I got [pig smoking outside the cave]
Got a three [month] beard I don’t plan to shave
And it’s a goofy thing but I just gotta say
Hey I’m doing alright

Yeah I think I’ll make me some [caveman stew]
Feelin pretty good and that’s the truth
It’s neither drink nor drug induced
No I’m just doin alright

And it’s a great day to be alive
I know the sun’s still shinin when I close my eyes
There’s some hard times in the neigborhood
But why can’t every day be just this good?

It’s a Great Day to Be Alive, Lyrics by Darrell Scott, Sung by Travis Tritt

Here we are, the last day of 2009. It is indeed a great day to be alive. I shall spare you the soap opera recap as I did this time one year ago, because the year is past us now, but a wise man once said “How do you know where you are going if you don’t know where you are at?” And I would add “You don’t know where you’re at unless you know where you’ve been!”

So, how about just the biggest events of 2009? One of the most important events occurred right off the bat: Colleen and I discovered the Paleo Diet. This would not only drastically change the way I looked at food and base my nutrition decisions on, but it would “evolve” into a whole new way of thinking about life (adopting primal behaviors that promote positive gene expression and thus improve the quality of life in the modern world). I had slowly developed my own thoughts on the matter, but didn’t have a good way of organizing them until reading Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint in November. If you were only allowed one more book to read for the rest of your life, this would have to be it!  Seriously, it is that profound. I’ll discuss this a bit more in New Years Day post though.

Athletically, I sustained no major injury this year, unless you count a few stubbed toes and lost toenails, and set some new milestones. Swimming and running improved enough to move into the top 10 at the regional Xterras, I upgraded to a Cat 3 in road racing, won the 12 hour MTB race at Warda, unsuccessfully tried my hand at the Breckenridge 100 mountain bike race, completed my first Olympic distance road triathlon, won my biggest race of the year-24 Hours of Rocky Hill, and still had a little left in the tank to get a few more cyclocross wins on a single speed. These accomplishments were nice, and all mean something to me, but starting next year, I won’t put as much emphasis on such events and results (read tomorrow’s post!)

Life-wise, the tanking economy was probably everyone’s story of the year. It didn’t concern me too much until the architecture firm I worked for ran out of work and disbanded. The layoff came at a really interesting juncture in my life. Not only had Colleen and I planned a nice vacation to Colorado the day that would be my last at that job, but I had been busy shopping for an engagement ring to give my bride to be the same week I got news of the sinking ship. Prior to the engagement, Colleen and I had already talked pretty seriously about moving to Colorado, both of us smitten with this new place following our trip to Breckenridge that summer. Following the engagement, I went ahead and made the announcement that we would do so after getting married, although, comically, everyone somehow thought we were moving right away! The trip to Colorado was in part vacation, but also in part to search out a new town to live in. We visited a lot of cool towns, and aren’t 100% sure yet, but Durango is looking pretty good at the moment.

Also, not mentioned much, is the fact that the job was starting to get a bit stale for me. Not the firm so much, just the profession in general. I was beginning to consider taking time off and trying my hand at some other jobs, something a bit more blue collar and less time sitting at a desk. I have since been living freely and have been enjoying the time off with little intention of seeking out new work. Following Christmas, though, finances are starting to look a little tight so I will likely take up job hunting in January.

Enough about me though. I wanna thank the good Lord for all the blessings stowed upon me, my friends, and my family for this year. Yeah, times are a little tough in the neighborhood, but I’m optimistic that things will work out for the best, as they always have. I will not be setting any New Year’s Resolutions, as I advise you to.  Instead, focus on Life Resolutions. You know the things in life that bring discomfort and dissatisfaction. It might be too much time playing on video games or phones, vegging out in front of the TV excessively, eating like crap, not enjoying your job, not getting enough sleep, not getting outside enough, substance abuse, the list goes on and on. You and only you have the power to enact positive change. You can start this weekend! Have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve.

Caveman

This past Thursday brought some new and exciting things. The “new” website was finally launched. It still has a long ways until completion, but I got a good start on it. I’m very excited to publish the whole new “Live like a Caveman” pages. I hope you find some time to look them over and gain some insight into living simpler.

Thursday night, I put my new pedicab license to work by hitting the streets of downtown for my first official shift. I had about two hour or so of training and getting a feel for the cab, but after that, I was on my own. Unfortunately, the cold weather made for a slow night for all pedicabbers and I brought home less than $40, but hey, you gotta start somewhere! When you actually do get a fare and aren’t sitting or cruising around looking for customers, it’s actually a lot of fun. Having to work from 9pm-2:30am will definitely keep me from making a regular outing of this side job though.

Last but not least, the new cross frame arrived. I didn’t have time to get it built that night due to work, but I was pretty excited stopping by The Peddler bike shop to pick up this beauty. The Peddler and Raleigh USA both worked out a small deal for me on this frame, nothing free or anything, but a little help is nice when you’re unemployed, and many of the parts came from my sponsor shop, Eastside Pedalpushers. Please consider patronizing these guys. I’m very appreciative for their generosity, especially in these lean times.

I got it running Friday, just in time for a little cross race action Saturday near San Marcos.  Course conditions were pretty brutal, but what better way to break this baby in than upper 30’s, misty/light rain, and peanut butter mud?? Lots of brake clogging, chainstay tire stopping, grass collecting peanut butter mud. Well, sandy or sloppy mud could’ve been better, but being on a singlespeed would be a small advantage in itself as a lot of riders had to bow out due to mechanical problems. Unfortunately, I was WAY over geared for these conditions and suffered the entire race. I took the pain in stride though, and gave the hecklers some entertainment adjusting leg warmers and taking beer feeds. The bike needs some tweaking and dialing in, but it’s definitely here to stay. Without further ado, I give you Miller, a Raleigh Hi Life frame built with a few parts I had laying around. 17.3 lbs. It is the champagne of cross bikes.

It’s funny how things can change in the course of a week. Following a pretty bad race in Dallas last Saturday that had me swearing off cyclocross for the remainder of the season, yours truly had a change of heart come Friday night. Weather conditions seemed too perfect for cyclocross racing to pass up two proven race courses that I had a blast on last year, so early Saturday morning Colleen and I took the short 3 hour jaunt to Memorial park next to downtown Houston.

Indeed, the forces of nature had conspired to give Texans the closest conditions to true cyclocross racing that we could hope for, in the balmy humid city of Houston, of all places. A strong norther’ combined with generous gulf moisture on Friday to dump as much as 6 inches of snow in some suburbs of the city. The park itself only got 1-2”, but there actually was a little bit of snow on the course when we got there, and yes, it was still pretty dang cold. This year’s course featured a muddy creek crossing with a nasty, slippery run-up on the other side. Of course, what crosses the creek once, must cross it again. At first the second crossing was ridable, if you were good enough, but after a while, it was a pure slopfest that demanded dismounting and sludging. The ensuing 30 yards up to the barriers was also a field of energy sucking muck, just to dismount again, and then remount up a slight incline. You then had maybe another 100 yards of flats to recover before another runup. This one was rideable by the stronger riders…unless you were on a singlespeed.

Yes, undeterred by last week’s crummy performance on the beloved IRO singlespeed, I again brought it along after making a few tweaks during the week to shave some weight and decrease rolling resistance with some skinnier tires, setup tubeless. The tubeless setup was untested and had me a bit worried. Luckily, I was the only one in the singlespeed category to go off in the morning, so this would be a good opportunity to test it out. They started me with the women and Men’s 4. I had no obligation to compete with the 4’s, but I wanted to give the setup a good test before racing the open category, plus someone incorrectly told me that this was the Men’s ¾ category and I thought it would be even more fun to see how I stacked up against my old category, so I pushed this first race pretty dang hard. I felt pretty good annihilating everyone out there until I figured out it was the Men’s 4, not the 3/4 . Oh well, I still beat 30 other guys with one gear. It would be good confidence to take into the open race.

It wore off a bit as I toed the line against the open category racers. That early morning race in the cold had seared my lungs, I hadn’t had anything good to eat since 7am, and felt really thirsty. I could tell I wouldn’t be in contention for top 10, but at least I felt I could hang in there til the end and beat a few people. I was also looking forward to a beer feed around minute 50 (of 60) I instructed Colleen to give if I were still in the race at that point. I was able to hang with the main group for lap 1, and then a middle group for a few more laps, but then fell back to the rear on my own for the rest of the race. I was still ahead of about 6 racers, so I didn’t let up. Come the bell lap, I was still in it, and Colleen delivered the beer feed in textbook fashion. That cup of St. Arnold’s didn’t last long.

My thirst was quenched, but now I had a new problem: burping and leg cramps. Just keep pushing. Finish. Excellent. 18 of 24. Not pretty, but a moral victory nonetheless. Here I was a tired and hungry guy from an earlier hard race, pushing just one gear, on a steel bike not even designed for this stuff, lining up with the fastest guys in Texas. I’ll take it.

It was time to go to our hotel, a gem of a place we randomly found last year while searching for a cheap and safe place to stay close to the Sunday venue. After settling in, we commenced in cleaning our muddy shoes, pedals, and clothes, thus turning the stark white bathroom into a gritty and dirty brown. Still starving from lack of food and an excess of racing, we walked over to an adjacent Tex Mex restaurant to refuel. Upon returning to the room, we continued cleaning clothing and bikes while watching the Crimson Tide destroy the Florida gators to claim the SEC championship game. Come 7pm, it was time to watch the Horns take on Nebraska for the Big XII title. What a heartthrobbing game that turned out to be! A 46 yard field goal narrowly clearing the left stay as time expired to win 13-12. Texas needed quite a bit of luck to pull that one off, but they found a way. Major props to the Cornhusker defense! A victory against that team is never easy and never by that much.

Sunday morning brought a crappy continental breakfast and a quick trip over to Mason Park for the Bikesport CX. It was on this fabled course that I won my first CX race and the single speed found a permanent home in Caveman’s stable one year ago. I made the decision to race the ¾ in lieu of the open category this very day. Blasphemy, I know, but I was influenced by a few factors: a lackluster finish the day before in the open, a sense that the ¾ category is stronger this year than last, a $100 payout for 1^st place (very nice when you are unemployed), and just the fact that racing with people closer to your ability is more fun.

There was again a SS category and this time I had one competitor. They started us with the women 3/4 , a few minutes back of the masters 40+ and 50+. I planned to sit this one in to save more for the later race, and I pretty much did. The other singlespeeder had the same intentions and finishing ahead of him wasn’t that hard.

Come the ¾ race, I again wasn’t feeling 100%, and wasn’t confident I could compete for 1^st place, but I felt a top 5 would still be nice. I was sitting back around 8^th on the first lap, 4^th on the second lap, then caught up to 1^st on the third. I feel that the ¾ race starts out about as fast as the open category, one of the main differences is that in the open race, they keep the pace going. Seeing as how the leaders in this ¾ race were tired already, I capitalized and made the decision to ramp it up hard and build a gap. The gap grew more each lap as I was relentless through the multitude of 180 degree turns, a small field of muddy grass, barriers, and the slick run-up. Right as I got the signal from the refs that I had two laps to go, I noticed my tires were getting a bit soft. I was riding them hard, and evidently they were burping air each time I remounted or hit a root hard. Fearing that I might roll the tires off on any sharp turns, I had to let up a bit and let that gap shrink. I was also starting to cramp, quite painfully in my right quad. I was really scared of tire and muscle failure on the last lap, but stayed calm and focused and nailed everything I needed to. Everything held together, and the $100 payout was mine.

Yes, in hindsight, I feel like a sandbagger, and for sure that will probably be the last ¾ race I ever do, however, I feel the decision was justified that day. After all, I gave the other racers a decent handicap with my choice of machine, and I only ended up crossing the line 10-15 seconds ahead of 2^nd.

As of today, there is a new machine on the way that might very well be the last cyclocross bike I ever buy. While not anything like a fancy Blue Norcross, Ridley X-Night, Kona Major Jake, or Redline Conquest Team that are popular among top end racers, it will be at the same level. I will not drop any hints (except that it doesn’t have gears-of course!) until it comes in and gets built up, but it is a beauty. The IRO did a nice transitional job, but it’s limitations become more and more apparent every time I race it. This new rig should inspire all the confidence I need to return to the Open category and compete well there.

Thanks for reading, stay warm out there.

It’s been a week of paperwork, forking out some cash, and getting certified to do things. Following my hunting adventure last weekend, I decided to go ahead and buy a hunting license. I somehow thought this would expensive and somewhat difficult, but at $25 and just a little application with a flash of my drivers license, and I was good to go. So watch out creatures of Texas, I am now licensed to kill you. Kill is a strong word, though. While that will be the end result, I prefer to use the terms “harvest” or “take” since these words clearly infer that I’m terminating their lives not only for sport, but for meat.  High quality, great tasting, wild caught meat, the way nature intended.

While I’ve had some small architectural side jobs keeping me afloat since getting laid off, I always told myself if I did get laid off and was hurting financially that I’d take up pedicabbing. I’m not exactly hurting financially since I live a very frugal lifestyle and had a decent savings account built up, but I was ready to give it a try. I think more than the monetary rewards of the profession, ever since I moved to Austin and started riding a bike everywhere, I’ve viewed the job as a great way to get a hard workout, meet new people, and be part of the downtown vibe that makes Austin what it is. After finally getting all the require documents from DPS ( a criminal history report and certified driving record,I met with Capital Pedicab last night to finalize some paper work. After passing the written exam abd throwing down some dough, I received my Chaffeur’s Permit from the City of Austin. I am now legal to haul your butt around downtown via a human powered taxi. Training starts Thursday, steady work thereafter. I look forward to the adventures to come through this new endeavour.

Finally, I submitted my application for a passport today. It was a lot of money and a lot of paperwork and you actually have to schedule an appointment to get in these days, but it went through. Hopefully in five weeks I’ll be free to move about the world.

It’s really astounding how much of our lives are on paper and are regulated by little pieces of plastic we carry around in our wallets. Whatever happened to just doing things the old fashioned way? I suppose liability is a nice thing to have since we are all human and prone to error, but sometimes the systems put in place to protect against the carelessness of a few really sucks for the majority of people who do the right thing.

That’s it til next week, site work still in progress. Thanks for reading.

I enjoyed Thanksgiving break with family this past week. Aside from lots of good food and conversation, two important things took place. My brother and I took to the bush (the deep woods, for you non-hunters) after our second Thanksgiving dinner at Dad’s Saturday for some feral pig hunting. I’ve been practicing with the bow Colleen bought me for my birthday and felt confident enough to head into the woods to lethally shoot an animal. This would be my first opportunity to test my abilities. My brother Jarred is good friends with a fellow that manages some land in east Texas that currently has a bit of a hog problem, so he let us in for free, which is nice usually considering most land owners charge $75 or more a day. The hike to the tree stand was muddy and otherwise uneventful. By the time I was settled in it was dark, and I was beginning to worry about my ability to shoot something in such low light. I had equipped the bow with some red LED headlamps to give me enough light to see the peep and sight on the bow, but I did’t have a night vision spotlight to shine an animal with. However, it was nearly a full moon out so I just decided to wait and see whether I had a good shot when a pig came along. About a half hour into the stakeout, something came up from behind. It was a doe. I much rather would have shot that doe than a stinky pig, but she was behind me and I didn’t have a hunting license (you don’t need one for feral pig if they are on private property and they are destroying property), not to mention that it was past legal shooting hours for a deer,  so I just watched as she walked on by. It was cool knowing that my presence was undetected, and it been a legal shot, I might very well have taken it.

After that, it was a boring but nice 3 hour wait til a large herd of grunting pigs came along, again, from my rear. I could turn just enough to see the varmits, but not get a shot. I went ahead and turned on my sight lights and got and arrow nocked. Then, all of sudden, those elusive things must have sensed trouble and high tailed it back into thick, muddy cover. About the same time, I saw my brother’s light heading back down the trail from his stand. He hadn’t seen a single thing and was ready to hit the road, so that was the end of our trip. Despite not bagging a pig, it was a good experience and I will definitely be back for me to fulfill my destiny as a Caveman.

Second, there was some cross racing going on in Dallas Saturday and Sunday. Colleen went off early in the morning to finish her first ever cyclocross race and had a blast. My turn came at noon. Having decimated the 3/4 field on a SS last season, I vowed to never race that category again, and true to my word, I entered the Pro/1/2/3 category. The blistering pace from the start was expected, but when it didn’t let up after 15 minutes, and I fell to last place with little chance of catching the next guys up, I was hit with a pretty big slap in the face.

Burnout. It’s what happens to an athlete when they push their bodies too hard for too long. As I dropped further and further back, and pushing the only gear I had hurt more and more, I completely had the sense that all the racing I’ve done this year, the 24 hour race, and everything since then, has finally caught up to me. There’s not much you can do at that point except pull out, and take a much needed break.

The decision not to race Sunday was a no brainer as I helped Colleen pack her gear and we headed off to Dallas to participate in her race. I didn’t even bother packing my bike. It’s interesting being on the other side of the fence. Usually, she is the one tagging along with me for support and to spectate. Those duties were all mine that day! No registration, no suiting up, no warming up, no spilling my guts on the course for an hour. Just chillin on the other side of the tape and cheerin’ on my baby. There were no regrets, just joy of a different kind, especially since Colleen looked much smoother than the day before and had a great race.

Work on the website is slow, but steady. I’m reading an awesome new book that will factor in heavily to the new website content. I’m thinking sometime late next week it’ll be up and running, so keep checking back.

Thanksgiving is over, but let us not forget the true spirit of the holiday, and always count our blessings, not our problems. I’d like to leave you with the wise words of the Haudenosaunee “Thanksgiving” Prayer.