Todd Pulling a Jim

Todd is a hell of a technical rider but this weekend wasn't a good one for him. Check it out! and click on the link on the side bar to read about the crash that granted him a trim to the hospital.

Disapearing Act

After a fun but frustrating ride at spaghetti. I kinda fell off the side of the earth. It wasn't a result of my ride but a result of life and and lack of motivation (I hate cold weather).

School is a big part of it though. I have had some big projects that are very time consuming. For example last nights models took me 7-8 hours. It tedious but I am doing good. I have consistently improved and now I am pretty sure I have an A going into my final project, which is due next wed! I can't wait! I am excited for a break from gluing and my fingers are raw currently from using the xacto knife. O and tired of getting critiqued at school by my teacher.

On top of all the school stuff H2 once again made another cut in staff. I am surprisingly still there and this last cut finally affected me. My direct boss was fired and now I am left with no boss and no specific duty. Its nice, my last boss was hard on me and pretty rude before. He talked behind my back and expected me to be able to design and do engineering calc with out any engineering classes. Hello!? My title is just CAD technician. So now instead of being a do boy for one person, I am do boy for everyone. Today I had 5 different people come ask me to do things and to come see them tomorrow morning and I have a on  deadline on two newer jobs tomorrow and thursday. No complaints though. My job is a lot more pleasant/ entertaining and my bosses are a lot kinder/ appreciative and I enjoy working for them. Kindness goes a long ways!

So its been 2.5 weeks since spaghetti and I have ridden once. Its not that I don't want to ride JIM and others. Life is just currently in the way. I can't go two hours of the day with out thinking about something that involves cycling, so I'll be back. Starting the week after thanksgiving I will have time to ride everyday of the week, so I should free to ride soon.

From now on I will feature my random thoughts on the side bar due to the popularity of the last blog. And a project or cool photo on the side bar. Hope y'all enjoy.

Photos of my A Model:

hill, cramp, rule #5!

So I finally got another cx bike after being harassed by the crew for over a year now. The plan was to have it before Spaghetti and it got here in time, when it looked like it really wasn't. So now the 85 mile dirty spaghetti has come and it was a physical and mental battle for me. So instead of telling you how it felt I am going to just tell you my thoughts as the day happened.

Part 1: Boston Bound

-Man my shoe cover are awesome! Brilliant idea!

-Wow we actually made the start.

-Hey lets attack them right at the start and be complete assholes.

-Ah poop stick my left quad and hamstring feel like ass! This is going to be a long ride.

-Rule #5

-Wow people actually reacted to that stupidity.

-O man I am in danger of getting dropped in the first 10 miles.

-Rule #5

-Ottinger your going to pay for that!

-Damn LARRY!

-Dirt road pace lines are awesome.

-I don't like eating clay from peoples rear wheels. Dirt road pace lines are dumb.

-Thomasville? We are in Thomasville already?

-Thank god we are in Boston! I have to stretch!

Part 2: Leaving Boston

-My leg feels better. Alrighty then!

-Wow this is cool BC is leading the group into the second half!

-Wonder what Terry is doing? tear

-Awesome yellow sign sprinting!

-I wonder what Stormin Norman has in his bag. That is a big bag. Pop up tent? Grill and Hamburgers? Cheese please! He definitely has a blue moon in there somewhere!

-No she didn't. You fuckin cunt knuckle! You just cut my boy Steve off and could have killed 20 people with that shit! I am going to cut you! You wait and see!

-Game on!

-O yeah cunt knuckle your mine!

-She just pulled! OOOooOOO Move over Rick! Take that bitch!

-Yeah david keep it pinned lets shell her! byye

-cunt knuckle "guess I am riding by myself"

-Guess so bitch!

-O man I shook the hornet nest! Game on!

-ahhh crap that’s a gap.

-oooooooUUUUUchh

-seriously? Come on Ginger Snap (aka david) That realllyy hurt.

-Huh holding 26-27mph?

-Ok I am done time to ride by myself.

-What? Rick said slow up? You think this is stupid? I love u!

-This is still hard! Ooooouchhh! stop tim! I hate u!

-Goood I am glad u flatted!

-OOOuuucch Tim! I hate you!

-Peace!

Part 3: I am mister lonely!

-You have cokes! I love u sag man!

-Am I slurring cause I am tired or does this man need me to look at him and say it 4 times cause he is deaf?

-15-20 miles left! fuck u sag man! 10 for road! oooo

-rule # 5

-hill cramp rule #5, hill cramp rule #5, hill cramp rule #5, hill cramp rule #5

-What am I doing? I am runner now.

-I am not an expert.

-Those skid marks into a tree look like something I might want to do!

-Thats a pretty field, wish I had my camera. hill cramp rule #5

-Is anybody behind me?

-hill cramp rule #5

-I wonder if they slowed down. I hate tim.

-I bet they are done eating.

-If I get there and chris aint wearing that shirt I will cut a bitch!

-hill cramp rule #5

-I am retiring.

-I sound like Jim.

-ahhh home stretch. I don't see worms truck. Fuck me.

-Good for him that he is still here and wearing that shirt.

-I don't want to talk to them.

-This spaghetti ain’t doing it for me.

-peace bitches

*Sorry I resorted back to my old style of writing but it was necessary.

One Speed

Every fall Tom Brown hosts one of the eight Florida State Championship races. Each of the last three years have been very different.

2 years ago, I was back in Tally from my short stint in Durango. Everyone expected me to come back to town in shape and they were wrong. I was able to get a surprising 3rd though.

Last year was another year of not being prepared. I had a new bike but lacked some discipline and was kinda scattered brain. Last year, mine as well be considered the scattered brain year in general.

This year was definitely the most interesting. I trained my ass off this summer. Was super disciplined and was looking like the old school Zak was back. I was flying at the Munson TT's and dropped backed down into my race weight of 135lbs. School then hit me in the face and kinda put a hamper on my 6-7 days a week of riding with two a days half the time on tuesdays and thursday. So with me actually doing school work and then add on the new distraction of ms becker, I was nervous coming into the race and maybe a little disappointed that I wasn't able to keep the training up that I had done all summer leading up to the race. The two weeks prior to the race I rode a total of two times. School was rough and I just didn't have time to ride.

Race day came and it was hot and humid. The crew was in rare form with Ron in town and having Kayla around kinda help distract me from the thought of racing. 11:30 came really fast and my warm up was kind of started rough when I found out that my pain in rear little sister squeezed my front brake. I never got it to spin really free but I had to deal and think about the whole time warming up. When they finally called up the class, my nervousness hit its peak. There was 17 damn riders in my class. That is about 7 more people then there has been in the last two years in the single speed class. I guess ss thing has really taken off lol. So the whistle blows and everybody is bumping bars going down the start and I fighting off cubans and locals and find myself in the top five. I am stoked! We hit the double track I am feeling good pass a few and here Daren behind me yelling for me to make some moves. I am also thinking I can't let him beat me! he will rub it in till next year. So I look around and I feel like the pace is to slow. Then some one attacked I followed and then counter attacked him. Boom! I already have 15 seconds on the group right after we turned into Cadillac. My head then starts running through strategies and I am thinking way to much. The plan was to sit in till the third and final lap and then make my move if possible but now I am in first and have a gap already. The trails are also slippery due to it being so dry. So I change the plan. I decide to try and get a good gap and then try and settle into a comfortable pace and let people try to over ride the course trying catch me. The plans working awesome I am 3/4 of the way done with the first lap I have a good 30 to 45 seconds but I  am over doing and feeling it. I start to let off and by the end of the Cadillac on the 2nd lap second has caught and I can't keep his pace. The whole rest of the 2nd lap I can see the leader but I am still suffering to much to bring him back. Start of the last lap third place has caught me I am still hurting from the third lap. He passes me on the multi use and he is immediately gone. 2 mins later though he is yelling at me "he isn't that far up there go get him I got a flat." SCORE lol I finally find a rythm the last lap, but the leader is gone. It was to late. So I end the race in 2nd and very pleased. I was happy with the finish even though I blew it on the first lap and felt slow as Christmas the last two laps. That is till I saw the lap times! I would never in a million years guessed my lap times were as fast as they were. My avg speed was just off Davids and he rode very well in cat 1. I know that this man can elaborate a lot but man it sounded good to read this and finally hear something positive from someone other than the crew.

So after worrying my ass off and feeling slow. I wasn't really slow and it felt FUCKING good! So now what? I don't plan on going to Fernandina to trry and take the points lead but will focus my efforts of kicking some ass Gainsville. I really look to put the hammer down and fight hard to get a win after last years embarrassing experience and total fuck up. After Gainsville I will try to focus on school and the 85 mile off road spaghetti. Then the plan is to do either Felasco or Santos in Cat 1 if I can balance riding and school. 

Changes All Around

Since my last post it seems like my world has been flipped upside down and changed completely. My weekly routine of work, riding, blowing school off and no social life is no more.

Starting architecture school has to be the biggest reason. I actually have homework now. The teachers care and are constantly on my ass to have shit done. I have done more homework in the last two weeks then probably the last year and a half. That isn't a joke either. The thing is I have somewhat enjoyed doing the homework. I feel like I am in Kindergarten and elementary art class again just way more work and a lot more African Americans students than Maclay lol. I am kinda tired of drawing bugs and still life stuff though. I am just itching to put some of my home ideas down on paper and show people my ideas. I would do it outside of class and but I currently enjoy my non homework time to much since the homework takes up a huge portion of my free time. But other than the little nit pic things, I like the creativity part and I really like to draw. I even like FAMU as a whole. I like the black kids too. They crack me up and are super entertaining. I just can't stand the cocky ones, but making the them feel like idiots doesn't get old lol. Me and the black girls get a long really well tho lol.

With school now mon-wed-fri 9-12 and class thursday 2-3, work has kinda gotten rough. Both jobs are taking up some of my ride time. Not being able to do foodlion is just plain weird and it sucks having to haul ass to every ride, but I plan to keep doing it no matter what when ever hw isn't a bitch. There have been talks with my parents about not working two jobs but I don't think it will end this semester.

The other big change after West Virginia was Kayla. Kinda all happened unexpectedly but definitely no complaints there. She is pretty fucking cool and she definitely earned her orange and black colors this last weekend at the race. She was a sport. Super supportive and it didn't really feel like she was the new to the crew other than she had no meet a bazillion people. She even took shit from everyone and I would have to say she took it like a champ. The fat picture was priceless too. All I got to say is wait till she gets more comfortable around everyone and is talkative. She'll be giving it back. Just ask Tyrell lol. O and I like how everyone has blamed my decrease in ride time to her but honestly its been school. I know its weird to hear that Zak missed a ride because of homework but its true.

So yeah life is different, but I have no complaints. Yeah I wish I could ride more but whatever. I'll get my stars and stripes jersey one day. But things are finally starting to click for me and fall into place. I can't really tell you the last time everything was consistent, good and fun.

Race Report Coming Soon too.

Here is my most recent project. This project is where the famous Tarantula Hawk poem from worms blog came from. It was required to have a poem about the bug we drew and modeled.

Motivation

Been gone from Tally for over a week and it was nice. Did some riding not as much as I had planned or thought I was going to do but all in all it was a blast being on vacation. Time away was good and I glad to be home. I am ready ride and put some hard miles in before the state series starts. So the batteries are charged and I am read to role.

P.S. It was nice seeing that some long lost souls are starting to ride again, but for those who are lacking motivation, check out the videos I just posted on ZORB!

Dupont 2 hour route!

The best dupont loop ever!

Park at Parking lot #19
Corn mill shoal out of parking lot
Big rock trail 2nd left
Left at the top of slick rock down cedar rock trail
Right on to little river trail at the bottom of descent
Hard left on to corn mill shoal
Gradual right onto burnt mtn trail
Right on to corn mill shoals
Stay on corn mill shoals and cross creek
Stay left on corn mill shoals
Right onto laurel ridge trail
Left onto mine mtn trail
Stay left on gravel roads
Turn left on abandoned air strip
Turn left at the end of the air strip on air strip trail
Right at the bottom onto shelter road
Turn left conservation road
Right onto buck forest road
Left on to white pine trail
Left onto hickory mtn road
Left onto ridgeline
Right for 2 hour ride and finish up with 3 mile road climb or take a left and head towards jim branch trail and piece together tails heading back towards parking lot 19.

Description of each trail to come later on. Had type these directions in before I forgot all the turns and lost my hand writen directions.

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