Day 1 at Ironman

There was Chaos today, for sure.  I mean, after all it is quad day!  Quad day is pretty special.  It has become a tradition for me.  I come down in time to see the quadners try to destroy themselves in the mud trying to get across the rivers etc…  I mean, this isn’t just your average I am out for a ride on my quad around the farm type events.  No snow plows in site.  I mean, these people actually think they are going to go fast on them.  Oh, my.

This is the Chaos of the first stream crossing in quad land. Amazing.

I am ready for the most awesome day on a motorcycle ever tomorrow.  Stay tuned, and I will have stories.  Oh yes.

Out, Joe

What Is It About Indiana?

What is it about Indiana?  Say that a few times out loud to your non motorcycle racing fans, and they will look at you like the just took a large bite out of a lemon!  As they gaze past you to the television to see Donald Trump dancing it out hard to Fugazi. (It’s a Facebook link, sorry about that.  It’s worth it though)

But seriously. Indiana has the right amount of winter, is still part of the Midwest, has some really good mountain biking (check out Brown County trails some time), has 2 of the great Offroad Motorcycle series, editions of Full Gas Enduro, National Enduros, 2 GNCC races…  It pretty much rocks.

I have found my new favorite Offroad series. The IXCR series, has great courses it appears, big fields, electronic scoring at works, results up on a screen so you can leave as soon as you are packed, results on the website within hours etc…  The races have classes for every ability and the courses handle the traffic, like a GNCC race does brilliant.   Check their website below.

http://www.ixcr.com/joomla2013/

I’ll be back for more.

One week till Ironman

8 shorter or longer than normal days until Ironman. Yep, that is the one. The biggie. Kinda the race that started it all for me. All of this crazy, I want to race my motorbike feeling. It is also what reignited my love for mountain bikes, and galvanized the burrito as the perfect food. (It is you know).  You may feel that all that is unrelated, but the universe is basically just a string or this is dehydrated breakfast cereal hour depending on your vantage point. It just kinda is.  

On top of the day’s feeling both long and short they also feel a bit ovalized. In addition to the bellyaching from Ryan this evening here in Lafayette, there will be more next weekend (it is another day after all).  Beetle juice. 

It is just amazing to me that the season is almost over. As much as I love the ironman race, I also hate it. It is a bitch. It’s harder than it should be, it is crueler than it should be, and it is beautiful all at the same time.  The hills are big, the rivers are deep, the mud is incredible, the dirt is amazing, the field sections are something to write about.  Wow.  Bring it on now.

Because I usually feel like such a tourist for the first hour, Ryan and I are down in Indiana to do a warm up race the week before.  Our local racing is over in Sept, so in the past I would just go and race Cyclocross in between the end of our season and the ironman. I was fit, but was completely out of sorts with the motorcycle. A tourist for an hour or so until I could figure it out again. This year, countermeasures. 

  
I will use this ixcr race to shake out the cobwebs, in hopes that I can hit ironman ready to rip. We will see. In the meantime, I will listen to Gutpile winge about things. Wish us luck.

(Tell me, why is the media so captivated with Donald Trumps love for Fugazi?  He does have a smashing hairpiece though!)

Joe