Looks like Mr. Weather dot com is forecasting the first triple digit temperature of the year. 100 F is on tap for tomorrow. Should be a good time. I will be moving rocks into my backyard. The yard project is nearing completion. We’re on a roll now.

Turns out the tweak I made to the CSS looks fine in Firefart and IE, but not in Safari. Great. Just what I needed to make my day complete.

Some of you sharp eyed villains may notice a new tweak to the site…any guesses? Can’t see anything different? Well, I added 125 px to the width of the main post area in the CSS which now allows me to post 500 px wide images from flickr without piling the right side of the image into column 2. Exciting stuff. j/k. This modded layout even looks good on my old ass laptop - COMPAQ Armada M300.

kill your television, originally uploaded by bMilo.

I pulled this stunt once around 1992. It makes a toxic mess but it sure is fun. bMilo rules!

Spring & Crack

Originally uploaded by mrapplegate.

Crack kills!

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Don’t you just love it?

Ayal Benin

Originally uploaded by Mr. Ben Hopper.

There are many killer elements going on here. The motion, the air under the leaper, the sun, clouds. Very nice.

I finally, finally got under 13 seconds in a flying 200m. I was even using my slow ass wheels which are going to be replaced shortly with a sweet set of Cane Creek Sprint 85s. I cannot wait for them. Ever since I can remember I have jonesed for some speed equipment. I am now in the position to “pay to play.” Which basically means I can afford to get speed equipment that would otherwise be out of reach. My main sponsor, Bicycle John’s, has come through for me in a big way. Their support is great and I really appreciate all that they do for me and the team. If you’re in the Burbank, Northridge, Acton, or Lancaster areas of SoCal stop by the shop and take a look around.
Back to the 200m. In anticipation of a fast ride I upped my gear to a 92. I could feel my pedal stroke getting a little choppy at the highest RPMs. Next time I will kick it up to a 94 and see how that works. My goal is a sub 12 run which would get me into the field at the Masters Track Nationals in September.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Ah, the concrete bowl. The racing this past Saturday at the track was brutal. The event was themed around longer endurance races. My first race was a 10 km points event - or 40 laps with sprints every 10. 8 racers showed up to battle the cat 5 race. We got the first race going at a good pace. Around lap 8 the pace was too slow so I took a half lap flyer to break things up a bit and get the race started. A couple guys came around me and it was on. My buddy Igor and I along with another guy dragged it out for the points. I got 3rd in the sprint and faded away in the ensuing laps. Mr. Lap The Field took off and proceeded to catch us all and put us down a lap. Cat 5 huh? I ended up 6th.
Next up was a race more to my liking - 4 km scratch. At only 16 laps I knew I could get my old legs around the track and keep in touch with the younger faster riders. The pace was going up and down until 2 to go and the hammer went down. I was in 3rd and chasing 2 guys. We were nearing top speed when Igor came around me with 1/2 a lap to go just as I was passing 2nd place guy. Now I was in 4th, Igor was rapidly gaining on 1st place, and 3rd place guy wasn’t backing off. I stayed on the gas and kept it even with 3rd place guy until we hit the straight and his legs gave out and I held onto 3rd while Igor just caught the leader and took his first ever track victory. I ended up 5th in the omnium points. We were supposed to have a miss-n-out but the endurance races ran too long. Next up is a TT at the same track this weekend. I am looking to better my 200 and 500 times significantly.
Where are my new wheels???