Race Weekend!- Peanut Butter Festival Mt. bike Race and M.O.M. Cyclocross race #1

What a weekend. I've done 2 races in the same weekend before but not 2 races that have been this intense.
Saturday was the Peanut Butter Festival Mt. Bike Race. It was 15 miles through beautiful New Bethlehem, PA. It was a cool morning, only about 50*. It was sunny at first but the clouds rolled in and took care of that. It was actually very nice weather for the race because I knew although we would be cold standing at the start line it would be plenty warm by the time we were 5 minutes into the race. The race was going well and I was into the single track in about 12-15th place and sitting comfortably. I was just waiting for the more wide open spots that I knew were coming so I could pass. Then disaster struck. At first I was only wheezing a little, but then a whole lot. Full blown asthma attack and I was miles from my inhaler. I should have used it before the race but I had decided not to just so I could see if I could make it through the race without needing it. At that point I did the only thing I could do, I pushed through and kept moving along, even if it was at a much slower pace. After I was able to breathe again I eventually caught 2 or 3 of the people who had passed me but the rest were just too far ahead. I ended up finishing in 19th place. That was sort of discouraging but I did feel good that I improved my finish time from the previous year by 11 minutes and that was even with the asthma attacks.


On Sunday was the first of the 17th annual Month Of Mud race series. It was the cyclocross race at Mammoth park in Latrobe, PA. I figured I was still fatigued from the race on Saturday and cyclocross is possibly the most physically demanding of all bike racing so what better time to step up to race in the expert class. I started near the back of the pack and that is pretty much where I stayed. I passed a few riders and had a few others pass me but for the most part the first part of the course did not allow for much passing and by the time you could pass it was way to spread out for me to even try to catch anyone ahead of me. Of course the boys from Freddie Fu were flying and 2 of them lapped me on the fourth lap. It was amazing how smooth they were riding and at a completely different level than the rest of the field. I think the two of them finished minutes ahead of third place. It was a fun weekend of racing and I learned a few things. Mostly I learned that I need to do more intervals:-(

A perfect day in the Valley

The title for this post pretty much says it all. When I woke up it was 65* and sunny. The temperature topped out at 83* and there wasn't a cloud in sight all day. I was off today so I was able to go Mt. biking and just enjoy the day. If only everyday was like this one. Maybe not having weather like this all of the time makes us appreciate it all that much more.

End of the season?

Is it the end of the racing season already? It sure feels like it. I know I have two races this weekend and at least one in October but I feel like it's over already. I've been doing some longer rides on my cyclocross bike in preparation for Ironcross and a few Mt. bike rides also. This really is a fun time of year.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

And no I'm not talking about Disney World. On 9/4/07 I headed to Laurel Mountain to do some Mt. biking. The weather was perfect for a ride, high 70's and sunny. Not a cloud to be seen. I rode with my father for an hour and a half and then the real fun started. We left to head home and my dad said "Isn't there a pie shop in Laughlintown?" So of course we stopped at the happiest place on earth.

Tour de Millersburg

I departed VA at 4:00a.m. Saturday morning. I only got 4 hours of sleep which is not the ideal way to prepare for a stage race. I got there at 8:10 and had an hour to prepare for the Saturday morning ITT after stopping by registration. I warmed up for 20 minutes on the trainer before heading to the start line. It was a flat 12 mile out and back with only one slight rise in the course. The weekend started off well with a 4th place finish in the ITT. Then it was off to get something to eat and try my best to recover slightly before the afternoon crit. I actually ended up falling asleep in my car while waiting around. The crit was 13 laps/20 miles. I hung in for the first 12 miles and then on the only slight rise in the course I came unhitched and there was no catching back on. The only reason I finished the race was because I had to in order to take the start at the road race on Sunday. Saturday night I got a good night of rest and was up early Sunday morning hoping I had recovered enough to make a showing at the road race. So I was feeling good and on my way to the start line when disaster struck and my chain cracked in half. That was it, end of my race before it ever started. Now for the 4 hour drive back to good old Waynesboro, VA. The weekend started out well with a 4th place in the TT and only got worse from there. I guess you live and learn and along the way I met Bob Roll.

I haven't posted for a while but I'll give it a try and see if we can get some things started again. I've been pretty busy in the last couple of months with moving and a new job. I've been training lots and probably harder than ever before but not racing much. I showed up for the Summer Heat ITT in Brookville, PA and after getting off to a great start I got off course and didn't finish. That was terrible because the winning time was over an hour and I did better than that last year. I would have smoked that time this time around. Oh well:-( The next day Rich, Mark, and I headed out to do a century. It was a good time and the weather cooperated fully. I was a little sore early in the morning from the hard effort the previous day but started feeling really good at around 40 miles. The longer we rode the better I felt. That is until mile 86 when my seat tilted on the seat post and I was forced to ride the rest of the day with my seat at a 45 degree angle. I was just back in PA this weekend and went for a ride with Rich on Sunday afternoon. After talking with him I'm looking forward to starting getting some more time on the mountain bike. There are some a ton of trails around here that I have to check out. Can't wait to get started!

Mt. biking in VA and making new friends

I went to VA this weekend to get a new employee physical and drug test for my new job. I looked online and found there was a MTB race while I was there. Of course I signed up and prepared myself for suffering. I was right about that part, it was a sufferfest. It was 2 laps of 11miles each with 1500ft of climbing per lap. It actually turned out to be the most XC/ least all-mountain course I've ever raced. It was a really nice course. Tight, twisty single track the entire way. There were no fire roads to be found. The best part of it was I managed not to get last place, I got next to last. I realize I need to start doing alot more core work because after the first 5miles every bump I hit felt like someone was punching me in the kidneys. At that point even steadying my body to put pressure to the pedals was a major chore. It was weird because in all of the races I've ever done this had never happened to me before. Oh well, more ab work and maybe next time things will go better. On a lighter note, at one point on my second lap I came around a turn and started my acceleration when a squirrel fell 20feet out of a tree and landed on the path right in front of me. I chuckled to myself and stopped concentrating for a moment, just long enough to hook my bar end on a tree and send me flipping over the handlebars. After the race the race director said that someone needed a ride home so if anyone was going toward Harrisonburg they would appreciate it. I figured this would be a good time to meet some new riders in VA so I decided I'd offer the extra room in my car. It tuned out it was Jeremiah Bishop and a friend of his that needed the ride. So I got to make the trip home with a great pro mountain biker and pick his brain. Jeremiah is a really nice guy and you can tell why he is a pro just by his enthusiasm about training and cycling. Who would have thought I'd come home from my weekend saying I shared a pint of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked ice cream with a World Class athlete like Jeremiah Bishop.

Registered

I just registered for the Walnut Creek Chimney Challenge. I don't know why I'm doing this. Racing MTB was a crazy pursuit for me in the first place and now since I've done the expert race at Roaring Run last year and there is no turning back I'm stuck. Doomed to last place for quite some time until I either improve or die. Dieing would definitely be easier but probably not as much fun. I have no idea what the course is like except that there seems to be alot of climbing and descending every lap. It should be fun;-)

First MTB ride this year!

Today I took my first MTB ride of the year. I haven't been on my Rush since last year when we were doing night rides on Monday nights. I had my bike out last week to look it over and found that my front wheel was not pointed straight but had been twisted to the right when the bars were straight. It wasn't much so I really didn't realize it and with the front fender on I couldn't see my wheel so that helped conceal the problem. With that fixed I had a whole new mindset heading into today that all of my problems of last year were because of that and not my poor handling skills. It was a beautiful day for a ride with a temperature of 60* at the beginning of the ride but 70* by the end, and it was sunny and cloudless the entire time. I was riding at Roaring Run in Apollo. The trails there were pristine. I must say my new found confidence paid off because I did seem to be riding better than in the past, although not nearly as good as the company that I usually ride with. It was a great day to be in the woods with my bike. Now hopefully it won't rain for every MTB race again this year.

I did a 38mile ride this morning, unfortunately it was before things warmed up. After lunch when I went to get the mail I was elated to get my copy of 24 Solo, the movie I was gushing about in my last post. I also got my copy of Off Road to Athens back from Rich last night so now both movies are comfortably resting in my possession. They really do motivate you to go out and ride especially MTB. Anyone up for a ride?

Tour of Virginia Criterium

On Saturday I was in Harrisonburg, VA for the Tour of Virginia criterium. It was 15 laps of a flat 1.3 mile course. There were two 90 degree corners and one 160 degree corner. Now to set the stage for this story there are a few things you need to know about me and criteriums. First, I have never finished one. I've only tried two of them but didn't finish either because of a wreck occurring in front of me in both and I never caught back on. Second, I don't like them. Finally, third, on my yearly training plan that I wrote in December one of my season long goals was just to finish with the main pack in one of these crazy events. Now back to the race. It was a good field of cat. 3, cat. 4, and juniors. I figured it would be fast since this is one of the larger profile events in VA, similar to the Tour de 'toona in PA. The race started out fast and never let up. No one wanted to let a break go anywhere which was fine with me because that meant I just got to hide from the wind until the last lap. It was a nice day in the high 60's at race time and sunny. The race was very uneventful and actually easier than I had thought it would be. Now jump to the end...............Coming down the final straight I had positioned myself in fifth or sixth place for the sprint when someone from behind me takes off like a rocket. I say to myself, "Self, this is your chance." So I follow his wheel. It seemed to be going well at first as he seemed to be going strong. Then all of a sudden he just died. Right in the middle of the road he just putzed out. So there I was into the wind with 500 yards still to go. I knew I was in trouble so I just took off and hoped for the best. With about 200 yards I hear the clicking of derailleurs and there goes a guy whizzing past and then another and another. I ended up finishing 4th cat. 4 and 7th over all. Not too bad, but not too good either. On the other hand I did finally finish a crit. with the main pack and I was happy about that.

I also got to see the movie 24 Solo in the theater in Harrisonburg. It was a cool experience. The director of the film was there to talk about the making of the movie. Sue Haywood was there to watch the movie, she was also in the last movie from Gripped Films, Off Road to Athens. There were also a bunch of the pros who had just finished their race who decided to stop by and see the movie. It was truly awesome. I'm not sure if it would have been as powerful if it was not in a movie theater but I do know that I'm psyched to go ride my mtb. I'll be getting the receiving my copy of the movie in the mail this week if anyone would like to see it let me know. It may be the greatest cycling movie ever!

Mingo Creek #3

Well, you can never say I'm not consistent. Race #3 was the nicest day for any of the races, by far. So of course the field was full for the first time in the series. Once again Joe Vallese went off the front. I didn't know what he looked like so when I saw him go I wasn't really worried until someone told me who it was. I then tried a crazy move to try and catch him but when no one followed me I quickly gave up that chase and decided I'd try for the sprint again. On the last lap I was trying to stay in the top 3 riders on the downhill to avoid getting boxed in. On the last small hill I got completely on the left and had to move really far forward or I knew I'd get shut in. On the back straight two people tried to make moves that I jumped on right away. The second rider to go was from Spokes N Skies and I moved around him about 200yards til the last turn. When we hit the small bump as you make the turn I started my sprint and felt my back wheel come off of the ground. From there, there was no turning back. With approx. 200 yards to go I saw a rider starting to pull along side me and I was just hoping that I wasn't already in my 53x12. Luckily I was spinning my legs off in a 53x14 so I still had two gears to go and it allowed me to hold him off by about a wheel length. This second place also got me the overall win in the series for points. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stick around for the awards ceremony because I had to ride straight back to my car and get on the road so I could make it to work on time.

My Parents' New House in Florida

Can anyone say winter training camp?;-)

Mingo Creek #2

34 degrees and rain, not a great day for a bike race. I had a blowout while riding to the start line and didn't even know if I'd make the start. If it wasn't for the help from Mr. Pointon I probably wouldn't have. I didn't feel the need for leg warmers so I lined up without them. Apparently I was the only one who felt like this because everyone else had them. By the first time up the small hill on course I was fine and had warmed up. The 4/5 race only had 17 people at the start line and only 6 were left in the lead group by the second lap. At that point Joe Vallese was already off the front. The race went on rather uneventfully because with only 6 people in the group it more of a small group ride. On the final lap after clearing the top of the hill my hands were so frozen that I couldn't feel them enough to shift into my large chainring for about 20 seconds and even then it was only by reaching over with my right hand and pulling the shifter over. On the sprint Luke and his teammate were trying to box me in so I decided to jump earlier than I had originally wanted to but it all worked out for good as I held off the field for another second place.

Mingo Creek #1

It was a great showing by Indiana Cycling! April fools, I was the only one from Indiana Cycling who showed up. The race was a pretty easy pace for the first 4 laps. The last 3 laps things picked up a bit because a guy from Trizilla broke away from the field. With only me their from Indiana and no one willing to work together there was no catching him. On the back stretch one guy jumped and decided to start his sprint from about 1 mile to the line and I jumped on his wheel. So after he was spent I was in the wind with about 1/2 miles to go, so when we made the last right turn I jumped and was able to hold off the field til the finish for a second place finish.