OH WELL..............

It looks like my little night ride/get together is gonna hafta get the old raincheck.

Hopefully next week.....stay tuned.

NIGHT RIDE.........

This Friday @ 6:30 pm we will depart Casa de Bubba for a 2 hour (or so) ride on the tranquil trails of Tosa. The pace will be just enough to stay warm and nobody will be left for dead. We will then return for a pot of chili and a few beers. This part of the evening will NOT be "no drop" as I plan to hold clinic on chili eating and beer drinking.

Vegans and vegetarians will have to eat expired Cliff bars...sorry.

CHUCKLEHEADS...........................

CROSS PICS....................

Feel free to make wizecracks about what might be on Russell's mind in the above photo.......in the meantime, I'll try to post some good ones here.

FAHKIN'-AAY!!!!!.......

I attempted to fly the colors (or lack there of)....at the Copper Harbor Fat Tire Festival. It was going pretty OK until about the last 6-7 miles. Then I proceeded to wreck my bike, myself........pretty much everything but my weekend.

Copper Harbor Rocks!!!....


and YES...I'm well aware that this blog needs more work than Russell's new car.

JOHN IS ALWAYS TRYING TO IMPRESS ME........



What an entertainer.

Check here later for more entertainment.

YA KNOW.....I DON'T LOOK GOOD VERY OFTEN....


Aaaaand...I guess the top spot on the podium don't help much either.


Another 24-9 is in the books and I am again reminded why this is one of my very favorite races of the season. The opportunity to make mountain biking a true "team" sport is one that really dig. I have been a part of this team for the last 3 years or so in a few variations and have had a absolute blast every time. Even the year we had to stoop really low and grab this guy.


My little buddies and I managed to take the win in the 7 team mens vetran (35+) division and although we led from start to finish, we were in a battle the whole time against Stiff Kitty.. a team of locals who were using their "home course advantage" to hang tough all race (particularly after dark).


Personally....... I had about my best 24-9 to date with the exception of a night lap in which I went out with prescription glasses that fogged up almost instantly. The blind "white knuckle" ride through those rock gardens was interesting to say the least.


Safe to say....I prefer Bare knuckle to white knuckle any day.


And while there were many unfamiliar names on the guest list......the podium was loaded with familiar faces.

The Expo jr's totally rocked all race posting a 3rd OVERALL finish and no doubt catching the Grannygear folks off guard as was evidenced by their winning some Grannygear "rain slicker" or sumpthin'....BUNK!

"The 'Sta of the 'Sha" after 24 hours and 12 minutes straight of enjoying his favorite past time. He exacted revenge in a race that may have had him on the ropes a bit last year......but that was last year. ta-da.....




The Milwaukee performed like a champ (though with a squishy fork) all weekend long. I continue to receive very nice compliments on this bike. Folks comment on how cool it looks and then inevitably start asking questions I don't know the answer to.....Like.."What kinda of tubing do they use??".......Ummm....the steel kind. However, if anyone thinks they would rather have mine instead of buying their own.....remember.

I met a few cool people over the weekend as well. Troy and I had a nice chat in the transition tent. He is one of the guys behind the building of the super-cool Eau Claire race course and a fine chap at that. Then some younger dude called me out on the trail. I don't recall ever seeing him before, but he recognized me from reading this blog. When I asked him why he wasted his time with this "bubble gum for the brain" he said.....You got cool photos on there.



photos by Julie

CAN YOU SEE MY CRACK??? PART 4....................

This story is getting old.

THANKS DUDE...I OWE YA' ONE...

Looks like Maciej might be telling Bender his plan to give the old Bubbster a piss-warm beer hand up in the sport race.

more jokers here.

SCHWINN SIX............


I have invested 2 cans of paint and 2 brake cables in Julies vintage 1967 Varsity. Tires, brake pads and a little elbow grease courtesy of TRTS. A basket should finish it off nicely.

Julie and I missed WORS 3 in Wausau Sunday to hit up the Miller Lite Ride for the Arts. We were volunteer course marshals on the 50 mile route...(although Julie will be quick to point out that her computer read 55.3 miles at rides end) She exceeded her previous longest ride by well over 20 miles....she did use her road bike for the event, however because she'll be lucky to survive the crappy bike ride on this tank.
Make no mistake....This is a coffee shop bike all the way.

You'd think after a nice gesture like making her a bike she'd be my friend on Facebook??..Nope.

TRON WAS ROLLIN' THE BIG WHEELS AT CRYSTAL RIDGE LAST NIGHT......


Really

IS IT JUST ME????.............

Or does this look like some twisted mountain bike version of West Side Story? I think Walls even has a pack of cigs rolled up in his sleeve.

Some pics. later tonight.

I WIN.....IOLA RACE REPORT..........


The Wisconsin Off Road Series kicked off the 2009 season last weekend at the Iola Bump & Jump, hosted in the wooded singletrack of the Iola Winter Sports Club outside Iola, WI.


Having done very little training over the winter, I had fairly modest expectations, but after a decent 15 mile warmup I started to feel a little better about my chances. The weather always cooperates at Iola and it remains one of my favorite venues.


I felt fairly relaxed at the start chute... just checking over the equipment and preparing myself for what was sure to be a tough couple hours after sizing up the competition.


Don said goooo...and I made a conscious effort not to get all snap-happy right off the line. I waited until the first descent in front of the start/finish chute before going to work.


I then settled into a familiar spot for me.... right at the end of the rooted "straight shot" between the pines towards the end of the lap, but quickly got antsy when I caught a glimpse of Rusty out of the corner of my eye.

A savvy tactician , that Rusty.....I quickly latched on as he made his way to one of the most strategic areas of the race course with me in tow... a sandy turn exiting some fast singletrack on the final 1/3 of the lap is where I really started picking off the field... catching one rider after another using Rusty's ho made "tanning-tinfoil-light maker thingy"to my advantage while finding my grove and eventually ending up with the overall victory among some very tough competition.

Thanks to Claire for her time and hard work with all things WORS. She did, however spell my name wrong while giving photo credit.

Keith is spelled B.U.B.B.A.

Equipment specs....

Camera: Cannon something or other

Lens: a pretty big one

Memory card speed : no clue

Lighting: Mr. Golden Sun and Rusty's Golden Tanning Shield

Next up is WORS #2 in Rhinelander and some chick has already waged a challenge thinking she has a shot at the title.... She has no idea what she's getting herself into.

PHOTOS BY MOUNTAINGOAT.....

A brand new kit and a super-cool, steel, one speed, locally built pedal bike....
Lookin' at the pictures, you would think I'd be a little faster.

more fast folks here.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN......................

THERE'S A FINE LINE..............

Between revealing your every move to the entire internet, and having the absolute lamest blog imaginable.....and I'm walkin' it.

Above is proof that I actually can have something nice....since I ripped yet another jersey tonight, I figure it's only a matter of time before I wreck the bike too.

SHIT.....................

I can't have anything nice.

WORD........................

EASING OUT OF RETIREMENT??.............

Meg has been getting on the bike a bit more of late and says she plans to do some racing this season.

I pointed out to her that she appears to have a bit of a wanna -be thing going on and cited several examples backing up my observation.

"Don't forget to add a 29er to your list" she arrogantly added noting the her high school graduation present is sitting in her bedroom ready to roll.

So far, her mom is sticking to her guns on a "no ride till graduation" rule in the event she slacks....then it's a career in the carnival and the bike goes on the auction block.

We'll see who gets the last laugh.

IT'S ALGONQUIN FOR THE GOOD LAND........................

I just got in from doing a little trail work for all you crazy cats.....enjoy.

DOCTORS ORDERS...............................

Sometimes I think my doctor has a weird way of practicing medicine.

On Saturday evening, I developed a swollen Parotid gland on the passenger side of my noggin'. Because nothing like this has ever happened to me before, I was justifiably a bit concerned.

I spent the day Sunday watching it swell up every time I ate something....only to subside after about 45 minutes....then to looking like I was starting to grow a 2nd head when I ate again.....and so on...repeat.

So...considering all the crap going around these days I figured I would go have it checked out this morning.

My doctor said I had a Parotid gland infection that blocked the gland from secreting saliva. By the time he was seeing me, the blockage had cleared on it's own and the swelling was down considerably.

He said I should go get the most sour candy I could find and eat a few pieces to really clear it and get everything flowing freely again.

After a rather embarrassing scene at Walgreen's because they were all out of Sour patch kids, I just settled for the Warheads.

I mean,,,What kind of pharmacy are they running anyway??......I'll bet they didn't run out of anyone else's medications like blood pressure pills or anti-depressants.

..........AND I SAY-AY.............




....IT'S ALRIGHT.....DOO-DOO-DOO...DOO-DOO-DOO-DA.


O.K...enough with the "Sing-along with Bubba " nonsense.

I bought Julie a new camera for Christmas and she sure seems to be getting the hang of it....wuddintcha say??

She will not have mastered her craft, however, until she can capture classic photos like her wonderful husband.



Geeez...I need to get back into this bloggin' thang...

I missed being accused of being a "player" over here. Yeah....That was me alright.

C'MON DUDE............

Did anyone listen to this guy??......Ub-bub-bub-uhhh-duh....I..I...

Hey Mushmouth...Let me spell it out for ya'.
You either......
A) knowingly neglected to pay your taxes...(making you a crook)....or
B) were ignorant of the tax laws and made "honest" mistakes (making you incompetent)

He's in D.C. today arguing of behalf of his incompetence.

OOOOOOOHH!!!.....But when it comes to finance, he's a genius.....REALLY????

When it comes to buffets, Randy is a genius.....that, however does NOT necessarily qualify him to be Secretary of Snacking.

But in the Presidents defense....he did say he would make some mistakes.

And by the way...... Barack

Good luck with this bitch because she ain't never answered to nobody and the way she sees it you are sittin' in her chair.

And I even like her .....remember I voted for her in 1996.

STRATS GOT YOUR TOUNGE........................

Greg was just one of the neighborhood kids....
The only difference was he was mastering Jimmy Hendrix on the guitar in about the 3rd grade.
A little taste here (after the 3 minute mark it gets pretty nuts) and here.

Some of you have checked him out....the rest of you need to.

One of Tosa'a finest....(not a cop, but he is layin' down the law)

COURTESY OF MY FAVORITE DUMPSTER.....................

UNDER THE BRIDGE..............

The first time I kissed a girl ....back in about 1973-74 was under a bridge at the river.
If my memory serves me, she had the exact same look on her face.

What is it about bridges that give chicks the willies?

VINTAGE CRAP....................

Regardless of how much work you put into a $8.75 Rust-Oleum paint job. Regardless of how much time you spend polishing 40+ year old chrome or cleaning bearings.

A 1967 Schwinn Varsity pulled out of a dumpster is still a Crappy bike.

How do I know???...He said so.

I THINK THE MEDICAL TERM IS BRUISED COCCYX..........

.......but my ass is broken.

After reading a few blogs, I thought to myself....How hard can snowboarding really be??. I figured if The Goat can do it...anyone can.

Well, since I did not have the time or extra cash to begin my snowboarding career in the mountains of Colorado...it was off to Sunburst. (I mean I own that place on a MTB..right??)

I/ it went down sumpthin' like this.....

-Headed to the bunny hill for some instruction and some basics...no sweat.

-Within 45 mins. or so I was able to get up said bunny hill via the tow rope and get back down stopping a few times as to not gain too much speed......cool.

-After about an hour and a hot cup of Joe, I decided I was ready to tackle the chair lift and one of the bigger runs....this also went well.
(I was advised not to try the chairlift my first time out)

-After 10 or a dozen runs I was doing pretty OK. About half the time getting off the chairlift upright...and the other half on my ass. I was making my way down the hill slowly switching back as to not get out of control.....going good.

-Then I got that "false confidence"....I could feel it building....a little faster....a little faster. We've all been there.... I remember saying to myself..."Relax and you might live to do this again"..but I was having a blast...that snowboarding is some fuuuuun stuff.

- Then it happened...WHAM!!!!...I crashed harder than my retirement accounts. Right on my tailbone....talk about peeing in my punch bowl. I was really having fun.

-Dizzy and nauseated I was flat on my back in the middle of the hill thinking...Well Bubba...that's about enough for tonight....I couldn't get up for about 10 minutes except to get myself off to the side of the hill and lay back down.

-Now I've bounced off my tailbone many times, but never like this. I've been in the hurt bag since Saturday and it does not seem like the pain is going to be gone anytime soon.

-The other night I took the opportunity to moon the wife and ask her if it was black and blue....(the kids found it both funny and disgusting.....Julie just found it disgusting.)

I can't wait to get out there again, but in the meantime most forms of exercise are a real chore. I have found that swimming laps in the pool is a pain-free workout that i will employ until I feel better.

I got this cat in the radar now.