Mean Joe Queen - Amature Mooto-X Pilot

Picked up some sweet new kicks from Steve at Wood N' Wave a couple of days ago. TopGun and I headed up that way for some sweet trail riding. We stopped by the shop on the way so that i might pick up some shoes. I decided not to wear the shoes though. We were planning on a 40 mile ride and I though I might try the new kicks out on a shorter ride just in case i didn't like them. The weather was suppose to be in the mid 50's and cloudy. It felt a little colder to me but overall it was fine.

We rode from the North Welcome Station down the North/South trail to Sugar Bay and back. We really kept a nice pace the whole way. We totaled 40 miles and could have easily finished under 4 hours if not for some minor issues. Josh had some derailleur problems and later he had to take a phone call. The pace was good, not vomit inducing fast but not boring and slow. The trail was in great shape despite fears of the dreaded Freeze/Thaw that we deal with around here.

It's funny cuz i'm pretty sure the climbs were much longer last year. Perhaps it was my conditioning last year? So either my conditioning was not as good or we had some kind of a geological event causing all of the hills on the North/South trail to shrink. Pretty sure it was the former but hey I'm no geologist.

I was pretty wiped out after the ride. I had worked a midnight shift the night before and was suffering from a lack of sleep. It's funny though It never seems to affect my riding. In fact some of my best races were after working a midnight shift. I was also feeling malnourished after the ride, so i broke down and ate some meat. Not good meat either, I'm talking Mexican Food dripping with gooey white cheese and covered with sour cream and guacamole. HELL YEAH. Now I feel like crap. My inards hate me right now.

Anywho, with the cold weather sinking in I decided to brake down and get some "proper" gear. I swung by the Army Surplus store near Ft. Campbell and picked up 3 pair of BDU pants and I even found some sweet wool pants. I cut them up and made them into some pretty cool knickers. The wool pant came out well but they are extremely warm. I rode the BDU's on the North/South trail ride with Josh. They performed very well with some sexy boy tight britches under them. I like the extra pockets, their good for cliff bars and such.

I also picked up some toe warms from the bike shop and, my favorite piece of gear....wait for it. Swiftwick Twelve Merino's. I was introduced to Swiftwick socks about 2 years ago when they were part of the NMB team kit. I bought 3 pair and those same 3 pair have been in the regular rotation ever since. They're looking a little rough now but they function like they should. I picked up a few more pair when I joined Yazoo then I got a free pair at DSG. They're like a little piece of heaven for my feet. I can't wait to try out the 12's.