Slacking

Boy have I been slacking on my posts. I don't have much of an excuse other than a lack of training. I just haven't had a lot to say.

Christmas was great, thanks Mom and Dad. It was a small Christmas as most of my family couldn't make the trip down to LA. Yesterday when we left LA it was sunny and about 52 deg, today in Fayetteville it is overcast, snow is on the ground, and the wind chill is in the teens. I need a warmer climate. I got a Suunto X6HR for Christmas, I have been wanting this watch for quite some time now. As soon as I get the software figured out, I will be able to post hr/elevation graphs. I like to get all geeky with graphs and w/o data.

Here are a few pics from today's ride. I made it for 2 cold hours. How many more days till Spring?

Fresh Paint

I'm still in the process of fixing up my mountain bike. I talked to a local auto body shop a couple weeks ago and they agreed to paint my frame but are booked until after the first of the year, So, I decided to paint the frame myself just for fun. I still plan to have it painted by the pros, but I wanted to see what kind of paint job I could produce with spray paint from a can. I'll tell you that the prep work took twice as long as the actual painting. I sanded and sanded the frame to get rid of all the chips in the paint, all manual no machines here. Below is a pic of the frame during the prep. I didn't take it all the way down to bare Al, that would have taken me forever and with the frame going to the auto body shop soon I decided to sand, prime and then paint. I'll let them sand blast the frame.

To be honest, the paint job turned out a lot better than I thought. I have logged many hours spray painting and I am better than average with the rattle can, but this is by far the best paint job I have done. The indoor pics don't do it justice, there's a lot of flake in the paint and it sparkles in the sunlight. Not bad for $22 and about 8 hours of labor.
On the training front things are going as planned. A few rides and a few runs per week, nothing major planned until late January and the first race is the last weekend in February

Thanksgiving Week

I had a great Thanksgiving.

Solid Miles and Deer Hunting

Solid miles- got in just at 100 miles on the mountain bike for the week. Some of that was spent commuting, but it was still a 100 mile week on the mtb. Had a solid ride at Lake Leatherwood today, my technical skills are coming back. I'm back on a 26" mountain bike after a brief venture into the 29er culture. I really do think(so far) that I prefer the regular size wheels, more on this subject as I get more time on the current rig.

It's opening weekend for deer hunting, needless to say I saw an unusually high number of deer as I made my way to the trail. Some seemed in a huge hurry, like they had been shot at, others seemed like all was well. Like this one I saw at the very end of my ride today, I popped out into a field to see this big doe. We sat there staring at each other for about five minutes. I snapped a few pics and if I would have had a gun it would have been no problem bagging this deer. Deer(especially does) are overpopulated in NWA, I could use some extra protein in the freezer, good reasons for me to get my hunting license. I'll probablyly need to purchase a gun as well.

New Trail

I finally got to ride the new trail, I am impressed, it's technical, in town, and the views are outstanding. A few pics:

Swamped

Taking a short break from studying for the RCIS which I take this upcoming Monday. Training has been low this past week, to bad for me as temps have been outstanding here in NWA. Riding to work and a couple of runs is all I have managed for this week.

Besides work, my days are consumed with making and studying these

My study partner

I did get a mountain bike, it's a work in progress

10/19 to 10/25

This week I had extremely low miles on the bike. I have all kinds of excuses, none of them legitimate. The weather here has been up and down this week, warm temps, cool weather, rain, and high winds. It's Fall in the Ozarks and the weather doesn'nt know what it wants to do. Today was warm, mid 60's with a ferocious South wind, Monday calls for below normal temps and rain.

I missed the Tri-sports Van Buren train ride today. I farted around all week and didn't purchase the $30 ticket for the train ride back to Fayetteville. Oh well, it's a fun ride and I highly reccomend it, but for me I think once was enough. I did get out for a decent road ride today. Did the Whitehouse loop, 44 miles in a little over 2 1/2 hours. I had a killer tail wind for the 16 miles back home on Hwy 71.

That was it for the long rides this week, ended up with 85 miles for the week. Booo! 85 miles is not the mileage I want to be putting in this time of year. This week should be better, I'll cap off the week on Sunday with the annual TS Eureka Springs ride. I did, however, manage to get in three runs this week, 40 min. for each. I plan to do more running this winter than last and to slowly build my run time each week. I'll follow the 10% rule for adding time.

I snapped quite a few pics today

What a Sunday afternoon! I took the dogs out to Lake Wedington for a trail run. I had planned to run out for 4miles, play around on some rock formations, and hike back to the trail head. I ended up in the woods for over four hours.

It all started going wrong at the three mile mark. I was going through some tight brush and ended up kicking my dog causing her tongue to bleed. It looked pretty bad and appeared that her tooth may have gone all the way trough her tongue. I snapped a pic or two and decided to call it a day and head back to the car. To my dismay, I could not pick up the trail again. After the ice storm this trail has not seen much use, it just opened back up about a month ago. Anyway, I must have been following some game trails because I was soon lost. I thought I was heading in the right direction to connect with a doubletrack trail but after about 15-20 minutes of bushwacking I knew I was lost. It was a terrible feeling. No food or water and wearing a T-shirt and shorts I knew I didn't want to get caught out all night as temps should drop to 40 or lower tonight. I didn't panic, I started to think about what direction I should head according to the sun and took off heading to the South. I soon found a creek that was flowing in the general direction I wanted to go, so I followed it hoping it would lead me to the lake. I bushwacked my way down the stream and finally it opened up to a private lake and residence. Thankfully for me the owners were home and didn't shoot at me for trespassing. They gave me directions on how to get back to the trailhead, it was a 7 mile hike on gravel and paved roads.

I'm lucky, I should probably think about a compass or a GPS enabled watch in the near future. This is only the second time I have ever been lost in the woods, not a lot of fun and I don't want it to happen again.

Backpacking

This time of year, when the leaves begin to change and the temps start to cool down, always starts me thinking of camping. Pretty much all the camping I have done in the past 5 years has involved mountain bikes and have been in the vicinity of vehicles. This weekend I will try a single night backpack trip with Smuckers. The plan is to pack as light as possible, carrying only the essentials. I don't claim to be the most savvy camper. Like I said earlier most, if not all, of my camping experiences have been within just a few yards of my vehicle so room for error was high. Taking my lack of experience this trip will be short, probably hike/run about 7 miles the first day along with some bouldering thrown in for a little strength workout. I'll do an out and back that day, setting up camp on a bluff about 4 miles from my car. I have a compact stove, but I will not bring it for this trip. I think I have my nutrition nailed, water is a question mark. For such a short trip, I am planning on bringing just one hydration pack(about 2L) for me and at least an extra liter in a plastic bottle. This should be enough for me and my dog, given the mild temps for this sunday/monday morning. I love hiking, camping and spending time in the woods with my dog so this should be a great adventure. I'm sure I'll learn a few things and I'll share here on Monday night.

I'm really not racking up many miles on the bike right now, however I have managed to get in three runs in the last five days with no knee pain, that feels wonderful. Bike rides planned for tomorrow and early Sunday should have my weekly miles at a respectful mark.

Crazy weather in NWA tonight, as I type I can hear the tornado sirens for Fayetteville sounding. Forecasted for 3-5 inches of rain through tonight and Friday morning.

Nike, No

I have never been a huge supporter of Nike, sure I have donned a pair of shoes or some shorts from time to time, but now I will choose something other than Nike.
Here is the reason, WHAT WTF Nike? Why?
I'm not a Vick fan and now I'm not a Nike fan.
If you read the article, Nike originally reinstated sponorship but then downgraded to just offering free equipment to Vick. Still smells like endorsment to me.

Nike is off my list. I cant support a company that supports criminals

Running Season is Here

It's that time of the year, temps are cooler and the days are shorter. Which means a shift towards more time spent running, short days and cold weather cut down on my time spent on the bike. However, I will spend the next few weeks(until daylight savings) trying to get in as many quality bike rides as I can.
Today I celebrated the start of running season by taking both dogs out to Wedington Woods. This, I think, marks the first time this year I have visited this trail. It just recently opened because of damage sustained from the big ice storm in January. The trail still needs a lot of work, many spur trails have sprung up to go around downed trees instead of the trees being cleared. The dogs had a great time despite the terrible trail conditions. I was feeling sluggish, that tends to happen when you lay off running for three weeks. I put in a 45 minute effort and the body held up ok, I did start to feel a little outer, right knee pain. Most likely a tight IT Band that is brought on by my wreck a few weeks ago. The next few runs will be short, 25-30 minutes, to transition my body back into running form.
Also, we got a '10 Stumpy 29er carbon built up in the shop the other day. I will definetly be getting one for next year's races. Anyone want to buy a 09 Roubaix?

No Pics

Camera's dead, no pics. Shopping for a new camera this Sunday. Major bummer as my bruise from Saturdays wreck is showing very impressive colors, I would love to share. I have yellow, green, orange, blue, black, and red showing, my best bruise ever.

35 mile ride today, 15 miles in a rain storm, thankful and relieved to make home safely.

A Helmet For Every Ride

My weekend didn't go as planned. It stared out ok. I was feeling a little under the weather with a case of sinusitis early in the week, but I was hitting my workouts as planned. Saturday was uneventful until I left the bike shop to run an errand or two. I stripped off my thick work shirt for the comfort and breathability of my undershirt to help with the 90% + humidity and hit the bike trail on my way to pick up a few items. The sky was overcast, little to no wind, and I was feeling fresh having skipped the morning training for extra sleep. I encountered many cyclists on my trip North, quite a few that I had helped in the bike shop just a few moments/hours ago, none recognized me. I just pedaled on, enjoying the fact that I had the next day off from work, free to do whatever I wanted.

And then it happened.

I made a left turn into a parking lot, it is a downhill entrance with a 180 degree turn at the bottom around a median. I travel to this shopping center often as it contains several businesses I frequent i.e; bookstore, video rental, movie theater, salon, second-hand sport store, nutrition store, grocery store. Needless to say, I have negotiated this entrance/corner/now death trap a multitude of times. Saturday was different. I entered the 180 a little hot, maybe 15mph, and didn't tap the brakes at all. I can't remember when I noticed all the spots of water or oil or whatever on the turn, but I saw them and I went down.

I went down hard.

I've crashed several times off road, this was my first crash while riding my road bike and it hurt, real bad. My tires quickly slid out and the brunt of the fall was aborbed by my hip and elbow. My shoulder and ribs took a secondary blow and are sore today but nothing like my right hip and elbow. Good news is that nothing is broken and the bike suffered very little damage, I'm lucky. I wasn't wearing my helmet, which was stupid. I used to never leave the house on the bike without my helmet, but I have become over-confident and lazy with the bike path. I managed to escape this crash sans helmet. However, I have rededicated myself to consistently wearing my helmet every time I ride, no matter how short the ride. My crash happened so quickly and violently on roads I had ridden numerous times. One never knows when a crash will happen, me thinks best to be protected. I have a great helmet that I will be wearing on every ride, commute, errand, beer-run, grocery-get, icecream-run, etc.

Sorry for no pics, my camera has finally crapped out. Bad timing as I would have some really gruesome photos of my elbow and hip.

A New Loop & Some Pics

I got out this afternoon on the road bike for a new loop. I created this loop last night on Map My Ride, I love this site, it's a great way to create new routes and connect roads you know and love. My current creation is a 40 mile loop that has a short section of gravel. I like the idea of riding my road bike on gravel roads, I don't know why, I guess I think it makes me seem tough. Anyway, I didn't do the whole loop, I cut it short because I am fighting my latest bout of sinusitis. I ended up with about 32 miles today. I'm sittting right at 100 so far for the week, should end up being a 200 mile week as I have plans for both Sat. and Sun.

Here is the full route for the gravel loop

Here are a few pics from todays ride and previous rides

My New Favorite Blog

Trying to get into cross this year and have been reading several sites all about cross, I came across this site. This is one post that hit home with me as today's ride lacked anything in the well. http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/2008/05/well.html

Putting in the Miles

Lots of miles on the road, loving the new frame. At first I thought the new bike was cursed, I had to abort the first two rides. Here is a brief recap of the two rides:

Tuesday, August 4
I didn't have a lot of time so I decided to hit up a short Black Oak loop. This is a 32 mile loop with one climb near the beginning or end depending on direction, CW or CCW. I had just finished the build the night before and failed to attach my saddle bag. No big deal, I won't flat I thought and plus I was really ready to test out the new ride. Well about an hour into the ride, I flatted. Ride aborted, sister called for a ride home.

Wednesday, August 5
This time I had a longer route planned and I made sure I had tubes and tools. Everything was going fine until I made the turn to start heading back to Fayetteville. Dark skies ahead. I knew I was in trouble when a gust of really cold air hit me. The rain started slow but after a couple miles it was a steady, hard rain and I was soaked. The situation quickly turned real bad as the winds picked up and visibility was way down. I couldn't see so I assumed cars would have a tough time seeing me. When the lightning strikes started I knew I needed to get off the road quick. I was able to find a school that provided much needed shelter as the ping-pong sized hail began. Parts of NWA received up to 4" of rain in about an hour. Ride aborted, sister called for a ride home.

Back to back rides unfinished. I finally got a ride completed on Friday, a 35 mile loop down to West Fork and back through Hogeye. Sunday was a solid day in the saddle. 68 miles at an average of 18. For the week, I ended up with 177 miles just over 12 hours in the saddle. This week should see similar numbers, however I am going to push for 200. Gotta get ready for the end of September, my friends added a possible ride the day after the century to the top of Mt. Magazine. That would top the week's mileage up over 400.

Where to start this post, a lot has been going on in my life but nothing all to exciting to anyone but me. I guess I'll try to narrow my topics to what I think a reader of this blog may find interesting, which will most likely turn out to be completely mundane and lame to even those closest to me.

Here I go.

The weekend turned into a total no-go on the riding front. Saturday was spent at the bike shop and then cooking dinner while enjoying a few brews. The weather was awesome, all together it wasn't a bad day. Sunday was supposed to be a killer loop with some friends and co-workers from the shop. I didn't sleep well the night before and woke feeling less than stellar so I pussed on the ride. It turned out to be a good decision. I took a good look at the state of my lawn and landscape and decided the day would be best spent on yard work. Most people hate yardwork, I love it. I worked as a landscaper for most of my career, sometime I miss the physical labor. I put in a solid 8+ hours of mowing, edging, raking, weed pulling, hedge trimming, burning limbs, tree trimming, mulching, etc. I was shelled by the end of the day, really worn out. I used to do this same work five days a week, week in and week out. Man, I am getting soft. I got tons of work done, however it is a bit discouraging to know that I could work like that every week and still have projects to do around the house. The backyard still resembles a jungle despite my best efforts.

One other exciting event this past week is my new road frame and fork. I got a killer deal on a blem from Specialized. The website read: A great condition, 95% of original condition, 09 Roubaix Pro frame, fork, and seatpost. The price was to good to pass up and I have been wanting to upgrade my road bike, as it is the only style of riding I have been doing lately. I was a little worried about the condition of the frame, the price was reduced but I was still spending a good bit of change for a frame. The frame arrived today with a huge hole poked through the side of the box, I got worried. I quickly unwrapped the frame for inspection, fearing the worst. To my surprise and relief the frame was in pristine condition, I couldn't tell that the frame had even been built up. The frame looked brand new. The guys at the shop that have been around for a while told me that when Specialized puts up a blem and says it is in near new condition, it really is in near new condition. It took me all of two hours to transfer parts from the Allez(LC's new frame) to the Roubaix. I did get to ride the 2.5 miles home from the shop, it felt super smooth. This is my first full carbon road bike and I could tell a difference. This bike is going to kick ass in rides of 4+ hrs. Going to try for a ride tomorrow, have to go by the bike shop to get all the hardware torqued to the correct specs.

Building Art

On my ride home from work heading to the bike shop I pass two buildings with cycling art. These buildings are about 40 feet from each other and now have nothing to do with cycling, one is a barber shop and the other is a woman's clothing store. I always wonder what they used to be, I assume that once upon a time they were both bike shops.

The barber shop. Specialized and Bianchi are listed.

The woman's boutique. My favorite of the two.

My Next Adventure

I've always wanted to do a multiple day trip on the road bike, bringing a bare minimum of clothes and supplies, staying in hotels along the way. I have the perfect opportunity coming in the last week in September. I originally asked off from work to attend Xterra Nationals, obviously the race is not going to happen for me. So, what do I do for that week? Working is out of the question, how about ride my bike? The guys I work with at Highroller are planning to be in Little Rock on Sat. the 26th of Sept. for the Big Dam Bridge 100. Perfect, I can spend a few days riding down to LR and join them for the century on Sat. I mapped out the route the other day and it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. At just over 200 miles to the outer city limits of LR, I will do 60 miles the first two days, 80 for the final push into LR. The final 80 miles are incredibly flat, actually I was surprised at how little climbing there is on the entire route. See it here. No doubt it will be the hardest week of riding I have ever done, should be just about 340 miles for the week. That's a lot of miles for me. I'm excited about my new adventure. Many road miles to come in preperation.

I haven't been on my mountain bike in over two weeks, I just haven't had any motivation to get out in the woods amongst the poison ivy, ticks, and chiggers. Actually, I recently put my mountain bike up for sale, if you need a 17" Stumpy 29er I'm your man. The bike has been up for sale for almost a week and I haven't received one single response. The only reason I am selling is to fund a road bike project, I want a new frame(read carbon).

I had a great ride today. I met up with some friends at Highroller this morning at 830a. Last week it was only Chris and me, this week I was pleasantly surprised to have six other riders show for the ride. The pace was under control, punctuated by city limit sprints and a few rapid hill climbs. My legs felt really good, most likely due to having a low mileage week. The total time was 4hrs and a total distance of 60 miles. Overall a great day in the saddle, I can't wait to do it again.

Not Gonna Make It

A shift in focus for this year, looks like I will not be at Xterra Nationals. Kind of hard to qualify if you don't compete in a single Xterra event. Health problems and lack of monetary funds have kept me from lining up on the starting line. I'm a bit bummed, but next year will be better in the financial category and the health issues are under control. There are still several mountain bike races that are local and one tri just 30 minutes north of Fayetteville, I plan to compete in as many as I can.

The Fourth of July weekend was superb. My parents came up from LA and rented a cabin just outside of Jasper. Like I have said befoere, Newton County is by far my favorite place to visit in Arkansas. I managed to squeeze in a solid ride into the cabin, the route passes over two substantial climbs and is the hardest 35 mile ride i've ever done. The first climb starts about seven miles in, it climbs up steep for a 1/4 mile and then levels off for about a 1/2 mile. Next is a ball buster, not sure of the grade or length but I can assure you it is not comfortable and lasts for way to long. The climb is straight up, no switchbacks here just an out of the saddle, legs burning kick in the junk. The rest of the ride is not that bad, there is a climb out of Boxley Valley but it isn't as gruesome. However, the road does pitch quite steep just outside Low Gap, but it is the last climb into Jasper so getting to the top seems like such a reward.

Most training lately has been on the road bike. I have the parts to fix my mountain bike, but I haven't gotten around to actually fixing the problem. 100+ mile weeks on the road bike are the norm, not much running or swimming and about one mountain bike a week is how my training is going now. The next four weeks have much more time spent running and swimming. Come November I plan to be under the guidance of Trevor Glavin.

Pictures!

I Learn Something New Everyday

I took my busted derailleur into the shop today to get some insight on why this expensive piece of equipment broke. Jonathon, one of the full time mechanics, had a quick look at it and told me that this failure was a good thing. Turns out that the screw/bolt is replaceable, I had to take off a snap ring and the damaged part slid right out. I was lucky to find a replacement part at work for no charge. Working at a bike shop definitely has some privileges, not only do I get a price break on parts but also a lot of general bike knowledge is being bestowed upon me. I swear I learn something new everyday I work in that shop.
Just starting a new block of training to get ready for the Xterra in Jonesboro. Next couple of weeks will be spent on the road bike logging some longer rides. I still have a couple runs planned per week as well as 3 weight training sessions a week. After these two weeks I will start bike/run workouts with a focus on intensity. I'm excited and looking forward to the next 6 weeks.

That's Not Supposed To Happen...

All of this could have been avoided, but I wanted to sleep in this morning. It will end up costing me at least 70 bucks. Here's the story. My friends were getting together for a road ride this morning and in order to beat the heat, they were leaving from the bike shop at 830a. That is not early by any means but it meant that I would have to get up at my normal 6a wake up time. You see, Sunday is the only day of the week that I don't work, hence my only opportunity to catch some extra Z's. I relish my Sunday morning sleep in, I look forward to it. I got my friends text about the start time for the ride as my sister and I were getting ready to head down to Dickson st. for a couple of beers. After a couple of beers, I knew sleeping in Sunday morning was in order.
I woke up this morning to absolutely gorgeous weather at 830a. I knew my friends were going to have a killer ride given the down right nasty heat we have been expierencing lately. I was happy for them but I knew I had made the right descion for me. I got the dog out for a walk, a long one of about an hour. She was happy. Next up for the day was a movie, War Eagle. This movie was shot in NWA and I recognized several locations in the film, it was good. I recomend this film, go see it.
Now comes the ride. I decided to head out to Hobb's for a mountain bike ride. My plan was to put in three 9.5 mile loops at 80-90% race pace. Like I mentioned earlier the weather was brilliant. mid 80's and very low humidity. My first lap was great, lots of bikers out. I thought some guy was going to catch and pass me, but I lost him at the first climb and never saw him again. Pulled the first lap at 51 min. I stopped for about a minute for a gel and then it was off for the second lap. I was feeling great, the cool temps had me feeling extra strong. Then it happened. About a mile to finish the second lap, I felt something get sucked up by my back tire. I heard a slight rub so I stopped pedaling and was slowing to a stop. I guess I didn't come to a stop soon enough as I heard a very distinct snap. I slammed on the brakes, came to a stop, only to find my derailuer helplessly dangling off the hanger. What? The hanger is fine, the derailuer is not. That is not supposed to happen, right? The bolt coming from the d. was snapped, half was still in the hanger, the other half on the d. I thought the hanger was designed to break first, as a hanger is a lot less expensive to replace. Anyway, if I had just gone on the road ride, I would have saved some money. I made it to the road after about a half mile hike, I did the one legged scooter push/coast back to the car for the final mile. I was lucky the incident happened so close to the end of the trail, the silver lining I guess.

Upcoming Road Rides

I have a couple stellar road rides coming up next week, Thursday and Sunday around the Fourth of July weekend.

Here are the routes...

The long route for Sunday
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ar/fayetteville/884124598395679571


The ride in to Jasper
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/ar/-fayetteville/103123958271418729

Should be an outstanding weekend

Still Alive!

I'm still here. Alive and kicking.



I had some health issues(I won't get into detail) that kept me out of the last two Xterra races. Long story short, health issues-ER visit-discharged 5 hours later-stress test-cleared for workouts. That's where I stand. I lined out a work-out plan that will build up to a Xterra race in Jonesboro, AR. I'm excited and ready to put in some serious hours training



I did pick up a new road bike, an Allez sport. This is my second Allez, I love this bike. I know there is nothing special about an Allez, I don't require a uber-fancy road bike. Riding road is just training for me, all I need is a comfortable bike that handles the road well. The Allez does it for me.

Tomorrow: Lake Leatherwood Xterra

My first real race of the season is tomorrow. I took today off from work, just chilling at the house, cleaning my bike, and watching a movie or two is all I have on tap for today. A huge thunderstorm rolled through about two hours ago, the course is going to be wet and slick. I really don't even know why I bothered cleaning my bike as it will be trashed shortly into the bike course. I've got nothing else race report tomorrow.

Lake Leatherwood Pre-Ride

Ok, so the trail was finally dried out after a solid week of no rain, sun, and temps in the mid 70's. I was stoked to ride the course with dry conditions after last Sunday's cluster. I saw a women heading up from the lake before my ride all decked out in fancy swim attire and I made sure to pick her brain on the course before I headed out. She told me the course was in ok shape and that all the climbs were do-able. She was right, I made all the technical climbs however I just wasn't feeling all that great, not really strong at all. I bagged the ride after just one lap, put in a respectful 1hr 29 min time. That's definetely not as fast as I'd like to go but like I said earlier I just wasn't feeling really strong.

Big decision coming up for this weekend, pre-ride again on Sunday or race Hobb's. Hmmm. Don't know yet what I'll do. I'd really like to get in another ride and run on the course, but it is kind of hard to pass up a race in your backyard on an awesome trail.

On another note, I found a good deal on a pair of Zoot shoes, I've always wanted to try these shoes. I'm not sure how they will perform on the trail, I'll find out in a couple days.

Here are a couple pics from Leatherwood. This one is close to where the swim will start

Here's me crossing the dam

Dry Week to a Wet Weekend

A dry week here in NWA led to rain on Saturday and Sunday. The week was absolutely gorgeous weather wise and of course I was sick. I did get some training in through the week, two runs, a swim, and a mountain bike ride. Saturday morning I got out for a longish trail run with Smuckers. Even after a week of no rain, the trail still had water draining. The run was solid, 50 minutes and the legs felt great.

Today I headed out to Lake Leatherwood, site of my first Xterra, for a timed mountain bike loop to see how I stack up against last years competitors. Average time last year among the top twenty finishers is roughly 1hr 25min, I feel this is a time that I can duplicate or better. So I headed out to Eureka with a goal in mind and to push myself to achieve it. I get to LL about 10a, I knew I needed to get my ride in quick as showers and T'storms would be moving in shortly after noon. First thing I notice is that there is a lot of standing water around the campgrounds, not a good sign. Must have gotten rain the previous night. I kit up and head out anyway. Half way up Miner's Rock climb I knew it was going to a long day on the trail. When Miner's is wet, the rest of the lower trails are really going to be wet and slick. However, I pressed on hoping for the best. Made it up and down Miner's without much trouble, a couple of downed trees I had to hike around. The rest of the nine miles was a real test of my handling/technical skills. The trail wasn't really muddy, but every rock and root felt like it was covered in slime. Any kind of technical climb had me off the bike walking, I felt like a complete newb. I limped my way through the course to finish in 1hr 45min. I road up and down Miner's Rock a few times to round out the mileage at 19 miles for the day. I'm hoping for a dry course next Sunday as I am planning ride the bike course and then follow with the run course

Hooked

I managed a two hour mountain bike ride today, a major accomplishment given my sickness. I was supposed to meet some friends for a ride at Dennis Moore's trail but given my fragile state I decided to stay on the flat trails of Lake Fayetteville. It was a good choice, my legs felt great and I finished the ride wanting to go longer. That's a good sign that my sickness is about over. The weather today was perfect, upper 70's light breeze and all the sunshine you could ever want. Saw lots of people on the trail, mostly hikers but also a large amount of bikers sans helmet. What the hell? Every time I see the morons bombing down the trail with no protection I want to yell at them. Sometimes I do yell "HELMET!" as I pass, just depends on what kind of mood I'm feeling.
Also, I have to say that I am loving the new bike. The bike fits. I have been riding bikes that are to big for me. My current ride is a 17" Stumpjumper 29er(I'm 5'10 with 32" inseam) and when I first saw it I thought no way is that bike going to fit me. It looked really small with a seriously sloping top tube. The bike took some getting used to, but after I got the longer seatpost everything fell into place.
My mom is in town, always good to see her. She took me out to eat tonight at Powerhouse. She had the Salmon with a spicy ginger sauce that was awesome, I had the Bleu Cheese fillet, it did not disappoint, cooked to perfection. Great meal.
Heal up LC.

Sickly

Feeling a bit under the weather, hopefully the worst has past. I managed to get out for a 30 minute run today. I felt ok, just a bit tired now.
No fever, just wicked sinus congestion, a sore throat, pressure, ear popping, runny nose, extreme Barry White voice. The latter really drives the women wild.
More content later, planning to ride tomorrow.

A New Post, A Criterium, and A Dry Trail

The new seat post came in late last week. This is my first expierence with a Thomson seatpost, I have to say that the set-up was extremely easy. Getting the seat to sit like I wanted was a joy, most of the seat posts I have used in the past were frustrating and didn't always line up correctly. Did I mention it was pretty? Well it is, sleek and simple. Finally I can get the correct extension without risk of damaging the frame or seatpost. It's a long post, here it is compared to my previous post.

Sunday was the Joe Martin Crit that covered a 1.1 mile course around downtown Fayetteville and the entertainment district. I have been to this crit for the last five years and it never gets old to me. I love watching the pro's zoom down Dickson street at 40+mph in a pack of a 100. My dog and I wandered around catching different vantage points along the route for a few hours. Floyd was in town. Apparently he didn't like me taking his picture, both times I tried he was either looking away or his hand was blocking his face. Coincidence? I think not. I'll post them both and you can draw your own conclusions.

This was taken before the crit, the OUCH team picked a great spot to chill. FL just so happens to be looking away at nothing in paticular

This one is just after Floyd dropped out of the crit. I'm across the street, not sure what the hand gesture is all about. Is it code, perhaps a roadie gesture for don't take my picture?

I'm sure he gets bombarded every town he visits. I tried to snap two pics, with no sucsess. I talked to others that said he posed for pics with them all weekend. Guess I need to work on my approach.

Two days of no rain had me itching for some singletrack. Late on Sunday I headed out to Hobb's State Park as it is the fastest draining trail in the area. It is always the first trail to dry out and if I had any chance of an actual mountain bike ride this was it. I was pleasantly suprised to discover perfect trail conditions. This trail is an anomaly. I went for a trail run late Sat. only to abort because the trail was half submerged. I had a blast on the trail, the bike performed great. Ended up with 22 miles in a couple hours. That put me at 102 miles for the week on the mountain bike. I also put in 2.5 hours of running, and an hour of core work. 13.5 hours total for the week. Not great but I will take it given all the rain we've been having.

This week I should see a higher volume of training given that my Tuesdays and Thursday evenings are now free, no more classes!

Here are a few pics of the crit