Nice little block

Well, I got the powertap back on Thursday, only to break a tab on the battery holder. Essentially it's useless now. I got 5 years almost out of that bad boy so I'll take it, considering it lasted so long. Guess I'm stuck with training on the paragon (which isn't so bad).

Thursday was a pretty crappy day on the bike, I felt horrible. The legs were crushed and had no snap. It didn't help I was fighting a brutal cross/head wind the whole ride. Friday was a nice day so I rolled out for a few hours, the legs actually felt quite a bit snappy, but I reigned them in as Saturday was going to be a big day.

Saturday, I headed over to my old stomping grounds. I had to get the car fixed in Victor, so I decided to put in a big day from there and head south to Naples. It was a beautiful day, and I even wore gloves that were quite a bit too warm (as my shriveled fingers from sweat showed). I headed south as usual into Bristol. Its nice rolling farm country heading south, then slowly climbs till you get to the top of the Egypt hill (main climb in the Bristol Road Race). I descended that like a banshee (I was on the paragon after all!) and headed around to climb Mosher hill. Usually the thing is a bear of a climb on a road bike, but I had little lower gearing and actually felt really good climbing it. My legs were feeling nice now and I headed into Naples to refuel. After a few minutes in the bathroom (drying my clothing out from sweat), I topped off the water bottles and headed out. I immediately hit the Gannet hill climb (6 miles to the top). I was feeling good and keeping it tempo the whole ride. I flickered a bit here and there with threshold, but I knew that I had put a lot of energy out so far on the ride and continued climbing at a strong but quick pace.

Heading to the hills

After I the climb, I had a blast descending West Gannet. A car attempting to make a turn into the driveway scared the shit out of me. Nothing like descending like a madman at 40+ mph and a car unsure of how fast you are going and contemplating turning in front of you. Luckily, we made eye contact and me waving my hands like, WTF!?! he stopped quickly. A few miles of flats to stretch the legs, up the final climb out of Bristol and slammed it home.

To the top of that is where I'm heading



5 and a half hours of some good tempo in the hills and I was feeling great. I'm super amazed at Sustained Energy. It rocks! 4 bottles of that, 1 flask of gel and some clif blocks was all I needed for the ride. In comparison when I rode around Seneca lake, I was using a different drink and just fizzled out halfway into the ride. I felt like I could have ridden 10 hours on Saturday.

Looking down Gannet, what I just came up



Today looks nice and I might head to the trails in a few or hit the roads if they thaw. Short day for work as I have to drive to PA tonight for an early AM session tomorrow.

Wednesday, I'll be back on track....

Game On!

Well this weekend was a bit of a wash. Mother nature didn't want to let me out the door on Saturday. Saturday night was Suzanne's 30th birthday party. The Hallejuneva crew hit the local bowling lanes with flair. A bunch of skinny bike racers and a few beers makes for a rowdy crowd. After getting slapped in the face by the cost of "cosmic" bowling, we decided to do regular bowling and had ourselves a blast. Highlight of the night was Hanggi's two-handed over the head soccer-style throw!! Haha, I can't believe we didn't get kicked out.

Sunday was laid low, very very low. You see, Mr. Jagermeister and I became too good of friends back at Mark and Suzanne's place. Talking to him a few times is alot of trouble. I paid for it all day and I mean all day. And just getting back from the bike shop, so did Mark!

I did manage to get out last night. Temps are starting to warm up and the sun is shining. The new daylight savings time is awesome!! It was another great day on the paragon. Put in some miles and a few good hard efforts for about 2 hours total time. With any luck here I may shift my work schedule a bit earlier so I can start putting in 3-4 hour days on a regular basis. Power-tap is back, time to bump things up a little bit.

Major Side Note!!: I'm going to Sea Otter. Woohoo! Never been to Cali, and nothing like the first race of the season being an xc race against a huge field of semi-pro's. The legs are for sure going to hurt. Guess I better start putting in some more "xc" training hours for this one. Thanks to the folks at Crankskins, as I'll be heading out there with EJ and the crew. Working the booth/tent and sneaking away for some rides as much as possible.

"Wrap Your Crank!!"

I'm Superfly!

The order for this Bad-Boy has been placed!! Couldn't pass up the offer on this one as I'm part of the Fisher 29er Crew this season. Soon there will be a full site up for everyone on the 29er crew and you'll be able to visit and read about our racing adventures, bikes and blogs there....No worries, I'll most likely double post, or just set this site up to re-direct over there.

Yesterday was a great day weatherwise! :( But alas, I was stuck in the office with loads of work. So what did I do, I strapped on the lights and hit the road on the paragon and put in some time. It was a little extra inky black dark out, but I managed to have some fun on the bike and get some nice intervals in.

This morning I pulled the paragon back out and put in a nice few hours. The morning rides are so serene and peaceful. I rolled down along the lake front and enjoyed the stillness of the water and everything around me (I forgot my camera). I did see a Robin though! So that's a good sign the weather is changing. Form is coming fast and I feel super motivated, more so than any other season. Can't wait to line up and lay the tires to the dirt sometime again.

I'm feeling great right now and hopefully this winter storm we are supposed to get tonight/tomorrow never comes and I can get in a bunch of hours this weekend. I also hope Saturday night's bowling party for Suzanne's 30th doesn't do me in too bad ;)

Power-less

I went out for a ride on Monday to enjoy the weather, and well the power-tap wasn't agreeing. Possibly cause it's 4 1/2 years old? Literally the rear hub froze solid on me. I'm dropping it off and the GBC and let them rebuild the hub or it may need whole new axle. If it's anything excessive, buh-bye. My road bike is essentially used for training and it's showing it's wear. The durace (yah i know it's dura-ace, but its fun to say dur-rachi) is 5 + years old and the thousands of miles on the salty roads of upstate NY winters have me basically working with a front brake, and a "kick-shift" front der. I'll ride her till she dies.

In the meantime the paragon is fully set-up to handle all the necessary duties for road and off-road riding. I may never go back to the road bike if the ergomo returns. I may even end up with one of these. All depends, but most likely will. So in the meantime it's down to some Perceived exertion and manual TSS.

This weekend kicks off the Rochester Giros Spring Training Series. Guess who won't be showing up as you need a GVCC membership? $20 to race, plus another $60 for GVCC membership, plus $150 UCI license????? And it's now on the west side of Rochester, ya F that. I'll get better training on my own time rather than the 2.5 hours spent in the car.

Looks like a nice day out there, better get back to work so I can take a long lunch and sneak a few hours in today....

Oh Almost Forgot!! NYSERS site is now live and running!!

Currently playing in iTunes: Star Of Bethlehem by Angels & Airwaves

Solo Weekend

Spent the past weekend on some solo adventures. All in all a great weekend of training. Would've liked a bit more time on Saturday, but the Ol' man winter had made up his mind.

Saturday, I put in just over 2 hours of brutality. It was 30 degrees with 30mph winds. Pretty much every backroad that ran North-South was insane. With the winds blowing so fierce they were creating massive snow drifts across the roads in unprotected sections. I'd say I crossed about 50 snow drift, some up to 100 meters long or so. I was forced to walk one, as the wind pushed me around so much I couldn't stay upright in the snow. The good news is I didn't crash in any of the others and after negotiating a few difficult ones, they became fairly easy as you just found a good line and cruised. If there was no line, I just hit the gravel off the shoulder and it provided decent enough grip to stay upright. The last few mile, though the snow picked up pretty heavily and became difficult to see more than a few hundred meters. Naturally, after I get home and clean up the sun comes out and all is good.

Sunday, was a great day 35 and sunshine all day. Light winds, but nothing major. I decided I would just give it a good day on the bike. I headed south into the rolling hills of Seneca Lake Wine Country and put in 142k circumnavigating the lake. I felt pretty good for the 1st 3 hours or so, but by the time I climbed out of Watkins Glen, I could tell that my meal from the night before didn't prepare me well enough for the ride. I'd eaten well on the bike, and prior; but not enough for dinner. I can pretty much tell how much an effect a meal or even certain foods now has on my training. I didn't expect I'd put in such a big day, but then who can argue when the sun is shining and its a nice day. If there wasn't snow on the ground I'd have thought it was June. The last 20k of the ride I suffered a bit, but suffer now and feel good come race day!

I was suppose to ride this morning with Mark and Suzanne, but I bailed for more sleep after yesterday. However right now, its 47 and the sun is shining. Yah, I have a "appointment" around 3pm ;) ..... gotta take advantage while I can!!

Video of past weekend

Mark Hartman has a great little video up from this past weekend's adventures.

Check it out over at his blog, it's awesome!

Be sure to pay close attention and watch Bert lay 'er down at the end :)


I've been stuck in South Philly for the week, so no riding for me. I'll be back home tomorrow afternoon and laying down some big miles this weekend.

At least I'm not stuck in the snow like everyone else

Exploring Corning

Headed down to Corning yesterday with the Geneva Crew to meet up with the Hollow Crew. Jer-Bear had pre-scouted some roads and terrain for what would shape up to be an "epic" day to say the least.

Temps were great, sun was shining; perfect day to be on the bikes.

Group climbs out of the city into the hills, enjoying the sun

One of the many monstrous climbs on the route. Climbing was a horrid ordeal, if the road was dirt, it was likely mud, zapping your energy with each pedal stroke. If it was snow you had to ensure you didn't spin out.

Unknown to us on this very road, would be where we would do most of our playing

Coleman Rd aka the road of a million crashes. Under these few inches of snow was solid ice. Any sudden movement on the bike and you went down. Everybody hit the deck, often multiple times. It was hilarious, you could hardly go a few pedal strokes with out starting to slide sideways. Once you got speed, it was just inevitable you were going down. I can only imagine the thoughts of the people who lived in the area. For the howls weren't from the coyotes, but our howls of laughter.

Casey slip sliding around on Coleman as we approach the end

Poor Bert. On a road bike, with slicks. He went down so many times on the road, we just stopped counting, but we had to give him huge props. For right after this photo, he had on of his best crashes that included about a 40 ft baseball style slide.

Good time, loads of climbing, 40 miles out in the sun playing around. Can't wait to go back for more

Rollin with the Crew

Yesterday morning was an unbelievable day for mid-Feb in Upstate NY. Temps were near 50 and the sun was actually shining. Headed out on the road with Mark and Suzanne Hartman for a nice early am ride. I was on the roadie (as that's where the power meter is) while Mark and Suzanne were rockin' their respective 29ers.

We headed out pretty much right into the wind and hit a few nice hills. Steep, and short, but long enough to make you suffer. I've not really done any super hill work or anything steep as of yet, so I wanted to see how the engine was running. Figured the few hills would be a good test, but not wear me out too much. Besides the small ring shifting isn't really working. (Yup, I do zero maintenance on my road bike, you can tell by the water bottle bolt replaced with wrapped duct tape). So I was forced to grind up the hills and actually felt really good. I was suprised to feel as good as I was considering the past few days of training.

Hopefully Mark will get some nice pics up as he had his helmet cam, maybe even a video.

In the meantime, enjoy The Champ's latest Video

I'll take the next few days off here and recover. The weather is shaping up for a nice weekend, so I'll be back on the bike Thursday. (probably hitting the dirt). Hopefully, It'll stay as is and I can put some huge miles in this weekend and maybe even get down into the hills in Naples.

Currently playing in iTunes: Walcott by Vampire Weekend

Solid Block

Past few days have been a big block of training. Weather has been tolerable enough to get out there and get things done.

Thursday, I busted out the skiis and did some am xc skiing at the local golf course. It was a bit chilly, but tolerable and managed a quick hour prior to work.

Friday, temps were good enough to get out for an hour and a half and pound out some tempo on the road.

Yesterday, I pulled out the paragon and headed over to glenwood with Lizzy. I hit up the GBC before hand and picked up a new drivetrain for the roadie and some more winter clothing. Over at glenwood, the snow was a little bit deeper than I thought it was. Luckily, marky had gone out in the morning and laid down some tracks. There was also a few walkers who packed the trail in nice. After a few laps that felt like pedaling through quicksand, it was some good riding.

This morning I pulled out the roadie and challenged the coming rain. Weather was forecast to be quite a bit windy in the morning with some rains coming in the afternoon. I headed out the door and got some good time in. I suffered like a dog for 20k heading south into the brutal headwind. Pretty much felt like I was going nowhere for quite a while. To top it off the rain came in near the end of those last few k's. Even with the warmer temps, I was forced to take a turn and head home. The roads were quite wet and I was starting to get cold from the strong winds. It did manage to be a good ride overall.

Note the few spots where my speed just jumps up from having a huge tailwind

Hopefully, I'll be able to get out tomorrow in the am and put a few more hours in and top of this nice little block of training.

Snow is coming

Winter is back with a nice little treat these next few days. Guess it's time to bust out the ski's possibly the next few days. I'm actually excited a bit about a little bit of a change of pace. I hope the rain holds off though......

Not that things are getting tough, but It's winter, and I like to xc ski. Things are actually going good. Last night I even busted out the rollers for a little go. I've still got it; Yup I can ride no handed with 1 leg. That's smooth baby, smooth... One thing that frustrated me though is the power-tap torque values were a bit off for the first 25 minutes of my ride. I'm freaking busting my ass doing 1 minute intervals at 250 watts. I thought maybe the trainer was just on a little bit harder, but 250 is tempo, no AE!! Once I re-calibrated the torque all was well, but now I gotta figure out how to adjust 25 minutes of power data to sensible numbers (anybody wanna help me ?)

I also did manage to get out for about 3 hours this past weekend and just do some light tempo. Unfortunately, I worked Saturday and Sunday and was forced to shorten the ride. It would've been nice to pull of 5-6 hours of tempo. Hopefully I can catch a break this weekend and put in a nice loooong day.

I've got a new mantra also; taken right from Team CSC at last year's Tour. Go Here for what it is (NSFW).

Also, I re-enabled comments on my page, so feel free to drop me a note!

08 Race Bike??

Choices?? 1, 2 or all of them ???

Rig, well definitely getting this bad boy

Superfly :( No availability right now, maybe but not likely

Hi Fi 29er, Yup looks like one of these is in the plans unless the Superfly happens.


As soon as the Supercaliber is back and in good shape, she'll be up on ebay helping me out.

Don't monkey around on your bike!

This is just plain freaky! I think I'm going to have nightmares about those monkey faces!

Lunch time getaway

It was darn near 50 degrees today, unfortunately I slept like crap last night so I never managed to wake up early and put in a decent ride. I decided I would try to milk as much sleep as I could. As a result, I took an extended lunch and headed out for a ride.

Seeing as I only had an hour I just went out and slammed it. Pushed it in the upper tempo zones and really worked it on a few climbs. I really felt great on the bike today. 10 minutes into my nice 50 degree ride it started raining and raining good.

I was pretty good and soaked to the bone, but I was damn near loving every moment of it. Thankfully I decided to wear full leg warmers instead of knee warmers. The fenders worked great in keeping my ass and back dry, but my feet still got wet.

For some reason, when the weather is nasty I really love to go out and just push myself as hard as I can. I love riding in the rain (I just don't like starting in it). Some of my favorite races and best performances have been in rainy/muddy conditions. I can't pinpoint what it is but it just feels a little bit primal...

Todays power file...

Well looks like its going to get nasty again the next few days. Probably will be forced onto the trainer unless the ground freezes one of em.....blah

Currently playing in iTunes: Back Out On The ... by Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew

Crappy weekend

The weather this weekend was downright horrible. It snowed a bit friday and then turned to sleet/rain. The ground right now has a nice covering of snow and ice. It's odd though as its mid 30's or so so the stuff is kinda melting, but freezing up at night. I refused to ride the trainer so yesterday, I just went out and decided, I didn't care if the roads were wet or covered in ice (although on a few downhills I was damn scared). I pulled the road bike out and just went out and nailed it for an hour getting a few good sprint efforts in up some light hills. Managed to stay nice and dry though with the fenders! Those things rock, what have I been thinking for the past 6 years or so riding the wet roads in the winter with no fenders. I don't care if they look gay or not, my ass and my feet are dry and warm!

Today, the ground was nice and frozen so I was gonna head over to glenwood and let lizzy run around. The plan was to just nail it for 2 hours and have some fun riding the paragon. I just put a new chain/cassette/cables on her so was going to give it a good breaking in. Well, I went to adjust my saddle and the seat binder bolt broke in half. I couldn't get the one end of it out, so I was forced to pack everything back in the car and head home to hit the roads. I revised the workout and decide to just ride some tempo for 2 hours just keeping the wattage steady and giving it a good go. The route was predominately flat with a few risers here or there, but no major climbs of any sort.


Keeping it nice and steady

Currently playing in iTunes: Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa by Vampire Weekend (FYI: this album is awesome!!)

2008 NYSERS/ Supercaliber down

The 2008 New York State Endurance Racing Series (NYSERS) is back again for 2008!!

Proud to announce the Addition of Plattekill to the NYSERS!!

The dates for the series are as follows:

Highland Hex: May 17th

Plattekill: June 8th

6 Hours of Power: July 27th

Suicide Six: August 16th

More info available here

Time to get out there and get training, before you know it the race season will be upon us!!!

So the Supercaliber is down and out for a bit. I broke the axle on the ergomo this past weekend. I was getting some odd play in the crank, and every time I'd put some force down on the right crank arm it sounded like I was re-clipping in and felt like it. I checked the cranks and there was some play in the right crankarm. When I got home, I pulled the bolt, put on the special tool and gave it a very light turn on the cranks and snap! the bolt broke right off. I took it to the shop yesterday to have them send it back in for warranty and you could visibly see the original crack in the bolt. No big deal, just be without power for a bit on the mt. bike. I'll just have to estimate my Training Stress Score (TSS) for a bit. Since this is the 2nd time the bolt broke, I'm taking a look into swapping the ISIS version for Octalink.

I also pulled the shock of the Paragon and swapped it with the one on the Supercal and set that on back for an overhaul. The Supercal rear shock is also being sent back to Manitou for an overhaul.

We're getting some really crappy snow/slush mix right now, but hopefully most of it will be gone before tomorrow am. I'm hoping to put in a pretty good weekend of riding. With the conditions of the roads, it looks like the new fen-dars will get some good use. All of next week looks to be in the mid 30's so it might be a good week for getting some miles in!

Currently playing in iTunes: Apocalypse Now by Muse

Big News Announcement!!!!!!!!!!

Remember my post from a few days ago? Well I can officially reveal the big news!!

Myself, along with Mark Hartman and his wife Suzanne, are now part of the Gary Fisher 29er Crew!!!

Super pumped to be rocking a Fisher 29er again for the 2008 season!! Which bike will I be pimping?? Right now I'm leaning towards a Superfly, but could be swayed to roll on a Hi-Fi, time (and availability) will tell.

I did manage to get out yesterday for a quick road ride. I put in just over an hour during my lunch break. Quick but intense ride with some short but hard Vo2 max efforts. I can tell I worked hard the past few days, because I'm eating everything in sight. Of course, I'll use today as a rest day and it's 45 or so out, but I'd rather be cold and dry then wet and slightly warm anytime.


Currently playing in iTunes: Return The Favour by The Hives

Full Weekend

Managed to put in some decent time this weekend. Not as much as I would've liked, but I'll take anything right now as the temps are getting slightly better.

Saturday I took Lizzy out and headed over to Dryer Rd. Put in just over 2 hours in the snow and dirt. There was a light covering of snow on the ground making it a bit sketchy in a few parts, but there had been a few riders out and after some laps I had it packed in real nice. It was fun to get out there and just hammer a bit. I went out and just pushed it as hard as I could for 2 full hours and was pretty whipped by the end.

Sunday, was nice enough to get out and hit the roads. Light winds out of the south and low 30 degree temps and clear roads means pull out the road bike. It was a nice ride on a lightly rolling route. I was having fun and staying warm but around the 2:15 mark or so I flatted after a good stint on some back dirt/stone roads. I changed the flat with my 4inch mini pump (aka 400 strokes), but by the time I got back going again the gloves were cold and wet from sweating so I just finished my ride up and headed back home. I kept it mostly light tempo, with a few efforts here and there. I'm feeling really good putting in the hours and laying down the tempo, I just lack my climbing legs. They will come in due time though as I usually purposefully hold myself back on the climbs this time of the year. Mid to late next month I'll start adding some longer climbs to bring up the intensity. I'll add a few race efforts at the Giro's in the spring for sure.

Today, I'm gonna sneak out of work here in a few hours and see if I can't "raise the roof" with a few vo2 max efforts, and test how the legs are after 2 days of good rides.







This video is great! Found it over on Drunk Cyclist

Another Cold Day this time at the Hollow

Yesterday was cold; 10 degrees F and 30 mph winds. Headed down to the Hollow to hit the trails, managed around 2 hours of ride time. Loads of fun with everyone. All fingers and toes are accounted for.

Loads of pics in the slideshow below:

Frozen toes

Hit up the Geneva Bicycle Center for the Winter sale this past morning. Picked up a few essential supplies. Usual tubes, lube and food, etc.

After that grabbed lizzy and headed over to Dryer Rd in Victor for some riding on the Supercaliber. Ground was nice and firm as it was brutally cold with a nasty wind. Still some snow out there on the trails, but for the most part was dirt. Managed an hour before I couldn't feel my toes anymore. My core and hands were plenty warm, but the toes just weren't staying nice and toasty.

Ergomo doesn't lie

Lizzy Surveys the scene

Climbing up thru Moon Valley

Hope no one was sitting there!!

Big news coming soon and Friends

Some Huge News to Announce coming very soon, what will it be??

I figured I'd run a little blog roll of my friends and others I read here and someday when I'm not so lazy I'll add them to my side bar

Mark Hartman

Brandon Furber

Chris Michaels

Matt Spak

Andrew Brautigam

Last of the decent weather days

Got out for plenty of ride time this past weekend. Weather was fairly decent here these past two days, so I had to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, it's not sticking around and snow and colder temps are due to return. Maybe I'll pull out the mountain bike if the trails freeze up.

Yesterday, I put in a few hours. I rode the same route as this past tuesday. I was quite amazed at the power file after I reviewed them both. Time, TSS, and avg power were nearly identical, the major difference was that my hr was quite a bit lower than the Tuesday ride. I was pretty psyched about that as lower hr over the same power is a good indicator of improvement in fitness.

Today I headed south down to Penn Yan get some rolling hills in. Ended up with just over 4 hours total time. I'm not climbing as I'd like to yet, but there plenty of room for improvement. On my way home I noticed that my front tire was getting soft, I pulled out my spare and realized it was no good, doh! I emptied my co2 into the slow leaking tube and it held up.

Good news is I put a pretty good bump in my CTL this week!

Currently playing in iTunes: Intervention by The Arcade Fire

Early Morning Ride

Another Beautiful day yesterday. Meant another opportunity to get out on the road and put some more miles in. Got out early am with Mark and Suzanne, enjoyed the warm weather and a nice sunrise.



Beautiful early morning skies




Sunrise, Sunrise...



Rolling Along enjoying the Winter Warmth



Mark descends Earl's Hill

Rare sighting of cyclist captured!

Ok, so It's been a little bit since I've been on my blog. What can I say, the holidaze were here and basically I was not in a position to type up anything, plus I went to Ohio a few times for work.

But, the weather has broke the past few days and is going to be great here for the next few


I got out to glenwood saturday am with lizzy while the ground and trails were still frozen. I didn't feel all that bad, and technically I'm still really strong at that aspect. Yesterday, I hit the road for a few hours.

Today, I sneaked out of work for an extended lunch and put some time in. But don't tell my boss!!

Rolling along on the wheelman route

It was crazy warm though and I peeled the layers off as the ride went on




Still some snow out in the country though...

Hoping to get out tomorrow am for a few hours before work


Currently playing in iTunes: Today Is The Day by Apollo Sunshine

Bustin out the XC Skis

Snow is coming down outside just a little bit ;) 5-9 inches or more expected, with the possibility of a Nor'easter this weekend!

I did manage to get out on the bike on monday for some night riding at glenwood. I rushed home and put the supercaliber back together and headed over to the trails with Mark and the dogs. Temps were hovering right around freezing, but it was warm during the day. This meant that the exposed parts of the trail were nothing more than mud and muck. I managed to get close to an hour in then we called it quits.

So it's snowing out pretty good today. Looking like it's going to be a good night for some xc skiing. Road conditions are probably going to be too poor to head anywhere, so most likely going to end up over at glenwood. Lay some tracks down and can most likely get it worked in for the bikes possibly over the weekend.


View outside my car at lunchtime today!

Currently playing in iTunes: Velvet Snow by Kings Of Leon

Glenwood Snow Riding

Hit up glenwood yesterday with Mark, Burt, Cadence and Lizzy. It was great to get out on the trails and ride around on the snow. Decided to pull out the camera and take a little video. Edited it up just now and posted it here for you. Yes, the whole video was taken with me riding 1 handed!! on my Paragon!!... Not an easy task, there are quite a few logs that took me out and you'll notice me hitting the snow/dirt near the end of the video as I tried to navigate a v-ditch.

On a side note, I'm now a Sergeant Grade 1 in Halo 3!! Umm, yah I still suck as my kill to death ratio is .69 (but hey it was .13!!)

Currently playing in iTunes: Down Boy by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Snow

Mark, Suzanne, myself and the pups made an attempt to ride over at Glenwood this morning. We got a few inches of snow last night and figured we'd head out and pack in the trails, and run the pups a little bit. Unfortunately, the snow was a little deeper than we thought making for a tough romp through the trails. We made it down one trail and after a bit of sliding, crashing and walking (well, Mark had no issues as usual) we decided to head home and just pull out the skis. On the way home the rain came down and we had to bail because the snow sucked. So basically we were out and just decided to stick home for the day and chill.

Oh well, try again tomorrow.

Loving your bike a little too much?

Bike sex case sparks privacy debate. Yes, as in sex with a bike (NSFW) - AutoblogGreen: "Robert Stewart was having sex with a bike in his locked hostel room. Robert said he was drunk and his actions misunderstood but when cleaners knocked and there was no response, they opened the door with a key and saw Robert having sex with a bike. The cleaners called the police, Robert got three years probation and is on the sex offenders list. The BBC website says their report on the story has over a million views and there is a legal debate.

John Scott, human rights expert says 'the man involved in this case pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace so these issues of privacy weren't considered by the court. ... This case should not prevent people who want to engage in this sort of activity doing so.' So, it's still legal to have sex with your bike in the privacy of a room. Just make sure to do it in a locked room, where the locks have no duplicate keys and you are able to hear a knock. "

(Via Digg.)

Hmm. I enjoy riding my bike, but in a different way than this guy!

Ya, I've been neglecting my blog lately. What can I say, the weather is crappy and I'm feeling like crawling under the covers and doing pretty much nothing. I'm also back to single again. I know in the long run this is the right choice, but right now; in a way, I wish I could have back what I had. It's my fault though, so I'll accept the blame. I think everyone fears change in some kind of way and perhaps that's why I'm still holding on. With time I'll be ready to move forward, right now though I'll be focusing my energy on myself and improving me.

Currently playing in iTunes: True Love Way by Kings Of Leon

My brother's wife is expecting!!!

Huge news on the home-front. I'm gonna be an Uncle soon!!! My brother and his wife Becky are expecting. They just received the official confirmation from the doc yesterday. So far she is about 5-6 weeks along and is due sometime in early July. This is awesome!! I'm so happy for them. Do you think it's to early to go get the kid a bike? Gotta get 'it' (I refer to babies as it until they can speak) ready and prepped for the big show!! I'm thinking 'it' is gonna have the chance to get an early jump start on everyone else...

On the flipside, I just picked myself up a shiny new macbook. It's pretty slick. Loving having the ability to run XP right alongside Leopard (Vista just plain sucks, so no chance of running that). So far Leopard is pretty slick, but I need to get some more RAM for it to really purr. Took me a few days to get all my info in here all proper, but I'm psyched.

Riding/Training wise; yah been slacking but it's due time. Gonna go get me a gym membership and get started on the whole adaptation process of the weights. Probably gonna have to dust off the trainer and get that setup and working.


~Uncle Jason
(Like the ring to that :)

Halloween at the Hollow

He-Man and She-Ra were the choice for Lindsey and I. Our Costumes are almost entirely made out of duck tape. Loads of fun!

Night Riding and A Muffin Tragedy

Last night got out with the GBC gang and hit up the local trails at Glenwood. I haven't really been on the bike as this is pretty much my rest period before I undertake the full-on training plan that starts up next month. However, the weather was great and it was time to saddle up. I pulled out the paragon and just ripped it up. I still love that bike and it rips around in tighter more tech trails more so than the supercaliber.

We had quite a large group (7 of us) so it was a pretty good turnout. I had hit the road for a short ride prior with Lindsey so the legs were ready to go. (I still gotta work on getting her up for some night riding ;) My overall fitness has dropped of a bit, but my head is crisp and clear so I think that more than makes up for it.

The Muffin Tragedy

Tragedy uncovered at the Alpine Bakery early this morning.

So I went to get my usual cup of coffee and blueberry-yogurt muffin this morning and it was awful. Apparently the cooler was mistakenly unplugged and the muffins *gasp* had gone bad! Man was I bummed. I hat to take a only slightly less delicious chocolate chip (which was supposed to be ginger, so you can imagine my suprise). Hopefully tomorrow everything will be back in order and I can resume fulfilling my cravings.

2008 National Mountain Bike Series Schedule (Unofficial)

Here's what I've come across. A race in NY!! that's huge news!! It's about time they brought a race here. And with the Nationals going off at Mt. Snow (I'm guessing the following weekend) that will be 2 weeks of great racing in the Northeast!!


March 29 - March 30, 2008 Fontana National - UCI XCO C1

Southridge Park

Fontana, California

XC/DH/ST/4X/Super D



April 5 - April 6, 2008 NOVA National - UCI XCO C1

McDowell Mountain Regional Park

Fountain Hills, Arizona

XC/ST/Super D


May 17- May 18, 2008 Firestone National – UCI XCO C2

Ted Chamberlin Ranch

Los Olivos, California

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D


June 28 - June 29, 2008 Deer Valley National - UCI XCO C1

Deer Valley Resort

Park City, Utah

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D


July 5- July 6, 2008 Showdown at Sugar National

Sugar Mountain Resort

Village of Sugar Mountain, North Carolina

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D


July 12 – July 13, 2008 East Coast National

Windham Resort

Windham, New York

XC/DH/DS/ST/Super D

August 16-August 17, 2008 Snowmass National

Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado

XC/DH/ST/4X/Super D


August 30-September 1, 2008 National Mountain Bike Series Finals – UCI XCO C2

Tamarack Resort

McCall, Idaho

XC/DH/4Xor DS/ST/Super D

Randomness

I ate meat yesterday for the first time in 2 months, ever since watching Fast Food Nation just haven't been able to stomach it. But I was hungry for a burger.

I rode this morning at Glenwood, rolled my tire coming over a log and crashed. Cracked my co2 and it blew out everywhere, I limped the bike home as I rode to the trails. To top it all off, for some reason my iPod quit just as I got the flat...

I bought Halo 3 for the 360 the other day, I've played it for maybe 30 minutes. How the hell are those people playing it all day and night? Maybe when the weather gets shitty I'll play it some more

The Bears, WTF?? They better pull something out of their ass soon or they can say goodbye to going back to the Superbowl.

Blackwater; just coming to light now? I went to a seminar at Hobart on this in the spring and everyone who I talked to about it (that wasn't there) said I was a little crazy

My iPhone now has the wireless iTunes store. Its like crack. If I need a new song, I just look it up and download it.

Currently playing in iTunes: Some Crap About the Future by Electric President

130.7 MPH on a mountain bike!?

EDIT: NOW HAVE THE VIDEOWired Blogs: Gadget Lab: "33 year old Austrian Markus Stoeckl has smashed the World Speed Record for series mountain bikes. Stoeckl, nicknamed "Hercules" because of his 6'4", 220 lbs. frame, broke the 8 year old record by 14 mph on a 2000 meter, 45 degree run in the Chilean Alps. Because of the extreme cold, Hercules had to hold his breath for the 40 second duration so his helmet didn't fog up."

Think you're ready for the winter season? Maybe we should hop on board this guys training plan!! You'll be fast that's for sure!!

Panel: Landis guilty of doping - Yahoo! News

Panel: Landis guilty of doping - Yahoo! News: "Floyd Landis lost his expensive and explosive doping case Thursday when the arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, The Associated Press has learned."

Dopers Suck!

What to do now?

Well, The Horrible 100 is done and over with. Season is winding down and my original plan was to hit up the Roots, Rocks and Ridges race in Ellicottville on 9/30. That plan has gone down the tubes lately. Last week I had to go away to Philly for work and as a result, no training and some fitness decline.

Now, it's Thursday and I still have the same illness I've had since Saturday evening. I've had a fever and pretty bad sore throat all week. A few times I've either come to work late or left early cause I can't even hold my head up. Shivering in bed with 3 blankets on while it's 75-85 outside is definitely not how I pictured spending the past few days. Yesterday I headed to the doc and picked up some antibiotics. Hopefully those will help a bit.

I haven't ridden since the H100, and there's no chance of a proper recovery for the R,R & R race; this is my official end of season declaration. I'm not hanging the bike up, but I'm not going riding with any purpose other than to have fun and look forward to the next ride. I have some thoughts about hitting a cross' race but I really don't feel like doing any intensity training right now (specially as I'm still feeling like crap). I'll probably wind it right back up though sometime around the start of November.

Don't worry I won't leave you hanging, I'll still keep posting ;)

Currently playing in iTunes: Challengers by The New Pornographers

Horrible 100: Long Version

My apologies for the lateness. I had to head out of town for work; and then I fell ill over the weekend

Full Writeup from the Horrible 100: Went of this past Sunday the 9th with 19 riders who showed up to brave the rainy conditions.

As is usual we kicked off as early as possible and got started just past 6am. The rain came down and was there all day long. The trails were wet, but completely rideable. Thankfully it was a predominately warm day.

The first loop (of 3) had us riding up East Hill right away and into Hi-Tor for some fun fire-road climbing then descending down and hitting the 2nd major climb of the route (Burke Hill). We hit the new section of singletrack across the top and then, Hanggi ended up needing to replace his der hanger. While he repaired that our group ended up re gathering and riding out acroos Pulver and onto the Italy Valley descent. Taylor and Chad had ridden thru and I bridged up to them on the descent. We hit the road together prior to the Wood Hill Climb were Taylor and I picked our way up the thru the loose rocky sections while it downpoured on us. We decided to roll on from that point and we pretty much rode together for the remainder of the day. Thru the Orange trail in Hi-Tor and down the DEC. descent was all that was left at this point. The roots in Hi-Tor proved to be pretty damn tricky but negotiable. I was afraid that the DEC descent was going to be super slick due to all the shale rocks being wet, but it was a tree root that took me out about a third of the way down.

Arrived back at base camp, refueled with all the goodies that the girls provided (huge thanks!).



The 2nd loop was epic. Taylor, Chad and I rolled out to the Griesa rd climb. Taylor and I hit it pretty good up the climb and bombed straight thru Ontario County Park with no issues. Took the road over to Stid hill rd and climbed that. The road was brutally steep but not that bad. Got into Stid Hill where it was a bit muddy but tolerable and picked our way clean to the base of Bristol Mt. Bristol was where everyone cracked pretty much. It's a tolerable climb coming fresh into it. The base of the climb is not bad but it get's long after a while and right as you get to the top you hit the steepest points. Needless to say, I was fried at that point and decided to walk. I wasn't the only one.... Bombed the super loose shale/rocky descent on the backside and started the road climb up to Cutler.

The soggy day took its toll

I hit Cutler feeling ok, but by the time I got on to the Carriage Trail I was out of food. I bummed a bar off of Taylor and headed up the climb to the top of the field and into the Pinewoods (Essentialy riding the 24 hour race course backwards). The bar really wasn't enough food at this point and I had scarce energy left. Taylor was riding strong but I was dropping him a little bit on the descents. Seeing as we had to descend the orange trail and ride mostly road back with a short bit of descent through the closed road, I decided to ride on ahead for fear of bonking. I hit the rest area about 5 minutes ahead of Taylor. I was happy to see Lindsey there waiting for me, but just as happy to gorge myself on anything I could put my hands on. I was soo hungry and ate everything I could. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was, because the next group of riders all came in from finishing the loop and everyone had run out of water and food!

4 soldiers decided to head out together for the last loop; although Chad was shortly behind us after some food and change of clothes. Taylor, Hanggi, Jim and I decided to brave it all the way to the end. I was the only one who forgot my light and I paid for it. The rain started to come a little heavier and the temps dropped quite a bit more as we climbed the final few hills. As we descended off of Flint hill, I almost crashed into the guardrail as I had no light. Taylor and Jim decided to turn and head back to base camp. Hanggi and I decided that we would trudge on and make the final push up Wolfanger. A brutal monster of a climb that was the perfect finish to the route. We slogged our sopping wet carcasses up the hill and had a enough time to take a photo at the top. I had to ride side by side with Hanggi down the descent to make use of his light and we arrived back at base camp.

We were exhausted but happy and picked up our trophy.

The Chart of the whole ride: I lost the last few climbs as my ergomo battery was dying

All the Pics from the season of scouting and the event. Click thru and you can go to the online web album

Update

I've got the H100 post drafted up and ready to go, but I'm stuck in
Philly for work.
I also got a ton of pics from Matt Hanggi who was smart enough to
carry his camera during the ride.

I'll have something up for everyone asap

Sent from my iPhone

Horrible Hundred: Quick and Dirty version

Horrible is all finished. Myself and Matt Hanggi were the only sole survivors who made it up over the top of Wolfganger to put down 108 miles of riding and 11,000 ft of climbing.

Ride time: 11:29, TSS 597.8!!
It rained all friggin day....

Too tired and busy to write a full report.

Pics and full write-up to come soon

Currently playing in iTunes: Yesterday Threw Everything At Me by Athlete

Horrible Hundred Recon

Well, truly back into the full swing of things this past weekend. Spent back to back days reconning the Horrible and clearing sections for next weekend.


It felt good to really get back on the bike. Yes, my CTL is pretty low after having taken some time off the bike, but mentally I'm fresh. My legs felt pretty fresh also after putting some good climbs in them.

Saturday we rode portions of the 2nd loop of the Horrible. Casey, myself and Casey's protege Taylor. Taylor was a virgin to the Naples/Bristol trails and we broke him in pretty well. We started off climbing up W. Gannett and into OCP. I was feeling the flow on OCP and just burned it down the descent. Always seems that when I'm off the bike for a bit of time, finding lines and flow becomes effortless. Everything just simply falls into place. After OCP we hit up Cutler and added some new length to the course, but also keeping some great stuff in there. Finished up the day by heading out and climbing up and over the backside of Bristol and descending the snowmobile trail.

Sunday, Mark, Suzanne and myself hit up the 1st loop of the Horrible. Climbed up East Hill, through Hi-Tor, down Bassett and up Burke. We spent a bit of time cleaning, and clearing the new section of FLT singletrack. After that we came down Italy Hill. I flatted as usual on the descent. My spare was bad, suzanne's spare was bad; finally made it out with Mark's 26" spare tube. After the brutal climb up Wood Hill and through the Orange Trail in Hi-Tor we hit the DEC. Mark and I were killing it on the way down, just flying down the thing. I was riding really close to Mark and could barely make out the trail as there was just a dust cloud to follow. As a result I hit a v-ditch wrong and flatted. I rolled it easy down the descent, Suzanne also flatted on the descent and the 2 of us walked the little section back to the car (but not after a quick dip in the creek to clean up). It was a good ride, and I felt great.

Here's a little slideshow of a bunch of pics from the weekend and some more Horrible Stuff!!



Currently playing in iTunes: After Hours by Caribou

Ain't Dead Yet!

For those that were a bit confused about the last entry, that was written by Lindsey concerning our recent trip to Chicago to move her back :) Perhaps I'll let her guest blog on here from time to time.

After a few days of time off, and 30+ hours in the car, I'm finally back. Just peeked at my Performance Manager Chart, and things are looking grim for me, fitness had dropped a bit. Guess it's time to saddle up and start grinding away again. Just gotta put those beers down and grab a water bottle instead.

On a Sidenote: SUPER HUGE CONGRATS to Mark Hartman!! Mark finished up his 1st SOLO 24 hour race at Hot August Nights in CA and finished 2nd!! Turning 21 laps for a total of 204 miles!!

There was also a podium sweep by Americans in the 4 man division, with Casey/Hanggi/Greg/Bruce taking 1st, the 2nd Park Ave team taking 2nd and a CNY Dirt team taking 3rd!

Horrible Hundread is coming up fast, better get my ass prepped!

On the road

Heading back from chicago. My foot and flip floppy were covered in
vomit from a vodka drinker. My toilet was clogged with a spray can a
drunk flushed. The backyard was filled with beer cans, cigarette
butts, and candy. I had to leave behind the garden gnomes for they
didn't fit in the Subaru station wagon that is caring my life back to
NY. I have forks in my purse. I didn't take a shower today. We are
driving in the terrible land of Ohio. Will we make it or will we both
fall asleep before reaching home. Last night there was not rest as we
rolled on the floor. I sold my bed for forty dollars.

Lindsicorn
Sent from my iPhone

Suicide Six

Wrapped up the Suicide Six and the NYSERS series this past weekend. Pretty much wraps up racing for me this season. I had plans to SOLO the Hot August Nights 24hour, but I'm heading to Chicago Wed for a week and a half. Effectively kills that and any type of training load I was working on. I'm turning over to enjoying the summer and spending time having fun and digging into a few other things.

Suicide Six. I pulled a pretty good fast first lap, got a little bit bottlenecked on the rattler, but otherwise came out with the lead. Held it for maybe a lap or 2 till I was passed. Held the wheel for 1/4 of a lap then decided I needed to settle back into my own pace. Terry from Bear-Naked took over 2nd from me a short bit later and gave chase to the leader. I was comfortable where I was and decided to just hold my pace and work on staying consistent in my lap times. I was pretty good and only lost some time when I flatted on my 6th lap. A quick fix and I was back on the go, but still didn't have enough time to turn in 9 laps. Came in about 15 minutes past 4, with the flat put me about 7 minutes past. Effectively 7 minutes slower than last year as I crossed the line just shortly after the 6 hour mark. I'm pretty happy with it though and will take the age group victory and a 3rd.

The 3rd place result effectively put me in 2nd place for the NYSERS SOLO Overall. Pretty happy with that and maybe next year I can give Terry a little better run for his money ;).

Currently playing in iTunes: Rockers To Swallow by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

NYSERS Results

NYSERS Series Results for those looking for them

(Via Epic Peaks Coaching.)

Highland Forest Classic

Oh how I dread normal xc racing.... Having spent most of my season geared towards training for a 24 hour race, their really isn't much room/time in training for the anaerobic and extended periods of time that one spends at threshold during an xc race. Yesterday, I decided that I needed to save cash and gather some form for the Suicide Six so I bagged out on the Wilderness 101 and hit the Highland Forest Classic XC Race.

Pretty much my 1st true xc race this season and a bit of an eye opener. Switching gears from surviving climbs to attacking climbs is a completely different mindset. I pretty much settle into consistency mode when I do the longer events. Focusing on not wasting energy, eating properly, picking clean lines, and proper gearing to save energy on the hills. XC is all about ripping it up as fast as you possibly can handle. Ya, I suffered alot more than I should have. By about the time I crossed the finish line, I was ready to go. I pulled down a 3rd place in the Semi-Pro class, after getting my chain tangled in the spokes and making a seat adjustment on course.

Not that I'm complaining, I chose my own undoing. Hell this used to be my forte...

Next up is Farmall #1, and then hoping to carry some form into the Suicide Six. I hit hollister this past wed night for a few laps. Ripped out 3 laps (including 1 night lap in just over 2 hours, so things are looking good for that place!


Currently playing in iTunes: Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie

6 Hours of Power

Well, the 6 Hours of Power went off yesterday down in Ellicottville. Course conditions were perfect, weather conditions were perfect. My fitness though currently is far from perfect. Having just come off a huge block of family obligations, pretty much had very little training in the bag over the past month.

All Smiles prior to the Race Start.

Once the race was underway, things shook out a bit differently than I would have liked. I felt ok on the 1st lap, but my hr was jacked higher than I would have liked it to be at the effort I was at normally. I had to scale it back a little bit on the climbs in order to keep myself from doing to much. I was sweating hard on the 1st lap, but wasn't feeling anything in the legs. The fact I threw my chain into the spokes a few times on the lap didn't help the mojo either. I slammed my bottle and took some endurolytes and sport legs at the finish of the lap. I started to cramp on the 2nd lap and made sure to take extra water at the aid stations. By the time the 3rd lap rolled around, I was still hanging on ok, but was now stopping at the aid stations to down about 5 cups of water and refill my bottles.

A Silly Crash on Lap 3 left me bloody and bruised >

By the time Lap 4 rolled around I was starting to feel a little better, but still nonetheless had to stop at the aid stations and down as much water as I could stomach. The heat had my stomach doing flips, so I really wasn't eating much of anything each lap so no I was starting to bonk, and bonk I did on my fifth lap. I had caught and passed a solo rider who I was battling with for most of the race and put in a little attack in the singletrack. I put some good time into him, but that pretty much zapped everything out of my legs. I ended up just rolling in the rest of the lap at a walking pace. I was barely turning over the pedals at this point. I ended up with 5 laps completed and for the 1st time at 6HOP I finished off the podium.

No worries though as I have a good 2 weeks to prep myself up and train pretty hard for the Suicide Six! I also can't wait till then cause Lindsey will be here!!!!

Currently playing in iTunes: To the Sky by Maps

...I believe Rasmussen...

...I believe Rasmussen...

(Via Drunk Cyclist.)

Tour de France 2007: Rasmussen pulled out of Tour, fired by Rabobank

Tour de France 2007: Rasmussen pulled out of Tour, fired by Rabobank: "After 10 days in the yellow jersey, Michael Rasmussen appeared to have beaten back all challengers in his pursuit of the top spot on the Tour de France's final podium in Paris this coming Sunday"

That's it Road Cycling and the Tour are Officially Dead. Astana is gone, Cofidis is gone

"Nature culls sick herds of animals. Cycling is just going through a natural culling . . . sad to say, but true. The riders and teams that have chosen to be clean will survive this." -- Jonathan Vaughters, manager of U.S.-based Team Slipstream


"The Tour is Dead, Long Live the Tour!"

Getting Back into the Swing

So my brother got married this past weekend. Poor Sucker! Just kidding. It was a great time. Had lots of fun at the Rehearsal Dinner and at the Wedding. But I sure am glad that it is all over with.....

Time to get the bike back up and running and to get back to some normal routines. Don't have too long to get some good fitness for the Wilderness 101, so we'll see how that one goes. I put a bit of time on the road bike lately. First miles in a long time. Also been doing a bit of singlespeeding and that has been a bit of fun.

Hopefully I'll have Mary Poppins up and running prior to Saturday's Dryer Rd time trial....

Currently playing in iTunes: Give 'Em Hell, Kid by My Chemical Romance

Tour de France - Live Tracker 2007

Tour de France - Live Tracker 2007: This is pretty frigging cool, follow along the Tour and check out the riders heart rate, cadence, speed and power and location.

I was all ready to ignore the Tour this year, but damn if I'm not getting all swept up in it!

FYI: Apparently doesn't work in Safari; use the fox

Drunk takes a free bike ride on car roof - Yahoo! News

Drunk takes a free bike ride on car roof - Yahoo! News: AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - "Police officers in the Dutch city of Alkmaar were surprised to see a car passing by with a man sitting on a bicycle on its roof.
The driver and his wife, when stopped by the police, said they heard a noise while waiting at a traffic light, but did not realize they were taking on an extra passenger.
The 26 year-old man who took the free ride was fined for public drunkenness, not carrying an identity card and providing a false identity to the police"

Always wondered if it would work!

Morning Road Ride

Got out for a nice early road ride with Mark and Suzanne Hartman this morning. What a beautiful morning it was. It felt great to get out and stretch the legs, especially after last night Glenwood World Cup. I rode the Single Speed again and Mark was on his new Blur. He was pretty much a blur to me the whole ride as I was pushing as hard as I could to keep up with him. But that's par for the course, especially when Betty shows up beforehand.

Tomorrow is my brothers bachelor party, going to play some golf in the morning then hit up some good food and fun that evening. We'll see if I behave myself completely or not. I have a feeling this is going to be one long week with all the family and friends in town for the wedding next weekend

Sunday hopefully I won't be hurting too bad and can put some time back on the road bike again with maybe a nice century or so...

Currently playing in iTunes: Bones by Editors

Shindagin Hollow

Yesterday, was a nice ripper of a day down at Shindagin Hollow. Mark, Suzanne, Chris, the dogs and I bailed on our original plan of pulling a century around Cayuga Lake on the road bikes and hit the trail instead. It was a cool, crisp and wet day. I rode Mark's Singlespeed (Fisher Rig) for the 1st time. Somehow I lost a crankbolt on my ergomo so the Supercal is down for a bit.

Trail conditions were incredible even though it was pouring. Ripping it up on the singlespeed was just so much fun. Plus going back to a hardtail was pretty cool. I think I might just have to go get me one of those :) . I had a full on blast. I kinda love those conditions where its sopping wet, but the trail is just perfect riding. I haven't had that much fun on a bike in a real long time. I think there was a permanent grin splattered with a little mud on my face the whole ride. Lizzy was having a blast too! She is for sure tired from it today though, as she hasn't moved. Same with Cadence, she never even made it upstairs to bed last night!

My racing is on a little hiatus with my brother getting married on the 14th. But I'll be swinging back in time for the Dryer Rd Time Trial on the 21st. That should be some fun.

I'm out for now...

Highland Hex Data

Here's the data I promised for the Highland Hex Race:
Duration: 6:26:55
Work: 4692 kj
Normalized Power: 235 watts
Distance: 97.3km
Elevation Gain: 3246 meters (10,649 ft)


Red Line Represents the Altitude, Yellow is Power. Click for full size

Too tired to type, here are some pics

I'm crushed from this past weekend.

FLT Sugar Hill (Sunday's Ride)



Hollow Ride from Last Sunday (After the Hardcore)

Highland Hex Writeup

Raced the Highland Hex yesterday, much improvement over last season mud fest. The weather was excellent and even with the course was relatively dry, with mud in only a few sections. One major difference this year was the addition of looong climb up to the highest point in the park. The course was really difficult. With the open fire-road descents that were at high speed, it really felt like you were just continually climbing. You would descend immediately and then start the next climb. While there was some great sections of singletrack, this was a really tough course for me to adjust too. I prefer lots of loaded singletrack interspersed with short to intermediate steep climbs.

I started out really strong and felt great the first few laps. I was comfortable on the climbs and really ripping it in the singletrack. I led for the first 4 1/2 laps or so. Soon though, the toll of the climbs and the efforts from last weekend were catching up with me. I could feel some cramping starting to come on, so I backed off a little and had to let Terry Blanchett (Bear-Naked/Cannondale) by. He was ripping it up the climbs and I couldn't follow his pace. He dangled out front by a minute or 2 the next 2 laps, but then climbing as well as he was extended it up to 5 minutes by the end of lap 6. I surged pretty good on lap 7, but wasn't closing the gap so I started to let up a little. I realized that I was still going to have to do another lap so I let off the gas and settled for my 2nd place. I was having a tough 8th lap and just took it chill. Little did I know the 3rd place rider finished 1:45 behind me! I didn't catch word that there were any other solo's still riding. I woulda busted my ass had I known he was out there!

I ended up taking the victory for my age group, and 15 minutes down on Terry. It was a good race, but my legs were no where near where I would've liked them to be. I used the ergomo though and kept myself paced well. Once I upload it to my pc, I'll throw up a graph of the course and some other info. Time to go riding now......

Currently playing in iTunes: Sealings by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Highland Hex

Highland HEx 6 hour race is up this weekend. Thankfully the weather looks quite a bit better than last year's epic slog thru the rainstorm. With any luck, I'll hopefully continue my streak of wins on the course. You never know though, anything can happen. My plan is to just keep my pace steady, hold the HR and power levels constant the whole race and finish stronger than I started

Last night I went with the Hollajeneva Crew to check out the premiere of 24 Solo at the Little in Rochester. It was an incredible movie. In fact I bought the dvd and plan on watching it again tonight as motivation for tomorrow's race. For anyone that is at all interested in Endurance racing you are familiar with Chris Eatough (pronounced "Eat-Off"). He is the man, and this movie captures the glory of his racing and the humility that he is also just a human being. Def go get yourself a copy!

I'm out for now, time to hit some lunch up with Grams and Ma

Hardcore 24

My Prayers and Thoughts are with the Friends and Family of Ben Pritchards. Ben tragically passed away during the Hardcore 24 on June 16th, 2007.

I'm not going to elaborate on the details here, you can search out on the intertubes if you need more.

Friday: I showed up at camp around 3pm or so. Our Camp Manager (Casey) was their to hold things over for us for a while. I headed out for my typical pre-ride, I had Lizzy with me (she wasn't coming to the race) and we climbed up thru the fire roads and up thru the pines into the open meadow. I caught her eyeing some deer and strayed her, but then she got loose and chased a deer I had missed. I yelled for a looong time. I was up there for a good hour plus looking for her. I rode down a fire road in the direction I thought she headed, twice! Finally, frustrated and upset I finished out the course flying down the orange trail and into camp. Where none other than queen dipshit Lizzy was waiting for me. I asked how long she had been there, and the Camp Cook said, "Oh, bout an hour or so..." grrr

Saturday: Awoke to the typical Suzanne special blueberry pancakes and sausages. Headed over to the course, where the camp manager seemed to be worn a little thin. I knew it would take some time to set-up a good camp, but no idea it involved a golf-cart xc race thru the trail ;). I was fired up and ready to go. It was go time, been waiting a while for this one. Hit the run my usual fairly slow self, but made big gains in the singletrack and up the fire road climb. I pushed it solid, eyeing the ergomo and watching my hr. Up and thru meadow and onto the Orange Trail I was battling another solo rider. We swooped thru Whitetrashistan and then away and up the 2nd fire road climb. On the descent on the way down I flatted. Tried sealing it with co2 (using stan's) and it took a few tries but got me back to camp. Once there we tried to use the floor pump to seal it, but finally we just swapped wheels out with the Paragon and I got rolling again.

Laps 2 and 3 were more of the same. I was sitting in 2nd place, but not by too much. I was just tapping out tempo and grinding along. 1000ft of climbing in 8 miles and 3 quick laps and I was starting to slip both power wise and mentally. I re-shifted my focus to the task at hand and grabbed some more endurolytes and some ibuprofin. Lap 5 I swung in for a quick sandwich and a chat with my mother as she had shown up to give some help for the night.

Lap 6 I started to pick it back up, Each lap I was feeling progressively stronger and faster. I was having a blast. In fact, Casey's pal Phil was over from Park City to run the race and tried playing a little downhill domination. In the section of trail that ran thru Whitetrashistan was where we set-up a makeshift feedzone. I came thru on my lap just ahead of Phil and dropped my water bottle. He however, tossed his bottle right at me. Missed me, but I did run it over. Everyone in camp saw and thought it was an argument, but we were just having fun and we chatted and laughed about it up the next climb.

Laps 7 and 8, 9 I was flying and my normalized power per laps was as much as my 2nd and 3rd laps. Lap 8, I pulled off a humdinger. As I was coming back to the start/finish area along the dike, I clipped my pedal. Seeing the pond was so close, I bailed as hard as I could to the right to land on the dirt. Well, the bike was getting a little dirty, and ol Mary Poppins (that's her name 'cause she's 'supercal'ifragilistic) decided it was time for a bath. The bike landed dead in the pond, fully submerged. I reached in an pulled out the "Swamp Thing", she was covered in seaweed, almost every inch. I was laughing hard as I pulled it off, piece by piece
feeling best ever. Lap 9 I just was out there killing it. Each time thru camp I was chatting or singing to the iPod, and telling everyone how good I felt. In fact I was an entire lap up on the field by this point.

Unfortunately that was when I was turned around on the course.

We did have an awards ceremony, where I was congratulated as the Men's Solo Overall Winner. This was an honor and what I had worked for all season. However, under the circumstances, this was not the way I had wanted to earn it. It was difficult today to answer questions to those who had no idea. They would ask about the race, how I did, etc. I filled them in that I had won, and the circumstances surrounding. Each reaction, was of course of shock and suprise.

While honored to have won the race, I am saddened by the loss of a fellow rider.

Currently playing in iTunes: God's Gonna Cut You Down by Johnny Cash

Blah,

Well, last nights race was purdy ugly. Luckily I was pretty much there just to blow the pipes out in the legs and call it a day. Well, the day was pretty short as all I had in me was 2 friggin laps. Something with me and tapering, just never settles right. It always seems that the more I ride the better I feel. When I rest, my legs go downhill. That's why I jumped for the race and then pulled the plug shortly into and just spun out for another lap.

On the plus side of things, the Ergomo is back. Will have that bad-boy back in action for the Hardcore!! I almost felt kinda lost without it. It's especially handy when racing the big events. Having it on board allow me to keep my pace right where I need it without going over the top or dropping too low. It will also be great to see the power levels and how they degrade over the course of a 24 hour race

Currently playing in iTunes: Lazy Eye by Silversun Pickups

Love

"In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves. And then, in that very moment when I love them-" -"You beat them."

I think the above quote from the book "Enders Game" is very befitting for this weekends upcoming 24 hour event. For my enemy for the duration of the race will be a brutal race course and the inner workings of my own mind. The combination of the two factors will make the final decision as to where I stand when the timer runs out. For I must 'love' the terrain and 'love' myself in order to be able to dig as deep as is necessary.

It takes a special devotion and extreme mental fortitude to get through an epic adventure. I've not taken this race lightly, my physical preparation has been strong, but my mental preparation has been the strongest it's ever been.

I truly 'love' riding my bicycle. It will be this 'love' and nothing more that allows me to embrace my enemy, "...And then, in that very moment when I love them-" -"You beat them."

Currently playing in iTunes: THE GREATEST LOVE SONG by The Bastard Fairies

Tonight I will be testing my 'love' out at the Park Ave Wed Night Series. Blowing out the pipes and making sure the bike is dialed in pre-race. Friday I'll head down to Cutler and do some pre-riding and camp set-up. I'll get a post up tonight on how the race goes. I'm pretty psyched cause my brother is going to come out and watch

Weekend of chilling and riding in E-ville prior to the Hardcore

Well, finally home and still wiped out. I hit Buffalo Friday night with a friend for some dinner down on Elmwood. Had a great time and then had some coffee and a good chat. It was nice to enjoy night life in a city. After dinner, I hit up an old friend that I grew up with and we hit the town for some craziness. Really got to enjoy the nightlife then!I awoke a litte razzled and tired on Saturday morning. I spent some more time in Downtown Blo grabbing a quick cup of joe and just people watching for a short while.



After that I packed up and headed down to E-ville. Casey was late, so I spent some more time in another coffee shop, grabbing some quick lunch. Once Casey arrived we set up camp, I packed the 'cabin' bag in some pine trees for a lil bit of privacy, and the fact that I forgot my bedroll. The nice soft pine needles made it like a pillow top mattress back there!


Saturday; Val, Casey and I rolled out and put some time in the trails. Conditions were pretty fair considering the rainstorm that swept through the night prior. We had some fun rocking out together.


Val had to head into town for a minor upgrade, while Casey and I headed out for the forest of Endor. Climbing up and through the trails we felt like and Ewok or an Imperial Speeder were going to fly by us at any moment. It was a surreal moment as we were plodding up this climb and suddenly realized that the entire forest undergrowth was nothing except ferns. Lighting was too poor to grab a good pic, but it's banked in the internal SD card for a long time.

Mark and Suzanne showed up later that evening. Mark and I and the dog's headed out for a night ride. You know it's gonna be a good one when the trails have names such as; Rim, Bent Rim, and Pale Ale. It was crazy fun, and super, super tech. Loads of rocks and roots everywhere. Some crazy lines just up and over everything, stuff that would be brutal to even walk on. I probably would've taken some pics, except Mark was his usual self and just blasting off through the stuff while I was left to fend for myself. Back to camp, we found the crew had dug into the Sam Adams Summer Lager's and were having a grand ol time. I was wasted and headed to the cabin, where according to Val I fired up my generator to turn the heat on, watch some TV and cook a quick meal before I grabbed some shut eye.

Sunday, was a perfect day for a nice group ride. We climbed up the road to the backside of the mountain then hit the famous descent down to the bottom of the race course. Val and Casey headed down to Burger King to pick up Dave. I think they had a few whoppers and some fries while they waited.


Dave was a no show, so we decided to climb to the top of the of the race course and hit some of the fun stuff. Once on top, it was all coming back to me. I've ridden a ton here for the 6 Hours of Power races and loved every minute of the course. It's amazing how once you jump on a trail, it's similar to re-reading a good book. Each new rock, root, corner is similar to reading a new paragraph. There is some familiarity, it's recognizable and enjoyable to be re-acquainted.

Casey and Val dove off and headed back for camp, the rest of us took the scenic route and slowly made our way back, hitting some crazy fun stuff on the way. The trails were plenty packed with quite a few riders and it was nice to see so many people out having some fun on their bikes. By this point the pups were getting a little tired and I had no more water for Lizzy so we let them cool off in the stream crossings.



Once back at camp, we packed up and then headed over to Golden Hill for some riding on some new trails. The trails were nice and ripping fast and very flowing. Speeds were constant and ripping. I tried a funky set-up to grab some video from my camera and it came out pretty cool. Once I edit it down, I'll get it posted up for you to view. After Golden Hill, it was off to the Ellicottville Brewery for a burger and a nice brew. Great way to wrap up the weekend



See all the pics from the weekend here!

I know it's tuesday and no weekend writeup

Well, I have a rough draft that I'm working on...hopefully have it up during/after lunch.
Like my dog, yesterday all I did was lay around........

Weekend in E-ville

First before, I even dig into this entry, Here is pretty much the funniest thing I've ever heard of! Dude took a ride in a wheelchair at 50+ mph for a few miles on the front of a semi! Afterwards, the guys said he was unfazed! Unfazed! Looks like Johnny Knoxville needs to be taking some notes for Jackass 3.

So I'm heading out tonight to Buffalo to meet a friend for a night of fun. Then tomorrow morning heading down to Ellicottville for a weekend of camping and riding. I'm meeting Casey and Val to shred some trail during the day. Mark and Suzanne will be bringing the pups down and we'll be pulling off a night ride once they arrive. I'm sure we will have a boatload of fun. I'll have the camera in tow for the weekend, and maybe even grab some video too!
I haven't been down to E-ville since the 6HOP last year so it will be good to get down their and put some time in.

I've replaced the seatpost on the Supercaliber, but I think when I get back from this road trip I'm going to swap my SRAM triggers and Avid Juicy 5's for my '04 xtr dual control set-up. I had visions of grandeur to run the '07 xtr this season, till I saw the price of the gruppo. Costs more than the down-payment on a new home! I think the dual control will be super sweet for the Hardcore 24 and just make things enjoyable.

Speaking of the Hardcore 24, I'm all registered up for the Solo Class. Going to be a long race that's for sure. I'm feeling pretty well rested after having taken the past few days off after the Mohican 100. Legs are good, head is good. It's go time!!

We're all Stars Now in the Dope Show

So it looks like some more big names may come tumbling down from the high peaks of cycling society. Seems that the Quick Step team has been raided by the Belgian 5-0.

Quick Step denies police raids focused on team

Quick Step, which employs 2005 world champion and one-day specialist Boonen, as well as Olympic and reigning world champion Paolo Bettini, had been plunged into controversy when ex-rider Johan Museeuw, a former world champion, admitted that he had doped in his career.

Well now, pretty much the house of cards has come tumbling down. With all the riders getting popped left and right. I think my dog has some pretty good odds to win the Tour as much as Vino or Levi.

Speaking of Vino, him, Ullrich and Kloden are now under scrutiny

Valverde and Operacion Puerto again

Gotta love the ProTour! How about all you fellas out there with your pro kits mail them back to the respective teams and show them you no longer support a system that is clogged with cheaters!

Bagging the Park Ave Race

So I'm skipping out on the Park Ave Wed Night series, tonight. I'm just adding some more recovery time and putting some money in the bank for the Hardcore 24. Most likely I'll hit it next week and flush the legs out.

Last night, I hit up a Yoga class in Seneca Falls. I'm working on getting some "extra" in prior to the race, loosen up the muscles and center my mind prior to the race. I've also hit up the chiropractor quite a bit lately to stay nice and loose. I'm going into thise race guns blazing. I want to make sure that all my ducks are in a row and everything is lined up proper. I feel really ready to go and wish the race was this weekend!

This weekend I'm heading down to Ellicotville, with Mark, Suzanne, Casey and a few others. Should be a good time as we will be doing some camping and just having some good ol fun hitting the trails down there.

Casey is back in the saddle after his injury and seems to be coming along quite well. Glad to be seeing that.

Currently playing in iTunes: Goin' Against Your Mind by Built To Spill

Long time family friend, Steve "Bear" Johnson was killed in a car accident last night. My condolences to his family. He will surely be missed.

Mohican Results are online

Go Here

Mohican Wrap-up

Just sitting here on the the couch, surveying my bumps, bruises, cuts and scrapes after yesterdays efforts. I'm wiped out. We got home last night around 3 am, and Mark knocks on my door this morning at 9am asking me if I wanted to ride. I laughed pretty hard at that.



Race Highlights:

The first 20 miles of Singletrack was incredible and Mark and I were ripping it up, just super flowy, fast fun stuff

My saddle popping off the rails at mile 25, then riding standing up for the next 10 miles till I found a guy with a road bike on the side of the road that was willing to lend me his

Spending at least 35-40 minutes trying to figure out how the hell to attach my saddle to borrowed seatpost

Realizing the saddle nose was pointed way to low and having to sit on the nose for 65 mile, ugh

Pegging it for the next 20 miles trying to take some time back

Riding for 15 miles down a dead straight, slightly uphill muddy rail trail, wishing it would change or end so I could stop pedaling for 2 friggin seconds

Face planting on said rail trail for no reason other than I was riding no handed and messing with my camelback

Climbing a gravel road at about mile 75 and thinking how comfortable it would be to lay down in the middle of the road and sleep

Putting the most technical piece of singletrack at mile 95 and it was packed with hikers

Almost dumping a family of 5 into the river while cruising the singletrack as there was no where for them to go when I came thru the trail

Saving myself from a 10ft drop into the river after crashing on same piece of singletrack

The 1 mile to go sign

All in all I was pretty happy with my race. I'm thinking I probably shoulda been around 9.5 hours or so, pending I didn't have all the saddle trouble. Like every long endurance race, one goes thru peaks and valleys. In the low points of the race, you contemplate what the hell you are doing this for, and then 5 minutes later (after some sweet singletrack usually) you are contemplating doing this a bunch more cause its so much fun. After the race I think I'm feeling pretty confident for the Hardcore 24 in 2 weeks time.

Eatough takes the W

Chris Eatough wins at 7:09!!
We bagged sleeping in our ghetto cabin. Sleeping on the floor and no electricity didn't sound appetizing so we are heading home.

We beat Tinker!! (dnf)

Finish time

mark 9.56.39
jay 10.27.07

mohican card

Entry feee: $145
lost sunglasses: $125
busted seatpost: $99
finishing the race and with the phoenix waiting for you: priceless

Going in circles

270 miles and we're back were we started. The phoenix has risen!