Dennis B Murphy >>>>>>>>>>

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May 2008

5.29.08 If you recall, I'd done a bit of riding in Chihuahua last November with the business unit manager of the company I visit there. Well, Mario was in west Michigan this week visiting my company so I decided to take him on some sweet Michigan singletrack. After work last night we drove out to Yankee Springs to take a lap on my Cannondale Rushes. Whereas in Mexico I was concerned with severe injury from a fall on all the pointed rocks, Mario was concerned here with a collision with a tree- there are no trees on the trails in Chihuahua. But he is very fit and adapted well to the terrain. Photos below.

My leg was fine until about mile eight after which it started twinging as it is not healed from the problems I had up at Boyne- but I'd promised Mario to a ride and did not want to disappoint. But it's good the ride wasn't longer and harder or I'd have been in pain. I have resolved now to not mountain bike until Lumberjack on June 14th. I am fit enough and no amount of training would get me ready in two weeks if I wasn't fit at this point- so the sole focus will be the leg- which I now believe to be the IT Band ( iliotibial band ).

Our ride was spoiled at the parking lot however- and I have since written an angry complaint to the DNR about it- (read on below)...

Letter to DNR: I recently needed to get a new car. I was told that if I peeled off the old DNR annual motor vehicle pass (which I bought in early April 2008) and presented it to a DNR ranger, I would get a replacement to attach to my newer car. I did this yesterday while at Yankee Springs (Wednesday, May 28, 2008) at about 610pm.

I come back from riding with a friend from Mexico and I have a citation on my window. The citation was written at 620pm, which means the ranger essentially handed me a sticker and then walked out of his building to issue the citation right after we left to ride the mountain-bike trail

Apparently, the citation was issued due to the fact that I attached the sticker in the wrong place. Please see photo. I had attached the sticker nearer to the upper passenger side, rather than the lower passenger side.

The ranger never mentioned where the sticker should be attached. I realize that the very small print says where it should be attached, but this is not readable for me without reading glasses- which I did not have with me at the time. Finally, I pulled off the old sticker from my previous car from exactly the same spot. I have been entering state parks and recreation areas for over three years with my previous car with the stickers in the upper passenger side and not a single ranger or gate keeper has EVER stopped me and said it was in the wrong place- much less issued a citation which could result in an arrest warrant should I fail to pay it. Is failure to locate a sticker accurately worthy of ARREST?!

Additionally, the citations are apparently not able to even be appealed! Even IF I had found a ranger at Yankee Springs to ask about this issue- and I tried (it was about 830pm)- the citation says the ranger cannot even void the penalty.

I have been a very vocal supporter of the P&R, advocating for stable funding, taxpayer support and the recent Citizen’s commission concept for the $9/license-plate idea. But even despite that, had I just been even a casual visitor to the parks- do you REALLY think that this was an appropriate action by the ranger? (copy of citation enclosed). During a time of budget issues, we have picayune tickets being issued to irritate your user-base, when a simple note would suffice? Instead of ticketing me for an additional $6.00, perhaps a sticky note on my window advising me the sticker should be relocated on the window would have been a better customer service action?

I re-located the sticker when I got home and actually could read the small print.

Considering this action, considering how few rangers we still have, and how customer-self-serve the DNR is operating the P&Rs, maybe the better action would be to simply eliminate the vast majority of these DNR positions and instead staff the P&R with $8 per hour summer labor under minimal supervision? There’s a budget cut that would save you money. We won’t have staff with the free time to issue irritating citations.

Granted this is only six bucks. But the process, the action and the need to follow up on this the next day ( I did not have cash on hand- nor checks- to be able to pay it on-site at the fee-pipe) – all this has left a serious bad taste for me with regards to your department. My support for the DNR P&R will definitely be more guarded in the future.

PS: I am mailing my SIX DOLLARS today in cash in the envelope provided. Here’s hoping I don’t exceed the 48 hour window. Yes- that is sarcasm.

5.25.08 Well, the weekend turned out to be a debacle of a race for me. On the plus side, the weather was perfect- moderate temps during the day, cool and clear in the evening.

I decided to do the race late Friday afternoon. I prepped my hydration and equipment Friday night and drove three hours to Boyne Saturday morning, arriving at 1030am to register. The course is about 9.7 mile loop with about 1100 feet of very steep climbing per lap- with many grades at 12-14% or more.

Race started at noon. Lap 1, I experienced a lot of rear chain jump and stopped to tighten the rear shifter cable- the easiest thing to try first. It didn't fix the issue so after lap 2 I went to the support tent operated by Grand Rapids Bicycle Company. I explained the problem and he said a likely required fix would be a new cassette. I okay'd this and went to lap 3 on the other bike. Both bikes have had new chains in the last couple of weeks, but I couldn't say the cassttes had ever been replaced on these 2006 model bikes! Bike 2 skipped worse than bike 1 and made lap 3 tedious. When I arrives through the lap, bike 1 was done so I swapped bikes again. (I will need to get a new cassette on bike 2 this week). Lap 4 was nice- the bike was working very well. I rode steady but slow to complete lap 5 as well, then stopped to mount lights. Unfortunately, disaster wes nearing.

I'd been experiencing some knee discomfort the last couple weeks. I was breaking in new shoes and they seemed to clip tight with little float as well as give me a feeling of being forced to pedal pigeon-toed, but I attributed it to simply needing to break in. So I went out for lap 6 and as I got to the back 3rd of the course, I begand to experience sharp stabbing pains to the outside left of my left knee. I struggled to the finish and went to take a break in the car. I rested for nearly 1-1/2 hours and took ibuprofen to combat any inflamation. Back out for lap 7- beautiful night, cool and clear- I put on three layers and a jacket.

The good news is my new Blackburn batteries worked very well. I sent in both X6 generation batteries under warranty and they sent back the new X8 batteries in replacement. The new batteries are half the size and weight of the old ones and easily rival Nightrider batteries. Future night tides will be a dream- my favorite part of the ednurance events.

Unfortunately, the body didn't cooperate. Throughout lap 7 I experienced stabbing pains in my left knee. At one point I neeed to come off the bike to walk a section and could not even put weight on my left leg. (The pain was the same discomfort I experienced in 1986 at the Marine Corps officer candidate school bootcamp. I slogged my way to the lap chute and called it quits at 1230am- halfway through the 24 hour event.

I decided to head home, figuring I'd have the rest of the weekend. It was a late drive and I got a half hour from home when the lightning struck my brain- I packed everything up but forgot to put both front wheels in the car!! Oh jeez! I called Brent's cell and explained and he said he' find and hold them. I reached home, had a beer while getting ready for bed and slept for four hours. I then got up, unpacked the gear from the car, put away the bikes (sans front wheel) and drove BACK to Boyne. I figured I'd retrieve my wheels and attend the awards dinner I had initially planned to forego.

I was 5th of 5 racers. I am limping and need to determine a recovery plan so I can race Lumberjack in two weeks

5.23.08 And the hits keep coming. I will now miss endurance race #2 of the season. Joni's car had a grinding sound in the front end become apparent last week- she took the car to the dealer for inspection and they reported it is an issue in the ball-joint and quoted work in excess of $500- given this new expense (and car insurance due this weekend as well) I cannot make the trip north to do the 24 Hours of Boyne. The month of May is becoming a perfect storm of financial setbacks!

I will stay close to home this holiday weekend. Maybe do a long ride from home to Cannonsburg or Bass River on Saturday or Sunday. The one race I cannot miss at this point is Lumberjack. I had not pre-registered for either Addison or Boyne- I wanted to but issues prevented it and in hindsight that worked out for the best for me.

5.22.08 Brenden had graduation ceremonies last night! Yeah! He actually graduated with credits and got his diploma in November 2007, but was now doing the annual grad ceremony. It was a fun enthusiastic group of kids in his classes. Another milestone passed.

5.21.08 Mountainbiker Steve Balogh took a few photos at Owasippe this past weekend and got a shot of Brenden (Photo Link)

5.20.08 Well, Saturday, instead of racing my first endurance event, I ended up getting new tires on the car. I then took Brenden's car there to get his tires rotated and balanced. They tire shop owner said he was glad I missed the race hahahaha- and he should be after $400 worth of work and puchases!

I rode at Owasippe with Brenden and friends Steve, Rafi and Chingoun Saturday afternoon. 1200 feet of climbing at Owasippe and a great deal of up and down terrain. Brenden raced the time trial there on Sunday.

Brenden has his graduation ceremony tomorrow (Wednesday) though he actually got his diploma in November 2007. Congrats, bud!

The weather looks to be great for this coming weekend. My lights have not yet been checked at Blackburn, which is frustrating. One of my Founders teammates is lending me a light set and I have my Nightrider Sol- between the two sets I should have enough light for the night portion of the 24 Hours of Boyne race Saturday & Sunday. I haven't done much riding the last three weeks due to schedules and travel. But I have built a decent base up so I should be okay this weekend. Got in a short 18 mile ride this evening

5.16.08 What a busy week and a disappointing start to the weekend!

First- I got a new(er) car. My 1999 Kia had so many problems that just getting it to operate normally would have taken over $1200 minimum and even then it would have had problems. So I traded it in and got a 2005 Chevy Cobalt with 30,000 miles.- which is a peppy car. Photo below before I put the bike rack on it. Signed for it Wednesday, picked it up Thursday evening.

I planned to do the 12 Hours of Addison Oaks Saturday -I was really looking forward to this event. The race is scheduled from 10am-10pm Saturday. . I got home this evening Friday and loaded the car. I got rather a late start and headed toward Ann Arbor to stay at a friends house for the night which would put me just over an hour from the race location (home is over 2-1/2 hours from the race). I pulled over at exit 89 on I-96 into the Speedway and noticed my rear passenger tire was completely flat. I pulled to the air hose, dropped my three quarters in and pumped up my tire. No sooner had it reached a full inflation than I heard the hissing from behind the tire. There was a substantial hole in the tire just off the tread on the inside sidewall ! No fixing that, especially at 10pm on a Friday night. I tried calling a Discount Tire and even a (despised) Walmart - no luck. I changed the tire with one of those hard rubber spares and headed back toward home for the sixty mile drive. On the way I called Hertz and tried to locate a substitute vehicle. I figured a van since I had so much gear and two bikes- but the cost was over $150 to rent a van to get to the race. I can't take Joni's car since she needs the front drive mechanism repaired due to a bad bearing or some such. I could not drive the car all the way to Ann Arbor, then to Addison and then home on the donut tire because they aren't made to drive that far- and especially at highway speeds. Every logistical option was basically against me making this race. If the race had been Noon-to-Midnight instead, I could have had a chance to make it- I could have gotten the tire repaired in the morning first thing at 8am at least, then driven to the race and gotten there by at least 1130am and been on the trail.

So tomorrow, off to the tire shop for new or newer tires. The car has 30K miles on it- so the tires are likely original tires. And shooting for the 24 Hours of Boyne next week instead.

5.11.08 Got back from travels Friday night just after midnight. Saturday was a beautiful day- I decided on a long ride. I rode from home to the Cannonsburg State Game Area trail, did a lap, then rode home. The game area is twenty miles from the house so the whole trip was 48 miles including the lap around the game area. 2350 feet of climbing was included and total time was three minutes shy of four hours. I am glad I got a ride in on Saturday since today has turned out so rotten- cold rain coming down today. I won't ride Monday since I need to get the lawn cut then visit my sister in the hospital in the evening. The week's weather will regulate my rides to, very likely, Tuesday and Thursday in preparation for the 12Hours of Addison Oaks- my first big event of the year.

Monday: It's a long week and Monday was a long day. I got up at 330am to catch my flight out of Grand Rapids. Houston was an issue due to severe weather the flight was delayed though we had taxi'd out. I was supposed to arrive in Chih at 1030am local time but ended up two hours late. Had dinner Monday night at the Chili's in the nearby mall. Ordered the Penne Primavera (without the customary chicken it includes). The time change really messes with me. Having got up very early Michigan time, yet not able to sleep here until nearly midnight meant a 23 hour day. Then, I had a wake up call set for 630am local, but woke up at about 5am due to my usual schedule back home.

Tuesday: Found some photos of me online from the Sunday race by a photog named Shuttermonkey
Photo #1 Photo #2 Photo #3 Photo #4 Photo #5 Photo #6 Photo #7 by DanFrayer

Dan Frayer took some of Brenden Photo #1 Photo #2 Photos #3

Productive day at the supplier plant!

Wednesday: Another busy productive day. Got back to the hotel and ate happy hour food (cheese and tomato sandwiches) and a couple beers. Changed clothes and went across the highway to the Coffee Factory for a coffee while I made a couple phone calls home, then walked to the Alsuper (grocery store) to buy four bottles of water. I usually have a liter of water at my desk while working, but have only had one bottle these last couple days and feel I need more.

Thursday: Last full day at Jabil this week. Left the plant at 545pm. Another good day and some action items for continuous improvement to bring back. The hotel happy hour food selection is poor- some meat stuffed oven pop type foods- ugh. I will head over to the coffee shop for a good coffe and then find dinner- perhaps simple, like Subway or some such.

I had a coffee again at the Coffee Factory- a local outlet which is really good. I hear that a Starbucks is coming to the area near the Hampton Inn in the next three months. I really like Starbucks but I also appreciate a good local company when one exists. Hopefully the advent of Starbucks doesn't prove detrimental to the Coffee Factory.

Friday: Half day at Jabil (8am-noon) then to the aeropuerta for a 220pm flight to Dallas- three hour layover there and in GR at about 11pm.

I think I will try to bring the bike next time. I was looking around last night and while many roads are more risky to ride on, across the highway from the hotel the roads are far less traveled. Also, some of them dead end up in the hills west of the city. This is the direction of a great amount of expansion so these roads are sparsely built up and infrequently traveled. The area can easily be reached a block to the north where the highway overpasses the side roads. I could even take one of the dead end roads and go offroad for a bit as there are trails and two tracks in these hills.

5.05-09.08 In Mexico

5.04.08 Not a bad day of racing. The weather was splendid. I did my first race as expert this season. I came in 24th of 24 racers in the three lap (27 miles) course. Nice job by the SW Chapter setting up the course. My time was 2hours/20 minutes which averaged 46.6 minutes per lap. I just could not go faster, but I could have done several more laps at that pace. I had issues in the rear cassette with the chain jumping on rings three and four. I need to do maintenance, probably tighten cables and adjust the rear derailleur. I need to do the same on both bikes... see below*

Brenden did two laps (18 miles) in the Sport Singlespeed category and finished 11th 0f 13 in 1hr/34 min for a 47 minute per lap average.

*Funky glitch with the new Rush- remember it is identical to my original bike. After the ride Saturday at the Fort, as I took off the front wheel a spring was popping out of the front shock axle. I pulled it out and then dropped (and lost) it. Then the bike would not bolt to my ForkUp on the roof rack! Nor would a tire now screw into it- the thread area was too large. So I ended up using my original Rush #1 for the race today. I thought for some reason Cannondale put out two different size bolt mechanisms. Talking to Pete C after the race (he owns a Scalpel Lefty) the spring was a helicoil, which I suspected. But I thought the helicoil was just on that one Rush for a specific reason, but Pete said ALL lefty threads have them. Mine just came out. So next week I will take it to the bike shop for re-install and will be back on track with two bikes.

5.01.08 Well, our tire order arrived this past week. Joni and I went for an easy 10 mile spin and when we got home we cleaned our bikes, lubed chains etc. Long overdue. I actually put a new chain on my Rush #1. I then pulled the wheels and put my new tires and tubes on the bikes.. one bike has Kenda Kwiks, the other has Kenda Komodo.

Brenden's Kenda Karmas did not arrive. He will have to do the race this weekend on the current tires he has and I will replace his tires after next week when the bike shop gets some in stock.

Opera tomorrow night- Flying Dutchman with Opera Grand Rapids, then a bike race Sunday.