Ohio/Pittsburgh Cross weekend

Friday night Steve, JohnnyBrison and I went to Ohio to Duane's house to for the Cross race on Saturday. Steve did a great job and had a great race finishing 3rd in the "C" race. As soon as his race ended the skies let loose a downpour that lasted my whole race. Soon after starting the rain made everything super slick. After raining for a while the course became ride-able again and didn't even get muddy and slippery. There was one lightning bolt 25 minutes into the race and it was over that fast. I ended up finishing 10th but I felt good and think I could have done better if it had gone on.

Sunday morning we got up early and headed to Pittsburgh for the Month of Mud race. A slight miscalculation had us arriving there about 4.5 hours before our race. There were 6 of us. Henry, Mike, Richy, Ray, Steve and I. I was told it had been raining there for 2 days prior to the race so the course instantly turned to mud when the first pre-riding began. The course got further ripped up during the elite race. Our race began in a slight drizzle the stopped just after the race start but the damage was already done. The course was all but unrideable. It was more like stopping at each corner and then seeing how fast you could spring to the next one. I think everyone in the race managed to have a spectacular crash at some point. I ended up finishing 8th on the day through a battle of attrition and being a superior runner.

Overall it was a great weekend. I got lots of bruises and scratches and my shoulder is killing me. I can't wait for Ironcross weekend to do it all over again. I have an MRI on Friday to check my shoulder the I landed on while warming up for Saturday's race but assuming it comes back OK I'll be back asap.

Labor Day weekend, 7springs 24 hour race, and I'm working

Once again it's a beautiful Labor Day weekend and the 7springs race is going on and of course I'm working all weekend. The only time I was able to make it to this race it was raining and 40* (as seen above). Last year I had the weekend off and I went to the State ITT race instead (that was dumb of me)

Devil's Backbone Mountain Cross (like Ironcross but better)

Let me start by stating that things did not go well. I was sick and in no condition to race but that was OK because the event promoter was clear that this was not a race, it was a ride. That went out the window when J. Bishop and some other local cat1/2 guys showed up. Being that I was just recovering from a miserable cold I was on a mission to Ride with Steve B. and just try to enjoy a bike ride on 62 miles of back-country gravel roads. Steve agreed with this idea because he wanted to destress from his week of tests at IUP. The ride started off with a killer hill (Steve told me it was 2000 ft elevation gain in 2 miles but I don't have a GPS so how would I know but it was tough). This first hill was all on a paved road. Upon reaching the top the road turned to gravel and we were treated to a hair raising descent that left several riders thrown into the woods and at least one with a broken frame. We managed our way through 23 miles of gravel and then the almost unthinkable happened. Steve's pedal stripped completely out of his crankset. Try as we might there was no fixing this one. With no way to continue Steve had to stop and I decided to abandon with him so he wouldn't be stuck waiting around for hours for me to finish. We got a ride back to the start area and got cleaned up.
The day ended in disappointment because we didn't get to finish but it was still alot of fun. I'm going back next year to try and race this thing. It was like Ironcross but better. Don't ask me to explain that statement because I don't think I can other than saying I'd rather do huge climbs on gravel roads than moderate climbs on single track. The two races have alot in common and one is great practice for the other. I can't wait for Ironcross(coming next month) and I can wait to give Devil's Backbone another try. Next time I'm in it to win it;)

Racing into shape

The phrase "racing into shape" just never made much sense to me when used to describe how Grand Tour riders would show up for the event slightly under trained and get faster over the course of the event.
Well,.................I guess I was wrong. This summer I've done more racing than ever before between weekend races, Tuesday night races in Shippensburg, and Thursday night time trials with YBR. Throw in a few more YBR/Ship/South Mountain smackdown races and I've been racing about 3 times a week all summer. It's great because on days when I don't race I don't have to worry about intervals because I'm just doing recovery rides.
The only reason I'm thinking about this is because after a killer Tour de LaTonka over the weekend and a hard ride with Sean yesterday I was going to take today off to get caught up with some stuff around the house. I ended up deciding at the last minute to go to the Shippensburg race and ended up winning the sprint even though I thought I was too tired and should have stayed home. Just goes to show you how much I really don't know. Suprise, Suprise!

YBR TT new PR tonight

I set a new PR tonight at the YBR Thursday night TT. 23:01, almost started and U23 club. Conditions were perfect and I think I could have done it if I had a cassette with an 11 tooth cassette because there were parts of the course that I just ran out of gears:( Looks like I may be getting faster after all. Hopefully the good times will continue.
Ironcross VII is quickly approaching! Registration opened Saturday and it'll be here before we know it. So clear the weekend of October 10-11 and get ready for a party at my place. Also, it's time to get your cross bike to the shop for any work that needs done and don't wait until the last minute. The first cross race of the season was last weekend in NJ so it'll soon be in full swing:)

Tour of Lancaster Day 2, TT and Crit

Day 2 started with a 10 mile ITT on a mostly flat course. It was a torrential downpour and I'm sure it affected the final results. Some riders got lucky and no rain, some (like me) got intermittent rain, and some got hurricane like rain and winds.
I ended up winning my TT and so did Steve. On the back stretch I went off of the road once just because I wasn't really paying attention. Then on the return on Snake Rd I almost wrecked in the first corner because I was carrying too much speed. That really was a difficult road in the rain (lots of turns).
Things started to dry out for the Cat 5 crit and Steve managed to stay safe in the pack for a good finish and 5th place on GC.
I was really tired and wanted to go home but decided to stay and do the crit simply because I had already paid for it and the weather was getting really nice so the course was completely dry. I'm glad I stayed. I hovered around the back of the group for the first half of the race and then moved up to about the front 1/3 of the group. From there things were status quo until the bell lap (that's when all Hell broke loose). We took the first left hand turn3 wide and I was on the outside line. The inside guy didn't hold his line causing the middle guy to jerk his front wheel to avoid him. This sent the middle guy towards me but I was leaned hard into my turn and I wasn't moving for anyone. He ended up smashing his face off of my shoulder and then wrecking. I got bumped a little off of my line and I was skirting the edge of the road so rather than trying to save it and catching the edge of the road and possibly wrecking I decided to do some cyclocross action through the field and then rejoin the group. Problem with this was that it relegated me to the back of the pack and with only 1/2 lap to go I just sat in and rode to the finish. Then on the final corner there was one final wreck involving a couple riders in the top 5-10 positions. Who says the front is always the safe place to be? I went looking for the guy who wrecked into me to make sure he was OK but I couldn't find him so apparently he got up and walked away.
I ended up tied for 10th place on GC. Only 2 points from 8th place (and in the money). Who knows, if I hadn't been bumped off the course and to the back of the pack on the final lap I may have got those points. I would have only needed a 18th place finish for 2 points. Oh well, it was a great time and I learned alot.

Thanks to Steve for coming over to race with me.
Very special thanks to Hanna (Steve's wife) for coming to cheer and for taking some wonderful photos.

Tour de Lancaster RR

It was 5 10 mile laps. 1 climb of significance per lap. 50 starters. My goal: not to get shelled out the back:). The race started out pretty easy and a few riders broke away. I'm in this thing for the whole weekend and not just the RR so I decided to stay in the pack and not do anything crazy. Things started to heat up a little and the speed picked up but a strange thing happened. I was still with the group and actually feeling pretty good. The fourth lap started really fast and when we hit the climb I had to go hard just to stay with the group and I was the last person to make the junction and not get dropped (another plus). Another group of riders broke away on that lap and I spent the rest of my lap working my way back to the front. I finally got near the front when we arrived on the flat section prior to the big climb for the final time. I was talking with a guy from one of the larger teams at the race and we decided that there were already too many people off the front to pick up all of the points from the stage so a group of us decided since there was no time cut off and no points to be gained we would just soft pedal it to the finish and prepare to come out fighting again on Sunday at the TT. Steve Brewer was also at the race and finished 16th place in the cat. 5 race, Great Job! I ended up finishing 34th position. I could have done better if I had killed myself to the finish but still wouldn't have got any points. I'm happy I was able to ride with the pack and not get shelled as I normally do so I am making progression. Now we'll just have to wait and see how Sunday goes with a morning TT and afternoon crit scheduled.

Bad day on my bike but it didn't last very long

I was planning a 40-50 mile ride with lots of hills in sunny 88 degree weather. It was gonna be a great ride. 7 miles in I hear sudden hissing and then flat. My front tire is flat but I'm undeterred. I fixed the flat and I was getting ready to go again and flat again. Not my fault, bad/cheap tube came prepunctured:( Left me sitting beside the road calling for the neutral support vehicle
(aka: corolla with my brother at the wheel) to come pick me up. Lucky for me he was home and willing to come get me:)
I'll try to do better tomorrow.

My dream bike is finally here

Today after months of procrastination I finally built up my dream bike, well almost. Last weekend I decided that since I will be riding my Florida bike for a while longer I should build it up with the usable parts from by Six13. So that was my mission for today. It was a pretty easy switch out since I wasn't changing most of the stuff. First I removed the rear deraileur pulleys from my destroyed DA deraileur on my Six13 and transplanted them onto the 9 speed ultegra deraileur that I have on my FL bike. Next I transplanted the handlebar/stem/shifters in their entirty from the Six13 to the FL bike. Finally I switched the Easton wheelset on my FL bike with the Ksyrium SL wheelset from my cross bike. Now I have my Cannondale Caad7 frameset built up with DA 10 shifters, 9 speed RD with 10 speed pulleys, 105 9 speed FD, and of course Cdale Hollowgram crankset and Ksyrium SL wheels. This is truely my dream bike. I'll add the SRM in the coming days and it will truely be a killer machine.

Oh yeah, I also stole the headset from my Six13 and replaced the Campy Hiddenset that came on the frame and was now completely trashed.

Amazing ride, amazing bike.

I can't wait to pick up a BB30 caad9 and Supersix later this year:)

Two Race Weekend

Friday night was the we toed the line for the 25 mile Washington Blvd track TT. The sky turned black several minutes before the start and the rain started to fall several minutes later. I felt surprisingly good, having only ridden my TT bike twice since the state ITT 3 weeks ago. I thought the track record was within my grasp but ended up falling 4 seconds short with a time of 0:54:25. The worst part of this was that I thought the record was 0:54:3? so I thought I may have beaten it by several seconds. Maybe next time. It won't be this year because I have to work the next time this TT is happening in a few weeks:(
Saturday was the Shannock Valley MTB race. I have a real soft spot for this race. Mostly because strength is placed at a premium and MTB skills are a distant second place. I showed up late at the start line and had to line up at the far back of the field (Bruce and Sheila) can attest to this. The race started out on a road section before hitting the first climb which always seems to go on forever. Between the two of these I was able to pick my way through most of the field and enter the single track in 22-25 place. I passed a couple more riders in the first section of single track and on the next up hill section. Then I held my position for a long time with no one passing me and only one guy on a single speed in front of me (he seemed to never get closer or further away). Later on in the race I was finally passed by one guy but I stuck close to his wheel and over took him on the final uphill section and then blew him away on the final downhill section of single track and then the short road section to the finish. I knew I had to pass him because at one of the final checkpoints the guy was telling everyone what position they were in and I was in 21st position so I had to kill my self to make that final pass to break the top 20. It's possible that I could have caught the guy infront of me (single speed guy) on the final road section but I thought it would be wrong to pass him at that point after he beat me up the entire course with only one gear. If the state ever starts to pay me again I may start a fund to buy some of these single speed guys bikes with gears. That can't be fun:) I ended up in 20th position overall and 6th in my age group.

A special thanks to , my great friend, Rich Seevers for letting me crash at his place for the weekend and cooking me lunch today:) Hopefully he will soon have to change his name from Afib Rider back to Rocket Rich and finally be able to train and race again.

Any can train...........

"Anyone can train when they feel like it, champions train when they don't." This is how I felt yesterday. I wanted to stay home and sleep but decided to get out for a ride anyway. I thought I'd feel better within a mile or so after leaving home and I did. Hopefully today will feel better:)

Who needs two 65 inch TVs anyhow?

I've been asked this question many times and the answer is "ME".
"Why?" You ask.
Because when one of them decides to blow a picture tube virtually making itself into an instant radio the day before the opening time trial of the Tour de France you need to have a back up.

Happy 4th of July!

Just returned from my ride and getting ready to watch the TdF. I was absolutely flying today. Sunny and 76* will do that for me. 46 miles at 19.5mph on my road bike. It wasn't flat either. It was through the hills of Michaux over to Shippensburg and back. A good hard ride on a georgous day. Happy Birthday America:)

2009 PA 40k ITT Championships

Sunday was the 2009 state TT championships. A date that I've had targeted since the end of last summer when I finished second in last year's edition of the race. Henry and Steve B. came over the evening before and we went to eat at Panera bread. When we got back to my place Henry and Steve were busy making last minute cassette changes and we still had to look up directions to the race but still ended up getting into bed at a decent hour at about 11 o'clock. Sunday morning we had to leave at 6:45am so for a race day that is like sleeping in. At the race we met up with Steve M. and Skip who decided to make the drive from Pittsburgh that morning. Everything was going smoothly until I went to put my disc wheel on and noticed that the hub had come loose and the entire wheel could move back and forth about 1/4 inch while in the drop outs allowing it to rub the brake pads with each pedal stroke (maybe this is what slowed me down most in VA). Anyway, 10 seconds and an allen wrench later and that problem was solved. My warm up felt great and I was off the trainer and ready to roll at 9:11am (10 minutes til my start time). Put on my glasses and helmet and head to the start line. I get there with about 5 minutes til take off. Time to take a final drink (I didn't take any water with me) drop my jersey and line up. It's a good thing they were sending us out at minute intervals this year because the official at the start line had more instructions than I have ever experienced before so he needed the whole 55 seconds to fit them all in before the 5 second count down. I start out and start down the initial false flat. I feel like I'm going slow but I just focus on keeping my cadence up and hammering. I was trying to keep my cadence high so I wouldn't burn myself out on the uphill sections on the first half of the course and have something left for the return trip.
I felt really good the entire race (which probably means I should have gone faster) and I even waved at Henry when I passed him. He was about 3 miles into his race when I was 3 miles from the finish. I flew through the finish because I wasn't sure of where it was and I didn't slow down until I realized I was back at the start which was just around the next corner before a major intersection. I felt like I had ridden well but I still wasn't very confident in my ride until someone actually came over to my car and told me to get over to the awards presentation because I had won and they were calling my name. We headed over and sure enough I had won the Cat 3. Steve M. won the Cat 5 and Steve B. pulled out a bronze medal in Cat 5 after not even wanting to enter the 40k event because he said it was too long for him (sandbagger). Goal accomplished! Now I just want to thank everyone who helped me get here and everyone who will help me move on in the future. (tears welling up and starting to sob) You have all been great and I love you all but I'm keeping the medal and I won't share it:)

Great balls of fire (VA state ITT)

(this was the only welcome I revieved in VA and by later in the day all I could think about was getting as far from here as possible)

My journey to the VA state ITT started at around 11am on Saturday morning when I left Mt. Holly Springs for VA. With no lunch in my belly I started to get the rumbles in my tummy at around 3 so I decided to stop and get something to eat and being the type of guy who hates to waste time and loves to multitask I decided to fill up on gas at the same time. Now I'm sure there are many places where you can get gas and some good food at the same time but I chose 7-11. Now for the food part, I picked the last 2 roller dogs that have been rolling for God knows how long (Mistake #1). The rest of my trip was uneventful and pleasant enough. I arrived in VA just before 4pm and got checked into my hotel. After unloading my car I decided to go for a small ride to stretch my legs and see the TT course. I got dressed and started down the road. It was only 2 miles to the course and completely flat. So I rode the course armed with 2 bottles for my 25 mile ride since it was 97* outside. On my return to the hotel (3 miles to go) I started to get the rumbles in my tummy again but these were a different kind. These were the kind of rumbles that tell you that you've eaten something that you shouldn't have and you need to get to a bathroom or else. I hurried back to the hotel and scurried through the lobby, up the stairs, and down the hall with my bike in tow to get to my room to relieve the "situation". Great now I'm nauseated, probably dehydrated, and I have a 40k in less than 18 hours. Force myself to eat dinner and get to bed relatively early. Maybe a good night's sleep will fix this mess.

Up in the morning and feel fine. I had a good breakfast at the hotel and it was off to the race. I get registered and get everything ready, maybe it's going to be OK after all. I get on my trainer for my normal warm up routine and my legs feel dead. Every movement is so difficult. "Maybe this will pass", I think to myself. I get off the trainer and to the start line in pretty good time for my start.

I'm off and going well. I passed my 30 second man and 1 minute man only 6 minutes into the race. I must really be flying (and they must be really slow). I continue to chase and pick up people til the turnaround and I'm feeling pretty good. I make the turn and within 30 seconds I get passed. "What is this? This is crazy. How is it possible that this guy is passing me?" I keep hammering and keep him in sight the rest of the race but he is pulling away. With 8 miles to go both legs start to cramp simultaneously and now this is difficult. With 5 miles to go I feel even more pain and the first thing that pops into my head is Jerry Lee Louis singing "Great balls of fire" and that's not a good thing to be think with 5 miles left to race with your legs already cramping. The rest of the race is a blur of pain/suffering/dehydration induced delirium. I ended up finishing 4th with a time of 0:55:53 but I wasn't even close to 3rd. Now it's time to try and recover this week and try to be firing on all cylinders at the PA state ITT next Sunday. I'm officially off 7-11 roller dogs for good.*

*if all of this just sounds like the ramblings of a madman it's because I have a million thoughts running through my head right now and wanted to put just a few of them out there for others to enjoy/make fun of.

*Update: 4th cat. 3, 7th overall. If I had been a cat. 1-2 I would have placed better:)

Tuesday night Yellow Breeches TT

Today was my second attempt at the Yellow Breeches Racing weeknight TT. Since the first one I have moved into my new home and now I'm only 4 miles from the TT start. It's nice to be able to ride to the start and home again afterword. The first time I did this race I finished in 23:??(about 19). My goal is to someday do it in under 23 minutes. Tonight was not the night. Every thing started well enough but when I got to the turnaround point I made my turn about 1/4 mile too early because someone had placed a traffic cone there to mark something on the road. I saw an orange cone and just turned. I didn't even think that it was the wrong one until I was headed the wrong way and the guy that I had just passed seconds earlier was yelling at me asking me where I was going. I thought about throwing in the towel and just soft pedaling back to the start and home but I decided to turn around again and go to the correct turn around and try to finish strong. This being one of my last really hard intervals in preparation for the PA state TT next weekend. I ended up with a time of 24:05. Not really that bad since I lost a bunch with two extra turnarounds, some extra distance added between the turnarounds before I figured out that I had screwed up, and some lost time when I was coasting and trying to decide if I should bag it and go home or turn around and finish hard. If the weather holds the plan is to do this again on Thursday so maybe I'll get a clean run and be able to take another shot at sub-23.