Smokin!

Well it was a warm one but what did I expect going out to ride at 2:30 at Thompson with 84 degree temps! Rode 3 laps at a fair pace wasn't trying to kill myself but still managed to lay the bike down in the culvert at about 20mph, gotta remember to keep the bike straight up and down when catching some air or bad things happen! Anyway got back up and did it again just to get it right and finished the lap. Good to hear that most everyone that went to the Bakers Dozen did pretty good even with the weather. Saturday I went up to Atlanta Performance Bike and order "The Bike" along with the components to build it, which in turn broke "The Bank"(no hyperlink here need to keep what money I have!)but it should be a sweet ride. Charles has the distinct priviledge of building it in the shop and should be posting plenty of pics as he goes however I gotta warn ya its going to be racey so make sure you cover the kids eyes! Well I will have to manage some cross training and stationary time for the next 12 Nextel Cup races (Those of you that follow NASCAR know how long that is) until I return but hopefully that will keep me in shape so when I do get back with a little trail time I will be ready for Santos but until then I will try to keep track of the blogs and post when I can So Enjoy your summer and when I get back I will See ya on the Trail!

ETSX Bonfire

This is the top of the line in Home Security Miniture Dashunds, will chew off any ankle protection you got!


Well I was planning on waiting till I was back to do it but....the Guys at Rocky said they only had 4 of the ETSX Bonfire frames left so looks like I will be ordering it before I go play in the sandbox! While it will not be quite the ETSX Team(90) bike that Charles was teasing me with it should be a sweet ride by the time I have it built. Good luck to all those going out to Bakers Dozen (sorry I had to Bail on ya'll you know I would be there if I could)this weekend take pics I will be checking in when I can and posting if possible while I am gone so keep me up to date! Anyway I will be taking the Mountain Bikers Training Bible with me so I can keep in shape while I am over there in anticipation of coming back and adding some dust to some individuals diet plan(one in paticular who provides me with words of motivation at every opportunity!) So until then keep riding and when I get back I will See you on the Trail!

Happy Easter

Gotta love the Easter Bunny that a Cool Jersey or what?!

Well it was a good Easter at the Houghtling house. If you haven't seen what the Easter Bunny does for the other 364 days of the year go to Jeff Kerkove and check out the video! She was much nicer to me and left me a Great looking Jersey with a note reading "A great looking jersey for a Great looking guy!" Love that bunny! anyway had a great day relaxing around the house with the family. Hope everyone had as good a Easter, and for those of us riding in the Bakers Dozen keep our fingers crossed for good weather! Well until later I will See you on the Trail!

B.E.A utiful day at Dauset

The Rocky before the Chickasaw Race, gotta keep it comfortable in the room

Well after a enjoyable Easter Egg hunt at Publix I headed out to Dauset to get in some good laps one last time before the Bakers Dozen Ran into Dean who had already had two full laps on the trail and was doing a third short one before he left I headed out for my two full length laps and then some. There was quite a few riders in the area so I figured I would hook up wit someone, however after I had done the Huff and Puff section and headed out to the back end of Dauset trails I started coming up on people going the opposite directions-not sure if that was in practice for the race or not as I do remember someone saying that last years route was ran in reverse of the normal riding course. Since it had been a while since I had been out there I was keeping a eye out on the arrows to make sure I was going in the right direction. I came up on the last 3 miles of the trail and wasn't sure which way to go, that three way intersection of trail, anyway three other riders were going by at the time and I thought to ask them, they were kind enough to let me hang with them - note to self group of riders with Carbon frames, v-brakes to keep weight down, short travel front forks,(Charles is laughing right about now he knows whats coming) thats right they were expert category riders(don't ever ask a expert if he races sport they get offended!) so while it was the quickest 1/10th of a mile I ever did I didn't hang with them long! but long enough to realize where I needed to go. Anyway finished the first lap added some more water to the camelback as it was a warm one today out there and headed off for the second lap. had a good second lap as well since I didn't run into any trees and managed to climb huff and puff without stopping. Did both laps in about a hour and fifty mins each, I figure not bad for the 17 mile lap so we will see how I do on my first 13hr solo event will be out for a ride at Thompson on Wednesday and then heading out to the Race on Friday to do a preride. So any of my readers with some good solo experience and suggestions for food during the ride I would love to have some input for what to pack and have on standby to keep me going. Thanks for reading and as always I will See ya on the Trail!

Bombs Away!

Not her, But isn't she about the most B E A utiful Dashund you ever saw?
Well I haven't had the chance to ride it yet but it is on, the new Marzocchi MX PRO w/ETA Bomber 120mm of travel, in response to Bills question, "What are you going to jump out of trees with that?" Well no, but if I did want to I could! So I am looking forward to giving it the initial ride out at Thompson tomorrow. Also looking into the post deployment reward which may have to be purchased prior to return if I want to get one is the ETSX Bonfire which from what I found out today run about $2000. Amazing that this is the same individual that 3yrs ago would have laughed in your face at the mere suggestion of paying even a $1000 for a bike let alone twice that for the frame! Must be that I suffer from that OAD Overactive Adrenaline Disorder and that Mountain Biking is the fix. Still it is money well spent considering not that many years ago I was spending that annually on cigarettes and if I still had that nasty habit I would probably be spending more at current cost! However that not withstanding the overall cost of the beauty I am dreaming up is somewhere in the area of $3500+time+labor. But I look forward to seeing how it comes out once I do get it built. Counting down the days until my summer vacation - going to miss the riding but hopefully on my down time I can put the Mountain Bikers Training Bible to good use and do some strength training on my off days and maintain my cardio until I return. Well I was hoping to get out to Dauset this weekend and get some long training in on Saturday early in preparation for the Bakers Dozen which is my first solo endurance event so if any of ya'll want to join me drop me a note otherwise hopefully either tomorrow evening at Thompson or Saturday at Dauset I will See ya on the Trail! Thanks for reading

Slow week

The boy has Dads talent for falling off the bike that is for sure!

Well after a good race much online trash talking on Sunday and Monday, and then back to the Grind I am finally getting back to the blog. Missed a Tuesday night ride out at the Pig - hate it when work interferes with the important things in life! However since it didn't get dark until 8pm I could have gone out after I got off but I was lazy, sorry Budrock. Missed the OMBA meeting and ride on Wednsday due to flying late so I didn't get a ride in until Thursday night. Now I went out around 8pm to Thompson and had the light it was just getting dark so all by my lonesome I decide what the heck and away I go. Well it had been just about a month since I was out there so some wear and tear and a couple of rains did little to change the trail but those annoying hanging branches seemed to be everywhere! I have a Niterider Rage HID so I can light up the woods pretty good but the darker it got the harder those little bastards where to see so I caught a couple of them right in the face. Anyway to make a long story short after one lap my risk assesment was pretty high so I called it a night. I did manage to get back out there today and turn two normal and one reverse lap and had a good work out. Thompson just seems to leave something to be desired after riding E. Macon for the past three weeks, it is still a great technical trail but I miss the speed I could carry out at Macon. Anyway I have mandatory fun Army style tommorrow and then some home improvement after that. Looking to go out early to Arrowhead on Sunday and get a few laps in out there and then hopefully but in about 6hrs worth of riding at Dauset the following weekend in preparation for the Bakers Dozen. Thats about it for now so thanks for reading and I will See ya on the Trail!

Sandbag??....That's not my Sandbag

Well at least if I was, there were others doing it better than me! Anyway today was a great race day, while I didn't get quite the finish I wanted out of it I did run my race times and came in a respectable 7th place in the beginner class. I started slow so I was stuck behind the pack on the first lap had to do some passing there and ran the hill the first lap but still managed a sub 31 minute lap and a 32 and change on the second one, so I was happy with my times disappointed with the results. But I will still keep up the training and see how I do at my next challenge-my first attempt at a solo 13hr event the Bakers Dozen. This was a great event and everyone who volunteered and helped run it so we could race it-Thank you I had a great time and look forward to doing it again Congrats to Charles and Noah on there 2nd and 3rd place finishes, and to all the others out there good racing. Tomorrow or Tuesday I am planning on taking the bike in and getting the new fork put on looking forward to seeing how that rides. Well not to much else to say and it is late so thanks for reading and I will See ya on the Trail.