Confessions of a Clydesdale...

Table: Round 2

2010-03-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

We had a rare break in the weather over the last few week so all my spare time was spent riding/training for the upcoming season....whatever that's looking like. I had my first "official" race of the 2010 season last weekend as part of the Hincapie Spring Series held at the BMW Test Facility. This was a road bike race, and while I'm not much into that whole scene...the chance to race on the Test Track was just too much to resist. Plus the course suited me well, flat and smooth. Long and short of the race was that I was outsmarted in the last 500m. I felt good all race, stayed up front but stayed low in the last turn which allowed a group of six to charge high and cut in just ahead of the second wheel I was holding...forcing me from second to eighth with less than 200m to go. Ended up fifth in the sprint...won't make that position mistake again. Here's a cool pic that ole' "brokeback" (Thea) found while surfing the intraweb looking for pictures of me....weird, i know.

Enough with all that boring roadie stuff. The point to all the above rambling is that the table has taken a back seat for the last few weeks....coupled with he fact that my folks were coming and I wanted Dad around to bounce some ideas off. He and I worked for a day and half and pretty much got it all done except for the finish and the hardware that is purely decorative. Good times, and great memories. As of right now the top is in my dining room....barely fitting...and drying the last coat of dark walnut stain. Hopefully I'll have the top clear coated tomorrow night then continue waiting for the "treated" legs to dry outside so I can stain them. Should be all wrapped up in a week or so.

The first MTB race of the year is next weekend as part of the Chain Buster Racing 6/12hr series. Same series I raced in last year, just different name. As of right now I don't feel too good about my chances...legs feel heavy as does the tire around my waist. This season will really be interesting. More to come.

New Dining Room Table

2010-02-08T17:48:00.000-08:00

So for the first 4 1/2 years of marriage Doctor J and I haven't had a dining room table. This hasn't really been a problem, especially for me, because all of our bikes over flowed from my "bike room" out into the dining room leaving me with plenty of room to do all sorts of things in my personal man cave....evidently this is no more. Doctor J has had her eye on this particular table from Pottery Barn for as long as I can remember and being the handyman extraordinaire that I am...I'm going to build it. Most folks have no idea that woodworking is a hobby of mine that I thoroughly enjoy and one I have very fond memories of my dad and I working on together. Now granted every time in the past that I have wanted to build anything I would just head out to dads garage and we would make thoughts into reality with all his tools....I however do not posses said tools. No worries, I think it can be done. And in the words of my new friend Bob, "All you need for woodworking is a good square and your brain". Well said Bob.
This is the table that Doc is wanting and one that I will undoubtedly rip off. Luckily our local Pottery Barn has this table on their showroom floor leaving yours truly to sneak in and take as many pics as possible. I was also able to find a cool video on YOU tube, how? I have no idea, about the "inspiration" of the table which shows a few good angles that I wasn't able to get crawling around on the PB floor. All that said...here are a few pics from this afternoons beginnings of my new table.

Yes my licence plate says TOYBOX3, deal with it. While the Element is perfect for 95% of everything I do...some days I do miss my truck.
Basically the idea is too make an internal frame, pictured, and then hang all the Poplar(Birch wasn't available)around it creating a very sturdy table top for the legs to attach to. If you look closely at the PB picture you see that the table is severely distressed. Obviously lumber isn't sold in this fashion so I spent the better part of an hour distressing my new 300$ pile of wood....crazy I know.
Trust me...there is a method to what you see. The large squares in the corner are twice as thick as well as glued and screwed into the frame which should make for a solid attachment point for the legs. Its a work in progress with the majority of plans still floating around in my head. Unfortunately, like I mentioned before, I don't have a garage, or a nice shop to work in....just the covered patio with Mandi there to help me. One day tools will be in their proper place on a wall of peg board long as the eye can see...one day.

New Shop Location

2010-02-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

So just a little FYI, the shop I've been working at, Carolina Triathlon, just moved about 1/2 mile further down Main St. here in lovely Greenville, SC. How does this affect me....mmmmm not that much. Actually now I have to take two more turns in order to complete my 1.5 mile commute each morning, I'm a little bitter. Here's a few shots after just two weeks of occupancy....slowly but surely we are making it home. Soon we will be able to really enjoy being literally across the street from the "little Fenway", home to the Red Sox organizations AA team...it's going to be great. If you take a look at the pic on the right you can see there is a loft over the shop...currently empty. The city just approved our "structure" so now the stairs go in which will give access to 400sq ft of storage as well as a fit area and "the BOSS'S" office. Hopefully they get this project done sooner than later, the space is already beginning to feel cramped with boxes.
As it sits now there are over 200 bikes on the floor and space for more...that's a lot of bikes under one roof. Specialized, Look and Cervelo with approx. 80% being Specialized. This crusty old fellow is Mark K...aka "Grumpy. Hands down the best mechanic in town as well as George H. personal mechanic...doesn't hurt having him on staff, if you can stand his jokes. I have to admit it's pretty cool to have some big name cyclist stroll in the shop...even if it is just for Mark to tweak their bikes The next few photos are some of "Yogi's" artwork...as I've been so affectiontly named. I will say the door handle was a team effort by "Mini Me"...aka Brian M. (There you go Goose, there's your props.) And I can't leave out my boy Kevin S. for sending me the pic of the Cannondale staff bathroom where I got the paper towel holder idea, pretty cool. In case your wondering, No, we didn't just cut up a random S-Works Transition frame...some lady ran it into her garage while it was on top of her car...now it's destined to a life of art. There you go, a little window into my daily life...the place that claims more of my time/money than my wife gets. So much so that I feel the need to make it my own.

Holi-daze

2010-01-28T15:51:00.000-08:00

Man I've missed you!! Not in the, "I cant get you out of my head, we'll be together forever, junior high love kinda way"...but more in the, "reuniting with an old friend on Facebook kinda way...glad to see them, but you could take 'em or leave 'em". The winter months have been somewhat kind...the weight only slightly increased while the workload stayed constant. Don't get me wrong, my diet sucked and the "internal training clock" was a little late flipping on, actually just two weeks ago, but all in all i say it was a success. Regardless of all that, i was able to get in some solid miles throughout the last few months of winter, I'd say average about 100-150 miles/week...give or take. Weekly shop rides as well as mtn biking a few times a week really helped maintain an otherwise lacking moral for training. If I may use another excuse...the weather did play a pretty huge role in the lack of "focused" training this winter. That being said, it did allow for some pretty fun little outings.

I've ridden in snow in years past, but one day last month me and the rest of the boys headed up to Dupont for a little mtb'ing. I can honestly say that I have not had this much fun riding a bike since proably the first time i ever rode solo for the first time...it was an absolute blast. It was like racing down a luge on a bike...every turn was banked perfectly. It was a riot!! The conditions were perfect...6+ inches a few days prior and temps that had warmed the top layer of snow just enough to freeze it solid, but soft enough to get a few treads in for all the turns. It gave me a chance to try out my new Ergon riding pack which i have to say works just as advertised, perfect. Ended up with a around three hours of riding in some pretty cool conditions, the crazy thing is that a week prior DZ and I were up there riding in shorts sweating our butts off...ah weather in the South. Fast forward a few weeks/storms and you'll see another "first" for me....Ice Climbing. I've seen it done but never had the opportunity to make it happen, finally i did. You may recall a few blogs ago about a road ride we did up Hwy 215 to the Blue Ridge Pkwy....same road, different sport. There is a section at around 4500 feet right before you hit the Pkwy that is perfect for some top-rope ice climbing. Granted it wasn't that tall, maybe 55' or so but the experience and technique was just the same. Luckily one of DZ's friends had all the ice gear and was more than hospitable for everyone to use it. Jeff P made the trip up mainly cause he wanted to get some rapelling practice in for some of his up coming adventure races, but in the end with the help of my boots he too was able to get a good session in.Although we didn't need them Tadd brought plenty of ice screws up just to practice setting, those are a pretty mean devices if you've never seen them in action. I was also able to bum a propane heater from Grumpy at work just to make sitting up on the 15 degree road side a little more bearable.Needless to say there were plenty of blog worthy moments the past few months, but due to the "holi-daze" that has befallen upon me i was lacking some serious motivation. Thanksgiving was a quick blur, basically a three day turnaround in Bham...Christmas was a first for us, no family just Doc and i here at the house with the dogs, different, but extremely relaxing. New Years was a blast at the Harris' house, as long with pretty much every Sunday for all the bowl games and NFL playoffs....thanks Jeff. Now it's time to get back to "focused" training while setting up racing schedules and for the next few months hitting the trainer pretty hard...the weather will change on you in an instant. 65 and Sunny last Thursday then 2+ inches of snow and ice Friday night....crazy. Needless to say the posts will regain some sort of regularity...now that "the season" is both behind and in front of me. Pedal on.

Nada

2009-12-11T18:21:00.000-08:00

So this would be considered a "guilt-post", not a lot is going on at the moment to warrant any "good" blogs, so out of guilt for lacking follow through...I blog. For all those that are still waiting for pics from the Somoa trip, get in line. My travel partner, Matt, has yet to email me the two thousand pics we took during our journey, so you will just have to keep waiting, don't worry...patience builds character.

This is the time in the cycling world where those that enjoy cyclocross, keep racing...and those that enjoy time-off, do nothing. I report to the later locker room with all of my other off-season peeps. Pretty much this time of year for me consist of constant evaluation of how I came up short last season and thoughts of how to "Un-Clyde" myself, so far I've been doing a lot of both, but with minimal to no success. Don't get me wrong, I'm still putting in some solid miles, around 150-200 per week but there really isn't any motivation. No worries, this is the time for long slow miles with possible coffee shop stops mid ride...possibly why i find myself consistently singing, "Its the most wonderful time", during our rides. We've had a couple chances to get out and hike as of late, which is nice. You ride so often it's nice to hop off the bike and do a little exploring on foot, the cross-training aspect is a bonus as well.

Tomorrow starts the the UWBL, a winter series of progressively longer organized training rides with dedicated spring zones every Saturday during the off season. I've been told that George and Craig are regulars who like to "mix it up" with the mortals. Should be pretty fun. Tomorrows route takes us South to rolling hills in constant 30 degree temps for around 3.5hrs.....layer, layer, layer. Looks like i'll be helping lead the "B" group which will be around 65ish miles, should be a good time.

There has been the occasional mtn bike trip, but nothing like the summer ones. It's a little sketchy riding in Pisgah this time of year...the locals refer to it as "brown ice", in reference to the blanket of leaves over the already gnarly trails. I, for one, am not a big fan of riding by braille, not a good day. That being said every Monday, my day off, we have headed to either FATS, Charlotte or Spartanburg to ride a little more "organized" trail system with way less penalty for not seeing that rock.

Hopefully there will be more to come in the near future.

Sweet Green River

2009-11-10T16:08:00.000-08:00

While most of you are waiting to see pics from the trip South, I must interject and fill you in on my weekend. Don't worry as soon as the pictures download and the ink dries from the tip of a boars husk I'll give you the skinny on the island trip. Friday night I was chatting up a life long pal, G-Slim, and of course the convo was based around our love for all things awesome....kayaking is always a baseline in that talk. We're fumbling around the intra-web looking at the latest and greatest new kayak swag when I find some whitewater kayak event that's being held close to mi casa up on the Green River...what the hey, Dr. J is working tomorrow, I'll be adventurous and go check it out. I was shocked at what i found.

Only sure of the start time of the event, but not sure of the actual location i headed out early confident I'd find my way....no worries. Head North towards the mtns and what do i see but the Dagger team car ahead of me in traffic, surely they are going to the race...after a quick pow wow with team Dagger at the gas station, i keep heading North. Zig, Zag and finally find this extremely remote trail, the parking is already two miles thick along the two lane country road..."Just head down the trail", one paddler says. 1.5 miles later, I'm still hiking, down...steeper and steeper until i hear the river...there must be some serious water ahead. I had no idea. I pop out in a deep granite gorge next to a waterfall that's feeding an already full river....SICK! To be so deep in the gorge and feeling the water course threw like blood threw an athletes veins, feeling every pulse...deafening. I had no idea there was this kinda water around here....my heart almost jumped out of my chest for the next three hours.

Evidently the Green River Narrows Race has been going on since the mid 90's and is basically a race against the clock down whats called the "Monster Mile"....a one mile stretch of river that is nothing but class IV,& V+ drops....if that means nothing to you, then please, please watch this video. Majority of all the spectators planted roots at "Gorilla", the nastiest of all the drops, due to the sheer volume of water, the moves needed to set up, as well as the narrowness of the chute you exit in...amazing. Paddlers from all over the world converge just South of Asheville, NC to race in what is deemed as the "...most dangerous kayak race in the world.". For the next three hours me and 1000 like minded spectators cheered for the 162 competitors who charged every fall as if it was the last one they would ever hit. I was blown away at the burliness of the river, and all just 30 miles North of my doormat.Evidently this is an international competition attracting the worlds best steep creek boaters, and they were all out in force on Saturday. The Green River gets a ton of attention from paddlers all over the world for one reason....water. It's a dam released river, which is awesome, but the fact that it runs 300+ days/yr at full flow down IV & V moves it what is the real attraction. Ya, these were the best in the world and made most every drop look insanely easy and while several had to be rescued from some pretty nasty situations....i still must do this race, or at least run this section at some point during my stay on this big rock. To witness a boater slip their boat though granite boulders in the midst of a raging river that is doing all it can to wreck them, it's a beautiful thing. Dr. J will of course have nothing of this, but...forgiveness is easier than permission...right? Enjoy the photos, one day soon they will be of me in that fall.

Far, Far East

2009-10-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving the country. Tomorrow I board a plane bound for Dallas, TX, then Honolulu, Hi, then the final destination Pago Pago, American Samoa....I challenge you to find that on a map. A good friend of mine works for a recently established non-profit Christian organization(TWCD-That's What Christians Do) that does International disaster recovery work....and he needs a hand. The plan is to develop contacts within the Red-Cross so that in the future when disasters occur we can rally a team and head to ground-zero at a moments notice, wherever that may be. There's plenty of work to be done on the island of American Samoa...if you remember they had a HUGE tsunami hit their island about a month ago, a thousand plus dead and millions of property damaged or loss. Matt and I aren't really sure what we're getting into once we land there, or who to even talk with...we're basically winging it and praying for some things to fall into place. Luckily I'm able to leave the tent at home, Matt just yesterday found us a place to stay in AS...fingers crossed it has a/c!! The pictures I'm sure don't do the beauty justice, or even the devastation...hopefully we can make a difference.
I'll spare you the details of the remoteness of the island as well as how small it is to everything we know here in the States...you can Google it and find out for yourself. I'm fortunate that my job situation, or lack there of, allows me to take part in such a beautiful endeavor, helping mankind, as well as traveling to the other side of the world to explore a strange new place....I've no doubt that it will be an adventure, in every sense of the word. Needless to say i won't be blogging for a bit, sorry, you'll have to get your "fix" from somewhere else...might I suggest coming up with ways to ditch work for a few days and come help us on the next disaster??? The organization is called TWCD-That's What Christians Do, and it absolutely should be, however regardless of your "religious" views, it's what we should ALL do. Start small, help an old lady across the street or something....it's the "Theory of Momentum", once you get started, it's hard to stop. I'll see you in a few weeks, with plenty of stories I'm sure. Filemu Tofa.

Update

2009-10-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Thea finally made it home last week. After 5 days in the hospital and one Xena, "Warrior Princess" style back brace she was able to make her way down the elevator then onto "Recovery Road".
I had the opportunity to go visit her Friday night and thankfully see a completely different look in her eye...though still in crazy pain, she was coherent and joking....a stark contrast to a few days prior. As of right now no surgery is scheduled but she is going to have to travel back in a week for a check-up to determine if surgery is needed. She's one tough gal. Unfortunately she is going to have one GIGANTIC bill at the end of this so the shop we work at is setting up several benefit rides on her behalf. The man himself, George Hincapie, has agreed to do a "Win a ride with George" raffle on November 15th...what an awesome thing to do George...thanks.

Things have been rather slow here..not much going on. The "NO-RIDE" bug continues to bite, leaving me completely unmotivated to train or even race. This past weekend was the last event in the Dirty Spokes 12Hr series, so "Doctor J" and I packed the Element and headed over to meet up with our friends, Kevin and Ashley. Neither Kevin and I were completely stoked about the race...the course was two days deep in rain with a 60% chance for race day....not fun news to start a 12hr race. The abridged version of the race as follows: Start off unmotivated...race a lap hoping to "get in the mood", nothing...race another three laps, still not in the mood, legs weak, no power...race a fourth lap...wreck, tweak wrist....good excuse to pull out. Kevin ended up knocking out two more laps then saw all the fun we were having in transition and called it quits as well...no worries, Oktoberfest was happening just a few miles away in downtown Helen...off we went.

We spotted this little gem on the way out...I know the Element is versatile but this thing is ridiculous!!!

Sunday we did a little sight seeing, well as much as possible with rain clouds looming overhead. We drove up to Brasstown Bald, highest point in Georgia, just to check out how disgusting the climb was that the Tour de Georgia riders had to do....i was gonna take a pic, but there was just no way to get perspective on just how steep this road was....absolutely brutal. Snapped a few pics of the leaves in full "change" mode then said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways. Obviously the race didn't go according to plan, but at least we got to hang with good friends. Kevin and I both decided that next season the 6hr series sounds much more appealing.

Like I said, pretty boring around here now that the race season is coming to an end. I'm still ironing out details for the winter training schedule....as for now though it's just long slow rides with local Upstate riders. See you on the road...

I can wear heels now...

2009-10-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

...was one of the first things she said when the doctor told her she had crushed her T8 vertebra and that she would be over a 1/2 inch shorter.

A good friend of mine and I went mtn biking yesterday at the US Whitewater Center up in Charlotte...you know the trails...I've blogged on them before. Ten minutes into the ride she wrecked, bad. Thea is the girl i spoke of in earlier blogs who just won the Cat1 SC State Road Race a few weeks ago...she's also raced in 24 Hours of Moab....so she's no stranger to riding. Today was just one of those days.

We hit the trail like normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Took a right onto the black diamond trail, across the bridges, up the climbs....chilling. I roll into an 8ft drop in not even thinking about it...pause and wait for Thea to hit it. She stops at the top, questions it, then rolls in.

That was it, the moment when the day took a very surreal turn.

I can only assume that as she gripped the bars she didn't feather the brakes at all, cause when she rolled in...she was hot...hit the small two foot bump at the bottom which sent her rear wheel over the front. If you're a mtn biker then you know how scary and helpless this feeling can be. I equate it to learning to do a front flip off a diving board as a kid...your feet just weren't meant to travel over your head. Standing a few feet away I witness as her body is horizontal in the air and see it crash head first into a root the size of your forearm....causing her body to immediately go limp, only for a second before it seizes. Rushing over i can see her eyes roll back and body tense up, luckily this only last for 5-6 seconds. I immediately grab her neck to keep her from moving or even trying to stand, she's stubborn. At this point she cant speak for lack of breath, think wind knocked out of you x10. I lay her back against the embankment stabilizing her neck, her breath is shallow and now she's beginning to put words together. Luckily I have experience in wilderness/back country medicine....thank goodness...just enough knowledge to keep her stable till the real medics arrive. I do pray that I never have to see the look that was in her eyes again...on anyone...absolute 100% sheer panic. Not sure how to breath or let alone move your toes....that was the worst part for me, looking in her eyes.
Pictures of this helmet are proof that you should always were one. There are ten more cracks that you can't see...imagine.

Taking my gloves off i run my hands around checking for any blood, none. Next was arms and legs...quick prayer...luckily she was able to move her toes, feet, etc...as well as arms...and she still had one hell of a grip. So far no nerve damage. Certain her collar bone was broke i unzip her jersey, to my surprise it's not. Still no blood. During this little exchange she is gasping and trying to tell me that she can't breath. Ya, i got that one Thea, thanks. Pulse was strong, circulation was good...no immediate danger...I called 911. There was just barely enough cell service to get a call out and to let them know our rough location...all the while I'm fighting with Thea to not pass out and to keep breathing.

Luckily 15 minutes after the incident another biker came by....I told him to head back to the start and let a staff member know exactly where we were so the paramedics could find us. Hard part is that in terms of civilization we weren't very far out, but from any form of a road we were a good 300+ yards away. There was a long thirty minute period of keeping her calm and trying to keep her awake before the paramedics show up. At this point Thea is still gasping for air but has been able to muster some courage to at least calm down a little. After they check her out we slide her on a back board and start the hike out...she moans the whole way.

After finally getting into a room at the ER they begin testing and hooking up some xrays. Looks like you might have broken a rib and fractured your scapula....but we have to do a CT to be certain. These were some very painful test...unfortunately they have to manipulate your body to the desired position to snap the pic....she almost passed out several times. It took a couple of hours before the CT results came back....she'd really done a number on her back. 6 broken ribs, 6 transverse process'(the little nub between each rib on your spine), crushed her T8 vertebra and had a slight puncture in her lung. Thank god no spinal cord damage. It's pretty evident now why she was having trouble breathing...each breath causing your lungs to expand and pushing out on all those breaks.....BRUTAL!!!

As of right now she's still in the hospital in Charlotte with doctors trying to decide if she needs surgery or not...hopefully not. This was definitely not the day that I thought I was gonna have, but then again that's when accidents strike. You ride like we ride long enough and sooner or later Betty, the cycling goddess, will strike. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Thea during your recovery...may it be full and swift.

SRAM for President!!

2009-09-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

While there are many stories regarding the Leadville trip still in the vault..this one is a "must hear". The night before I was to meet the crew in Jackson, Ms to begin our journey, I was packing up a few things and doing exactly what you shouldn't do to your bike before a big event....check it over, just one more time. I did absolutely nothing to it, except literally look it over and squeeze the rear brake...dead. Lever squeezed all the way to bar. For those that don't know, this is bad..especially on a hydraulic brake. I looked at the clock saw it was 30 minutes till closing time at the shop, packed up and headed there. Due to a "one in a million wreck" in the 1 mile between my house and the shop i arrived with 15 minutes to go. No worries i can bleed brakes that fast, maybe. Luckily i did and everything was right and I packed up and went on my merry way....not so much. I did get the brakes bled in time, but 5 minutes after i was bragging about my work, squeezed the lever and it's dead again. A few curses were thrown out, but i decided to "run what i brung", i can do Leadville with just a front brake....no worries. In the words of my pal Tagg, "No one ever stands on the podium and thanks a brake sponsor." Good point Tagg. Luckily I caught myself before this stupid thought grew to an even larger mistake which would of course left me in a "hail marry" attempt and utterly out of control headed down Powerline. There were a few more attempts made that night to remedy the situation, but nothing stuck. Broken, but not beaten I stripped the Cannondale of it's BB7 in the event that i wouldn't be able to fix the Elixir prior to race day.
Fast forward two days: We arrived at Wizzers house in Denver, caught some shut eye, then awoke to realize I still had a nasty brake situation going on. Now let me say this, I know that the BB7 would have worked great, fine, no problems...but after going hydraulic, you don't go back...there in lies the problem. I had to fix this prior to race day. We tried once more to bleed, even reading the instructions this time....but once again they were fine for five minutes then, dead. In a last ditch effort I decided to call SRAM, they have an amazing Customer Service dept. as well as an even better warrenty policy. Putting on my best, "Daddy I have a flat and I can't fix it," voice I dialed up SRAM. Ten minutes later, there was a new Elixir on it's way to a shop close to our house in Frisco...no questions asked. I'm sure there are numerous companies that would do this and ensure that the product would be "over-nighted" for the customer to make the race-day cut toff...or are there? I know SRAM is one of them.

But here's the rest of the story: The brake didn't arrive. We woke Friday morning, headed to Leadville to pick up our goodies and see all the hoopla about Mr. Armstrong and were going to stop at the shop on the way back and pick up the brake. No dice. Evidently the "Big Brown" shipping company was late that day and missed the store closing, therefore, no brake. BOO!!! What can brown do for me? GET THERE ON TIME!!!!!! All hope wasn't lost thanks to the owner of Gravitee, the bike shop. Call it what you want, luck, karma..whatever...but the owner of the shop actually lived in the apartment that was attached to our condo in Frisco...ya, small world. After hearing my problem, he in that cool, Colorado way said, "No worries bro, take mine." Life saver. He had a 2009 Giant Anthem in the garage where we were staying that had some Hayes Stokers on it...luckily it fit and I was able to race with two functioning hydraulic brakes. The brakes did eventually show up on Monday, picked them up, slapped them on, and spent another week riding Crested Butte and Durango with no problems. Moral of the story, BUY SRAM....and don't forget the kindness of strangers. Pay it forward.

Lazy Days

2009-09-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

We've all been bit by the bug of laziness here...even the weather has joined in...instead of working hard to provide glorious sunshine, it's been overcast and spitting rain now all week. The dogs have the right idea. I did somehow muster the strength to get out and grab a few rides this week, nothing to exciting but it was new roads/routes so that was nice. One of the nice things here in the Upstate is that all the "popular" routes to ride are marked...all you have to do is pick a route then follow the colored arrows on the road to find your way around, really makes it nice. One of the more popular rides is the "Bakery" ride...basically head up to Tigerville, Sc, park and ride the watershed up to Saluda, SC where there is a nice little local bakery, fuel up, then cruise home. Nothing special about the ride, pretty mellow...it is pretty much up-hill all the way there(16 miles)then you get to cruise home. To my knowledge there is nothing special about the little town of Saluda, as you can see by the pic of main st., other than being just another small town tucked in the shadows of the Blue Ridge mtns, regardless, it's a nice turn-a-round spot. JeffP and I decided to make the ride a bit longer on Tuesday...riding from my house, rolled by his house and let him jump in the draft then headed north towards Saluda. Weather held off on the way there, but inevitably on the way home it dumped....i said it dumped...for about an hour solid we road in POURING rain. Awesome. Luckily on the way home we were able to cut it a bit short and hop on the new Swamp Rabbbit trail and avoid what was certain death on wet roads with huge traffic. Day ended with 85 miles and 4500ft gained...oh and did i mention it was wet? Wednesday i got out and just road from Tigerville up to Saluda, only 35 miles, with TheaK in what turned into a 2 hour rain ride....wet again, not sure if the bike is ever gonna dry out. TheaK just won the SC Cat1 State Championships as well as becoming the newest member of the Colavita women's team...ya she's a strong rider...but she can't touch me on the downhills!! Here's a video of her a few weeks ago winning the SC Cat1 State Championship...congrats kid, I'm sure there are many more to come.

That was the week in a nutshell...pretty boring. Next on the table is the last race of the Dirty Spokes series. Right now I'm in the points lead for Clydesdale and sitting somewhere in the top 5 expert...after that it's the Swank65. Then it's time to let the bike hibernate for a few weeks while the fork is sent off to S-EX for some much needed TLC after a long season. Peace out.

It's just what I do.

2009-09-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

So i just got this email from Specialized saying that they are looking for a "few" new Trail Crew members for the next year...all you have to do is write a blog and "tweet" to them the address and if chosen, you win a 2010 S-Works FSR and a bunch of other swag. So....let me get this straight?.....blog about bikes,check....write about new trails and blog about them weekly,check.....get all your friends excited about mountain biking(especially on Specialized bikes),check.....this seems oddly familiar? Almost like what I am already doing? Maybe it's just me, but this seems like a perfect match, almost a match made in heaven? Who knows, maybe it's just me? For those that know me...they are certain of two things...1)Dude has a hot wife who also rides...and 2)Dude is passionate about some biking. For better or worse this is me.

I thought about what to write so that hopefully I would be chosen as a 2010 Trail Crew member....but nothing inspiring came to mind. Maybe jot down a few lines about all the places mtn biking has taken me over the years and how most of the good things that have happened to me are as a result of friends that I've made on the trail while either riding, racing or doing a little trail maintenance....but then i thought that would be too lame. So what to write? How my first 4 mtn bikes were Specialized bikes and how they were for a very long time the stick by which every other bike was measured? No, that's even lamer. So finally i just said screw it, I'm gonna blog like it's any other day and just tell you, my faithful readers, about the latest and greatest trail that i hit up last week, and for better or worse, let the excess lube drip off my chain and fall where it may....so que sera, sera.

Since returning from Leadville I've had ZERO desire to ride...much less ride SS. Not sure if it's the culmination of the big "A" race of the year finally coming to an end or just late season blues....not sure. Whatever the reason there are still two more races left on the calender, actually three but i punted one, so knowing this, training must still go on. JeffP and I decided to head up to Pisgah last week and meet up with some other "guest" riders and give them a taste of true Pisgah Forrest mtn biking. I guess it was actually my first time to hit up the "classics" that make Pisgah what it is...Mulinax, Squirrel Gap, Burnt Mtn...and Turkey Pen trails were all on the agenda for the day. After a way too long detour at Sycamore Cycles(Specialized dealer...see them for all the Specialized HI-ZOOT needs)in Pisgah Forrest we made our way to Turkey Pen trail head and quickly hit the trail.

Some of the guys were, pretty green to mtn biking...no worries, we were all there at one point...just nice to get more folks out on the dirt. We finally crossed one of two suspension bridges of the day, headed up Mulinax and made our way to Squirrel Gap through some absolutely amazing single track, some of the crown jewels of Pisgah....rhododendrons provided the canopy, and yellow jackets provided the need speed. One of the dudes, we'll call him Popeye, had a avery bad day....he amassed 8+ bites, on his head and back....for me, I'd be done...but he's a military man and to Popeye...this was nothing. We forged on. Twenty minutes later his front wheel goes one way, handlebars the other....curses...that Cannondale Lefty fork is so finicky. Needless to say his day was over. Popeye and his three musketeers headed back down to their car while JeffP and I rambled on.

Barring a wreck, or a mechanical it's incredibly difficult to have a bad day up in Pisgah...gorgeous views and amazing vegetation woven together with some of the sweetest single track found on the east coast make for very good days. We rode for hours without seeing a soul...just the sound of the 29er crunching up the trail....all the way up to Burnt Mtn which somehow actually seems to overlook Ceasers Head....awesome. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of STEEP hike-a-bike sections that require some desire/tenacity to want to summit...but for those that do...it's worth it. The single track off the other side is a white knuckled, rear wheel locked kinda good. I fancy myself a solid rider, but when the trail is damp(as it always is in Pisgah, evidently it's classified as a rain forest)and the terrain is stooopid steep...i loose some nerve. Somehow when both wheels are locked and your still flying down the hill, you tend to loose some of your swagger! Fun nonetheless. 35 miles, 4500ft, 5ish hours....all in all it was another great day just North of the border.

Not sure if this is what the big red "S" is looking for, but it's what i do....weekly, for swag or not. Lord willing...I will continue to ride trails, both old and new, till the day i die...white knuckled, encouraging newbs and hopefully gaining some fitness along the way for another Leadville attempt next year. See you on the trail.

Here ya go...

2009-09-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Found this today after the Leadville post. Pretty good video with his majesty Lance...accompanied with a weird arrangement of songs, cool nonetheless.

Leadville Recap

2009-09-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ok so i guess it's been enough time since i turned my body inside out up in the high country....i can comfortably come out of my shell. Since returning back to the lowlands I've had little motivation to rap about our CO trip, for whatever reason the motivation has been gone....not just for blogging, but for riding as well. Who knows, i guess after your one big goal race of the year is over your body just shuts down on it's own. Who knows, but here's how the race shook out.

The days prior everyone was in a tissy about what to do for the weather....it was predicted to be nice and sunny, but a few days earlier it changed. 38 degrees with a rain/sleet mix...needless to say everyone had different opinions about what to wear and how it was going to change their entire race strategy. I opted for a sleeveless baselayer, arm warmers, and kneee warmers....seemed to work well all day. Luckily the start was dry, cold, but dry....it wasn't until about an hour in that the rain started falling. The start was pretty amazing, 1400 riders cramming into narrow Leadville streets all trying to get that "perfect" spot. Since Lance was there in all his glory, there were helicopters flying around as well as flash bulbs going crazy....love him or hate him....it was cool to line up with him.

Shotgun goes off and we start rolling....10 seconds later we slow for some dude who wrecked on the pavement...no idea how that happened. The first 5 miles or so are pretty flat and rolling, no major climbs.....so on a single speed this means you get passed a ton! All you can do is spin like mad and stay off too the side of the road, this is the part where everyone thinks their fast....all the geared guys in their big rings trying to keep pace with the pros up front....it doesn't last long. Before you know it the climb up St. Kevin's in on you....this part was really annoying. You take 1400 riders that are all pretty close to each other and funnel them down on a small dirt road then funnel, then even further when the climb begins while everyone is muscling for the best line....you now have the makings of one annoyingly long climb. If you're on a geared bike it's not that big of deal, you just shift down and spin...on a single speed, you're screwed. Less then 10 miles in and i was walking up the hill. This isn't a big deal, often times on a SS it's better to walk these sections...you're going almost as fast and you're not having to dig deep to go so slow. This is how most of the climbs went....ride as far up as you can until you catch all the geared guys taking up the whole road....then hop off and walk till it thins out. One cool thing of note...I'm riding up and see a lady wearing a Richardson Bike Mart kit....i ask if she knows a good friend of mine...she does, we chat for a sec while i follow her up....then pass her and she yells out my name? I turn and it's Kim Chance, a lady i did an adventure race with in Oregon maybe 10 years ago...havne't seen her since....small world. Not sure how she did, as i never saw her again.

The first half of the race was pretty uneventful...except for the rain. Everyone warns about how difficult Powerline is to descend....lame. Have them come out and ride Pisgah for one day and they will see difficult descents. I will say that the rain coupled with all the people did make it a little more sketchy, but nothing that was too hairy. Now that might be a different story if you were one of the 4 tandem teams i saw...those folks are amazing!!! Descending Powerline in a crowd and in the rain on a tandem....pretty cool. The section from the bottom of powerline to Twin Lakes was what killed my time i believe...in addition to the altitude. I was hoping for a 10:30ish finish time, but once we got to the flats and i had to spin like crazy to keep 12mph i knew that time was shot. The Twin Lakes feed zone was an absolute mad house...people for miles on both sides of the trail cheering for everyone...amazing to see so many people....odd though that they weren't there on the way back through.....oh ya, Lance was already done by that point....figures.

After fueling up at Twin Lakes with the help of Ashley and Daphne, thanks ladies, you were awesome, it was off to tackle the 10 mile climb of Columbine. I was just starting to head up when the almighty Lance and his motorcycle parade came screaming past me on his way to the finish, that's crazy fast.....amazing. In case you are wondering, this climb is no joke. It starts out on a long twisty fire road with lots of switchbacks, up, up, and up...until it pops out above treeline.....this is where it got just stupid hard. Not only are you at around 11,000ft but it's now two way traffic on an already narrow road and it's INCREDIBLY rocky....unridable with so many people around. So for the next hour+ me and god knows how many of my closest friends hiked to the top of the almighty Columbine. This was no joke hard, can't breath, it's now raining again, windier than Chicago on a winters day.....hard. I've also come to the conclusion that if i ever do Leadville again, that i won't wear stiff carbon soled shoes....I'm gonna find some entry level rubber soled shoes that are comfortable to hike in...just an FYI for all you beginners out there. Honestly i don't know how long the climb took, but i do know that at 50 miles and 6:02 in the race i was at the top. I couldn't afford to stay long so after two minutes...i was headed back out on the bike after grabbing a coke and some more water from the aid station up top. This is where the race took a different turn. Until now i was confident that i would finish no problem...now I'm pretty sure i won't. It was a mental battle to continue at this point. They tell you that just because you are at the 50 mile marker...it's not half way. You still have 50 more miles with the nasty Powerline climb to go, and this is when your body starts shutting down. All these things are going through my head at the 6:00hr mark, and continue for the remainder of the race.

The decent of Columbine was amazing...fast and rocky...and took probably 35 minutes. Back down at the Twin Lakes aid station the warm sun and no rain felt pretty good after chilling myself to the bone. Another hard part of this race was the fact that i was pushing so hard now to make the cut offs there was no time to chill at the aid stations....it was literally, refuel and move on....2 minutes tops. After a quick stop, it was back out to the flats between Twin Lakes and Powerline...don't get me wrong, it's really not flat...more like rolling hills....there is more climbing in this section then we could have ever found in Mobile....nonetheless, it was a challenging section on a SS. Like i said earlier, from the half way point on it was a race against the clock. I had checkpoint times taped to my stem for a 10:30 and an 11:00 hr finish.... i was now behind all of these, all i could do now was ride as hard as possible and hope for the best...i knew it would be very, very close.

There is an aid station right before you get to Powerline called Pipeline...it's here that you get pulled from the race if your not through at the 9 hr mark. Unfortunately my buddy and training partner Jeff got pulled here....no worries man, next year. I luckily came through here at 8:04, knowing that according to my stem times it was roughly 3 hours to the finish....on a geared bike of course. Somehow our support got mixed up and I didn't have anyone at this rest stop....not good. i was forced to take whatever they had on hand...nasty red power aid and some chocolate power gel....the worst kind. This was a little frustrating...but there was no time to complain, i knew it was going to take me every bit of 4 hours to get back. From here there is a long and literally flat road section until you get to Pipeline, this sucked. There was a head wind and all the folks on gears were flying by me in a paceline and there was nothing i could do....just sit and spin all the way to the base of Pipeline. I had no idea what to expect for this climb...i was shooting for an hour up knowing that anything longer would really put me in trouble for finishing. According to all the things I've read and people I've spoke too there were 4-5 noticeable false summits on this climb....5 summits in, I was still counting. This climb is completely doable..but 75 miles in with people crowding the trail....the legs weren't having it. Luckily most people were taking the hiking idea to heart and we all walked...for an hour fifteen minutes of pure fun. At the top of Powerline you have a very long descent back down to the fish hatchery....this is where i had to make up some time. My thought process was either i was gonna blow a tire, wreck, or i was gonna make it...either way i had to hang it out on these sections just to get my overall speed back up and I passed a ton of people on the way down...it was a last resort move.

Once down at the fish hatchery there is a 4 mile paved climb back up to the top of St. Kevin's and to the last water station before the end...luckily i felt good up this climb and was able to keep a solid pace. It's amazing how much adrenalin will get you through certain things....I'm pretty sure the last 4 hours were nothing but a prolonged adrenalin rush. I can't tell you the times i looked at my stem, back to my watch, did some math and sped up. Over and over for 4 hours. Finally back at the top of St. Kevin's i filled up for the last time and received some, "you better hurry up", advice from the volunteers...all of them telling me that it was gonna be close....thanks, i didn't know that. Luckily once your at the top of St. Kevin's its pretty much all down hill back to the finish...sort of...there are plenty of steep rollers to get your attention but nothing major. Like the backside of Pipeline, this was a section that i had to carry a ton of speed, which became harder and harder....at this point my lungs are now raw, spitting up some blood, legs are extremely heavy and not wanting to spin....nothing wanted to work right. It's amazing how many gear folks i passed in this section...not sure why or how, but i was motoring....I'm gonna attribute it to shear desire. I really wanted to finish this race. There was one person i wanted to prove wrong...he said i couldn't do it....suck it Ford...i did it.

The last section of note is called the Boulevard, it's about a 2 mile slight incline, that is nothing, but at this point is everything....to the finish. From here on people are starting to line the roads..cheering and in some cases yelling that you have 4 miles to go....this was a huge pshcyoligical killer. Some jerk yelled this out and i knew if he was right, i wouldn't make it....i was already at 11:50 at this point. No way to do 4 miles in 10 minutes. Luckily he was just drunk or a jerk...or both....an actual volunteer said, "just make it over this hill and you'll love what you see", and they were right. Standing up and trying to power over this last little hill was one of the hardest parts of the day, i hung it all out there, nothing left. The top of the hill was a sweet, sweet site....1/2 mile away was the red carpet finish. I'd made it. I rolled across the line in 11:56.28. Hardest day of my life....let me repeat, Hardest day of my life. I've never had to push so hard to reach a goal, ever.
There are so many things that i left out, so many emotions that will be left unsaid...and who knows in weeks to come i might add a little more to this, but for now...this is it. Leadville lived up to everything that was said about it, all the hype, all the talk was completly true. It truely is a special event. The riding is nothing special, scenery is good, not great....but something about it is just special. I'm glad to be a part of it, glad to have carved my name in the hills as a finisher. Hope to be back next year...I still have 10:30 on my mind.

Mid-race break

2009-08-30T13:44:00.001-07:00

Today here in Greenville, SC is the US Pro Cycling Championship to determine the US champion. It's pretty cool to be in a city that supports cycling in such a major way...hopefully funding comes through to keep the race here for the future.

I say all that while I'm still reeling in the fact that I just won a new vacuum...that's right! Momma gets a new toy! Bissel Vaccum had a booth set up with a bike hooked to a wattage trainer...hit 500 watts, get a free Bissel vacuum of your choosing. Whose your daddy....hit just over 550 and shut it down....really would have liked to see what I could max at sometime....regardless it was pretty cool and funny all at the same time. Feel free to laugh....I'll drown you out with the sound of my new Bissel!

As soon as that ended it was beer time...headed over to Barleys, the local taproom here in Gvegas. They've got several hundred beers to choose from with a rotating menu, which is good and bad...find a beer you like, and it's gone. Just found a new favorite, Ommegang Hennepin Farmhouse Ale, according to the menu: Bright and lively Belgium-style Saison that's golden in color with hints of gingersnap and citrusy hops. Not sure how that all combines to make a good brew, but for this week, while it's here, it's my new favorite.

-- Post From My iPhone

Test 1 2 3

2009-08-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Just got this app for the phone...seeing if it works. Hopefully it'll allow me to blog while away instead of having to wait and do it all when I get home....technology is Ridiculous!!!

Missed out on an amazing pizza concoction in Crested Butte...chicken, onion rings, jalapenoes, bbq sauce, onions....and god know what else. Tagg and I killed the remainder for breakfast...fortunetly the bear didn't eat it.

-- Post From My iPhone

Not much in the tank....

2009-08-27T14:38:00.001-07:00

For whatever reason...tiredness...laziness...you pick, I've had NO energy/motivation to ride or for that matter even blog about our Pb-ville (thats Leadville to you non-science folk) road trip since our return. Not sure what it is, maybe I'm just zapped and don't realize it. The return back to familiar ground here in SC has yielded nothing but job hunting and thinking about riding....and neither have been very productive. It's all gonna have to change soon, otherwise I'll forget about all the cooked chipmunk and bear wrangling that occurred! More soon...promise.

For now, entertain yourself with this.....

And this....is it real? Fake?.....talk amongst yourselves and discuss.

Another day in the saddle.....

2009-08-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

.....And today was but another day in the training for things yet to come. JeffP and I decided to give riding together another shot after our Monday debacle, OK, my Monday debacle. Ever since I did that long ride with all the climbing last week, I've been wanting to hit up the big climb on my SS mtn bike. Crazy, I know, and man I tell you when I'm in the middle of it, half way up.....and I'm breathing through my eyeballs with my legs feeling like lead....I hate it. But when I'm done and I'm sitting back in my car with the A/C cranked, drinking my chocolate milk and wearing my R&R socks....it feels gooooood!! Today was no exception, to either of the above feelings.

Since JeffP is also doing Leadville and an avid adventure racer, he's always up for some crazy riding ideas....mine was to hop back on hwy-215(long road from last Monday with all the climbing) this time on my mtn bike and ride all the way up to the top...down the Blue Ridge and then loop back home. However, JeffP had a better idea with more climbing and less pavement.....nice. He's also the type of guy who can never ride without breaking out his trusty Pisgah map, honestly don't know why he has one, he's got the whole forest memorized....seriously. That and somehow ALL his rides are so long/remote it requires that everyone pack a lunch, and somehow he always forgets to clue me in on this....but there is NO better tour guide and luckily i too am always up for an adventure. His idea was to start from the Fish Hatchery(shown above) head up some of the roads that THE MOST HORRIBLE THING EVER race is on, climb up to the top, over the ridge, drop down the other side to 215, ride up to the parkway, down a bit, then drop back down some hike-a-bike/ride descents, past the infamous, Farlow Gap, all the way back to the car. Great, no questions asked....I'm in.

Four hours later, we had nailed out 35 miles and 5000ft of elevation gain. Not a bad day of saddle time. My legs felt good on the one hour climb, was able to find a good rhythm and maintain it the whole time, hopefully I'll find a good one next Saturday! Bike did good, clothing was dialed in...all that's left is to do it. Another great day on the bike in the Carolina's. I know I've said it before, but the nice thing about the majority of rides in the area is that they all end with a dip in a river....today was no exception. Nothing better than washing off all the funk in a nice COLD river. Today was a good final push towards Leadville....time to start packing.

11 days till Leadville....mmmm good.

Thanks Middleburn.....for being crappy.

2009-08-04T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterdays plans to ride weren't unlike any other days. JeffP headed over to the Palmetto trail in Spartanburg for a little "chill" ride, mainly cause there aren't any major climbs and it's a good place to get a nice, fun, chill ride in....that was the plan. Only major difference is i decided to ride my bone jarring rigid Cannondale today instead of the Niner. No biggy, besides I've been inspired by all the rigid SSer's around here...very talented riders.....so I thought I'd give it a shot.

We get geared up, and head out, cruise by the stream, through the wide open field...then start getting into some tighter singletrack with some rollers...no worries. SNAP. Oh my change came off, not a big deal, happens occasionally especially with no bash guard....but no...something else is wrong? Why is my chain ring bent, i didn't hit anything, no wreck, i mean this is the first "off-road" ride I've done on it? Oh, wait a minute...i see... the extremely overpriced spider i purchased from the "everything we build is built to last for years of hard core riding" British company, Middleburn, in order to convert this existing XTR crank over...has simply...failed. Nice. Thus begins my hour long walk out in extremely stiff carbon soled shoes. No fun.

Please note the extremely clean drive train, the perfectly straight teeth on the chain ring....and the spider that absolutely freaking failed. There will be a definite call today, warranty will be filed. I'd like to say it's because I'm so powerful that it broke, but that's probably not true. However this is the second time I've bent a chain ring....maybe i am THOR? Who knows. The day wasn't a total wash, hows that saying go? "All's well that ends well". And it definitely ended well.

I found this little viedeo floating around the intraweb and just had to share it...if your a cycling fan you'll definetly get a kick out of it. Some poeple have too much time on there hands when they should be....blogging? I dunno.

12 days till Leadville. Please no mechanicals.

Race Day

2009-08-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was Jill's turn. She's been wanting to do a tri since last fall when we did Ironman Florida, and today she got her chance. Keep in mind that this girl has been working nights the past week, ie: go in at 5pm work till 8:30am the next day. Coupled with barely a dinner(ended up being too late everywhere we went, not much in the backwoods of NC), barely a breakfast and spending the night camping....she still managed a midpack finish with one of her best runs. She's amazing. Oh and did i mention she hasn't swam but once since November....she's crazy to go attempt a mile swim!!

The tri was just west of Asheville, NC about 30 miles in the beautiful Pisgah Forest area....and as you can see from the pics it was pretty awesome views all day. Weather was fantastic, though a little chilly at the start. 61f with a water temp of 67f....definitely a wet suit legal day. I was able to snap a few shots of her during the race, but I'll post more later when they post the actual race photos and i can rob them. Nice job babe. Proud of you.

Here's some ol'e Ironman pics i found from when Jill and I went down in '07 to register...what were we thinking. If you've never seen an IM event, plan too. Not only are they absolutely amazing with the shear amount of people competing(2,000) but they are completely inspiring. I would recommend them to anyone...seriously, anyone can do it. Just takes time. Enjoy.

Exactly 14 days till Leadville...Now I'm getting excited.

SOCKS make you faster?

2009-07-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

So as you have read, Kyle, came up last week for a visit and we rode a ton. And after every ride we would get back to the car/house and he would put on these really odd looking socks....and of course i made fun of him. That's what i do. He was convinced that these "magic socks" made him faster and helped him recover quicker from that days effort. Right, OK....your a moron.

(these are my stems, not Kyle's...that would be weird)

In his defense though, if you've done any sort of endurance sports in the last few years you might have seen people wearing these socks in competition, they basically look like old school basketball socks that come up to your knee...Dr. J style(not my wife, but the all time NBA points leader). I've seen them at Ironman, short distance tri's, marathons and evidently Lance Armstrong has been spotted wearing them between stages of the Tour.....so you know they must work cause that dude is old and he made hammer on those young dudes in the tour, except for the Pisterelo, but that's another story. All that to say, "Kyle, Dr. J....I stand corrected....your socks are magic and I will sing their praises."

So....knowing that Kyle is a LEGIT rider and has somewhat of a brain in that head of his.....I picked up a pair of these magic socks at my LBS and decided to give them a shot. I remembered to bring them just to test them out after our "leg burning" ride yesterday and continued wearing them on into the night, basically i didn't know how long you were supposed to wear them, so i went for the longest possible time frame i could. Then today i went out for the weekly ride at Donaldson and to my dismay...nothing. It was like i didn't even ride yesterday. My legs felt amazing, no deep burning, no twinging...they just felt light and sprightly(ya that's a word). Maybe it's all the superior training! or the Muscle Milk(they didn't have basic choco milk, i know, crazy) i had after the ride...but I felt great. Now I'm not normally one to drink the cool-aid so quickly so I'm gonna continue to give these babies test after test, but first impressions are the ones that count, and so far...I like.

Instead of me trying to explain all the "hows and whys" ill just post a few links from smarter people than me....here.....here...and...here. I can tell you one thing though...in two weeks when I'm driving to Leadville, i will be wearing these socks the whole way there, and everyday prior to the event. Grab a pair and test them for yourself....you might be surprised.

Climbing...lots of climbing.

2009-07-27T15:01:00.000-07:00

Horses, especially Clydesdale's don't climb very well. You look at anyone who is a good climber in cycling and you can guarantee they don't look ANYTHING like me. Today though...i had to climb. One of the guys from the shop and a buddy of his had a planned ride today of 80+ miles with lots of climbing....all they told me was, "hey, come ride with us Monday, it'll be around 80 miles"...neglecting the whole climbing part. No worries, I'm a trooper. I will say that it is a bit rougher not knowing how hard to push it the whole time because you have no idea what is around the next corner, or how long/steep each climb is...i say that do defend my lack of climbing prowess today. It had nothing to do with the fact that both these dudes where half my size and knew the route....whatever. Here's some pics from our ride up Hwy 215 to the Blue Ridge Pkwy. Absolutely an amazing day, gorgeous weather, and better views that ended with some HEAVY rain fall....luckily the major decents were already done. Good times had by all.

The final tally was 86 miles and just over 10,000 feet of climbing. Really had no idea i was getting into that. Definitely a good training day, and one i wasn't planning on, so that is a definite bonus. The legs felt good all day. No cramps or stomach issues...think i have my nutrition dialed. The altitude was a big surprise. i honestly didn't know there was an Eastern Continental Divide, who knew? or that the roads we were on today were pushing 6000 feet. 18 days till Leadville. Feeling better by the day.

Two-a-days

2009-07-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Once again it's been over a week since my last post. I suck, this is even more confirmation. Regardless of my inadequacies i must press on. Just a quick update today, mainly to dump all the pics from my phone so i can fill it up again on our ride at the FATS trail tomorrow....evidently its an IMBA Epic trail....we'll see about that.

The 12 hour race in Tribble Mill went well, I'll try and rob some pics asap....ended up first in my group and third overall in Expert with 90 miles. Overall pleased with my performance, gear performed well...feeling pretty confident about Leadville. Hopefully the altitude won't deflate me right of the bat, we'll see.

The last four days have been two-a-days on the bike, trying to put in a mammoth effort this week to boost the fitness before a two week slow tapper. Good thing is my good buddy Kyle came all the way up from Mobile for some much needed R&R as well as to help me keep motivated. Nothing more discouraging than watching a dude half your weight FLY up a hill!!! He's a carrot. I'm a rabbit.

Here's some pics from our ride on day two up at Dupont...awesome trail system with amazing waterfalls. I hear it's where the "Last of the Mohicans" was filmed.....it is gorgeous.

It's pretty awesome to be able to ride for hours..never hit the same trail twice..not cover half the trails..and end with a dip in a COLD river to wash off!!! Love that these trails and many more are less than an hour from the doorstep.

You get the idea...plenty of trails....not enough time. Kyle definitely got his share of riding in while here...I'll post more as the week progresses. Out.

LESS THAN A MONTH

2009-07-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

Less than 31 days till Leadville. Not really sure how 8 months has gone by so quickly? I'll just assume a move will make the days tick right by. Nevertheless Leadville is quickly approaching, and believe it or not.....i feel ready. The last two weeks I've been hitting it rather hard, long rides in the heat of the day, partly for preparation for the Dirty Spokes 12 hour this Friday and partly just to build some tenacity. Nothing helps more than riding for 3+hrs in the heat and hills. Nothing. I've also been tweaking my bike a bit...tires, bars, stems, saddles, etc....trying to find what's best for me. Notice i said, "for me"...everyone has their own opinion, but for me, these are the clear winners.

First thing that got the boot were my FSA SLK carbon bars. No real reason other than they were over a year old and starting to creak, scary. So they got the swap for the Niner Flat Top bars. The good thing is the Niner bars are about an inch on either side wider which I've been wanting for sometime now, more leverage up hills means faster up hills. So far they are money. A few grams heavier, but the durability/width more than makes up for it. Oh and did i mention that i found them new on Craigs-list for $25!! Very stoked about that little nugget.

I also swapped out the Specialized stem for this FSA one, no real reason. It does have a lower rize to it, which is nice...enabling me to get a little further over the front on climbs, other than that it just looks trick with the carbon faceplate. Oh and it allows me to run my Niner YAWYD top cap...stands for "Your Are What You Drink". Basically it allows you to place your fav beer cap on your top cap... a feature lost with the Specialized over sized cap. Beauty is in the small things..remember that kids.

Next on the list was some new shoes. I tried several tires before settling on the WTB Nanoraptor. I think this tire so far is the "bees knees". It's gonna be perfect for the 12 hr this weekend as well as for Leadville...I'm a balla on a budget, one set of new rubber has to last in this house!! High speed/lightweight tire, with plenty of sidewall protection for Leadville....a perfect mix. Should know more after this weekend, something about riding for 12hrs gives you a pretty strong opinion about what your riding....be it good or bad.

Here's several pics from this weeks and last weeks rides. A couple nice views as well as some ripping single-track was had many times over. Gotta find a good training partner, it is getting rather boring doing it all by your lonesome. Doesn't anyone here actually ride a mtn bike..anyone? Hello?

Most of these are from Paris Mtn, the local 'rock pile' that I ride at. Don't get me wrong, there is all the climbing you could want there...it's actually where G. Hincapie trains when he's in the states....but coming from the West, it's a little shorter that's all. The other is from Spartanburg, Sc the Southside trail. A little trail system about 40 minutes from the house. Actually road there today, not bad...was a good testing ground for the new tires and what pressure i would run.

Till next time...maybe before this weekend. Don't hold your breath.

Misc. Pics

2009-07-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here are several pics from a couple races over the past few months. I was hoping to have a good one at BUMP(as well as a good race) but somehow I didn't get my pic snapped....probably a good thing, it's best to forget that day all together.

Dirty Spokes Ft. Yargo 12 Hr Event:

Cowbell Challenge Marathon...ie: doorstep of HELL

Kenda Cup East #3, Cowbell Challenge:

You know what they say, "pictures are worth...", whatever that's a stupid quote. You'd rather see pics than hear me ramble. There's a few teammates thrown in there for good measure, Tagg, Kevin, and Ed. Miss racing with those dudes. Hopefully they will be able to make it to the Dirty Spokes 12hr next weekend at Tribble Mill Park. Looks to be a great course. Stay tuned.

2009-06-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Last month on our 2 week west coast swing road trip we took a ton of pics...I've been meaning to post some. Here ya go, included with a small caption of the moment. The view from the drivers seat..we took back roads pretty much all the way to the Grand Canyon. Absolutely NOTHING for hundreds of miles. Anyone who says the world is overpopulated just needs to head west on some not so popular roads. Prior to the Canyon we spent a day in Flagstaff hitting up the Mt. Elden trail system and pretty much DIED after coming from 0 altitude to 7000ft and trying to hop right out of the car and hit it hard. For those who don't know, including myself till we got there, this is one of mtn biking best kept secret and according to the locals, they want to keep it that way. Not quite sure the exact mileage of this system but it's for sure an entire days worth of single track.

After spending a few days at the "HOLE", then Durango, then Fruita/Grand Junction(see prior post on those adventures) we headed back east to Golden, Co home of the "bestlitebeerifyouhavetodrinklitebeerbutwhohastoreallydrinklitebeersowhynotdrinkanewbelgiumbutthatsjustmewhatever," Coors Brewing Co. and our good friends Tyler and Renee Clark. Thanks for the floor space Clarks and the kayak rodeo, much appreciated.

It always amazes me when you hit up a local shop and ask for beta on the local spots and they tell you that, "this one is great, chill ride, not steep", that it is in fact a great ride, a little chill but a whole lot steep. We've just gotten spoiled living in Mobtown that we've forgotten about the word "mountain", in the term mountain biking. We climbed and we climbed for over an hour, then went down a little and climbed for another hour...tired/heavy legs to soon follow. Luckily on the whole trip we only had one little hiccup, a sliced tire headed back down to the car....thank god for Park Tool Emergency Tire Boots.

Dear Mr. Boot,

After a long road trip out west where i encountered countless tire splitting rocks, and my tire finally caved. It couldn't take it anymore, and i don't blame him. I just want to tell you that you are a life saver. You saved me even when Stan's couldn't, and that's gotta be one big hole. Mr. Boot without your service to the rescue I would have been walking in extremely stiff carbon soled shoes for over 3 miles down hill in steep and rocky terrain. But no. You saved me. For that I'm forever grateful. I will never again ride without you or toss you aside in the bottom of my bike bag in a dark, dirty, little corner. You will forever ride up front, with a good view and with wind in your hair. You held fast even when my large carcass railed you into a turn just moments from the car...your a true American hero. Godspeed Mr. Boot, Godspeed.

Forever grateful,

BLEE

I give up...

2009-06-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

...I'm not a good blogger. What more do you want from me!? I'm sorry Betz, I'll try better next time!!! Seriously, we have been crazy busy since we arrived in Gville, moving, painting, entertaining in laws, riding, job-hunting, riding, organizing, riding, and riding. All that coupled with this weird east coast time zone thing makes for a long day and a really good nights sleep.

We finally got settled in the house and I'm slowly getting more time in at the new shop(http://www.carolinatriathlon.com/) as well as trying to get in as much training/riding as possible. There is definitely no shortage of rides/riders in the area so there really is no one to blame. For those following back home in good ole' Mobile there is a ride that leaves here on Tuesday nights that has over 300+riders....a WEEKLY ride!!! It divides up into an A1, A2, B1, B2 and several C groups. The A, B groups have police escorts!! Amazing the things that can happen when all shops/riders work together!!!! Some day, oh someday....

I've met several dudes up here who mtn bike, and one who I've been riding quite a bit with who is also doing the Leadville 100 in august. It's been so nice having your own personal guide of the Pisgah trail systems. For those that don't know the area, Pisgah is a national park just over the border in NC(40 minutes from here) that has over 150 miles of single track/fire road trails in it with absolutely ALL the climbing a man could want in a day. The map below shows some of the trails....too me, it's all a maze. One day I'll have it all figured out like Jeff, but for now, I'll just settle for riding his wheel.

Got the opportunity to hit up the Isaqueena trails in Clemson last week....another trail system less than an hour away that has roughly 100+ miles of single track in it. Fantastic trail system that hosts a SERC race every year. I couldn't help but notice on the trail though several bridges that we crossed and they all had the sign below on either side....it was too perfect, had to get a pic by it.

Definitely the nearest to the casa is Paris Mtn...only 9 miles to the trail head or a quick 45 minute ride on your nicest single speed. Really like this trail, tons of climbing up groomed trail with some really fast sweeping downhill sections...just about as close to Oak Mtn in Bham as one could get. Other than the trail claiming two tires and a rim in two rides as well as a few ounces of Blee flesh, our relationship is fine. Not a good first couple of rides out there. Oh and did i mention there are bees? Ya, stung twice on too separate rides...really makes it hard when your ripping down some trails and horizontal on a wall ride. Difficult.

I've got several other little post floating around the cabeza at the moment. I'll try and put "pen to pad" in the next few days and share some of those. Till then: do some homework and Google this dude...Dejay Birtch, and I'll tell you next time just how cool it was toeing the line with him. Till then...

Why is he so much smaller than me?? Must be the beard.

2009-05-31T19:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the desire/time/whatever to sit down and right a huge post about the past 2 weeks, so I'll just give little blurbs with a few pics that will hopefully tell the whole story. After leaving the grand canyon we headed over to K-Colorado in Durango to visit friends during alumni weekend. We had a blast. There were about 15 alum from the first three years that we were there including 3 of my really good buddies. Good times were definitely had.

During our Durango stay we took part in the annual Ironhorse Classic, a 50 mile ride/race from Durango to Silverton with the goal being to beat the tourist train. I didn't beat the train this year. I was really hoping to have a good ride but being only 2 days removed from the Grand Canyon epic hike my legs were TOAST. Somehow though, Jill, felt fantastic. She dropped me on the first climb and I didn't see her again until the end. Very proud of her, this was an "A" race for her and she killed it. I ended up limping in with my boy Jack Fisher(old alum) who was having some serious cramp issues. I will place a little blame on the fact that we weren't going to do the race do to a forecast of 23degrees, feels' like 13 in Silverton with 60% chance of snow....and that didn't take into account the temp at the tops of the 3 passes we had to go over. All that to say it was looking doubtful that we would actually do the ride the night before, therefore i took part in some heavy/dark libations with my boys. The cycling gods were messing with me cause at 6:45 am we rallied and made the call to give it a shot. Lucky thing is it turned out to be a nice day, cold, moist but nice.

The biggest downer of the trip thus far was the weather. Of the 4 days we were in Durango it rained 3, leaving only the last day on our way out of town to hit up the sick Telegraph trails. My legs didn't argue, they were still tired and amazingly extremely sore. These are some of the best trails in the WORLD, good enough they've actually hosted the World Cup there twice in the past 12 years. If you are even a small fan of mtn biking and you ever get the chance you have to hit up these gems. Due to all the snow fall this year we headed to the Grand Junction/Fruita area instead of over to Crested Butte. Either one of these two places are absolutely fantastic and definitely have "destination" trails but the desert was the only dry place around. So....Grand Junction it is. I'll throw up a few pics then get back later to give you all the details of the ride. I look forward to hitting these up again in August with all my boys after Leadville.

Roadtrip 101

2009-05-27T09:14:00.000-07:00

My plan was to blog everyday during this road trip...that didn't happen. We brought the laptop but the pain of trying to find Internet connection daily proved too much. We're on the backside of a 2 week trip with our last stop here in Golden, Co visiting friends, mtn biking, and catching the whitewater rodeo tonight. Pretty stoked about that, but it will only fuel my fire to get back in a boat! The plan on this trip was to ride, then ride some more, however mother nature had different plans. We did get in a solid day in Flagstaff, Az on our way to the Grand Canyon at the local Mt. Eldon trail system...if you ever get the chance to ride there, do it. The worst thing about it was the altitude, it was like a slap in the face from the get go, luckily over the next few days we acclimated rather quickly. This is one of the best layed out, sweetest single track I've ridden, definitely a secret the locals are trying to hide, more than one local instructed me to, "don't tell anyone" of these trails!

The next phase was to hit up the Grand Canyon and attempt a "top to bottom to top" hike all in one day. We succeeded, but not without some extreme soreness in the days to follow as well as a sweet experience of seeing a mule fly. Ya, a mule fly. Here's a video to wet your appetite...

I'll write up some more in the days to come of the rest of the trip, but Dr. J is getting antsy here in Starbucks. Time to go ride.

DELAYED

2009-05-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

I apologize. I've turned into one of those people who has a blog but doesn't blog....nice. I've had so much happen the last two weeks and havent written about any of it. Let me sum up:

12hr race-As mentioned in previous post i was in a 12 hr race in GA, and was attempting it SS. Race went really well, except for the rain, and the fact that i had to change gears. Registerd in the Clydesdale class with expectations of a pretty easy win. I won. Also would have placed 3rd in the SS category which was the exciting part, kinda wish i had just raced it instead, oh well, the 26in tires i won will come in handy on my 29in wheel!! Gearing was good for the first lap when the course was hard packed and dry, but i knew that with a little knee pain sneaking in early that i needed a change. Swapped up to the 20 after the first lap and it was money after that. Good thing too cause it POURED for lap three and left the course a virtual river for an hour or so, which then turned to absolute mud slowing the lap times down considerably. I was shooting for 9 laps and quickly realized with some aerobic math while in the saddle that 8 was going to be more attainable with the rain, then it fell to 7 once the trail turned to straight mud. All in all i was happy with the outcome, 7 laps/88miles and a first place. I was really wanting to post some pics, but just haven't had time to steal them off the photographers page yet. They will come shortly once this whirlwind of madness slows down. Nutrition was dialed which makes me feel good about Leadville. Next test is July 11th at the next 12 hour.

House Hunting: The morning after the 12hour Dr. J and I headed to Gville to do a little house hunting. I'll keep this brief cause it could get boring real quick. Bottom line is we got a house after many emotional ups and downs. One cool thing is that we looked and thought we got a house owned by Craig Lewis who happens to ride on Team Columbia with George Hincapie. Was the perfect house, nice big basement for my shop, a garage for my other shop and plenty of room for Dr. J to do her thing. We ended the search after being told by the management company(Craig is in Spain training for the tour) that there would be no problem only to wake the next morning and find out on our way out of town that good ole' Craig doesn't allow dogs. Awesome. Jerk. I hope you wreck out of the Tour Craig. This is where the emotional roller coaster hit it's low. So we started over and miraculously found a house a few hours later that was just as nice. Only a mile to the hospital and a mile to down town as well as the exact size we needed. Done, we'll take it. Plenty of room for visitors, hope to see some of you all there. Also got a job at a super cool shop, Carolina Triathlon. Looking forward to meeting some new folks and getting on the local trails.

Last two weeks: As soon as we got home we hit the ground running with going away parties(thanks Suggs family), graduation(congratulations dr. babe, i'm so proud of you. you've earned it. I love you.), a trip to the beach and oh ya, packing all our crap up. It didn't take long to realize that no way all of our stuff was gonna fit in the POD, but after renting a UHAUL trailer and loading my Element down to the point where the wheels almost pop off, we got it all. I'm writing this with only 1:53 minutes left in Mob town then it's off to Bham-Dallas-Albuquerque-Grand Canyon-Durango-Silverton-Crested Butte-Leadville-Denver-Oklahoma City-Little Rock-Bham-then finally home in Greenville. Looking forward to laying on my couch in my new pad with nothing to do....that's a least a month away.

2009-05-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've never peed so much in my life. Clear and copious is a good thing. I'm being shy when i say i have had probably 8 water bottles today in preparation for the 12hr event tomorrow....gotta hydrate now, definitely won't be able to get enough tomorrow. Right now I'm looking at a nutrition formula of 300cal/22oz water/400mg sodium/hour. Throw in some random Paydays, a few cokes and whatever else sounds good after 10 hrs on the bike and i think you have a winning formula. Fingers crossed.

I know, I know. I said that i wouldn't change gears for the duration of the race, however after experimenting yesterday with some cogs....it dawned on me to stack two on. Eureka! I've got it at about 30 seconds for a gear change, now that's almost as fast as a retro 90's Suntour/Biopace combo!!! (Godsey knows what i mean!) I'm gonna run 33x19 for as long as i can, hopefully the whole way, but I'll have a safety net just in case.

How sweet does that look!!

After the race Jill and I are headed to Greenville on a "burn the ships" mission to find a house. Wish us luck. Seems like our goal of finding a cool house in the downtown area may be killed by our current economic status....we'll see. More on Wednesday when I return.

2009-04-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Nothing major happening this past week. Little ride here, little ride there. Had a great ride Thursday night out at our beloved South trails, legs felt good and the SS felt even better. Have i mentioned that i LOVE SS? It's true, and I'm not ashamed. I took Saturday off and then Sunday morning did the 6:15 Wachovia ride with Jill, Kevin and myself continuing on to Gulf Shores...in a 20 mph headwind...the whole freaking way. No worries. Good times, easy pace and the feeling of riding hills for 65 glorious miles due to the wind(thanks Ashley for driving down and bringing all the goodies).

I'm not a beach person but it sure was nice sitting there in the gusty wind getting a little cat nap in. All was well until Sunday night when i discovered that I was deep fried burnt! Its amazing how when the sky is overcast and the wind is blowing that you forget to put on sunscreen cause everything just feels so good. I must admit that Monday I was completely useless at work, and that's a bad thing when your the only one there! I literally sat on a stool and watched reruns of the Office for 9 hours, not wanting to move for fear of my burnt nipples falling off(this lady knows what i mean!!! can you say AVON, SKIN SO SOFT!!!). Pain...all day. Pain i tell ya. Hopefully it will all improve before this weekends attempt at the 12hr Fort Yargo race.

Have to get a few rides in this week just to keep the legs loose and make sure the NINER is all tuned for this weekend. Since this is my first of three 100+ mile events this year, it will be a learning one. Still trying to set my nutrition/hydration for the race as well as hoping the gearing i choose will be the right one. I've posted on several forums questions about whether it's still considered SS racing if in the middle of the race you pull over and switch gears??? Thoughts? Personally i could go either way. I'm hoping that the gear i choose will be correct, well it will have to be cause I'm gonna "run what you brung". I'm not going to get the opportunity to change gears at Leadville, so why change now. I'm thinking 33x19 will be spot on??? Right or wrong there will be suffering going on. Love it.....mean it.

Hears some sexy new Chris King cogs I got in this week, i splurged...got a size run. 17,18,19, and 20, why not right? They just look so good!

ZONED!

2009-04-21T07:37:00.000-07:00

Ever been in a race and absolutely 100% forgot you were racing??? This happened to me on Sunday. Gun goes off, great start, right were i wanted to be, 3rd in the woods and then slowly but surely it all just slipped away. Passed by this guy, passed by this guy and for some strange reason i was cool with it. Sure go on by, I'm just here riding my bicycle in the woods listening to the beeps from my heart rate monitor screaming at me. Don't mind me. This happened for about 3/4 of the first lap until finally the guy that i really wanted to beat, passed me. It then took about 10 more minutes to realize that, " hey dude, you might wanna start putting the power down!". By this time though the their lead had grown to about 6 minutes, aided of course by me spinning out on a long climb then having to gimp it all the way to the top. So for the next 1:30 minutes i play catch up, only i never caught up. Crazy thing is, they never gained any more time on me, i actually made time up when i decided to race, but it was way, way too late. Ended up 4th. Not a bad day, but i know i botched it.

There has to be a scapegoat so I'm blaming it on switching back to gears. I've decided that i hate gears. I can't put my finger on it, but i know that i ride faster/harder when I'm on my single speed. That has to be the problem. I find myself content to sit and spin when I'm on the geared bike where as i would be digging deep and suffering more on the SS. Who knows, but that's the story I'm going with. Chalk it up to another race and another lesson learned. More pics to come.

If you wanna see who my current man crush is on, then check out this video. UNBELIEVABLE!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o Sorry Bear Grylls, you've been replaced.

My current steed, switching back to SS ASAP!!!Two weeks till the Dirty Spokes 12 hour. Time to figure out gearing....better start emailing.

2009-04-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

So for the longest time I've thought that people were crazy to have a blog, whats the point, and who in the world would spend time reading it. Who could possibly have that much free time. And then to my own amazement I have found myself for the past year actually following several peoples blogs, why? I dunno. For some reason I have found it interesting to know what all the "faster" riders that I see at races are doing/training/eating/riding etc.... Ironically though i don't read about anyone i really know, just different racers from across the country. Weird, obsessive? I know, but what can i say, I love this crazy sport of mtn biking. My wife will undoubtedly make fun of me, friends will join in and no doubt this blog will collect dust at an amazing rate due to lack of readership. All that to say, I'm now a blogger.

One of the main reasons for this is growing up i always remember my mom saying, "you should keep a journal to remember your life by, you'll want to look back one day!". Mom, you were right. I've lived all across the country, had countless jobs, ridden hundreds of trails, raced in hundreds of races and taken maybe three pictures of it all. I guess that needs to change. Back in the day you actually had to take your film, get it developed.....blah, blah, blah you remember the drill. But now it's easy. So I'm gonna give it the ole' college try.

Jill and I have a pretty hectic 6 weeks ahead with our move to Greenville, Sc. Throw in graduation from med-school (her not me, in case you were wondering), and our 2 week vacation out west, add mass amounts of cheese, bake at 375 for one hour....and you've got yourself a wonderfully tasty blog casserole. I'm sure at some point there will be some great blog material. Also of the next 8 weekends I have 6 races, as well as a Grand Canyon bottom to top hike in one day planned. One of these being a 12 hour race, and two are back to back days. All this while being the biggest dude on the starting line....it's gonna be interesting.