Monday, December 01, 2008

So Close

    I haven't been writing because i haven't been riding. although i rode on black friday at one of my favorite spots, 6 mile. it was nice out, some wind, lots of sun and mud. for some reason i didn't expect it, nor did i pack fenders but i did pack a change of clothes. i just rode for an hour, rode the loop i wanted to do, nothing more or less. i took breaks and listened to the trees screeching on other trees, listening to the wind gust thru the trees and leaves rustle on the ground. it was a good ride.

    so, the babies still haven't come. the wifey is pregnant with twin boys and the c section is scheduled for december 15th. the wifey is large, maybe a quarter the size of kate from the opening of that show jon and kate plus eight. i think she looks good and is still functioning day to day by herself. the babies room is done, the mural is painted, all their clothes are washed, her bag is packed, the bouncer and swing are ready but i think we will never be ready.

happy trails,
~db

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Time Flies When Yer Having Fun

    whoa, it's been a long time since the last post. I haven't done much riding because i was letting my back heal. when i got word i could ride again, i went out and tried it. it probably wasn't the greatest idea but i needed to get it out of my system. i lasted only an hour the first time and only noticed sharp pain when i pulled up on the handlebars, trying to get over logs. the second time i went out, was for an hour and had a little less pain from going over logs but a strong tight feeling in my lower back, at time it would be unbearable but a sign i need to wrap up the ride. so i gave it some time and didn't ride for a few weeks.

    well i just went out recently and the lower back hurt a lot less but i'm so much out of shape, from not being active. i have been a lot busy doing home projects and prepping the home for the new babies. my wife is pregnant with twin boys, so there has been a lot of work done in the house. last month, all i did was spackle, sand, prime and paint for a month.

    i dragged my wife to an after hours bike shop pizza party, sale at Halters. i bought winter gloves, Giordana Silverline lobster style. i also got woolie boolie my favorite winter socks AND i finally purchased Light & Motion Stella 200L bike lite for nite riding.

happy trails,
dirty bert

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Make It a Double

    Whew, so much has gone on since the last time i posted. let's see if i can make the long bad story short and the good stuff fun.

    first up, i took a bad fall on may 31st, that landed me in the hospital for a week and home on disability for 6 weeks in a back brace 24/7. i fracture all 5 lower vertebrates in my back. i'm much better, but i'm still ache. 2hrs is the longest ride i have taken and i was in agony from it, so right now an hour is what i can do.

    now the good news. my wife is pregnant!! very exciting news, our firsts, the twin boys are due to arrive in the beginning of december. yes, i did write, twins and yes they are boys. i'm pretty excited about that and i can't wait to buy them bikes, i already got my eye on something at the bike shop.

    life has been good lately, i know it can sneak up on you and make it bad but the wifey is feeling good, as expected and there is more food in the house now. while sitting at home for 6 weeks, i have looked around and saw all the things i neglected over the summer, in order to go riding instead of doing the things i should have done. well now, i'm making other jobs a priority. all the things i neglected are getting done and that includes some biking issues.

    i finally convert my 1991 Klein Rascal into a single speed. i will take pics this weekend to show you. it's pretty light, i kept the xt levers and SE scott peterson brakes on their for a bit but are removing them soon. i guess i'm a weight weenie, i want the bike lighter, like my 5.5 pound turner frame (why did i think i could make a 5spot light). anyway, i'm replacing the brakes with avid single digit 7's and brake levers and i need to find a 5 bolt bash guard. anyone know of any?

ride for me!
happy trails
~dirty bert

Monday, June 30, 2008

Daily Rituals

    since i haven't been working for 5 weeks now, i have a ton of time internet surfing AND most of it is spent on looking for bike stuff or deals.

    one of my new favorite sites to check daily is ChainLove. it has some pretty good bike deals daily, from bike sox's to winter gear. lately i have been seeing a lot of gurls stuff on there.

    my other favorite site to watch is Steep and Cheap. at Steep and Cheap, they sell premium, core outdoor gear and clothing at prices that are downright criminal. they sell one screamin' deal at a time until it's gone. the deals are fat (up to 80% off and no less than 50% off), so they sell out fast. you have to act fast or you'll miss it, but don't stress-as soon as one deal sells out, they kick off another.

    today, i saw this bumper stick on a car it said, save the ta-ta's. sock guy is selling the sock but here's the official ta-ta site... save the ta-ta's.


cancer sucks.
~dirty bert

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

House Arrest!

    so you'd think after 4 weeks of being home, i'd make at least 1 post on this blog. 2 weeks ago, i felt like i was on house arrest, instead of having that bracelet on my ankle, i have a brace around my back and chest.

    you see almost 5 weeks ago, on May 31st, i fell mountain biking, a freak accident is what i like to call it. a friend and i were riding chimney rock and decided to do 1 more trail. i usually don't ride that trail because its physical with the roots, rocks and ruts. so as i was climbing this hill, i lost my steam (i think) and wanted to unclip, with my right foot but i didn't do it in enough time. so instead of falling to the sides, like we most do, who ride with clipless, i fell backwards, with great speed and force. i landed, back first into a huge fallen tree on the ground.

    i remember screaming in pain, a wave of nausea, sweeping my body and i didn't want to move because the pain was that bad. my friend wasn't to far behind me, but didn't see me fall, because the fallen tree was that big and was laying in the apex of the turn. i had fallen backwards and smashed my lower back into the tree. i had a camelback on and THANK GOD i did because it cushioned my fall and back. but where the camelback didn't cover, my lower back, is where the pain was.

    after maybe a half and hour i was on my feet, in some excruciating pain and i used the bike as a crutch to walk out of the forest. i honestly thought i broke or bruised some ribs and maybe even my kidney because the pain had gone to my groin. i think it took us about 45 minutes to walk out of the woods and back to the car, where my friend put the bikes back on the car and i painfully got back into the car to drive home. yes, i drove home. 45 minutes later, i dropped him off and called another friend to see if he'd drive me to the hospital but first meet me at my house.

    at the hospital, i waited an 1 hr and 15 minutes to get an x-ray, in all that time i stood up because it was to painful to sit down. i got a CT scan and minutes later, my wife and i found out i broke 5 vertebrate's in my lower back and had internal bleeding. SUPER, FANTASTIC, AWESOME, BRAVO, GOOD JOB!!

    well this whole time, since i was laying on the ground to now, all i could think is, my wife is going to KILL ME! recently my wife and i were told, that we were going to be blessed with TWINS in december. yes, wonderful news but she'd didn't need this stress.

    ok, so to wrap this long winded story, i spent a week in the hospital where i was fitted with a back brace. i was told it would take 6 weeks for my bones to heal and this monday will be my 5th week. i also have to wear this huge back brace for 6 weeks and i only take it off to shower. i can't ride a bike, drive a car or lift anything heavy for 2 months and i'm out of work till september with my short term disability. i'm getting an x-ray this tuesday and hopefully a follow up appointment with my neurosurgeon, the following week. i'm keeping my finger's crossed, so that the doctor will tell me, i'm healed and i can remove the brace, no surgery is needed and i can return to work and be able to drive again. we shall see!

happy trails and
please ride for me!
~dirty bert

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Taco Bash Guard

    i got this bash guard on my bike from Dark Cycles, called Black Guard. i gotta say it's pretty phat looking and it does its purpose well. it makes me look better in my non-graceful way of clearing logs.

    I just found this on E-Thirteen Taco Bashguard. for 45 bucks you get a quarter of what you really need in a bash guard. i like the idea, plain and simple and definitely puts its self in the ranks of "why didn't i think of that."

happy trails
~dirty bert

Friday, April 25, 2008

Spring Bike Deals!

    i ask myself, is it really spring? it's nothing like last year, where we jump from a very short spring into summer. although yesterday was very warm, i think a high of 85, we haven't hit the 90's just yet. i'm thankful because i got 2 many outside projects to worry about that.

    i found a cool site to do price comparisons called, Spadout. i only search for mountain biking stuff that's on sale but there are other options as well. for example, i found Time ATAC Cleats, for $14.99! so basically you can buy 2 sets of them for the price of one at a bike shop but then again there's the waiting factor and shipping cost.

    another site, i stumbled along is Bike 29, a 29er site for those dedicated to big wheels. i like looking at the shop section, dreaming of what i would buy if i had the loot.

    i like Twin Six jerseys and t-shirt designs. i like the arygle jerseys. although i vow not to wear bike jerseys, i'd wear them if it was a loose performance, coolmax, shirt, maybe 3/4 length design.

    tasty thursday deal, even though it's friday (thank god), is this 6-pack of GU for $5.50. this offer expires today!

get out there and ride!
~dirty bert

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Tubeless in Seattle (well not really)

    where did i go? i was here. i didn't forget about you completely. i was just having to much fun and the way it goes for me, i'm too tired to do much at nite. so since the mild winter we had here in NJ, i have been riding faithfully. i think i was out every weekend until i got hit with that crappy flu. 4 days of fevers, chills and aches. it took about 2 weeks for me to finally get rid of that bug, but the whole dam office had got it at that point as well. i think i didn't ride for like 3 weeks.

    well i'm back and i hope i'm more regular than my morning poops. everyone poops or is it farts, like the book says but more importantly since the new year my bike has gone thru some changes and i gotta say right now, is performing better than the day i got to ride it the first time.

    lets see, since the new year, i have replaced my rear hanger. i got it from Derailleur Hanger. 2 for 39 bucks. i had to get rid of my Goodridge front brake & shifter lines because my front brake and shifting just sucked with them. the brake lines were replaced with Magura front brake lines and the shifter was replaced with Gore cable. my rear wheel has been rebuild, re-greased and re-loved. my fat ass cracked the rail on my Selle Italia SLK saddle. so now i'm sportin' a WTB Speed V and i made the switch to tubeless tires. i'm using Hutchinson tires and it's "protect' air tubeless" suppose to be better than stan's because it can be used on all tires, unlike stan's.

i'm tired. i'll post some morrow.

happy trails
~dirty bert

Friday, March 07, 2008

It's Been Awhile, Well Not Really.

    it's been awhile, i said, i'd try to be a better blogger in 08'and i already failed at that. although, i have been riding, getting out at least once during the weekend which has been good.

    i just got over the flu. i'm sure plenty on you out there have had it or know someone that had or has it. it's pretty rough, i can't remember last when i had a fever and the chills as i did last weekend. 4 days of a fever, drained, achin' and just no interest in eating. i was hoping to lose weight on this, but it did nothing for me.

    so back to riding, i'm excited that this weekend is daylight savings time. this marks it when i can squeeze riding in after work. last year, i did real well, by riding at least 4 days during the week and either one or both days on the weekend. my addiction was being satisfied. unfortunately, it's been raining a lot so the trails aren't in the best shape.

    i was hoping to purchase a road bike this spring but it seems like uncle sam squashed my hopes for that. i couldn't believe how expensive parts were for a road bike. 300 bucks for shifters, you gotta be kidding.

    well weather permitting and hopefully it isn't so muddy, i'm headed to allaire on sunday. a lil early morning riding before the hellish week that i already know that i'm going to have at work.

happy muddy trails,
~Db

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Skinny Wooden Bridges

    i know it's been awhile since the last i wrote. AND i know i said in the last posting that i was going to blog more in 08', but i never realized how much work goes into writing something for a blog. i have no problem rambling in emails or textin' but here it requires so much more time. See, i think i was just rambling.

    so i bought those Lake MXZ302 winter shoes. they make my toes nice and warm and happy. i stepped into a puddle and they were fine, as long as the puddle or in my case the stream crossing isn't over the top of the shoe. my feet were wet and on top of it, i could feel the water sloushin' around inside my shoe, yes i was to lazy to drain my shoe. so we are in mid February and you'd think i would have broken in these Lakes by now, ravin' about how well they fit and oh-so-warm and happy my toes are but how can i when last Saturday was 50! for once, global warming is good!

    i have been riding almost, practically every weekend. i got 2 new fearless riders joining me this winter. i especially enjoyed it when they graduated to clip-less pedals. endless, silly crashes. you all remember all the embarrassing falls. falling just trying to clip in, falling just stopping for a brief moment, falling backwards on your rear tire, while you tumble down a hill, still clipped in and only unclip as you land into the stream (that was me). the 1 guy falls silently, very very stealthy, you have no idea. 1 minute he's there and the next he's laying on his side on the ground. very quick and quiet.

    i got a problem. i cannot ride in a straight line in order to save my life. i panic and psyche myself out before i come to a wooden bridge, forget a skinny. how could i ride that when i can't ride a curb and only last for 3 feet. i need practice. i need someone to build stuff for me to practice on.

happy frozen trails,
~dirty bert

Sunday, January 06, 2008

It Must Be the Shoes.

    Well i finally broke down and bought winter shoes. I bought them 1 size bigger to accommodate the thicker socks or multiple pairs that i wear. I got the new cleat attached to the shoe and tried it out last Sunday. It kept my toes nice and warm AND dry for the most part. I had a lot of trouble trying to clip into my pedal. The cleat was in a new positioned so i had trouble searching for it on the pedal. I felt like a newbie once again, minus all the falling.

    The shoes held up well until i stepped into a stream crossing. I'm sure they would have been fine if the water wasn't so high. So from then on, they became a ice block. I mean these shoes are so water tight, i could feel the water swishing around the inside as i rode.

    Fenders are also a key part of winter riding. They keep the slop to a minimal on yer back and butt. I found spraying the underside with Pam spray reduces the mud from actually sticking. I also wear a helmet cap or if it's really cold and windy a face protector or also know as Balaclava.

    So tomorrow, they are forecasting 50 degrees in January. Wow, what a way to extend my riding season. Despite the trails being a tad bit muddy and still frozen by mid morning, it's kinda nice to have global warming.

happy muddy trails
~dirty "frozen" bert