Merry Christmas!!!!

My Christmas present to myself! I shouldn't have. I'm too good to me. This is the Mack-daddy, portable, Aluminum, work stand. Folds up pretty small into its own carry bag. I have needed one of these for a long time. Thanks, your welcome.

Here is the stand in action. Holding my dads CroMo. Specialized Rockhopper. He was going to give this away! Dont give it to some stranger, give it to me! I picked it up when we to the 'burg for Christmas breakfast. Thanks dad!

Swinging Christmas...

Sheri and I went to the Sandler Center to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy! We have been fans of these guys since the movie "Swingers" came out in 1996. While promoting their Christmas album, they also played some old favorites. They seemed to have a good time and so did we!

Some pics from '08

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have allot to be thankful for! Don't let today go by without thinking about that.
Went to the Thanksgiving ride from Contes this morning. 32 deg. at 7:30. I would estimate 50 people showed. Did I mention it was cold? This was a nice casual ride to Creeds and back for 51 miles. Lots of fun, man was it cold!
Had just enough time to rush home, shower, then head to Williamsburg by 1:00. The food was good, and I got to see some family at my parents. Hope you had as good a day as me.

Link to Pics...

http://www.sportimages23.printroom.com/ghome.asp?domain_name=sportimages23&group_id=3

Challenge pics...

Good turn out!

Me going past the finish.

Do I look stoned?
Carlos and Anya, they always smile great for the camera.
I have a cute pic of Rick and Carol, but I was forbid to post it here. Thanks Sheri for taking the pictures. Thanks Anya for taking the picture of us.

08 Tidewater Moutain Bike Challenge

Thanks Steve and the many volunteers for all the hard work. The trail was in great shape today despite yesterdays rain. The dirt was moist and tacky. Some of this moistness did get transferred to the roots and bridges, but it wasn't too treacherous. Thanks to the people that have pushed me to ride harder and get better, especially Rick, Greg, and Carlos. Biggest thanks to Sheri for putting up with my obsessive behavior. The coolest chick I know.
Departing the house at 9:30 would be plenty of time to make the hour drive, register, and warm up before the noon race. Interstate 64 had other plans. 75 mph (oops... I mean the legal limit of 65) then BLAM! Everyone stop! 3 fire engines, 3 ambulances, and many police cars come wailing bye. We sit for 30 minutes. Could have been much worse, we could have been in the crunched up cars. Luckily all the races were delayed a hour for clean up this morning. Plenty of time.
My race went well. Starting on the front row was a great opportunity to beat the pack to the single track. I got a good start and entered the woods in 4th or 5th. Passed one guy about a half lap in. I knew there was some strong riders behind me, and they were coming. The climbs are my weakest point. 2 guys pass me on a long climb on the back of the course, but I thought I could have re passed them on the down hill! Descending is not my weakest point. 2 more get past me on lap 3 as my back starts hurting. I work through my back issues and maintain 8th until the finish. I am happy with that.

Sherando part 3

Back at the truck, it was still early. What a beautiful day! Carlos graciously offers to shuttle us down the parkway. There is a small picinic/camping spot that has a short trail to the downhill. Could we find it? At the point that I think for sure we missed it, we spot the spot. Its not long before this singletrack runs us into a intersection about halfway down the long down hill trail we were on before. (Does anybody know the names of these trails?) This puts us right back on my favorite part. We whoop it up the rest of the way down. This the first "shuttle run" I have ever done. Still like the climbing part of mountain biking.

Carlos makes it back (with out getting a ticket) to the campground in my truck. We load up the bikes and head out. A very good day. Only 1 flat(Carlos), no falls, only one hornet attack(Dave), a little hiking, lots of rocks. All we needed was good food to finish off the day right!

Deciding to find a Cracker Barrel, we start the 4+ hour drive back. Unfortunately we drove 3 hours until we got to the one in Newport News. I was starving, and we were almost to the exit when my crew started a mutiny! What? Wendys? After some threatening I got them back on track, they thanked me for it later. The roast beast was good.

See you at the Tidewater Mountain Bike Challenge!

Sherando part 2

With the crew regrouped we start our descent. The first few miles are not that steep, with a few rock gardens sprinkled in. I find it hard to keep my momentum where the trail is not steep enough to overcome the rocks, something I need to work on. We eventually reach some mandatory walking sections. These were REAL steep, but the rocks were REAL big. The lower half was as fast as you dare to go. First, the trail was all rock of all different sizes. Wider than single track, several lines were available. Ride over the bigger rocks jutting out like launching pads, or go around. Only 1 tree down that I remember. Stopping to duck under, we hear voices. Must have been 100 kids, maybe 10-14 years old, walking up the trail we were just blasting down! Good thing we had to stop for the tree!
After the procession of brats passes, we proceed with letting gravity have her way. The next part was real singletrack with only 1 line. More dirt than rocks, with a few stream crossings for good measure. This might have been my favorite part, good flowing, around trees, a little up, alot of down. The trail dumped us out at the lake, good spot to again regroup. The road out of the campground had a good climb, and we eventually made it back to the truck. The trip is not over, you'll have to wait for part three.

Sherando Oct. 2 part 1

Somehow we managed to get 5 guys off work on a Thursday! With 2 bikes inside the Suburban, and 3 bikes outside, we left Bikebeat about 7:30am. The crew was: Jet lag Dave, Tucked in Rick, Exhibitionist Steve, Scofflaw Carlos, and me, The Driver.

The air still had a biting chill as we go through our pre-ride rituals in the Sherando Lake campground parking lot. A short road ride to Coal Road warms us up and we head for the switchbacks. The first few miles is extremely rocky, but not to steep. Now we are really warmed up as we reach the switchbacks. The skinny singletrack carved on the side of this mountain pitches up more and more. It makes you want to keep pushing the shifter, looking for a lower gear. Your chin stays on the handlebar to keep you from toppling backward. The bike wants to wander back and forth, reacting to the rocks. If you stop, just start pushing. The only hope to get going again is to hang on to a tree, squeezing the brakes, get clipped in, try to push off. Good luck. This goes on maybe only a mile, but takes awhile because of the speed (pushing is slow). The last 100 yards is soooo steep and rocky, I could hardly walk it.

We regroup at the top, and start the descent. The first part has some hike-a-bike, but after that its all good! "Let it flow, let yourself go, slow and low, that is the tempo!" What song is that quote from? Stay tuned for part 2.

Last Sunday Greg and I head to Roberts house for a group MTB ride to Wharani Park. 30 or so people show and get ready to roll.

Some country roads and even some gravel roads lead us to a back way into the park. It was fun to ride with this many Mountain bikes again, but the fun didn't really start until later...

Now I haven't done a lot of off road this summer, but Greg has done less. His confidence is low, but Wharani is not that technical. It is alot of fun, and has some good climbs. It had been rainy off and on for the previous week, and the humidity was thick this morning. It turns out this kept the trail from drying out. The dirt was tacky, but the roots were slick. On the east coast this is nothing new, but wet bridges, this is something you never get used too. This trail has its share of bridges across ravines and ditches. Some have been in place for many years, allowing a film of slickness to build. The group encounters just such a challenge early into the trail. Slowing to navigate the 2 foot wide slimy obstacle, I hear a thump, and calls behind me of "Man down!" Greg slid out on the bridge. He pops rite back up and continues on. He recovers well, and I thought rode well. He just didn't feel smooth, and had to work hard because of it.

We did a couple laps and headed back just as the rains came. Robert invites us for some hot dogs but we decide to start heading south. Ihop hits the spot with some pancakes, eggs, and sausage.

Thanks to Robert Maye for the hospitality. Thanks to JRVS/Casey Auto Group for the email invite. Thanks to Homie Greg for driving. It was fun.

Whats for dinner?

Yummmm... this looked so good, I had to take a picture!

It tasted as good as it looks. Chicken, tomatoes, mushrooms, sauteed in extra virgin olive oil with garlic. Served on arugula with the sauce drizzled over it. I make variations of this often. Different herbs and vegetables keep it fresh.

York River

Rick, Dave, Simmet and I rode York River State Park this morning. This is so different from road riding, I had almost forgotten how much fun off road is. We did 3 laps virtually non-stop, and we had a blast! I recommend MTB'ing to everyone, just be careful, you never know what you'll see in the parking lot...

Who is this man? What is he doing? What is in the container in front of him?

Happy 14th!

Just for Rick...

Cat 4 !!

Its official! Got the upgrade today. Lots of work to do this winter, looking forward to it. First on the agenda is the Tidewater Mountain Bike Challenge in October. Hopefully I can peak for this. Time to get back on the MTB.
Being a Cat 4 will allow me to do the 30+ races and road races. If I travel to a event, it will be nice to do more than 1 race. Homie Greg got his upgrade last week, congrats to him. I am already excited about next year!

Last Cat 5?

Thanks again to Pat for letting me borrow the new "tent". Very nice to have some shade at the Sportsplex today. Thanks to Coastal Racing for putting on a cool event. A DJ spinning tracks, an announcer dude, food, drinks, this is how a race should be put on!

Thanks to everyone that showed up to watch Greg and I suck! Greg had a summer cold but still did better than me! Felt good the first half, got caught out by myself the second. Turned myself inside out to catch up, to no avail. Sorry we couldn't put on a better show.

Crits galore!

The Chesapeake Crit was last Saturday (Thanks Pat). It was a gorgeous day, good for racing. Felt good in the pack, just need to work on getting closer to the front. Still finished 16th out of 36 starters. My homie Greg got 14th. Still seeing and feeling improvements, but wanting better finishes.

The last "training crit" in the summer series was Wednesday. Interesting format in that they only run 1 race. That means I get to ride with the big dogs! Turned out much faster than the cat 5 races so far. I held on to the middle to the back of the pack as usual, but this was a confidence booster because of the caliber of riders. Still had legs for a short sprint to the line. Not sure were I finished, back of the pack, but it was fun!

Looking forward to the "Coastal Crit" coming up Sunday the 17th at the Va. Bch. Sportsplex. Only 18 preregistered for the cat 5. Homie Greg and I representing JRVS/Casey Auto. Confidence running high! Stay tuned...

The Chesapeake Crit is this Saturday! This is where my first taste of racing happened last year. Did I get lapped 3 times or 4? Ahh yes, seems like only yesterday. Funny how the pain and suffering fades with time.

Speaking of pain and suffering, Rick "the dear whisperer" Young has been flogging me regularly on Tuesdays. To ride with him and others in a group is not too bad, recovery can be found in the back. To ride with just him leaves you with nowhere to hide. Work hard to stay in the draft doing 27+mph, then try and pull. Greg "the night owl" Everson was my proverbial carrot, but his work schedule keeps him from riding on weeknights. He still finds time for us mere mortals on weekends.
Sunday was a fun 60 miler. Rick, Greg, "dancing" Joe and I, meet up at Fat Frogs in Chesapeake. Several rides leave at 7:30, including a A+ group. However the ride is only 21 miles. A healthy group of 15 or so guys pulled out and we were rolling along at 26-28mph. We had decided to make this a longer ride, and soon we split off and headed for the Pungo Ferry Bridge. After climbing the bridge and back over again, we headed down Blackwater Rd. into Carolina. As we suck Ricks wheel down a thin ribbon of asphalt that splits fields of Soybeans, my peripheral vision picks up a brown dot floating on a sea of green. In the distance ahead screams the over sized mud tires of a rednecks truck, coming our way at a rapid clip. I soon realise the "brown dot" is a dear running on a collision coarse with the truck and us all meeting at the same time! The dear jumps out in front of the redneck, we slam on the brakes, and the redneck smiles. I don't know how we all missed each other. The dear runs off, we continue on our way, and the redneck never even flinched. The rest of the ride was uneventful in comparison.
Back home safely again, the lawn mower is calling. Knowing that my priorities are in order, I can now cut the grass. See you at the Chesapeake Crit!

Priorities...

The yard looks like crap, but I've been riding! Who wants to cut grass when I can turn myself inside out trying to stay with Rick into those headwinds! Who wants to pull weeds when I can take out L.D. and hurt him! (If you had a computer you would have known we were going faster than you wanted to go.) Who wants to trim the bushes when I can try to keep up with all the guys going 30mph! Who wants to edge the curb when I can escape all my problems, all the stress of the day, by having a little bike ride with my pain! The priorities must be in order.
I did cut my ride short Sunday to go see the new Batman movie. Sheri has been VERY understanding about me riding 5 days a week, so I didnt mind. Greg and Rick were hurting me too bad anyways. Thanks for pulling me along fellas! I felt like a weak punk that day.
I did get the grass cut and pulled some weeds after work today. Even found time to post on my blog. Hmm... maybe I should double check those priorities.

Blood Sweat & Gears

The ride was awesome! Saturday started out about 60 degrees, eventually reaching a high of 80. To start a ride with 1200 of my closest friends was surreal. Traffic was stopped, the police were directing traffic, we took the lane! Carlos and I started way in the back, making moving up through the field fun. The first 5 miles were relatively flat and the field stayed bunched up. Soon we were climbing and everyone got strung out. Feeling good, I clicked up a few gears and started climbing faster. We passed ALOT of people. The climbs were not as painful as I had hoped, the downhills were the highlight of the day!

Yes you see that right! A max of 54.4 mph! What a blast! Some of early decents were long, straight, and open. The last was very twisty and the brakes got a good work out. Got stuck behind a car on the last few miles, wich slowed me down. Still finished 45th out of 457 riders doing the 50 miler! I'll take that. Next year we do the 100!

Prepairing for Blood Sweat & Gears

Hope everyone had a good Fathers day! My dad came out and watched me place 25th in the Langley Crit. My finish did not represent how good I felt through out the race. I can stay with the pack now, no problem. I did alot more passing and moving to the front, even going up to led a lap! Thanks for coming out, hope to see you and mom soon.


This weekend is Blood Sweat and Gears! The 100 mile ride was sold out, (thank goodness) so Carlos and I are going down for the 50 miler in Boone, N.C. This will be the real mountains boys and girls! All of the 2,500 miles ridden on the road bike since its purchase a year ago have been local. Looking forward to some climbing! Having enjoyed many long climbs on the mountain bike, I hope this will be just as painfull.





Looks like half going up, and half coming down! I am interested in just how steep the climbs will be. Thanks to Rick for letting me borrow his compact crank and cassette for better climbing. I will try to take lots of pictures, and give the full report next week.

I went to a bike crash derby and a race broke out!

"Category 5" is the entry level into bike racing. Any Joe Shmoe can walk up and enter a race with little or even no prior experience. We all have to start somewhere right? Some of these guys must not even have ridden in group rides. Going into a corner 3 or 4 wide at 30 mph just inches from each other can be exhilarating! Most people want to upgrade to "Cat 4" as quick as possible to escape the inevitable carnage. 10 mass starts is the minimum to move up, then you can apply to the Virginia Cycling Association. I now have 5.
The first incident involved a real idiot purposely swerving at people. Eventually he rubbed a tire and went shooting through the grass. As the pack roared by his now all-terrain-ass, we all collectively shot him the bird. I heard him mumble something about our sexual orientation, and there was talk of finding him after. I heard he is banned from future races. Hopefully thats true.
The first real crash came when someone on the inside went too wide in the corner, and forced a couple dudes in the grass. They locked bars and went down. Inexperience played a factor in that one. The inside has to hold the line!
The worst of all came on the last lap, last corner. Everyone jumped at the same time, and I was in good position for a top 10. As the group of 20 or so starts sprinting, the guy directly in front of me skids his rear wheel and it blows! The guy beside him goes down on the asphalt, and I swerved into the grass to avoid it all. Everyone else sprinted to the finish.
Overall a good day (for me). I remained upright, for 15th place. Still improving and learning. Not content with 15th, but happy with my progress so far. The next Crit. is Tuesday night.

No Crit? No problem!

I was looking forward to the Tuesday night Crit at the Va. Bch. Sportsplex, but it was cancelled due to a Soccer game. Everyone else must have been looking forward to it too, because they all came out to the ride from the Great Bridge Cyclery. We must have pulled out onto Centerville Turnpike 50 deep! The ride started out very mellow, cruising 2 and 3 wide, 18-20 mph. Everyone was bunched up but relaxed. The pace soon picked up and a line formed. The fast guys new they wanted to be up front, but I was not sure where to be. Turned out good as the front group took off, we picked up the discarded. First a few, eventually 8 guys, and a girl, formed a pace line. We worked good together, although some pulled longer than others. I did my fair share. Feeling good, I picked up the pace on my last pull to 28 mph. That felt grrreaat! ( shouted like Tony the Tiger) We rolled in many minutes behind the first group. That's okay, those guys are Cat 2's & 3's ! I could have never done 30 mph the whole ride.

With my limited experience in large groups of strangers, like Crits and rides like this, I am still learning alot. The constant accelerations, closing gaps, getting on the last guys wheel. Definitely getting better at being aggressive. don't let the gap open, if it opens, close it up now! Looking forward to the Crit this Saturday.

Greg didn't think the picture in the last post showed off the wheels or fork. Here is a pic he took.

Our bikes at Creeds on this beautiful day. The closest bike is the Fuji time trial Greg won from the TourDeCure. Click on the pics to enlarge.

Had to post a picture with the new wheels and fork.

Good riders dont make good bloggers...

and good bloggers don't make good riders!

What is this? no post for weeks, then 2 in one night? The combo of lazy and busy makes little time for updating a blog. Riding 4-5 times a week barely leaves enough time to cut the grass. Believe me, this is not complaining! I never thought I could ride 100+ miles a week. Now if I could just figure a way to not need a job... the whole "work for a living" thing gets in the way of more mileage.

May the 10th held lots of riding options. Planned on the Knots Island Century, but the weather was iffy. The Capital To Capital ride was the same day, same weather. So lets go do the Camp Hilbert mountain bike race! With lots of road riding, but no MTB racing under my belt this year, I thought I was ready to go. My lower back had other plans, and slowed me to a 14th place. PPHT! (sound made as tongue flaps between lips with a forced exhale) I passed lots of people the first lap, maintained the second, just to be passed back by those same people on the third. Rain had been falling the days before, and the trail showed it. Lots of mud, slick roots. Even being cautious I still went down once. Got to work out these back issues. Feels fine on the road bike, only a problem with sitting and riding over roots. So stand when riding roots! Okay! When is the next MTB race? One more Camp Hilbert this year, maybe it will be dry.

Tour part 3

After the lunch stop, we headed out on the highway. Being a 4 lane road with a turn lane in the middle gave motorist plenty of room to go around us. This stretch was somewhat boring. Greg pulled us at a good clip over the bridge onto the island. Making a turn into the neighborhoods was a welcome relief to the highway, sheltered from the wind, and better scenery. More well run rest stops to regroup. At this point we were about 20 miles from the finish. Some in our group were starting to have trouble keeping up. The decision was made to split into 2 groups.
Part of the route took us on a walkway, and more residential streets. With 10 miles to go we jumped onto the "Beach Road". The head wind was the strongest it had been all day, blowing us down to 16-18 mph. After much talk of the Manteo bridge, we were finally here! After 90 miles, and just pulling through the headwind, it was a struggle to make it up. Of coarse Greg and Rob pass me again! At the bottom of the bridge we regroup the whole team and ride the final 3 miles to the finish!
Thanks to Greg for organizing the team. Thanks to the team members. Thanks to my wife Sheri for giving Carlos, Greg, and I a ride back! A good days ride. Looking forward to next year!

Tour De Cure part 2

This was my first year doing the Tour. It was very well supported, on the rest stops, and by motorcycles escorting us. Often the motorcycles would stop ahead of a group and point out a turn onto the next road, although the signage was good also. We passed some rest stops, depending on the will of the group. Every one seemed to be very comfortable with Greg pulling us along 18- 20 mph. I spent some time riding back in the pack, chatting it up, riding 2 or 3 wide. The day was gorgeous. 70ish degrees, partly cloudy.

The Bikebeat group stayed together until about 30 miles in Greg decides to ramp it up. As I was hanging on to his wheel at 27 mph., I'm thinking, we still have 70 miles to go! No way I can keep this up! We shortly pulled in to a rest stop, and regrouped. Now came the only real boring part of the ride. The highway is so wide and straight, not much to look at. I did some pulling, as did some others. A flat tire was quickly delt with by our resident mechanic Carlos, and we were back underway. Greg and Rob were nice enough to let me pull up to the Joseph P. Knapp Bridge, then pass on the climb. Hit the lunch stop 55 miles in, the volunteers had sandwiches, water, and sports drinks ready. 30 minutes or so to eat and we were back underway!

Part 3 coming soon.

Tour De Cure part one

What a perfect day for a bike ride! Thanks to all who donated money and time. Thanks to Greg for putting the Bikebeat team together. We had 14 riders do the 100 miles! I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.


The alarm clock, aka the devil cat, jumped on the bed right on time, Saturday morning, 6 o'clock. Everything goes smooth, and we arrive on schedule for breakfast at 7. Now, just to put on my official orange, 100 miler bracelet... left it home! This gets me breakfast, food and drink at the rest stops, lunch, and food at the end! Thankfully we only live 10 minutes from Hickory High school. I race back home and back to the school again. Just enough time to gobble some scrambled eggs and orange juice before the team picture.





I grab a apple and head to the start. (Notice the bracelet)





The Bikebeat team!
(Notice the bracelets)








Shortly after 8 a few hundred cyclist head out into the countryside, headed to Manteo.
With so many people starting at one time the pace was a snail like 14 mph for the first couple miles. Soon the crowd thinned and Greg led us 18-20mph. The first 30 miles or so wound about nice country back roads.





More to come...

Get ready for the Tour!

Okay, Sam reads my blog too. Its good to hear from California once in awhile. Keep me up with whats happening out there. Meet any mountain biking chicks yet?

The Tour De Cure is next Saturday, April 19th. 100 miles to Manteo! The forecast looks good, subject to change, 70ish and partly sunny. Need to find my sunblock! 5 hours in the saddle plus or minus depending on the wind. Send me some money!!! Come on tight-wads.

Up to speed...

Since Carlos scolded me today for not posting enough, and he is the only one who reads the stupid thing, I was inspired. Greg has made comments also, he must be checking in some. What has happened since my last post? Lots of drizzle, some rain, some time on the trainer, and some on the road. Here are some highlights.
Two weeks ago Tyler and I went to the Slaughterama. It was billed to me as a place to go see alot of Tall Bikes. All we saw was underage drinking and drug use in a city park, lots of Tattoos, lots of trash on the ground, and a total of 2 cops. The police stayed well away so as not to be involved. Doesn't speak well for the city of Richmond. I hope this kind of thing stays in the liberal "big city".
Greg, Dave and I have been riding a 28 mile loop after work from my house. Carlos made it out one time to show off his new bike. Nice! Of course with Greg around a hammerfest usually ensues. I could draft that newly dropped down to 180 lb. ass all day! Oops, did I type that out loud?
Today, 8 of us departed Bikebeat, 9 a.m. 4 hours and 75 miles later, 4 returned. This was advertised as a "B" pace ride, 18-20 mph. The first 30 miles took us to the Pungo- Ferry Bridge. Greg and I did almost all of the pulling, at the correct pace. We sprinted a few times, then waited for the re-group. I got a wild hair and pulled a short section at 26mph. Then Greg pulled us to 29! That brought us in to the general store in Creeds. Time for a potty break and Slim Jims.
No one seemed to be hurting, so to fix that, we decided to add a 15 mile loop. The pace slowed dramatically. At some points we were dropping people at 15mph. After the loop, and crossing the bridge again, we still had 30 miles to go. How long does it take to do 30 miles at 12-15 mph? We would stay a group if needed, but Barry graciously told us to go our own pace, he would get the others back. 4 of us split and soon we were cruising! The average speed for the last 20 miles must have been 23-24mph! That was fun!
Now I feel better about the 100 mile TourDeCure next Saturday. Looking forward to it! This will be my second century, and I am determined to not let Greg drop me again! Click the link on the right, and donate some money!!

Now it stops!

My "Tall Bike" now has brakes and a kickstand! While the mechanical parts of the bike are done, the paint is still up in the air. Finally got to ride it some on Saturday. More on that in my next post.

Lots of riding... no posting

Has it been two weeks since I posted? A clear sign that the weather has been better, and the time changed. Between yard work and riding several times a week, its hard to find time to post. I'll try to do better.
We don't have hills around here, but we shure have wind! Those 40 mph gust kept me from riding a few days. Some rides were in 10-20mph "breezes". Good training so they say. How does the wind seam to always be in your face?
The Thursday night ride is still going strong at All About Bikes. Done on mountain or cyclocross bikes, this ride is mostly road, but has some off road. Mike Baker is always there, ready to go. Most of the other weekday rides start too early for me, I do have to work!
Yesterday was a 33 mile loop over the Pungo Ferry Bridge into the wind. This was a solo ride from my house. Todays ride left from Bikebeat and went to the bridge also. Even with 6 riders, the wind was stiff. Some tailwind was enjoyed the first half, but the second half of this 48 mile ride was all headwind. The good news is I was comfortable for almost 3 hours on the bike. Looking froward to more riding, and more posting... I promise.

A Snowballs chance in...

The Snowball Crit #2 was today at the Va.Bch. Sports complex. It was colder and the wind was stronger than #1, 2 weeks ago. Not as big a group this time, some people opting to do the Camp Hilbert mountainbike race near Richmond. With gas prices so high, the choice was easy. The Snowball is about 10 miles from Hickory, Camp Hilbert in Goochland is at least 100. That makes the butt-kicking I got today 1/10 the price! I figure I came out ahead.
Could you call getting lapped 2 times instead of 3 a improvement? Everyone knows I am the eternal optimist, except my wife, the people at work, and all my friends, so I'm saying the glass is half full of sports drink. Apparently every race is different. This time the pack took off like hades escaping bats at the word go. Everyone was so strung out it was hard to draft and stay on. If the guy in front of you lets a gap develop, you have to be aggressive and get around him now. Easier said than done.
Its early in the season. Riding after work will now become a possibility. I saw a improvement. Things will get better. Spring is coming. Flowers will bloom again. See... optimism.

Dog gone.

Always carry a camera with you! Sheri snapped this one out the window while I was driving.

I'm easy like Sunday morning

Greg was nice enough to invite me to ride with him and a friend today. Planning to do the typical Saturday shop ride, I pull into the Bikebeat parking lot just before 10:00. Dave is already there, so I introduce myself. Soon Greg arrives and we are underway. The weather conditions seem identical to the day before, high 40's, sunny, winds 10-15 mph. The first half of the ride we had a tailwind, making us feel like supermen. Pulling 23-24mph felt very comfortable at some points. Feeling froggy on one of these pulls, I sprinted to a stop sign. At 30 mph Greg came around me. Seeing my defeat, we coasted to the intersection. This attack was a surprise, but not to far ahead is a bridge that usually brings out the best in everyone. Greg warned Dave he was going to pick up the pace, and soon we were traveling at 28mph. Thank goodness for the draft! Letting Greg blow himself up, I stayed tucked in until the bridge. Could he be passed? Not today.
Around the halfway point of the trip, we swing around and start heading into the wind. Superman was deflated. Greg pulled almost all the way back, which makes up for getting lost. Trying to head for the "Red Barn" in Pungo, we take a turn onto Muddy Creek, which we usually ride past. Missing another tun along the way, we end up back on Princess Anne. This adds 4 miles to our ride. Bonking at almost the same spot as the day before, I start struggling to keep up. Greg slows it down, and we make it back.
40 miles yesterday, 45 miles today, with wind both days? Yeah I'm happy with that. Still looking forward to some improvements in speed, power, and endurance. It will come with more riding, especially with Greg , the "Taskmaster". After a salad bar, Chicken and Pasta, I was ready for a shower! The Snowball Crit #2 is next Sunday. Will I be ready?

Sat. shop ride

So... how's that training going? Last weekends Crit. lit a fire, but the cold weather put it out. Now its smoldering with a 90% chance of flareup, but only a 35% chance of that. No better way to stoke the flames than to go to the shop ride and get my butt kicked. Usually Carlos will set me up with "I haven't been riding much lately", then proceed with the butt kicking. This time might be different, Carlos really hasn't been riding, Rick is getting over the Flu, and Greg is a nice guy right? (Even tho he dropped me on the Knotts Island Century) Who else might show?
James, Rick, and I start the ride at 7:30. 47 deg., sunny, with some wind. We pick up Greg and Carlos on the road shortly after. Its always nice to get a headwind on the way out, and a tailwind back in, but this would not be the case today. Was the wind picking up? or was I getting weaker? All day we seemed to either be in a headwind or some strong, draft breaking, side wind. There is no way to hide! Carlos dropped off a time or 2, and I was glad to wait up as I was barely hanging on. Hiding in the back helped some, until about 35 miles into the ride. Carlos had already dropped off for good and headed home, and Greg peeled off too. No legs to be found for the last 5 or so miles here! We pulled back into the shop and recovered. Better head home and get some work done so I can come back out tomorrow.

Double Decker Bike!

Click for short video

So I had these two bmx bikes laying around. What a better way to recycle unused bikes into bikes that get ridden. This is my first attempt at a "Tall Bike" or "Double Decker", and I'm sure it will go through some modifications. The brakes are not hooked up, and it doesn't steer just right yet. It is ride able and alot of fun. There is a festival for freaky bikes in April, in Richmond. This bike should be ready for that. How about a "Triple Decker"?

Snowball crit # 1

The first race of the year! What a nice place to have a race, the Virginia Beach Sports Complex.





A .7 mile asphalt, almost oval, loop around a parking lot beside the soccer stadium. The asphalt is new, smooth, and super fast! The wind was moderately blowing, the temp. around 45. This seamed chilly at first, but was good for racing.


Registration went smooth, and the warm up on the trainer felt good. Greg and I went to ride a few laps, and that seemed to be going good too until we got yelled at! The roadie head honcho dude, who I don't know, or know his name, yelled in the gruffest voice imaginable "Change your numbers!" as we passed. Were our numbers defective? Did our numbers (203 & 204) add up to his age? We pulled off the track in bewilderment, feeling like I was 16 and had just been scolded by my first girlfriends father. Finally figuring the numbers were pinned to our jerseys the wrong way, they were fixed, and we were back underway. Soon everyone gathered at the start line. Most people would have needed a bullhorn to address a crowd this large, but not "Mr. Personality". It seems a few other newbies had installed their numbers incorrectly. A few extra minutes to remedy this, and someone yelled "Go!!"
More than 50 riders moved forward with the collective clicking of clipless pedals. Soon we were going 25 mph. The pack surged and slowed like a school of fish evading a predator. Accelerations from the corners left those of us in the middle to the back trying to play catch up. Greg stayed closer to the front. After 10 or so laps and 25 to 30 mph, I fell of the back. Once this happens, you are done. Aggressiveness is the key to stay in the pack. The Cat. 5 race was limited to 50 racers, but also had Cat.4, women, and juniors racing at the same time. This made for lots of riders on the track at the same time, but somehow I was out there all alone. After 15 miles the counter read "0".
When the laps to go counter reads "0", does this mean the race is over? Or does it mean you are on your last lap? What about when you get lapped 3 times? At this point the cool down lap and the last lap were one in the same. I headed back to my vehicle and my wife, thankfully both were close by. They only scored the top 20, so I'm not shure how many people finished behind me. I dare say not too many, but thats okay. This has lit the fire to train harder.

Country roads...

Although the closest MTB trails are a hours drive away in Williamsburg, the best country roads are right outside my door.

On a typical 30 mile loop, 8-10 cars may pass me. Almost never do 2 cars meet from each direction. The roads are varied, sometimes winding, sometimes straight as a arrow for miles. Sometimes through thick woods, sometimes across wide open farm land, always peacefull. What a way to clear your mind, nobody around, the wind in your face.

The best climb in Chesapeake is the Pungo Ferry Bridge. 17 miles from my house, this makes for a good ride. 10 mph up the bridge and 35 mph down the other side! Feeling good? Do it again! Luckily on this 55 deg. day, I had a tailwind on the way back. Alot of the year, when the days are longer, I can do this ride after work. Today was a good 35 mile day.

Sat. @ the 'swich

I have been hearing of some new additions at Ipswich, and large groups riding them, so I went to check it out this morning. Officially named Indian River Park by the city Chesapeake, then left unpoliced. Basically people can do anything they want here, drink anything, smoke anything, shoot anything, or build anything. Paintballers had parked at the main entrance, no bikes. Thought I might be riding alone until I found Doug back by the new drops and ladders. We rode some of the new stuff and did a few laps around the park. The first lap was on the single speed. The rigid fork was not a problem here at all, but the gumballs... like ball bearings! This place needs some love, I just dont have the time. Not a epic ride, but fun. I need a "trail bike" for the drops and stunts. Maybe I dont need it, just want it.

Holy smoke!

Everything was hazy this morning with the smoke from the fires in The Great Dismal Swamp.

This is not a cloud! This is the smoke from the fire in Camden County N.C. On that day the wind was blowing toward the east.

Happy Valentines day!

I hope everyone got to be with their significant other today... not your bike! Your wife, husband, or what have you. Its not enough for me to work with my wife all day, so we spent the evening together too. What could be more romantic than sitting in a movie theater, trying to listen to the new sci-fi movie "Jumper" over everbody talking on their cell phones? With all this technology we have these days, couldn't theaters block a cell signal? Maybe only during the movie. We sat fairly close to the front and still had 2 people in front of us with their "bluetooth" blinking a bright blue light on their ear. This would make a good target for a baseball bat in the dark. The movie was enjoyable, despite these rude people. The effects and the concept was cool, the acting okay, and Samuel L. Jackson always kicks butt! I didnt mind giving up a night ride to be with my girl. She's pretty cool.

Freedom park with friends (how sweet)

Today was such a nice day, maybe thats why the parking lot at Freedom was full of cars with bikes. Lots of people riding the trails, wich is good to see. Everyone liked the new trail, including me. Freedom has such a good variety, smooth, fast, flowing single track, downhill, uphill, and now skinnies, jumps, and drops! Ththe newest trail starts with a real steep technical climb thats super fun. Lots of bumps and moguls on the climbs and decents for the first 2 or so miles. Some you can get air on. Near the end of the 3.2 mile addition Mike Benton and his crew put in some drops, jumps, and a fun skinny. A skinny is a narrow bridge, usually a 2x4 or a 2x6. The length and height off the ground can vary. I did not ride the drops on my carbon xc bike, in other words I chickend out. Good job to the whole EVMA for a fun addition to a already excelent trail. Without Kirk, Penny, and all the other hard workers we wouldnt have all these places to ride. After 1 lap of the old trail and 2 laps of the new trail, we were ready for lunch!
12 or so of us headed to Sacred Grounds for chow. This is a Coffee shop with good food also. A Matcha iced tea, and a chicken salad salad was what I needed. Good food, good people, good conversation. How about hitting New Quarter park on the way back?
L.D. and I Made our way to N.Q. park. Being tired, we could only manage one lap. I did ride the raised trail for the first time, and it was fun. The trail here was in good shape, and there were a few people riding here too.
It was Chocolate milk time! Stopped by Wawa on the way home. We were wore out. It was a good day.

Al Greene, U2, and Clutch

Has is been 2 weeks since I rode? Weather, work, and the "Flu" have conspired against me. Its not my fault now, not ever. A higher frequency of rides is on the way, I can feel it.

The wife went to the outlet shops in Nags Head today with some friends, leaving my schedule open. Hmmm... lets see... clean the gutters? Pick up all those pinecones? Paint the bedroom? Its going to be 50+ degrees today! Lets ride! Where to? Hmmm... again... Freedom Park for trail maintence and a ride with the EVMA. One hour on the road by myself, listening to U2's Joshua Tree. Cool hidden tracks at the end. I havent listened to this since high school.

Friday did bring rain in Chesapeake, but Williamsburg must have got hit hard! The trail was soft as we walked into the woods. Two small sections of trail needed to be rerouted. This was quickly done and the trail was drying up nicely, time to ride.
Grabbed the SS and hit the trail. Felt good at first, but soon developed a minor headache. This was strange, was it dehydration? Finished the old trail and headed to the new. The new trail was still too wet, so I aborted mission. Legs and head hurting I headed home.
Another hours ride with me, myself, and I. Listened to a cd I burned with some Al Greene, and Clutch. What a combination.

Trail work & SS at Freedom

The EVMA was working on a new trail at Freedom Park, so LD and I loaded up the rakes and bikes and headed out early Saturday morning. Since it was my turn to drive, my rigid and hardtail bikes would come out and play. I like my Suburban, 3 bikes, 2 people, our gear, all inside. Gas mileage... whats that?

The weather was a perfect for trail work mid 50's. With about 25 people we split up into groups and started looking for the little flags leading off into the woods. Penny took a group to do a bench cut at the entrance from the fire road, which turned out really good. One group started at the end of the trail and worked backwards, while we short cutted to the middle and started raking. Right away I took out my aggression on some saplings that were too close to the trail. Using the Maddox, I was able to dig them up, roots and all. Larry likes to rake. Clyde showed up and tried to steal my thunder, but I would have none of it, he would have to rake. After the slaughter of countless hardwoods, 3 hours of work, 2 Cliffbars, and 1 bottle of water, we wanted to ride!
Wanting to try the SS everywhere, it got first ride. Freedom is much more SS friendly than expected. The downhills are not too tore up, uphills are not too steep, roots are not too exposed. Larry and I took off on the old trail, soon to catch Pat Hurley, who was riding with his wife. Soon Pat asked to let "us" by. "What do you mean "us"?" I said, "Your supposed to be riding with your wife." Without reply Pat accelerated and we pursued. With 15lbs in the front tire this time, the ride was much better, but I can tell rolling resistance is high. This bike is not about speed, its about having fun and getting a workout, both of which I did. We all stopped to look at a new drop put into the trail by Mike Benton. I rolled it, and Pat pussed out, so we made him lead again. He claimed he was going to slow down. I knew this was a trick. I stuck to his wheel the rest of the lap.
Knowing the new trail was really soft, I pulled out the geared bike. This trail is fun. It will be great when its finished. Lots of variety on this one! Cant wait to get back this weekend.

How 'bout this weather?

Is this really January? Is this global warming? Don't get me started on that climate change crap! This mild weather has been good for riding, not for blogging. I'll have to cover several rides in this post.

The EVMA club meeting was last Sunday in Williamsburg. The group ride was at York River that morning. Larry would be driving, only room for 2 bikes. Should I attempt the rigid SS with no backup bike? What the heck, if I can ride it here, anywhere else will be easy. The tire on the front of this bike is a massive 2.5, so 20psi might soften the rigid fork. I was wrong! The roots were brutal! Having to slow down for the roots on the downhills makes this bike no fun at York River. Maybe I will try again after I get used to the rigid setup, maybe I wont. One lap was all the hands and wrists could take!

Monday was a beautiful day, too bad I was working. The temp. was still in the 60's when Nick and I went for a ride. Leaving from Kempsville about 7pm, we biked down Kempsville road toward Va. Bch. Blvd. The sidewalk is actually fun and gives lots of opportunities to cut through parking lots, looking for curbs and other obstacles. It wasn't long before Nick's bike starts ghost shifting. I hear a load pop, and a yell from behind. Circling back, I find Nick in the middle of a big intersection picking up his chain! He whips out the chain tool, removes the broke link, and reinstalls it on the bike. One of the links is not moving and skips on every rotation. Luckily Performance Bikes is open until 9. We decide to limp it in to buy a new chain. The going is way too slow with the jerking chain, so we pull off to remove another link. This time things go better and the rarely lubricated chain squeaks smoothly to Performance. With new chain installed, and running way late, the pace quickens until our tires hit the boardwalk. After getting us lost and then unlost in Bay Colony, we head back. Riding sidewalks at 20+ mph can be exhilarating! Altogether about 28 miles for the night.

Tuesday night we headed south to ride a pump track. Lots of fun, and a great workout. I want one of these in my backyard! Hopefully more pumptracking is in our future. Thanks to Dave and his wife for having us out, and for the pizza.

Now rigid...

After riding the Single Speed one time, the weak link was obvious ... me! The next thing was the fork. A heavy, entry level coil spring with no adjustments. What to do? Not ride the bike? Man-up, and ride it anyway? Buy a lighter fork? While all options for the regular guy, I never claimed to be regular. It seemed only right to stay with my low tech theme for this bike. Carlos installed a Surly rigid, CroMo fork for me. Hopefully the 2.5 tire on the front will give me some cushion! This puts this bike at 21lbs. That's lighter than my Carbonfiberthingybike. So what would be the smart thing to do? Well I never claimed to be smart either! My first ride will be tomorrow at York River. Might as well try it out on some roots and some good climbs.

2008!!

Happy new year everyone! I am really looking forward to the ride. Where will my bike take me in 2008? While my crystal ball is a bit fuzzy, I'm shure it'll be fun! New years resolution? Don't need 'um. To ride as much as my life (or my wife) will allow, is a year long ambition. I am constantly amazed at my wifes ability to deal with me. People say I am a lucky guy... I say it's skill. Hope to see you all on the trail, the road and at the races!