More accidents...

I think I may be atracting these things. Here is a picture of a car that hit a light post and slid about 50 yards off of lake shore drive into a grassy hill. It is pretty banged up. I also saw three more minor accidents between cabs and a chinese couple whose hood flew up. Vivian's graduation was great. A bunch of her Mom's friends came and we all had a good time. I got a good ride in on Saturday morning. I focused on pedal stroke and race starts. By this I mean I would start about 100 yards off the base of the hill in a normal starting gear on my Niner (34x24). I would roll from zero to redline until the top of the hill, turn around and do it again. I am just trying to get used to the feel of a hard race start. I also did some race track repeats, working on cornering form. I would time sprints in an oval around parking lot fixtures five times around. I did five sprints twice for each side (turning left and turning right). This was a good exercise and showed I was fairly balanced. The 2 sets to the left came in at 1:08 & 1:06. The two to the right came in at 1:08 & 1:07. It just means I am even turning left or right, which is good. Now I just have to bring down all times. I also worked on balance. How I do that is riding on a raised curbed taht is about 6 inches wide. This is easier said than done. My tires are 2.1 inches wide so this only leaves 1.95 inches of leeway on either said. How I stay in a straight is done by looking about 15-20 feet in fron of me and holding my weight just in front of the nose of the saddle. I can do this fairly easily now. The real test/skill is to do this while holding a wheelie, so riding the whole thing on just your back wheel. I need to get better at those to pull it off. All this is a cool way to train for MTB races without easy access to trails. I have city parks but no singltrack.

I also got some great shots of the city from Viv's roof top. A funny one of a computer monitor at the bottom of a pond is mixed in there too.

Sticking to two....

WHEELS! I saw this car parked off of LSD. I am glad I am not regularly driving up and down that road. I've seen three accidents in the past two months. There are too many cars and most are traveling over the speed limit. You'll notice a man running with his shirt off in the background. It must have been 55 degrees that day. I think people feel if they act like it's summer it'll feel like summer. Yes, I am riding in a dress shirt.

On a lighter note. Vivian is graduating on Sunday. Hooray! Her Mom, Dad & sister will be in town this weekend. I am looking forward to it. The pressure is off since I already know them. Plus her sister is just awesome. She is the oldest girl and easy to talk to. Reminds me of Mary Kate in a lot of ways. Always laughing and smiling. I hopefully will get a long ride in too. My next race is coming up. I have to train for the hills of Brown County, IN. It's on May 31st.

Active animals...

I had a busy week in the warranty repair center. I learned a few things about what it means to bleed air out of a damper. I got a couple good rides in the rain. I won the Cat2 Open division at Winona Lake in IN. I am going to try to race most of the DINO series. I think I have the right bikes for it in my SS and Niner. Got some cool pics in the city on my bike. Colors are everywhere! Enjoy Yourself!

Pmac

Time to celebrate...

This is the meager hill I have to work with.

This is my favorite building along the north shore. It's wedged between two average looking ones. The camera didn't focus to well on the background but you can kinda make it out. Attempting an artsy shot.
Looking Back

Looking forward

Looking good

Today I turn 26. The last year of my middle twenties. What does that mean? I don't know. I haven't reached any milestones this year. I feel the same if not better than last year. I am just cruising. There are some things going well and others I need to work on. As long as I am looking for change and opportunity then I don't feel anything wrong with turning 26.

I got in a decent ride yesterday. I cruised on up the lake for about a half hour. Once I came back South I did 10 hill climbs (pictured above). The legs are feeling pretty good. I even had PT this morning so I thought I would run out of the power. I still had fuel left in the tank.

Fun stuff goin on

There was a propane tank in the back seat too. WTF

Notice two parking tickets

Got a good ride in yesterday. The wind was strong on the lake front. Close to 35mph. I rode into the wind for some hard efforts. It felt like I was climbing. I am racing for the first time this weekend. The fat & skinny tire fest in Warsaw, IN. I may also race at Ft. Custer on Sunday in MI. The geared bike on Saturday and singlespeed on Sunday. Awesome! Here are some pics of me on my ride as well as a Benz parking fail I saw this morning. Enjoy.

Pmac

My brother wore a dress...

For his graduation on Saturday! Congratulations John. I know you don't think it's that big of deal but you did it. You needed it for everything else you want to do. Good luck with everything you decide to take on. This past weekend was a lot of fun. Mostly full of eating, drinking, and joking around. The rain did not let up, though. I still got in about two hours on the bike Sunday night. Not bad I guess. First race this upcoming weekend in Indiana. I am looking forward to it.

I have a new blog!

I had an interesting idea the other day while I was sitting and stuffing my face with my roommate Aaron. I was a bit mesmerized by the pile of food I was attempting to consume. Low and behold I did it in a short period of time with few complications. He said, "Man, you should take a picture of that before you eat it, just so you know what you accomplished". "Too bad I don't have a camera", I glumly remarked. The digestive juice then got the creative juices flowing. What if I took pics of everything I ate and posted them on a blog? I have never seen that done before. It's pretty personal and will help me neatly set up my meals. Archiving and chronologically setting things up will help me stay organize as well as help me analyze what I am eating and the effects it has on me. This will be fun. I will still post to this site for day-to-day riding and other things. Check it out at: http://pmcclain83.blogspot.com/

Pmac

Content

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while. All last week I was in the ER aka the warranty repair center; fixin forks and brakes. I was rarely at a comp long enough to type anything. So, yea, a lot has gone on. I guess I could fill in the blank screen. I am realizing something, my blog updates are fairly superficial. In the sense that it's just event update and how I felt about it. So I am thinking of changing the content I put in here. Something more personal. Noo, not too personal just more personal. I have an idea but can't act on it until I get the right stuff. I just sold the Lenzsport which shall provide the funds for the right stuff. WTF? What am I talking about? I think a trip to Best Buy will help. Oooo, a chance to boost my credit. Let's see if I have any funny pics.

Pmac

Rippin & rollin

I had a good weekend in MI. I rode at Stony Creek twice; the trails were in great condition. I got a four hour ride in on Saturday, half of it riding from the house up there and back. They've done a good job with trail maintenance there. More corners are banked and muddy spots drained. A lot of downhill sections did not require braking b/c of this. My Salsa was nicely equipped for the trails. I must have had the right air pressure in both tires b/c they felt like velcro in corners and up climbs. I rode again on Sunday and experienced much of the same thing. Not much else went on at home. Just hanging out and eating. What else can you ask for?

Pmac

Out early today...

And I got quite the send off after throwing my keyboard into my unsuspecting Tron era monitor. I will be attacking I-94 on the road to one of the great metro areas of our time. No not Evansville, Indiana; DETROIT, MICHIGAN. I got plans too. Friday night I'm going to a rap show in the city with Aaron. Saturday I'm riding a long distance maybe check out some trails if it's not too wet. Maybe go see Fred, Martha & the kids. Also, I plan to do some online bike shopping with pops and then go out for some burgers, betties, and benevolent observation.

In Spring or Summer I really like going back to Troy. The comfort of home that you can only get from one place....home. I have not been able to recreate that feeling anywhere else. Sure, I've liked the places I've lived in but nothing has been like the house on the lake in Troy.

This past week has been fairly hectic. A lot of riding, taco eating, & Jack Daniels. Not necesarily in that order. I went to the GZA show last night out in the West. It was supposed to be a bad part of town but the gloc I had stashed in my trousers told me otherwise.

Pmacadocious