and go ride. I had an awesome ride at Castlewood today. It was one of hose ride where everything meshed perfectly.

Tubeless?!?!?!?!?!

2008-08-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

The tubeless bug has hit me full force. I was bored and I and decided to do a tubeless experiment, because I wouldn't actually run tubeless on the only bike that has tubeless rims, my urban bike. To get to the point I didn't want to buy sealant, so I just took out the tube, put in a valve stem and aired it up, no sealant. To my surprise the tire seated and didn't appear to be leaking. I was amazed. I aired it up at 11:15 and it is almost 12 and It is still holding air. It doesn't appear to have leaked much. It has already exceeded my expectations. I will let you know what happens in the morning

What to believe?

2008-07-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

I am a highly impressionable a 18 year old, born and raised Republican, listening to right wing media. So I am naturally inclined to vote republican in the upcoming election, but I am trying to breakaway and find what I truly believe in. And the more and more I do, the more and more I hear one thing said and then the complete opposite. Nobody seems too really stand for what they believe, or at least let anybody know what they really believe, just what people want to hear at the time. So it makes me feel that to get the real deal you have to go ask the candidate yourself, cutting out everybody that puts spin on what you hear, and even then is what you get truthful?

I am alive.

2008-07-11T20:41:00.001-07:00

I am alive, but in an extraordinary amount of pain. Two of the teeth they removed were impacted. I am sore and tired so this is all for today.

Wisdom Teeth

2008-07-10T21:56:00.002-07:00

Well tomorrow is the day I am having all 4 wisdom teeth removed. I am nervous as a tick. If nerves could talk this post would be multiple pages. I do not like being out of control of my body. The thought of anaesthesia scares me. I am not looking forward to this but I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow.

3 Laps of fun

2008-07-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight was my first dirt crit race. I was out of town for the first two and was anxiously awaiting the third dirt crit race. Well today I had a long day of work and was contemplating not going to the race, well I am glad I went. It was the best race I have every been to. It was a blast.

I arrived at the race unprepared, and nervous. Unaware of what to expect, I set my expectations low. I planed on getting last or second to last. I got to the start after some confusion about the time of the start. I was unaware that the B class and C class rode together. Anyway I got to the starting line and my stomach was full of butterflies. I sat there for two minutes after the b's took of. That two minutes seemed like ten. Then out of the blue 3...2....1...go!!!!. And we were off. I believe there was 24 of us and we were two rows deep at the start. We were off and then we funneled into a chute and got single file. I did not realize how critical the start was coming off of the line. I laid back in mid-pack not wanting to hold anybody up in the front. The first two laps went great, stayed in position for the most part, but on the third lap there was a guy in front of me that I could of caught if a put some more effort into it, but I didn't want to bonk and I was felling close, so I slowly picked up the pace narrowing the gap between us. I was coming up to the field getting closer and closer to him. Then I realized I could catch him if I turned up the gas through the field. Well my rear end slid out on a grass turn and I caught it in time to remain upright but lost all of my momentum. At this point I realize I won't catch him, but I just kept trucking through to the finish. Stick a fork in me, I was done. I wanted to go another lap just to see if I could of caught the guy in front of me but I would have needed a magic boost to make it another lap. I had a great race. I finished mid-pack, which is where I started but that was great for me. It is my best finish yet. I was stoked.

As I sit hear analyzing the race, there were 4 things I will do better next time. I need to push a little harder, work on better gearing, get towards the front in the start, and set my expectations higher.

I had a great time. Huge thanks goes out to Ralph Pfremmer for restating an amazing series, Eric Schuck and Mike Gibson putting on a great race, and everybody else who helped out. Thanks a lot guys. See you next week.

39.8 degrees

2008-06-18T14:03:00.001-07:00

Our family has had a house in Northern Michigan for many generations, and I have gone there ever summer of my life. Michigan is a magical place for me, and I love it when I get a chance to share if with other people. This year is one of those years that I am able to. I invited my friend Zak to join us. So we departed for Michigan monday morning and arrived monday night. It is about a 640 mile drive. So as you can imagine you are relived when you finally get to your destination. We unpacked and went to sleep. Our house is on Lake Michigan and we love to swim in the lake, but it has been colder then usual this year so the lake is freezing. Well our first day was rainy. We went to town and did some shopping. Today was sunny and cold. I decided I wanted to go jump into the lake, but not alone. I coaxed Zak and my sister, Katherine into jumping with me. We decided we were all going to jump together. Well the anticipation was killing Zak, so he went. He was out of that water so fast. Then we all finally jumped in at the same time. It was freezing, not quite but close, 39.8 degrees according to coastwatch. What a way to instantly awake you, no need for coffee.

2008-06-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

This looks like America to me, but I wish it didn't. I took this photo at an observation area at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What do you see in this picture? I see a parking lot full obese people, drinking out of there McDonalds cups smoking cigarettes. It disgust me. I am not one to talk, as I am not a very green person, but I don't litter. Ask anybody if they have ever seen me litter. I will go out of my way to not litter, for example when taking out the trash at the shop on a windy day sometimes something might fall of the top and I wont watch it blow away I will go get it.

Now I don't smoke and I think it is discussing but if you do please dispose of your cigarette butts properly. Traditional butts are made of “synthetic polymer cellulose acetate” and never degrade. Did you know that it takes a minimum of 5 years in good conditions for a cigarette butt to turn into something that you can't see. It's not gone you just can't see it. Keep that in mind next time you flick one out the window at me. Over a billion (1,000,000,000) cigarette butts are littered everyday worldwide.

5.8

2008-06-04T22:37:00.002-07:00

I went to Upper Limits Rock Gym tonight and set a new personal record by climbing a 5.8 route clean. It felt awesome because last time I was there I spent about 30 mins on that same route and could not get it.

Graduation's

2008-06-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

So it is the season for graduations, you know those ceremonies that are often long and drawn out. I went to two of them this year. I went to Marquette High School's graduation as well as Milwaukee School of Engineering's graduation. I flew into Milwaukee last thursday and stayed until Sunday. The first two nights I stayed in my friend Por's dorm room. The last night I stayed at his friends Robert's house. It was great because I got to see all of Por's family from Thailand. I ate a lot of Thai food that weekend. I enjoyed seeing all of them. I hadn't seen them since was in Thailand last May. Anyway I am glad I am done with graduations for the year.

Chubb Trail

2008-05-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

On tuesday afternoon I went out for a ride on the Chubb Trail with Mike Teiber. If was a tough ride for me. Well when I arrived Mike was all ready to go, until he gave himself a flat airing is tire up. This gave me some time to get some stuff together. I got my stuff together and set my helmet on top of Mikes car. When Mike was done changing the tube I grabbed m helmet and rode off. Well about halfway through the ride I reached in my back jersey pocket to double check that my wallet was still there, well it wasn't. I told myself that I must have left it in the car and kept riding. I got finished riding and went back to the car, while Mike met up for another lap with Pfoodman and his crew.

I got back to the car and I could not find my wallet anywhere, so I assumed it must be in Mike's car. I did a lot of praying while I waited for Mike. He finally came back and I said "open your car I think I left my wallet in there. Well I didn't. So we set off on foot to look for my wallet until dark. We headed back to the car with no wallet. When we got off the trailhead we were met by a spotlight from a park ranger. He said "you have to leave." I told him I was looking for my wallet and he said "well I am on a tight schedule, so move your cars outside the park so I can lock the gate and then walk back in. I don't care if you come back in I just have to lock the gate."

I followed Mike out of the park where we tore my car apart and still didn't find my wallet. It was getting late so we decided it was a lost cause, but I said "wait, did you check my roof" Mike said "yah." I said "how about yours" he said "yah." I am taller then him and he has an SUV with a roof rack. When I remembered that I left my helmet up there before the ride, I told him to wait, let me take one more look. So he hops up on his door sill so he is at my height and low and behold, there is my wallet. It was in the tray of his bike rack. Thank god. I needed it as I was flying up to Milwaukee on thursday, for my friends graduation. Thank god.

Nice People, They do Exist

2008-05-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I headed down to Pacific, MO to watch a friends kickboxing fight. I do not know the area very well so I printed off directions. Well I arrived in the small town of Pacific and the directions took me across a railroad track. The problem was when I got there there was a stopped train blocking the road, so I turn around and ask this guy in a Ford F-150 if he knew the way around and he said take so and so street. I said that I didn't know the area, and he said follow me. So I followed this nice man across a bridge a few blocks down the road, and he pulled over and asked where my final destination was. He said I will take you to the road and head on my way. I said thank you very much and went on my way. I thought to myself, nice people still exist. This man went out o his way to help a kid find his way.

Anyway I watch his fight and others and will most likely never go to a fight again. This was the first time I have ever seen somebody get knocked out cold an collapse, thankfully not my friend. It was is first time in the ring and stayed with it the whole time. He kept his head up fighting through the pain. The sound of the breathing and the contact was just too much. Any way, thank you god for nice people.

100 Acre Wood Rally

2008-05-14T21:13:00.001-07:00

100 Acre Wood Rally.

50 Miles

2008-05-14T20:55:00.001-07:00

I did my first 50 mile ride on Monday. It was a great ride. It had 3082 ft of climbing. We went down Clayton-109-100-Pond-Rieger-Wild Horse Creek-Hardt-St Albans-100-Fox Creek-Allenton-(Brown-Hunters Ford-Sheerin-Hornecker-Wengler)- Allenton-100-Holloway- Kehrs Mill

It was a good ride

(loop in Pacific)

Chief Wana Dubie Part 2

2008-05-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

So if you are reading this you probably know me well enough to know that I will go out of my way for some silly things. Well this is just one of those instances. At this time all I know about Chief Wana Dubie is that he lives in Salem, Missouri, looks like a 60-year-old hippie, and has some political views that are way out.

The logical person that I am, I decide to click the “contact Chief” link at the bottom of the page. The email I sent Chief went something like this,

“Hello Chief Wana Dubie, I have been researching your political views, I am very inclined to vote for you. I would love to meet you sometime so we could discuss political issues. I will in Salem, Missouri next weekend for the 100 Acre Wood Rally. I was wondering if he would be in town? Let me know. Thanks, Justin

So I anxiously wait for a return email. He sends me a return email saying, “Yes, I will be in town, give me a call at ***-***-****. I of course give Chief Wana Dubie a call, trying to seem genuinely interested. I ask him a couple of questions about political views, and ask him what he would like to be called. He told me to just call him Chief and to call him when I get to Salem, Missouri,

Fast forwarding to my drive down to Salem with Josh Hafner I told him I wanted to meet Chief Wana Dubie, and he responded with “WHY”. I told him my motives and he said we will have to see if we have time. I have a great race weekend and it is the last day and I remind Josh that I want to meet Chief. Josh responds with, “O.K. but I am not going out of my way” I immediately give Chief a call and we decide to meet at the 5^th street bar in Salem, Missouri, which was within walking distance from the awards ceremony that night. The only problem is that Chief thinks I am older than I am. So I call him up and tell him that I am out side of the bar and to meet me outside, explaining that I am not old enough to enter. I am still wondering if he is even in the bar, but wait, here he comes.

He was wearing a brimmed hat and a long fringed leather coat. I walk up and introduce myself and he introduces himself. I start asking him about things and we get on the topic of marijuana. He tells josh and I how the government tried to poison all of the hippies in the 70’s by lacing the marijuana with a number of dieses. I then ask him about whether or not Chief Wana Dubie was he legal name, knowing that it was. He pointed to the building to the left, mind you we are in a small town, and said “last year in that building my name was changed legally to Chief Wana Dubie. He then whips out his drivers license and shows me and low and behold it says Chief Wana Dubie. He is only 49 years old. I was shocked. That was my experience with Chief Wana Dubie.

What's going on?

2008-05-14T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hey I just wanted to let everybody know that am going to be updating more frequently. I have been accepted to Cornell College. I was also given a great opportunity to attend Lindenwood University. I will inform you all when I decide which college I will be attending.

Chief Wana Dubie?

2008-03-06T21:48:00.000-08:00

I never know how to start these entries so I am going to dive right in. One day my dad came home from work and told me about this guy he read about in the RFT at lunch. He told me that he wanted to be the Libertarian candidate for Governor of Missouri, but the Libertarian Party sent back his money and said "we don't want you to represent our party". I laughed and in my boredom looked him up later that night. I did a little research on him and found out some interesting things. I thought about including a picture of him but I have decided to let you and your imagination formulate your own image.
With the exception of being Anti-War, Chief Wana Dubie has what would generally be considered conservative viewpoints. He supports the legalization for Marijuana, which I personally believe is the whole reason he is running for Governor of Missouri.
Physically Chief Wana Dubie looks like a 60 year old hippy, that was stuck in the 70's. He has a tattoo of a marijuana leaf on his forehead which he received in prison in 1998. He was in jail for drug related charges. He has long scraggly hair and favors a worn out brimmed hat. After doing this research and seeing his picture I decided that I wanted to meet Chief Wana Dubie. I wanted a picture of me and him for my facebook profile page. But I really wanted to ask him some questions. So on went my quest to meet Chief Wana Dubie.

Still Waiting

2008-03-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

I still have not heard back from Cornell College. I am waiting anxiously for the mail everyday. I will let you know when I get the letter.

College visits

2007-09-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

I am now starting to visit colleges. I am looking to major in business at a small college. I went on my first college visit to Cornell College. I loved it! I am definitly going to apply there. They have a very interesting program. You only take one course at a time, so that way you don't have to juggle homework between classes. You finish a class in 3 1/2 weeks and then you get a four day break. There are 9 blocks each year. If you take all 9 you will finish your degree in 3 1/2 years. I think I will take one block off each year and finish my degree in 4 years. Cornell is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The location is less then satisfing, so i am going to look at Colorado College in 2 weeks. Colorado College is the only other college in the United States that has a block scedule like Cornell College. I will let you know what Colorado College is like.

My first entry!!

2007-09-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

I now have a blog.