24 Hours of Payson - AKA the Payson Stampede

Well Bozzelbloggers - here is the first stab at finishing a 24 hour solo mountain bike race. First weekend in May, warm but not hot. This is what I would call an easy course - less than 2000 feet of climbing per lap, all on dirt dual-track (aka Jeep Roads). My mind might go numb from the monotony, but at least I have only a small chance of getting hurt at 3am since the course is not technical. Necessary Items:
-MP3 player
-plenty of nutrition
-Support (ie of the female kind - aka my girl D)
-Clear head
-Strong legs

I don't think it will be physically hard - I have done one 12 hour effort before, and I was in good shape after that on a similar course.

The training started on Dec 31st. I snuck in a 1.5 hour ride today on my "lunch hour" - hey, I'm paying for it...I came in at 7am and I won't be leaving until 6pm. My tires sucked, I have a creak in my bottom bracket - probably from riding on wet roads last week - but I felt pretty good considering its January. Average heart rate was somewhere around 155. That's a little high, but hey, it was about 55 degrees and I forgot my arm/leg warmers, so I had to stay warm somehow.

CB

John McCain

He is one of the frontrunners for the GOP ticket in the '08 election. I have seen him make a political progression from Independent to moderate Republican since he lost his bid in '00, properly situating himself to be a frontrunner in the 2008 GOP primary. He spoke today about supporting our Prez's new stance on Iraq - adding 20K plus troops.

McCain has said, for as long as I can remember, that we either fully commit to Iraq, or get the h*ll out. I remember a speech he gave last winter that is probably a heck of a lot like the one that our Prez will give tomorrow night.

The problem here is that our Prez is a year (or two or three) late on his new stance, and about 3 trillion $ in the hole + thousands of lives sacrificed for......

My point is about McCain though. Here he is about 15 months ahead of campaigning for the GOP ticket talking about 'doing what he feels is right'. He could easily get on the moderate/Dem side of the fence and oppose our Prez - which would likely catapault him into a very popular position with moderate conservatives, Dems and Independents - giving him a huge edge in a popular vote contest. BUT.... it might not even get him out of the Republican primary.

Is he or isn't he - speaking from the heart. I think he is just because his stance has not changed on Iraq. I would have voted for McCain in 2000 if he had won the primary, and I'm a hella' lot more left than right. We could 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' all day about "what if Bush lost again in 2000 (you know he lost, right?! I sure hope you know that). I just know Iraq wouldn't be nearly the clusterf*ck it is now.

I don't even want to hear Bush talk tomorrow night. I can get all the 'waxing nostalgic', cliche's, and rhetoric I need from the books on my night stand.

BALANCE - I spend a lot of time working on creating a definition of this word that works for me. Based on Webster's definition, I see a lot of people who are out of balance. The range from highly respected professionals, to world-class athletes, to bums on the corner. I don't think balance is important to a lot of people, rather, its easier to strive to be great at one thing, surrounding yourself with peers who praise your successes and support your quest towards expertise.

For me, balance is the daily battle to provide for my family, grow my relationships with D and Squirty, keep myself in good physical/mental condition, and keep in touch with family and friends. What seems to fall out of balance more often than not is the priority of my physical and mental health.

There are two phrases I don't have any tolerance for. 1.) "I don't have time" 2.) "That is unacceptable" I'll address #2 some other time. What people really mean when they utter #1 is "That is not a priority for me". #1 really comes down to part of the daily balance of our lives.

A new work week starts tomorrow, and I'm ready to make another run at balancing my life. As any Minnesotan says "It could be worse". Yeah - it could. I'm middle-class, educated, and my family is in great health. These are good times indeed. Balance - my definition? I'm still working on that.

CB

Oh yes - here is my favorite George Carlin rule for 2007.

New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to hear "27 months." "He's two" will do just fine. He's not a cheese. And I didn't really care in the first place.

I only write about this because I am surrounded by elitist moms even in my liberal, crunchy town of Flagstaff. You can find them at local playgrounds, and its usually the short-haired moms with a sporty sweatsuit that doesn't cover up as much as it should - and she is just DYING to talk about her little Jimmy.

I'm off to Phoenix for a company dinner - until tomorrow my Bloggians...

A miracle happened today. I left work to pick up Lyza, and the simple version of the story is that she ended up going home with a friend and I got a call to "pick her up in a couple of hours". You have GOT to be kidding me....My work clothes were on the floor, who knows where the wallet ended up, the cell phone could have fallen in the toilet, I wouldn't have cared. The road warrior clothes were on in 9 minutes and I went on a fantastic road ride up towards the local ski resort. I took it super easy, and just savored the time, the warm sun, and the feeling of getting back on the road so early in the year. There was a point on the ride, when all I could hear was my breathing, and the sound of the rubber on the road - everything else was completely still - no cars, nothing.

So I flip around and am still just crusing home - staying in my target range of 135bpm to 150bpm. The point at this time of the year is SLOW rides to build an endurance base. This 20 mile ride was falling into form until....this old codger

He passed me on the flats just getting back into town. I'm 39, I have a family, I am not competing today, and that is exactly what went through my mind when he went by with a shit-eating smirk. Whatever - I was riding my pace and I was happy as could be until.....

He made a left onto the same road that goes back to my house - a 12% gradient for about 250 yards. I was about 100 yards behind him, and I saw him struggling out of the corner off my eye and I honed in on him like an F-16 targeting device. When I blew past him I didn't say a word, and I brushed his shoulder for good measure. SO I'm still a Type-A when it comes to competition. Screw that little sweet quiet ride, there was fresh meat on the road to catch and kill! Who did I get this from? Dad? Mom? Steve? Dana? Lyza?

Signed,

Jerk Bosselmann

This is why I love to ride. This is what keeps me young at heart. As a Dad, this was one of my proudest moments of 2006. Lyza has had the best time with her little Specialized bike - and despite several crashes, she remains relatively fearless.

Her attitude about riding is centered on fun. She has no concept of training, or of riding ever becoming a chore. I'm going to take that to heart this year as I prepare for a 24 hour solo ride in June or July. Event name/date/time TBA. This blog is resolution free - but I wanted to at least get that goal down so everyone can hold me to it.

VOILA!