Nice day for a ride;-)

I was in PA over the weekend to visit my parents and here is their Christmas tree.
Today was 73* and sunny in beautiful Waynesboro, VA. I got up early because there is a chance of rain this afternoon. I left at about 9:15a.m. for a ride up to Bridgewater and back. About 58 miles of rolling country side, a little less than 3 hours, 4 bottles of Accelerade, and 1 gel packet later I was home. It was a really nice day for a ride. Not exactly the December I'm used to.

CX video, a must see!

http://ctodd.tv/blog/

Who says getting hit by a car doesn't pay?

Well here it is, my new TT bike. Still getting things adjusted to fit so there will still be many changes coming. Yesterday I was planning on a 60 mile ride to help the fitting process and 10 mile into it my chain snapped. I really wasn't looking forward to the walk home and luckily I didn't have to. I got some great help from Keven Sweeney, a local cyclist. First he offered to go home and get me a chain tool, which was great of him. Unfortunately he had one of those folding chain tools that never seem to work quite right so I couldn't get the chain fixed. Then he offered to drive me home. I got the chain fixed easily once I was at home and had access to my work stand and tools.
Now to a larger issue. It may be difficult to believe but I've had more broken chains this year than flat tires so it's time to add a new tool to my saddle bag.

Trainer ride today

I spent 2 hours on the trainer today on my new TT bike. After words I went outside and realized it was actually about 60* and even with the rain I could have ridden outside quite comfortably. Oh well, the trainer ride was probably a better use of my training time.

November?

I guess it's November but in VA it really doesn't feel like it. It may snow sometime this winter but at this point it sure doesn't feel like it. So anyway, it's been a while since I posted and I just wanted to give a little update. My shoulder is healing and feeling better everyday. Everything is worked out with the insurance company and I should be picking up my new Giant Trinity Alliance on Saturday. This winter my training will consist of steady state trainer rides on my days of work and long outdoor rides on my days off, at least until the weather turns bad. In January I'll be heading to FL to visit my parents and have a make-shift 2 week training camp. That's right, 2 weeks of nothing but long rides and recovery, with some weight training and swimming thrown in just for fun. Racing season will start early in 2008 since I'm planning on doing the Sebring 24 hour race in February, also in FL. It's a RAAM qualifier but I have absolutely no desires to ever attempt that one. I'll post pics of my new bike as soon as I pick it up;-)

Praise God! Not so good day on the bike

Well, you know how people say, "I feel like I've been run over by a car", I only say that because it actually happened. I was out for a 63mile ride today and was 51miles into it when a gray Hyundai ran a stop sign and I smashed into the side of it. I flipped over the handlebars and landed on my shoulder. So there I was lying in the middle of the road clutching my arm and checking to make sure all of my parts are still around. I eventually crawled to the side of the road and started checking my collar bone to see if it was broken. It wasn't, but still hurt. After seeing the EMTs and the State policeman I eventually made it home. Now comes the long process of trying to get things replaced by the insurance company. The strange thing is that my most distinct memory of the accident is when my helmet hit the ground, the sound and feeling of the helmet crushing and absorbing the impact and saving my life. God is truly wonderful.

Columbus Day

Monday wasn't a very happy Columbus Day for me. I had the great idea that I should do my best impression of Columbus and explore new worlds, or at least some new roads/trails. I went out on my CX bike for what I thought would be a 3 hour ride on a rather cool day. The unexplored trail turned out to be much longer than I had originally thought and wasn't really even fit for a Mt. bike let alone a cross bike. While on the trail I flipped over the handle bars one time too many and ended up hurting my left shoulder and wrist. Another problem was that it turned out being much hotter than expected and my ride took 4 hours instead of 3 so I was extremely dehydrated by the time I got home. I also screwed up my cross bike in the process. Since I now have no bike and an aching wrist and shoulder I decided to skip Ironcross V, which was going to be my last major race of the season. Now I'm going to start focusing on some longer rides to get ready for the Sebring 24 hour race in February. Tomorrow I'm going to do a 70 mile ride on my TT bike. I've never ridden a TT bike that far before but I suppose if I'm going to ride one for 24 hours I better start sometime.:-)

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;-)