Looks Like I'm Going To Make It

Unless I am accosted by a four hundred pound Samoan, and force fed like a Turkey Vulture hatchling, Mongo is going to complete the month of December sans ice-cream. I have lost seven pounds so far by doing nothing different other than eliminating this evil deliciousness from my goat-like diet.

You Can't Measure This Kind Of Torque

Mongo ended a good day on the Barchetta, doing the Hammerfest loop and chatting with the folks at the shop, by shearing a cog off of my cassette...luckily only a couple of miles from my house.

The watts readout from my Powertap hub that I don't own would have read in the fifteen hundreds...at least!

Have You Seen Them?...You Will Soon

Left to right: (Stacy Peralta, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Tony Hawk, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Mark Gonzales)

For skateboarders between the ages of thirty five and forty five, these guys are the shit. Where the Z-Boys left off, the Bones Brigade picked up the torch and took over.

"OG" Z-Boy and legend, Stacy Peralta, is directing a documentary in 2011, a la "Dogtown and Z-Boys", chronicling the evolution and impact of the Bones Brigade on skateboarding and the culture.

Mongo hasn't been this excited about a movie since I skipped school to go see "Return Of The Jedi" on opening day...and had to decline a TV interview on the local news about "Star Wars Mania!" because I had lied about why I wasn't in school and was sure I'd be busted when everyone saw me...True story.

Photo:Atiba/Steve Caballero)

Irina Shayk Vs BMC Impec

And I Was Minding Mine

Resigning from the unfinished plan

Replying to the published demand

Reflecting on the accomplished stand 

Revolving around the vanquished man

Art: Ten Minutes Ain't Gonna Kill You

                                                                                 





Maybe one of the greatest audio/visual barrages in audio/visual barrage history...(Here)

...He Wants To Go To Venus

Rolling Armageddon: The Original

                                                                                                                      





(Click Here)

Paperbacks And Angry Voices



"Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost. One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living."

(Henry David Thoreau)

Cyclocross: Hipster Style

                                                                                             







(Click Here)

50 PSI: Cat 5 Domination Goes Knobby

One of the things that Mongo enjoys most about road cycling, is the ability to zone-out and daydream while not really paying close attention to the details of the terrain around me. A road is a road is a road, so to speak. Sure, there are potholes and glass and the occasional varmint, but you can usually see these obstacles coming without much distress. But as I was reminded on Sunday, when mountain biking on some technical singletrack, you'd better be paying close attention to "everything' or...you're gonna crash.

After getting rained and colded out on Saturday, Mongo managed to get in two great days of riding on Sunday and Monday. I hit the trail on Sunday on the F600, and got my mountain biking legs back under me. There's a 3/4 mile, man-made track near my house, and after getting a great workout doing multiple laps, I plan to spend a lot of time there over the Winter. Trust me, I need the work, and the cardio benefits will help with my climbing on the road.

On Monday, I ran into "Just Home From College" Jimmy at the shop, and we did the 23/2300 Hammerfest loop at a moderate pace. It was nice to see the results of my efforts at "Enemy Bike Shop" ride over the past couple of months pay off, as I was feeling stronger on the much steeper climbs of the 'Fest.

They Call Me Donnie Brasco

 

Floyd Landis wears a wire and a hidden camera for the Feds during a meeting with Michael Ball...Allegedly uncovering doping products, which led to a raid on Ball's home.

Though Mongo mostly believes Landis concerning his knowledge and exposure to doping, I am beginning to personally dislike him. To me, he is a self-serving weasel who is bitter about being caught while so many of his contemporaries have seemingly gotten away with it.

(Photos:CyclingNews)

What Will $500.00 Get You On Ebay?

Limited Edition (117/500) Powell-Peralta/ Steve Caballero/ "Propeller Skull" deck.

This is one of Mongo's "all time" favorite skateboard logos.

Rained Out: Xbox Or Tool Box?

I couldn't force myself to do it this morning. And by "do it", I don't mean what you would normally think when someone says "do it". In fact, I "did it"...and quite successfully, thank you very much.

It was cold and wet and I didn't want to ride. I actually wanted to ride...but the idea of the miserable conditions facing me and the hours of anal-retentive cleaning of road grime and liquefied brake dust afterwards, made me turn over and go back to sleep.

Two hours, a Clif bar, and a pot of coffee later, I was in my garage doing some "wrenching". And by "wrenching", I don't mean what you would normally think when someone says "wrenching". In fact, I only do that occasionally...because it will make you go blind.

Snacks McGee* Celebrates Mongo Pusher Turning Three Years Old Today

* Not his real name

It's Been A While Since I Hurt Myself

          


                                                                                      







Mongo restores a 2001 Cannondale F600...carnage to ensue.

Da Funk And Da Noise: The Saturday Ride...But Where Was Snow Bunny?

Mongo did his fourth consecutive "Enemy Bike Shop" ride on Saturday, and this time I had five other teammates with me. "Fast" Eddie and "No Nickname" Mark met me at the beginning of the ride, while "Piathlete" Jason, "I'm Just Waiting For 2011" Clay, and "If You Ain't Racin', You Ain't Ridin'" Tom, joined the ride about eight miles in.

The Smyrna crew controlled the pace most of the day, with Tom turning the final twenty miles into race conditions at the front of the peloton. It's always beneficial to be wearing the same kit as some of the fastest guys in the group. Mongo was able to yo-yo back and forth between my guys at the front and the comfort of the draft in the middle of the pack without much interference from this usually difficult peloton.

It was a little slower than last week, with some of the Cat 1/2 types absent, but the average speed was still over 20 mph. Weather permitting, Mongo is doing this ride every week from now on. The topography suits my game, and there are always better cyclists there to push me.

1978

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."

(Friedrich Nietzsche)

AK47 Update: I Might Regret This

Mongo hasn't quite decided how I'm going to roll with the 2011 Pro Tour season. I may continue my current love/hate conflict with the ideology versus the reality of the sport in it's current form, or I might just say "fuck it" and not worry about the process, and instead, just enjoy the results...no matter how questionable or unlikely. We'll see!

On that note, Mongo has decided to give one of his "Guys" a second chance. I have always been a fan of shady, German cyclists. The Godfather, of course, being "The Jan", and the younger, smarter, Michael Corleone being Andreas Kloden.

I see no reason why this shouldn't be a good year for AK47. Here are the GC riders for RadioShack in 2011...Kloden, Leipheimer, Brajkovic, Horner. The smart money is that Johan Bruyneel is going to ride with Kloden and have Brajkovic as his reserve. "Shetland Jens Voigt" and Horner will be riding support roles in Europe and get tossed a bone at the Tour of California as protected riders.

(Photo:CyclingNews)

Irina Shayk Vs Storck Aero 2

Hall Of Famer And Inspirational Contemporary...Steve Caballero

(Photo:RayZimmerman)

A Session At Dusk Haiku

Colder than wanted

Much faster than expected

Shredding thoughts away

What's New In Douchey?: Custom Frames And A Cold Chamois

I feel like I'm closing out my 2010, "Cat 5 Domination" season in good style. Mongo is six days into my hunger strike on Ben & Jerry's, and my performances on the bike have been on a positive upswing. On Saturday, I did my third consecutive "Enemy Bike Shop" ride, and this one was a doozy.

Normally, I meet up with the ride about three miles into it, but on Saturday I decided to do the whole shebang. When I arrived in the parking lot, there were about 80 people staging their bikes... I was shocked. It was cold and windy, and even on warm days there's usually no more than 50 riders, but that day it was packed. I'm still not sure why.

There were team kits everywhere...except my own team. Mongo was going "Lone Wolf" in a sea of at least three teams with five or more riders. The "Enemy Bike Shop" team was out in full force with twelve riders...most of them rocking Agostinos with team colors. The peloton split into two different rides, with about 60 people going my way...and it was on from the get go. 

Mongo rode as well as I have in months. I guess I accidentally stumbled onto the perfect combination of training, doping, nutrition, and rest. I hung tough in a sea of Wiliers, Litespeeds, Madones, and smugness...finishing the 40+ mile ride at a 21.7 average speed.

Forty Five Minutes Or Less

This is hilarious!...Following the exploits of two 45+ cyclocross racers on the same team competing in the Georgia Cross Series. There is a longer, and dare I say funnier, cartoon out there which stars these same two characters but covers the entire sport of cyclocross, including all the inside jokes and idiosyncrasies of the sport...Unfortunately, Mongo is still waiting for his buddy, "I stopped understanding technology in the 90's" Tom to send me the link/file.

What Will $250.00 Get You On Ebay?

Limited Edition... Death Box (9.5 x 33.5) "Jay Adams" deck

Embrocation

(Photo:CyclingNews)

Dave Zabriskie looks very pleased with himself, dressed in his drag-queen house dress, as a confused Heinrich Haussler walks away after receiving a personalized, "welcome to the team" application of DZNUTS.

Top Gun 2: The Whitest Dudes In The World...Garmin-Cervelo In The Caymans

(Photo:CyclingNews)

Fun And Games Until You Break A Spoke

Today had the potential to be a really great day of cycling. Though Winter has finally taken hold, Mongo's unlimited combinations of layerings and coverings make it nearly impossible for me to use weather as an excuse for inactivity. Finally, afters years of trial and error, I am able to ride fairly comfortably, in dry conditions, down to about 25-30 degrees. Fahrenheit, baby!

It was in the sweltering 40's today, and since I was feeling pretty good, Mongo decided to do a solo loop on the 23/2300 Hammerfest course at a moderate yet brisk pace on the newly monikered, BRB (Brilliant Red Barchetta).

I hadn't seen the fellas at the shop in a while, so I stopped by on my way out. Tom and MC-Lean(TM) were working hard, mostly on their own bikes, and even "Hawaii" Clay made a rare appearance and hung out for a while. The talk turned to shitty roads, broken spokes, and miserable rides when Tom recounted an in-town ride yesterday. Mongo triumphantly exclaimed, at some point during the conversation, that I had had zero problems with my AC Hurricanes since they were trued-up after my bad crash several months ago...Less than thirty minutes later, Mongo was standing on the side of the road with a broken rear spoke!

Ain't that a bitch?!... Mongo gave MC-Lean(TM) a ringy-dingy, and an emergency pickup and delivery was made by the Broom Wagon...at breakneck and life-threatening speed, I might add. Once back at the shop, the spoke was replaced, the wheel trued, and while there, even a couple more visits by team members, "Danimal" and "I'm not racing Masters" Andy.

Though my day in the saddle was short, I was feeling good. I'm looking forward to seeing how my performance shakes out at the highly competitive, "Enemy Bike Shop" ride on Saturday morning.