A day on the road.

Had to see how warm my new C-dale winter gloves are. :-) I'm here to say that they are great; even better after they stretched out a bit. Beautiful day for a ride; my legs didn't know what to think; riding on a trainer just isn't the same. Almost went down twice; the old black ice was hiding in shaded corners and hills. As it was, I wound up with 27 miles and a good workout. And a dirty (er) bike.

Ugghh.

My favorite time of yr. Running, weights, and boredom. Start today. Yippee.

Reston and the yr in review. (sorry-long)

   Cold, sunny December day. Got up early to drive the 2 hrs to Reston, VA, for my last race of the yr. It's a tradition and I like the course, although I've never done particularly well, there. As I drive down I see varying amounts of snow on the ground. I LOVE racing in the snow. Reston had about 4-6 inches. I reg, get a decent warm up, and do a few sections of the course. It's mud beneath a lot of the snow. Ugghh. Bob Perna warns "be careful out there". Will do. I get a good start position, IN FRONT OF THOR, mainly because I reg'ed early. Gun goes off and up the road to the snow/grass/mud. My legs are feeling OK at this time. (I raced the day before), we head down a snowy section into a muddy left hand turn, and then up a steep little pitch. Good news is I avoid the guys who stop or go down (not so the case with a lot of my races this yr). Bad news is my legs let me know I'm in for a long race. Feel dead. Through some twisties which are even more interesting in snow, and then up to the steep pitch before we cross the lake. I run. It seems like the fastest way to go through. Across in pretty much single file since there is only a thin line where it isn't icy. Up the steep, long, run up. Legs are screaming. I hear Dream Plus from RBR letting me know he's chasing a competitor (55+) so I let him around.  Up the climb where I actually don't feel bad, and down the gnarly singletrackish section across the off camber left and on to the decent, into a thick muddy right turn. All of the lower section is muddy and slow except for a few stretches. Up the next steep pitch, which most of us were running, and through some tight turns that you had to put  foot down, out and back on icy asphalt/ grass, and start lap 2. We did 4 laps, I believe. I was close to one of my cross nemesis for a while and kept swapping places with a guy until he pulled away with about a lap to go. wasn't sure how I placed but didn't hang around long since i had to be back i the 'burg to go to Chelsea's winter concert. I find out 2 days later they placed me as "DNF"??? WTF?? They said they had my number when I crossed the line. Oh well. AFAIK, I would have been about 54th out of 69 or 70. About par for the course this yr.

  As for this yr I have to say I was disappounted at my results. I came in feeling good; didn't feel burned out at any point (unlike last yr), and had fun. Did more races than any yr before. I started getting better results in the last month, so that was a good sign. I got to races ( with the exception of Wissahickon) early. Did most things "right". I had a bunch of "being at the wrong place at the wrong time" incidents that likely kept my results down. 1 real DNF at DCCX, and lots of muddy races, not my forte, so there's another reason why the poorer results. Probably the bigest reason is my weight. While
"thin" by every day American standards, I am about 4-5 lbs over what I weighed last yr. Ice cream is the culprit. But that's on me. I think that for next yr I'll prep much the same and just try to be more aggressive. Maybe a Red Bull before the start won't hurt :-)

Rockville Bridge Classic

Marysville Pa. The site of my 1st cross race. And the beginning of an addiction. It was nice to have a 1215 start time AND a 20 minute drive. Got there as the snow started to fall. Took entirely too much time talking and genearlly just taking it easy, but it was OK. Plenty of time. It was cold but bearable. Wore my fleece skinny (my favorite) and my old "No fear" knee warmers. Perfect! Rode 1 lap and it was already getting slick. Finally, the start. About 12 or so strong riders, mostly Elites, Dave Baumgardner, Gary Snyder, and myself. I knew my race would be with Dave and Gary. Took off up the gravel/paved road in decent position and rode down the same hill on the grass, once again in decent shape. Negotiated the off camber right hander well and took off for the next turn. Got off and ran up the hill. Way too slippery to ride fast. remounted and rode OK thru the rest of the 1st technical section, ran the barriers well, and headed off the the next technical section. I really didn't ride that section very well until the last lap. Dave and I kept swapping spots; he'd catch me and pass me on that section; I'd catch up and pass him on the section after the start/finish. I ran the section after the steep run up that seemed to gain me time on Dave. We had put a decent amount of room between us and Gary, but not near anyone else. Finally it showed 2 laps but I figured we'd get lapped, and we did, but not until about 1/2 way through. I had a good lead on Dave by this point but lost it when I dropped my chain after a fall. I managed to holdhim off anyway and took 3rd to last, about where I figured. But it was so much fun I didn't care. Great race. I hope it becomes a regualar race in the following seasons. Photo courtousey of my friend Joe Mallis @ smugmug.

A tale of 3 days or a 3 for 1 race post!

Sunday, Nov 22nd. Rockburn. Very different course from last yr. Shorter, more technical. The starts were delayed becuase of an accident on I-95, which, fortunately for me, my GPS routed me around. (Have I mentioned how much I love my Garmin?!)

This meant I had a long time to get ready. That was nice. I was able to help Gary out and pin him up since he was one of the unfortunate ones. Got a good lap in on the course and decided that the file treads were not the way to go. I got my usual horriffic start position and went off up the hill. I managed to squeeze up alongside the curb and grab a few places. I'd fairly quickly lose them as someone stopped in front of me. Again. Had to dismount and run a bit.. Then, later, I dropped my chain. ugghh. Carlo passed me at some point during all of this. I saw him with 2 laps to go and kept getting closer to him. I finally caught up with about 1/2 lap to go and decided to pass him at the end so he couldn't pass me. Bad decision. His MTB skills helped him through the last technical section faster than me, so it was no catching him. Great food and pie afterwards almost made up for it.

Saturday, last, PA State championships in Whitehall. A 1230 start. Nice! Windy as shit though. I expected mud. None. I got there early enough to get 2 laps in before I warmed up. Also nice. Small, strong field. I liked the course a lot; it suited me. long, sweeping turns, power sections, and not too much technical stuff. 1 longish climb on asphalt slowed me down, but i wound up fighting off acouple of guys who tried to pass me. wound up getting lapped by the 1st 3 guys with about 1/3 lap to go, finishing 34 out of 42 finishers. Not great but considering the strength of the field, I wasn't too disappointed. Nice to see Dan K there, cheering me on.

Sunday, Taneytown. A short drive, nice weather. I expected a grass crit. Boy was I wrong. It was a friggin bog in lots of places. Got a good start and didn't get tangled up in the melee going into the 1st muddy section. I decided to run quite a bit of it and that was actually a good move. Thor didn't fare so well. Neither did Dave T. I rode hard but the back side just killed me. I also got my bars stuck in the tape 2x because the line was better near the tape, but that's the risk you take. i dropped my chain (again) with about 2 laps to go after falling on the end of the section I had run on lap. I caught 2 guys on the pavement after the last bog and then proceded to get my bars stuck in the tape, letting the 1st guy pass me. I couldn't catch him. 40th out of 62. My best mud finish, ever.

One more weekend. Maybe I'll get a decent result at Marysville or Reston....(where there is a good chance of snow :-) )

USGP @ Mercer

Friggin mud-fest. Sticky, thick mud. No place on the course to recover. Ran a good portion of at least the 1st 2 laps. On the + side, my start went well and I was pretty fast. But that was it. This was one of the 5 hardest races I've ever done. Another +, the Fangos did well. A beautiful day, temps in the 60s at race time, 70s by the time the Elites went off. 49th of 54 finishers; not sure how many DNF'd. Since it was a 2-4 Masters race, I wasn't surprised that I got lapped. Actually was kind of glad. That which doesn't kill you......
Also saw another HUP rider doing the B's. Not sure who he was.

Reg'd for the yr

Got all of my races reg'd up for the remainder of the yr. Maybe I'll get a decent start position this way.....
Anywho, I'm doing the USGP at Mercer this Sunday. Hopefully I'll do better than I have been. I plan to go as hard as I can right at the start; then hold on. I'm hoping it'll be an improvement. We'll see.

Why do I suck so bad this yr?

I just found out my results for Wayne Scott cross. 39th out of 44. WFT? This is really getting frustrating. Last yr I was finishing near mid pack, but I was feeling burnt out, so I tried to train smarter this yr and dial it back a bit. I'm now finishing worse than last yr. I FEEL better, but either the competition has gotten that much better, or I'm slower. It may be a combo of the 2, or maybe turning 50 has something to do with it. I don't know.
FWIW-the course was great, it was a beautiful day, and I had fun. But is does suck to finish that far back.

I should have seen it coming

DCCX, Washington, DC. Great race. Great venue. Great swag. I've done well at this race. Got there with time to spare, (thanks, in part, to the new Garmin Sam bought me) get a good warmup, take the spare wheels to the pit, and line up about 4 rows from the back. Sign #1.
Great. The whistle blows and I stomp on it-need to get as many places as possible before the cluster-f$ck at the sharp left up the hill. Didn't help. Someone goes down in front of me and Thor plows into the back of me. Sign #2.
recover from that and start going up through the trees, trying to again gain ground. Guys are riding like it's a friggin joy ride.Sign #3.
Get around a few. Head down through some turns and OMGWTF someone bites it RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. No where to go. I ride OVER him. Almost. It causes me to go over the bars. Sign #4.
No one is hurt, fortunately. I race hard and start picking off riders. I see a pack of about 10 that I keep gaining ground on. I have 2 laps to go and I'm pretty confident I can catch them. I rail it around the sharp right up to the barriers, go up as fast as I can, remount, and try to do the same on the next sharo right heading to the steep, but rideable runup. Nail a tree root I didn't see, it knocks my rear wheel up in the air at a weird angle. I recover, quite impressed with myself, but something's wrong. Tire is rubbing the frame. Rolled the friggin tubie. The pit is WAY over the other side of the finish line. I pack it in. Final sign. DNF.
Now I have a weekend off coming up. Guess I'll be gluing that tire.

I will still probably suck

But I'm going to smell hella good at the start line @ DCCX. Just ordered up some of Mad Alchemy's "chocolate wish" embro. Bam!
 

A mudder?

I am not. I think my results can attest to this. 40 something today. I suppose it could have been worse, since I took the wrong exit of the turnpike (I've been to this race at least 4 times, I should know how to get there, right?). Got there with barely enough time to get dressed and out on the course for a brief warm up (5 ish minutes). The course was really muddy but rideable in most spots. I got a decent start but lost places when my legs just didn't respond to the effort, due, largely, to my lack of warm up.

1st time around the spiral of death and down I went. The Fangos were supposed to grip better than that, or so I thought.

I was able to get some real estate back on the grass and pavement but couldn't run the run up very well. I'd lose spots in the turns but gain on the straights.

All in all, it was hard but fun. I wound up going down like 3 times but didn't really care. Wissahickon has always been one of my favorites but this made it a whole lot different. At least I out sprinted a guy for a spot on the finish.

Next week. DCCX. Yay!
(It as nice to meet another HUPster from NH. Matt I believe was his name. Dan says he finished around 26th. Pretty good.)

When will the madness end????

1st this; http://madalchemy.com/products/ubersecret.html
And now THIS;http://madalchemy.com/products/chocolatewish.html
I don't know what to do. Guess I'll have to get both. Humm. Chocolate or coffee?? I think he should make a coffee/chocolate combo. I'd buy the entire stock.....

Iron Cross lite.

12:15 start. Whoot! I may want to start racing the Masters's Elites just for the start time. Probably not, tho.
After a night of rain and a dreary morning I had breakfast with my wife and 2 girls; nice change from the earlier starts, plus IC is less than 45 minutes away.
Got to see the end of the Cat 4 race and rooted fellow Hupster on, Gary Sterner. Also cheered Kevin Dillard on who squeeked out a photo finish. Took the long walk back to the car and got ready after depositing the pit bike in the pit. Got ready, warmed up, had a good chat with Bob Perna who parked across from me and Thor, who parked next to me.
We lined up in what was a combined Masters race although they would score us 35+, 45+, and 55+.
As the bell went off Thor, who was right in front of me, unclipped, stopping both of us. We went hard to catch up to the pack; I even passed him a bit until we made it into the turns. He passed me there, and tho I never lost sight of him, I never was able to catch him. I saw Jay Downs ahead of me and he became my "carrot". I knew I could catch him. After about 3ish laps I finally did, on the uphill barrier. I kept seeing Thor, Kevin Breckinmaker, and Perna ahead of me but I just couldn't catch them. I wound up getting lapped with maybe 1/2 lap to go, fighting off Nunzio at the finish line. Had I known it was him, I probably would've let it go since I wasn't really racing him (or Perna, for that matter). All in all, I felt pretty good. I wasn't too sure how I'd do, since I had been fighting a cold all week and really didn't sleep well the night before. 18th out of 26 starters over all; 5th out of 9 45+ racers. Closest to the podium I've ever been.
As for the course; I don't know why it is but this race doesn't get a lot of racers; it should. It's a great course with a little of everything; sand, grass, stones, fast packed dirt, hills, descents, and even a bit of single track. For any of you Mid Atlantic racers that read this. I HIGHLY recommend it, esp if you can't do the Mother of all Cross Races the next day, Iron Cross.

I am Famous!

Well. Maybe not. But my mediocrity is caught on vid. You'll see why I lose places (climbing section). Courtousey, again, of "In the CX hairs".

Well. Better. But not "there" yet.

Beautiful, sunny day for a cross race in Hagerstown, MD. Arrived 1.5 hrs early, which is nice. I need to keep doing this. Got reg'd and changed and then hopped on the course before the Cat4 race went off. Some major changes to the course this yr, mostly for the better, atmo. Still bumpy as shit , but more turns and they threw in a set of barriers before the sand pit which effectively MADE you run it.
After the call-ups aI got a fairly good start spot right behind Thor. The gun went off and we flew down the start stretch. I picked up some spots and headed into the turns in decent shape. Still stayedf with the pack but dropped back a bit on the steady climbs; I'm just not a climber and I really am not climbing well this yr. Down the narrow decent I was able to raelly rail it but it was so narrow that I couldn't make any passes, so I just hung back. My XS's really held well and I was able to take lines that a lot of guys couldn't. I'm convinced that they are the way to go unless it is muddy. I climbed the steep hill well (powered up it) and then went balls to the walls on the straight back stretch (the start stretch). I saw "1" lap to go and went as hard as I could, only to find that here was ANOTHER lap to go. Ugghh. Held on and outsprinted a guy who tried to pass me on the finish line. 39th out of 59. Not great, but better. Still would like to climb up into the top 50%. And beat Thor :-)
FWIW-the CX hairs guy may have me on his vid, briefly, at the start of the race.

Maybe "the slows" are over?

The past month I've been riding slow. I don't know why. My average speeds on normal routes have been significantly slower, which may explain my rather dismal cross results thus far. I can't really figure out why, other than I finished plyo and "they" say that running/weight training will slow you down on the bike.

Well, today and yesterday I went back to doing intervals on the bike and to my surprise I found my speed was back near where it was before the plyo. So maybe this is a good sign? Guess I'll find out on Saturday. I mean, really, my victims on Cross results dot com are now people like Gary Kelly, who, even tho he's a great guy, shouldn't be a "victim". Here's to better results.....

From Ed Sander Cross

Courtousey of "In the Crosshairs"

It's all about choices

Rained pretty much last night after a fairly dry week. Just to be "sure" I put my Kenda Kross Supremes on my Ritchey wheels. I got to Ed Sander Cross in plenty of time. Had enough time to give cxstraggler some shit about getting his ass in gear as he was chsanging and his race started in like 25 minutes. Was going to ride the course before the C race but ran out of time; no worries, I hopped on the trainer for about 1/2 hr. Got down to the pit, taking my extra wheels with me. Got on the corse and my XS's were everywhere in the slop so on my way past the pit I swapped out my wheels and rode the back side on the Kross Supremes. Much better, I thought. Got fairly decent start position and we were off. Thor was maybe 2-3 rows in front of me. Would I beat him today?

We head into the wet grassy area and I'm still good; great traction and I pass a few people. Then we hit the mud around the ponds. Have to get up and run since it's pretty much a cluster-f%ck on the 1st lap. I'm still just off the back of the main field. It's not untill teh 2nd lap that I realize why I don't use those f^cking tires; sure they have good grip, but they also don't shed the mud. My sub 18 lb bike now weighs like a million lbs, or so it felt like. Needless to say my legs were seriously fried and I think we only did like 4? laps. I didn't even beat the fat guy on the SS. I didn't get lapped, so I did beat some people. But it's a shame because my legs pre-race felt great. I should have just run my XS's and ran thru the mud. I would have been far better off.

At least there was Belgian waffles and adult beverages in the party zone. No Idea where I placed. It really doesn't matter....

Maybe next week I'll get Thor.
 

 

Today is a "skinny day"

Some days you feel like a load. Other days, you feel skinny. Today is a skinny day. Feel lean; ready to race. My legs feel toned but not tired. had a good night's sleep. Didn't ride; it's a rest day. Spent the morning running errands with Sam (my wife for those who don't know, and yes she is a she. I'm not ghey, NTTAWWT.) and had a nice lunch at a little Chinese rstruant. Work is slow, so I'll hopefully be leaving early. 1 more day till Ed Sander cross.
Maybe a bit of rain? Sam;"will they cancel the race because of the rain?" Does not "get it". Oh well.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

2 races to start out the year. Nittany cross in Trexlertown and Charm City in Baltimore. Beautiful weather both days. I met Dan at Nittany-we both raced the Masters B at 10 am. Flat, fast course. Lots of twists and tight turns. Since I hadn't ridden the day befopre, I realy didn't get a good start. Finally, after about 2 laps, my legs started to come around. By then I was way off the back. 51 out of 62? in my cat. Not great, but about the norm for me.
Charm City was on Sunday. Again, great weather. turns out I probably should've kept the skin-suit at home. Got warm by start time. Both races I got there earlier than in the past. This is a good thing; no rushing and I got a good warm up in. Parked in front of Thor and chatted before the race.
I was 83rd of 113ish starters, so Istarted way back. I tried to sprint as soon as the gun went off but it was really tight; picked up a few places but it really was pretty much of a cluster-f&ck until things spread out a bit. Mike G and Gary S could be heard chearing (heckling) me as well as Lithuania from RBR. I ran the barriers well as well as the sand and hammered on the straights as much as I could. 1st 2 laps or so my stomach really didn't feel too well. On the last lap I saw Thor ahead of me. Incentive! I never caught him but got to 4 places behind him finishing 70th out of 96 finishers. Better than before, I suppose, but still not top 1/2. There's work to be done, I suppose.....

Divine intervention?

Seems like the unplanned time off is actually turning out to be a good thing. After going out, doing some intervals today and Sunday, my legs are feeling strong, refreshed, and ready. Did some stair runs on Monday and felt good, too. I am now officially ready for a solid mid pack finish. Yup.

Lord Vadar; Your ride is ready.

Black. Apparently it's the new white. Or something like that. The "old" Empella, updated with the stem flipped down (it was too friggin high), new crankset, slightly lower gear (39 instead of a 40 up front), and new Grifo XS tires. Not the best glueing job, but not the worst, either.
I just need to test ride it. I did a cross workout today on my Gitane because the tires probably weren't ready yet on the Bonfire. Can't wait! 2 races this cominmg weekend! Nittany Lion and Charm City. What a way to start off the season!

3 days off....

I didn't plan this but here I am; less than 2 weeks away from cross season, and I've taken 3 days off after killing myself for 2 weeks. My rt knee is bothering me a bit so I just decided to work on the bike and rest it. Tomorrow I'll take an easy ride, then 2 more interval/plyo sessions, several days of cross only rides, an interval session top wake up the legs and then it's 2 races, back to back. Top 1/2 finishes are what I'm shooting for this yr. Made it 2x last yr. One can hope, can't I?

Embro? Maybe?

Temps were in the low 70's today. Tomorrow promises more of the same, with lows in the 50's. I may get to slather on some Belgian Kneewarmers tomorrow while I kill my legs doing Tabata intervals. I may not sleep tonight, eager with anticipation :-)
 

 

Rain. Check. Pain. Check. Hurray for intervals!

I woke up to rain. Bleh. Got breakfast, fed the dogs and kitties, checked the web. Bam. No rain. Yay. Finished cleaning teh bathroom, suited up and went out to do some hill intervals, specifically Stetler road, then Steigerwalt hollow road, repeat. My legs were a bit tired; climbed like a rock. Oh well; it's the workout, not the speed that's important.
Next, on to Lower Allen park to do plyo. Hide away so no one can see me lest they think I'm crazier than they already do. Running the steps seems to be a good training excercise for cross; felt good. Easy pedaled home. Got a little wet. Burned like 1200 calories. This cross season I hope to NOT have tired legs before the season staRts. Looking promising so far.....

Sometimes it's not about racing

Sunday, Aug 23rd I did the Livestrong Challenge century in Philly. 6k+ riders and about 800 runners. I managed to raise $400, which surprised me. It's hard to find someone who hasn't been affected by cancer, so really, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that people are willing to donate to a cause such as this.
I got up (well, I was up almost all night) bright and early at 4:45am and got ready to drive down. Sunrise on the turnpike is actually quite pretty. After playing phone-tag with Rob, we finally met at the staging area. I met Kurt, his friend, and Pat his brother, all of us comprising Team Fish or cut Bait. We headed out, barely moving. After a while things thinned out and it became easier to keep up a decent pace. Pat would surge ahead on the descents; Kurt was pedaling like a madman up the hills; I just kept my own pace. We skipped the 1st "Power stop" and then Kurt and I pulled ahead to the 2nd stop. Waited for Rob and Pat there.
Off we went in team fashion but it soon became apparant that Kurt and I would be ridng ahead for most of the ride.
Tons of hills-Kurt kept flying. At the bottom of one of the larger climbs I passed him and then never saw him again. I waited for a bit at the next stop but didn't want to wait too long so i went on without them. Lots of killer hills; Satan at the top of 2 for reelz! saw Pat at the 80? mile stop-he was being saged back. 50+ miles for him, which was good since he apparantly hasn't been able to train much.
My legs were hurting since past mile 62 I was in uncharted territory for me; I haven't done a century in over2 or 3 yrs. Kept hydrating and pounding the gels and fruit. Got to ride with some nice people and ended up finishing what turned out to be 95 miles (on my 'puter) in 5' 38". not bad but time wasn't the goal.
I waited for quite while for them to finish and then had to go. Rob called as I was on 76 heading home; they had just finished.
I was a bit sore and extremely tired but I'll do it agin. It effs with my cross training but that's OK.

Someone DID die.

That's really too bad. A 60 yr old man, doing what he loved. My heart goes out to the family. I'll say it again; these charity "fun" rides can be not so much fun if you don't be careful and pay attention. Be safe out there.

Freds, Posers, and Douchschnozzles (new word)

After a yr haitus from any "charity rides", I did the Lancaster Bike Club's covered bridge metric century. I did this for 2 reasons; 1, I was going to ride with my friend, Dave, who I haven't seen in over a yr and 2, I probably should ride a ride >2 hrs if I want to finish the Livestrong Challenge century without dying. I get near the place and traffic is actually backed up onto the interstate. Me, being incredibly clever and hating to sit in that mess, go down to the next exit, head back up, and BAM!, no waiting.
Reg line was well run and quick, meet Dave at the port-o-potties, and notice on the way over, that there are an INCREDIBLE # of Freds, Posers, and soon to be named, Douchschnozzles. A veritable clusterf*ck of them. I am fearful for our lives. I have no worries w/Dave; he's an experienced rider and knows what the h*ll he's doing.
We go off and go zipping by group by group of people totally oblivious to the fact that they are on public roads, not the TdF and yes, there are cops at intersections but there are also cars behind and coming the other way; you DON'T have the right to take up the whole friggin lane. The inevitable "racer dudes" go by in pseudo-pacelines, only to have us (ok, me) pass them at the top of the hills. A side note; do not wear a 1) polka dot 2) green or 3) Maillot Juane if you haven't earned it!
We see Rabbit at the lunch stop. Minus his "posse". Meh. End up in decent shape (miles 42 on were uncharted territory for me this yr). A good ride, no one died (that I know of) and we didn't get taken out by any Douchschnoozles. Yay. I think I may make the century next weekend. Although I won't try to keep a17-18mph pace like we did today. Unless they want to. :-) And tomorrow it's cross training in earnest! Plyo! Intervals! Dead legs! Whee!

The linky

Please donate what you can! Thanks in advance. Linky over in "linky section", D'oh!

End of the "Eff it" week.

Last week was a rest week. Last week of the Tour. I rode 3 times and when I did it was easy. I'm ready to get back and do some moderate-hard training. Gotta get some longer rides in as I'm doing the "Livestrong Challenge" century in Philly on Aug 23rd. Doing it for Dad and Rasmey (by bro-in-law) who died of ca as well. I'll add a linky soon so any one who checks this blog out can donate. We all have known someone affected by this disease. I'm not a Lance fanboy but what he is doing is this regard is commendable. It's the least I can do.

Well. A break thru of sorts.

Allentown Irving Park Sportsfest. I've done this race 2 x before, as a cat 5. Manned up and did the Masters. Started slow, then about 2 laps in the hammer went down. I was determined to stay in the pack. A few laps later it slowed a bit. This went on for all of the 25 laps. Near the beginning of the race my legs started to scream but I rode thru it. Eventually they felt pretty good. Patrick whats-his-face the track rider rode off the front (as per usual). They stopped calling out the gap at about 50 seconds. But anywho....
I rode strong, pulled the pack at times, jumped on a few breaks, and had a damn good time. I should've jumped coming up the hill after the start/finish line on the last lap but, well, next time (I was climbing as well as anyone and better than most). Wound up 20th out of 24, which ain't great, but i finished pretty strong. And to my anonymous poster; I caused no wrecks; if there's 1 thing I can do is hold a line. Cross tends to help with that.
As and aside, I saw Keith fron HUP in his stylin Blanco kit; I may get me one of those next yr.
Also saw Nick, the guy I sold my K's to. All in all a pretty good day. I'm off now to eat lots of food and drink beer.......

A little ring day.

After killing my legs at the World Cup Sat AM hammerfest, thanks to the testosterone twins, Scotty and Rod, I went out for a nice, easy, flattish (as flat as it gets around here) ride out towards Mechanicsburg. I made the essential ride along McCormick road; essential because it's just plain fun annd beatiful, plus it's good for some good views. Early and you'll likely see someone fly fishing, which, although it's not my cup-o-tea, is sure purdy to see. Later and you may see a young lass in a bikini enjoying the water. I saw neither today. Oh well. IDID, however, see a DeLorean coming the other way. That is certainly something you don't see every day. Rode past a dad and his 2 youngish kids, on full road bikes (looked to be 7-9ish) out for a spin. Just took it easy. Had a great 36 mile ride.

Damned (fat) softball players

Since my encounter with CXstraggler on the road the other day, I've had the jones to get out on the cross bike. Yesterday I got the Gitane swapped around to it's SS cross configuration, now with Tufo tubie clinchers. yea, they suck, but they're the fattest best tread I can get on that thing. And they were cheap. I headed over to Lower Allen park to hit the old trails. Well, things have changed. They put in new soccer fields (ggod for the community-not for me) and a paved path. Since the fields were newly seeded I didn' want to be a dick and ride across them, so I used the paved path. that was OK. However, they're having a softfrigginball tournament there so my ritaul of using the row of trees as a slalom course was out. Bah. Oh well, still got to do a few dismounts/remounts and get a little mud on me and the bike.
Softball. A game where fat chicks and doods can play and drink bad beer later. (As opposed to cross, where fit chicks and doods can race till you puke, and then drink GOOD beer later.)

Wow.

My 1st Masters crit. At the Rodale fitness park. Every one is absolutely right; these guys are FAST. I got kicked out the back about 2 laps in and at that pace I could never catch back up. Got pulled after 5 ish laps. DFL.
Note to self. Try as hard as you possibly can to stay in the pack.
On a positive note, the tubies ride and spin great.

It's been a while.

I've been doing intervals now for 3 weeks. I figured it's probably a good idea since I have a race on Sunday. ....
Anyway. The weather a week ago was absolutely phenomenal. This week? Not so much. Still got some good sessions in. My legs have been feeling fairly good except for today. Tabata intervals are killers. I was lazy and had World Cup glue my tubies; I wouldn't have had time this week and I want them for the race PLUS I wanted the wheels checked out by someone who knows what they're doing.
I hope to at least hang with the pack on Sunday. It's my 1st Masters crit and I know it'll be faster than the 5's were, but hopefully, a bit less sketchy. At least Kevin Breckenmaker will be there; a familiar face. Or ass, depending on where I'll be.....
And some good news, I think/hope. Sarah's new soccer team won't be playing a tournament over Iron Cross weekend PLUS their tournaments are late summer so it shouldn't interfere too much with cross season, although the league games are on Sunday, I think, so we'll have to see. Maybe I'll finally get to do Granogue?

Well. That was BRUTAL.

Fawn Grove Roubaix. 40 miles of undulating roads (not too different than here) and dirt and gravel. My 1st Masters race AND 1st road race. Beautiful day, got there in plenty of time for a change, forgot my pump (no biggie-borrowed one), rode instead of using the trainer to warm up. We lined up next to last group. Went off at a not too insane pace. I kept to the back of the main group, and then we hit the gravel. I rocked it. Too bad I can't climb to save my life. Before long things got strung out. I was in no man's land. Off the back of the main group but in front of the really slow guys. I would make up time on the gravel sections and decents but lose time on the climbs. A bunch of the 4/5's caught me but not a lot, as well as the Pro 1,2,3's who lapped me. No biggie. I have no idea where I finished. Not 1st but not DFL either. Mission accomplished I suppose....
I'll do it again for sure. It was fun in a painful sort of way. My wheels and tires worked great-no flats and my wonderful French bike smoothed out the gravel quite nicely.
I guess I'll find out the placings tomorrow on line. I hope it's not too bad.

Pro. Or no?

So I'm going up my driveway, out to do my hill workout. As I'm going up, I see Amy, the oh so hawt yes she's my age and she puts women 1/2 her age to shame going up the road. She says "Hi". I say "hi" back. Being "Pro", (ha!) I;
1) exchange pleasantries and go on my way to my sufferfest
2) offer to ride with her for a while and THEN do my sufferfest.
Yes, I choose #2. I'm not stoopid, you know. It was nice to ride with someone for a change, especially someone as nice and good looking as Amy. I still got to go out and head up Andersontown road, then continue up Mountain road, up to Roundtop. That is a nice, grinding climb, with a few little breaks. I'm feeling pretty good on the bike right now. I'm about 200+ miles ahead of last year's mileage total, which is good.
I don't know what to expect with the road race coming up in April. 40 miles. Some climbs, and dirt! Yay! And now I'm FINALLY out of cat5, up to cat4 so now I can race the Masters, which I'm sure will kick my ass. At least I'll see some familiar (older) faces; Bob Perna, Gary Kelly, and others I'm sure from cross.
Oh. It's a good thing I looked at my bike after the ride. My rear tire is through to the belt. Put the Kendas on today. It's always good to have spare stuff laying around....

I love where I live.

Beautiful winterish day. No clouds; minimal wind. Cold, but since there wasn't much wind it wasn't bad. Wore my favorite winter jacket (ok, my ONLY winter jacket), Hind tights, HUP booties, and my cheapo Nashbar winter gloves with liners. It was 20-25F when I started.
The wind is stilll cold, but the sun is feeling like spring. I headed out towards Pinetown road, Silver lake, and Roundtop. Saw that little ski zit against the blue sky. I must say it was quite nice. Appears to be lots of (manmade) snow. I got a good 26 miles in, felt pretty strong and generally had a great ride. Looking forward to tomorrow when I'm off so I can get an easy, long ride in.
Did I mention I only saw about 6 cars the whole friggin ride?
THAT is one of the BIG reasons I love to ride out there.

I didn't plan for THAT.

It was windy today but I didn't think horribly so so I went out for a ride, figuring I'd head into it as much as possible and then have it at my back on the way home. Everything was going according to plan, got to stop at the bank en route, and then go on. It was Not TOO bad until I got to the other side of Mechanicsburg and then it was hitting me HARD from the right side; I'm sure the bike was leaning. Made a left turn on Stumpstown road and life was wonderful; wind at my back. I crest the hill on Lisburn road, look to my left and it is dark as night. Looked like a storm was coming so I put it in TT mode and hammered. No luck. It hit me going down McCormick road. Snow, sleep, maybe some rain. Epic. Blasting along at 27 mph or so with the wind at your back is kind of fun, except when your face is being pelted with sleet and who-knows-what. Fortuinately, I was only about 15 minutes from home. I get about a milke away from home and it's effing DRY. Still hasn't done anything (1.5 hrs later). Oh well. That which doesn't kill you....

1st ride on ageared bike in 09?!

Ok. Except the cross race. My KG felt light and smooth as ever. I'm thru with running and weights; it's ride baby, ride. I'm doing it bit different this year (don't I always?) and not doing intervals or lots of weight training before my very limited summer racing season. I think I did too much last yr but also didn't do enough miles. I'm going to do a few races this summer and then do the intervals/plyo program a bit earlier this yr without the 3 in a row interval sessions. At least, that's the plan now.

All aboard the fail-boat!

Cross your heart cross race in Columbia MD. At an RV campground. Nice venue. In keeping with my resolution to get to races earlier, i arrived about 80 min before my start time. Reg went quick and I was unpacking my stuff when Thor literally rode into me, along with his son, Nicholas. It was good to see them. I get ready and I decide on less is more; it felt warm after riding in sub freezing temps for a month or so. Rode the trainer a while and then hit the course. Lots of ice, some mud, leaves, mulch, stones, pavement, steps, logs, you name it. About 35 or so racers lined up as a 1-4 race; the 1-3's went off 2 min prior to us. I got a pretty bad start and wound up stuck in the back at a bottleneck right after the start. Not good. We wound up having to ruin a good section of the 1st area up to the 1st run-up as it was just too slow to ride and too crowded. Got going and my rear tire felt really low. I kept going but as the lap progressed I realized I should swap out my wheel at the pit. I was riding along OK; had Thor about 5 riders ahead of me (he said that I should beat him. Ha!) Got to the pit and swapped out the wheel only to have the chain drop off my chainring. I was now nowhere in the race. I just went out and TT'd my way thru the race. The run-up killed me as did the steep climb to the finish line. I crashed 1x after that but was apparantly catching up to some people before that happened. I got lapped by most of the 1-3 raceers and by a few of the leaders (I think) of my race. I might hjave finishede DFL. Don't know. It doesn't matter. It was a cross race in Feb and sure was better than almost anything else I could have done on the bike.
Then I got to head home and watch the Steelers win #6. Yea, baby!

A race on Sunday?

Who'da thunk it? Superbowl of SS CX in Columbia MD. In February. Yay! Warm reg area and concessions and beverages available, plus donated winter coats go to a good cause. And there may be snow. Can it get any better?

Cold. Snow. Fixed gear. Questions?

I went out for a nice little 18 mile ride on the fixie. Started snowing shortly after I started. This is too much fun. Rode down along the Yellow Breaches and up Brenneman road. These are 2 of my favorite roads. Little rollers, some steep pitches, and some flat areas. Perfect for the fixie. I just may swap it back to SS mode and race in the SS cat on Feb 1st. Depends when the Superbowl starts :-) (I am NOT missing any of the Steelers historic 6th Superbowl win!)

187

That's what the scale said this AM. That's OK. I pretty much haven't done much of anything physical since Capital Cross Classic in early December,and that's only about 5 lbs over what my lowest weight was last yr. It's back to building some base miles, lifting, and some pilates (I noticed I've really gotten inflexible-not good). 2009 will be even better than 2008. Or that's the plan.