I feel fine I feel fine I cough cough hack cough feel cough fine I feel cough fine
A Note from Fatty: The “Meet BSNYC” winners have all been sent email, and all the people who won a t-shirt have responded. The person who won the grand prize, however, has not. So. If you donated some money for this contest and haven’t checked your email in a while, well, maybe you should.
Another Note from Fatty: The response for the 100 Miles of Nowhere has been huge. I am getting really excited for this strange event. And you still have time to register. Go to yesterday’s post for details.
Also, I have added a section at the Fat Cyclist Forum for discussion about the 100 Miles of Nowhere. If you are looking for someone in your area to do the race with, post a message there.
I have been coping with a cold for about a week, now. I’ve been through the sore throat stage, the watery eye stage, and the stuffy nose stage.
Through it all, I have been taking daily advantage of one of cycling’s great little secrets: when you’re on the bike, you feel fine. Your head clears up. You can breathe. Your throat stops hurting, and your body stops aching.
Well, maybe your body continues to ache, but it’s a different kind of ache.
A couple days ago, for example, even though I had been feeling miserable the whole day, Brad and I went riding on Corner Canyon, to see if the warm weather we’ve had for the past few days has opened up Jacob’s Ladder: the highest trail in Corner Canyon, and a crazy, rocky, rollercoaster of a descent with sharp embedded rock everywhere and exposure on both sides.
The whole time I was riding, I felt great. In fact, I felt like I was descending better than I ever have in my life. Even Brad noted in his blog that I had a banner day, descent-wise.
So — even though I still felt awful — we went and did it again the next day, this time taking the helmetcam. Here’s the video:
Obviously, I’m still learning to use this camera. Lessons learned from this ride include that I need to adjust the mount on the helmet so it doesn’t point down so far, and to try to tilt the mount up for rear-facing mounts, so I get more of the rider instead of just the trail.
Still, you wouldn’t have thought, looking at this video, that I had been feeling sick as a dog the whole day.
Off to RAWROD
The thing is, I’m about to rely verrrry heavily on the “I feel fine when I’m on the bike” effect. Because today I head out for the Ride Around White Rim in One Day (RAWROD) 2009. Even though I have a near-constant hacking cough that is sometimes so fierce it doubles me over, I am not missing this.
After all, I’m sure that the “I feel fine when riding” effect will hold over the course of a 100 miles of mountain biking.
Right?
Comment by Thud | 04.24.2009 | 7:18 am
Absolutely Fatty! In fact, we ALL feel better when you have a chance to be on your bike…
WIN Susan!
Comment by CyndiF | 04.24.2009 | 7:48 am
Watching the other rider is cool, but I most like the forward-looking shots–they really give a feel for the trail and the movement. Fun to enjoy vicariously since I can’t ride right now.
Comment by WheelDancer | 04.24.2009 | 7:54 am
I don’t know if the “I feel fine” mantra would carry me through a 100 miles of mountain biking but I think you can safely assume you will be the snot-rocket champ of the day.
Comment by Hamish A | 04.24.2009 | 7:54 am
Another great video, the learning curve is pretty steep but you’re already producing some really good stuff.
That trail looks FUN! I obviously need to live in Draper. Hmmm. Time to bust out the play bike and go have some fun!
Take it easy with RAWROD. The only person you’re competing with is yourself so cut yourself some slack, stay hydrated, stay fuelled and keep grinning through the coughs. Good luck, stay safe, bring back video!
WIN Susan!
Comment by KanyonKris | 04.24.2009 | 8:10 am
What goes before “I Feel fine”?
“It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”
Does that help?
White Rim looks and feels like the end of the world.
Comment by Clay | 04.24.2009 | 8:17 am
I like your logic…it makes sense to me. Although, that might not be saying much. Good Luck.
Comment by Mackx | 04.24.2009 | 8:19 am
I’m not sure which your videos do more of: make me want to go mountain biking, or make me want to move to Utah. Either way, good job.
Comment by Ed | 04.24.2009 | 8:21 am
I’m beginning to wonder if you’ve stolen my iPod.
Comment by Rantwick | 04.24.2009 | 8:43 am
Couldn’t agree more about the curative effects of the ride. I have found riding to be a good hangover cure too… not that I ever have those.
Have all the fun you can with that 100… I doubt I could do it, even if I was feeling right as rain.
Rantwick
Comment by Jamieson | 04.24.2009 | 8:50 am
I’ve been checking my email all day looking for the notice that I won.
Good luck at the race this weekend.
Comment by Brandy | 04.24.2009 | 9:58 am
what about mounting it to your front fork facing forward? Just a thought. =) Ride safe.
I’ve been thinking about trying that. Of course the front of the wheel will take up half the screen, but being that close to the ground could still be a very cool effect. I’ll give it a try sometime. – FC
Comment by buckythedonkey | 04.24.2009 | 10:07 am
I love the annual RAWROD write up. Good luck and, remember, no boulder chucking!
WIN SUSAN!
Comment by Jason | 04.24.2009 | 10:19 am
Was that guy riding UP the top end of Jacob’s? That dude’s got potential for a serious collision/crash – almost caught on your camera! Nice video Fatty.
Comment by Alan | 04.24.2009 | 10:48 am
I did a 110 mile slog with a persistent cough, as long as I was moving it was great, no coughing, I could even be mistaken to be in good shape if you didn’t look too closely.
But, I take a second to do a gas-station rest stop (included donuts), cue uncontrollable coughing, if you didn’t know better you’d swear i was dying. Great for garnering sympathy, difficult to swallow anything without spraying whatever is in your mouth.
Comment by Clydesteve | 04.24.2009 | 10:48 am
After all, I’m sure that the “I feel fine when riding” effect will hold over the course of a 100 miles of mountain biking.
Right?
yes. of course!
Chilly 20 miles in today – No rain, it is actually sunny, but it froze last night, and I started my ride in 34F shade. the weatherman is sometimes a smooth criminal.
Comment by Chris | 04.24.2009 | 10:50 am
Is riding the same short course with a fellow entrant cheating? And if my 1 mile loop has a beautiful view of the mountains, should i only look to the left?
Comment by Boz | 04.24.2009 | 11:47 am
I’m sure your friends will enjoy sharing your cold. Perhaps it’s past the contagious stage. That would be good.
Nice video, keep ‘em coming.
Comment by Di | 04.24.2009 | 12:03 pm
Fatty – I’ve just come down with something. The problem is that I feel run-down. I can handle riding with all of the other stuff, but I feel run-down, and I fall asleep waaaaay tooooo easily, I just can’t motivate. Have you felt that way? Has biking helped it?
Comment by gregc | 04.24.2009 | 1:47 pm
Hey Fatty,
Awesome blog today, we can all relate to the I feel fine mantra, however I agree with others that I feel fine may be good for a shorter ride, but not a hundred. TAke care of yourself.
I remember a while back when you got the video camera but don’t remember the details- this is too cool and I want something like this. Can you share the details of your setup again? Thanks!
Comment by Cliff | 04.24.2009 | 2:36 pm
Why does the rear wheel/tire appear to spin only occasionally in the video?
Comment by Philly Jen | 04.24.2009 | 3:36 pm
@ Cliff
I think that’s just an artifact of the video capture, the frame rate is oddly in sync with the wheel spin.
(What this means, of course, is that little Katie was actually pedaling furiously in the previous video, trying to push her slacker dad up the hill…)
@ Jamieson
Though you won’t get to meet BSNYC, you’re still a winner — especially since you’re with Team Fatty Philly!
Comment by Nordica | 04.24.2009 | 4:01 pm
Great video! I just posted this on Brad’s blog, but i’m hoping someone can answer this since he’ll be away for awhile. I rode up Jacob’s Ladder today for the first time. I started at the sign and rode up to the next sign. I saw that a trail goes pretty steep up and one on the left seemed to go down. I walked up the steep way and it seems to level out but go on forever. I turned around and rode back down the way i came up. Did i miss out on something special? is there another trail beside the main JL switchback up and down? I rode GFalls down from the JL entrance…what a great ride!
thanks for any insight here.
Comment by mike | 04.24.2009 | 4:53 pm
Fatty,
any chance you could post a pic of all of your bikes? Like one at a time, with a brief description? is your riding buddy riding a Waltworks? The fork sure looks like one of walt’s.
Comment by Janey | 04.24.2009 | 6:32 pm
Fatty-sounds like you’ve got the Swine Flu that is going around. I had if, took more than 3 weeks to start feeling even close to normal. No vaccine, just take care of yourself.
Comment by bubbaseadog | 04.24.2009 | 7:06 pm
you know its like when you can barely walk cause u might have a muscle strain,but then you get on your ride and bam all pain seems to magically go away. thereis some thing magical about a bike. win susan gogo lance
Comment by Jamieson | 04.24.2009 | 7:40 pm
@Philly Jen – I’m sure that I’ve passed within a mile of BSNYC when riding around in Brooklyn. That’s likely near enough for me anyhow. And yes, part of the winning team in Philly.
Comment by Bjorn 4Lycra | 04.24.2009 | 11:43 pm
Well grabbing the opportunity for a cheap laugh what I learned from the rear mounted angle is that both Katie and Brad were looking for opportunities to overtake.
The videos are brilliant and as a non mtber I really enjoy them so much so that my wife Sal was going to phone Sue and ask if it was allright for me to come over and play.
Really looking forward to video of Carrie’s ride soon. Cheers get better soon.
Comment by Mike Roadie | 04.25.2009 | 5:28 am
Team Austin Rocks!
Comment by Dee | 04.25.2009 | 5:11 pm
Lovin’ the video feature!!
Take it easy with the illness.
Don’t want you coming down with walking (riding?) pneumonia.
Comment by Ron | 04.25.2009 | 8:42 pm
Hi FC. Whats the frame rate of the video capture? I notice the rear wheel oddly appears to flotate above the ground. It looks pretty masochistic, as if all you power you deliver into the pedals is just lifting up the rear wheel.
Comment by Kenny's neice | 04.26.2009 | 1:13 pm
What really sucks is when your nose is stuffed so much that you can’t breathe, but your nose *insists* on dribbling and running still. Terrible…
Comment by Jenni Laurita | 04.27.2009 | 4:40 am
Why not mount it to a friend’s bike so we can see YOU?
Comment by grog | 04.27.2009 | 10:47 am
Love the idea of pedaling for charity.
It’s happening everywhere.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090415/COMMUNITIES1101/904150367/-1/COMMUNITIES11
Comment by cyclingeurope | 04.27.2009 | 2:31 pm
You haven’t been to Mexico lately, have you??!!
Pingback by BSNYC Friday Fun Quiz! « fixie blog | 05.10.2009 | 3:00 am
[...] another week is over, and so is Fat Cyclist’s contest. While I’ve already been in touch with the smock winners to coordinate the distribution of [...]
Pingback by Your Questions About I Feel Fine : Dealing with Stress and Anxiety | 01.2.2012 | 7:17 pm
[...] all that sugar, and eliminate soda pop as it is the worst in this area.Powered by Yahoo! AnswersCharles asks…I feel fine one day and horrible the next is that normal when you are pregnant?One da…2>I feel fine one day and horrible the next is that normal when you are pregnant?One day I could be [...]