Deep Sea
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Another Saturday night and I........am enjoying it with my wife. We will sequester the kids to the playroom shortly, then bed for them.
We have 3" thick filet mignon's on the grill (filete de res down here), potatoes (papas), and a wonderful 2006 Australian Shiraz (vino tinto).
The Texas-Missouri game is starting right now (go Longhorns!  ).
Just spent about an hour talking with some of our neighbors...man, they are wonderful people!
A little Sugarland and Michael Buble in the background (you really don't need to listen to football if you can see the picture).
Life is good! 
Cheers, and happy Saturday night to all! 
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Ash
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It sounds like a nice night, enjoy it Martin!!
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JimSnyder
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Your a lucky man enjoy the night
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Carolina
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Ooh, that sounds wonderful!
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away36
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I love listening to people who have figured out what's really important in life! Happy Saturday, Martin!!!
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Lisa
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Even before I read your words, I thought, "Life is good!"
Sounds like the perfect evening....
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uncle aj
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There's something wrong, you guys are having great Saturday nights and I'm going to work on Sunday morning. 
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Carolina
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You're in the wrong time zone! 
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uncle aj
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| Carolina wrote: | | You're in the wrong time zone! |
The wrong place and the wrong time.  
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jdc
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excellent Martin, I'm cooking Sunday roast today, few beers watching footie should be a good day
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Deep Sea
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Saturday night was great...Texas won, and the wife and I discussed the possibilities of spending another 18 months here in Mexico.
Sunday morning now (6:15 a.m.), and getting ready for an 80 km mountain bike ride. 
Happy Sunday to all! 
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Lion
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Martin, Saturday nites are always relaxing and your Sunday bicycle ride sounds great!!!
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Lisa
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Hope you're having a great time, Martin! When you get back, can you tell us what kind of mountain bike you have?
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Carolina
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Ditto - I'd love to hear more about the bike, and the trip.
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BigBird
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The wife came down to the man cave last night (Saturday) to watch the Florida/Mississippi State game and I showed her my favorite room; the loo. Who knew the loo could be so much fun.   Yea, I did get her drunk by halftime.
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Lion
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| BigBird wrote: | | The wife came down to the man cave to watch the Florida/Mississippi State game and I showed her my favorite room' the loo. Who knew the loo could be so much fun. Yea, I did get her drunk by halftime. |
Joe, you are definitely a bad influence when you play with others!!! LOL!!!
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Deep Sea
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| Lisa wrote: | | Hope you're having a great time, Martin! When you get back, can you tell us what kind of mountain bike you have? |
Lisa, it is a 2007 Santa Cruz Blur w/ an Industry Nine wheel set. The whole shebang weighs in at just under 26 lbs, so it's not too bad for cross-country racing.
Caroline, I ended up riding 86 km, about 55 of it in the mountains. I'm whiped out right now, as you can imagine. There is a big race (1000+ people) in three weeks, so this was the last long ride before the race. The race course is about 72 km, which I rode today from my house, which is why the distance was greater than the course. I averaged 22.7 km/hr, which I'm reasonably happy with considering I spent the better part of 20 minutes inflating a tire, and then eventually stopping again to change the tube altogether. I burned 3640 calories, according to my heart rate monitor, and averaged 90% of my max heart rate for the ride (I keep my max at 186 on the HRM).
I'm shooting for a top 5 finish in my class (old fart 40+ class), which would be an excellent result for me considering this is a national-level race. If I can keep the bike from breaking (and stay away from flats), it is a possibility. But, since people will be coming from all over the country for the race, it's hard to tell who else turned 40 this year, and is faster than me. I'll see in three weeks!
I'll attempt to attach a picture of the bike, and the countryside.
As you can see, the countryside is nothing but high desert and mountains. Where this picture was taken, the altitude is about 7000 feet above sea level. The mountain behind me goes upwards of 9500 feet.
While it looks nice and pretty, everything that is growing out there has thorns on it.
And another.
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Lion
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Martin, I like you bike and it is one of the better brands out in the market place. The scenery where you are biking looks wonderful and I'm sure very demanding. Good luck in your race in three weeks and as long as you finish you are a winner!!!
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Deep Sea
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Thanks, Leo. Living here is nice in many aspects...almost no humidity, and quite warm most of the year. Today we had a high of about 88, and low was 63.
There are a few more safety issues than I like, but three years ago when we got here it was like paradise. Now we have to be much more careful, but it's manageable currently, and actually starting to improve.
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uncle aj
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It looks a bit like some of the areas here Martin. More on the western side of Saudi than where I reside.
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Carolina
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Wow, what a ride. Awesome!
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Gedanken
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Man, that bike looks like it means business, Martin! It's good that you've got the appropriate countryside to go with it!
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Lisa
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| Gedanken wrote: | | Man, that bike looks like it means business, Martin! It's good that you've got the appropriate countryside to go with it! |
Well, lookie who's here! 
Martin, very sharp bike. My husband was checking out your pics and said, "Nice... I'd be proud of that wheelset!"
With that kind of terrain, does Slime in your tires do any good? Or do you use Kevlar strips?
That sounds like a heck of a ride with that terrain, the altitude, temperature and distance. You must have some pretty good lungs, Martin!
Thanks for the pictures. 
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Gedanken
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Hey lisa - you have Donald Bellisario to blame for my absence!
Come to think of it, I really should either resurrect my bike or get another one, and then go riding round to take photos - that way it'll count as a hobby and not exercise!
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Lisa
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| Gedanken wrote: | Hey lisa - you have Donald Bellisario to blame for my absence!
Come to think of it, I really should either resurrect my bike or get another one, and then go riding round to take photos - that way it'll count as a hobby and not exercise! |
Oh, shoot - biking is too much fun to be exercise!
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Lion
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Lisa and Martin, Specialized makes a tire called Armadillo which is very puncture resistant. Check em out!!!
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Deep Sea
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| Lisa wrote: | | Gedanken wrote: | | Man, that bike looks like it means business, Martin! It's good that you've got the appropriate countryside to go with it! |
Well, lookie who's here!
Martin, very sharp bike. My husband was checking out your pics and said, "Nice... I'd be proud of that wheelset!"
With that kind of terrain, does Slime in your tires do any good? Or do you use Kevlar strips?
That sounds like a heck of a ride with that terrain, the altitude, temperature and distance. You must have some pretty good lungs, Martin!
Thanks for the pictures. |
The wheelset is awesome!!! The rocks here are sharp and large, and you are constantly deflecting off something. The spokes thread into the hub itself, verses into the rim via nipples, and they are straight (no 90 degree bend where the spokes normally attach to the hub). This make them much stronger, and since they are aluminum, they are larger in diameter to withstand the shocks and blows, and lighter than steel. The wheelset was expensive ($1050), but well worth it in my opinion.
Everything around here has thorns, from the grass to every bush. There is not a single ride I go on where I don't have multiple thorns broken off in the tire, with the little green spots of slime oozing out. If it weren't for the slime, you would not make it one hour without having a flat. Even the tubeless tires are all run with slime, but they are much harder to repair on the trail when you get a large puncture (like the one I had yesterday...the hole in the tire was about 1.5mm across, and the tube was actually cut about 3mm, hence the reason it would not seal & I needed to change it on the trail). Kevlar strips don't do any good.
Leo, I'm running Specialized tires now with the Armadillo casing (the picture above is a little dated). I have had them on the bike for about two months, and they seem to be a little more puncture-proof than the Kenda tires. Again, there are still little oozy spots all over the tires when I'm done riding, as anything that comes in contact with the tire will have a thorn that's at least 4 or 5 mm in length, if not 10-15mm. I took a picture of my shoe with a cactus spike sticking into the toe...I'll try to post it later tonight. It'll give you an idea of some of the stuff I have to fish out of my legs, shoes, and the tires.
Re the lungs, when I get back to flat ground in NC, my run times seem to go down a bit. BUT, the humidity in the summer really kicks my butt, as there is none down here. I'll be in San Antonio this week (leaving at 5:00 tomorrow morn), and I've been running quite a lot lately, so I have good idea of my 10K times. I'll do a little experiment and see if the altitude is helping me.
Yep James, the terrain suits the bike perfectly. Pure XC bikes beat you to death down here...too many craggy rocks and large holes/dips. I have 140mm (5.5") of suspension up front, and nearly 120mm (4.5+") of rear suspension, and I can blow through it when I'm really pushing it. I regularlly use all of the rear suspension, but only about 4" of the front (I'm not too fond of playing superman...or rather flying over the bars). The durability & stiffness of this bike, along with the low weight (relative to other full suspension bikes) makes it the perfect bike for me, especially given this terrain.
Y'all have a great day!
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Lisa
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Thanks for the good bike info, Martin. Hope you have some time to enjoy San Antonio. We lived there from 2001-2004.
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Lion
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Martin, thanx for the info and your wheelset is really cool. I live in the flat midwest but love my full suspension bike.....
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