And a nice present from the crew. Thank you! It's been a blast this season.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
DCCX
flubbed the start
but got back up front quickly
oh boy, i'm on Gunnar's wheel...good place to be
oh crap, i think i just broke my saddle
it's probing my colon
pitting twice during lap one is never good
from way back in the field i worked my way forward
Judd and I worked together well to reel back a few guys on the last lap
and I jumped at the right time to win that group for 17th
not what i was hoping for
but I'm actually very happy with how I raced after the first lap
I learned a lot about moving forward, passing guys, and moving from group to group....it was like bike racing school
I love cross
but got back up front quickly
oh boy, i'm on Gunnar's wheel...good place to be
oh crap, i think i just broke my saddle
it's probing my colon
pitting twice during lap one is never good
from way back in the field i worked my way forward
Judd and I worked together well to reel back a few guys on the last lap
and I jumped at the right time to win that group for 17th
not what i was hoping for
but I'm actually very happy with how I raced after the first lap
I learned a lot about moving forward, passing guys, and moving from group to group....it was like bike racing school
I love cross
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Good stuff
Excellent suggestion from Mr. Mayhew (superman). Gonna need this for race fuel this weekend at Fair Hill & Rockburn (my backyard).
I'm an uncle again & again. Welcome to the family Will & Matt!
I'm an uncle again & again. Welcome to the family Will & Matt!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Monk mode
The Map Room - Chicago
Striving for monk mode while in Chicago for work. It ain't easy. ;-)
Ran over by the Lake yesterday afternoon. The Marathon is tomorrow so I had a lot of people ask me if I was running on Sunday. Ummm, no.
St. Bernardus Abt 12 in the proper glassware at The Map Room last night. That qualifies for monk mode, right? Great bar. Many Belgians and other quality brews on tap. Good music and scene. Seeing a lot of bikes parked out front was a good sign. Thanks for the beta, YDT!
Ran again this morning and I'm getting a massage this afternoon.
Trying to get the work done for the upcoming races. It's a short season.
Missing the family and bummed to miss the backyard beer cross at Ben-fest tonight!
Well, I better start paying attention to this presentation. ;-)
Striving for monk mode while in Chicago for work. It ain't easy. ;-)
Ran over by the Lake yesterday afternoon. The Marathon is tomorrow so I had a lot of people ask me if I was running on Sunday. Ummm, no.
St. Bernardus Abt 12 in the proper glassware at The Map Room last night. That qualifies for monk mode, right? Great bar. Many Belgians and other quality brews on tap. Good music and scene. Seeing a lot of bikes parked out front was a good sign. Thanks for the beta, YDT!
Ran again this morning and I'm getting a massage this afternoon.
Trying to get the work done for the upcoming races. It's a short season.
Missing the family and bummed to miss the backyard beer cross at Ben-fest tonight!
Well, I better start paying attention to this presentation. ;-)
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Hagerstown Cross
Breast Cancer Awareness Cross in Hagerstown
I like this race. Yeah, it's bumpy, but the venue is cool and the event has a good vibe and a great cause.
My hands and back are still sore. I ran the widest tires I own at a low pressure (not quite bottoming out on the harshest bumps). I guess I should have run them at bottoming out pressure.
My teammates Bad Andy and Norm saved the day for me by getting my bike shifting again before my race. I am a novice mechanic, proficient enough to do a lot of things right, but also proficient enough to really mess some shit up too.
Working the pit for the 10am B-Masters race is fun. A lot of my buddies are in that one so I get to heckle and help out as needed. Not surprisingly there were a lot of flats by people running clinchers and one guy who had Stan's up some clinchers.
Despite an against training program trip to NYC with requisite drinks and no race prep ride on Friday I had a decent race. The start was pretty easy and I was 2nd wheel to Bernie Shiao heading into the first turn. Auer came by soon after and put in the accelerations to form the lead group. Gunnar Shogren also bridged up there before long. It was very cool to race with Gunnar, even if it was only for a few laps. He's super strong, super smooth, and a nice guy taboot.
I dug in and hung on the back of the lead group for a few laps. Well, it was more like I would dangle off the back and fight back on. A couple of times Kris slowed at the front to assess the situation which allowed me to get back in. If my legs were really good I would have gone to the front then and there, but they were just ok so I sat on the back and tried to delay the inevitable.
Of course, sitting on the back just means you'll just be the first one spit out the back and that's what happened. On the bright side, I had held on long enough that we had created some space back to the chasers. So, I rode around for some laps, content with my spot in the top ten.
Eventually, I caught up to Mike Birner who was going backwards after riding really strongly up front for most of the race. I got by him and moved up pretty close to Marc Gwadz. I had been content with my spot so it was hard to get the fire back and close the gap. Mentally I just didn't have it. So, I dangled behind Anthony Van Lierop, happy to stay a few seconds back. In hindsight, I'm kicking myself for 'settling' and not 'racing' all the way to the finish.
However, I did have to start riding hard the last two laps as Karl Connolly and Barry Holman were dueling it out behind me and starting to close the gap. The fear of getting caught got me going again. They were moving. Good racing.
Considering how I felt Thursday and Friday I'm damn happy with 7th place. The guys that beat me are super strong and a lot of the guys that I beat are as well. Gunnar took the win. Auer was 2nd after mechanical issues sent him to the pit multiple times. It was great to see him out there riding strongly after last weekend's scary car accident. He's the guy that makes it happen for our team!
Moving up to the Elite Masters has been fun and quite a challenge. Racing against these guys is making me a stronger and smarter bike racer. I've still got a lot of work to do. I'm just happy that I've got such a great group of guys to race against and learn from.
No racing for me the next two weekends due to travel so I need to put in some hard training this week and pack the running shoes for the weekend.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Rolling
Hopping a train to the big city for meetings and dinner. Should make for less than stellar legs this weekend. Oh well.
Shifting is f-ed on the Blue. Hopefully someone can help me fix it Saturday morning before the race. I'm ok with simple derailleur adjustments but this is above my skill level. Help!
Shifting is f-ed on the Blue. Hopefully someone can help me fix it Saturday morning before the race. I'm ok with simple derailleur adjustments but this is above my skill level. Help!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thank you Karcher
Good day for the power washer!
Thor loved the lil' Belgians race. Best part of the day for me. 8-)
Thor loved the lil' Belgians race. Best part of the day for me. 8-)
Blue turns to Brown
Fun times in the mud today at Ed Sander 'Cross. Worked the pit for the B Masters and after washing their bikes decided to not pre-ride the course. Lotta slop and grass clogging up the bikes.
The Blue did a great job of shedding mud and grass. Running the big mud pit helped. Glad a wore the old shoes too. They are a mess!
The Rhinos were perfect foe the conditions. Only a few slippery turns but they hooked up nicely and rolled the soft stuff and slop very smoothly. The tread + width (34) + running them kinda soft was perfect.
Good race for me as I got a decent start in the top 10, then hung on, before moving up a few spots with 2 to go. Couldn't catch the fast old guys but I'm happy with 5th. Chased Gwadz but couldn't quite catch him.
More later.
The Blue did a great job of shedding mud and grass. Running the big mud pit helped. Glad a wore the old shoes too. They are a mess!
The Rhinos were perfect foe the conditions. Only a few slippery turns but they hooked up nicely and rolled the soft stuff and slop very smoothly. The tread + width (34) + running them kinda soft was perfect.
Good race for me as I got a decent start in the top 10, then hung on, before moving up a few spots with 2 to go. Couldn't catch the fast old guys but I'm happy with 5th. Chased Gwadz but couldn't quite catch him.
More later.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Charm City 'Cross 2008
The race went well this year.
A few hiccups (like not enough beer) that will be fixed next year.
Great teamwork to make it happen.
Like always, the day was a blur but what I saw looked good.
Like always, I felt like crap warming up and raced pretty well.
Big thanks to Chris Newell for the encouragement and the pull's.
We were working together to move up and both feeding off the cheers for "Chris".
It was pretty funny and was a welcome distraction from the suffering.
My chain had partially slipped off when I shouldered my bike, but I was able to reach back, turn the pedals, and get it back on. That was pretty cool.
Sleep is overrated
Burritos = good fuel
Thor loved the lil' Belgians race. In fact, we had a hard time getting him off the course. 8-)
Burritos = good fuel
Thor loved the lil' Belgians race. In fact, we had a hard time getting him off the course. 8-)
Friday, September 19, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
Happy
From Gavin's 1st birthday last week.
Is that a Pope hat?
He's starting to walk. Time flies.
Finally recovered from the 100 & ensuing escalation of the head cold.
Time to start ramping up the CX specific work.
And getting some stubborn tires off so that I can glue up some new
Rhino's. Maybe I will have more than one race where I need them. The
FMB SSC Sprint 'file tread' tires got the job done last season.
Is that a Pope hat?
He's starting to walk. Time flies.
Finally recovered from the 100 & ensuing escalation of the head cold.
Time to start ramping up the CX specific work.
And getting some stubborn tires off so that I can glue up some new
Rhino's. Maybe I will have more than one race where I need them. The
FMB SSC Sprint 'file tread' tires got the job done last season.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Rockburn CX practice
Wednesday's 6pm (or a bit earlier)
Beginning 8/13
Unsanctioned, laid back, self-serve, fun, no tears
40 days 'til Charm City Cross
Beginning 8/13
Unsanctioned, laid back, self-serve, fun, no tears
40 days 'til Charm City Cross
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Friday, August 01, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Form is coming around
Thor's form is coming around. After watching a few stages of the Tour he's working on his victory salute.
In his words, "When I get older I will wear a green jersey and ride a big bike." He can also pick out big Thor in the peloton the way some kids can name all the "Thomas" trains.
My legs are starting to feel pretty good too...not fast yet, but strong. The motivation is high and I'm getting the work done.
If I could only heal up from my crash at the 12 Hours of Cranky Monkey I'd be happy. My hand and shoulder are still somewhat jacked up but they're not keeping me off the bike.
I'm just glad the 'cross doesn't happen during the Summer because breathing hot humid air while riding hard is no fun. I'm getting most of my rides in on dawn patrol so that helps.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
first poop
Get up early in the morning (or up all night)
Even with the crappy phone camera you can see first light in the sky at 4:59am.
What a day.
Up at 4:30 to ride the trails with W at 5.
nice way to start the day.
Quality time at the shop during the lunch hour(s)
Getting bikes dialed in for the cranky monkey 12 hr suffer-fest on saturday.
Then Thor makes us proud parents by dropping off his first kid in the pool this evening. A monumental moment for sure. I've been proud of some of my poops along the way, but I've never felt as good as I do about the first one from my first born. Sorry about the lack of photos. The camera wasn't handy.
I would have celebrated with a beer but I'm trying to limit that to the weekends in my quest to get down to fightin' weight. Less than 3 months to Charm City.
Over and out. Up again for another early session on the bike with the TMR in the morning.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
batteries on the charger
Chilling at the beach
Outer Banks NC
Eating, drinking (too much good beer), sleeping
Digging in the sand
Floating in the water
Having a ball
The only riding has been loading a kid on a beach cruiser euro-style
and pedaling from the house to the beach.
I did my first run of the year the other day and it felt pretty good.
There was also a nice 80 minute massage on Monday. I felt high as a kite walking out of there. Always a sign of a quality massage.
I'm always amazed how my whole attitude feels after a vacation off the bike. Motes get topped off and my hunger to ride becomes ravenous.
Body and mind are rested. Quality family time. A week+ not chained to a desk. Everything is back in balance and I'm ready to do the work to get ready for 'cross. It's as much mental as it is physical.
Diet
Ride
Run
Stretch
Rest
I'm hungry.
Team AFC is flying fixed at RAAM. Follow their progress here and here. They are an inspiration.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Work blocking everything. Bastiges. Gotta
Work blocking everything. Bastiges. Gotta get creative. Maybe an iphone? Hmmm
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Friday, May 02, 2008
Thursday, May 01, 2008
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