Shenandoah Cycling and other things...

watching the tour...

2010-07-20T08:06:00.003-05:00

So the little man and I are watching Stage 15 last night and I'm telling him about the riders, their strengths, who they are etc. And he keeps asking me if the rider is a friend of mine, no we haven't met.

He then asks if any of my friends are in the race, and I think, then say "Yes, Chris Horner is my friend, he's a great guy." What color jersey is he wearing? he asks. I tell him and then we look for Chris in the peloton.

And the little man is happy.

Hilbert #1

2010-04-14T20:23:00.004-05:00

You would think after all the years I've been racing I'd know what I was doing. Nope.

Forgot to bring food. Not good at a 5 hour race.

Didn't air up the rear tire. Not good on a rooty course.

In spite of those issues the 29er rocked it, my lap times were much faster than a race there last year. Plus, I got to ride a couple of laps with my friend. Always good.

Nice training race, It was good to push the legs around in circles to get the 'run' out of them.

trail race...

2010-03-28T07:47:00.012-05:00

It's been awhile, let me get that out of the way first. Not much cycling done over this past winter with all the snow Virginia experienced. And this post isn't about cycling either, it's going to be a post on "other things..."

I laced up my Inov-8 trail shoes and clad myself in The North Face running garb for the Bel Monte Endurance Run at Sherando yesterday. The 25k trail race was my choice considering I've never raced anything over 10k in distance. The course began atop the upper dam in the Sherando Recreation Area, a few minutes after 6:30 am in frosty temperatures. Off the dam and the course followed the White Rock Trail up through the watershed. I started very conservative and just shuffled along with everyone else on the singletrack. At the water crossings, I jumped ahead of the groups and soon found myself alone. I reeled in a few people before the Slacks Trail intersection and followed their lead up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. We crossed the Parkway and descended the White Rock Falls Trail.

The WRFT was beautiful, a smooth brown ribbon flowing down the mountain. We crossed the stream and began the climb out of the ravine. I had never been on this trail, but this wasn't the moment to sightsee. I followed the lead of my fellow runners and walked the steep sections, heeding the advice I had received earlier in the week from my friend Woody. I did start moving past my companions, and they gave me encouragement as I moved up the trail. The WRFT soon ended and I was back across the Parkway and on the Slacks Trail, a trail I know well. I moved past another runner and was soon at the Torrey Ridge intersection. A quick left turn and a smile for the photographer, I was climbing again. And the Rocks began on the climb up to Bald Mountain turnaround. I didn't see anyone as I scrambled over the rocks, moving steadily up the mountain.

As I moved up the mountain I took note of the dusting of snow blanketing the ground beneath the mountain laurel. Did I mention it was cold? Thankfully the gear I received from my buddy Jonathan worked great at regulating my temperature and comfort. A runner passed me coming back down the mountain, okay I'm on the right trail and Damn he's fast, were the two thoughts I had seeing him. He was moving down the trail like a freight train and was quickly gone. Time to count... 1.

I saw a few racers ahead of me on the final climb up to the summit of Bald Mountain. As I neared the top I looked back and saw some behind me. I turned right onto the forest road descent and let the legs go down towards the turnaround. Nearing the turnaround I saw another yellow bibbed runner coming up the hill. 2. I was then at Camp Marty, the first aid station. I drank two small cups of slushy gatorade and popped a couple of peanut M&Ms, and was moving back up the hill in third place.

As I neared the second summit of Bald, runner 2 was just in front of me. We were both passing runners moving down the hill to Camp Marty, and received wonderful words of encouragement. One woman told me, get him. "Damn right I'm going to get him", was my response. Motivation. This trail was pretty tight and it was two-way traffic. Everyone I passed seemed to have an encouraging word as I followed 2 down the hill. I saw a friend making her way up the mountain and gave her words of encouragement as she did I. Thanks. Back down the trail, across the rocks, runner 2 was moving well, opening a slight gap on me. When the trail flattened or turned up, I quickly made my way back on to his heels. The trail turned down and I saw another friend moving up the hill. Pointed to him and said some words of encouragement and I turned my attention back to runner 2. After the Slacks Trail intersection and on to Torrey Ridge Trail, the course flattened out atop the ridge.

I ran for a while with runner 2, we chatted and found out this was his first long trail race as well. He asked if I wanted around him to which I replied that I was good. I knew I needed to get past him well before the descent off the mountain as he was rolling down the hill faster than me. After a few minutes, I told him I wanted to get around him and I pushed it on a short incline. Soon I didn't hear anything behind. A lot of thoughts coursed through my mind. I had had a tough couple of weeks, training and otherwise, even battling insomnia in the week before the race. But here I was in second place on top of Torrey Ridge in my first long trail race, the euphoria was intense. But I still had a lot of miles ahead of me, time to focus.

I took a few quick glances to my right to see the Sherando lakes below me. Very quick glances as the trail is littered with a multitude of rocks of all sizes, and shapes, some fixed firmly in the ground and some just laying on top of others waiting to slide out from under a shoe. I found out after the race that the runner I passed on Torrey rolled his ankle shortly after I moved ahead. My mind began my technical trail chant, "light feet, light feet", over and over again and then it was time to descend.

The blue loop trail down the mountain was the other trail I never been on, but I had been warned of its severeness. Light Feet. Light Feet. I kept my mind engaged and focused on this descent and I soon found myself at the second aid station at the base of the mountain. This was the first of two sections of pavement and in short time I was at the lower dam and back on trail. This trail had one short switchback climb which was the last time I would walk (as quickly as my legs would allow). I moved around the lake and took a short glance at the water, thinking about summer and time I will spend swimming there.

Up the road to the finish line, I afforded myself a few glances over my shoulder, thankful for clear pavement and no need to stress my legs with a sprint. I soon saw the parking lot that was dark the last time I had been there. One last right turn and I found myself in the chute and finishing in 2nd place in my first endurance trail race. No emotion, that would come later.

Changed into dry clothes, drank a coke and warmed up in my car. I chatted with a friend who came out with her kids to support her husband. I hung out for a while and heard "awards ceremony." I walked gingerly to the pavillion and heard my name called. My time wasn't what I wanted, but thinking back at the effort I put into this race, I'm happy with it.

Thanks:
Jonathan with The North Face for making sure I was outfitted well with the best trail gear.
Niki and David for the wonderful words of encouragement before and during the race.
All the other racers who smiled and said something nice as I chased the podium.

The emotion came later in the day, I needed that race, that effort, that feeling of accomplishment.

I live for that feeling.

thanks for reading...

first thoughts on the new ride...

2009-11-12T22:13:00.003-05:00

so the new Deluxe 29er is built and has been ridden. No pics yet as it hasn't undergone the final build. I have a bar, stem, and seatpost on order. Gotta have Thomson stem and seatpost on the ride. Couldn't get the bar I wanted so I'm going to try an Edge Composites flat bar, lightness. The bike will need these parts swapped in for the shop components that Les let me borrow. We'll cut and route the brake hoses as well and install white cable housing. I have a set of WTB Prowlers mounted on the I9's, but those will get swapped out soon.

Even with the shop parts installed the bike feels right. I rode it to work a few days last week, wanted to stretch the cables before taking it in the dirt. The first ride off road was better than I expected. I knew it would roll over the terrain (roots/rocks) better than my 26er. It is incredibly stable at speed and climbs easily. What really surpised me was its nimbleness. Flicking it in and out of tight trail sections was a treat. The Industry Nine wheels are stiff, light and roll in the direction they are pointed with utter ease. The SRAM XX component group is the real deal. Amazing ride, even with a nice spill. Kevin @ IF designed a bike that surpassed my expections, add to that the legendary build quality that Independent Fabrication is known for and I have MY bike.

Thank you Joe and Kevin at Independent Fabrication.

Thank you Brandi at Industry Nine.

And Thank you Les at East Coast Bicycle Academy.

Pics soon.

new bike

2009-10-22T17:08:00.008-05:00

For your viewing pleasure.

I like when the UPS man brings big boxes to my house.

Waiting to be unwrapped and built.

In case I knock myself silly and forget my name.

No Atlantic Cup this year...

2009-06-13T15:46:00.002-05:00

I came down with a sinus infection a few days after the WV race. This was on top of a nasty calf strain that I iced every two hours for a few days. Well, the muscle strain went away and the sinus infection went south. To my lungs.

I suffered through last weekend with a nasty cough and on Monday went to see my doctor. After listening to my chest, he let me know that I won the "worst sounding lungs of the day" award. Yippeee. He prescribed antibiotics, prednisone, and high-test cough medicine. Not a good combination with the Atlantic Cup race coming up in less than a week. I spoke to my coach on Tuesday and we came to the conclusion to skip the race. If I woke up Saturday and felt 100% than I could do the race. Well, this morning I still had a bit of a cough, no race.

Next week was a scheduled recovery week and with the last week and half off, it'll be a good set to get back up speed. Next weekend is the Bath County Tri, and I want to be in good shape for it. A bunch of people from Staunton are doing this race, so I'm looking forward to racing with some friends from town. Hopefully, the chest cold hasn't set me too far back. I have 4 weeks until my A race, so the Bath Tri will be good to see what I need to focus on in the upcoming weeks.

Big Canyon triathlon, err Duathlon....

2009-06-03T04:52:00.005-05:00

If you've followed my blog/racing, you know that the Big Canyon triathlon is one of my favorite races. It doesn't get much better than the trails of West Virginia for running and riding. Add in a fun swim in the New River and you have a great race venue, plus the folks at ACE Adventure are great hosts and offer the racers a wonderful race venue, with hot showers at the finish.

I pulled into the campground that serves as the T2 and finish area and was greeted by my buddy John. He and I met here 3 years ago and have raced together many times since. John let me know that the swim had been canceled due to high water. The river is usually 5-6 feet where we swim, and was rolling at 11 feet on Saturday after coming down from 14 feet on Friday. ACE and the folks from XTERRA made the call to make the race a duathlon with a second run (~1 mile) around the campground at the top of the mountain.

The start took place at the normal beginning of the run at the swim exit. It's a flat start and I felt great, enough so that I pushed it a bit. I backed off at the steep climb to the fireroad, letting 4-5 runners come around me. I never felt overextended on the run, kept my pace where I wanted it to be. For most of the run, I had a guy on my heels. We came up on Jenny Smith, a pro XTERRA athlete, on a section that was poorly marked. We were a bit confused if this was where we needed to be. After climbing a bit up the logging trail, the course looked familiar to me and let them know this was the right way and Jenny was gone. Me and my shadow kept climbing up the mountain and were soon at T1.

The shadow and Jenny made it out on the bikes before me but I soon caught up with them on an extended climbing section. At the end of the climb I got around Jenny but quickly spun out on the muddy trail. On the fire road section at the top, Jenny was once again disappearing into the distance. My shadow was somewhere behind me and I set out to enjoy the West Virginia trails. I picked off a few riders and had a guy pass me on a nasty technical section that I walked. A little while later my shadow appeared and passed me on another technical section. One aspect of getting older is I've gotten more tentative on sketchy descents. Even with AFLAC, the even present thought of child, wife, mortgage, job on Monday jolts me into taking it easy. What I've lost in descending skills (utter disregard for bodily harm) I've made up with climbing speed, and by keeping my weight low I can push the hills now a lot faster than in years past. So with that in mind, I knew I'd catch my shadow on the upcoming climbs. Sure enough, there he was and I pushed it hard to put a lot of woods between he and I.

Popping out of the forest into T2, I knew it was a short run and the finish. I started off well, just trying to get the circles out of my legs. The gravel road was fast and helped to get my leg speed up. About a quarter mile into the second run my right calf started to twinge with a muscle cramp. Nope, I can't let this happen, not with the shadow behind me. I adjusted my foot strike and found a position that lessened the cramping. If I could keep it going like this, I knew the cramp would go away, and around another quarter mile the cramp was gone. I picked up my pace and finished strong.

I finished the race in eighth place with Jenny a few minutes ahead of me. My shadow was just behind me and it turns out Mark (the shadow) was also in the 35-39 age group. He and I finished first and second. I thought he may have been in my age group while we were running/riding together. It was great to have someone push me like he did. It was also great to race with Jenny, a true professional who is approachable and one of the nicest people you'll meet. Like most XTERRA athletes, great people and great racers.

Even without the swim, it was a fun race and I was stoked to get my second age group win of the season. After the race, I cleaned up with a hot shower and drank a bunch of cokes. I hung out with John and his better half and Josh from RVA and ate. After getting my medal, I was on the road back to the 'right' side of the mountain.

Bikes and Beer...

2009-05-25T21:07:00.004-05:00

Matt and I made the trek over to Nelson County on Saturday to have a beer or two at Devils Backbone Brewery. Before we bellied up to our pints, we built up a thirst by racing the Devils Backbone Challenge. It was a beautiful day to drink beer and race mountain bikes, high 70s and fluffy clouds in the blue sky. We had fun. You can tell by my smile.... And the beer tasted wonderful...

It really doesn't get better than riding bikes with your friends and then sitting in the sun to enjoy a few of Rev. Oliver's handcrafted beers.

IF Racing had a good day with Kyle in 7th and myself riding to 11th.

Fun Stuff.

XTERRA season has begun...

2009-05-04T06:17:00.007-05:00

My XTERRA season has begun. A week after the debacle that was Duathlon Nationals, I traveled to North Carolina for the XTERRA Uwharrie race. This event was my first XTERRA 2 years ago, and I didn't have fond memories of this course. Time heals all wounds.

I lined up for the start alongside another IF Racer, Steve Gisselman. Steve's a helluva athlete and if I can keep him in my sights then I know I'm having a great race. He was pimping his new IF Deluxe 29'r, damn that's a pretty bike. 29'r hmmm, there may be something to it.

The swim was a two lapper, nothing much to say about it, other than I made it out of the water. I felt good in the water, but mid pack as usual.

The bike course was also a two lapper after a short gravel road section to the trailhead. The trails are still equestrian dominated and it shows. After last weekend's race I had decided to leave enough in the tank on the bike. I didn't want a repeat of last weekend's bike 'blow-up'. I burped my front tire early in the race and stopped soon after to top off the air pressure as the front end was loosing control from the squishiness. Soon after this Steve came around me and it was a Team IF train through the woods. Steve took off on the second lap leaving me to pick off the fish by myself. We got to T2 at the same time and I made it out a few seconds before him. I wished him well as he disappeared ahead of me on the run.

My stomach cramped at the beginning of the run and I labored to just shuffle along. Another racer came by me and I ran with him for a while, then WHAM I'm sliding pete rose style across the trail. I fell in the same spot 2 years ago, damn that hurt. After picking gravel out of my hands, I watched my running companion leave me behind. Soon another runner dropped me. "Okay the stomach cramps can stop now." And soon after the first drink station the cramping did stop. Feeling better than I had, I ratcheted up the pace and soon caught and passed one of the earlier passers. I upped it a bit more and finished strong, the way I should.

I finished 10th overall and 1st in the 35-39 age group. Steve had a great race, finishing in 7th and 1st in the 30-34 age group. Two top Tens and two age group wins for IF Racing. Nice.

Have bad memories?

Make better ones...

ford 1

2009-04-12T19:19:00.006-05:00

So I'm driving to Fredericksburg on Saturday, just passing through Orange. No traffic whatsover and I go by a 45mph sign doing a bit over that, so I back it off. Next thing I know, there are blue lights in my rear view. damn. So I get pulled over. damn. Did you see me slow down at the 45mph sign? Yes, here is your ticket. damn.

That was just the start of the day to get me ready to race.

The race was an off road duathlon on the south bank of the Rappahannock River. A 2.8 mile run followed by 9+ mile mountain bike and then it finished with another take on the run course. I got to transition and caught up some racing friends. We get to the start line just as a cold rain started, with some wind to go with it. Off we went and I was near the front for the lollipop shaped run loop. Into T1 and the Inov8 shoes came off and the Sidi's were on for the bike leg. By now the rain had turned the trail to slop. With the narrow trail and multitude of logs and roots it was a technical course. I took it easy on the twisties and downhills and pushed it on the uphills. The bulldogs hooked up great in the slop and the Deluxe keep the rear tire stuck to the muddy climbs. Kevin and Dave of Bike Factory Racing came by me showing the skills. The final stretch was double track along the river, I pushed it in the BIG-little towards T2. Rolling into transition I pass Kevin and Dave starting their second run. The Sidi's came off and the Inov8's were back on for another taste of the muddy run. The foot turnover was fast and I felt great. Coming off the single track for the double track to the finish I pushed it and saw Dave in front of me. He turned to see me as I was splashing through some mud and took off. I tried to reel him in before the finish but didn't make it. Dave finished fifth with me in sixth overall. Kevin pulled off a podium with a third. Pretty damn impressive on his singlespeed.

I got cleaned up after the race and drank my recovery drink of choice, aaah Coca-Cola. Stood around and waited for the awards to see how I did in the big 30-39 age group and shivered. Did I mention it was cold? Dave took 1st in AG with me in 2nd. First age group podium of the year, I'm pretty happy with it, especially in the nasty conditions. Thanks to Konrad for promoting the race and for making the tough decision to hold it in the rain. He's going to have a lot of work to get the trails fixed. If you're in the Fredericksburg area, help out with trail work. Great trails.

Next on the schedule is Off Road Duathlon Nationals in Richmond.

thanks for reading...

Recovery/Rest

2009-03-12T17:00:00.004-05:00

Not that I really want to, or like recovery/rest weeks, but as we know they are needed from time to time. Training has been going quite well, even with missing a 5 hour ride in the woods this past weekend. Actually there hasn't been much riding, but the running, swimming, and strength training has been going great. Now that Daylight Saving Time has arrived, the long rides will start in earnest and strength training will go to the back burner.

If you're going to rest, ya might as well enjoy it.

This is how I'm doing it:

(thanks Rory and Piper for the beer and wishes)

3rd Annual Queen City Century

2009-03-10T20:00:00.005-05:00

Queen City Century

Presented by

Queen City Cycling Club

Staunton, VA

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Online Registration on BikeReg.com

Closes Friday, May 15, 2009 at 5:00 PM ET

We invite you to join us for the Queen City Century, a ride through the beautiful scenic Shenandoah Valley south of Staunton, VA in southern Augusta County. The ride will provide scenic vistas, county farms, small towns, and scenic rural roads. All the routes are paved and have low traffic volume. Route lengths from 25 to 50 miles up to 100 miles of beautiful country roads. Proceeds from the ride go to benefit Staunton School's Safe Route to School Program. Preregistration cost is $15 for all routes.

Day of registration will be $30 for all distances. Make it easy on us and preregister. Please. Pretty Please.

Rides Leaves from the Wharf area of Historic Downtown Staunton off of West Johnson St. at 8:00am sharp. Parking will be available in the Wharf lot or in the two parking garages in downtown. Registration check-in will be behind Black Dog Bikes starting at 7:00am.

Mapquest/Google 121 South Lewis St. Staunton, VA 24401 for Directions.

All traffic regulations and laws must be observed. Helmets are required and must be worn for the entire length of the tour. All riders must ride to the right side of the road at all times. Roads will be open to vehicle traffic. This is not a race. The rides will take place rain or shine. No refunds. For details call 540-887-8700 or leave a comment.

no recap this week...

2009-03-10T06:47:00.003-05:00

Sunday was supposed to be the first mountain bike race of the year. I was planning on competing in the Camp Hilbert Series Enduro event, five hours of fun in the forest. You would think it would have been a great day with the sun shining and 70+ temperatures, but the snow earlier in the week left the trails in bad shape. Mark of RunRideRace postponed the race till April 4. No enduro race for me then, I'll roll the Expert Vet race with an offroad duathlon the following weekend.

I'm not too disappointed in missing this race, although I was looking forward to rolling with IFJeff. A nice parade lap-paced race in the woods is a great start to the season. Last year saw me complete 8 laps here in preparation for the trip to the Ronde van Vlaanderan. No worries as James would say.

Knowing I wouldn't be riding the ti Deluxe in Oilville, had me rearranging my schedule and in the woods at Montgomery Hall Park on Saturday and Sunday. I finished the flagging of the new trail while Jon and James cleared the corridor behind me after James closed the shop on Saturday. The next day we cleared a bunch of nastiness and got the entrance near the Springel softball field finished. Just a few more workdays and the trail corridor will be clear and rideable. Then a few more days of the Park's crews benching and MHP will be completely finished.

Go Ride.

the start...

2009-01-23T05:38:00.006-05:00

It's a long season. Mountain bike and multisport races start in January and won't end until September. Add to that, cyclocross and it's a couple more months of racing. That's a lot of time training and racing, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The season started last weekend with the Virginia Beach Winter Endurance Challenge. From what I heard, Virginia Beach officials asked Kale Running to promote and run this event. How's that for civic support? Saturday was the day of cyclocross racing with a large purse up for grabs. Sunday was committed to running and a duathlon, my event. Nice little race to prime the pump for the season. It was a 5k run, 20k mtn bike, 5k run, with the majority of the race on dirt. Looking at the distance coming into the event I was shooting for a 1:30 time. At the end I came home with a 1:28:37. Not too bad with a bit over a month of run training in my legs and zero cycling. The first run leg was solid, and I quickly warmed up from the chilly air that greeted the morning. Once on the bike, it's time to pay the rent. Well with no riding in the legs, that check bounced. No snap and no power in the legs, this will be something to remember and work on this spring. The second run leg is always painful, it's just the nature of the beast that is duathlon. I took it easy the first half mile of the course and tried to get the circles out of my legs. A little after the first mile, Sally came past me and I settled in next to her. We chit-chatted as we ran along. Sally was doing the run legs of the coed relay, while hubby Mike did the bike portion. It was great to run along with her, she is part of the TriPower crew that I graviate towards at races. Great People, Good Friends. It was great to see my 757 peeps. I finished strong, feeling the euphoria of a finished race. whew, I love that feeling. I missed the podium in the big 35-39 age group by 9 seconds, coming in 4th in AG and 12th overall. Time to work.

The weekend was made even better by making it a family trip. We traveled to the Beach on Saturday and spent the afternoon at the Virginia Aquarium. Parker loved the place, what kid doesn't like aquariums? We stayed with my Aunt Jean and it's always great to see her and spend time with her.

Plus the Steelers won the AFC Championship. Yeah it was a great weekend.

tis the season to race...

2009-01-14T21:23:00.003-05:00

It's January so it must be time to race. uhm, there's something wrong with that, I'm not racing on the slopes like I did in high school. And this isn't cyclocross, it's a run-bike-run in the dirt.

A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46.

That's fine weather for cyclocross, but we'll see how it works for a duathlon. The sausage suit will be used, and the skimpy trisuit will stay at the bottom of drawer.

Harvey is racing soon, but I'm guessing his weather will be better in Florida. Best of Luck.

The camera died, maybe I'll be able to poach some photos from the 757 crew. Maybe not since I'll be in the sausage suit.

For Matt...

2009-01-05T21:52:00.007-05:00

So I got some grief from my buddy Matt today for not posting. Yeah, it's been a while. Excuses vary, but let's chalk it up to indolence for now.

So what's been going on in the world of Shenandoah Cycling...?

Building trails. QCCC has started the second phase of the Montgomery Hall Park trail system. Over 3 weekends, we built a half mile section. This past Sunday, we nearly doubled it. There are going tobe a lot of nice features, rock gardens, bermed turns through a glade section. This trail will be more open and less twisty as the scout/pretzel aka New-Old trail.

Parker received a new bicycle from Santa this year. It's a red Specialized Hot Walk, a like-a-bike. Red 'cause everyone knows that red bikes are the fastest.

Been drinking some beer here and there. My new favorite restaurant/brewery is Devil's Backbone Brewing Company. Great Food, and Exceptional Beer. It is located at the base of Wintergreen mountain, right behind the Ski Barn. I highly recommend stopping and have a beer or two if you're in the area.

Training, oh yeah. I've been training for the 2009 season. Swimming a bunch, making progress. Running some, ramping up the mileage. Haven't been riding much other than a night ride here and there, and a weekly spin class. Once we get some daylight till 7pm the rides will go long. Looking forward to working with Jeff at Allez Training Systems again this year.

Races. The first race of the season is fast approaching. I'll be lacing 'em up for an off road duathlon on Jan 18th in VA Beach. Should be excruciating, but it's a great way to knock the cobwebs loose and motivate me for long training hours. I'll be sporting the green for IF Racing again this year and have some lofty goals for the season. IF Racing has some new racers this year, one of them is Kyle. I'm stoked to have Kyle on the team and lining up with him and Jeff at some of the Commonwealth's races. I want to learn some of Kyle's skills, maybe.

Hey Matt, how's that?

Bike The Valley...

2008-10-31T11:23:00.002-05:00

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Regional Bike Advocacy Group Launches Website –
www.bikethevalley.org
For more information: contact Bonnie Riedesel, Interim Executive Director, Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission 112 MacTanly Place Staunton, VA 24401 540-885-5174 or bonnie@cspdc.org

With the growing popularity in bicycling for exercise, recreation, and as a means of transportation, citizens and tourists are looking for safe and convenient roads to bike.
Now there is an online resource assembled by riders of the area to help you choose your route whatever your reason for riding the roads of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley.

The website is a product of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission’s (CSPDC) Bike Pedestrian Committee – an advocacy group with representatives from the 10 local jurisdictions in the planning district and staffed by the CSPDC. In 2004 a group of concerned citizens approached the CSPDC and their local governments with hopes of making their communities more bicycle friendly and safer for all users of the Valley’s roads.

For the past several years, the committee has raised funds through state grants, local government contributions, bicycle clubs and recreation departments, to develop a bicycle plan and raise awareness about bicycling and walking issues. The group has been instrumental in working with the Virginia Department of Transportation to make improvements such as bicycle lanes, wider paved shoulders, and safety signage.

Additionally the group has identified and mapped over 40 on-road bicycle routes throughout the region. The routes offer a great variety of length and difficulty so that there is something for families and beginners, recreational cyclists, and veteran riders. These routes and associated information can be found on the group’s new website (www.bikethevalley.org ). The website includes route maps along with turn-by-turn directions, lengths, elevations and other information. The maps can be downloaded and printed to use. Other important information can be found on the website including links to local bicycle clubs and shops, safety tips and rules of the road, bicycle tours and events as well as links to each of the cities and counties in the region.

Nancy Sorrells, chairman of the bicycle committee and a cyclist, is enthusiastic about the new website. “These routes were developed by the riders who know from personal experience the best roads and routes around. Our committee hopes that local riders can use the website to explore new, soon-to-be favorite, rides, and that visitors can use this website as a guide to the wonderful outdoor recreational possibilities that exist in our area. You could not ask for a better area to ride. We have something here for every skill level and there is no better way to view our scenic countryside than from the saddle of a bicycle.”

Lee Hersch, founding committee chairman says that, “It is our intent that this website will promote the health, recreational, tourism, transportation and economic benefits of cycling for everyone. Our goal is to make roads in the Central Shenandoah Valley safer for people who cycle including children, families, and commuters. Safer roads for cyclists will also make roads safer for motorists”.

For more information about the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee please visit the www.bikethevalley.org or call the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission at 540-885-5174.

Blue Ridge Cup Final

2008-10-28T21:54:00.005-05:00

The final was hosted in Charlottesville at the Tevendale Farm as the foofs accrued the most points. A placing they held at the end of the race, Congratulations C'ville. The Trophy is yours, earned well.

I was the only rider from Staunton, as everyone else had other priorities. Matt, I hope you got into the convo. Jonathan, heal up and get back to Virginia. James, well you had to work we understand.

Patrick, where were you??? Bathed in the glow of your computer monitor? Too cool to take part in the Blue Ridge Cup? No ride, you can't use that excuse...

Rides for the weekend.

The Paranormal Race at the Tevendale Farm on Saturday. 6 hours of fun on the farm, starts at 4pm, bring lights.

James is leading a big ride on Whetstone Ridge on Sunday. Lots of climbing, delicious singletrack, plan on most of the day.

If you don't want to go big and would rather stay close to town, or you can't get a kitchen pass for the Whetstone or Paranormal rides, VerMonty Matt and I will be hitting the stash then rolling MHP at 10am on Sunday.

Do something, Go Ride.

Blue Ridge Cup 3

2008-10-20T21:43:00.003-05:00

The Queen City is hosting round 3 of the Blue Ridge Cup presented by Starr Hill Brewery. Time to show the cutters and foofs what a proper 'cross course looks like. First, no single track. Second, no singletrack. And third, no single track. Lots of off camber grass turns, some gravel, a bit of pavement, some more fast grass turns, steep hills going up and down, forced dismounts via staircases, might even have a barrier section, it's going to hurt. Bring It On.

ok that wasn't really about cyclocross but cheerleaders (and hecklers) are always appreciated. So if you don't want to hurt for 45 minutes and would rather cheer for Staunton's finest or heckle racers from the 'burg or the 'ville be at Montgomery Hall Park tomorrow 10/21 for the race at 5:30.

Beer at Black Dog Bikes or my place around 7.

See ya there.

hup hup hup

Blue Ridge Cup 2

2008-10-14T21:31:00.002-05:00

Staunton represented in C'ville at the second edition of the Cup. The c'ville crew rolled big with multiple National Champions in attendence and of course the Rocktown Cutters were at the sharp end of the race. Matt, Jonathan and I did what we could do and scored points for the Queen City. Gotta give it up to the Rocktown Riders who raced hard then lighted up and rolled back to H'burg on their bikes.

Next edition is at Montgomery Hall Park, time to show C'ville and the Burg what a proper 'cross course is. Tuesday at 5:30pm.

be there.

Blue Ridge Cup

2008-10-09T20:29:00.002-05:00

The Blue Ridge Cup has begun.

The first race of the Blue Ridge Cup took place on Tuesday in H’burg. VerMonty Matt and I represented Staunton and left the ‘burg with a second place standing. Ha Take that c’ville!!! Check out the recap at Jeremiah’s blog.

Okay, the next race is Tuesday and is across the mountain in C’ville. We need to roll in strong and show ‘em what Staunton has. Cyclocross or Mountain bikes will work and don’t forget to bring wives, girlfriends (if you have both, choose just one) and husbands/boyfriends, kids, parents and friends, WE GET POINTS FOR SPECTATORS.

The race will take place at the Tevendale Farm near Earlysville. 551 Allen Rd

The race will begin at 5:30 on Tuesday.

Oh yeah did I mention that the Blue Ridge Cup is sponsored by Starr Hill Brewery?

No cost to race, other than some sweat and blood, both of which can be replenished with Free Beer after the race.

I’m there, so who’s showing up to race and represent Staunton???

new post...

2008-10-05T00:09:00.002-05:00

the hiatus has ended.

moved into the new house.

will start riding my bike again.

will be blogging.

Shenandoah Valley bicycle advocacy and events.

ride/race reports.

now that I found the laptop.

and got the bikes out of storage.

moving on up...

2008-08-25T20:21:00.002-05:00

We're moving, not really up. Actually, it's down the street. The new house has more space and a larger yard. Okay, this a cycling blog so here's the tie in. There are trails behind the house, not much but it'll be a great place for Parker to ride a mountain bike. All he has to do is grow a little taller, get a mountain bike, learn to ride and he'll be set.

Not much else is happening. Buying and moving into a new home is enough for right now. We'll get back into the cycling stuff soon.

Last Race...

2008-08-21T21:30:00.003-05:00

The last race of the triathlon season was this past Sunday. I almost didn't go, but I had preregistered so the cheap in me forced me to go. My fitness peaked a few weeks ago and I was concerned how much I had left in the tank. Well, I'm glad I went as my worries were unfounded. I've strung 3 solid races together, each with strong legs in each discipline. At the Charlottesville XTERRA race on Sunday I swam well, hit the trails on the ti Deluxe and rode consistently, then I had a good run. Not as good of a run as the Appalachia race, but I thoroughly enjoyed the trails at Walnut Creek Park. I finished 10th overall and second in the 35-39 AG, taking over 17 minutes off of my time from last year. Yeah, I'm happy I manned up and raced.

This week has been an off week, no training. Jeff prescribed a week of beer drinking, which will come in handy as I'm heading to WV this weekend to party with some friends.

I would normally start training for cyclocross next week but that's being put on hold with the move. Once we get settled in the new house, I'll break out the barriers and start turning laps on the grass at MHP.

Here's to the off season and the next season.

I believe...

2008-08-12T20:39:00.000-05:00

Yeah Jeremiah!!!

Nationals Invite...

2008-08-09T19:05:00.003-05:00

This arrived on Friday:

Dear XTERRA Competitor:

Congratulations! It’s my pleasure to invite you to compete in the 8th annual XTERRA USA National Championship race in Lake Tahoe on October 5, 2008.
As a leading regional points scorer, you have earned a slot at this prestigious event, where the title of National Champion in your age group will be up for grabs. The field is limited to those racers, like yourself, who have qualified in the eight XTERRA regions throughout the country.

This was my goal coming into this season, I wanted to qualify for Nationals. It feels great to realize this goal, given all the hard work that has gone into this season's training which started last December in the pool. It felt great to accomplish this goal last year, but is sweeter this year as my racing has really progressed.

I won't make the trip to Lake Tahoe this year, as life has gotten in the way. We'll be moving this September/October to a new home and with all that that entails, I'll have to take a pass this year.

next year, yeah.

XTERRA Appalachia

2008-08-06T20:43:00.007-05:00

I traveled to Yellow Creek State Park in Pennsylvannia last weekend to take part in the Appalachia XTERRA event. It was my first time racing at this venue, luckily google maps got me there, unfortunately I-70 was backed up and I arrived a little late for packet pickup on Saturday. Doug, the race promoter, and crew were packing up but let myself and another racer pick up our numbers, nice guy. Left the park and headed to Indiana, Pa and luckily found a hotel.

It was a short drive to the park on Sunday morning, set up my transition area and chatted with John and his wife. He convinced a friend of his to try the race and it was not only his first XTERRA but his first triathlon.

The swim was an out and back along a buoyed line with a couple of larger buoys along the way. The start area was narrow as the line on our right was about 20-25 feet from the beach's roped swim area. Packed into this narrow chute was 58 racers, needless to say the thrash zone was in full effect. Luckily, the pack stretched out quickly and I didn't take any feet or fists to my head. The swim felt short, and guessing from my swim time it was. Not that I'm going to complain about a short swim. Wetsuits were legal for this race and a number of us took this option, free speed. I'd rather wear it and save my legs for the bike and run.

I entered the first transition and saw John getting ready to start the bike leg. Out of T1, I found myself riding with JT, who I rode with for a while at EX2. He and I reeled in a bunch of racers on the outbound double track section. We came around John right before the single track sections and the three of us pushed each other through the woods. John had preridden the course and gave me valuable information on what to expect. I spun out on a stick/rotten piece of wood and had to dab with my right foot. As I stepped off, I tweaked my knee, d'oh. Nothing I could do about it then, so I pushed through it. On one of the last uphills I pushed the pace and found myself alone for the inbound double track section. The singletrack was all middle ring while the double track was smooth, so it was TTing in the big ring. Training on the ti deluxe on the road is the key for these power sections.

As I exited T2 to start my run I saw JT and John rolling into the transition. I shouted some encouragement and then focused my attention on my run. I felt great as I began the run, with a fast foot turnover across the grass field that started the run leg. After about 300m the course led into the singletrack and up a root-lined hill. My pace dropped as I ascended the hill but my heartrate didn't spike and as the trail leveled out at the crest my pace quickly sped up to race speed. "Wow, I feel great" is what I was thinking. About 15 minutes into the run I could see another racer ahead of me, about 150 meters away. I picked up my pace, trying to reel him in, but failed on that goal. I wanted to keep my pace consistent to keep those behind me from catching me. As I passed the aid station, and after I dropped my cup of gatorade, I asked the volunteer there what place I was in, "third" he responded. Wow, I did ride fast and my run is going well is what I thought. I've never been this close to the sharp end of a XTERRA race. Keep the pace high, stay strong. And that's where I finished, third overall, and scored first place points in my age group.

Again it was great to race with John, especially since he gave me plenty of 'heads up' on the bike course. Thanks Hoss.

Finishing the run.

John, myself and Nate after the race. Coca Cola is a sports drink,.

Pimping the sponsors while getting my medal.

singletrack DJ...

2008-08-05T21:22:00.005-05:00

Sometimes I ride with my iPod. Plug it in and hit the local trails when it's just me and the Deluxe. Sometimes the song fits the trail. Or the trail fits the music.

I was riding the Stash recently, railing thru the pine section when this song started playing, and it was one of those moments. Great Song, Great Trail, Great Moment.

Enjoy.

If you have a song that provides the right singletrack soundtrack, head over to Jeremiah's site and enter his Tunes To Ride By contest. Look for Vol. VI soon. Good cause and great earphones. I won a set...

Trail News...

2008-07-30T21:29:00.003-05:00

The valley is home to an obscene amount of stellar trails, one of IMBA's Epics is a short drive away. But it's a drive, and there is something to being able to roll to a local park and ride trails. So our local bike club built a trail at Montgomery Hall Park. And we plan on building more this winter.

On Monday, Mindi Westhoff of the NewsLeader met James, Patricio, Keith and myself at the park to do a story on our trail project. The article ran today, Front Page, w00t. It even had a picture of James and I, above the fold and we remembered to smile. Cause smiling and mountain biking are like peas and carrots.

here's the article. Let me know if you want to ride, or help build more trail later this year.

Thanks to Staunton's Parks and Recreation for letting us construct trails and thanks to Mindi for the article.

and thanks to Patrick and James for getting this started.

now if we could just think of a name for it.

bicycle accommodations...

2008-07-21T21:09:00.004-05:00

Staunton will soon finish the widening of Churchville Ave from Augusta Street to Albemarle Street. This project will widen this stretch of road from 2 lanes to 3 with a center turn lane and is the main thoroughfare between Gypsy Hill Park and downtown Staunton. VDOT will be applying for federal funding to pay for this project. This project has been in the planning stages for a number of years. The project was moving forward, they buried the conduits for utilities and cleared land for the widening. Then, from what I read/heard, the bids that came in to complete the project were way over budget so the project has languished. Unfortunately, when this project was scoped, bicycle accommodations were not part of the plan. Since that time, VDOT has changed its guidelines and bicycle accommodations have to be recognized. With this new push to acquire funding, the project has to have a new environmental review. The comment period ended last Friday (7/18) but you can still send in an email. I didn't hear about the comment period myself until last Thursday and I did get an email in on Friday.

If you would like to send an email, the address is stauntoninfo@VDOT.Virginia.gov or via post:
Bill Jones (contact)
VDOT Staunton District Office-Environmenta l Section
P.O. Box 2249
Staunton, VA 24401
(540)332-9101

What to say?
Bicycle Lanes are needed on this road.

EX2 35-39 Age Group Podium

2008-07-18T10:28:00.001-05:00

IMG_0017
Originally uploaded by ex2adventures

On the podium with my sleepy and fidgety training partner.

A game...

2008-07-15T20:16:00.007-05:00

The A game was brought out for my A race. All three legs of the EX2 off road triathlon were solid. The swim, the ride and the run. The decision to scale back the number of races was the right one to make earlier this year. I have had enough racing in my legs to build me up for this race, but never felt overtrained. The great training plan from Jeff at Allez Training Systems had me at peak performance for this race.

I lined up in the second row at the start and was right in the thick of the scrum at the start. Just like Frazz says, it's Australian Rules football in a washing machine. About 50 meters in, I took a foot to my face and my left goggle filled with water. I swam a few hundred meters with one eye closed, but was in the pack so I didn't worry about sighting. After clearing my goggles, I was back in the pack, feeling great which is a completely novel experience for me in the swim after 3 years of tris. This swim is a two lapper and as I was running over the peninsula to start the second lap, Rich a racer I met here last year complimented me on my swimming. He said that I must have been swimming a lot, yep I have, Thanks Connie. Out of the water after the second lap, it was a short sprint to the bike and the fun trails of Rocky Gap State Park.

The bike leg starts with a short section of road and then the rocky trail. The bike was solid, I never went into the red zone, consciously thinking that I needed to be steady and not go into the pain cave. Only a few people came around me on the bike, and I passed a bunch of people on the trails. On the back side of the second lap I came up on John, who I've raced with in a bunch of races. He's always fun to race with, as we are closely matched. He came around me on the road section but I made it around him shortly after that. I did have some trouble with lapped traffic on the end of the second lap. I was caught behind a girl and a guy on the narrow single track and told them I would like to get around them. A little ways down the trail the girl bobbles and stops off of the trail and the guy stops right in front of me. "God Damn", and he says he would appreciate it if I wouldn't cuss. I shrug it off and motor on to transition 2. Coming out of T2, John and I are together and we pass a few guys. I tell him about the easily offended chap and he said he heard it and laughed. I told him that the guy got off easy, because as an ex-Marine I could've dropped a bunch of F-bombs. John then lets me know he's also a former Marine, yeah that's why we get along. Ooh Rah Devil Dog.

So we shuffle along the run leg, just pacing each other. John fell back a bit after the drink station at the camp ground. After Evitt's Revenge the course drops you down into a rocky technical trail. This was the section that caused me a host of trouble last year with leg cramps. I backed off a bit here, watching my foot placement and before long I was at the bottom. Up the other side to the bouldering section, it has to be seen to be appreciated. Climbing up through the rocks, I hear John behind me. Shawn T is at the top and I asked him where Denelle was and he said she's a few minutes behind. I wanted to stay in front of her so she wouldn't get trash talking rights after this race. Shawn was all over the course and gave me a bunch of encouragement, Thanks bro. John came around me right before the road section and gave me a great pace to finish the race with. I finished 5 minutes better than last year. If I keep this up, I may win this race in 12 or 13 years. :-)

After the race, I cleaned up and stowed my gear. When I checked the results, I had to do a double take. My name was in fourth place in the competitive 35-39 age group. Huh, wow. I found Holly and Parker and told her we would have to hang around for a while because I had made the podium. And to add the icing to the cake, John came in 3rd in the 40-44 age group and Denelle won her age group, Great Job.

After this race last year, I knew this one would be the one I would focus on this year. I also wanted to make this trip a family race and have Holly and Parker there with me. It was awesome to hear them cheering for me and Parker was spreading the IF Love in his Independent Fabrication jersey. He was on the podium with me. He is my training partner. Every time a hill looks steep to me in a race, I always think to myself that it's easier than pushing Parker in the BOB up Staunton's hills.

Thanks to Jeff at Allez Training Systems, Independent Fabrication and IFRacing.org for the best bikes and support, Connie for all the swim help, Jon with The North Face, the guys from the Thursday Night Augusta County World Championship ride for pushing me and the encouragment and mostly I couldn't have done this without all the love and support of my wife and son. Thank you Holly and Parker.

I'll try to find some photos, sorry we left the camera at home.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

enduro James...

2008-07-08T20:55:00.003-05:00

Nice ride at Hilbert Race #3. Way to go James!!!

We could read about it if he would update his blog.

A Race...

2008-07-08T20:20:00.007-05:00

My A race for the season is this weekend at Rocky Gap State Park. It'll be my second time on this course, so hopefully I won't have a repeat of last year's extra mileage from a missed turn. The 1200m swim is followed by 14 miles of mountain bike, with some pavement (time trial sections). Nothing too technical on the bike, but there are a few solid rock gardens that the ti Deluxe will eat up, not to mention Evitt's Revenge hill. It's a two lap course so I have a bit of concern on the second lap with having to deal with lapped traffic on the one narrow single track area. I'll just be polite until I shouldn't be polite. Most of the racers know to cede the line when another racer comes up from behind. So far this year I haven't had any issues, and I hope that continues.

The run uses some of the bike course until it hits the narrow and most technical sections on the course. This is a great run course, grass, trail, some pavement and a hand over fist bouldering section. Then it is a short trail to about a mile on the pavement and then it's back to the finish. I'm planning on taking time off of my result from last year. I know the course, I'm better trained, rested, and motivated to do well. Plus, Holly and Parker will be there with me. If I am alone in the finishing chute, Parker will get his first XTERRA finish. If someone is trying to sprint me to the line, well daddy's gotta do what he does. He will of course be pimping the IF Jersey that Jon Bruno sent him last year. Looks like it'll just be Parker and I spreading the IF Love as I haven't heard from Steve if he's racing.

I wonder if Denelle is racing... Maybe she's scared...(jk) She's been rocking the XTERRA and mountain bike races this year. Hope to see her, Shawn and the Bike Factory crew at EX2.

Wish me well, I'll need some postive energy directed to western Maryland on Sunday morning.

Have a great day and thanks for reading.

If you ride a triumph?

2008-07-07T13:33:00.001-05:00

IMG_4978
Originally uploaded by ngc

you should have a kilt...

my bro Neil rocking the kilt and the Triumph...

quick hits...

2008-07-04T10:07:00.004-05:00

- ran a 5k this morning with Parker. He didn't actually run, but was chaffeured around the course in his BOB jogger. We took almost 2 minutes off of our time from last year. The legs are ready for next weekend's A race.

-the trails at Montgomery Hall Park are expanding. Queen City Cycling Club has been helping a local Boy Scout on his Eagle Scout project. We completed a 1.25 mile trail at the park that is all single track. The city Parks and Recreation department brought in a convict labor crew for two days to chainsaw and bench. And they built a rock wall. That was a huge help. The new trail adds to the 1 mile already in the park, with plenty of land available for more trails. These new trails will be built this winter as soon as cyclocross season ends.

-training has been hit or miss this week as family obligations have taken precedence. I feel strong so I'm not too worried about it.

-did a open water swim with Keith on Monday at Todd Lake. It was nice not to have to turn at a wall every 25 meters and stare at a black line for 45 minutes. It was an early morning as we met at 6am to swim. It was tough to get up at 5, because...

-went to C'ville to see Modest Mouse on Sunday night with Brian. Damn that was a great show. Isaac Brock crushed it and I got to hear/see Johnny Marr on the guitar. WOW it was incredible, high energy show, plus the copious amounts of Starr Hill Ale were delicious. yeah yeah this is a cycling blog not a music blog, but I did see someone with a bicycle tattoo so that counts.

Catching up...

2008-06-26T21:45:00.012-05:00

I've been putting off this post as I've been waiting for some race results to be posted. It's Thursday and the race was on Saturday and still no results, what's up with that??

The weekend presented a choice as to where to race. There were three triathlons that I could choose from, Charlottesville Sprint, Bath County Sprint or the Davis Health Sprint in Elkins WV. I've done the C'ville Sprint the last two years and have done well, but I wanted a new challenge. The Bath County race is highly regarded and I knew a bunch of people racing. It's always fun to race with friends but I couldn't take the plunge into Lake Moomaw this year. Elkins was the choice, free place to stay (thanks Matt) and I could hang out with fraternity brothers. Plus Elkins is one of my favorite places, the gateway to the mountains. Elkins is where I went to school, at Davis & Elkins College. The campus hosted the race with the swim in the pool where I lifeguarded for work-study. When I got my registration, I checked to see if the ceiling tile had been replaced. Back in college there was a tile that was missing above the deep end and we would climb up into the steel rafters and drop through the tile into the pool 25 feet below. Ah memories. The run was on the trails that I raced on while on the cross country team. Yeah, I ran cross country in college, actually it was more of a jog. It was a great experience to run for Coach Will. These trails were also the first ones on which I rode a mountain bike, a purple Trek 930. Ah memories.

The swim was 8 laps in the pool for 400 yards. I'm terrible at counting laps, but there were volunteers there to count and let you know when you were on the final lap. Well, the lady counting for me was as good at it as I am and as I jumped out of the pool, I heard "you did an extra lap." That's okay, it's a training race and if it had been an open water swim, I would've zig zagged my way to those extra 50 yards.

Jumping on the road bike, I knew I should've ridden it more than once in the past few weeks. I would have been more comfortable in the aero bars. I quickly got into a rhythm and started reeling in people from my wave. After the turn around point and the screaming downhill I had moved pass everyone who had started in the wave before me. What a fun course, even with the hills. I like hills, I keep telling myself that. One day I may believe it.

Off the bike and onto the trails I pushed it, trying to keep my leg speed up. All I could think of was how much fun I was having on the run. Damn these trails are fun. I was cracking jokes with the race volunteers as I went by them. The run finishes with a long section on grass which was soft from the rain the day before. Quick Feet. Quick Feet and then I was done. I packed up and waited for the awards. My goal was to win this race, I was highly motivated to do well on a course that bestowed a lot of great memories. My name wasn't called for the overall winner and they didn't do awards for second and third place. I did win the 35-39 age group, I think my time would've placed me second overall, but that's the first loser. I'll be back next year for another go at the overall.

Back to Elkins.

(iplayoutside.com has photos here)

XTERRA East Championship

2008-06-15T23:02:00.002-05:00

This year's race was a helluva lot better than last year. I took over 20 minutes off of my time from last year, when I completely blew up on the run. Faster on each of the legs this year. The hard work and great training plan from Allez Training Systems is paying off.

This year's run hurt, a lot. But not as bad as last year. I had a solid swim and bike leg and if I could've had a better first half of the run, I would've taken even more time off. But that's XTERRA, it's hard to have all three events of the race come together. The swim has a lot of rock scrambling, and even with that, I sighted well and stayed on course. I felt good the entire time i was in the water, and came out ready for the ride. The bike was pretty much the same course as the off road duathlon nationals in April, with one extra section tacked on in the beginning on Belle's Island. I went over the bars once, and was happy to give the spectators a good show of it. I landed on my face, but somehow was able to knock my right brake lever out of position. Nothing too bad though. I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow.

I caught up with my IF teammate Steve on the second half of the course. He was rocking the Deluxe singlespeed on the tight sections, but was spinning out on the power sections. That's the only reason I saw him, I had the luxury of pushing a big gear. He crushed the run while I didn't. I had some stomach issues from the last gel I ate in T2. It threw my stomach into knots and it wasn't until the halfway point that I started feeling better and could stretch mystride out. I pushed it across the 'dry way' where we had to run across the dry river bed and passed a few people. Then I started to feel the onset of hamstring cramps. I knew they were coming, but kept my pace high, nothing to do but keep moving forward. At the top of Belle's, the cramp hit with a fury and I hobbled along till it subsided. I followed a couple of racers off course and once we realized it was the wrong way, doubled back and got back on track. I was pissed and even with the the hammie on the verge of seizing again I pushed the pace again on the bridge back to the north shore and the finish.

After the race, it took a while for my stomach to finally settle down. Luckily it did by the time Steve, Jeff and I went for burgers.

Speaking of Jeff, he laced up running shoes on Saturday and beat his goal in the 10k trail race. Nice Job, now he just needs to put the run and bike together in a duathlon.

That's about it, i'm going to bed.

edit:

here are a few images from the race, thanks Shawn.

Age Group Worlds...

2008-06-11T11:27:00.006-05:00

Nope, I didn't go. But my friend Connie from H'burg did and represented the Shenandoah Valley quite well. Here are her words:

HI All,
So….did I tell you it was cold in Vancouver? Air temp at race time yesterday was something like 13C (mid 50s) I know you all are sweltering in the heat…not sure which I would have rather had yesterday, but know that I had no control over that, so why waste energy on it!

For those of you that haven’t checked the results yet, the preliminary results show me finishing 13th in my age group, 5th USA athlete. I’m very happy with that and look forward to checking my splits (I haven’t accessed the website yet). Rumor is that if you wanted to, you could have followed my race “LIVE” on the web and perhaps even watched as I crossed the finish line. I was waving the American flag with pride and felt good enough to do the double clutch fist in the air. Last night I thought it would have been great to stop and say “HI MOM AND DAD” into the camera!

So, what was it like? The swim was in 12C water (this is about 55F). VERY COLD with a strong chop (some white caps). After testing the water the previous day, I knew my face, hands a feet would be very cold about 10 min. into the swim. The good news was that because of the cold water, they had shortened the swim to 1200 meters (rather than 1500). Hey, 300 helps! However, they didn’t anticipate the chop as the previous days has been crystal smooth. So, I guess I would describe the swim as “wash in cold with like colors”. After all, we were all women, 40-44 wearing green caps). However, last I knew, humans do usually need to be washed in cold! I did more breaststroke in is race than I ever have. The large waves were not coming rhythmically, which made it very difficult to get into any kind of swim rhythm. But, the good news is that with waves that big to be concerned with, I didn’t really feel the cold! I also learned that a layer of Vaseline on the face helps to keep it warmer. As the morning progressed, the water had gotten worse, and the race directors decided to cancel the swim for all of the competitors starting 2 waves after me (I was in the second to last one they let go…they had to pull so many people out, that it was getting unsafe). I think I would have felt “let down” not being able to swim at a World Championship, but like those who didn’t get to swim, I respect the decision of the race directors. They have a responsibility for safety and not making that decision could have meant something drastic, especially for some of the older competitors who were supposed to be next into the water.
Out of the water into T1. Got the wetsuit unzipped just fine, but couldn’t for the life of me undo the Velcro closure at the neck. I stood there trying and trying to get it undone with my frozen hands, but it wasn’t happening. I was getting jealous watching everybody else get out of their wetsuits and get on the bike. I had already planned a “long” transition to put on some warmer clothing (sock, gloves, vest, arm warmers)…but this was getting ridiculous! Finally, got it open, got out of it really fast, got my gear on, and took off running through T1 in my bike shoes (not easy, and different than usual, but didn’t want my socks to be wet and muddy in my shoes, so….had to run in them).

On the bike, I finally put my gloves on, while riding no handed (don’t know if that is an ITU rule violation or not, but I didn’t get caught). I had put toe warmers in my gloves and my shoes. They worked better in the gloves and my hands were toasty warm in minutes. My feet weren’t so lucky and I had cold feet and legs for most of the ride. The bike course was AWESOME. Four beautiful loops (10K each) around a park with nice rolling hills, great views of the water (when you took time to look) and trees lining most of it. One “challenging” climb that required the small chainring, but the rest was hammer time. Great downhills with sweeping and a few sharp turns. I felt good on the bike and hit my rhythm quickly. I passed a few in my age group, and got passed by a few, but think I pretty much held my spot.

Into T2, much better experience, but my feet were numb as I started out on the run. I quickly caught and passed one of my USA teammate (who beat me in Portland last year), and felt like I was running well…except for the numb feet. I left my red arm warmers on figuring if I got too hot with them on, I could easily take them off and carry them or stick them in the back of my shorts! The run was about 3 loops with some interesting navigating sections. Relatively flat, but not totally. The fun part of a Worlds race is usually the run because they do multiple loops (as opposed to an out and back or one big loop) and the run course is lined with people cheering and yelling, GO USA! Very motivating to not let your country down. So, as my feet thawed out and I started to feel the pain on the 3rd loop, I had “help” to keep me going. I think my run split was around 43 min. which, if I’m correct, is one of my better run times. I also held off (actually put time on) another TEAM USA competitor that had caught me in Portland last year on the run. So, this was also motivating. As we approached the finish line, there was a TEAM USA support staff person handing out flags to us to grab for the finish. How exhilarating.

So, I finished 13th in my age group (at least according to the preliminary results), 5th USA athlete and am very happy with my performance. I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity to represent my country, the health, fitness and ability, and the support and encouragement from my friends and especially my family. It is so much fun to be a part of a team while participating in an individual sport. I was cheering and encouraging my friends and team members throughout my race and afterward as a spectator. Now I’m off to cheer on our USA PROS who are competing this afternoon for their respective World Championships. This is a “preview” of the Olympics and should be awesome. Unfortunately for them, the weather is wet and rainy today. While it was cold for us yesterday, at least it was dry. So…that being said….I’m off. GO USA.

Thanks Mom and Dad….I love you.

Connie

Congratulations Connie, helluva race.

the wilds of West Virginia...

2008-06-03T06:06:00.003-05:00

XTERRA ACE Big Canyon

Big Water.

Big Run.

Big Mountain Bike.

In a Big Canyon.

Minden West Virginia is the home of ACE Adventure Center, the host and promoter of this race. I arrived on Saturday just in time to pick up my registration packet and then decided not to partake in the $5 pasta meal as I needed to check in to the hotel. ACE provides free camping to the competitors, but I've had enough camping so it was off to the Holiday Inn.

This race in unique in a couple of ways; one, the transistions are in separate areas and it's a swim-Run-bike as opposed to the normal swim-bike-run format. Another quirk of this race is the Run takes longer than the Bike. Well it is West Virginia, ya gotta love it. Set up the T2 transition and caught up with some friends at the race. Shawn was there with Denelle and would be doing his first XTERRA event, he had a wetsuit and everything.

On the bus for the drive to T1, nothing but idle chatting and a few race nerves, not as bad a last year though. Set the T1 area up and back on the bus for the 1.5 mile drive up river to the start. I positioned myself at the front and in the middle of the start with the idea that I'd be more authoritative with my swim start. Last year's races I would start to the side and towards the back. At the sound of 'Go' I was in the mix and headed for the fast water of the channel. I felt good for the first 100 to 150 meters, then started to get a bit winded, time to back off a bit now that I was out of the Thrash Zone. A little ways down the river was a set of rapids, I love downhill swims but the water moving as fast as it was, well it was a bit disconcerting. I pulled my head up to sight as I entered the waves and had to switch to a breaststroke. This lasted about 5 feet as I got a face full of water and quickly went to a sidestroke. okay, no need to panic, just get through this section. A safety kayaker was staring at me and I gave them a thumbs up as the water turned flat again. Those 50 or so feet of fast water induced a nice little panic attack. I pulled myself together and got my crawl back on track. I was feeling smooth and started reeling other swimmers in, a novel occurrence for me. Soon the swim was over and I trudged my way up to T1.

The run starts off flat and parallels the river along an abandoned railroad grade. I got great advice from Bill S. last year to hold back on this flat section to keep from blowing up on the first climb/technical section and I followed it again this year. I passed a few people on this flat section but never felt taxed and was fresh for the first climb, where I moved ahead of a couple of other racers. Moving onto the fireroad climb, I reeled in more people. Looking back I think I could've turned it up a notch or two on the run as I had some gas left in the tank. But I didn't want a reoccurence of the leg cramps from last year. I'm still learning how far and fast I can push the body. Onto the singletrack sections, I had the running mantras going through my head, "Solid Feet" on the loose or technical sections and "Light Feet" on the fast sections. Over and Over in my head these kept me focused on the trail ahead. Towards the end of the run, I saw someone in front of me and I thought it might have been John, a racer I meet at this race last year. As I came around him, I saw that it was John, and he say's that this run is never ending. I laugh and agree with him. I make it to T2 just before him and as I'm entering the singletrack on my Deluxe, I can hear John behind me.

Well, it's the bike leg and time to pay the rent. I let it roll fast and smooth on the first section and by the time I hit the first climb all I hear is my own tires and breathing. I pass a few people on the bike and try to roll where I can and keep my momentum up. I had no bad sections or brain farts, didn't dab any technical sections. Other than Rigor Mortis trail, but I knew before the race I'd dismount and walk here. It's not very long, and rideable. And Sketchy, I'm of the frame of mind that you can't make up time here but you sure can lose time. Maybe it's wisdom from old age OR plenty of scar tissue... Like the run, i probably should've pushed a bit harder on the bike leg. I felt good and never felt overexteneded, ok lesson learned.

I finish the day in 7th place overall and 2nd in the 35-39 age group. My time was 3 minutes faster than last year and I improved from 10th/3rd placings as well. No cramping and other than a slight upset stomach from having my cytomax mixed too strong I felt good. Jeff W. from ACE handed out a bunch of swag and after collecting my 2nd place medal I headed off the mountain and back to Virginia.

I highly recommend ACE Adventure Center and look forward to making this race a family vacation in a couple of years. Thanks to Jeff at Allez Training Systems and to Connie, the work is paying off. Also a nod of the helmet to Independent Fabrication and IFRacing.org for all the support. And thanks to Holly and Parker. I couldn't do this without you.

i'm back...

2008-05-30T06:12:00.002-05:00

Nothing much is happening around here, at least nothing blog worthy. Other than:

Queen City Century was successful in spite of the weather. Thanks to everyone who came out and rode the beautiful byways of southern Augusta County.

Went to Indianapolis last weekend for the Indy 500. helluva trip. great time. 5 days of traveling, golfing, and beer drinking. No training though. Hurt to start back up, but didn't take long to get back up to speed.

XTERRA ACE Big Canyon race is coming up this weekend. It'll be my first tri of the year. Fun race, with Hot Showers at the finish. The meat of the season starts on Sunday.

Okay that's about it, no excuses like some people.

Oh yeah, Jens Voight is the Man.

Queen City Century This Weekend...

2008-05-15T21:10:00.000-05:00

Queen City Century

Presented by

Queen City Cycling Club

Staunton, VA

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Online Registration on BikeReg.com

Closes Friday, May 16, 2008 at 12:01 AM ET

We invite you to join us for the Queen City Century, a ride through the beautiful scenic Shenandoah Valley south of Staunton, VA in southern Augusta County. The ride will provide scenic vistas, county farms, small towns, and scenic rural roads. All the routes are paved and have low traffic volume. Route lengths from 25 to 50 miles up to 100 miles of beautiful country roads. Preregistration cost is $15 for all routes.

Day of registration will be $30 for all distances. Make it easy on us and preregister. Please.

Rides Leaves from the Wharf area of Historic Downtown Staunton off of West Johnson St. at 8:00am sharp. Parking will be available in the Wharf lot or in the two parking garages in downtown. Registration check-in will be behind Black Dog Bikes starting at 7:00am.

Gone Ridin'...

2008-05-06T21:02:00.006-05:00

While most cyclists in VA were readying themselves for Poolesville, Middle Mountain Momma, Lodi 12 hours or the Wintergreen Ascent, we loaded up the family truckster for a trip to PA to visit family and friends. Parker went on his first fishing trip with his Grandfather and Uncle. He had a great time. Later on some friends of ours from college came over. Matt and Katie have two boys, almost 5 years old and 6 months old. I guess the boys played together, I didn't get to see it as Matt, aka Dirty, and I headed to French Creek State Park to ride. Dirty and I have been riding bikes together since 1994, but haven't pushed the pedals for a couple of years. Damn it was good to ride the knobbies with him again.

And a great ride it was. I felt like I had blinders on that only allowed me to see the perfect line through the PA rock gardens. The ti Deluxe was exceptional at French Creek, enough that I entertained the idea of heading back up there this weekend for the On The Rocks @ French Creek race. But I can't really justify the travel expense when there are two races close by, so it'll be the Chimney Chase at Walnut Creek near C'ville. Besides, what I was feeling at French Creek was being able to have a chill social ride with a good friend. Back on our bikes it was like we were still in college riding trails after class (or instead of class), knowing we were heading back to lots of beers instead of wives and kids. Those were great days, but then again these are great days as well, we're both riding better bikes and we both have wonderful wives and great boys. We'll definitely need to hit these trails again when the family truckster heads north again.

Damn it was a good day.

Dirty looks happy.

Nice bikes.

Next time I may remember to take the camera on the ride. But at least I didn't lose the car keys.

May, National Bike Month...

2008-05-01T06:33:00.003-05:00

2008 May is Bike Month Proclamation

WHEREAS, for more than a century, the bicycle has been an important part of the lives of many Americans, and today residents of all ages throughout our great Commonwealth
engage in bicycling for transportation, recreation, fitness, and fun; and

WHEREAS, bicycling is the most efficient form of transportation and offers independent mobility for many Virginians traveling between work, school, and home, and the use of bicycles for transportation benefits all residents of Virginia by easing traffic congestion, reducing air pollution, and saving highway construction dollars; and

WHEREAS, bicycling is recognized as an activity that can reduce the onset of chronic
disease and reduce childhood obesity, and consideration of bicycling in transportation
and land use planning, and in programs such as Safe Routes to School will help create
healthier and more active communities in Virginia; and

WHEREAS, bicycling offers a unique perspective from which residents and visitors may discover Virginia’s natural beauty, history, and culture, and a vast network of scenic rural
roads and pleasant weather conditions make the Old Dominion a favorite destination for
bicycling enthusiasts; and

WHEREAS, the Commonwealth contains more miles of the U.S. Numbered Bicycle
Route System than any other state, and is the only place where two routes intersect, and
Virginia is fortunate to play host to many organized recreational, charitable, and
competitive bicycling events, each of which contributes much to Virginia’s economy; and

WHEREAS, Bike Month provides an opportunity to increase public awareness of the many benefits of bicycling, to promote bicycle safety, and to encourage bike riding
through organized activities such as Bike-to-Work events, club rides, family rides, and bike rodeos for children;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine, do hereby recognize May 2008 as BIKE MONTH in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, and I call this observance to the attention of all our itizens.

HOT in RVA...

2008-04-27T20:21:00.007-05:00

This weekend was the first multisport race of the year. Nothing like jumping in feet first with a National Championship. Richmond hosted both the on and off road duathlon championships this weekend. I ponied up the cash a few months ago with the intention of testing myself early on this season. And tested I was. The format for the off-road event was a 10k run(2 loop course), 30k mtn bike, and 5k run. The runs used the same 5k course along the canal walk in downtown Richmond while the bike leg used the sweet trails of the JRP. Bell's Island (early enough in the day to keep the drunks away), Buttermilk, Forest Hill and North Shore trails were on tap and riding oh-so-sweet, great job MORE on the trail work. I headed to RVA on Friday to stay with IFJeff. We hooked up with the Cracker at Joe's and had a good time carbo loading. This is the second time that Jeff has hosted me for a multisport event and I may have him convinced to try it.

My race was better than I expected. I finished 17th overall and 5th in the big 35-39 age group. Since I've been mostly swimming and doing long rides, I was concerned how my run would develop and if I would have the punchy power needed on the JRP trails. With the new training schedule, I've only been running for two weeks, with more mileage soon to come. The first run leg went well, I went hard but didn't get in over my head. Once on the ti Deluxe, I pushed it as hard as the legs would let me. The deluxe railed the turns and crushed the climbs. It is by far a better bike than any I have ever had. Better than I can ride, but I try. Thanks Independent Fabrication. The bike was decked out with the new Ergon P1 Grips (review coming soon) and a flat Salsa bar. The cockpit is dialed in perfectly. I did cramp a bit on the bike leg, but motored through the pain, knowing it would soon pass. Again I heard some people out on the course cheering for me, Thanks. That's always appreciated even if I can't respond during the race other than project my race face (a look of death warmed over). Coming out of T2, my legs were feeling the 10k of running and 30k bike. Jeff yelled that I had 5k left in the tank and I took off down the hill to Trefalgar Road and the canal. I gave up one place on the run, but once the brick sessions began, I'll feel better on the final leg and run faster in future races. Probably the hardest aspect of the race was beginning it in the upper 60s and finishing it in the mid 80s. Once again the heat of Richmond was a formative opponent.

A big thanks to Jeff of Allez Training Systems for hosting me, and for the encouragement out on the trail. Again, thanks to IF Racing and Independent Fabrication.

2nd Annual Queen City Century...

2008-04-23T21:03:00.004-05:00

Queen City Century

Presented by

Queen City Cycling Club

Staunton, VA

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Online Registration on BikeReg.com

Closes Friday, May 16, 2008 at 12:01 AM ET

We invite you to join us for the Queen City Century, a ride through the beautiful scenic Shenandoah Valley south of Staunton, VA in southern Augusta County. The ride will provide scenic vistas, county farms, small towns, and scenic rural roads. All the routes are paved and have low traffic volume. Route lengths from 25 to 50 miles up to 100 miles of beautiful country roads. Preregistration cost is $15 for all routes.

Day of registration will be $30 for all distances. Make it easy on us and preregister. Please.

Rides Leaves from the Wharf area of Historic Downtown Staunton off of West Johnson St. at 8:00am sharp. Parking will be available in the Wharf lot or in the two parking garages in downtown. Registration check-in will be behind Black Dog Bikes starting at 7:00am.

Harris-Roubaix...

2008-04-18T20:17:00.004-05:00

It's been almost a week since this year's edition of Harris-Roubaix. Pronounced harry-ruebay, it's a Shenandoah Valley Classic. This ride (race) takes advantage of Rockingham County's oh-so-sweet gravel roads just north of Harrisonburg. After a short 10 mile ride to the start point, the ride (race) hits a ~15 mile loop that is predominantly narrow gravel roads. Do as many laps as you want but if you fancy some bragging rights, it'll take you 3 laps of hard riding (racing). Unlike Paris-Roubaix, this ride (race) has some punchy climbs, none of that flat land stuff they have in northern France.

Met Patricio and James in the parking lot and rolled to Court Square to catch up with my peeps. damn, it was cold, but if you're cold at the start then you are dressed correctly. The group (50-60 strong) paraded north to the start of the gravel loop. The ride (race) started with a neutral section and once the word was sounded it was on. Thomas sprinted for the early glory before the first pave section, followed by the main group that was stringing out. I rolled along with Jimmy Mc, another Allez Training Systems athlete. We compared notes on how Jeff has helped us both become faster racers. After a couple of pave sections I felt my front end starting to shudder. Uh Oh. Carbon steerer, loose headset, rough pave; not a confidence inspiring combination. I stayed in the front group till about 5 miles to go in the first lap. I got caught behind some guy in lederhosen riding a fixie and another guy who sat up on a longish climb. From that point I rode in the second group till the start/finish where I stopped and fixed the front end shudder. Once on the second lap, I put my head down and motored, catching up with the riders I had been with. Nothing exciting happened on the second lap. As I came in, I called it a day, telling Patricio who was heading out on his 3rd lap. Marshall heard this and started heckling me. Told me I couldn't pull out since I was in the top 10. Not wanting to disappoint the man, the myth, the legend, I take off in pursuit of Patrick. After giving him some food, I wished him well and turned towards Harrisonburg. Sorry Marshall, but my kitchen pass ended at 4pm and I had to get home.

Jimmy won. nice job. holla.

Ronde van Vlaanderen vacation, and...

2008-04-18T19:39:00.004-05:00

I finally finished the vacation recap posts. I started the posts on the Wednesday that I came back but didn't get around to finishing the posts until today. Life got in the way.

The Trip

The Ride

The Race

This was also the first week back on the training schedule. Jeff of Allez Training Systems has me set up for the upcoming race season. Upcoming? While the roadies and mountain bikers have been beating each other up in the host of races so far this year, I've been riding, running and mostly swimming, but not racing. Ok, I've raced once at Camp Hilbert but that was more to get ready for the Flanders trip as it was a 5 hour enduro event. This time last year, I had already done 1 mtn bike race, 2 sprint triathlons and was getting ready for my first XTERRA event. I will be setting up my transition area at the Off Road Duathlon National Championships next weekend in Richmond. This will be more for training and to see where I am. I'll go hard, but have no aspirations of doing well. I just want to see what I need to do to get ready when the race schedule heats up in June. My A race isn't until the middle of July, plenty of time to build up and fine tune my fitness.

The Ride...

2008-04-09T20:35:00.018-05:00

Before:

I looked for Ken but they must've cleaned him up..

Two ugly guys, and two Beautiful IFs.

We drove to Ninove and took the shuttle to the start in Bruges, which necessitated an early start. Like a 3:45 wakeup. argh. Once in Bruges it was at least a 45 minute line to get the ride card punched and walk across the stage. We met another American (you can tell the Americans by their Pearl Izumi clothing) who had come over from his temp home in London to do the ride. He rolled with us for the first few Kms on his Titus, Nice Guy.

The first 100km or so of the ride was on major roads and in and out of towns and cities. This along with the large groups on the bike paths wasn't much fun. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed riding my bike in Belgium, but sharing the road/bikepath/sidewalk with cars, pedestrians and oh around, 15,000 bicyclists can be nerve wrecking. Sam and would catch up to a group (easily 100+) and sit in for a few minutes then get frustrated with the pace. We'd jump onto the road or bike path, whichever was clear and make a dash for the front. This worked well for us.

I remember the first hill, the Kluisberg as being somewhat steep, but what struck me most was the speed that everyone was going up it. Slow. Too slow. Come on, they aren't that terribly long, hit it hard and get it behind you. Just Like Jim Says. I've lost a bit over 20 pounds since December so Hills are easier these days, but I was also Highly motivated to ride each berg/hillingen/cote/etc. Besides I live at the top of a hill that, depending on how you go up it, gives you 16% to 18% pitch options. Light, motivated, trained; I was going to ride 'em. All of 'em.

The Oude Kwaremont was the first hill that hurt. At 2200 meters and cobbled with a mix/match set of stones, it was a slog to get over. It was quickly followed by the Paterberg, which is blissfully short but difficult. These two climbs were the combo to soften your legs up for the main competitor. No not the 45 degree rain we had experienced, or the ever present smell of cow manure. (Having worked on farms in my younger days, this doesn't bother me.) My main opponent was the Koppenberg. I'd dreamt about this hill, and still do. Probably will always dream of this hill. 3 years ago we rode it in the dry but on this day, the cobbles were wet. Not with rain but with water infused dirt, otherwise known as MUD. This hill is a bitch in the dry, add mud and the numerous cyclists who magically become pedestrians at its sight and it is nearly impossible to ride. Even the pros walk this monster. But not I. I spun, I pushed down on the cranks, I stood, I sat, I felt my rear wheel spin, I felt it reconnect, I rode through the throngs of people, pushing their bikes, standing on the side cheering, drinking, yelling, till I spun out. I can't walk is what I thought as my right foot came off the pedal. I don't know who he was, or even really remember what he looked like but an older gentleman was right there and started yelling "clipin, clipin" as he grabbed my saddle. He gave me a short push and in less than 5 seconds from when my rear wheel spun till my cranks were propelling me up the hill, he was gone. I yelled "thank you," not knowing if he heard me. He saved my ride. I conquered the Koppenberg, beat it and the mud and rain, I made it up that bitch of a hill without walking.

Sam and I had lost contact with each other on the Paddestraat cobble section, which is around the halfway point of the ride. I would stop and wait for him and I later found out he was doing the same. Just not at the same places. So for the final 130+ miles it was a solo ride for us, well Solo + 15,000 other riders.

Ah cobbles, how I love 'em. The challenge of them. You see them approach and the only tactic is to motor through them. Shift to a hard gear, Man Up and blast through them. One other tip for the cobbles in Belgium... Keep your mouth closed. These roads are mere farm paths through the fields that have a fresh layer of manure spread upon them. HTFU and RIDE

The Muur is the penultimate hill and snakes its way up and around a hill in the town of Geraardsbergen. With a 20% cobbled section its supposed to the deciding point of the day, but I found the lower sections in the town to be more difficult, probably due to the people that line the upper section of the climb and cheer for all the cyclists. Motivation. The final hill is the Bosberg and is a wide and cobbled road through a forest. At its zenith there are food vendors tempting with their aromas, but I pointed the Planet Cross down the hill and towards Ninove. I didn't want to delay the end of the ride. After 170+ miles, 11+ hours, 17 hills, and countless waffles shoved down my throat, I wanted this ride to end. It was the hardest ride I've completed, harder than the 190+ miles of the C&O Canal from Cumberland to Washington. I got to the end, cold, tired, wet, and in pain but exhilarated that I had finished the Ronde. Checked that one off the list. Once Sam came through we loaded up the car and sought out the nearest McDonalds off of the Ninove centrum. That was a delicious Big Mac.

That's kilometers or around 171 miles.

Dirty bike.

Isn't she beautiful.

My IF Planet Cross was perfect for this ride, especially with the new Reynolds carbon fork. It was comfortable for this all day ride. I love this bike. Thanks Independent Fabrication for creating the best bikes.

Would I do it again or recommend the Ronde, Hell Yeah. I just wouldn't do the full version again. The 140km version lets you hit the Hills and get the full sense of the Flemish Ardennes without having to deal with the countless miles of bike paths.

I'm Flemish.

(at least according to Tom...)

The Race...

2008-04-09T20:35:00.017-05:00

We woke up late on Sunday, it probably had something to do with a big ride the day before, getting lost on the way back and not getting to sleep till midnight. Sam and I quickly loaded up the car and made our way towards the village, Nokere and the second hill of the Ronde. Sam piloted the Kia while I navigated our route using a race map handout and google map printouts. For some reason we found the race course despite my efforts. We saddled up to the fence and waited. The race caravan comes through and we wait. More cars. Motorcycles. Once the helicopters arrive we know the race is at hand. The racers getting TV time roll in front of us and we wait a few minutes for the peloton to arrive. We yell like everyone else, than make our way back to the car and the drive to Meerbeke. Except we root for Slipstream and are yelling Meatball.

Once in Meerbeke, we grab a bite to eat, then a beer and walk around the finish area. We heard the finish of the women race and saw the ladies riding through to their respective team vehicles. Nice. No seriously, Nice.

About an hour before the scheduled finish, Sam and I position ourselves at the 125m to go point on the fence and wait. Nothing much to do but watch the race unfold on the big screen tv, no walking around at this point as we don't want to give up our prime spot. It was an Epic Race with Devolder soloing from over 25km out to take the win while clad in the Belgian National Champion Jersey. wow. The power of the main group as it roars by us is awe inspiring, it's not measured in watts but in megawatts.

helluva race.

Artsy shot for your viewing pleasure.

Pimping the Lion and the IF shirt.

Mmm Cobbles...

Looking down into the village of Nokere.

The breakaway comes through.

Followed by the peloton.

Ballan and his boo-boo. That's gotta hurt.

The RvV monument in Meerbeke.

Just watching some TV.

About an hour before the finish.

45 minutes later...

Belgian National Champion winning the Ronde, a Beautiful Win.

The sprint for second.

Big George going for a solid 5th place.

The big Guns, the Roubaix Three.

Soft pedal to the finish, a day's work is done.

The Trip...

2008-04-09T20:34:00.008-05:00

The first day in Belgium is the hardest as jet lag saps whatever energy I may have. I couldn't sleep on the flight, even with the help of ambiens. Arriving in Brussels, I had to wait for the bike box to arrive, not everything is efficient in Belgium. Sam was waiting for me with Nele, a former co-worker of his from Hansen. She was kind to let us use her apartment to shower. We waited at her apartment for Tom to get off work. Surfing through the channels we found Sporza which was showing the De Panne time trial, try that on ESPN or even ESPN 8, the Ocho. Once Tom got off 'work', we followed him to his parent's house where we were staying. We assembled the bikes then it was back in the car to go to dinner in Antwerp. Nele met us at the restaurant which was on the banks of the Schelde river and we enjoyed a delicious meal and beer. After dinner we walked around Antwerp finding ourselves in De Engel, touted as the oldest bar in Antwerp. The smoke was all encompassing, as if they hadn't aired it out in a hundred years, but the Westmalle I had was delicious. Belgian beers for some reason taste better in Belgium. go figure...

On Friday, Tom's mom made us breakfast and after we filled our pie holes, we kitted up to spin the legs. Tom rode with us and led us to the canal. My legs felt like wood and I had to concentrate on pushing the pedals to maintain 30kph on the flat canal path. Tom dropped back leaving Sam and me to find our way back to his house. After 45km we made it back and piled back in the car to drive to Aalst and the Van Eyck bike shop. It was amazing how much inventory this shop had displayed. 8 Cervelo frames, Willier, Merckx, Colnago, Bianchi, the list could go on, and the accessories wall was impressive. Everything, and I mean everything, that could be needed on a bike was displayed. After Aalst we made our way south to Oudenaarde and the Ronde van Vlaanderan museum, recently reviewed in cyclingnews.com. We were close to Melden, the small village at the bottom of the Koppenberg climb so we hopped in the car and drove there to take a few pictures. Once we got back to Zoersel, Tom showed off his culinary skills by boiling water for pasta and reheating some sauce. Ah spaghetti, the cyclist fuel of choice. We loaded the bikes for the drive to Ninove in the morning and called it a night. We had an invite from Nele to go to a concert but didn't think it was wise to get 2 or 3 hours sleep before the RIDE.

Saturday and The Ride.

Sunday and The Race.

On Monday, Sam and I followed Tom to the house he is renovating. Or should I say the Bachelor Pad. Maybe the Love Pad. Nah, Tom's house is the best description. He started with just wanting to install new floors, which led to replacing the heating system and then he decided to redo the kitchen. Ah the joys of owning an older home. The upstairs bedrooms are on the list to be redone, sometime in the next year. Or so... He gave us the full tour and showed us what he plans to do with the garden. It had a lot more space than I thought, even larger than my yard. Sam and I left Tom to his construction duties and headed north to Amsterdam. Arriving in this wonderful city we began our journey to find a parking spot. 45 minutes + later, we shoe-horned the Kia into a spot and started walking towards the city center, rounding a corner we found a bike shop (imagine that in Amsterdam) and rented bikes. We bought a map and set off across the canals, dodging bikes, cars, bikes, trucks, bikes, pedestrians, bikes, scooters and bikes. Ok, I'm a pretty good cyclist. I had just ridden the full route of the Ronde. I've won a few races and series, even beaten Patricio in a few heated sprints, but damn I felt like I was riding a bike for the first time. It didn't help that I was on a coaster brake bike for the first time since I was 9. After a few stops and turns while enjoying the sights, sounds and aromas of Amsterdam, we stopped at a cafe in the Nieuwe Markt and enjoyed a couple of Heinekens. We had to ride back to the car to feed the meter and I felt much better on the bike after a few beers. That's all I needed. Just get a bit sauced and the riding comes naturally. Not sure if I'll try that in the Mabra cyclocross races, but maybe in the VACX (watch out Dawg)... We made the decision to go to the Van Gogh museum instead of the Riksmuseum. I wish we had the time to make it to both, oh well I'll just have to go back and enjoy more of Amsterdam. Back in the car to Zoersel where Tom had finished patching of his roof. Kind of important in a country where it rains pretty much everyday. We finished off the day with another wonderful meal and beer next to the canal we had ridden on Friday. Tom didn't have a beer, even with our taunts to 'man up', he had a glass of port wine and sipped it with his pinkie finger in the proper position. We said our goodbyes that night. Tom's parents were wonderful hosts and I enjoyed our stay with them.

Tuesday we got up at 'zero-dark thirty' so I could make it to the airport for my 7:30 flight. Sam's flight wasn't until noon, so needless to say he got some reading done in Brussels. Brussels to Vienna to Dulles to Staunton in around 20 or so hours.

Damn that was a great trip, long enough that we got to do and see a lot, but short enough I didn't get too homesick. I did miss Parker and Holly and was elated to see them once I got home. Parker liked his toy Quick-Step bus and hat, and Holly and I both enjoyed the Leonidas chocolates I brought back.

I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Europe.

A few pictures for your viewing pleasure.
Too bad that wasn't the rental car.

Tom, riding a bike. He's available ladies...

Koppenberg hill, doesn't look too tough.

But it is a bitch.

And this is why, just add water for slip-sliding fun.

nice angle on the cobbles.

Dude, where's my car. Amsterdam Style.

Ah, beer. Heaven is a cafe in Amsterdam.

This is how you ride a bike in Amsterdam, with flowers.

This is how I roll.

Caution work area.

The garden before. (after pictures sometime in the next few years)

Remember ladies, he's single. Owns his own home and is gainfully employed. Enjoys long walks on the beach and can cook spaghetti...

thanks Tom for everything.

In Belgium...

2008-04-03T11:22:00.003-05:00

Made it...
Jetlag sucks...
I`ve had frites...
and Toms computer has a french keyboard; typing sucks.

will post more later...

Leaving on a jet plane...

2008-04-01T21:22:00.002-05:00

But before I left I needed to have an appetizer.

At this time tomorrow I will be hurtling towards Europe for my Flanders vacation. For a long time I didn't think this trip would be doable. But the stars have aligned and I'm leaving Dulles tomorrow afternoon. Going to try to get some sleep on the plane because once I disembark we'll be on the ground running.

Have a great day.

Thursday Night Fights...

2008-03-27T20:40:00.002-05:00

The Thursday Night Fast rides have begun, tonight's version being the third so far this season. Big group showed up consisting of some heavy hitters and rolled out from Black Dog Bikes. The ever-slimming James, IronMan Rob, Racin' Ron, Strong Jon, Climbing Doug, Quick Andy, Patricio now known as the Leg Breaker, and myself. We met aerobar Dan, sans aerobars, at the start of Limestone Road. The ride was on and many gauntlets were thrown.

The LegBreaker scaled the Mt Pisgah hill in his big ring, leaving every one with an ever diminishing view of his rear wheel. He wasn't finished with us, as he stayed on the front taking monster pulls. Notice: Watch this kid. Especially this sunday if you are at the Jefferson Cup race. And more so if you are racing with him in Cat 4.

Rob is a big diesel, and the smart spot on the ride was staring at his rear wheel. Dropping into his wake was obvious as it felt like you just drove a VW bug behind a semi. Oh yeah, the dude is Strong up the hills too.

apres Ride was chill, thanks to Jon's beer stash. The spring classics were discussed along with the recent sniper shootings. (freaking idiots out there, be safe). Kevin regaled us with stories of his past travels to Europe. He will be in Flanders at the same time that Sam and I will be. We're going to try and meet up to spin pedals together in the home of spring races.

This is always a fun ride, especially when Shakin at the Station is going on and we roll thru there with our sweaty lycra kits. Gotta love the drunk chicks...

a week away...

2008-03-25T21:00:00.003-05:00

Map of the Ronde and my number plate arrived in the mail today. Only a week to go till I get on the big airplane (aluminum tube) for the trip to Belgium.
Plus my new Cateye Strada computer arrived today from IF. It's mounted (set in kp/h) for the 259 kilometers of the Ronde.

Speaking of the Ronde, head over to the Unholy Rouleur's site for his take on what the spring classics must mean to the locals. And to us, tourists...

Flanders...

2008-03-17T20:25:00.002-05:00

I found this video via Greg over at Mud & Cowbells. Sam and I are not going to Belgium only for the ride and the beer. We'll watch the Pros fly over the cobbles and ascend the bergs like angry angels. None of those wispy Spanish and Italian climbers, these are the hard, strong men of the peloton. This is the Tour of Flanders.

It was a good day...

2008-03-12T20:16:00.005-05:00

Woke up early, got breakfast and into work early. I got a bunch of stuff done, sent an email to the boss to let him know I'd be leaving early. He replied, "enjoy". Thanks boss. Checked the RunRideRace website for Sunday's results and found that I finished in 8th place. Not bad for having only one long ride in the legs this year. Eleven am rolled up quick, time didn't drag like it can when you know quitting time is early.

IFJeff called from 5 minutes out and by the time I walked out of the door, Jeff was pulling into the lot. A few quick pleasentries and it was off to my house to kit up. Jeff came to town for a gravel road ride and I was chomping at the bit to get on the bike. Jeff rode his CJ with the 'cobble' wheels and I threw my leg over the Planet Cross with a new Reynolds carbon fork. We made a quick stop at the shop to pick up up a map and then we headed south on Middlebrook Ave. to taste some of Augusta County's finest roads.

42 miles and we had less than 10 cars pass us on the roads. There was nothing but beautiful weather ahead of us with the sun shining down and warming our legs as we motored up the hills. After a few miles it was a right turn onto gravel for today's adventure. The loop we took has 25 or 30 miles (plus/minus) of the sweetest gravel roads. Thank you James, as he is the author of the loop. Some deep, full-on power sections and then smooth roller coaster gravel pitches, it doesn't get much better. This great ride, as they all do, had to come to an end. We made our way to Baja Bean for some beer and good tex-mex.

After Jeff and I parted ways, I headed to the CSPDC offices and attended this month's meeting of the Regional Bike-Ped meeting. We listened to Allen of BikeVirginia's presentation. The chairwoman is going to help get the club in touch with the right person to help move the Berry Farm project along. I talked to Thomas about another trail project and he gave me some good information on how to deal with the local parks and rec. Yeah, more trails in the valley.

Made it home to pick up the wife and Parker and we were off to dinner with friends. We had a wonderful dinner with Andy and Kelly, and Parker had fun sharing dinner and toys with Gillian. Not wanting this time with our friends to end, we went to Klines for ice cream. Parker and Gillian had a blast running and playing, so much fun, they neglected their ice cream. Don't worry Andy and I didn't let it go to waste.

Yeah, it was a good day...

Camp Hilbert...

2008-03-10T20:21:00.005-05:00

Bike: new BB, trued wheel, lubed, cleaned, fresh stans; Check
Clothes: helmet, jersey/shorts, vest, arm/leg warmers, gloves; Check
Nutrition: cytomax, bananas, chips, sandwiches, water; Check
Ride: meet at 6:30, roll at 6:45; Check
Alarm: set at 5:45; Check
Daylight Savings Time, d'oh

So the alarm went off at 5:45 but the time on the cable box showed 6:45am. Damn. A quick call to James and he was on his way to pick me up. Damn, Damn. Luckily, I had set everything out the night before ,so we weren't too late getting on the road. Then a quick stop at Dunkin' Donuts and we were on our way. I wasn't the only person that was an hour behind. Jon was behind us but quickly made up time on I64 in his A4.

Rolling into Camp Hilbert we were confronted with a full parking lot so we dumped all the gear while Joe and James parked. A quick trip to the blue room and I was ready to set up our pit. James brought his tent and I brought the tailgating table. We had a sweet spot and a solid setup, maybe not as nice as the Bike Factory team trailer, but we try. We really do try. The line for registration was huge, but we made it through in time. Jon manned up and signed up for the Enduro with James and I. Joe was the sane one in our group and raced in the singlespeed class.

Did I mention it was cold? We rolled to the start and got word that the race would start about 15 minutes late to accommodate the long registration line. This gave me a chance to catch up with my friends and shiver. I've said it before, Virginia has a great cycling scene.

I lined up to the rear of the big Enduro group and took off in an easy gear once the horn blew. It's a long race and I was using it to get ready for the Flanders trip, no need to rub elbows in the first quarter mile. Here's what I remember of the race:

1st Lap: Mid pack start, felt like the rear wheel was soft, bottomed out on some roots, I pumped the mud tire up to the normal pressure before the race, oh yeah it's a skinny low volume tire, need more air, trees down I guess they did get wind, rode in a group for a while till they started stacking it up on the whoops, time to move up, started passing, saw Joe along the trail, yelled I needed a pump, rolled through the crater section and pulled into our pit pumped the tire and was back in it.

2nd Lap: Turned it up a bit and started passing more people, felt good, no bobbles, my focus stayed on the ribbon of dirt weaving in and around the trees, this trail is fun

3rd Lap: Started getting warm, still felt good and smooth on the trail, worked on my stop in my head playing out exactly what I needed, rolled in, dropped my vest and bottle, picked another up and was back on the bike

4th Lap: still felt good, was still focused on the dirt, the trail really firmed up nice, turns developed nice berms, no more downed trees, two mud spots, but the mud tire on the rear hooked up now that there was some air in it

5th Lap: felt good, but hungry, the drivetrain sounded dry, drained the bottle, worked on my third stop in my head and pulled in to see Mr Horvath at the tent, leapt his bike, grabbed some chain lube, changed gloves, ate a gel, chugged some Coke, grabbed a peanut butter 'n jelly sandwich and a bottle, then back on the bike

6th Lap: wow, I still had legs moving under me, yep I was surprised, still moving forward on the trail, fun fun trail

7th Lap: James came up and we rolled this lap together, chit chatting, he was railing the twisties and bombing the downhills, i heard a 'damn' or something, soft pedaled, James was back on my wheel, damn rear wheel seeking sticks but he fixed it, he is a mechanic, rolled up on Joe, said Hi, didn't hear James behind me

8th Lap: yeah this hurt, last lap, nothing but a parade lap, rolled in at 5 and a half hours, slow lap

post race: Talked to Jeff and Tom, then back to the pit for a banana. But there were none left, damn vultures ate all the bananas, at least they left a Coke for me, but some funny guy shook it up for me. Yep, I've got some good friends. Luckily, they didn't find the stash of pringles and a really Good Friend gave me a banana, Thanks Joe. Refueled, packed up and it was back on the road.

It was a great ride with some great friends. It was good to hear people cheering me on when I rolled through the finish area. Thanks. First time I've done an endurance mountain bike race. Might have to do another. I even entertained the thought while on the trail of tackling the SM100 this year. Especially when Mr Horvath said this Enduro race was harder then the 100. At least I think it was him, I was kinda busy shoveling food into my pie hole at the time. It's a month or so after the last XTERRA race. Maybe.

(Thanks honey for the kitchen pass for the race)

quick hit post...

2008-03-05T21:37:00.006-05:00

Did a big ride with James and the new kid on the block, Matt "verMonty Python". Big Climbs. Little North Mountain (little my butt), Great North Mountain x2. Troxel Gap, Hite Hollow, and Old Parkersburg Turnpike were the gravel road climbs. Even found some snow on the descent to Deerfield.

Hitting the first Camp Hilbert race this Sunday. Going big with the Enduro (5 hour) event. Big crew is showing up for this race. James, Old Man Joe, Matt, maybe more from Staunton, plus plenty of CAMBC and Bike Factory folks. My teammate, IFJeff will be there going for a repeat of the series Expert Vet win. Gwadzilla may even show up.
The Queen City Cycling Club is back up and running, second meeting of the year was tonight. Main topics were money, membership and the upcoming Queen City Century 2.0 on May 18 (mark your calendar)
Thursday Night Fast Rides will be starting next week, on Thursday (duh) the 13th, riding at 5:30. Meet behind Black Dog Bikes. Come out and help put the hurt on Patricio, the bambino.
Wednesday Night Social Rides start next week as well. Looks like the boss will be attending these rides. It's about time I gave her a kitchen pass, so she can ride. 5:30 and leaving from Black Dog Bikes.
Weight, plateaued at 158. Still working at it.
Sounds like IFJeff will be making a trip to the Valley. We'll hit some gravel roads on a big ride. Gotta get the undercarriage used to riding on rough roads. Gravel, cobbles, Tour of Flanders is a month away.
Bought a new car, traded the old 'ru in on newer Subaru. Upgraded to an Outback. Just need a new bike rack and stereo to plug the iPod into and it'll be ready for road trips to races.

That's about it, thanks for reading. See ya at Hilbert...

Win an IF frame...

2008-02-26T21:01:00.005-05:00

IF Racing is offering a steel frame in a raffle. IF Racing is using the proceeds to support its teams and the charities it has associated with to bring the joy of cycling to kids.

For the low, low price of $10, you can buy a ticket that could provide you with a smooth riding steel Independent Fabrication. What a deal. That $10 ticket will give you countless hours of dreams about your new frame. Plus you'll be helping good people do good things. It's a win-win situation.

And, it's easy to buy a ticket via BikeReg.com.

IF at the NAHBS...

2008-02-21T21:41:00.002-05:00

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show was recently held in Portland.

Here are a few IF highlights of the show.

Belgium Bound...

2008-02-21T21:24:00.008-05:00

Bought my plane ticket to Belgium today. I had set a price level that I would not go over. I had found a few tickets that were below that level but when I inquired about the airline's bike policy, the oversize charge would make it cost prohibitive. 90 bucks tacked on each way, WTF??

I'll be flying out on April 2nd on United and then back on Austrian Air, no upcharges for the bike box. woo hoo. Sam already has a car reserved for us and we'll be staying at Tom's (TIMMY) bachelor pad near Antwerp.

The Tour of Flanders is the reason for the trip. Sam and I did the 85 mile cyclotourist version 3 years ago, but this year we are planning on doing the full course on the Saturday before the pros tackle the Ronde. 160+ miles of beautiful Belgium countryside. Plus bergs, cobbles, and Europeans smoking at the rest stops. It is a cycling mecca. I'd like to make it to the cyclocross Masters Worlds after reading Greg's recaps on his Mud and Cowbells blog. Maybe in a couple of years, I'll make that pilgrimage. But this year it's all about the Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Back to Belgium. Plus a side trip to Amsterdam. Can't go to Europe without a day in Amsterdam...

the Weight...

2008-02-21T20:58:00.002-05:00

Like a lot of cyclists, I watch my weight. I haven't been obsessing about it, but I've been cognizant of how much I shovel into my pie-hole. Portion Control and getting past the idea that I can eat a lot because I'm exercising was what I've focused on the past few months. At the end of cyclocross season, I was giving FatMarc a run for the title of fattest Marc(k) in the mid atlantic. I was holding steady at 175 to 178. Weight is an issue in cycling because of the simple ratio of weight to power. Less weight on the bike with equal or more power being put in the cranks, the faster I go.

I lost ten pounds over the holidays. It just came off without much effort. That kept me focused on losing more. After many laps in the pool and consistently riding the bike to work, I plateaued at 165. I started on a structured swimming plan and added 1 or 2 runs a week, still watching the amount of food I put on my plate.

Five more pounds and I saw 160 on scale, I can't remember the last time I was at that weight. When I ran crosscountry in college I was around 155. Then I couldn't eat enough food with the 50-70 mile weeks in the mountains of West Virginia. Plus I was 13 years younger and had the metabolism of a rabbit on crack. Not anymore.

Again, I was on a plateau at 160. Until tonight, when I broke through that barrier with a scale reading of 158. It's probably because I'm dehydrated, but I'll take it anyway.

I'll add more run mileage in March along with continuing with the swim workouts (thanks Connie). My goal is to get back to 155. I may see the scale creep back up once the bike and run workouts begin and muscle mass is built in the legs. But I'd rather see the weight move up under those circumstances as I know the power will be built as well.

Have a great day.

one day left...

2008-02-18T21:22:00.003-05:00

on the ebay sale

The Bob Jackson Fixie Conversion
and
White Industries ENO Wheel

Daddy needs some cash.

And you need a Fixie

and a new rear wheel.

For Sale...

2008-02-13T20:56:00.005-05:00

On EBAY:

Bob Jackson fixie convert

White Industries ENO-Mavic 517 wheel

I built the Bob Jackson as a fixie to use for winter training, but have found that I don't ride it as much as it warrants. It rides nice and is a comfortable bike. Besides, the hills in Staunton are not conducive to me riding a fixed gear bike. No need to blow out a knee on this bike when running does a good enough job of torturing my knees.

The wheel was on an old GT Avalanche that I originally converted to single speed using a singleator, but built the ENO so I could have proper chain tension. Singleators Suck. Anyway, I rode the GT with the ENO one time and it sat in the bike room. I wasn't enamored by the singlespeed experience. The GT will be rebuilt as a geared bike and given away to a kid that needs a nice bike, so the ENO is not needed.

What is needed though, is some cash to put towards a plane ticket to Belgium. Damn they are expensive. Bid, Buy, Send me to Belgium where I will drink beer, eat waffles, and ride the cyclotourist version of the Ronde Van Vlaanderen, aka Tour of Flanders.

Caveat:

The fixie does not have the BSNYC Seal, yet.

urrghh...

2008-02-12T20:47:00.001-05:00

I took today off from work as I couldn't fathom the thought of sitting at my desk. It wasn't a 'mental health' day where I blow off work to go play. This past weekend, I caught whatever bug has been circulating Staunton.

The weekend started off well with a ride with James, Joe, and Gene at the secret stash on Friday. James and Gene turned back after a little while on the trails and drank beer. Joe and I stayed on the trails since he had a 'kitchen pass' and wanted to make the most of his time on the Old Man singlespeed. Jon H has been working overtime cutting new trail in the pine trees. It's still in a bit of the bushwhack stage but once it matures it'll be a blast to swoop through the pine trees on a blanket of needles. I ended up at Baja Bean Co. with James and Sara for beers and enchiladas. Nice start.

Saturday at work was, well Saturday at work. I dropped my Bob Jackson fixie off at the shop along with a White Industries Eno wheel built with a Mavic 517. Look for these on Ebay soon. Gotta pay for the trip to Belgium. I blew off the Saturday ride as I was tired. And then on Sunday I called in sick for the Ride on Narrowback. I felt a little better in the afternoon so I rolled the commuter to the Y for a spin/yoga class. An hour on the spin bike was followed by 30 minutes of yoga, my first time. 1 out of 3 rides for the weekend isn't good (technically a spin class is a ride but I'm not counting it), but at least I didn't break anything like Sam.

Being sick sucks...

On top of Flagpole...

2008-02-04T21:21:00.001-05:00

Kevin, the Dawg and I model the latest in helmet hair-styles.

I had a lot more mud on me at the end.

Another Super Bowl ride in the books...

Sheldon Brown, 1944-2008

2008-02-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

Rest in Peace Sheldon.

If you are a bike geek and had used the internet to answer bike questions then you know who Sheldon Brown was. His site, Sheldon Brown, was the goto site for answers to a host of questions an amateur (and I'm sure professional) mechanic may have.

The cycling world has lost a true original.

Super Bowl Ride...

2008-02-01T21:07:00.000-05:00

Once again it's time for the Super Bowl ride. This is an annual ride, something to do with some football game. Ride begins at the Briery Branch Community Center at 10am for a trip up to Flagpole Knob. Or you can go for the Big Fatty and leave from Mr J's bagel on Rt 42 South in H'burg at 8:45pm.

Huge Ride. The 757 crew is 15 strong and staying near Sherando for the weekend. It'll be good to ride some miles with them, and to catch up with my friends from the 'burg.

If you coming from Staunton, we are leaving from behind Black Dog Bikes at 9am.

For more information, check out Shenandoah Mountain Bike Club's website.

Klunkerz will be shown Saturday Feb 2 at Court Square Theater at 7pm.

See ya out there...

almost heaven...

2008-01-20T19:49:00.000-05:00

Holly and Parker left Thursday for a trip to Texas with her mom and sister. This left me bachelor-like for the weekend. What better to do than head to Elkins for a mini reunion with some college friends. No cycling, no running, no swimming; just beer and friends.

The festivities centered around two establishments, CJ Maggies and Jabberwock. Both of these bars have Mountain State Brewing Co.'s beers on tap. At CJ's I had the Almost Heaven Amber Ale, a smooth medium bodied ale, while at Jabberwock I stuck with the Cold Trail Ale generously poured by Joe. The Cold Trail was crisp and refreshing and the brewers at Mountain State are doing it right in Thomas. If you make it to West Virginia, try one of these beers, you won't be disappointed.

Sorry no pictures, the camera is in Texas.

a good week...

2008-01-11T19:53:00.002-05:00

This week didn't start off well as I tried to recover from a hell-spawned bonk and stomach bug. By Tuesday that was in the past and only good memories remained from the Whetstone Ridge ride. I'm looking forward to getting back on the ridge and riding most of it, minus the hike-a-bikes of course.

Tuesday found me back in the pool after two weeks off due to the holidays. Not that I wanted to stay dry for two weeks but I could not find the time to get there. All the progress I had made in the previous 3 weeks had been lost. It was back to 1000 meters with frequent stops.

I was back into the pool on Wednesday, then I completed a 2 hour transition. In a race I am disappointed if my T1 (swim to bike) transition is over one minute and 45 seconds. This early in the season I shouldn't complain about a slow transition, because in that time I showered, changed, drove home, ate dinner, pumped up the fork and tires, lubed the chain, fed the dogs, changed clothes, mounted the lights, filled a water bottle, played with Parker, and chatted with James while waiting for Jon E to show up. We rode to SSSoS to taste the new trail section recently built by Jon H. Nice and tight through the trees up to the Pine trail, this new trail had a steady climb to a switchback that led to a swooping contour trail with plenty of flow. I found myself overgeared a few times, I need to get back into a mountain bike gear frame of mind. Seems I'm not the only 'crosser having trouble shifting. After this trail section it was across "Sam's Bridge" to the main trail system. We climbed the powerline trail to the top and dropped to the other side making a right turn to head across to the other new trail section. Up through the cedars and down the slick darkside to the bottom of the big hill. I took James' suggestion and went straight up the hill in the deep grass instead of riding over to the road climb. James and I made it to the top and waited for Jon who finally showed carrying his new Niner, uh oh. Maybe he's carrying the bike to train for another mountaineering expedition, Nope. The cause of the walking was an rear derailleur overshift and now the chain was wedged between the cassette and the spokes; it was stuck below the cassette pins ending our ride. James and I descended quickly to get back to my house so I could drive back and pick up Jon who was walking out. As I'm riding on the trail towards the pond, I see a flurry of white and tan four feet from my head but no sound. Wow that has to be the owl I saw a few weeks ago I thought. I roll to a stop and point my headlamp into the trees and there he is, a screech owl. They are a beautiful creature, this was my second time seeing an owl in the SSSoS. I hope to see more of him. James and I rolled to my house and I went back and picked up Jon ending my first Brick of 2008.

Thursday it was back in the pool, feeling a bit stronger. Laps, Laps then more Laps. No new lap lanes to try out, no mechanicals and no wildlife flying 4 feet from my head, just back and forth in the pool.

another video...

2008-01-07T22:03:00.000-05:00

I found this video via Fritz at cycle-licious.

Enjoy...

(thanks Fritz)

Bike-Ped Committee in the news...

2008-01-07T21:44:00.001-05:00

The Central Shenandoah Valley Bike-Pedestrian Committee has been working for the past couple of years trying to make roads safer for all users. The committee has worked with VDOT to widen shoulders and have "share the road" signs posted on Rt 250 from Waynesboro to the top of Afton Mountain. One goal is to raise awareness of bicycles on the road. The Daily News Leader published an article on the committee citing the success that we've had. James has a quote, along with yours truly. Good things are happening with a lot of more work to be done. The harrisonburg paper even picked up the article from the AP, the more coverage the better...

ugh, that hurt...

2008-01-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

James and I met the CAMBC crew at the Whetstone Ridge trailhead on Sunday. I had never ridden this trail and had heard nothing but stellar reviews. Wet leaves on wet rocks all along Whetstone ridge met our tires for a rolling adventure. When I left the house to meet James, I was feeling a bit queasy but thought it would pass. I had loaded up with a bagel and double mocha from Blue Mountain Coffee, ample fuel for the ride. As I progressed along the trail I felt something wasn't right. About an hour into the ride the first waves of nausea hit as the crew stopped for a regroup and lunch, I tried to drink some cytomax but could only take a few sips. Another half-hour passed and at another regroup stop I pushed my bike past the crew and puked 5 or 6 times. Nothing I could do at this point of the ride but keep moving forward. I started pushing the bike more on the climbs and even the descents and when I descended to Irish Creek road I was riding like a beginner, tentative and hoping for an end to the ride. The climb up Irish Creek road is around 10 miles. At a stop at a small church I refilled my water bottle after pouring out the cytomax which I couldn't even sip. With nothing in my stomach and a few sips of water, a full scale bonk set in to accompany me on the ride up the mountain. James and Michelle rode along with me for a while until I couldn't hang any longer. The plan was made; James would ride up the mountain and come back down with his truck to end my suffering. With around 3 or 4 miles to go Ted G was a welcome sight in his truck. He loaded my bike and we drove to the top where James was waiting for me. Damn that hurt. That was the worse bonk ever, one that I wouldn't wish upon my worse enemy. I went straight to bed when I arrived home wishing for an end to the agony. I still felt bad when I got to work on Monday and then I found out that a stomach virus was running around which was the cause of my pain.

icicle 2008...

2008-01-01T21:51:00.001-05:00

January 1st, it must be time for the Icicle Ride hosted by the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Club. This year's ride was considerably colder than last year's edition. With the slow pace and constant wind it felt colder than it probably was. A few comfortable miles were found by dropping back off the group for an "au Natural" and then pushing the pace to catch back onto the group of 25+ riders. We stuck mostly to the gravel roads outside of Bridgewater and Dayton, and we even went down a road I never knew existed. It's always good to catch up with the H'burg crowd and meet new friends.

And I can honestly say that I've ridden every day this year. Yeah...

are you a Patriot...

2007-12-29T21:31:00.000-05:00

This has been on a few blogs already, but it bears repeating...

Yum...

2007-12-21T21:14:00.000-05:00

This one is for you Jeff.

A little carbo-loading after tonight's swim, some of Queen City Brewing's finest. A pint or two of the Munich Lager will cure what ails ya.

This weekend's big ride is a wash with the 80% chance of rain that is forecasted for Sunday. I'm not worried about missing a ride at this time of year. A game of racquetball and a swim will take its place. Once the new year arrives, it will be time to get serious with the long rides. The first race on the calendar isn't until May so I have plenty of time build up the fitness.

Thieves suck...

2007-12-20T19:33:00.000-05:00

Harlan's house was broken into recently. His Home.

His tools were stolen.
His laptop, camera and printer were stolen.
His new bike was stolen.

Harlan was out of his home only 40 minutes, but in that time, his world was turned upside down. Thieves suck. Burglars suck.

Harlan is one of the nicest people you could meet, which makes this crime worse in my eyes. I can think of a number of things to do to the thieves that would be righteous. Unleash Marsellus Wallace on them. But Harlan says it best in his craigslist.org post.

Harlan, I hope that your tools, electronics and bike are returned and the vacant hearted people are shown justice. I hope there is a reunion. It can happen. With a happy ending.

off the bike...

2007-12-19T20:21:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a training ride since the VACX Finals. This is not to say I haven't ridden my bike though. I'm still on the bike each day for the commute to work. 1.6 miles all downhill. At least it's downhill on the way to work. It's nice having such a short ride to work as I can make it home at lunch.

Some other things:

I will be racing again for Independent Fabrication Grassroots in 2008. There are new sponsors on board, notably Ergon grips. I'm looking forward to getting a pair on my bike as I've heard good things about them. Giordana will be the new clothing sponsor. I need to find out how their tri-shorts are constructed. I want a pair with the leg grippers that are on regular bike shorts. IF Racing will have a new website soon.

In addition to IF Racing, I will be a part of the GamJams Ambassadors program. The ambassadors are mid-atlantic cyclists who blog about racing/cycling. It's an interesting concept in that sponsors are able to broaden their reach throughout the cycling community. Check it out.

Queen City Cycling Club is dormant right now but will come out of hibernation once the gray days of winter begin to wain. The club will once again promote the Queen City Century in May. 2007 was the first year the club hosted the century and it was well received by those who rode it. The ride will again take advantage of the beautiful less-traveled roads of southern and western Augusta county, beginning and ending in downtown Staunton and will be the Sunday before the Mountains of Misery ride held outside of Roanoke.

On Sunday, December 23rd, James and I will be leading a long "ish" mountain bike ride. We are considering either the Southern Traverse trail or Whetstone Ridge trail off of the Parkway. Let me know if you're interested or get in touch with James at Black Dog Bikes.

a new Staunton blog...

2007-12-15T21:37:00.003-05:00

James has a blog site, check him out here.

Go ahead leave a comment, heckle him a bit.

new season...

2007-12-10T22:46:00.001-05:00

My offseason lasted a day.

I cleaned the dirt/mulch left on my swim goggles from my last XTERRA race in August and started swimming. I probably should have been swimming once or twice a week through cyclocross season, but there are only so many hours in the day and something had to give.

The swimming wasn't as bad as I imagined. I didn't drown. Or sink to the bottom. I actually made it across the length of the pool without stopping. A good thing I think.

My swimming is the weakest leg for me, and it's something I want to improve. I am tired of coming out of the water in mid-pack and having to work my tail off to make up places on the bike leg (leaving little in the tank for the run). This is especially difficult in the XTERRA events as I have to get around the fish on the singletrack. Most of them are considerate, but there have been some that think they can ride me off of their wheel. Not that I'm super fast or anything, but if I roll up on another competitor and announce my presence and ask for a bit of room, don't speed up like you're going to drop me.

Anyway, I'm focusing on the swim this winter and early spring so I can mitigate some of those issues. I will be working with my friend Connie over the winter on drills and specific workouts to, hopefully make this cyclist a swimmer/cyclist.

last race...

2007-12-10T22:45:00.000-05:00

My last race of the season was the VACX Final at Darden Towe park in Charlottesville. Last race until April or May of 2008, other than chasing a 17month old boy through the house, over dogs, toys and a skittish cat, through gates and around furniture. This was the 12th cyclocross race of the season for me; all 8 VACX events, 3 MABRA races, and 1 MAC race. These races were spread out over 12 weeks from late September to December. Ah not to bad, a race a weekend if you look at the average, but the VACX had 6 events over a three weekend span in October. This wasn't a bad thing overall, but it did make me peak earlier than I wanted. Lesson learned. I scored some points, had a solid season, and most importantly I enjoyed the competition and scene.

Okay the race details. Like I said above it was the last race of the season. I also had second place in the Masters 35+ in a full nelson. I couldn't move up or down even if I DNF'd. Which I'm loathe to do. Anyway, the motivation wasn't up there to flog myself, especially on Richard's course that had ups and downs, off camber niceness and enough fun to keep ya focused on the track in front of you. At the word go I took off for my first lap glory, Leave 'em saying "well he looked good at the beginning". Actually it's to stay out of any first lap pileups, go hard and let the chips ride. I even led the race, until the first hill when Ed D. came by like he always does. A few more come by, JH and Matt then Kevin. Crazy roars past me a some point. I keep K-Dawg in my sight and feel someone creeping up on me. Not sure of his name but he's riding a Planet Cross, so I know he has good taste. He leads me around a bit and Bill G bridges up to us. Bill G who can climb like a scalded cat on meth, starts to pull away from us and I think to myself that there's the wheeel to stick to. Bill pulls us up to Kevin and the three of us roll the course, Me and my 757 peeps. That's the way to race/ride.

With two laps to go Kevin decides to bolt from our kumbaya race and in a flash he's got 50m on Bill and I. It's up to me chase as Bill will not chase down a Tripower teammate. I'm having fun, but I don't have the gas to chase Kevin. Bill and I chat and come to the conclusion that there isn't a better way to finish the season then riding together. He cheers for me in races and I cheer for him, no matter the course or who's in the lead; and here we are riding the last lap of the year cheering each other. Kumbaya and all that, yeah it's sappy, but it's also what I love the most about cyclocross. The competitors. The friends I've made. The scene.

One one hand I'm glad the season is over, it's been a long one. I've had a few results to show for the hard work and a lot of great memories. But it's time to pull the plug and ease into the off season.

On the other hand i'll miss riding with the VACX crew, it's been fun. Best 'o luck to the crew going to Nationals. Show 'em how it's done in the Commonwealth.

Lucky 13...

2007-12-02T21:07:00.000-05:00

I began this entry on Sunday night, but could never get it going, so here's some short notes from the Capital 'Cross race in Reston.

-Cold, but not raining as the weatherchannel predicted.
-New back half of the course, made it considerably longer. And more fun.
-Had a second row start number, and was able to move up to the front row.
-Gave up my front row spot to Michael aka Crazy. He won.
-had a solid start, top 5 or 6 out of 45-50 starters.
-squeeked by the pileup at the first 180 turn on the first lap. (good starts are vital)
-felt great on the first lap, but didn't push the pace.
-started the inevitable slide backwards on the second lap
-saw 2 laps to go after the second lap. Longer laps and only 40minute race. would've liked another lap.
-DC Bikes rider passed me on the last lap but I clamped down on his rear wheel for the finishing straight sprint.
-pulled out of my right pedal as I hit the pavement to start my sprint.
-Finished 13th.

This was my 5th or 6th time racing at PVC's Reston event, and it never disappoints. Hung out after my race to catch up with my racing friends and meet new friends. We have a great racing community in the midatlantic region.

2 races to go...

2007-11-28T21:28:00.000-05:00

Only 2 races to go in the season. I'm not heading to Kansas City for Nationals so my last races will be Reston this weekend and the VACX finals in Charlottesville on the 9th. It's a good thing as my motivaton is waning. Ten races so far this cyclocross season, on top of 13 multisport and mountain bike races over the spring and summer has made this season quite long. Not that I'm complaining, I've had a great time at each one. Especially rolling in the green of Team IF.

Does anyone else have trouble getting in hard training efforts in the dark? I love mountain biking in the dark, but I can't seem to turn on juice when I'm on the Planet Cross at night.

Parker has a blog.

States...

2007-11-18T21:20:00.000-05:00

First of all, a well deserved thank you to Michael aka Crazy and everyone at TriPower for hosting the VA State Championships at Mt Trashmore. Helluva job. It's a great course and very spectator friendly from atop the "mount".

My race was not what I had hoped for coming off of my previous 3 events. I can tell how my race will be within the first minute of starting. If I'm on top of the pedals putting power into the bulldogs and in the top 2 or 3 spots, then I should do well. Yesterday, I lined up on the front row next Kevin, Bill G, and Ed D (the New England Patriots of Masters racing), right where I should be to watch these fast men. At the word go, I stood on the pedals and by the first turn, 200 meters into the race I was hanging on in sixth place. I knew right away the legs weren't working. Through the first lap I clung to the back end of the lead group and lost my grip on the second lap. Bill G and I traded pulls for a bunch of laps, I didn't want to lose his wheel. Crazy was on the mic, doing his thing with the race commentary at the top of the run up. With about 5 laps to go, I started feeling like I had some power in the legs so I pushed the pace and Bill yelled some encouragement but the lead trio was long gone. I ended up in fourth place, out of the money. that's racing. I had a lot of fun riding and racing with the 757 crowd as always.
I spun around after my race and gave a Patrick M a few pointers on the course layout before his Junior race. He lined up with 2 others, one of which was Mark E of TriPower. Mark got a gap on the first lap but Patrick battled back to Mark's wheel. Patrick threw a few attacks and created a few gaps but never found one that stuck. With about 3 laps to go, Patrick had problem with his chain and Mark kept going, and the selection had been made. Patrick did a great job riding with Mark and ended taking second behind him.

Marco was officiating at the second pit and took enjoyment in heckling me, such as "suck it up buttercup" and the like. He even had Holly calling me buttercup. funny guy. It's all good.

I wasn't sure what happened to Kevin after the second lap of my race as I didn't see him ahead of me. I finally caught sight of someone in a TriPower skinsuit piloting a go-fast machine. Here's the dawg himself, showing everyone how's done. He traded turns on Sally's pink go fast machine with Rob D since both of them were out with mechanicals. That's core.

After the race I met Jimmy M, and he said he had something for me. He gave me a bottle of his Speedy's #44 Hot Sauce and some 2Drunk2Shift stickers. The stickers will go on my Queen City Brewing growler, and the hot sauce was excellent on my black beans and rice. Thanks Jimmy.

Share The Road...

2007-11-14T21:18:00.000-05:00

Went to the Shenandoah Bike-Pedestrian Committee meeting this afternoon, a lot of good things are happening.

Local trail projects have been receiving monies through grants. The Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center STAR trail will soon see the final bridge connector constructed this winter. Eleven trails in the North River Ranger district of the GW National Forest will be using grant money to rebuild; to make good trails even better. Now we need to find grant money for the Berry Farm Trail System.

VDOT will be posting "Share The Road" signs between Waynesboro and the top of Afton mountain where the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway both begin. This stretch of Route 250 sees between 15-20 cyclists and pedestrians during the week and 40-45 during the weekend. Not sure if that was a daily count. It's good to see signs posted on this important entrance to the Shenandoah Valley.

Speaking of Bike Committees, Fritz over at cyclelicious isn't too happy to see someone gripe about the Denver Bicycle Advisory Committee. I understand Fritz's concern and in later comments he states he was having a bad day. It would be good if the quasi-governmental committees had more power and wherewithal to exact changes per theboyonthebicycle's comments. However, the people in power have to be reminded and shown that cycling has to be included in transportation decisions. This can only be accomplished by having people show up to each and every meeting. Involvement. That's what it takes. I see what other communities have accomplished and it's from the involvement of people who want change and are focused on seeing good things happen. Involvement with Tenacity.

It's a Boy, x2

2007-11-14T21:11:00.000-05:00

Congratulations Matt and Katie on the arrival of Mason Carter.

And Happy First Birthday to Owen.

Matt and I have been riding since pre-Judy days. Looking forward to seeing all the boys riding bikes soon.

Be well.

The Clif Bar 2 Mile Challenge

2007-11-12T20:46:00.000-05:00

Clif Bar has created the 2 Mile Challenge to help fight global warming one pedal stroke at a time. 40% of urban trips are 2 miles or less and by riding your bike for these trips you can reduce pollution, reduce traffic, and just ride a bike. Input a starting location and let them map out a 2 mile radius for you. Clif Bar is rolling through college campuses in the west taking the 2 Mile idea to college via a biodiesel fueled bus. Why not the East Coast???

The image above shows the 2 mile radius for my 'urban' rides. Here are some of the things/places within my 2 miles:
-Work
-Coffee Shop
-Bike Shop, downtown stores
-Grocery, Pharmacy, Doctor
-Restaurants, Bars
-Post office, baby sitter
-Parks

Couple of things that are outside of my 2 miles:
Wal-Mart, Mall No real loss there, huh?

Try it, map your location and see where 2 miles can take you. Then check out the 2 Mile Challenge blog.

Take the challenge.

killing crickets and a recap...

2007-10-31T21:50:00.001-05:00

Yeah it's been quiet around here. The two people that read this thing have given me grief for not updating it. So I'll stomp on some crickets to idle their chirping and give a brief update on what's been happening.

-Parker is still walking. He's learned how to ring a cowbell and yell "Go Go". And he is still pimping the IF Jersey at the races.

-Speaking of races, I've podiumed in the last 3 I've done. A 2nd, 3rd and 5th place. Wait, is 5th place a podium position, you may ask... Yes it is, when it's a MABRA race. They go 5 places deep and that was also the first time I've podiumed at a MABRA race. It was the Tacchino Cross in Leesburg. The 2nd place was in Richmond at the Ciclismo event promoted by Matt M. He beat me the day before at the Chimborazo race to take 2nd and leave me in 3rd. Nice Job Matt.

-Speaking of Richmond, we spent the weekend with Coach Jeff and Heather, thanks for the hospitality. We had a great time. Bandit was relegated to his kennel. Poor guy. Jeff will be coaching Harlan this upcoming year, they'll do great things together.

-Speaking of Harlan, he, Jeff, and myself represented IF racing at the Independent Fabrication World Tour event in Leesburg Virginia. Matt B came down from Boston and gave a lecture on IF bikes and the custom bike process at Plum Grove Cyclery. There were 52 IF bikes at the shop, a mix of steel, ti, road, mtn, cx bikes exhibiting the incredible range of paint options available. The following morning the shop hosted a ride on the back roads of Loudon County, which I heard are sweet. I missed it since I was racing in Richmond.

-Speaking of Racing, the next race on the schedule is the Virginia State Championship in VA Beach next weekend. We are looking forward to spending the weekend with my Aunt Jean and racing with my 757 peeps. No racing this weekend, Holly has a rake with my name on it.

that's about it, other than the normal wake, work, ride, repeat daily schedule.

better race and a milestone...

2007-10-21T15:39:00.000-05:00

I raced the Masters 35+ category at the Cobblestone Cross, and felt much better than yesterday. Rob C rolled away with it with Ed D right behind in second. James R rounded out the podium in third. I finished 5th just behind Bill G (thanks for the New Castle, I owe you one). He beats me and then gives me a beer, what a pal. Patrick won the Junior race and is 4 for 4 in the VACX series, new frame?? He finished, drank some water then lined up in the C race. A first lap mishap forced him to chase, but he stuck in it and finished second. Nice Job. Billy podiumed in the 45+ race in 3rd and Annette (thanks for cheering) had a solid race in the women's B. Great job to both of ya and to Andrew for winning the B race. It was good to see my 757 peeps, great racing Chris D, JB, Marco etal. I wonder how Dawg and Crazy did in Phillaware...

And now the milestone.

Look who's walking now...

ugh...

2007-10-20T19:12:00.001-05:00

Not a good showing today. The legs never found the punch that the course in Catharpin required. No energy.

It was probably not a good idea to get a flu shot on a Friday before a Saturday race. Nausea and a general sense of malaise washed over me once the race was completed. Holly commented that she knew something was wrong when I wasn't smiling during the race, while I knew something was up when I was shot out of the back like yesterday's burrito on the first lap.

Patrick rode a smooth race once again, it's time for the 'kid' to step up to the C or maybe even the B category to work on riding a more contested race. He is only going to get better.

Nice Job to Haymarket Bicycles for promoting a great race.

That's it, going to bed to get a bit of rest for the Cobbleston Cross race tomorrow.

make it a double...

2007-10-14T20:16:00.000-05:00

on second thought, I'll have a triple...

First shot, Sat: Corkscrew Cross, short course around 3:00 to 3:30 minute laps, I think we (master's) ended up doing 13 laps... I came in 3rd all alone. Basically a dirt crit with one set of narrowly spaced barriers that wove around a vineyard. I stuck around to watch Patrick run away with the Junior race. Nice jobbie job Rook... And Annette in the Women's B, nice job on stepping back into the race series after the knee issue.

Second shot Sun: Urban Cross, helluva course at the IX complex. Lot of technical features, off camber, run ups, barriers and a sand pit (10'x40'x10" of fresh sand). Fun, Fun and Fun. Legs were a bit cooked from saturday but I stayed around 3rd for most of the race until Mr Revere and Mr singlespeed in a SBC jersey came around me with 2 laps to go. I made it back around Mr Singlespeed and rode Mr Revere's wheel on the last lap. Got caught behind a lapped rider on the chicane section in the parking lot and tried in vane to make it around Mr Revere in the finishing straight, just not enough real estate to make the pass, so I ended up 4th.

James had Stella's for me on ice, ah belgium beer for a belgium sport. Hung out with the family and caught up with my racing friends some old and some new. Patrick kept up the pressure and won the Juniors for a second time. Annette and James both rode well as we knew they would. Not sure where Andy finished, kinda tough for a roadie on this course. Parker and I met Mandy of Vanderkitten fame after her Women's A win. Nice Job on the win and Parker still wants your sunglasses.

Third shot, Sun evening: Holly and I went on a mountain bike date while my mom watched Parker. We rode from home to Staunton's Secret Stash of Singletrack. Holly did well and we both had fun.

2 cx races and one mountain bike ride, a three shot weekend. Can it get any better???

Double race weekend...

2007-10-12T20:43:00.000-05:00

The weather finally turned cool so I'll be squeezing myself into the skinsuit, aka the sausage casing. It's finally feeling like 'cross season. CX races in 88 degrees is not fun. Tomorrow's race is at a new venue while Sunday's race is back again at the IX building albeit without the rain and mud of last year. darn.

If you're out this weekend look for the fat guy in the green skinsuit, that'll be me.

The gallery...

2007-10-10T20:34:00.000-05:00

Well Parker didn't win the Velonews photo contest. A crash photo won. oh well. Thanks to everyone who voted for him.

Big weekend coming up, on Saturday it's the UVA Homecoming game versus Connecticut. This follows the first race of the Virginia Cyclocross Series in Louisa. Luckily the game is at 3:30, which gives me plenty of time to race (at 10am) then make it back to the valley to catch a ride to Scott Stadium. No tailgating though. That will have to wait for the Wake Forest game.

On Sunday the second race of the VACX series takes place at Blue Wheel's IX Building, aka Urban Cross. Again, I'm racing at 10am but I won't have to rush off after my race. I'll stick around and drink James' beer, while I cheer and ring the cowbell for him, Patrick, his brother Andrew and Annette. I'll try to cheer for Billy as well but his race starts one minute after mine so I may have some trouble racing and ringing a cowbell for him.

Best of luck to my 757 peeps at Iron Cross.

Cute Kid...

2007-10-04T18:29:00.000-05:00

Parker made this week's Velonews Gallery.

Team IF p/b Sippy Cup

Let Velonews know how much you like Parker's picture and that it should be this week's winner, send an email to Rosters@InsideInc.com.

Spreading the Indy Fab Love...

Thanks...

Getting Dirty...

2007-10-03T21:30:00.001-05:00

Specification.

Shawn invited me to c'ville to partake in the Brownie Crit, a weekly mtn bike 'race'. Since this is a rest week, I said yeah and loaded the ti Deluxe for the trip to the farm. Seeing how I haven't ridden the deluxe in almost two months, I should have taken a bit of interest in tire pressure / age of the stans in the tire. About 150 meters into the preride, I burp the front tire and roll it off the rim. (fall #1) Thanks to James for letting me have some stans and the use of his floor pump. Fixed and off to preride, at least some of the trail.

Ride around the trail with Shawn, Dave, Jason and others was fun, although the tight switchbacks at the end of the course bit me (fall #2).

Light was mounted and the race begun. I rode within myself, taking it easy, never approaching the 'red'. no falls, whew. Tight, more Tight and Twisty trails. The course is the same as the Paranormal race coming up in a few weeks. I completed the lap in around 39 minutes, nothing stellar but that's ok, just looking to reacquant myself with mtn biking. Riding back to the car, I'm riding wheelies, having fun and the next thing I know, I'm flat on my back with my bike above me with my feet still clicked into the pedals (fall #3).

The ti Deluxe was punishing me for neglecting it. I know it. My guess is, it's jealous of all the time I've been spending with the Planet Cross. It has to understand that 'cross racing demands specification. Once the last 'cross race the ti Deluxe will get all the attention it deserves.

The sprint...

2007-10-03T21:29:00.001-05:00

from Ed Sander race between myself and Mark from HVB team was captured by Dennis Smith, photographer extraordinaire.

Go HERE for the sprint, then click the 'next' for the series of photos. In the second image the tubular explodes off of the rear rim.

Pretty cool stuff.

Ed Sander Cross...

2007-10-01T05:46:00.001-05:00

This race didn't go as well as I had planned. I had a third row call up but botched the start when I didn't punch it as I should have on the prologue section. I didn't have the aggressiveness that I normally have and a few riders came around me before the first barriers. At the barrier someone stacked it up in front of me and went down, I dismounted and tried to go around him, but he stood up at the wrong time. My crank/pedal jammed into his back and I'm sure he'll have a nice bruise. Unfortunately, this dropped my chain and I had to stop and throw it back on. Not a good start.

The rest of the race was spent reeling in riders and staying smooth. I was passed by some and pulled a few riders back. The Pond section of the course with the 90deg. turns was where I made up the most time. I would lose time on the road section. Just like Charm City I would make up time in the technical sections but cede it back on the power sections.

Not sure who it was, maybe FatMarc, but someone yelled for me to catch and pass a HVB rider on the last lap. I nodded and took off after him in the road section. I could see that his head was dropped and I made sure I was in front of him before the run up section at the far side of the course. I held him off going up the last hill and descended down the off camber hill. I was still ahead of him at the gravel pit right before the finish and held him off at the line as his rear tubular rolled off the rim. Quite an exciting finish even if it was for 20th place.

I heard a lot of people cheering for me and Holly even remarked that she heard them cheering for me. My Peoples... Thank You.

short notes:

Parker was sporting his IF jersey and was spreading lots of Indy Fab Love.
Andrew McK didn't ride with us to the race, I guess he'd rather hang out with Jeremiah than Parker... Andrew had a solid race, but may need to work on the remounts.
Patrick McK also had a solid race and took 2nd (even though the results show 3rd erroneously) in the Mabra Junior race. Nice Job at your first 'cross race.
Chris N won the 35+ B race but couldn't stay for the podium since he has a 1 month old at home. Parker's Jogger filled in for Chris on at the top of the podium. Great win Chris.
We stayed for the Elite race and rang the cowbell for Jeremiah. Go JB!!
On the ride home my throat started to hurt, and by the time we were in Winchester, it was on fire. This led to a nice Head Cold in time for Sunday Night Football. Luckily, this is a rest week and next weekend is open. I should be back in time for the start of the VA series.

Thank You Holly.

anticipation...

2007-09-28T05:59:00.001-05:00

Ed Sanders race, hosted by NCVC is soon. At least the first one is out of the way, whew.

Need to replace the saddle on the Planet Cross. I keep destroying the Titec Ithys Gove saddles I have. Either Titec discontinued the saddles due to quality issues or I'm the real FatMark. I'm leaning towards the FatMark story, sorry FatMarc but you won your race it may time to relinquish that moniker.

Speaking of leaning, here's a photo taken by Kevin Dillard of VeloPhotos.net. I've mentioned Kevin before, and I'll keep mentioning him. Great Photographer.

Charm City Cross...

2007-09-24T21:02:00.001-05:00

Charm City rocked. Great Job to Kris Auer, Chris Nystrom and everyone associated with the race. Fun and challenging course was laid out at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore. It was almost the same as last year except for the addition of a 'prologue' section.

I had a 2nd row start and was in the top 4-5 for the first lap. After the prologue section I felt someone rubbing against my rear tire. This ended at the first technical off-camber turn when that person rubbed a little too much and I heard "rider down" behind me. I saw a few racers take turns a bit too fast and slide out.

I stayed in the top 15 thru 30 minutes then I started fading. My dismounts and remounts felt smooth. It was a fast course, hard grass with a lot of sharp turns that were silt and dusty. In the tree section the turns had plenty of acorns on the ground to keep you focused on staying smooth. The course had 4 tech sections, 2 man-made barriers, one natural barrier, and one sand pit. Fun stuff. I finished in 19th out of 67 starters in B (Men 3/4). I'm happy with that placing as I was hoping for a top 20. Felt a lot faster than last year so that's an improvement. My finish is better than last year as well.

First race and I feel like I have room for improvement as the season progresses. Jeff has the training plan scheduled to have me peaking later in the season.

It's good to get the first one out of the way. Charm City is a big race, everyone seems to come out for it, and then the attendance drops.

Andrew McK went to the race and did the B race with me, he placed 17th in his first cyclocross event. We may have a roadie to cyclocross convert. Watch out VA B racers, Andy will be tough competition, as will his younger brother Patrick who will vie for the Junior category.

Again great job to everyone at C3-Sollay.com for hosting the event. And Nice Job to FatMarc for winning the Masters 35+ B race. Thanks for cheering for me.

Thank you to Independent Fabrication and Allez Training Systems for all the help you provide so I can do as much as I can with what little talent I have.

And a big Thank You to Holly, Jamie, Kal and Parker for cheering and ringing the cowbells for me.

More cowbell....