Art O’Connor

Oh my Tri debut. Well lets just say that was a bad idea.

I am officially signed up for my first triathlon this Saturday and I am scared. Not just nervous but actually scared. My fear is all centered on the swim. On a bike if you stop pedaling, you coast. Running if you stop running well, you stop. Swimming if you stop swimming, you DIE! Rachel seems to think after watching my swim workouts that I will be fine. She generally knows what she is talking about so I am trying to take her word for it but still. Stop swimming and DIE! I guess the simple solution is to keep swimming.

Govenor Bush is trying to raise money to build a library in his honor, they should take all the money raised and refurbish Alcatraz so he, Cheney Rice, Rove,Powell, Rumsfeld etal. can live out the rest of their days as the war criminals they are.

Rachel and I are heading out to race The Downieville Classic this weekend. I am pretty excited to get out of the 801 for a few days. The race should be a kick in the ass. It is an old school point to point XC race with lots of climbing, more descending, river crossings, and lots of single track. There are like 2500 racers in the XC. Hey NORBA you listening? Point to point unsanctioned XC race gets 2500, NMBS lots of laps at a ski area gets 200. Anyway, good times to be had in No Cal.

The few posts I have made recently I am constantly moaning about my lack of fitness. I think most people were calling BS on that. Well I went to Logan and showed the roadies that I am infact slow and very unfot. This weekend I went to Solitude to prove it to the non-believers in the dirt. Nope the Train is not rollin’ fast on any surface at the moment. I think I have found the motivation to ride my ass off. Cross is coming fast and there are still some races this summer that I would like to go fast at.

This one’s for you Clarkie:

I was planning to race the NMBS (emphasis on the BS part) up at Deer Valley this weekend. I went online to register, $50 seemed pretty steep but I figured what the hell. I click “Register Me” and then I am kicked in the junk with the “service fee” of $4.05. So let me get this staight? Team Big Bear wants me to pay for their decision to hire an online registration company. Shit why stop there? Why not charge me a percentage of the port-a-john bill, a few bucks for advertising and insurance while you are at it. Plus, I know from experience that after I register online and pay the “service fee” I will still have to get to the venue early stand in probably 2 different lines and fill out a half dozen waivers. What exactly is my “service fee” paying for anyway. Race registration is quickly becoming as efficient as a trip to the DMV.

I don’t blame the online registration companies. They are providing a service and should be paid. I blame the promoters. Hiring a registration company is an optional expense that they have chosen to add. Having the fee added on the back end is stupid and insulting to the customer. I don’t need to see an itemized breakdown of all the expenses of putting on a race so why seperate that one and pass it directly to your customer? If they would just raise the entry fee by $5 no one would see it and no ill will would be created. Doesn’t seem like rocket surgery to me.

So rather than get up at 5am to pay for the privledge of riding the absolute worst trails in Park City. I will sleep in and ride something fun with $54.05 in my pocket.

I was gonna write about my little electrical fire that caused me to miss High Uintas but I just heard that Gerpge Carlin died. Shit.