The Wussy Effect

Some of you may not know it but there is this wave of Wussiness going around out there. I mean really. Claiming points during the "regular season" of cycling does not qualify for BHM points. How can it, even if you live in Arizona and ride in 120 heat it doesn't mean that riding here in 80 degrees or so as a Belgian Hard Man ride. So no points handed out just because you guys did a hard ride on the BHM route. A big WATT-EVVA

Which now brings me to the next wussy thing. Commuting. I mean really. Belgian Hard Men do not ride because they need to, they ride because they mean to. It isn't a requirement to travel from one point to another but a ride in order to do what few others have the guts to do. So just because you ride a few miles to work you are not a BHM. If the weather is crap and you need to get your training ride in during the commute by adding in an extra hour or two. Then you are a BHM.

Rules? Who makes the rules? What are the rules?

Well it goes like this. There are no rules and they are subject to change per my discretion because I make the rules. Why do I get to make the rules. Because I came up with the whole blog thing for BHM after putting one really tough winter of riding in on my own, in the dark, in the snow, on the trails, all to get ready for a Feb. race. So by dominating my own world I make the rules until I'm dethroned.

So have at it wussies, just be happy you can be participating in the BHM points. The race is on and your girlfriend isn't going to let you win!

Points distribution

Points were handed out today to Ralph and Tom C. They are one of the select few who have completed the BHM classics route. Congrats!!

My Pee Pee Hurts

Apparently if you can attack just before a section of road that you know everyone is going to sit up on it makes you a man. Of course this is after not pulling for some time. But if you keep the pace hard after one of the attacks your an ass because it makes everyone else's little pee pee hurt real bad. Maybe instead of riding we should all just line up in front of an electric fence and piss on it. The last one standing wins.

Summer points

So if I go on the Tuesday night ride, and follow it up with a Wednesday night ride, Do I get points?

Piling It On!

The weather forecast looks like S@#T again. It is almost like the weather is testing me to see if I'm points worthy. I have to say it is pretty hard to be motivated to ride in this crap but I may just do so. So pile it on... @!~@$#@$##^

Forwards and Backwards

Hell Of The North ride for me this weekend both forwards and backwards. 48 mile route with a list of nasty little climbs. Saturday Chad and I rolled it into the wind and on Sunday I rode earlier in order to get the same route in again prior to the rain. Fortunately I made it back just as it was starting to sprinkle. It isn't an easy route no matter how you ride it and rain would have made it really tough at this time of year.



One thing about the roads this year is that they are far more bumpy than in the past. I actually had to stop several times today to try and fix the mount for my computer because it was bouncing off from the road vibration. I eventually put it in my pocket.



















The photo of this hill doesn't do it any justice. It is the middle section and the grade is actually pretty steep here. There is about a third below where the photo is taken and another third out of site. Good rides for the weather and getting ready for the season.

First Niner Ride

A veritable onslaught of town was had with big wheels this weekend. Resulting in a climb up many hills. Descending Apple Blossom Drive pedaling in high gear against the wind resulted in only 28 mph. No hard man points. I real hard man would have gotten up to at least 35 mph.

Bad ass photo attached



Dust

Fornicate and Forget

Can you feel the energy? April 1st and warm weather is around the corner, or so I hope. I've officially called an end to the cold air and snow for this season.
So on April Fool's day I could do the normal and come up with some story about how the wind and cold have eaten away my will to ride but nothing is further from the truth. Instead we put in an 80 miler on Saturday in a windy cool day. Monday absolutely sucked and I have to say if I were being paid to ride it would have been a short one...
Does this mean an end to the points for the season. Absolutely not! Just because it is warmer doesn't mean a true hard man forgets the bite of the cold.

Work Sh@@t

Obliteration

Since I've been back most of the days have barely made it above 25 degrees. With three rides in under those conditions the 40's of yesterday seemed like nothing. I have obliterated the standings and believe the points are outside the ability for anyone to catch me at this time.
Sadly EPU will have to sit on his new couch and scratch his butt.

Pondering Your Points

If you are adding up your points as Spring approaches to see how you sit in as a Belgian Hard Man you may as well stop now. A true BHM knows he is ahead of the competition no matter what.

1 hour for every 10 degrees

Ever wonder how long or far you should ride? It is simple, if its 10 degrees you ride 1 hour. If it is 30 degrees (like today), then you better be out for three hours. I got my card stamped, did you?

Points Deduction

True Hard Men always find a way to ready themselves for the season. Whether it is riding in the cold weather or finding the sunshine to get some good base miles in for the season to be. The warm weather riding only means one thing, I'll have to ride more in the crap when I return.

Just Because

Just because it warmed up into the mid 20's today doesn't mean it is time to slack off. We have been out at least once over each weekend for the past 6 with only missing one because it would have been deadly to ride. Today was a tough 4 plus hours on the bike with a few big climbs. The tough thing was how wind burned my face became on the ride. Our bikes had some ice build up on them but the bent looking wheel is just my phone camera taking funky pics.
Tomorrow looks like 10 more inches of snow. So just because we could ride today we did and the rest of you are left holding your tv remotes.

They Say it's your Birthday

Well it's my birthday too.... And I had some options. Work, pay bills, complain, get fatter, or ride with true Belgian Hardmen. I opted for the BHM points of the day. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good photo of us all together so I settled for the shadow photo of me. Funny, I must be a little warped to ride in low 20's for two hours. I guess that comes with age.



Too bad I didn't have my team bike yet either. But at least the true Belgian Hardmen are on their G4s. I'm only a wanna be. I also just realized something kind of silly. BH stands for BEISTEGUI HERMANOS or Belgian Hardman. So If I'm riding one of these I'm going to have to step up to the BH on the frame..



So at my age I've got some aching knees, a funky back, a sciatic nerve thing when I don't ride, back fat that really annoys me, asthma, and you know all I really want to do is ride sometimes. I'm glad I did because Chad's slogan is right. Be Active Be Happy and you will be.


The points are mine today "B"ee"H"ches!

To Tremp. we go

Last Saturday The 4x4 Champ and I went out for a Hardman Points ride. Here are a couple of pics from that ride.

Picking Up The Points Part Deux

Right about now your thinking you had better check to see if you are still a man. Well as your checking to see if you still have balls because your pee pee hurts too much to ride. I just wanted to thank you for dropping more points.

I just finished my second ride of the day.
Minus 3 wind chill
12 degrees
Two Niner.
Two plus hours outside today total.
34 miles.

Picking Up The Points

Let the chips fall where they may.
Wednesday: 24 degrees. Two rides. One early a.m. one early eve. 35 miles
Saturday: 28 degrees. Snow. Trail ride to Tremp. with Monkeytron. 27 miles
Monday(so far) 16 degrees. Windchill 5. Snow. A.M. road ride on 29'er with full knobby dress.

Now who's pee pee is hurting!

One fixed gear, a single speed and one snow encrusted rear derailleur. Three of us rolled to Holmen, at night during a snow storm...although it didn't reach 32 degrees until Onalaska, I'm counting it. I couldn't see most of the ride, Tos was able to "fixie skid" sitting down and at anytime. Nomad was the only one who felt at home...a true trailblazer.

Blue Steel

That's right. I need to put on my game face. Because before I hit the season I need to make sure the season is ready for my new game face. Magnum Mutant. Look out B@#@@$s

32 Degrees?

Yesterday two of us went out for a road ride. I know, I can hear the objections already. "It was nearly 40 degrees, you don't get hardman points for that! Only temps under 32 count" While 32 is a nice number, those around here seem to have mis-labeled the number 32. It's not degrees, it's miles. We did a 32 mile loop, and to make it interesting, one of us had one gear, the other had 2.2" tires.

Go ahead the_anti_blog keep counting your wimpy 20 minute runs when the temp is 31 degrees, some day you will catch up to the real Hardman points competitors.

29er Vs. Snowmobile Trails

I took my 29er and rode on the snowmobile trails in La Crescent, MN. It was pretty fun. I definitely needed to apply even pressure all around the pedal stroke. Big circles was the name of the game today. I did slide around a lot especially when the sun came out and started warming up the top layer of snow.

The trails were fairly groomed and getting up hills was challenging but I was always able to get off the bike to walk/push my bike (not saying that I did this - it was just an option). Going down hill was were the precarious nature of slightly slushy snow, speed, and lack of skill made things dangerous. I was surprised, I guess, I thought it would be easier especially with less air pressure and knobby tires.

One hill was especially scary. Normally, when mountain biking on dirt, you'd use your front brake more than your rear. Not the case on snow. This made stopping much harder, I had to stop like a hockey player pulling my bike off to the side.

All in all the ride was enjoyable and I got to see some great sites that I don't normally get to see. Elevation changes from 633ft to 1033 feet were detected by my GPS. Speeds between 7 mph and Mach 4 were also detected.

So any BHM points added to my card?

Dustin