hardtailforlife

A standard night at Karaoke

2008-04-14T17:14:00.001-07:00

Going strictly by percentages, this is disturbing news...

In a Yale University and Indiana University study of 280 heterosexual, university-aged men and women, subjects were asked to arrange 280 photos of fully clothed women into four categories: friendly, sexually interested, sad or rejecting.

Men who viewed images of friendly women mistakenly labelled 12 per cent of those images as sexually interested. Women got it wrong 8.7 per cent of the time.

But both men and women fared even worse at realizing when women were sexually interested. Men mistakenly interpreted 37.8 per cent of the "sexually interested" images as "friendly," while women mislabeled about 32 per cent of those images.

It has already been proven (Don will confirm) that if I talk to 10 women in an evening, 1 will be married and 2 will be too old (their words). Now, subtract the 4-5 female friends that are dating someone or have said they have no interest in dating friends. That leaves 1/3 of the women that I talk to that may be potentially available. Yet 1/3 of the "friendly" conversations that I have are actually from "sexually interested" women.

Thus, anyone I talk to that is not already a friend is sexually interested. Hmmmm...this changes my entire life outlook...

See the article here

If anyone has access to the actual journal article, please send it my way.

In other news, I have a tax refund coming my way...Hello new Bike!!!

Best reason to ride for 24 hours.

2008-03-28T19:31:00.001-07:00

I'm surprised this wasn't designed by Spikey Hair Will, but the 24 hours of Great Glen is LOLCATZed out. Plus it's on my birthday...Will Charlie kill me if I do this 2 weeks before Allamuchy?

Jesus walks into an inn...

2008-03-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

he gives the innkeeper 3 dollars and 3 nails and says, "Can you put me up for the night?" The best crucifixion joke until now...though nontechnically not a joke, Filipino's love being crucified.

Awesome video games

2008-03-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

After trying my hand at Not Pron a few years ago, I thought I had discovered a great (though impossible) game. However, my mind has been blown away by Crayon Physics Deluxe. Now all I need to do is find where it's available.

Read the article at Slate.

It's been a month...better write a post.

2008-02-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

Too sleepy for an actual post, so this will suffice...

Insurance

2008-01-16T14:37:00.000-08:00

Well, after 15 days of playing with power tools without insurance, I can now cut my fingers off and get them reattached (for the mere price of 1500 (my deductible). I don't want to get into a huge mess about healthcare at the moment; Suffice to say that I am happy to have it. Also, I have huge plans in the works to change the system. More on that later.

Why it should (almost) snow every day.

2008-01-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

Everyday, we hear about the world and the US economy. Recently, the news has been rather grim. Murder in Pakistan, Riots in Kenya, US Headed for Recession; not a good time to be alive. But, as Bart Simpson told us, "Snow covers all". He was wrong (remember the melted Christmas tree under the snow), but he was close. It's not the actual snow that covers all, it's the thought of snow. I watched the news last night and two important things happened. First, the Giants beat the Cowboys. Second, the tri-state area was bracing for the Storm of the Century. From watching the news I learned that state employees were called back from vacation and not permitted to take sick days so that the snow (read: rain) could be cleared away. However, no one was shot, no one was raped, nothing happened in Iraq, and nothing happened anywhere else in the world. That's right snow covered all.

A few days ago, Hillary Clinton started shouting about an economic stimulus package (strangely similar to the exact same thing that John Edwards proposed over a month ago without waiting to hear the Fed Chairman speak about threats of a recession. Hmmmm). What Hillary should have shouted was "Oh my God. It's gonna snow!!" Why? Because that is how you stimulate the economy. Have you ever been to the food store on a day when snow is predicted? It's as if people are planning to be locked inside for a month. The other shoppers remind me of the Y2K freaks stocking up their bunkers. It's gonna snow 6 inches, you don't need to buy 10 gallons of water. You also don't need 8 loaves of bread. People buy in quantities that you don't even see at Costco. One person on the news was buying a 30 pack of popcorn "just in case they needed a snack". I can understand hitting up the liquor store like there's no tomorrow because, hey, snow days are like Homecoming...You can start drinking at breakfast.

On choosing a candidate.

2008-01-09T16:55:00.001-08:00

While I have often scoffed at the prospect of choosing a candidate based merely on electability and not issues, I do see a bit of reason. In the Republican primaries, we are seeing lots of voting based on electability. This makes sense, since the candidates are pretty crappy. Huckabee is horrible for America and is only doing well because of the "I'd like to have a beer with that fella" crowd that also loved George Bush. His "Fair tax" consumption tax plan doesn't consider the huge growth of a black market if his consumption tax takes effect. McCain, if elected, will die in office. Romney can't get enough evangelical voters to the polls to win a national election. Giuliani won't make it to a national election because the moral, values voters don't want a pro-choice married 3 times president.

On the Democrat side of the fence, the top 3 are all electable. All of them stand the same on most issues with slight deviation. This deviation is meaningless, however, since any plan will still have to go through congress to be approved. So if Clinton wants to spend 1 billion more than Edwards or Obama to combat global warming, it doesn't matter. They are all willing to throw money at the right issues, but the final amount of money and the minute details of the law would be decided in Congress anyway. So. if you are voting for a democrat, vote for who will get other countries to like us most. I am now officially apathetic about the democratic primary.

No work today.

2008-01-03T10:24:00.000-08:00

It was too cold to work today. I'm not talking about how I would've frozen my fingers and toes off because that is work through-able. I'm talking about the earth being frozen and digging with a shovel impossible. It was like trying to chip ice with a toothpick.

Paperwork day, I guess.

Our Democratic Process

2008-01-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

If you live in the USA, do not read this. It is unnecessary for you to read since you already know about the democratic process. HOwever, I have a friend in some ass-backwards, third world, non-democratic country who wanted to see how our system works.

Gail Collins fills in the blanks:
"Tonight, the Iowa Deciders will divide into 1,781 local caucuses. Past history suggests that a few of these gatherings may not draw any attendees whatsoever and that several others will consist entirely of a guy named Carl. Attendance has no effect on the number of delegates involved, and we hardly need mention that the whole thing is weighted to give rural residents an advantage. Iowans in politically active neighborhoods where 100 people show up may find their vote is worth only 1 percent as much as, say, Carl’s. This gives them the opportunity to experience what it is like to be a New Yorker or Californian all year round."

"Tonight the Democratic caucus-goers (We are expecting way more than 100,000!) will divide up into groups supporting each of the different candidates. (Secret ballots are for sissies.) Then some of the smaller groups will be dissolved under rules so complicated they are known only to the local insiders and experts hired by the candidates to decipher them. (Sometimes these turn out to be the exact same people!)

'What if the largest groups are not immediately apparent because more than one nonviable Presidential Preference group contains the same number of eligible attendees and will not realign?' the party guide asks rhetorically. This is the simplified version of the rules prepared for the benefit of the media, but the answer, obviously, is that you flip a coin. ('A game of chance is used to determine which groups may remain.')"

Iowa...

Election Day Wrapup

2007-11-06T17:32:00.000-08:00

Today was election day (duh!). I'm a good citizen, so I voted. However, as any economist will tell you, your vote doesn't count. Literally. There have been very few elections that have been decided by 1 vote. In fact, a study by economists Casey Mulligan and Charles Hunter. Of the more than 40,000 elections for state legislator that Mulligan and Hunter analyzed, comprising nearly 1 billion votes, only 7 elections were decided by a single vote, with 2 others tied. Of the more than 16,000 Congressional elections, in which many more people vote, only one election in the past 100 years - a 1910 race in Buffalo - was decided by a single vote.

So, their is a statistically insignificant chance (at the 99th percentile) of my vote counting. This is especially true, since any close election is usually recounted and then decided by the courts (see Bush vs. Gore 2000).

But, if there is no reason to vote, why should I? Well, I am not being paid to vote (as used to be the case back in the day). In fact, I lose money by voting. I drove to the polling station (gas money) and took time out of my day (time is money).

So why vote? Because it's a game. Both political parties spend a lot of money on advertising. I received many of these ads and decided they'd make a good way to determine who I'd vote for. The Republicans won the ad contest. They sent me more mail than the Democrats. However, I cannot reward clogging mailboxes and cutting down trees for paper for ads. Thus, in the end, the Democrats won my vote (Plus Melanie Marano was kinda hot when I met her).

Onto the public questions, which consisted of (in order): property tax relief, stem cell research, open space, constitutional wording.

As pinko, commie, liberal douche, I had to vote for Open Space and Stem Cell Research. However, the property tax relief question was unnecessary. If you want to relieve property tax, lower the rates. Taking 1% of the sales tax isn't a solution.

The question is near and dear to my heart and reads as follows (the interpretive statement from the ballot):

"Approval of this amendment concerning the denial of the
right to vote would delete the phrase “idiot or insane person”
and replace that phrase with “person who has been
adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the
capacity to understand the act of voting” in describing those
persons who shall be denied the right to vote. The phrase
“idiot or insane person” is outdated, vague, offensive to
many, and may be subject to misinterpretation. This
constitutional amendment acknowledges that individuals with
cognitive or emotional disabilities may otherwise be capable
of making decisions in the voting booth and that their right of
self-determination should be respected and protected in this
regard. The amendment only denies the right of suffrage to
those individuals determined by a court, on a case-by-case
basis, to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting."

Blah Blah Blah. We don't need to change the constitution. I rather enjoy the fact that it has the word idiot in it. Maybe stupid people (who shouldn't vote anyway) will misinterpret and not vote, thinking they are idiots (when the phrase is really referring to Retired people).

Jay

And something not depressing

2007-10-09T19:12:00.001-07:00

Start off with the crash of the internet.

Next...ummm....I was over at Mikes talking business and he then asked me to play Halo 3 with him. As if playing video games wasn't a good enough deal, he sweetened the deal with a bottle of Merry Monks. Needless to say, I was happy.

Brothers wedding on Saturday. Still have to write a toast. Ideas?

Jay

Cancer and Law school

2007-10-09T19:04:00.001-07:00

"I've learned so much in law school that the knowledge is dividing uncontrollably in my chest." -My friend describing why he has cancer (seriously).

Free TV

2007-10-01T20:19:00.001-07:00

The people I worked for last week gave me a 32" TV. Should go pretty well in the video game room at our new house (whenever the hell that happens).

Deck job is delayed due to permits and plan redraws. But, we also get to do the fence (so we make more money). However, it's a privacy fence so that the client can, in his own words, "go skinny dipping with the Mrs." Great, Now I have a visual of two naked 65 year olds (one with a gut), but one who was a trophy wife at one time).

Jay

Scotty doesn't know...english

2007-09-24T17:13:00.001-07:00

Really quick thought came to me today.

The song from EuroTrip is grammatically incorrect.

"Scotty doesn't know that Fiona and me do it in my van every Sunday." I'm sorry, but it should be "Fiona and I". That is all.

First Cross Race of the Year

2007-09-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I raced the C and the B races at Hole Shot Cross. In the C race I did 6 laps in 42 minutes. In the B race I did 6 laps in 43 minutes (I did not get lapped, but still wasn't allowed to do lap 7). The course was really nice. A bit technical, but mostly for those who can hammer. Not great for me, but at least it wasn't a stupid course. So I only lost 1 minute in the second race. In the second race I never really felt tired. Wasn't panting for air. Didn't want to die. I don't think the extra 10 seconds per lap were the difference. I think it was something else. Something called...

being warmed up. Usually at cross races, I am tired in the morning and it's damn cold out. Both these factors contribute to me not warming up enough. Doing 2 races (although it tired me out a bit) also warmed me up very well. Maybe Mark is onto something with his neurotic prerace routine.

For the rest of the year, I will warm up properly.

People I don't like working for...

2007-09-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

I recently spent 2 hours at a potential clients house discussing remodeling two bathrooms. This included moving toilets, swapping showers, removing walls, reframing their ceiling, and replacing all the sheet-rock. I had a feeling this wasn't the job we wanted because the people were pushing for a price without us having time to write up a proper estimate. We told them that the granite counters and floors alone would cost $5000 to $8000. They still seemed cool with us. We asked what type of fixtures and doors they wanted. They stressed that they didn't want cheap Home Depot products.

After not responding to our email (another 2 hours of our time) that gave a bunch of websites and ideas and told them to pick out faucets and doors and every detail they could to help us hone in the estimate, we received a call today wondering where the estimate was. Mike (who is too nice sometimes) took the call. Again there was haggling and a demand for a price over the phone. So after work, we priced out the job based on the quality of items that they wanted and the labor required. Let me preface this price with the fact that this would be close to a top of the line bathroom. $40,000...and I was afraid that might be underbidding. So I called (in case we had to be tough) and told her the price. I was informed that another contractor bid out the job at $5800 for each bathroom.

I wanted to say something clever like and mean, but thought better of it. I will sleep well tonight knowing that one of two scenarios will occur:

1. She will give an initial deposit and the contractor will never show up (and move to Florida).
2. She will give an initial deposit and the contractor will do the demolition work, then never show up (and move to Florida) leaving giant holes in the wall and two non working bathrooms.

Can't wait for that distress call in a month.

Jay

P.S. $5800 wouldn't even cover the necessary plumbing work.

Scooby Doo...Where are you?

2007-09-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Will called me out in the comments from my last post (granted he was right) and I honestly tried to put this post up earlier, but blogger video wasn't working. I used You Tube instead and it works, but now I also hate you tube. YouTube wouldn't take the *.mov videos so I converted to *.avi and lost the soundtrack. Oh well. Oh, youtube also doesn't do proper proportions so mike looks like an Oompa Loompah. After conversion, blogger finally allowed the upload, so I give you...

Nossen & Phelan Construction meets Scooby and the gang.

Hidden closet 1

Hidden Closet 2

Video 2 will be here soon. Blogger gave me trouble.

Next up is a week of painting. Once October comes around, we start a 1400 square foot deck.

Jay

Whoa! I have a blog!

2007-09-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

So I've decided that I should start updating again. I now have interesting things to say and space to fill. Perhaps the urge to update was brought upon by Allamuchy. Our 4 man team wound up 2nd in our age group and 3rd overall, but posting is not about bragging. In fact, this post was brought upon by Maurice from DirtRag. I was spotted rocking a HardTailforLife T-shirt near the start line at Allamuchy by the official DirtRag Clydesdale. He took a picture of what I thought was me enjoying the race, but soon realized he was only focused on my sweet shirt. When he noticed there was a website to go along with it, I told him it's rarely updated, but probably should be. So, if I end up in DirtRag, we will make new shirts...maybe we'll do it anyway.

I'm currently blogging from South Jersey. Came down to my brothers house to watch Rutgers beat up on Navy. Since Monk's doesn't have TVs, we brought Monk's to my brothers house. Lots of good beer (porters, belgian browns, some Victory 12, and a few lambics for dessert) and 6 pounds of muscles for the 6 of us in attendance. Also, homemade Pomme Frites with dipping sauce (dijon mustard and mayo will make a good immitation Monk's dipping sauce).

I'm heading home soon, but not before I get a tuxedo (my bro's wedding is in 1 month).

Found that special someone...

2007-07-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

She's a real beauty. Low maintanance. Milky white complexion. She doesn't talk back. Her name is Roger. She will accompany me on the Great Divide (2008 hopefully). Say hello to Roger (not yet purchased).
Kevin Montgomery is considering a 3rd attempt next year on a cross bike. I guess it will work on that terrain. Trade out the carbon fork. Change the gear size. Put on some racks.

I'm all set (unless the country road bob gets some disk brake tabs for 2008).

In other news...7th at the USBHoF Crit yesterday. Racing in the 5's for 3 more races.

Back to Blogging

2007-07-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

I've decided that my life is actually interesting and that people may want to be me, so I am back to blogging in order for you to live vicariously. My fancy work phone has a decent camera on it, so I have been taking may random pictures. I give you a selection of them now.

First off, this doesn't even need a caption...

Building hidden closet or creating lighting with super powers?

I found Fort James at the Park Deli in Highland Park (home of $0.89 egg sandwiches). Park deli opening and Rutgers starting to dominate...Coincidence?

Before...
and another before...
After a hard days work...

And finally...the new truck has a lot more room than a Honda Accord (the old work vehicle). I guess I am now official barrier transportation for cyclo-cross races.

This here's a post for all the fellas...

2007-06-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

Not really, but I sang Bust A Move at karaoke last night. So Don guilted me into creating a post. Not sure what I will write about, but here we go.

As you can see, I haven't posted in over a month. Been too busy. Mike and I pulled 12 hour days for 21 days straight. My only respite was the Tour de Tykes (AKA Danville) mountain bike race. I would talk more about that, but 3 flats makes me angry. I finished by walking most of the trail and hallucinating and have held onto my series lead. We finally took a vacation (much needed). Didn't do much with it but I road my bike 3 days in a row. During those 21 days of working I rode maybe 5 times. Lesson learned...

Last night I lost a bet to Mike. He claimed that All for Love by Sting, Rod Stewart, and Bryan Adams was in 3 musketeers. In my inebriated state I said it was from Robin Hood. Turns out I was thinking of Everything I Do by Bryan Adams, which unfortunately lost the bet and embarrassed me since I had to admit to listening to Everything I Do (whatever, it has a sweet breakdown). It was a rollicking good night on the town including 2 car bombs courtesy of Aaron and his med school buddies at Old Bay.

Sunday is Neshaminy. Gotta beat Don. Gotta not flat. Gotta hydrate properly.

I believe that is now a blog post. Updates will come when work gets started again.

And I present to you... Some bad signs

2007-05-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Just a few bad signs/ads that I saw today:

Bennigan's: Kids Eat Free

There were a couple others, but I forgot what they were. In case you didn't figure it out, Free, meaning the absence of something (money, fat, etc.) cannot be consumed.

Oh, I saw a special report on NBC news today. Apparently, if something is too good to be true, it probably isn't. This was in reference to the fact that there are still idiots in this country that believe stuffing envelopes will get you $5000 per week.

Any smart ass who takes my comments about bad signs and then points out incorrect grammar or spelling (which rarely ever happens) on my blog can read my rebuttal:
"I am just angry young man (like the Billy Joel song) shooting out my psychotic hatreds. I did not pay a P.R. or advertising firm hundreds of thousands of dollars to come up with a promotion."

So, real news in my life. Yesterday was Critical Mass. We rode through New Brunswick at around 10 m.p.h. (taking up the whole lane) in an attempt to get people to recognize that there are people in this world that commute by bike. It was a great ride. Even though it was quite cold, we had 10 people come out. This is probably part of my gradual fall out with the planet. Recently, I have began to hate everything. Well, not everything. Some things that piss me off:

Asshole drivers who feel that I am slowing them down by going only 5 m.p.h. over the speed limit
More than 5 choices of food at a restaurant
The fact that King Pita has to offer hot dogs and other crappy Americana type food to stay in business. Fucking Rutgers students only want Wendys and subway. Which brings me to:
Wendy's (and other fast food) treating their workers like shit. Well, that and the food being horrible for you.
Subway asking me what I want on my sandwich. Umm, I don't know. Maybe on my Turkey Horseradish Club you should give me turkey and horseradish dressing without having to ask me. I can understand asking if I want lettuce, tomato, oregano, and the other shit. However, if you ask me what kind of sandwich I want, and I tell you, you can probably assume that the meat and dressing have been taken care of.
Starbucks' sizing system. I love the coffee, but tall is a 1 dimensional measurement, not a volumetric measurement. Maybe, if they are reffering to the height of the cup, they should have tall, taller, and tallest (or most tall).
The fact that Muralee is in Michigan and not at Rutgers.
Audioslave

That's a good enough list for now, but believe me, there are more.

**************************
Originally posted in February 2005. Updates include, I now hate critical mass in new brunswick, audioslave is no more, and muralee is back in new jersey.

Blog Hiatus

2007-05-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

So apparently Don can't live without me updating my blog. Understandable since I too spend all my procrastination time reading blogs. Unfortunately (and you may have noticed this), this semester has sucked all the creativity out of me. So I will take a hiatus. Quick summary, 2 more finals, T-town saturday, lots of work lined up. I will post from a blog that I used to have when I was more creative. Hope you enjoy

Recent Conversation in the Mechanical Computer lab

2007-04-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Guy 1: Which of these photos will be better for my final slide on this presentation?
[Shows two photos. Photo one: Hot chick in catholic school girl out fit bending over and revealing most of her arse. Photo two: Girl in very tight pants show outline of arse]

Guy 2: The second one is nicer, it looks like you took it yourself.

Me: Go with the first. It looks like she was working on the experiment and dropped part of the apparatus. She then had to bend over and pick it up. Unfortunately she was wearing a short skirt.

Guy 1: And her camera fell out and took a picture.

At no point did we discuss the reasons not to put scantily clad women in presentations. Personally, I think that Guy #1 is actually going to put the photo in.

Back to why this blog was created

2007-04-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Stopped at the Beer Store yesterday after work. I picked up a 6 of Dale's Pale ale (a summertime favorite) and a 6 of the Sam Adams Honey Porter. I had never had the porter before, but had read a review of it and thought it'd be up my alley. This also provided me with a good chance for experimentation (not the NinjaDon kind with fancy graphs and what not, but more of a how good is my tasting palette). Without remembering much of the review aside from chocolate, coffee and other tastes always found in a porter, I tasted for myself. I came to my own conclusions and then reread the review. I was dead on (my review wasn't as indepth, but I found the same tastes and finish). Although it's a day later and I cannot reproduce verbatim, I will do a quick review.

Samuel Adam's Honey Porter:
3.5 of 5
Not sure on the seasonality, but if it isn't a year round offering, then it should be off the shelves soon.
First impression was very favorable. Chocolate, Coffee, and Smoke are all present in the taste. This beer goes down smooth with a bitter, malty after taste.

That was quick and dirty review since it is an after thought. I will post a review of the Dale's later this evening.

Perhaps we have a new feature.

Jay

Bizarro night at Karaoke

2007-04-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ummm...What?! That is the only way to describe what is normally an amazing night. So Don was going in for his surgery to get the sand removed from his vagina and could not come to karaoke. Since Don did not show, Jenks did not show. This caused Mark to go to the Den (and did not invite me. I love gay clubs!) and the Harvest Moon. Will stayed home to help Don recover from the snad removal.
Ted and I showed up, and the rest of the regulars (from different groups) were nowhere to be seen. The only regular in attendance was Andrew (and he was taking too much advantage of that!). I started off with "Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors and quickly had a mic comandeered by some girl that will be refered to as "Dumb Cunt" (DC) since I cannot remember her name. DC refused to let anyone sing alone. People were getting noticably pissed, but no one did anything. I tried my best to get her to leave or stop bother people, but short of smacking her across the face (which I would never do to a lady), nothing would work. After she comandeered the microphone during my beautiful rendition of "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, I was pissed. She finally noticed that I was not being nice to her and that she was making people mad. After I verbally/psychologically bitch slapped her, she decided it was time to leave the bar, but not before that last song that she had submitted. I took it as my responsiblity to steal the 3rd microphone and ruin her song. When I want to sound bad (i.e. worse than usual) I can sound bad.
Other than DC and some bad song choices by others, the evening was not horrible, just weird. Dave (T shirt and sport coat) and Isa (Capoeira) showed up and I talked to them. We made fun of the horrible dancer that was dancing to every song as a way to woo Maegan. Ever heard of having two left feet? This guy didn't even have two left feet, he was dancing on stubs.
Even Karaoke DJ Eric (AKA Milky Manchester) noticed the oddness in the air. He commented to Ashley that without all the regulars, there were too many openings for the rif-raf. And unfortunately, the rif-raf picked slow songs that they didn't even know how to sing. I don't want to sound elitist, but if you are going to suck, at least suck at something people know and like.

Jay

P.S. DC, if you read this, you ruined everyones good time!

Not a new concept, but exciting nonetheless

2007-04-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

GOOGLE 411.

Free GOOGLE 411.

Call 1800-GOOG-411. The service is free (unlike regular 411). It only costs you minutes on your cell. The most amazing part is you can ask them to text the business information to your phone.

Freakin' sweet!

I'm alive!

2007-04-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

Did a trainer ride with Don tonight. Since will did not ride, there was an extra set of rollers and I figured I'd give them a try. I had never ridden rollers before, but always wanted to despite the fear of imminent death. For those out of the loop, rollers are kinda like dynamometer. Let me try that again without using a harder word to describe a simpler word. Bicycle rollers on Wikipedia. Needless to say, riding rollers is an art.

How'd I do? I rode for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Mostly with my hands on the bars and not on a chair (placed next to me to steady myself if needed). I can move my hands to the hoods, to the drops, and back to the bar tops. I even did a little standing up (though not much). As for riding off...I did it 3 times, but 2 of those were on purpose (to get over the fear of riding off). Next step is to stalk ebay and find some rollers of my own.

Crushing my soul

2007-04-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

I have decided that school is crushing my soul. I spent 6 hours in the lab today and nothing is different. Nothing about our microwave was working. Well, our microwave was working, but just not affecting our flame. Anyway, that is the most I have done related to school in a while. Fortunately we had two days off due to flooding, but prior to that, school has been rough.

Over the past 2 months (it has gotten worse in the last month), I have been unable to wake up early for classes. My body seems to force me into hitting the snooze for TWO HOURS. I was thinking I might have mono or was way over tired, but I can easily wake up at 5 AM for a bike race (I was waking everyone else up in Boston so we'd get to the races on time). I can also wake up early for work any day of the week. No snooze. The alarm goes off and I am up and ready to go.

I am starting a countdown. My last final is May 7, but it will be easy. The official last day for me is May 2nd. I have a Vibrations final that day. This will determine whether I graduate or not (might have to buy my prof some beer). So, 15 days left until that final is over. The count down to freedom begins. I Can't wait to be working!!!

Jay

The future of Imus

2007-04-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

So Don Imus was fired from CBS yesterday. His plan is going perfectly.

Step 1. Get Lots of publicity (CHECK)
Step 2. Get out of previous contracts without monetary penalty (CHECK)
Step 3. Get show on XM radio and attempt to compete with Stern and make more money (Soon)

San Francisco Style

2007-04-10T09:11:00.000-07:00

I recently heard about a plastic bag ban in San Francisco. I think it's about damn time. Start rant on plastic bags...NOW!

A year ago I started going to the food store with 1 or 2 milk crates (depending on how much stuff I was buying). A full cart will fit into 2 milk crates if packed properly. I was always aware of the environmental aspects of not using the plastic bags, but that is not why I use the milk crates. There are two kinds of baggers at Stop and Shop. Type 1 is actually mentally challenged, but bagging groceries is a job that they can do. The repetitiveness of the job makes it not very challenging and my type 1 friends are quite good at packing groceries. Type 2 are not mentally challenged, but you'd think they were. They are more interested in talking to friends than actually bagging groceries. they always put heavy cans in with soft bread. They put vegetables (which I don't bag because who needs a single pepper in a bag) in with raw meat. They put deodorant and other fragrant items in with bread, fruit, or anything that will pick up the fragrance and not be as appetizing.

Now, whether bagged by type 1 or type 2, I leave the store with 10-13 bags. I live in a city! I may not be parked within 10 ft of my apartment. I may be stuck 1 or 2 blocks away. Carrying 10 bags is a bitch! Either I have to make multiple trips, or I have to pray that none of my bags break.

Milk crates solve both of these problems. Only 1 or two packages to carry from my car. The best part is that the baggers and Stop and Shop run away since they don't want to be involved with the "crazy hippie" that wants to pack his own stuff.

On a somewhat related note, Engineers at Rutgers can turn paint into plastic!

Jay

P.S. I was always under the impression that Don Imus had no listeners. Weird.

24 hour painting

2007-04-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow's schedule looks like:

School Work
Tom's Wake (I have been told that drinking Guiness at a wake is bad form, so this was taken care of on Tuesday).
Work.

Work will start around 4PM and end when the house is painted. This will be sometime between the hours of 4Pm and 11PM on Saturday. Wish me luck with my 24 hour endurance painting.

Jay

Candy Mountain Ride #1

2007-03-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

The first ever Candy Mountain Ride took place today. The premise of the CMR is that anyone who beats Hobo Charlie (aka Chaz) up a climb gets candy. It was the Hobo's idea, don't ask me why.
Hobo Charlie's uneven shorts (made 10 minutes before the photo). First place Singlespeed at Granogue and home made shorts. Perhaps this is where the nickname came from. (photo: Dennis Smith)

While everyone knew that this would not be at all like taking candy from a baby, everyone had to try. The ride was made up of HoboCharlie, AngryMark, HartailJay, ProfessorAndy, Dave Kim, Ray, PlaidRich, and E-Town (Even though he is an Secret Henry's Riders and DCCOC member, he was so excited about this ride that he decided to move to Edison for 6 months so he could compete in the series). Side Note: Dave and Ray need nicknames.

Le Train Rouge headed down River road to Mountain Ave for the first climb. ProfessorAndy took off and PlaidRich grabbed his wheel. I was merely interested in candy, so I sat on the Hobo's wheel and everyone else joined in. ProfessorAndy rejoined the pack and the Hobo started chasing down PlaidRich (the Hobo wanted to keep his candy). At the switchback I let him go and E-Town grabbed his wheel and the two worked together to get PlaidRich. The Professor and AngryMark came around me and I grabbed on. The dogfight was taking place in front of us and the excitement cause Mark and I to jump. Rich was within sight and I wanted points (if I couldn't have candy). Rich held me off.

Mountain Ave
1. E-town
2. Chaz
3. Rich
4. Jay
5. AngryMark

The ride then went through Martinsville and up Mount Horeb. I must admit that I got dropped at the light on Chimney Rock Road and was not in contention (I was damn thankful for rest). Not sure what happened, but it probably looked like a scene from 300.

Mount Horeb
1. E-Town
2. Chaz
3, Mark
4. Andy
5. Rich

Climb 3 was the end of Ferguson Rd on the Allesandro Loop. I would like to neutralize this climb since I don't think any of us knew it was a contested climb. However, even if this wasn't counted I still wouldn't win any candy, so:

Mount Allesandro (new name in honor of the legend):
1. Andy
2. Mark
3. Chaz
4. E-Town
5. Rich

Climb 4 took place on the closer side of King George. After storming down the descent, everyone removed their newspapers for the fight ahead. Everything started off mellow and a 2 man breakaway appeared up the road. I gapped up thinking that being on Charlies wheel would get me closer to candy. The two man break was Rich and Ray, so my effort only worked to pull the pack back together. After the slight downhill, Charlie took the lead. I made my move along the right side of him and was breaking away. Or so I thought. E-Town came around me like I was standing still. Sitting in second, I could still taste the candy. I saw AngryMark gunning for me, but I managed to hold him off (I think. The top of the hill is a stop sign, so the top of the climb is a bit behind that).

King George
1. E-Town
2. Jay
3. Mark
4. Andy
5. Chaz

Overall (points)
1. E-Town (26)
2. Chaz (14)
3. Mark (12)
Andy (12)
5. Jay (7)
6. Rich (5)

So E-Town gets the Dave Kim Bumble Bee Jersey (in spirit). However, you must be a member of the Rutgers squad to be the jersey holder, so Chaz will be sporting the Bumble Bee look for a week. Next weeks ride for points will be a NinjaDon Bleed From Your Eyes sprint ride. Will E-Town defend the (in spirit) jersey? Will Chaz defend the actual jersey? Will the ride be during the day (and E-Town will be at work)? Will Will will himself to victory and claim the jersey for his own? Find out next week

~Jay
P.S. The Candy on that last climb was sweet.

Nothing to do

2007-03-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Both races have been cancelled this weekend due to inclement weather. They should have just had people mount up some knobbies. Anyway, this leaves me with nothing to do since work was cancelled as well. Obviously I will go for a ride, but what shall I do with the rest of my day?

Last night, Karaoke was amazing. Spring break meant that Harvest Moon was pretty deserted for the first hour or two, so we were singing quite a lot.

Two days of weekend and then back to the hell that is school. I am so ready to graduate.

Jay

Philly

2007-03-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

My stylish self prior to racing (Photo: Will C)

My plan going into Philly was to survive. I figured I would sit in the pack and see how long I lasted. I wasn't sure I would finish (see previous post), but something strange happened. I raced smart and didn't get dropped. With 4 laps to in the race, I saw my chance. Coming through the finishing straigh, I charged up the side of the peleton to get into 4th wheel. Only NinjaDon, Beastmaster, and a Penn State rider were ahead of me. NinjaDon had been trying a few breakaways all day and Beastie was usually sitting off the front, so I figured I would help them escape. After half a lap of screaming "Don, I am right behind you. Attack and I will block!" and other similar phrases, I gave up and returned to the pack. After the race Don told me that he never heard me yelling. Oh well. In hindsight, I should've gone around him and given him a leadout for an attack.Setting up for the first corner of the race (Photo: Will C)

I finished at the back of the pack since I failed to setup for the spring before the final two corners. Another error in judgment. Bike racing is a learning experience and after Philly, I feel better prepared for the upcoming weekend.Don't I look happy and not at all tired (Photo: Will C)

Oh, Sunday was also my 2nd outdoor ride on the Raleigh. Damn is that thing awesome. However, with last minute brake adjustments and changing my number pinning, I had about 5 minutes of warmup. Don't think it bothered me too much.

Jay

Not what I had hoped for.

2007-03-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

This weekends racing was not what I had hoped for. I blame my teammates for being superfast and making everyone is the Mens C race cry. Saturday, I got dropped for the pack with 5 laps to go in the crit. Sunday I got dropped on the 1st lap of the circuit. Sunday was dumb. I was sitting too far back in the pack. Everyone moved to the outside to make a turn. One guy moved to the inside to make the turn and while exiting, chopped 2 of us out of the pack. I never caught back on. Ted told me I looked strong riding all by myself. Ted is nice.
The ECCC is huge. We had to split the C field into C1 and C2 (based on division). C1 is definitely faster. We started 3 minutes ahead of the C2 field on Sunday and were 45 seconds from catching them at the end of the race (laps were approximately 6 minutes). I have decided that I am allowed to list all sorts of reasons for not staying with the pack. This was our race. I was tired from setup, staying up to finish registration, standing for 3 hours straight while marshalling the ITT turnaround, still being sick (as exhibited by all the phlegm I coughed up), and first race jitters.
This weekend I will be working Saturday, but will race on Sunday. If I get dropped again, there will be no excuses. I will retire for a month and wait for Mountain Bike Season.
Damn weather is killing me. Tuesday was cold (negative temps with the wind chill), Wednesday was snow. I will try to get out today after I finish a take home exam.
If you want quality race reports with photos, check out Ninja Don and Angry Mark.

Jay

It's not the size of the pump, but the motion in the ocean.

2007-02-27T07:24:00.000-08:00

A post on frame pumps. I have been carrying Mikes frame pump since it doesn't fit on his bike, but does fit on mine. We did the ole switcharoo and he now has mine. My frame pump was never great, but Mike's sucks. It maxes out at sub 60 psi. I like to ride with my tires pumped up, so that kinda sucks.
Sunday, my car was broken down in Franklin with my floor pump in the trunk. New voltage regulator and it now works. Anyway, my tires were quite flat from not riding all week. I did about 100 pumps with the frame pump and then decided that I'd better try to beat the group ride to the shop and use the pump there. They caught me in the park and thus, I rode out on 60 psi. When we split into groups (hills and flats), I went with the flat group. The flat group consisted of me, SuperStrongChris, and Sparky. We stopped to fix Sparky's saddle angle and I borrow SuperStrongs frame pump. Well, not frame pump, but mini pump. Holy shit! I was at 100 psi in 5 pumps. I had never thought about it (being a mechanical engineer, I probably should have), but a pump is only as good as it's seals. Sure, a frame pump delivers higher volume than a mini pump, but if the frame pump leaks at 50 psi, you ain't pumpin up to 100 psi.

Now I am on a quest for a small pump with really nice (and replaceable) seals. Suggestions?

Jay

P.S. need to buy a racing license, now!

Less than one week...

2007-02-26T11:41:00.001-08:00

until the Rutgers Cycling Classic. The entries have started piling in via bikereg.com, mail, and email. I have the amazingly fun task of entering all this data into one list. I got the job because I have done it for the past 2 years. Saturday morning will come sooner than expected and the weekend will begin. ITT on Saturday morning with a Crit in the afternoon. Sunday is the Circuit race. I hope I am able to stay in the pack. Riding off the back sucks, but I was really good at it last year. Just gotta stay towards the front and avoid the splits from crashes.

Less than one week...

2007-02-26T11:41:00.000-08:00

Do NOT read Ninja Don

2007-02-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

Last week, Don was sick. After spreading this news to one all on his blog, it appears that all readers have gotten sick. Will is sick, but he lives with Don, so that was expected. However, both Mark and I are sick now as well. I have not seen Don since Thursday, so the only explanation is a virus on his blog. Therefore, although it is a good read, do not read Ninja Don's blog for at least 1 week.

Damn jerk gets us sick 2 weeks before the road season starts.

Update

2007-02-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

I didn't ride Saturday. For the 3rd week in a row, my Saturday has been too busy and I have been too tired. I rode this morning with Mike and Ryan at Sourlands. I haven't ridden Sourlands since last summer and today had a totally different feel. For the unaccustomed, Sourlands is why I can handle a bicycle. Sourlands has rocks. Huge Boulders that people actually use for Bouldering. Big Rocks that you can do some Trials on. Medium rocks that need to be dodged while riding. And Small rocks that require a good amount of handling skill to manuever over, around, and through. Basically, Sourlands teaches you to pick a damn good line. Sourlands is why I finish Mid Atlantic Super Series races and ask where the "technical section" that the flyer mentioned was.
Before I start sounding like a schmuck, let me say that Ryan, Brad, and Dan are still head and shoulders above me in the handling skills.
But back to the post. Sourlands had a 2 inch layer of fresh snow (quite frozen and stiff) that made the uphill nice and difficult on a singlespeed (standing was not working today), but the downhills and flats were the easiest they've ever been. Basically, the snow simplified everything by showing all the decent lines. We played on some of the bigger rocks, riding up and over and around them, and flew down the downhills. The bridges were a bit sketchy today, but I only crashed on one of them (did it each lap though).
March 3-4 is fast approaching and I would like to be able to finish decently at the Rutgers Season opener (www.rutgerscycling.com). Luckily, Tuesday will be in the low 40s and that will stick for the rest of the month. Outdoor training will be back in full effect.

Jay

P.S. Jason Donald got 2nd in the Tour of Cali Prologue. It was ridiculous. He was only beaten by Leipheimer. Check out www.bradhuffcycling.com and see if Huffy has any comments on his teammate.

Roller Races.

2007-02-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

What is with that look on Floyd Landis's face? Night ride Gui bailed on the Tuesday night ride to go to a roller race at Bar 169. More pictures at NY Velocity , Bar 169 is a typical New York dive complete with exposed wires. During one of the races, a group of well dressed men walk into the bar. Most of the people in attendance were in spandex, so everyone turns to see who these guys are. One of the guys has a goatee and a striking resemblance to Floyd Landis. He is Floyd Landis. In town for a Floyd Fairness Fund fundraiser, he decided to check out the action. Most of the racers and spectators are wowwed. Buying him drinks, asking questions, gettting autographs. Gui on the other hand is pissed. The only thing stopping Gui from racing pro full time is his refusal to dope. If you ask him, almost everyone in the pro peleton dopes. Needless to say, Gui does not like dopers or anyone accused of doping.
So Gui is pissed. He keeps racing and makes it to the final round. At some point, Floyd started announcing the races true celebrity fashion. Gui takes the win in the final and is being interviewed by Landis. GUi talks about how fun the roller races are and then says to Floyd, "You should have done this race, there is no drug testing here." The top photo was taken just as Gui finished this comment. Hence, the look of complete glory on Guis face and the "I want to vomit" look on Landis.
This is not a Floyd is guilty or Floyd is innocent post. This is just a funny post with a great photo.

New Ride

2007-02-08T15:02:00.000-08:00

I have always had trouble with comfort on the bike. I ride a 57cm or 58cm, depending on which size is offered. Recently, I started thinking about how to better fit my bike. After lots of thought and measuring, I have come to the realization that my body is not proportional. No, I don't have a freak appearance, but my torso is long for my height and my inseam is short. This explains why I was never able to get my saddle far enough forward with respect to my knees. A teammate was trying to slim down his stock, so I picked up a Raleigh Prestige frame. Carbon stays, downtube, and top tube, all "lugged" with aluminum.

New Jersey Sucks...Or, How I learned to stop defending my state from ridicule

2007-02-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

So sometime ago I applied for a home improvement contractors license. In early January I received a letter from the state telling me that I forgot to include my proof of insurance. Apparently New Jersey refused to admit that they lost my proof of insurance. I know it was in my original application because I checked the application contents about 20 times. So I sent them back another proof of insurance. Figuring that the application must've been pretty far along, I hoped to get my license last week. Side note: After applying for a business (which can be done online) I recieved a tax id number from the IRS within 1 week (and they process a lot more shit than the consumer affairs department).
I decided to call New Jersey today and find out where my license is. Find the handy 1-800 number and dial away. First time through, I pick 8 to talk to a live representative. I get booted to the beginning of the call system. I go through and press 8 again and this time get put on hold, but then a live human being picks up and transfers me to the Home Improvement Contractor License services. Apparently a lot of people call them because they did not pick up and I was sent to voice mail. At the end of the instructions for how to leave a message (they repeated this twice), which included, "Speak slowly and clearly" and "leave your name and phone number", I was informed that the mailbox was full and I should go fuck myself. OK, they didn't tell me to fuck myself, they just hung up on me.
So will I ever be licensed? Probably. Will it be anytime soon? Probably not. Does New Jersey get puzzled by the fact that people still work under the table? Absolutely.
Two additional notes. Even though my last name is spelled Nossen, which was typed out on the business registration form and proof of insurance that I submitted, the department of consumer affairs insists on calling me Nassen. So one I get the license, I need to fix that.

Jay

Night Riding

2007-01-31T10:22:00.000-08:00

Last night was a Franklin Trash night ride. Tony picked up Ryan (who does not need knee surgery, yay!) and met Gui and me at the former Quik Chek near Chimney Rock. I was borrowing a light from Gui, but it did not fit on my bars (too loose). I wedged it in with a screw that was in my jacket, which seemed to hold up for 10 minutes. The light eventually bounced loose and went into a position that gravity approved of (with the beam aimed right at my eyes). Did I mention this was on a downhill? I had a clip for a X-system light and was able to wedge the Nite Rider light between the stem and this second clip. I was able to finish off the ride with a light that was held in place.

I did the night ride after intervals on the trainer, but was able to beat people up hills (Gui and Ryan have both been off bikes for 7 weeks). I am still amazed at how well my bike climbs with the new (old P-bone) rigid fork. I honestly do not miss suspension. Perhaps I should change this blog from Hardtail to FullOnStiffy (although that just doesn't have the same ring).

So the search for a light of my own continues. Probably gonna go with the X-system. It uses L.E.D.s, so it has a great run time and is decently bright (and inexpensive). Dream light would be the Nite Rider Flight, but that is $350 from Quality.

I may be going on the West Amwell school group ride. Gui talked me into it, but then kept making it less appealing. 1 hour there and back from his house. 3 hour ride hitting every dirt road in Hunterdon county. Did I mention it's cold out at this time of year? Would have to get my cross bike to feel comfortable if I were to do this ride. My cross bike works since I stand a lot. It is not well adjusted for 1 or more hours of sitting.

Jay

P.S. Tomorrow is Karaoke!!!!

In response...

2007-01-31T10:04:00.000-08:00

to the article on Isa Chandra and vegan cooking in the NYTimes last week, a few letters were in the paper today. My favorite was this:

To the Editor:

I thoroughly enjoyed “Strict Vegan Ethics, Frosted With Hedonism” (Jan. 24) but take issue with the characterization of an animal-free diet as ascetic. The article stated that Isa Chandra Moskowitz “makes even the deprivations of veganism and the rage of punk seem like fun.”

Deprivations? Since adopting a vegan diet one year ago, I lost 20 pounds while eating whatever I wanted, have clearer skin at age 34 than at age 10, and went up a bra size while shaving 30 points from my cholesterol count. My husband and I enjoy Thai, Korean, Japanese, Caribbean, Chinese, Mexican, Italian and Ethiopian cuisine, and cook at home more often and more creatively than before.

I am, however, depriving myself of the growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, arsenic, prions and fecal matter present in factory-farmed meat.

Devery Doleman
Brooklyn

.............................

A few thoughts on this letter.

1. All these losses (weight and cholesterol) are most likely associated with becoming vegan. Not because the food basis is better, but because the author must pay more attention to what she eats to avoid meat and dairy.

2. If the bra size increase is real, I propose legislation that would force all women to become vegan.

3. It is possible to avoid the growth hormones, pesiticides, etc found in factory-farmed meat. Go to the farmers market or the Amish market if there is one near you (there is one on 27 near Princeton and also one in Philadelphia).

4. These pesticides, etc can still be in a vegans diet. Shipping fruits and veggies from around the world and country requires similar chemical to keep items fresh. Even the "organic" foods you find can still contain preservatives and spray on chemicals.

I have spoken. Perhaps you have listened. Required reading for this semester is "The Omnivores Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. Comments please. Mark?

Jay

Lack of Coverage

2007-01-30T09:52:00.001-08:00

As my last post pointed out, the U.S. did quite well at 'cross worlds. I have yet to see coverage in any major newspapers. Perhaps cross is too much of a fringe sport for the New York Times. On Monday they had coverage of skiing, figure skating, and skiercross, but no cyclo-cross. Perhaps if Jon Page was recovering from nut cancer there would have been a mention. There wasn't even a writeup in the sports briefs (those 100 or less word columns about sports other than whatever is popular at the moment), which is where cycling is usually relegated. If Sven Niis has enough money to charter a flight for 25 European competitors when they come to the World Cup in the US, the sport must be doing decently well.

USA at Worlds

2007-01-29T09:29:00.000-08:00

So the U.S. Team scored some sweet medals at Cross world taking home 2nd place in the Elite Men, Elite Women, and Junior races. Congrats to Jon Page, Katie Compton, and Danny Summerhil for showing the world what U.S. cyclocross can do.

I've added some links and hopefully fixed the Mozilla error with the sidebar.

A nice quick recipe for those who like salmon:

Take Aluminum foil.
Put Salmon fillet on foil (about 1 lb).
Put some butter and brown sugar on top.
Put Sliced Sweet Onions on top.
Add some citrus (lemon or orange) if you are feeling saucy.
Take a 12 beer (I prefer Dale's Pale Ale) pour half into foil and drink the rest.
Close up foil leaving a slight hole for pressure to escape.
Place Foil with enclosed fish in 400 degree oven for 8-12 minutes (or until nicely cooked).

Serve with some veggies and perhaps a rice pilaf (easy to fake, just add raisins and brown sugar to the rice as it cooks) and you have a damn good, damn fast, damn healthy meal.

Jay

P.S. I will post more recipes if there is interest. I will very rarely put numbers like tablespoons, cups, etc. I usually use the approximate method.

P.P.S. I will be dining on this dish on Tuesday. 1 lb of fish serves 3 modest people or 2 regular people, or 1 bike rider with 2 hours of ending a ride.

Work vs. School

2007-01-16T17:41:00.000-08:00

So I am in my final semester of school (assuming all goes right). I am also working as close to full time as I can. I can tell you, work is better. Let's compare:

School:

Pay to go to school
Take classes with no end in sight (you can always study more)
Other students suck up an do homework, thus making my high test grades useless
Have to deal with Professors who don't care and don't give input (with the exception of Prof Tse)

Work:

Get paid to work
End is always in sight (i.e. done with framing, now lets sheetrock. Never need to worry if you framed enough)
Only other person to worry about is Mike (and that is no worry at all since we have the same damn work style)
Have to deal with clients, but they do care and want to give input.

So, at least for now, it looks like work wins out again. Oh, plus work is always different. Painting, Flooring, Framing, Sheetrocking, and building additions. What a life I will have in 5 months.

Jay

P.S. Mike and I have been thinking about making a video podcast where we talk about bikes, beer, coffee, and the interesting stories of our lives (with special guests). Any comments?

New Year

2007-01-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

After Nationals, where I finished just behind Charlie, I took two weeks completely off the bike. By the time the new year rolled around I was itching to ride. Working on base miles now. Long slow rides are a lot of fun (except for last Sunday when I spent 30 miles looking for place to drop a load). I was reacquainted with All4One this week. They are like a subpar Boys 2 Men and I was never a Boys 2 Men fan. All4One was going for the global rainbow thing. Two of the guys look 40 years old and the other 2 look 12. 2 black guys, one white guy, and one Mexican.

I've been riding a lot indoors and am almost through season 1 of Fear Factor (don't laugh, it's the best show ever). Tony from Bike N Gear hooked me up with a rigid fork for the singlespeed. My Bomber decided to leak again (2 months after it was reinstalled after a trip to be rebuilt). Collegiate road season is fast approaching and I will hopefully be ready.

Made some delicious pasta and sauce tonight (though not quite deserving of a picture like Mark would do). Possibly some MTB this weekend with Ted.

~Jay

NJ State Champs!

2006-11-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

Props to the Bulldog and Skylands crew for an awesome course. The start this year was flat for a couple hundred feet before shooting every racer up hill (nice change). Also, Bulldog must've not done the rain dance last night (They promoted Running of the Dogs and 12 O' Muchy, the two days with the most rain all year and the wettest 2 races I've ever done) and the weather was beautiful. I started in DFL and started to move up, passing 2 or 3 people each lap. I eventually found my group, but did not push hard enough to catch them on the two hills. They were able to gap me in the barns (my least favorite part of the course) and put enough space on me that I could not catch them again. I ended up 19th in the B race with 4 guys within 15 seconds of me. I was almost able to catch Angry Mark (I like when he does doubles and I only race Sunday). My form is looking good for Nationals. Next week, back to Augusta, then a week off and then Nationals! I'm gonna get my ass kicked (but hopefully not lapped).

As for Mike, he was looking good in the C's, sitting around 20 when he started moving up through the pack. I thought he was going for a top 10 today, but had little trouble and bashed his ankle on his pedal. He rode through the pain to finish, but decided next week is the week. Did I mention this was his 2nd cross race?

~Jay

P.S. Pictures to come (from Blake).

HPCX

2006-11-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

The new and improved (in my opinion) Highland Park cyclo-cross course was totally suited to my abilities. Super muddy course that could not be ridden without thought and handling skills. I was looking for my best result ever in a MAC race. Unfortunately there were hills also. After a 3 laps my legs were destroyed. I crawled up the hills and then had to recover (where I should have attacked). I ended up in 44th. This is not an emo post and I am not an emo guy. I had a shitty result, but that is what happens when you don't train enough. There is still time to get strong before nationals and that is what I will do. As of today, I start running (as this will help me get up hill).
The weekend as a whole was awesome. I got 1st place in the Elite Mens race and beat Tour de France star Chris Horner. I pitted for Matt White, the winner of the race who did a bike change on every lap (and I kept him going strong with clean bikes). Just like the caddy of Tiger Woods shares the glory, so I share Matt Whites glory. For, if I did not volunteer to help, he would have had a hard time picking from the other 20 people who would have happily pitted for him. In the end, the elite race was great and was won by a great (and super nice) guy. Interesting fact, Matt and I run the same gearing (42 by 12-25, I think), and he came into the pit in the same gear that I was in near the pit (23). The only difference is that he can turn that gear much faster.
Rutgers retained it's lead in the ECCC and the HPCX-Rutgers race went off wonderfully. Thanks to everyone who helped out, cheered, and baked cookies. Big props to Gerry for his first cross race (in some of the worst conditions this year). Future Rutgers Cross star in the making.

Back on Track

2006-11-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long absence. No excuse for that. Last weeks racing kicked my ass. Saturday at Chainbiter and Sunday at Nittany. Saturday taught me that New England guys are fast as hell. I outsprinted the leader to avoid getting lapped. Sunday I learned why I hate running. I flatted about as far away from the pit as possible and had to run a long uphill section. I got passed by just about everyone. Before the flat, Blake and I were working together to pull back a rider from Penn State, but after the flat that did not happen.

My brothers engagement party is this Saturday night. Family, fun, and Karaoke! The odds of me being hung over for Sundays race are pretty good. Speaking of drinking...Rutgers vs. Louisville this Thursday. People were camping out near the stadium the night before tickets went on sale for students. It was completely insane. First Rutgers football and now Rutgers cyclo-cross. Collegiate series leaders and not giving it up. Perhaps we can win the omnium at Nationals...perhaps.

Went for a night ride with Dan, Brad, and Mike. Tony from the Somerset shop came out and so did Gui. It was my first time meeting Gui and he brought his dog along. The dog was amazing. Did not interfere at all. The only problem was when he was leading the group with me in second. He has a tendency to take the best possible line and sometimes cuts corners through trees. The dog almost made me hit about 7 trees. After that I realized that I could not survive by following his line and thus looked for my own line (same thing I should do when following other riders since they might take bad lines also).

Jay
~Jay

Cross Blog (for Don)

2006-10-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight is another Rutger's Superprestige Cross Training race. I am slotted to take over the leaders jersey since Mark is running a skills clinic and recovering this week. Granted other people could steal the points I need by beating me (more than likely). However, to allow myself to gain the bright green leaders jersey and not feel like I cheated, I went for a ride this morning with Roommate Ted (nicknames are fun, riding with Ted is not). The ride was fun, except for the whole Ted making me cry part. I can't cruise at 25 mph. It just isn't my style. I did take him on the backside of the Morning Glory climb, though. I jumped at what is known as a false summit and then got caught before the actual summit, but had enough in me to pass Ted for the win. I then hit a pothole on the way down and flatted and almost crashed. Tonight I will bust out my shortsleeve skinsuit from Trexlertown ($5). Hopefully it will make me fast.

~Jay

We're in the Money...

2006-10-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

well, not quite yet. Mike and I are officially in business. Last night we filed for our LLC and our FEIN (Federal Employer Identification Number). We now play the waiting game. You know the old saying: If you build it, they will come. Okay, it's not that easy, but people are already asking us to do construction work for them. So for now on, we are Nossen & Phelan Construction LLC. Time to get insurance and licenses...grrrr.

In other news, how does everyone like the format of our site? Any changes? Do you like the black background? Would you like more content? Naked photos of Jay and Mike? Just kidding, no one wants that. Comment and let us know. Midterms are coming up and I need to do web design to procrastinate.

~Jay

P.S. Told you we would have pictures soon. You can see all of them at http://sports.webshots.com/album/554613138xHvKam

Hillbilly Hustlin'

2006-10-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

The Hillbilly Hustle. Great race, great scenery.

How do you get onto hardtailforlife? Lift you bike like a pro at the exact time my camera decides to take a photo.

...or, smile for the camera. Team Shiftless knows this. Rob from UPenn does not (he was focusing on getting a podium in the C race and then whooping me in the B race).

2 rants.

2006-10-02T13:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday I headed down to the Hillbilly Hustle. It was a great course with awesome atmosphere. NinjaDon, from Rutgers, took 6th in the B's. I was not so lucky. I dropped my chain 4 times during the race! I run a single ring up front so don't have a derailleur. I know many of you are probably saying, "Quit bitchin' and get a chainring guard!" Well friends, this is easier said than done. I have been trying to obtain a 42T chainring guard for over a year. The problem is that they sell out from everywhere in early September. When I tried to order 2 in May, they were not in stock yet and when I tried again 2 weeks ago, they were already sold out. So, this leaves me with one more option. I will have to grind down two 46 rings and make home made chainring guards. No doubt, at some point this season, my leg will end up bleeding profusely because I will not grind the ring completely smooth. Which brings me back to hating companies that don't stock enough. Make 200 extra and if they don't sell (which I doubt, since I know 3 or 4 people looking for ring guards) you can sell them the following year for $2 less and still turn a profit.

Now, onto a more pissed off rant. Today was Yom Kippur. I went to services to appease my folks and even tried the whole not eating thing (despite having a lab report and 3 homework assignments due tomorrow). So I am on my way to class, heading down George St (aka death to bikers Blvd) and I am riding on the 12 inch strip of concrete they call a shoulder. Usually, I speed right down the middle yellow line for my personal safety, but today I decided to follow the rules of the road and ride to the right. Well, approaching a red light, I slow down and start passing cars in my respected 12 inches of should, slowing down a little more due to a car that was a little close to the curb to speed past its side view mirror. Just as my front wheel passes the cars rear bumper, the back door opens I am doored. Luckily I was going slow enough that I was not injured or knocked down (and yes, the guy exiting the car apologized and made sure I was okay), but I can't stop imagining what would have happened if I was going a little faster. I surely would have broken the window with my bar and my arm would have followed through the window before I was knocked to the ground and scraped. Lesson learned: Be extremely aggressive and assume everyone is out to hurt you (exhibited by the two cars that later pulled out in front of me today). What did I get from my experience? A donut and coffee. I figured, if God exists and opens a car door into me, than I deserve a tasty treat before class.

~Jay

P.S. T-town is on Saturday!!! Joyous day! Also, Saturday is Hardtail Mike's birthday, so don't forget to buy him a beer.

Rutgers Football

2006-09-25T09:23:00.000-07:00

Rutgers is ranked 23rd in the national polls!! Granted, with the sorry teams we have played, that is like Guido Trenti getting a podium because every other cyclist got popped for doping. I am still excited and proud! I mean no offense to Guido Trenti, but he is a consistent 125 out of 160 finisher.

~Jay

P.S. Guido Trenti could still whoop me on any bike ride.

P.P.S. The UCONN race report is up (look down two posts, things got out of order).

UCONN 8 Hour Enduro Report

2006-09-19T06:15:00.000-07:00

First, let me apologize for the long post to follow. I will try to break it up with pictures once I find some (racing solo unsupported leaves no time for sweet photos).

So I decided to head up to Ashford, Connecticut on Friday Night and sleep in on Saturday. Got all my gear together (checked it all 5 times then said "Helmet, shoes, bike, okay. Anything else is extra"). I set myself up for the drive with a cold Coke and a hot coffee. The hot/cold fluctuation is the secret to staying awake on a long night drive (seriously, try it). Realized I hate New York because it was longer than I remembered. Realized I hate Connecticut because the drivers don't know how to drive in the rain.

Got to the race site at 11:30 and threw a tarp on the ground, put down my sleeping back, and rolled myself up with another tarp since it was still raining. The water finally got to me around 2 AM and I crawled into the front seat of my car to finish the night.

I was too lazy (and poor) to get the geared bike up and running, so I brought the Kona Unit (SingleSpeed) for the race. I saw the starting group and was a bit worried. I always doubt myself and don't feel like racing until lap 2 or 3 comes around. At this point I get strong and settle in (this is good for Enduros, but bad for regular XC races). Checked out the competition. One other solo singlespeeder (and he looks strong). Brian Firliet, 0n a double squishy, who bears a striking resemblance to this guy:

That's right, Brian has the same non-aero haircut as Tinker Juarez. Essentially, I have decide it is a race for second.

BANG BANG! and the run starts. The Lemans start, standard for Endurance races, involves a run either to your bike or with your bike for a given distance. I'm lazy so I was probably in last (or close to it) after the run, but then we hit the trails. The course was a singlespeeders dream. Muddy, wet, with only short steep hills. The one longer hill I walked each time in an effort to save my strength. This was also a good place to grab a drink of water or accelerade.

My lap times were pretty constant. Started at 35 minutes and then added 2 minutes each lap until I settled in at 43 minutes. Lap 3 was a little long due to a flat tire. I was heading down hill, saw the two guys ahead of me changing flats and hit the exact same rock that they hit. Note: I should have known of its existence since on lap 1 and 2 I saw a total of 8 people changing flats at the same point.

I did a total of 5 laps before taking a break and then went on for 6 more after a large portion of black beans and rice. After the race, there was free Harpoon beer! Unfortunately I was driving home by myself and was exhausted enough, so I had to pass on the beer (although, to make up for it, Old Bay had Arrogant Bastard on tap last night). In the end I did 11 laps. That was good enough for 3rd place solo. 1st and 2nd place both pulled off 12 laps although 1st place could have done 4 more if needed (I'm sure).

I pulled my entire bike apart and cleaned out all of the mud. I really appreciate the Kona holding up in inclement weather and not crapping out like the crack and fail (Cannondale). I took a couple of baths in mud and deep puddles throughout the day and was afraid that I would end up with monkey butt (ask Fat Marc about his experiences). All in all a good race. Now time to settle down and wait for cross season. Next up, IRON CROSS.

~Jay

P.S. Sorry this took me all week to post, I was doing school work and installing hardwood floor all of last week.

A post in pictures

2006-09-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

It is on! Granogue is probably the sweetest cross race on the east coast. Hills, mud, beer, and the off cambah barriers!

~Jay

eatting dirt

2006-09-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

Alright guys, first off thanks for the support. After a long day of thought I realized that I've taken many crashes and know the taste of dirt. So I went back and grovelled to Felicia, and luckily it works. Most importantly though I promise never to be a pussy on the hardtail for life page again. Thats not what Jay and I stand for, oh and Definately drinks at stuff your face still so I can talk about how I'm a dumb ass. Sorry guys, and Felicia Lets go riding.

Lets ride
~Mike

P.s. Man I'm a dumb ass!

Weekend Racing

2006-09-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

So I am heading up to Connecticutt for the UCONN 8 Hour Enduro. I thought about leaving tonight and sleeping in a field, but I may postpone my trip til tomorrow. Waking up at the ass crack of dawn is not my favorite activity, but no AC in my car and leaky doors make me hesitant about driving in the rain. Still debating which bike to run (SS or Geared). Either way it will be a hardtail. The Cannondale is just asking for me to toss parts on it and race, but I am still lacking in the rear wheel department. Effinger's was supposed to hook me up, but I have to call them back.

Everyone heading out to Rutgers Homecoming tomorrow should have a few beers for me. I might make it back by midnight tomorrow and hit up some of the bars, but don't count on it.

~Jay

P.S. Sorry their has been no beer of the week, but Mike has not written up his choice.

Rainy Friday

2006-09-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I caved in and drove my car to classes this morning. However I do have at least 3 reasons why you guys can't call me a quiter. 1. I have to atempt to stay healthy since I have a senior recital coming up this semester and I need as much non sick practicing as possible. 2. I don't have any rain gear yet but I guess that sorta plays into the whole not getting sick aspect. 3. I went out drinking last night and didn't feel like waking up at 5:00 am. And 4. yes I know thats more then three, I need to take my trompet home because I suck apparently.

Once it stops raining I'm going to go for a hills ride, with out 30 pounds on my back just to see how I do. Since I recieved my new Chrome messenger bag the commute has become easier. I think its mainly because I have a seat belt for a strap though, just a thought. The bag also distibutes the weight over a great amount of area making it more comfortable.

Its about time that we started the count down till T-town which falls on my birthday this year. October 7th for yall who be interested. You're welcome to come down in my car with me and Jay as long as you don't take up any space for cool bike shit. Cause I'll put you in the trunk if it comes to that. In the mean time I have to jet, hopefully I won't hit any cars like this morning since I forget I'm moving faster then on my bike. Adios

~didn't quit
Mike

Fresh Meat

2006-09-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

I am still trying to find my digital camera, so pretty soon this site will have cool photos to go along with the posts.

Tonight is the Rutgers cycling beginning of year meeting. I am rather excited because we have some established riders joining the team and the old members are strong as hell. Also, we seem to have interest in the team from some females (FINALLY!). This is good news for the team, since we can field some womens TT's and have a bigger presence at races. Also, when all the leg shaven boys go out for beer, we will have some girls to balance the equation.

So friday night turned out to be a bust. Colorado Cafe did have a mechanical bull, but they also had a 10 dollar cover. Then the beer selection was crappy (Sam Adams was the fanciest they had). Also, the mechanical bull that I was looking forward to all week cost 5 dollars for one ride. Not too mention the carnie that was running it had a half white, half brown beard. Not like he was an old guys, but more as a fashion statement. Left side brown, Right side gray. I have known enough carnies in my day (another story entirely) to know that they are shady enough not to trust with controlling a bull.

Saturday morning I spent with Perla. She made me eggs. Then I drove her home and headed out to Chimney Rock for a ride with Mike. After talking to the unicyclists riding trials on the guard rail we hit the trail. Still a bit slick in some spots and I promptly busted my ass on the far side of Newmann's Lane. Nothing spectacular, but I came within 3 inches of my head meeting a tree.

And that brings us to Sunday night. Time to meet the new team. Here's to Rutgers Cyclocross domination and the rescue of our La Chouffe elf mascot!

~Jay <---In a happy relationship and NOT looking to hit on the freshman

Sept. 8 day 4, what up animals

2006-09-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

So I raise this question, why are squirrels so wishy washy? Today is the 4th day now that I've almost run one over. Its not that I'm bowling for them its just that they run out into the street, then run back in, make a double take, and then decide to run to the other side. I have no beef with squirrels I just wish they wouldn't try to get run over. Deer are also another problem, they don't seem to run from cars but when ever I pass by they get spoked. Maybe its the fact that I'm riding the yellow tcnj bus but who knows. But just Maybe now that Steve Irwin has passed away it is my job to tame the deer, squirrels, chipmunks, snakes, birds, and beavers (yes I even saw one of those today). Someone has to make sure the animals don't get run over, and I'm deeming it my job.

As you might of realized from the post, today is the 4th consectutive day I've ridden my bike to classes. I forget to mention that I made a bet with one of my best and most beautiful friends Samantha that if I rode 5 days in a row she'd take me out to dinner. Well the jokes on her folks because come monday I'm collecting. I figure I got to pick a place thats not top expensive but that I can eat a ton of carbs. However, she didn't say whether or not she was buying drinks (I hope for her sake she isn't, if any of you know me, you'd know why!) Any suggestions on a place?

This weekend should be good I have a block party tomorrow and a house warming party. Both of these will be after my mountain bike ride. Waht could be a better day? Anyways folks peace out and have a good weekend.

The Beastmaster
~MIke

My senior design project (or not listening to my mother)

2006-09-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

My senior design group just found out what project we will be working on. Remember when you were told not to put certain objects in the microwave because they would explode? Also, remember when you were told that microwaves were not toys?

Apparently they are. I will be using a microwave oven to destroy toxic chemicals. If all goes right, things will go wrong and I will end up with mutant powers!

On a side note, new roommate Ted is considering the UCONN 8 hour Enduro (and possibly hooking us up with some sweet Van Dessel demo bikes)! So now the only decision is Jersey Devil hardtail or Ramble Tamble with the Roloff Hub!

Jay

Chimney Rock finally!

2006-09-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

Alright, it was brought to my attention that I always forget to use spell checker. I sincerly apologize for this, but piss off if you don't like the way I spell lets all go mountain biking instead ;p. Alright so as I promised Jay and I did some trail maintence at chimney Rock. We ended up moving two huge tree limbs to clear up the little section after the bridge going towards the baseball parking lot. But for the most part it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be maybe most of the small stuff was taken care of already. In fact there is a new trail on the far side of the Newman's lane parking lot, it still needs to be ridden on because its not quite broken in yet. But I must say, it was not nearly as wet as I imagined, with that being said I'm going to be going back this weekend. If anyone is interested reply to this post. Oh I wanted to say, how much fun mountain biking can be when you haven't gone in 2 weeks. Jeez, I hope that never happens again. Oh but the best part about mountain biking today is I found out I'm buying yellow boots. (sorry these are all random thoughts, stream of conscience? No?)

Some of you might have noticed we didn't update the beer of the week tonight. That will be taken care of tomorrow afternoon sorry for the mess up. However, if you're curious the beer of the week is Arrogant Bastard by Stone Brewying Co. I'll give yall a full description tomorrow, as I'm drinking it for lunch. Yummm! Peace! Damn I have to wake up at 5 30.

~Tired Mike

4 bikes in one day

2006-09-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was able to squeeze in 4 rides and classes. I started off with a hills ride on the trusty (ugly) Jamis Quest. Did 4 repeats and then called it quits since there would be more riding later on. The hills were uneventful, but I tried working on my downhill technique. Tried taking the switchback as fast as possible. This was a bit tricky due to the wet road and all of the debris from this weekends storms.

The second ride was not a "real" ride. 2 miles to class and 2 miles back on my fixed gear. Maybe one day I will recall the story of how I got my fixie, but not today.

After shopping at Marshall's (I got a great deal on a french press, but passed on the awesome shoes I found), it was time for cross practice. Got my gear on and joined everyone for the warm up loops. In attendance were Mark, Charlie, Craig, Ralf, Chris, and another fast guy (never caught his name, but was a nice enough guy). We did a 3 lap simulation this week and I felt rather good. I managed to hand with Mark and Charlie, while Ralf (super fast german) and the unknown rider crushed us by immediately opening a gap that would not be closed.

Got back to the car and saw a voice mail from Liquor Store Dan (my friend Dan from the liquor store. Dan is one of the nicest guys I know and said that he would let me ride his Specialized P2 if I did an Urban ride with him. Feeling rather beat, I downed a soda and ate a granola bar and met up with them behind the student center. Dan, Brad, Ryan, Eric, and I rolled out to Deiner Park (looks exactly like a Tony Hawk game level). I quickly plowed my shin into my pedal since I was not clipped in and did not remember. I practices getting the front end of the bike up and riding extended wheelies (did I mention I haven't ridden BMX, Urban, or freestyle ever in my life?). I am slowly learning, but have a long way to go before I can compete with any of those guys. Next on the learning list is lifting the back wheel (without clipless pedals).

Woke up this morning and was extremely dead and tired. Should make for a fun MTB ride this afternoon.

Jay

Sept. 6 day 3

2006-09-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well today was definately a bummer. I was looking foward to having Jay ride half way with me to classes this morning, but he had a late start. At least today my mp3 player was working. If anyone is interested I definatey recommend Mike Doughty, Haughty Melodic. Its great riding or driving music, it does get a little boring though when you have an older mp3 player with limited space and you end up hearing it twice both ways but hey thats life. Its mostly acoustic guitar with a band, I think his lyrics are what make the album. This is the kicker though, he gives a shout out to Piscataway, NJ in the song busting up a Starbucks.

Back to riding though, luckily weather.com doesn't always gets there predictions right, because I sure was happy not to be riding in the rain this morning. Although the next big thing is when it gets colder. I still don't have a set of booties. Does anyone recommend a brand for booties and thermal gloves, reasonable price and reliable? I mountain bike a lot in cold weather but imagine road riding sucks even more (not to mention its no where near as fun).

I'm excited I'm going for a mountain bike ride tomorrow, hopefully I'll bust my ass it makes me feel a little bit more hardcore. But since I'm sitting in the music lab at TCNJ I'm suppose to give a shout out to Danielle and Pia who are both going to buy shirts. Since I'm going for a mountain bike ride tomorrow, I'll atempt to post something that we all actually care about HARDTAILS!!!

~Decaf Mike

Sept. 5 day 2

2006-09-05T13:27:00.000-07:00

OK, well so today I realized that riding to classes with 40 pounds of assorted stuff really works your lower back muscles. I'm not going to complain about it hurting my legs any idiot would realize that. However, I think from now on I'll be doing hill rides with at least 30 extra pounds
on my back.

Nothing like running into fellow Rutgers riders on the road. By the way Don is the shit, I think he is the only guy that recognized me. Whoa, Rutgers beating South Carolina. By the way if any Rutger riders want to join me on my ride, reply to this post.

Went for a mountain bike ride this weekend, and I don't know if anyone else went out on the east coast after tropical depression Ernesto. Yea there weren't any actually trails, I think Thursday I might do some trail maintence at Chimney Rock if you're interested. Also people should be doing trail maintence anyways. Peace out!

Decaf Mike

Cross season is coming

2006-09-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the first official cyclocross practice here in central Jersey (assuming it doesn't rain). My cross rig is all setup and working well. It worked well for me at SummerCross, though I kept bottoming out my tires on the pump jumps. The only change for this season is the addition of chainring guards. Somehow I survived last season without dropping my chain (except when I had my lovely crash into the barriers. Note to self: Lift Bike), but I don't feel so lucky this year.

My cross bike doesn't get the proper care that it deserves (probably a common problem with most cross bikes). I built it last season and with the exception of lubing the chain and rear derailluer I haven't touched it. Sure I have washed off mud post race, but I haven't pulled the bottom bracket and cleaned it out and I haven't touched the wheels. Yet it still treats me well. Perhaps it's love for me will wear off on my mountain bike.

I noticed that the side bar on this site does not show up in Firefox Browsers. I will have this fixed soon (maybe), but if you are looking for links and the beer of the week, internet explorer works fine.

~Jay

Sept. 1 day 1

2006-09-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

Alright just to fill everybody in, this semester of classes I am commuting on my bike, roughly 80 miles round trip. I'm not doing this entirely because of gas prices but more to train for the GDR, Great Divide Race, next summer and because its just badass! With that being said today was my first day and aside from a few dead possums the ride was rather enjoyable. I'm thinking next tuesday when I do the ride I'll drink a Red Bull and turn into intense Mike. Intense Mike is a entirely different person, more from him later.

This semester is a stressful one, I'm preparing for my senior recital. For those interested I'm a vocalist, trained classically. I appreciate recommendations for songs, arias, or song cycles. However, even though I'll be graduating in the spring, Jay the cofounder of this site and my self are starting a contracting business. But hey, whats five years of college for anyways. Oh yea to change your mind! By the way any mountain bikers in New Jersey need work done on your house?

Check out our shirts they're helping to sponsor the two of us racing the GDR next summer. Anyways I have to go guys make sure you check the beer of the week this coming Thursday. Its my pick so that means it will taste better ;p

~Intense Mike

Iron Hill MTB

2006-08-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

The Rutgers crew went down to Delaware for some fast paced Mid Atlantic Super Series racing. Charlie crushed the SingleSpeed field and came home with a first place medal and a brand new hard tail for life T-shirt. Remember, you can also have a hardtail for life t-shirt. I can't guarantee that it will make you as fast a Charlie, but it can't hurt to look stylish.

~Jay

12 O'Muchy Report

2006-06-06T08:58:00.000-07:00

First a big applause to Rosener and his 4 man team on their 2nd place. Rosener was a beast and kept riding at the beginning so that he could get his laps in and get to work by 2.

Mike and I entered the duo competition and felt very good about our chances. Mike has been jogging a bit and decided he would do the LeMans start. We arrived at Allamuchy around 5:45, checked in, and set up our bootleg hobo tent consisting of a metal frame and tarps that did not quite fit. Upon meeting our neighbors, we were informed that of 12 times the 24 Hours of Allamuchy was ran, it had rained 10 times. Looking at the sky we knew the rain would not deny us today. So over to the start we go. I watch the start and then head back to the "tent" to get ready. The race went off at 7, so people with fast laps would start coming in around 7:30. Hoping for a fast lap from Mike, I went to the transition tent and waited. A few people come through and I hear the promoters saying "Michael Phelan". I assume they are calling the riders a bit further back to help in the transition, so I ask, "Is he coming through?" They ask if I am his teammate and when I tell them I am they tell me he has dislocated his shoulder. So they call the ambulance and send one of the hosts to go find him.

I am not to concerned since Mike dislocates a shoulder every year. In the interest of telling the story and using some good literary effects, I will continue with Mikes story. So some other racers stopped to help him and he decided he had to start walking or he would pass out. Not to mention he had about 1.5 miles to walk until the fire road where the ambulance could get him. So the ambulance arrives to pick up Mike and they help him in with his two dislocated shoulders. When the EMT went to put a sling on his right shoulder it popped back in. The left popped back in thanks to a pot hole. So he continues on to the hospital for X rays. At the hospital he takes of his jersey (did not get cut off) and his red old school see through Rutgers bibs. Well, with red tights on it is hard to notice the blood coming out of you hip. So six stitches later, that is fixed. Assorted other scrapes and some Percaset and Mike wants to get back to the race (if it weren't for the stitches possibly ripping open, he probably would have kept racing). How did this all happen?

Recently I had been telling Mike that he needs to go faster on downhill if he wants to win. On the first lap he was sitting 4th in line at the front with the eventual Solo winner, and the two Spot teams that would tie for first in the duo competition. He tell me he was going close to 25 mph. Whatever speed he was going he hit a small rock hard enough to taco his wheel (the wheel he was borrowing from me, so my broken wheel count is at 2 in 2 races). A tacoed wheel usually ends in a endo and this was no exception. So 3 minutes later, the next racer comes through (maybe not three, but a long time). Mike walks out of the woods with someone kind enough to walk his bike out (his bike with no problems other than the wheel). He tells the promoters via radio that I am to keep racing.

8:04 and they let me start. I go flying through the trail passing many a folk and not realizing that I have 11 more hours of this. The first lap was like riding through a river. The rain started around 7:30 and the trail was flowing with water. I hit the fire road and see the ambulance driving up ahead and start chasing. Not the best race move, but I wanted to wave to Mike, so I caught the ambulance. I'm not sure what team they were racing for, but they had some great blocking tactics. Finally we got to a wider section and the 5 of us stuck behind went around. I do two more unpleasant laps and decide I need food. I went with the Ted special and a bagel (figuring the donut would hit first and then the bagel). I enter lap four and am still feeling good. Unfortunately the rain had stopped and the course dried out slightly. The mud had turned to cyclocross style peanut butter mud and every pedal stroke was an effort. I get to the downhill before the fire road and am stuck behind two people. Looking at them I know they are going to fall. I hit this hill to fast on the second lap and and wiped out into the mud. The first guy goes down and the second guy crashes to the left of him. I somehow manage to float through the gap between them and get to the fire road. I decide to do my fifth lap and the condition were either ridiculous wet or wet and peanut buttery (not sure which).

After lap five, they tell me that Mike is back, so I head to the tent. I take a short break and head out again. Mike decides to make coffee and pasta for us. After lap six my body is done. I stopped for too long and am now trembling with cold. I eat the pasta that has been prepared for me and sit around for a little under an hour wanting to put on warm clothes. But I have to finish and cannot afford myself such luxury. I head back out for a lap around 4PM. Immediately my thighs are being chaffed by the muddy chamois. Eventually I stop feeling it. This is the pain lap. Every pedal stroke hurts, but I am still powering through mud. I have been able to maintain my brake, but have neglect cleaning the mud off my bike since it just keeps appearing. Most of the race my bike had 5 to 10 pounds of mud on it. I stop to shake off some mud and give a push to Tyler (the 12 year old single speed kid) to keep him from falling. I hop back on and at some point am walking up a hill behind Mark Vittori (Fat Marc) and another single speeder. I don't feel so bad since these guys are in the lead and bad ass.

So the pasta must've kicked in because I decide to do another lap. I'm sure Charlie can tell you the amazing power of hot pasta. On lap 8 I am almost at the fire path and my bike is caked in mud. It tears my derailleur back, which in turn grabs a spoke and rips it out of the rim with part of the rim still attached (so the broken wheel count is at 3 in 2 races) I am able to wrap the spoke around another spoke and get the derailleur (which has provided me between 1 and 2 gears on the last 4 laps) back into place. I get to the start/finish with enough time to start and finish another lap, but I am in no position to win and don't feel like trashing another bike so I stop my race.

The final count is 9 laps as a team and 8 done by me. If I had been riding solo and actually in the mindset, I could have squeezed in 3 or 4 more laps (enough for a podium), but oh well. The promoters were very proud of me for my "heroics" and were very impressed with Mikes rapid recovery. They invited us to ride Allamuchy with them, so we will be heading out there once Mikes stitches are out (come join us).

---Jay

Hardtail for Life is born

2006-05-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

Hardtail for Life T-shirts will be premiering at the 12 'O Muchy Mountain Bike Race on June 3rd.