I can pretty much guarantee I won't be posting this often in the future, but I had some thoughts I wanted to document.  It's been an interesting few days for me.  I'm currently on a forced 2 week hiatus from riding bicycles, so that is sort of driving me crazy.  I'm getting a good amount of running in, but it isn't quite the same.  I just want to force myself to get in a good recovery from cyclocross season before I start to work on building a solid base for this year.  Speaking of that, I'd love to give major thanks to a certain individual (a state champion) who has recently given me some great training advice, but I don't want to openly say his name or else people might start riding him for advice.  I say that as if people actually read this blog (ha!), but just in case I'll leave it out.  But in the event that you stumble across this you know who you are and I appreciate it.

I started playing indoor soccer again last night.  It was actually a pretty frustrating experience because the game was at 11:15, which is usually a point where I'm already sound asleep in my bed.  Also frustrating was the fact that the other team failed to show up.  They signed up for the league and this was the first game of the year, so it's not like they didn't know about it.  But my team still played pickup games with some random people, so all was not lost.  Surprisingly I can still play well enough to hold my own, so I can put those worries to bed.  At the location they had a soda machine that I couldn't help but take a picture of (see below).  The old school kit and bike along with the intensity on the guy's face was enough to give me a chuckle.  It must be from the 1990s.

The last thing I'll talk about is my new mountain bike that is currently on its way.  I haven't had one in a couple years, but I decided now is the time to blow all that is left of my bike fund since I now live in close proximity to several trails.  I decided to go with the Felt Nine 20.  It's not exactly the lightest rocketship race bike in the world, but it's got a solid component group (full XT) and frankly aluminum isn't THAT heavy, so I'm content with it.  I also know of some local riders who have done pretty well in races on aluminum bikes of their own, so it is not impossible.  The only thing I plan on doing is upgrading the wheels ASAP and getting some new tires on it.  I've been hearing good things about certain Maxxis tires, so that will be my likely choice.  I'll almost certainly participate in some 3 hour races this spring, so I'm looking forward to it.  Speaking of blowing my bike fund, I'm chomping at the bit to finally complete my PhD and get a real job.  Not having to save every bit of money I get for my birthday, Christmas, robbing banks (JOKE!), or whatever will be so nice.  Anyway, details on the bike are at the link below.

http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2013/Mountain/Nine-Series/Nine-20.aspx