Tofurkey is in the sweet air

Ahhh. Fall is in full swing. The riding is perfect and the woods are bursting with color and gun shots. After spending most of the summer and early fall preparing for the epic Vermont 50, riding had become a chore and training for the unknown sent my nerves into overdrive.

This tick is rediscovering her love of MTB.

Turns out the VT50 was Epic - and apparently the course was designed to be entirely up hill at 30% grades (wtf). J Flats and I were totally unprepared for the pain of that day and spent most of it pushing our bikes up giant mountains. Mile 34 was the end of the road for this team - a bad fall and a sprained ankle mercifully ended our charge. Although the race was totally painful and overwhelming it was one of the best things that I've done! We all had a blast hanging out in VT and getting ready for the adventure. The foliage was breathtaking (so were the climbs) and the race was well run and a good time for all.

So here we are on the day before Thanksgiving. Night rides have started again and large groups of MTBers that had all but disappeared in the heat of the summer are back in full force. My beloved trails give joy again.

As this year is winding down and most are retreating to warmer weather or their couches to wait out the cold and the dark, we will be fighting the winter blues one ride at a time.

So in the spirit of the holiday here are a few things I am thankful for in no particular order:

Mo

Great Friends

The Bloated Tick

My sweet ass bike - Brian

Good Wine

Night Rides

Super great trails

Having no particular Goals for the rest of this year

and this video -

Calling ALL Sponsors

Sunday with the Family. Bloated tick style. No BBQ, no horrible trip to some awful family fun park or even worse, DISNEY. Just a perfect day in the woods with Mo. 30 Mile MTB out and back to Cranberry Hole Road. It was Mo's first epic ride. A perfect day to get super sweaty, dirty and covered in bug bites teetering just on the edge of puking. My dream day ! We were out for a total of 4hours trying to get some time in the saddle in preparation for the VT50 at the end of September.

On the way back - just inside of 7miles to go and I was kicked. It took every ounce of mind over matter to make it up the smallest incline. I was just about to collapse when a flash of pink caught my eye through the scrub oaks. I knew it could only be the be the one and only Yummy Berger!!! Yes! Just what I needed to motivate the rest of the way. They were on their way out and like two sailors passing in the night we exchanged casual profanities and words of encouragement and went on our way - recharged and ready to book it back to the house. (you roadies out there could learn from this)

It felt so right coming home completely wiped out for a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Mo made some mushroom risotto and I scarfed down a vegetarian pizza and we relaxed into a food coma. Finishing out the day with a beer on the beach just reaffirmed the perfection of family day!

This we could get used to....

We Proudly announce: The Bloated Tick is now accepting applications for Corporate Sponsorship! Yes~!! We are a small grass roots MTB team. We race twice a year and are often in the back of the pack. This leaves a ton of time to promote our sponsors, on Facebook, twitter and various other media. We will even fly to foreign countries to promote your business (Italy). No company is too small. The one requirement is that you do no evil...meaning, no oil companies, oil support, tobacco, or any giant food company: that's you KRAFT, TYSON and the Evil McDonald's. Oh and of course, we will not be sponsored by Monsanto - the ultimate in EVIL.



So who then, will we encourage to foot our bills in exchange for promotion?
Lizard Skins, Lara Bar, Layne Bryant, Green Vibrance, Google - we are looking at you big boys!

If you are interested in having the Bloated Tick work for YOU, please post a comment with your information and we will be in touch.

Its official! The TEAM is back!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

or

JESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS - as some may say.

Its on! Jflats has been cleared for take off! She has fucked Cancer over the fence or as we sometimes say - hummed it at the wall! Boooyah! Let the training begin!

I have stopped counting the days till VT50 - I know it looms close but who cares, my wingman is back!

Now the pain begins. Humid, buggy, sweaty, hot and sticky - perfect conditions to drop that 85 pounds of pre-race weight!

We have found the most perfect supplement to MTB. Its a horrible punishment that was suggested oh so benignly by my beloved and R. Cabs. It goes by the name of TRX. Sounds very modern and oh so 2010ish...but beware this is some medieval shit!

As I took my place in front of some kind of trapeze circus apparatus with my fellow sufferers, it became clear, I knew not what commeth. Our super spunky leader was cut like a diamond and with a smile on her face unleashed the pain. TRX is the gift that keeps giving. Two days later the stiffness follows me like a hungry dog.

So this Tick will be getting tortured weekly with high hopes that with every mangled plank position and twinge in the haunch that every pedal stroke in VT will be that much easier...

Woo Hoo!

Welcome Back JFlats! Let the Pain Begin!