The Holidays...

I haven’t written for a few days, actually about a week. Since then I have ridden trainer, ridden in Frankfort and ridden cx here. Last week I rode trainer inside Thurs and Fri. I didn’t ride Saturday, which is normal, but I had to take Lindsay to the airport, as she is spending this xmas at her parent’s house in Oklahoma. So I wen ton home Sat and just loafed around most of the day.
Sunday I rode in F-fort. I don’t’ know the county roads there too well, so I didn’t really know where I was going. I rode about 25 miles, but it was pretty unfulfilling, since I was always wondering of my orientation (not sexual). Plus I was chased by (I think) 5 dogs. Man, the roads there are FLAT. I climbed far less in the 25 miles I rode than I do on my 2mile ride to work here. Wow.
Christmas was good in Frankfort. I missed Lindsay, but it was still nice. For all the great things I was given, one stands out. We got a Dyson vacuum from my parents and this thing is awesome. You hear how great they are; it’s all true. I don’t know what else to say.
I came back Monday (xmas) night and got my stuff put away (and vacuumed [again, this thing rocks]) so I could go to work Tues. I rode trainer Tues a.m. and watched some of the new DVD Lindsay got me. She got me a Looney Tunes DVD that has two discs w/ tons of LT cartoons. It is awesome. Those are some great cartoons.
Today I rode the CX bike for 1:15 or so. It was 24* when I left and 28* when I got on. It was cold. But I was out.
Lindsay’s parents got me some good coffees’ for xmas and it is so good to have a nice good strong cup in the am, instead of the cheap crap I buy.
I have to go to the airport Friday early to go to my brother’s wedding in New Orleans. We’ll meet Lindsay in Houston and fly to NO together. It should be fun…

Not again!

I feel like I might be getting another cold. I just feel tired/worked and am sneezing some. I am loading up on zinc and C, and have napped the past few days after work, so hopefully I dodge it. I have to get on a plane in about a week, and I’d rather not have a compromised immune system. I’m not crazy about being a plane breathing that recycled air anyway, so hopefully this is licked by then.
I had a PT session Monday. I think that will be my last. The guy basically did a bunch of the same evaluative stuff he did last time, but whatever. It was when he put me on a Air Dyne exercise bike and started talking to me about bike fit that he lost my faith. I didn’t want hi to get there. A rider of my stature can’t have a non racer giving him fit advice; it just doesn’t work. I’m doing the exercises he gave me and they seem to be helping. I think next month I‘m going to go for a couple massage sessions, because it’s about the same cost as a PT session and I think it will do more good. If that doesn’t seem to help by Feb, I may see a guy that RS has recommended to me.
Tuesday I rode the CX bike to Wapahani park and rode a few laps around the lake. It was about 28*, but I felt fine. A little shock coming from the 60* temps of the last week or tow, but I can deal w/ it.
Today RS and I rode a loop of the MM St. Forest. I rode harder than I would have liked to given I feel a little sick, but when you ride w/ RS, you ride hard.(period)
It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so it looks like a trainer day. I’ll likely take it easy and go an hour tops to rest a bit. Man, it’s xmas in few days. I’m planning on taking either my cross bike or road bike home w/ me, as the weather looks like it would allow a ride or two. I’ll only be there a couple days, but if I can ride, I might-as-well.

Underground road trip

Today we had an Underground Series race, which would normally be in B-Town, in Columbus. 4 of us from B-Town went over for some nice day c-bus cx action. Andy Messer set up a great course in a park on the west side. It had a lot of pavement and two stair run ups. It was a tough, but fast course. I ended up third, but had to work for it.
After the race we all rode on the paved trail around Columbus. They have a really nice trail system and it was nice to spin the legs out after the hard CX effort.
Back Tracking:
Wednesday I got out on the road bike for a couple hours. I rode South Shore Dr. It has been a fee days now, but I think it was pretty windy, but otherwise nice.
Thursday I rode the TT bike out 446. I rode for an hour. This basically consisted of riding out until my clock read 0:30.00 and turning around. No biggy, just wanted to get in a little time on the TT. I ended up riding harder than I wanted to, but what can I say, that just goes fast.
Friday I went out for an easy hour on road bike.
I fear the payback for this great weather. It’s been so nice and I’m afraid we will pay big time for it soon. It is supposed to stay mild next week too. We’ll see what goes down. Here’s my prediction: 1) no white xmas. 2) While we (my fam and I) are at my brother’s wedding in Louisiana (12/30) the weather will turn to crap here and we won’t be able to get back for several days. Place your bets.

CX, DR

Sunday was #3 in the B-Town CX Series. It was a rough course due to the ground being frozen hard and really rough anyway. It was around the IU outdoor pool. It was really hard to find rhythm due to the rough ground and it being pretty technical. I ended up 5th, but some people faster than I flatted out. I still held my own, but I would have been a few places back if others hadn’t DNF’d.
Yesterday (Monday) I went to the Physical Therapist. This first visit was for evaluation. He said I have really tight tensor bands on the front of my hips that are causing my glut muscles to have to do more work than they otherwise would, which is why I have an overuse injury in my medial glut. He said the stretches I’m doing are good and gave me a couple more. I go in again this coming Monday for him to work on my tensors. Hopefully we can get it nipped.
Today I rode trainer for 1.5hrs. It was raining, so I watched an episode of Saved By The Bell, then put in a Beavis and Butthead DVD for the remainder. Good stuff.
Tomorrow looks better, so I’m planning on getting outside. I may ride the TT bike out sr 446, may ride road not sure yet.
This Sunday there is a "underground" cross race is Columbus. A lot of people come over for ours from C-Bus, so we’ll probably go over. Again, we shall see.

Out, in, in

Wednesday we got done loading the moving truck for the lady we were moving a little after 1:00. It was 40* or so day, so I figured I would go out for a couple hours of riding. It was quite windy, but I had a route planned that would cheat the wind*. (*usually this blows up in my face, literally. Every time I think I’ve beat this element, I end up having it worse). My plan was to go out with a tail wind and come in SR 45, which is hilly, twisty and mostly forest, all of these elements blocking the wind and/or making headwind stretches short. It totally worked like a charm. Just as planned. I was happy w/ it. I wasn’t ever really in the headwind for too long at one time due to either a hill, a turn or some trees. It was nice. It was sunny and mild too. Nice.
Yesterday (thurs) and today, however were too cold to be out in the a.m. We’re talking single digits. Yesterday was trainer on the TT bike (for aero position to "lay out") and today was rollers on road bike. That’s that. CX Sunday (B-Town), physical therapy for the butt Monday morning. Yeehaw.

The Dr....moving...no ride

I successfully diagnosed myself online (and w/ Lindsay’s vast knowledge of sports-injury). The Dr. confirmed me as suffering from pirifomris syndrome. I go to physical therapy Monday. I also figured out the exercises to do for it online, so hopefully the PT will have a thing or two I don’t’ already know and make it seem worth my time/money.
Yesterday we moved most of the lady’s stuff from the house and into a truck. She has very little furniture, but is an artist (and is 81 years old) and has 100’s of paintings, most in frames. We weren’t able to get done yesterday, so we’re going back today. I spent a good hour or two in an attic w/ loose fiberglass (I think) insulation pulling years and years of paintings out to be handed down to the other guy. We probably both have cancer now. The old lady and her daughter are really nice and letting us go at it, w/ minimal interference. My fear was some overbearing person hovering over us being like "put that there," "no, that goes there," etc, etc. We got lucky.
I wasn’t into a trainer ride last night after lifting and carrying all day (9-5). I feel way better this am than I thought I would. I’m not sore anywhere at all. Being in shape rules. Maybe I’ll get on the hamster wheel tonight if we knock off early, which we should be able to; we don’t have too much left.
B-Town CX this weekend. It seems like forever since I’ve raced (I think it’s been a week).

and then it was cold

Sunday I had planned on riding 3 or so hours. I was going to go to Nashville. I called RS to see if he wanted to ride and he asked "outside?" "Are you crazy?" He’s usually pretty game, so I decided to cut it down to about 40miles, or a little over 2 hours and went solo. It was 19* when I left and about 22* when I got back. It was cold. And it was windy too. This was the killer, not the temps so much, but I was straight into the wind for the first 10-15 miles and it was tough and cold. Once I got out of the headwind, it wasn’t too bad. After about 1 hour my bottles froze completely, so I had no water, but I made it. I had to go through some deep water (about hub-deep) on Bottom Rd (which WILL be flooded if it's flooded anywhere), which didn't seem like a big deal until I went for my brakes and had a close call due to my rims being 100% iced over. My feet got pretty wet from splash, but I had on my Cannondale LE booties, which are water/wind proof and not a drop of water made it through. Thier LE material has really impressed me. The sun finally started to poke out right as I was getting in, but whatever. I got a ride in w/out using the trainer.
Friday we went to RS and SS’s for a pre-marathon dinner thing. It was nice to hang w/ most of the Muncie crue (and SS made some killer lasagnas). The marathon seems to have gone pretty well for all involved that I know if. It was wet and slick for most of it, but people were close enough to goal times that it seemed to have worked out.
Today, seeing as it’s 9*, I’ll ride rollers for an hour or so. I may have a couple days off riding ahead of me. Tomorrow me and another guy form work are helping some lady move for a sweet hourly rate paid in cash (no f**cking taxes). And we may have to finish up Wed if we don’t’ get done tomorrow. I may ride trainer in the evening, if I feel like it and don’t get home too late.
Today I go to the Dr. about my muscle injury. We’ll see how that goes…

The worse half

Now is the bad part of the week. Especially today. It rained all day yesterday, but today it is nasty. My desktop weather thing says it’s 28*, w/ 25mph wind gusting to 40mph. It’s spitting snow here and there too.
Yesterday I rode the trainer for 1:10. Today I rode rollers for 1:00. I still haven’t decided if I want to go to L-ville this weekend or not. It’ll be cold, that’s for sure, but it’s supposed to be sunny.
I made a Dr.’s appt for Monday to get a referral to either a physical therapist or a sports Dr. I have had a nagging injury in the left side of my butt for while now. I think it’s piriformis syndrome. It’s not getting any better and sometimes is feels worse, so I’m going for medical help. I feel like can operate w/ it, but I can’t run and there’s no way I could do squats w/ it. And like I said, it’s not getting better, so hopefully I can get it nipped before it becomes really impairing.

The good half

I’ve taken advantage of the good half of the week. I got out for a little recovery Monday, about an hour, easy. I was sore after Sunday’s effort. I don’t really get sore from riding anymore, but I pushed really hard Sunday when I wanted to back off. I defiantly paid for it, but it was worth the price.
Tuesday we rode time trial bikes. This was the first ride I’ve done on my newly built TT bike. This bike is fast. It’s no too uncomfortable, but feels pretty unstable. It’s steep and has a lot of drop from the seat to bars, so it’s to be expected. I rode it for about 1:45, and felt much better than I expected to. Coming back south was into the wind, so I got a chance to feel it’s aero benefit. It’s gonna be fast.
Today it rained in the morning, but I rode cx anyway. It was wetter than I thought it was going to be, so I got hella dirty. I rode about 1:15 on some gravel roads and stuff, so it was fun, but wet. Whatever, I just wanted to get out while I can.
I looks like tomorrow is the 1st of the crap days. The weather guy said there could be as much as 8" of snow by Friday! I plan to ride trainer tomorrow.
The DINO off road marathon is Saturday and several Muncie people are coming down for it, so hopefully it doesn’t get too bad. We’re all hanging out Friday night, then they have to run 26 miles the next day. Poor saps. As I (think I) mentioned, we may go th Louisville Sunday for CX, so if it hella snows, it could be ugly.

T-Giving Week; The state champs

I got in a full week of training after the week off. I was able (willing) to get outside every day this past week. It was cold in the mornings, but great weather during the days. Anyway, I go tout every day.
Thursday was thanksgiving and I got out for a \under 1 hour before we headed to my parents for the lunch meal. It was nice to be home and I always love the feast.
After we left their house we went to my brother’s girlfriend’s parent’s (follow that?) house to hang w/ them a little. They have a killer pad on a lake west of Indy. We ate some more there.
Today was the KOA campground cross race, which was the Indiana State CX Championships. It was a little muddy, a hard course but a super nice day. I raced in shorts and short sleeves w/ no base layer. It was close to 70* I think. Anywho, long story short, I am the 2006 Indiana State CX Champ! I got 2nd overall, but the guy who beat me was from OH, so that makes me #1 finisher from IN. I got paid for the 2nd and a medal for the 1st. Though I wasn’t paid/paid, paid/medal is still double dipping* in my book, and that’s the sweetest way to win. (* double dipping is when you’re in the money overall AND in the money in a subdivision and get paid for both)
We are considering going to the KY State Champs next weekend in Louisville. Nit 100% sure yet, but maybe. The weather is supposed to get back to nasty later in the week. Looks like I may have to bust out the trainer for the first time this year later this week. Blah.

Back on it

Week off: done.
I’m back on the wagon. My last couple days off were nice. Lindsay’s parents were in the state over the weekend, so Linds and I went up to Indy Saturday night to Beef and Boards dinner theatre w/ both of our sets of parents. It was nice. We ate and saw Rogers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. It was a good production of it and we enjoyed the evening.
Sunday Lindsay and I went to Ladyman’s diner here in B-town for breakfast. It is being demolished in December and will not be opened after 50 years in business. Another company bought their building and offered them to start back up once the new building is built at a much higher rate of rent. The owner, knowing it was unaffordable, decided to just close. "…and don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got ‘till it’s gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
I had a few things I needed to do afterwards, so we ran to the mall and I got a sweet pair of North Face shoes from the shoe store in the mall for $30, marked down from $75. Sweet deal; and my old shoes were falling apart.
The rest of Sunday I did nothing. I got bored out of my mind.
Yesterday I rode a short road ride, about an hour. I felt really labored, but it was about 30* and I had taken a week off, so whatever.
Today I rode about 2 hours road, and felt okay, but not good. Again feeling labored.
I plan to ride cross tomorrow.
Thursday is thanksgiving, so I want to get in short ride before heading home for the day.
This weekend is the IN ST CX Championships. I hope to win it. Hopefully I start feeling better riding this week.

Time off

So far in my week off I’ve drunk way too much coffee in the a.m. and almost gotten my road bike overhauled. I should be done w/ it tomorrow morning. I’m getting a little sick of working on bikes right now.
Since the second week of October I have overhauled DP’s MTB, o’hauled my MTB, o’hauled Lindsay’s road bike, (moved her parts to a new frame) built my TT bike (which is Lindsay’s old frame w/ aero parts) and o’hauled my road bike. Plus routine crap on my cx bike AND worked on bikes everyday at work. Man, that’s a lot of working on bikes. I guess that’s what I do though; it’s my thing.
While working on my bike all morning I tend to keep filling my coffee cup and end up w/ a stomach ache. At least it keeps me busy so I don’t bounce off the walls. Not working out is hard to do when you’re used to doing it every day as routine. Giving my body a week to heal up will do me some good though.
So, no race this weekend, which is a first in 5 or so weeks. Then next weekend is the IN ST CX Champs. I really want to do well there. If I can pull off a ride like I had this past weekend, I can be the IN ST CX Champ. We’ll see, I try to not get worked up over 1 race and look at the whole, but I’d really like to win this one (and note: I don’t have to cross the line first for this distinction, I just have to cross the line in front of other racers licensed in Indiana, which I did this past weekend).
One step at a time though, I have to get through this rest week, train some next week, recover from Thanksgiving, then get it done.

and so it begins

My week off for the year.
I finished off the week in training pretty normal:
Wednesday we rode road, despite a "slick road advisory." RS TC and I rode the Morgan-Monroe St Forest loop pretty hard. It felt good to ride hard on the road.
Thursday I rode out to Wapahani via the Clear Creek Trail on the cx bike to work on mounts. The footbridge I dismount and run over was slick as snot due to it being wet, and I fell on it the first time I hit it. Lesson learned, and I walked it the remaining laps.
Friday I rode short/easy road. Just 17 or so miles easy.
Today was the Major Taylor Velodrome cross race. This course has agreed w/ me in the past and today was no different. I beat (and dropped) several fast people and took second. $30 pay-out for 2nd, I’ll take that. I felt great, rode good and placed high. My average hr was lower than normal, but I rode faster, that’s good.
So w/ no race this coming weekend, I’m making this week my annual week of no training. I will not workout this week at all. I will ride to work everyday, but that doesn’t count. I have my road bike tore down for it’s yearly overhaul to be done this week.
There it is: body maintenance and bike maintenance.

Misty

Today turned into an off day. It rained a decent amount, but it wasn’t actually raining at ride time. It was very wet out and misting. It was enough mist that if one were out for an hour or more s/he would be totally soaked and cold. No thanks. I opted for dusting and sweeping instead. Not nearly the workout, but whatever.
The rest of the week looks good, so I should have my opportunities. This Sunday’s CX is the race @ Major Taylor Velodrome in Indy. It starts on the track and goes out and around it. It’s a pretty good course, not too technical, and w/ a couple of long open sections that a) are chances to hammer if you’ve got it left and/or b) very open to the wind. The road section goes south and then you dismount, over barrier, turn 180* and head north on the grass. So if the wind is either N or S, you’ll have a push one way and a headwind the other. I guess I’ll just hope the wind is light and not a factor.
Over the past week or so I have been listening to, in chronological order, X’s albums when I’m getting ready for work and stuff. I’m basically listening to one until I decide I’ve had enough if it, then putting in the next. I usually have one in for a few days before changing. I’m to their third so far, so I’ll have it in and listen to it through probably 3-5 times over the next few days.

CX sunday; the 'rents

Yesterday (Sunday) was a B-town CX’er. #2/5. This one was around the SRSC, which is the "new" gym, then behind/in front of some of the sorority houses on Jordan av. Anywho, this was a tough course. It was about 50/50 pavement and ungroomed grass, which is very hard to ride through. Plowing through it is a more appropriate phrase than riding through it. It had two barriers on a up hill, so you had to run your bike up the hill after the barriers before remounting. It’s just too hard to remount on a uphill and if you miss your pedal or something you have to get back off anyway, so the safe bet ids to run the whole hill. I rode really good and ended up 4th. I was the final finisher on the lead lap, which means everyone behind me was either lapped or dropped out. I couldn’t get my HR settled in, which is typical for CX, and furthers my thought that I NEED to warm up before these races. I start feeling settled around 35-40 minutes usually, and these are 45-50 min races, so I spend most of the race trying to fight off a heart attack. Probably not the best way to do it.
When I got home form the race I realized I had forgotten my key and Lindsay was riding MTB in Nashville, so I went back out and rode for another hour, pretty easy. I rode out on some of the gravel roads east of town. So all-in-all I had a pretty good day of riding.
Then last night my parents came down for Lindsay’s b-day (which is actually next weekend, but they’re busy then) and took us to a nice Italian joint (Puccini’s on 4th) to eat. It was a nice evening hanging out w/ them. We went to a couple of stores to look for few things my dad needed, so we were able to spend a few hours w/ them, which was nice.
Today I rode short on the road. Just to recover and try to work out this hurting in my right calf. I hit my right calf several times w/ my pedal on a run through part of the course yesterday. It was a pea-gravel section that couldn’t be ridden. And while carrying my bike and running I kept running my left pedal into my right calf. It feels like a deep tissue bruise, so I wanted to go out and get it moving w/ and easy hour or so. Done.
Looks like rain tomorrow, but I was planning on riding 35 or so on road. Maybe not now…

My week, my year (my stats)

What a week, I rode road twice and ate pizza once!
Monday I went out short as recovery from Sunday’s CX. Then I took off Tuesday. It was rainy and I had plans for the rest of the week anyway, so I figured it would be a good day off.
Then Wed we went out for a 2 hour cross ride out on the gravel roads east of town. It was a good hard ride and Steve, a new guy in town I invited, tagged along and rode really strong. Notable on this ride was the Tim Cote and Fred both rode all the way up the unride-able gravel hill on McGowan rd. Studs. The other three of us (Ryan and Steve and I) all have single front chain rings, so that’s our collective excuse.
Thursday I rode CX out to Wapahani Park via the Clear Creek Trail. I wanted to go to Wap and practice remounting off of dismounts. I do it wrong and am robbing myself of speed/time. I land w/ left foot on the ground and use it as a boost to get my butt on the seat. What I need to be doing (and worked until I got it consistently) is to jump a little higher and land fully on my seat w/ my feet off the ground so I keep rolling instead of landing w/ a foot on the ground and slowing myself Fred Flintstone style. I think I got it down to where I am doing it consistent, but we’ll see how I perform in a race setting this weekend.
Today (Fri) I rode short road again. It was cold today (and yesterday), about 28* when I left. Great.
Sunday is B-town CX #2. Whoo-hoo!
Thursday night Linds and I went to Mother Bear's Pizza for a pie. This place rules for those of you who get to B-town or who live here. It's a national award winning joint w/ a local feel. Good stuff.
Here are my stats for the year in racing:
NORBA (MTB) Expert:
State Overall rank: 14/30
National Age Group: 36/241
National Overall: 252/1424
USCF (road*) Cat IV:
State Overall: 1
State Age Group: 1
National Overall: 332/2621
*Indiana Race Series races are not USCF, they are ABR, another governing body. All of the Ohio Valley Races are USCF and a few Indiana (but not IRS) races are USCF. Confused? Sorry.

More CXin

Leading up to today, weather has kept me off the bike for the past three days.
So today was the Indy CX race at Brookeside Park. This is a tough course w/ lots of grass, lots of pavement and a stair run up i.e.: it’s a tough course. It was brutal too. I worked super hard. Our race was 45min + one lap. My HR was through the roof the whole time, I couldn’t get recovered, though I was able to find a rhythm, that rhythm was just right around where my lungs were on fire. Add onto it this chest cold that I’ve been fighting for about a week and a half and I was beat. I coughed for probably about 5 minutes straight, spitting up a bunch of phlegmy crap after I finished. I ended up 6th in my race, which isn’t too bad against all the Ohio guys and considering how bad I felt afterwards. I’ll take it.
Lindsay won her race and got a sweet schwag bag for winning. She got a jacket, a hat and some other stuff. Good for her.

Rain

Past two days (Thursday and Friday) have been wash outs.
Back to Wednesday though. We went out to ride cross bikes for about 2 hours. We deviated from our original plan to checkout some trials off of Fairfax rd out by Lake Monroe that we had never been on. Well, as it turns out one of our party had been on these trail before and it turned into a "oh, I used to ride here all the time, I know exactly where these go" situation. Well, it turns out "used to ride here all the time" was probably about 20 years ago and we ended up riding about 50yrds down a several different trails, then turning around because they don’t’ go anywhere anymore. Finally we get out of this little trial system and back to the road, but then we turn off of Fairfax onto some gravel drive that he "used to ride all the time and knows exactly where it goes." We climb this huge gravel hill and it basically leads to a woods w/ no trails in it one way, a big "Posted No Trespassing" gate the other way and a farm house (w/ dogs) the other. SO we take the farm house route, great. The dogs go crazy and I’m waiting for the owner to be woken up and get his shotgun (luckily he doesn’t). So we haul ass across his huge opened grass field to try to find an outlet to the road, but there isn’t one. We end up hiking the bikes through the woods (not on trail, we’re blazing here) looking for the gravel road we started on. We did find it eventually, but not before hearing gunshots off in the distance (not something you want to hear lost in a woods in BFE @ the beginning of hunting season). We got to the gravel road, got to Fairfax and rode back in. We covered about 25miles, but a lot on road (my cx bike is not set up to climb on the road) and the rest total junk off road miles. Oh well, it’s bound to happen sometimes. For the record though, I hate "exploring" on rides. I’m a course rider. I like pre-lain courses that I can just ride, on road or MTB. I don’t want to have to do the exploring, I want to do the riding. I don’t even really like the first time I do a new road ride. I like knowing where I am, how long I have left, when I’m going to be where, etc. That’s just my style. Peeps in Muncie always gave em crap for always doing the same rides, but that’s just how I train. I suppose this is the time of year to have that stuff happen though.
So, like I said, today it raining again, and it looks like it’ll be a no ride day. These mornings I have been working on my other bikes. My MTB has been in about as many pieces as it can be since the 24 hour (Oct. 1), so I’m getting it ready to be put back together. All the parts are cleaned and ready to be re0installed, but I need to overhaul the suspension linkage and overhaul the hubs before it’s RTR. Whatever, I probably won’t ride it until Jan or Feb, realistically.
Weather pending, there’s an event tonight (Friday) of Scary Stories in a local park Lindsay and I may go check out. This could be cool ,depending on who the story teller is. It says "not recommended for children," so that part seems promising.
CX Sunday is Brookeside Cross in Indy this weekend. I think I’m going to race the "B’s" race, as 1) I already have "B" points from the OH UCI race, 2) B is 45min ("A" is 60min) and 3) I can race "B" at the IN ST CX Champs and have a shot of winning. I may be able to do okay in A’s, but okay as pack-filler, I can’t win. That’s the plan.

Past few cold days

Past few have been cold, and I’ve had a cold; go figure.
Monday it was hovering around freezing and cloudy, so I took the day 100% off of workout and drank tea/OJ to try to get better and recover from CX Sunday. It was probably a good idea.
Today (Tues) I rode road. I haven’t been on my road bike for about a week and a half (riding CX), so it was a nice change. Road bikes ride so much better than cross bikes. It felt effortless. I road about 33 miles (Bottom Rd loop). It was 32* when I left and *38 when I got back. Cold, but whatever, I made it.
Tomorrow we’re going to ride long CX. We’re scheduled to hit some big gravel hills, whewww!
I am referring to Sunday’s now and CX Sunday, as I am racing CX damn near every weekend in the near future. I think I’m racing something like 5 Sunday’s in a row. Pretty sweet "off season" huh?

It's been a few (I was sick)

It’s been a little long, but I was sick for a couple days.
Since I last posted, we (RS Tim Cote and I) went on a good cx ride Wed. We went out a piece of single track that leads to some "country-ish" roads that lead to some gravel roads that leads to a gravel climb. This climb is on a road called Gross rd. Good name for a nasty climb. Basically you turn off of a gravel rd onto Gross, which is gravel too and climbs the entire road until you get Old SR 446. Gross becomes paved about halfway up, but is still climbing. It’s a toughie.
Then Thursday I went out alone and rode the Clear Creek trail in the rain. It was pretty miserable. It was cold and rainy, but I wanted to get a race simulation in, which meant riding the whole CCT (~11 miles) keeping my heart rate over 170. I had a bit of a tailwind on the way out ( I think) and couldn’t get the HR up, but kept in there on the way in. It was a decent workout, but I was cold and soaked.
Friday I was 100% sick. I felt bad all week, sore body and iffy stomach, etc, but Friday was the day. I was messing around before work because I didn’t feel up to a ride in the cold. I started to not feel good and went upstairs to lie down. Then I threw up. I called into work and stayed in bed all day.
I went to work Saturday and worked all day (9-6). I felt okay, but just okay. And tired, like wore out.
Then today was the opened for the Bloomington Underground Cylocross Series (http://www.truesport.com/Bike/2006/flyers/bloomingtoncross.html); and I felt like, well, not good. So I went to the race, and there was a nearly record turnout. These are the races where it’s show and go. No one knows the course until we get there. No entry fee. No prizes/awards. Just grass-roots racing. It’s all good fun. However, they are very competitive. Jean-Luc Serreire, Michael Feske, Ryan Shannahan, Issac Neff, there’s fast people there. We rode to the course, and I rode awesome. Two days off and one of full bed rest does a body good. I got 5th, which is my best B-Town result and I was beat by people that, barring something going wrong on there part, I can’t beat on my best day. SO I was happy. I beat some people I didn’t expect to beat. I rode really good; I was on fire.
I have been drinking plenty of OJ, taking at least one multivitamin, and drinking green or black tea everyday to get my systems up. Hopefully I shake this clod (or whatever it is) by tomorrow or so I can "train." ( the quotes note that my weekly hours are so low that I shouldn’t consider what I’m doing trianing.)

The CX

Went to Cinci for the UCI cyclocross race this past Sunday (10/15). My first CX of the season. The UCI is the Unione Cycliste Internationale, which is based in France and is the governing body for bike racing world wide. They’re the people who put on the Tour De France, etc. so this was a big production.
We picked up a friend on Columbus (IN) to go w/ us and it took us inly about 2:15 or so to get there, so we there really early because I was expecting it to take us closer to 3hrs. No biggy though, we just registered and hung out. Andy (dude from Columbus) and I rode a couple laps of the course to check it out before we races which led me to one conclusion: this was gonna hurt. It was a tough course. A lot of pedaling and some technical stuff too. It had some long open "fast" sections of riding and then a bunch of really tight 180* switchbacks where you basically had to slow to just above a stop for the corner, then hammer back out of it. Tough. Plus it had a volley court section to ride through, which was (to my surprise) totally rideable. You just had to carry speed into it and shift your weight back (so to not stick you f wheel into it and go over your bars, which apparently some people did)(being a MTBer sometimes pays off big). Anywho we ended racing 5 laps of this joy and I ended up 25th out of 48 or so. I expected to place better than that, but whatever. In the last two laps, I bridged to a 3 man group (which was a 4 man w/ my latching on) from which one guy just rode off the front of and nobody had it in him to chase him down, one guy got shelled off the back and me another dude had the uphill grass sprint to the line, which I took. So I was happy to have had the "umph" at the end. Not that sprinting to 25th is anything to brag about, but, again, whatever.
47min:09sec
5 laps/11.1miles
av hr-180bpm
mx hr-190 bpm
speed: av 14.2/mx 20.8
Yesterday (Monday) I ran 3.5 and felt like crap. I don’t claim to be a runner, but I had a side stitch forming about 10 minutes in and would have walked if I hadn’t known that it’d be over soon.
Today (tues) it is hella wet from raining all day yesterday and spitting rain right now. I think I’ll take the day off and get a few thing done I’ve been meaning to do, namely vacuum the floor(s) and clean up some bike parts.
Tomorrow we’re riding CX.
This weekend is the first of the 5 race Bloomington Underground cross series races. Should be fun…getting one’s butt kicked by Ryan Shanahan, Jean-Luc Serriere, Issac Neff, et all. Phweww. I heard Matt Battin’s not racing this years B-Town UG CX, so the goal for me (Cat III/Expert) should be to not get lapped at all! We shall see.

Dude wheres my coat?

Holy crap it got cold. It’s been freezing or just below the past two nights. That means right around freezing @ ride time. I’m not used to that. It’s quite the shock to the system. I rode yesterday what has come to be the normal Thursday ride hitting 4 hills for hill work. I about froze in general and especially on downs. The weatherbug said 32* when I left and 34* when I got back. Man.
Today I wanted to ride road, but it was 34* and the wind was supposed to be 25-35 mph and I wanted no part of that. It’s windy, but I don’t think it’s THAT windy yet. Anywho, I rode my CX bike out to the end of the Clear Creek Trail and back. Just a little 50 or so minute jaunt to keep warm. It’s not very long, but to go ride your CX bike ~15 miles on non paved stuff is awesome.
I am going to my first CX race of the year (well, of the season, I race cross in January and February of this year) Sunday in Ohio. It should be a big race and a lot of work because these Ohio guys love their cross. Our joke is: while we’re riding trainers all winter to train for summer road/MTB racing, they’re riding trainers all summer to train for winter cross racing. Eh, it’s all good fun.

In the books

Another Hilly 100 is gone. Josh and I were extremely busy the whole time. I figured up with my hours at the bike shop Friday I worked around 32 hours over the weekend. We were busy w/ repairs pretty much non stop. My hands are sore at this point from wrenching and installing tons of tires. It’s fun though and a good change of pace (although that change of pace is much faster than normal). The weather was great for the Hilly and everyone seemed to be in good spirits and having a good time. I lost my voice some Saturday night form talking almost non-stop the entire weekend. I got to ride Sunday, but Josh forgot his shoes so I rode w/ Big Zach (http://zachruble.blogspot.com/) from Muncie. It was his second lap of the 50 mile Sunday route, so he was 50miles up on me from the start. He is a pro triathlete, so 100 milers are nothing to him. But 100 milers w/ B-Town hi8lls are another story. He was totally worked over and drafted my wheel 100% of the ride. I dropped him on the hills and waited for him at the top, then pulled him to the next hill. I wanted him to stay on my wheel incase he totally bonked out I could help him out. This was my plan until the last hill (Water Tower), on which I planned to totally stick it to him, as it’s only about 3 miles from the finish. He tried tooth-and-nail to hang on, but had nothing left in the tank. He admitted I totally worked him over and that he needs to be pounded like that more often. Good Hilly all around.
Monday: off after the BUSY weekend.
Tuesday: rode the cross bike out Wapahani Park via the Clear Creek cinder trail and busted 5 laps around the lake. About 1hr 15min. Nice little work out of the CX.
Today (Wed): RS and I rode CX bikes on a nice 1hr 15 (~21mile) ride on gravel roads and trials. It was a good loop and started raining a little toward the end , which is fine on CX bikes. This loop, however, has a big descent on it w/ no climb up to it to speak of. So next week we’re going to go out and do the loop opposite the way we did today to climb this gravel road which should be pretty challenging. I was along descent,, so it should be a borderline grueling climb!

The Hilly is upon me

Probably won’t post for few days since I have to work the Hilly 100 the next few days.
First things first, I got out for a nice 25 or so miler today on the road bike, which I have not had my butt on since last Thursday. Riding MTB and then the CX bike made me actually want to ride my road bike, it was nice. I hit a road I’ve never been on before (Lawson rd) that is basically a climb between two roads I am on anyway, just a different way to get to one from the other. It’s a nice road that has several turns throughout the climb. I’m going to make it part of my 4 hill route.
This weekend in B-Town is the Lotus World Music Festival which draws thousands of people and musicians form all over the world, Hilly 100, which draws 5,000 cyclists and some running race. It is going to be a total mad house in this town this weekend. I hope to get out after we’re done w/ Hilly (~10pm) and check out some of the Lotus music. It was a lot of fun last year. It’s real expensive to get in, but it’s all over downtown and you can see/hear pretty much everything w/ out actually going into the gated areas. Also hope to ride Sunday’s Hi8lly route after we’re done working, around noon.
We shall see…

CX

It was supposed to be storming this a.m., but it wasn’t. Good, due to running yesterday, I decided that if it was raining today it’d be another day off for me, though I wanted to ride my cx bike.
And so I did. I rode out the Clear Creek trail (B-town’s rail-trail which is largely cinder [perfect for cx riding]) to Wapahani park and busted 3 laps around the lake, then back. It was all just a little over an hour and no hard effort, but who needs that right now? I wanted an easier ride w/ no climbing, so the CCT is about the only way to ride outside flat around here. It actually is a really nice day so far; almost 70* and sunny.
I finally slept good last night. It’s been about a week since I’ve had good solid sleep. And after the weekend and being sore from running I needed it. Thank you Mr. Sandman.

24

Too much happens in a 24-hour race to tell in a blog post, so I’ll hit the needed points. I arrived at Winnona Lake around 10:30 and my team was already there w/ the tent seat up, etc. I unloaded my crap, set up my sweet folding pick0a0nick table and we hit the pre-race meeting. We decided I would ride first and the other really strong guy would be our anchor since he has done these events before and would likely be faster than me at night. Our day laps were about the same, but his night laps DID turn out faster, so it was good strategy. We decided to all go out and do 2 laps to start, then back off to one each as it got dark.
The start is san "enduro start" where your bike has to unrideable at the start. You have to either have a wheel off or your seat and then it’s a running start. I took off my front wheel and went to the start box. I got to my bike, got my wheel on and off I went. Yada, yada, I got us in the lead and got to know the course somewhat (crucial for having to do night laps).
My next lap was a single and it was around 6pm or so. I had to have light on my bike (per rules after 5:30), but I didn’t need it, I was another day lap, basically. But it had cut loose storming while my relay tag was out, about 20 min before I had to go. This made the course very muddy and very hard to ride. This was sign of things to come…
My next lap was around 11:00pm. This was my first it me ever night riding. I was a little nervous, but I had studied the course well enough during the light, that I was confident. Danny P was there doing the solo 6 hour event, but brought his light w/ him and didn’t use it, so I took it. It is a huge pimpin Light & Motion HID light (nicest one available) and it absolutely saved me. It was like riding in the day almost. This thing is sweet. I had no problems riding at night and turned in a sub-hour lap, which is a) pretty fast for a night lap b) pretty fast for the wet conditions and c) pretty fast for my first time ever night riding. The things got worse…
My next lap(s) was a two-sy. Two laps, at night. I think it was around 3-3:30 am and I had slept about ½ hour or so. By this time the dirt was sticky, wet heavy clay-like mud. It would build up everywhere there was open space on your bike and make it nearly impossible to ride. It was rough. I made it through the first of the two in just over 1-hour and went out for another. The course was getting worse. This lap was ssslllooowww; about 1hour 20min or so. I had to do a lot of walking and I about bonked at one point. Luckily I knew where the aid station was (unmanned at about 5-5:30 am) and I stopped and drank some Gatorade and ate a few cookies to get some sugar in me. I really didn’t want a bonk on top of the miserable conditions and it being dark. I got back on my bike and crawled through this lap to have my rear derailer hanger break k off right at the end. So I had to run my bike to the transition to tag off, but I was done riding. Even if I wanted to go back out I couldn’t due to broken bike issues. OS I got in my car and slept for about an hour or so. Well needed sleep.
As it turns out I would have had to go back out around 11am if I could have, but our anchor Jeff took my lap and we won the 24-hour 4-man team race! We won it. The lead I got us in the first two laps we never lost. We started first and finished first.
Overall, I’m glad I did it. During it I was miserable and cursing myself for doing it and the weather for making it terrible, but now I’m glad I have done it. I feel stronger for having done it (that which doesn’t kill us…). If I hadn’t had a team I 100% would have quit, but I couldn’t let them down, so I stuck it out. I’m sure every one there wanted to quit, but those of us who stuck it out are stronger for it.
I didn’t work out Monday after driving home Sunday afternoon, so tired I was road hazard. Deserved day off for recovery.
Today I ran 3.5. It was storming and I wanted to ride CX, but I ran instead due to rain. 3.5 miles 29minutes. Seems okay for my first "long" run of the year (and my second run of the year).
Hilly 10 this weekend. Work, work, work. No rest for the, well, no rest for me anyway.
Entry fee for DINO 24-hour race: $110/person ($440/ 4-man team).
Prize for winning race that cost $440/team: 4 medals. That is larceny.

Voila (here it is)

24 hours of racing. Straight. I’m leaving early Saturday to head to Warsaw for the 24 hours of DINO race. My team (Minor Threat) and I are meeting at the race, as they are all from Indy and I want to have my car to sleep in and stuff. I guess it should be about 6 hours of racing for each of us, but we’ll see how it pans out. I have my "supplies" (groceries) ready to go and my bike’s ready, but am I? Sure. Why not? It’s all good fun.
Th Week:
Monday I went out and rode and easy –less than- 20miler, just to spin Sunday’s race out of the legs.
Tuesday we rode CX bikes. It was RS, Fred and Jean-Luc Serriere. JLS took us on this crazy route (he was on his MTB) that took connector trails w/ huge either gravel or chewed up tractor-made trails that ended up in the Yellowwood St Forest on the logging roads. It ended up being about 32 miles and was a killer ride; super hard and great scenery. We were off road for a good portion of this ride, which is awesome. Plus any time I can ride w/ JLS and not get dropped it’s a good day. For reference of just how fast he is, we rode in from Yellowwood on hwy 45 and he was out front taking looooong pulls of about 25-26mph ON HIS MTB! That dude is fast (and that’s why he’s pro).
Yesterday (Wed.) I planned on riding the Bottom Rd loop @ tempo, but the road that makes the loop (Buskirk) had a ‘road closed ahead’ sign on it, so I continued on the road I was on (Burma), thinking I knew where it lead. I was wrong. I ended up on Hwy 37, pissed off and having to get to a road I knew. So I headed south on 37 riding as fast as I could, into a wind, until I got to a road I knew (Simpson Chapel) and took it back home. I ended up riding longer and harder than I wanted, but whatever. It happens.
Today I (somewhat reluctantly*) rode what is normally Friday’s easy/short ride, setting up to take tomorrow off and race ALL WEEKEND. *I slept terribly last night and wanted to not ride a t all today, but I knew I wanted to stay the course an stick to my plan to ~hopefully~ ~kind of~ peak this weekend. We shall see.
So, tomorrow’s off, then hopefully I live through the weekend for another report.

Back in the money

Not much going on the past few days. Weather forced me off the bike, Thursday and Friday and Saturday is always off, so I was good and recovered for today’s race at BCSP. As it turns out taking a few days off before racing and going in totally rested helps a lot; I had a great day. The first three spots in the Expert field were pretty much decided before we even started, as 1,2 and 3 were all pro. The rest of us were pretty much racing for fourth. Dan Prater and I went into the woods 4th (DP) and 5th (me) and that’s where we stayed. We battled the whole day, but we ended up just how we started, 4th for Dan and 5th for me. 5th overall was good for 1st 19-29 Expert men, so I won my age group award and 5th overall paid too. I got paid twice and ended up w/ $75 for the day. Pretty sweet for an MTB pay-out. Plus they had a cookout afterwards w/ veggie burgers, chicken and stuff, so it was a good day all around. I felt good and rode great. I was very happy w/ my day on this demanding course; I beat a lot of fast guys who normally beat me.
So you regular readers probably expect that this is my last MTB race of the year. Not so after all. I was asked to participate on a four man team in the DINO 24 hour race next weekend and I’m gonna. I’ve never ridden at night before, so this should be fun. I think it will be fun anyway, so I’m kind of psyched. We start at noon Saturday and race until noon Sunday.
Then the following weekend is the Hilly 100, which means about 26 hours of work in three days.
Then the following weekend is the UCI CX race in Cincinnati I’m 60-70% planning on doing.
Then the following weekend is the first B-Town CX race.
Off season? Off season? We don’t need no stinkin off season. (I’m lying, I need a rest.)

walking the bike

Today’s Thursday and I’m tired. I opted for a day off of riding today. I figured w/ a hard race this weekend and being most of the way burned out anyway, it is a good idea to get a little extra rest.
Tuesday RS and I went on this 2 hour cross bike ride that was just over 30miles and I’m guessing probably 10-12 of those were on gravel roads. This one road in particular called McGowan rd (off of Kent rd, which is just east of town for the g-mappers out there) had this one hill on it. Oh man. This sucker is twice as long as Boltinghouse and climbs a little over 100’ more (.8miles and climbs ~275’). (for those who don’t know, Boltinghouse is considered to be the biggest hill around here, reaching like 21% or something). Oh and this one’s gravel. Basically the only person who’s made it up it riding is a local pro MTBer, on his MTB in his granny gear and he was going the same speed as the people who were walking their cx bikes up it. We got to it and RS said "just shift into your easiest gear and see how far you can make it knowing you won’t make it all the way." I made it about 3 pedal strokes further than he did, but that’s it; then it’s a walk the rest of the way. This is, no doubt, the biggest hill I’ve seen AND IT’S GRAVEL! This ride, which there are a bunch of around here, is awesome. It so cool to have all the great town things that B-Town offers, but then be able to go out and ride cx bikes for miles on unpaved forest roads. Most towns that have the good aspects of b-town are too big city-ish to have all the forest roads we do here. It is awesome.
Yesterday I rode the Paragon loop solo. It’s about 43miles and it was cold when I started. The sun was out, but it wasn’t much warmer when I finished. I know they’re saying it’s "unseasonably cool," but man it sucks. Plus there’s "a warm up on the way," but still. And lately riding I’m coming home super hungry. I’m not used to my body having to 1)acclimate to weather 2)work to stay warm and 3)work out and it’s whacking my system. Oh well, my training will take a dive next week anyway. I’m going to start some runs and try to ride cx a couple days a week and road a day or two. Just whatever for a month or so. Gotta wind down.

Big MTB

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to BCSP to ride MTB. Lindsay and I left form here and were meeting Dan P and Josh P. There were a lot of people there, so we picked up some others and had a decent group starting out. It ended up just Dan and I in the end and we rode 4 full laps of the BCSP trail. That’s 3.5 hours and just over 35miles. That’s pretty serious MTBing. I was definitely tired when we got home. I fell asleep for a little bit (~30 min or so, I’d guess).
I knew it was looking like rain this a.m. (which it is in fact raining and crappy), so I planned on either spinning on rollers for an hour or a run. I decided to spin and hold off on the until next week, as sometimes the soreness of a run can stick w/ me for a while and I want to fell at least kind of fresh for the BCSP MTB race this weekend.
I’ve gotten into turning on the digital cable music channel "Americana" lately. It plays stuff like Dave Alvin, Wilco, Marah, Son Volt, Nico Case, Dwight Yokum, etc. I’ve been pretty into this genre, which is a rootsy, stripped down rock, the past few years. Good stuff.
I going to plan on getting in a CX ride tomorrow and ride Paragon (~43miles, fairly flat [for here]) Wed and finish out the week normal going into Sunday’s race. It should be pretty hard. BCSP is a demanding course and ding 3 laps race pace will be tough. Doing 4 laps non race pace was super tough, so 3 @ RP should be a killer.

9/15-last few days

So I got my rides in, despite the downer weather. And I haven’t been sleeping well either. I thing it’s the weather changing. I totally get the SAD (seasonal affect disorder). When the seasons change, my system gets whacked. My mood gets down, I can’t sleep, my eating gets off (either up or down), etc.
Wednesday I rode out across South Shore Dr. and rode across Lanam Ridge rd to get some hard climbing. It’s a pretty hard ride. I ride these roads all the time and never have a problem w/ dogs, but I was chased by 5 this day. And I saw, I think, 8, 3 just didn’t chase. What a pain.
Thursday I rode hill ints. on the 4 hills I ride for this ride. It went fine, but I felt tired. Wed and thurs both were dreary, misty and no sun at all.
Today the sun was out, and I rode the normal easy Friday ride. I had to make a small detour due to closed road, but I don’t’ really care.
I think Sunday we’re going to go ride MTB at BCSP to get ready for the race there next weekend. After next weekend I’m done riding MTB this year. I’m going to tear my MTB down and slowly overhaul it. We’re going to start riding CX bikes pretty regularly next week too to get ready for that season. Plus I plan to start some runs not next week, but the one after. I got my brake pads on my CX bike and my RR hub overhauled. I was totally impressed to see how well the Rock-N-Roll Super Web bearing grease held up over a whole year of abuse (rain, snow, and 6 days/week of use). It was amazing. Every ball had a film of grease around it and the seal the grease creates around the cones was 100% intact. This stuff is impressive.
Anywho, the first CX race on my calendar is Oct 15 in Cinci, OH. It is UCI race, so top pro’s will be there. I hope to get to see Chris Horner, one of my favorite racers, race there. I read in Velo News that he’s going to focus on the whole CX season this year. It will be cool to compete on the same course as the big boys. That’s a month away though.
1 thing at a time . Gotta get through Hilly 100 weekend first (we’re talking ~ 28 hours of work between Friday night, Saturday all day and Sunday moring)…

another chore day

It’s raining something fierce today. So far this a.m. I’ve cleaned my road bike really well (got caught in the rain yesterday [more later]), done laundry and cleaned the bathroom.
Sunday’s Race:
Sunday was the DINO Series finale’ in Indy. Final series MTB race of the year. It hadn’t rained there for about two weeks and the course was the driest I think I’ve ever seen it. And super fast. I rode really well, past a few people and felt pretty good throughout the race. We raced 4 laps, and by my third and fourth, I was riding really well, just on auto-pilot. My trail memory was really kicking in and I was just flowing. Too bad all the locals were "just flowing" from the gun and I ended up 26th out of 32. Not too bad, considering about 8 minutes separated all of us. My dad showed up to watch, which was cool. I didn’t see him until I finished, but still cool. I felt like crap when I finished, the old standard stomach killing after hammering for 2 hours, which hasn’t plagued me much this year. That course is so fast that I had very little time to get in 1)GU 2) salt tabs and 3) water. This combo led to an imbalance (probably too low sodium) and the stomach aches that follow. No big deal, I laid down in the grass for a while and felt better. That, of course, turned out to be a mistake, as I have bites all over me now. I can hardly sleep I itch so bad.
Yesterday I decided to ride outside rather than my usual spin on the rollers. I rode the Hoosier Hills 20k route, which is a short ~17miles from my door. I just wanted to spin it out and ride easy, but about halfway through I heard thunder and saw the dark clouds rolling in. I got totally poured on for about 10 minutes and was soaked 100%. Oh well, it happens, I‘ve been pretty fortunate this year. Actually, in terms of racing it was almost a perfect weather year. A couple of the OVR road races had some rain (or snow/hail), but that’s to be expected.
So toady is a forced day off, hopefully back on tomorrow. Then next weekend is the MTB race at Brown County St. Park (non DINO), then I’m taking my MTB apart for overhaulin to tale place over the next month or so. No hurry on the MTB overhaul, I’m not likely to ride it again until Jan or Feb.
I re-geared my cross bike last week and need to put on new brake pads, overhaul the hubs, and headset and pull the BB to re-grease its threads. I’d like to get this done by next week, but we’ll see. Plus I need new tires for it before I attempt to race on it. I can ride it fine, but they’re pretty much road tires at this point. I’m sure we’ll be stating up the long CX rides next week; looong gravel road climbs that you can barely make it up (which is why I re-geared form a 48t front ring to a 42t), this should be fun!

Off

I opted for today (Thurs) off. My left calf, which I mentioned a few days ago I suspect has a little tear in the muscle is still bother me some and my legs have felt tired the past couple of days. W/ a fast race (DINO @ Town Run Park in Indy) coming up this Sunday, I want to fell fresh-ish. SO I am not riding today, tomorrow I will do Friday’s normal easy jaunt and off Saturday.
I swept the floors this morning, a chore I’ve been putting off for a while. Actually, I swept the downstairs last week, so today I did the upstairs, the stairs AND downstairs again.
As for this weekends race, TRTP is usually a big draw due to its locale in Indy. I don’t show up w/ high expectations due to the home course advantage held by so many. I’d say realistically I will be racing for 15th or so at best. But it’s fun day and not too far of a drive, so we won’t be gone till like 10pm. Plus the series awards will follow and I (pretty much) have 3rd in 19-29 Expert men locked. At least I think I do. I can’t remember for sure the separation, but I think that’s right. Should be fun.
After this weekends race I am racing once more at the Brown County St Park race being put on by Matt Battin of Bicycle Station. It is the 24th, so two more weeks. Hopefully everyone else is feeling the effects of the long season by then and it’s not uber competitive, and little more laid back and fun. We’ll see (not likely though).
Gotta send blog-luck to RS, BZ and BTB at Iron Man WI this weekend. I think the weather is looking good for them, which is a huge +, as a crappy day when you’re racing for 9 or so hours would suck.

kerplunk!

Yesterday RS and I rode the MMSF (Morgan-Monroe St Forest) loop, which is 100% freshly paved. This makes for a sweet ride. The climbs are better and a couple of the downhill sections used to be downright dangerous at speed. No more. They are glass smooth and fast as you can go. We rode "easy" because RS is doing Iron Man WI this weekend. Nonetheless I woke up feeling sore in the legs and sluggish.
I set out to do my normal Wed. tempo ride of the Bottom Rd Loop, which was closed for construction. I then had no real agenda, so I turned around and just started riding. I got to Boltinghouse Rd and decided to climb BH, since it’s been a while since I hit it. I climbed it fine, then took a left and ride in on hwy 45. My normal ride is about 35miles, and I got in 27 or so, so no big deal. However, my av HR was super low, in the 120’s, so that tells me I should have just stayed in. I felt like taking the day off, but rode anyway, and my body clearly wasn’t into it. Also weird, yesterday after riding I was super hungry, which is kind of off for me too. I don’t eat before riding (unless I’m going really long) and I eat an egg w/ bread (or an egg sandwich, if you will) when I get in, but that wasn’t enough yesterday. Nothing too big, when you’ve been going for most of the year, your bound to get out of whack every now and again.

9/4 the weekend (& Labor Day)

Man, we had a packed full holiday weekend. Saturday was a normal, riding day off, full workday for me. Nothing to report. Sunday Lindsay and I got up and went to Indy for a dirt time trial at Town Run Park, pout on the Bike Line racing team. It was a ton of fun and the course was in the best shape I’ve ever seen it in (and I’ve ridden there a lot). It was dry, but not dusty, so it was real grippy in turns and super fast. I haven’t ridden there since the race last year (in June) and I didn’t do a pre-ride for the TT, so I was riding solely on year old memory of the course. That being the case, I rode really well, made no real mistakes and hammered where I could. I turned in a 0:29:05, which was good for 18th (out of 86). I cannot complain, as almost everyone ahead of me was an Indy local who rides that course several times a week and knows it "w/ their eyes closed." The DINO finale’ @ TRTP is this Sunday, so I wanted to use the TT as pre-ride to at least attempt to level the field. At least I’ve ridden it now.
When we got back my parents were here and we spent the afternoon at the 4th St. Festival looking at all the arts and crafts and things for sale. It was all hella too expensive for us to even consider, but some of it was really cool. Then we ran some errands w/ the ‘rents, and went to dinner at Siam House Thai place. Good stuff. This was the ‘rents first time eating Thai food and they liked. I ordered a veggie dish w/ a bunch of veggies (and pineapple) w/ tofu and ordered it a 5* (the hottest they make it). I eat a lot of hot food, I put either crushed chili’s, chili paste, or some sort of hot sauce on everything I eat anymore, and I‘ve gotten 4*’s from Siam before and felt I could take more. The 5 was nothing. It was as if they forgot to spice it. It was really good, great flavor, but not too hot. Oh well, either my tolerance is way up, or the kitchen messed up.
Then today I rode to Spencer and came back through Elletsville. It was around 45miles, which is a little less than I wanted to do, but I had a stiff headwind the whole way back, so it was fine. I rode strong and felt good, though I think I tore my left calf little at the TT. It is sore, but totally functional, so I’m putting Icy Hot on it to bring blood to it to get it healed. Hopefully it doesn’t turn into something worse. I doubt it will.

9/1- the week

I feel like quoting Bret Michaels of Poison from the song "Look What the Cat Dragged In." "…ain’t seen the sun in the last three days." Of course he didn’t see the sun due to excessive partying and sleeping all day, the weather has been a total downer for me. And I think it’s been longer than three days. Gray weather kills my mood and brings me down.
Here’s my week:
Tuesday I set out for a 35 or so mile tempo ride, but it started raining a little about 15 minutes in and I had no interest in getting rained on when it’s cool out and my motivation to train is dwindling anyway, so I turned in. When I got into town it had stopped spitting, so I turned to take a very round about way in to add some time on. I ended up out by the Wapahani MTB park and saw RS and Tim Cote on their long run, so I chatted w/ them for few and continued on my way. I got in about an hour.
Wed the plan was to go for the hard ride w/ the crew, but RS and to work for a coworker that had kid issues, and Tim Cote was at school late, so I went solo and rode North Shore. My plan was to combine NS w/ Lanam Ridge Rd. to make a hilly bastard hard ride, but by the time I got to end of NS I was not interested in riding anymore hills hard, so I came straight in. I was able to ride hard and felt really good. It was a good, hard workout.
Thurs. I did my normal 4 hill interval ride, but for some reason decided to take the Fire Station hill (.635miles, 485’, 5.5% grade) in my big ring and stomp up it. I stayed in my 53x21. It was tough and my cadence dropped to 71 at a point or two and I’m sure it did nothing for me fitness wise, but I just wanted to do it. (maybe Blotinghouse in the big ring is next???)(probably NOT!)
Today I rode the normal Friday short/easy day.
I may go up to Town Run Park in Indy this weekend and do a dirt time trial. I always liked doing MTB TT’s, but haven’t this year at all. Their were some in Warsaw I used to go to from Muncie, but it’s way too far from here. Gas $$ is dropping, and it’s $10 to enter w/ profit going to the HMBA (Hoosier MTB Association), so I may check it out since I have a 2 day weekend headed my way. The TT is in the a.m. and then my parents are coming down later to check out the 4th St. festival and hang out. Should be fun.
Hopefully the sun is still in our orbit. If it is, maybe it will show its rays soon…?…

8/28

It's been a few...here's the catch up.
Wed. I left w/ the usually suspects (+ another) for the hard ride. It was RS Tim Cote and Fred from BGI. RS was doing intervals and we used South Shore as the route. Basically, on any flat part of the route RS rode in his hardest gear about 27mph and we stayed in tow. Then we "just rode" up the hills and talked, etc. It was good one and I felt much better than I expected to. I had almost planned on getting dropped the way I’ve been riding, but I hung.
The rest of the week was normal, w/ the hill int. ride for me Thurs; and a short/easy Fri.
Yesterday I rode at Brown County St Park by myself. Lindsay was going to go, but her ankle was messed up (more on that). I rode a little over two hours and started to feel tired. I had planned on doing a third lap, but I just wasn’t feeling it. It was really humid and pretty hot, which it hasn’t been, so getting re-acclimated to the conditions took more out of me too. It was an okay ride, not great. It rained some the night before and was a little wetter than I thought it would be, but it was okay.
Lindsay crashed racing at West Wood Park last weekend and put a good gash on her shin. She cleaned it really well and left it opened to bleed out any bacteria, and kept cleaning it regularly. But the other day her ankle on the same leg got a big bruise on it and she hadn’t done anything to it and it didn’t hurt or anything, it just appeared. So we went to the Dr. yesterday afternoon and he said it was infected around the wound and blood had been draining into her ankle, causing the bruise and swelling. He gave her a tetanus shot and some antibiotics and she should be fine (though her arm was really sore from the shot). A little scary though, when a huge bruise show up w/ no reason to.
So my parents were planning on coming down to hang out yesterday, but we put it on hold until next weekend, as I had no idea how long we would be at the Dr. We were there for long time (waiting), so it was good call.
Today was usual Monday spin out on rollers. I felt much better than I expected to for as worked as I felt yesterday after riding. I have only a few (or couple, really) more weeks of real training left, then it’s JRA (just riding along) time; less focus, loose agenda. That’s good ‘cause I’m losing my focus anyway just due to the time I’ve spent training. It’s been a pretty good year for me though.

Redemption

Alrighty, I didn’t get last after all! On the "non official" results posted at the race I was listed as last, but on the "official" results online I’m 20th out of 26 starters. # people DNF’d (did not finish) and I finished ahead of three others. Still not my best performance, but not as bad as I thought.
I felt like total waste today riding. I had no legs and could not go hard. I decided to go alone due to my effort Sunday and I’m glad I did. I would have been dropped by my normal Tuesday morning crew. I ate two eggs instead of my normal one this a.m. to try to rebuild whatever’s gone in my legs, so we’ll see how that works out.
I may not race the IN stage race this weekend after all due to some financial constraints. I have a couple bills due and it’s $50, I think, plus gas and stuff. The way I’m feeling right now, that’s just fine w/ me, I’ll probably be on form by the weekend though and cursing my empty pockets. Maybe I’ll ride MTB @ BCSP or something.

The balance of things

Every contest has a winner. Likewise, every contest has (a) loser (sometimes several). All races have a first place finisher and a last place finisher. The last place finisher this weekend was me.
My excuse:
Westwood is notorious for being one big, long lap. The pal is itself about 10 miles, where a usual race course lap is closer to 5. At WW we were doing 3 laps for an ~30 mile race. The weather was perfect, cool, breezy, sunny, couldn’t be better. The trail was perfect as well, dry, not a single wet spot, if anything it was too dry (too dusty) in places. I usually go ride 1 lap of the course before the race to get a feel for it and refresh my memory of trouble spots. I didn’t really want to ride a whole 10mile lap to "warm up," but I did against my judgement. I knew I had made a mistake when I saw not another sole out there, but WW offers nowhere to turn in early as the course goes around the lake. If you turn off, you go into the lake. So by the time I finished pre-riding, I had been out nearly an hour and ridden about 10 miles and had about 10 minutes before I had to start er back up. Due to me cutting it fairly close, I forgot to take off my wedding ring, which pretty much has to come off to race MTB, as my grips and riding style cause it to dig into my finger and cause a) discomfort and b) me to mess w/ it constanly nearly sending into countless trees/gullies. Basically the cards weren't really good from the beginning.
My first and second laps were good, but at the beginning of the third, I knew it was a "just finish the f***ker" scenario. Anyone who came behind me I just pulled out of their way and let them by w/ no fight whatsoever. I knew I was done and didn’t want to hold up anyone else. SO I got beat by people that I usually beat, but I rode four laps of WW, and that’s serious business. Especially w/ three of them @ race pace (well, two and a half anyway).
So that was my weekend. And as for my title, well, someone has to be last. It’s the balance of things.
Big ups to my brother Evin who is now officially engaged to his long time girlfriend Lisa the librarian.

The Week

It’s been about a week, but I was gone to Chicago last weekend and Monday, so here’s my catch up.
Saturday Lindsay took me to Indy to get the bus to Chitown. We were looking for bus station, but it just left from a bus stop, so it was hard to find, but we did. The trip there was perfect. Straight shot, 3 hours exactly. I brought my Ipod and some magazines, so I was good. When I got there we walked around the city for a few hours and checked stuff out. I looked at the Sears Tower (and about fell over backwards, that thing is tall), we went to Millenium Park, which is a new park, I believe finished in 2004, in the heart of downtown. It’s really cool and has a lot of cool art-arcitecture. It wasa really nice day, so it was hella packed. Then still while downtown we ate at a Chicago deep dish pizza joint called Giordano’s or something. It was good. We got the deep dish spinach pie. We walked around downtown a little more, then took the subway to Evin’s place, about 2.5 miles w/nw of downtown. This was my first time on a subway and it was shoulder-to-shoulder packed with people. Most were wearing White Sox gear, so we figured a game had gotten out, but I’m not sure it’s baseball season right now. Anywho, Evin said that it is usually not so full and that was the busiest he’s seen it. We hung out at his place for awhile then walked around his borough (called Wicker Park) for a while, checking out record and book stores. Then we went to a Thai joint to eat and everything I ordered had some ingredient that I was allergic to. I wanted to steer away form the things I normally get at Thai places, but the first, like, 3 things I ordered had either oyster sauce or shrimp base, so I just stuck to safe old Pad Thai, which I seem to always end up with.
The next day was the day of the X/Rollins Band concert we were going to at The House of Blues. We grabbed a breakfast bite at a place called The Milk and Honey Café. Pretty good, but a little pricey. It was all we could find opened though. Then we went to the beach on Lake Michigan and hung for a while. It was nice and very big. After cruising around the beach we went to Greek Town and ate Gyro’s for lunch. Then we chilled at Evin’s pad for awhile and left for the show. The show totally rocked. Rollins was awesome, but I’ve seen them a few times (or maybe once??) before. I had never seen X and was blown away. They are amazing. Their guitar player, Billy Zoom, is as impressive as Pearlman on violin.
Then Sunday we walked around UIC, where Evin is working on his Masters, ate lunch in Greek Twon again, but at a place called Taco/Burrito King, which ruled, and I hit Union Station to wait for the bus. The bus ride back was not a fluid as there, with 2 stops. Our last stoop was in Zionsville, which is about 5 miles form Indy, so I was anxious to get going again. Finally we did, and here I am ( a few days later).
Tues: Rode State Forest loop hard, but solo, not knowing how the three days I took off wold leave me. I flet good and rode strong, I should have called people.
Wed: Rode Bottom Road loop @ tempo, but slightly higher tempo, ‘cause I still felt good.
Thurs: 4 hills ride, good, still feeling it.
Fri (today): Normal short easy day, felt sluggish. Maybe to be expected. Should have backed off last couple days. Oh well, tomorrow’s off, then MTB racin Sunday.
Man, that’s a long post. Sorry (and thanks) to those who have made it this far.

They did it again

Slayer’s new album came out this week and, once again, they’ve hit it on point. You think after 20 odd years of thrashing they’d be slowing down, but they’re still doing it like they’re youngsters. They’re still rocking in the (what I consider) 3rd stage of their sound, which started in 1994 w/ Divine Intervention album. Their other two phases, for those of you interested in my "history of Slayers sound(s)" lesson, is the first (‘83-’86), which is their totally thrashing, screaming metal phase. Second (‘86-93) hears a more mature 80’s early 90’s metal sound, but heavier than anything else that is even partially mainstream. And here we are (94-present) in their 3rd phase. Still thrashing, but older and wiser and never having compromised.
My week is over and I missed wed’s ride completely, shortened Tuesday, but was normal yesterday and today. Then it’s off to Chicago for a few days tomorrow. We’re going to see Rollins band and X at the House of Blues tomorrow night, hanging out Sunday, then I leave Monday.
The following weekend is the DINO MTB race at Westwood park, then the weekend after that is the IN stage race in Indy, which I will likely do. It’s a RR (though only a 2.5 mile course, so really a circuit race), then a 5 mile TT later Sat, then a crit Sunday. I know I have a no crit policy, but this has sweeping turns, rather than 90* w./ curbs and crap, so it should be (relatively) safe. That’s the plans…

Abrv.

This is no doubt and abbreviated week for me. W/ my trip up to Chicago and no racing, I am being lenient on the weeks work-outs.
Sunday I raced the IN St RR Championships and, I am not the IN St RR Champion. I am 8th down the line. This was decided on a course that definitely didn’t suite me well in Fishers, IN. The race was 6 laps over a 8.6mile course. So it was about 50 miles and climber 800 feet total (keep in mind, there are climbs down here that are around 300 feet in, like, 2 miles), so it was flat. It had one "hill" on the backside that probably took, say, 10 seconds to complete. This course profile kept the field together for the most part despite my (and others ) hard runs on the front trying to break it up. Add to this that the finish was an about ¾ miles, dead flat, wide open drag race down a highway, and my chances go pretty much down the drain. The last lap I spent most of on the front trying and trying to spread it out, as I knew hitting the ‘drag strip’ w/ a few guys would be my best chance, but to no avail. We hit the corner all intact. Of course, people started going way early and blowing up, so I made up some positions there (just by being smart), and crossed the line 8th. The race was taken my teammate Myron Lewis, who I turned out, really, to be working for, as he has a much stronger sprint than I do. So my work on the front was not for nothing, as it help him stay fresh and others have to scramble to stay in touch. And I could have jockyed in for another position or two, but in the mix of a 20 man sprint is not my place. So I stayed seated and pedaled my butt off and held my line.
Monday, then, was a nice recovery roller ride, although I didn’t feel bad at all after Sunday (maybe I didn’t go hard enough??).
Then Tuesday we had a planned morning ride w/ Ryan et. all, but the radar scared off everyone. I went out for a short (~17mile) solo jaunt and packed it in, as the sky was dark. I went into work early and that was that.
Today the radar is scarring me off, so I think I’m going to bag riding and go in early again. I hope to get in Thurs and Fri’s rides before leaving for IL. Then the following weekend is second to last MTB race of the year, so from IL it’s back to the training. I can use these few days off I’m taking. Even though I worry about being off, I know it’s not a problem, I’m just pretty obsessive about it all.

The Drunk on My Couch

So, w/ Lindsay’s new job she gets up earlier then me now. Yesterday she got up, went downstairs and came right back up. I was thinking as this was happening "what is she doing?" She woke me up and asked "do you know who the guy on our couch is?" I said "no." So I got up and got my knife that I carry (I hadn’t an idea what I was going to walk into), told her to wait upstairs and cam downstairs to find "a dude" on our couch, in his underwear, asleep. I did a quick survey of the scene and everything appeared in order (even the door was locked, which it obviously hadn’t been the night before, but the stranger DID lock it behind him). So, I try to wake him up by saying "dude," "dude." He opens his eyes, but shuts them right back. So I shake him some and say "dude, time to wake up". W/ this he sits up and I ask "do you know where you are?" him "do I know where I am?" me "I don’t think you do, you’re in my apt and I don’t know you." Him "aw man." Me "where are your cloths, dude?" him "aw man." Me "do you know where your pants are?" him "no man, it’s all good" (this turned out to be the only phrase he would say). So I walk over to the kitchen to further survey the scene and his pants are on the kitchen floor. Me "dude, I found your pants." He gets up to put them on and I ask "where’s your shirt?" him "aw man, it’s all good." Me "no man, your shirts not around here." I check to bathroom, behind the couch, etc and can’t find his shirt. I say "you didn’t go upstairs did you?" And he starts to head up the stairs to check and I stop him and say "you wait here, I’ll check upstairs" which I do, and can’t find a shirt. So I come right back down stairs and he’s back asleep so I get him up again and ask if needs to use the phone. Him "no man, it’s all good." Me "do you want me to call you a cab?" him "no man, it’s all good." Me "do you want me to get some water?" Him "no man, I’m cool." Me "do you need to use the bathroom." Him "no man, it’s cool." And I’m trying to be civil, but in my mind at this point I’m thinking, ‘well than get the f**k out!" I ask "do you have a car?" Hi "yeah it my sisters." Me "do you have the keys?" Him "yeah." So I extend my hand, help him up and, basically, push him out the door.
That was my morning yesterday. This situation could have been way worse for all parties involved. I like to consider myself a good, helping person and I try to act accordingly, but this dude could have stumbled into a place and gotten himself shot or beaten, or whatever. And our door (apparently) being unlocked could have (worst case) had some robber/killer wander in, or (still pretty bad case) this drunk dude could have puked all over and peed on the couch, etc... And I weren’t as cool under pressure as I ~try to be~, I could have called the cops first, and let them deal w/ it.
I’m guessing the dude either lives in this complex or stays w/ friends/girlfriend here and just got the wrong door. Poor irresponsible drunk.
Training wise I’ve gotten in a full week. I almost felt I could have wore arm warmers today. It was 66* when I left and it has been close to 90*. What a huge change.
I am going to race road this weekend, but I may need a small personal loan to afford gas to get to Indy. I’m glad I got my bus ticket to Chicago already ‘cause w/ gas jumping to $3.19 here and $3.49 in Chi-town, tix may go up too.

Hot couple of days

I’m not one to complain about heat (just cold), but I will mention it. It is HOT. And because a cooler front is moving I, it has been a windy past couple of days too. Yesterday I rode the Paragon loop alone and sweated tons. I was popping E-Caps (electrolite tablets) like candy. I don't sweat much, in general, but I was soaked head to toe and lost about 5 lbs in the 2:15 it took to ride the loop. I was starting to fade from the heat toward the end, which made me glad I was solo, so I could just roll in at my own pace. I knew at 4:00 this morning it took a lot out me because I woke up to pee and my legs were sore. That and, as I mentioned before, I can feel my in-season form waning. I usually schedule a few days off in July, but since I’m going up to Chicago to hang w/ my brother next week, I’m calling that my few days off instead. It’s coming later than usual, which is probably why I have that ‘not so fresh’ feeling. Plus I’m nursing what is 100% the worst saddle sore I’ve ever had. It’s been there nagging almost all year, but hardly even noticeable. That all changed after Sunday’s MTB race. That sucker got inflamed to hurts-to-sit-on-a-chair level and a mixture of showering, Gold Bond Medicated Powder and Assos Chamios Cream (no high mileage rider should be w/out this stuff) have gotten it back to normal in a few days time w/out costing me any rid time (just a couple uncomfortable rides).
Today I rode the Bottom Rd loop and rode a lot better than I expected to. Before I left the plan was sub-tempo, but I felt good and was pedaling fast, so I went w/ that instead. I have been drinking tons on the bike lately w/ the heat. I usually take a big bottle and a small bottle w/ me and don’t even finish the big bottle, but I’ve been taking 2 bigs and draining them both.
The weekend is supposed to cool down, so I’m still planning on IN St RR Champs Sunday.

Weekend report:

Sunday: DINO @ France Park, Logansport.
This was to be a hot one. This course has no real climbing and therefore isn’t really a great course for me. It odes have a few perfectly flat, open hammer sections where you just shift into your hardest gear and pedal for a mile or so, again, kind of favors bigger dude w/ bigger legs. Anywho, I got off to a not-so-great start (toward the back of the bunch) and rode steady. I knew conservative would be the word of the day w/ the heat. Problem is, a lot of the people I like to beat were riding less conservatively than I, and beat me. Overall though, I rode good and finished somewhere around 11th or so.
France Park has a beach area at the quarry there, so we all "went swimming" afterwards to cool down. It was about the greatest post race activity I could imagine. It brought my core temp down to normal in about 5 minutes, which in the heat would normally take a few hours probably. So swimming after racing = good.
After we left we went through Frankfort, to try to meet up w/ my parents, but they weren’t back from helping my brother move from WI to IL yet. So we ate some Taco Bell, stole some groceries and split. We got home around 6:00, which was nice, as I was beat after a 2 hour, 90-some degree hammer fest. I passed out for about ½ hour, which was perfect for a little rest.
Today was per normal, 1 hour easy spin on the rollers. Feeling fine, although my back was sore(ish) allover this morning form the roughness of the Logansport course. It has some sections that just beat the crap out of you, even with full suspension.
I’m now planning on racing the IN State Road Race Championships in Indy this weekend. I had planned on one more RR this year, but it was cancelled, so I’ll probably so do this instead. It starts retarded early, so I’ll probably go to Josh and Dan’s in Indy Saturday night and stay w/ them. This included, I’ve three races left this year (minus cyclocross) and I am thinking I an starting to feel my form slowly fading after hitting hard since Feb. I feel a little more sluggish a little more often and I don’t feel so guilty missing a work out due to weather or something. That’s to be expected though. I’ve been training since December and hitting the bike harder since Feb.
The Bloomington Downtown Criterium is this Saturday evening. I have to work until 6:00 p.m. (and further, I’d hate to violate my no-crit policy), so I won’t be racing, but I’m going to mozy over after work to watch. It should be a lot of fun.

Catchin Up

I’ve been using pretty much all of my morning time lately, so I’ve been slacking on posts. Today’s thunderstorms have forced upon me the opportunity to catch up though. I NEEDED to do laundry for one thing, and I need to wash my cycling cloths too. I should be able to get that done this a.m. I probably should vacuum the floors in here, well see if I get to that.

*Sunday:
Dan P and Josh P came down and we rode the Nashville 90. Again, this is such a sweet ride. Those 90 miles just roll by. Just before getting into Nashville (which is about 60 or so miles in) we past a dude and he latched onto us. He is a prof from IU in the exercise science dept (or something) and is training for Ironman UK in a few weeks. He is from the UK and seems like a good rider. He is a former pro triathlete and apparently holds some records at Hawaii on the run course or something. Anyway, by the time we picked him up, Josh P was dying, so we rolled in ssssllllloooowwww from NV to B-Town (about 17 mph) and just talked, so as to not destroy Josh P. It was kind of nice taking the last several miles easy, so to not be totally thrashed when you get in and start recovery earlier. Usually, we ride hard beginning to end. And it was still a good ride though, as the 90 seems to usually be. We stopped more than I’d like to (3-4 times), but some were to wait for Josh. Oh well, it was a nice day and we got in the miles. Dan P and I were both riding really strong, putting in these monster pulls of about 30-40 minutes each!

Monday:
I did my normal Mon 1 hr spin out the legs on rollers. I didn’t feel bad at all after the 90, but it’s still good to take it easy after a bigger effort, or the price may be paid later.

Tuesday:
Met w/ Shanny and Josh (B-Town Josh) and we rode North Shore, HARD. Basically, we rolled out to NS and I accidentally attacked on the big downhill. I was in front due to the climbs, and after descending I noticed I had gapped them, so I kept going and kept my gap for all of NS. Ryan said that once we got past the hills on hwy 45, he was going to ride as hard as he could in his hardest gear to New Unionville (about 8 miles or so I think). I thought to myself ‘great, after soloing NS, I’m dead.’ So when we got atop the climbs he shifted down, I tucked in and we hammered it out (well, he hammered it out and I sucked his wheel, but drafting at those speeds is still hard work!). We were rolling 27-29 on flats, ~24 uphill and 35-38 downhill. I hung on, and didn’t get dropped, which pumped me up, but it was hard.

Wed:
I needed to ride my MTB because I haven’t ridden it for about a month and I race this weekend. So I rode it out to Wapahani, did two laps of the race course and rode back, but really hard back. It was great work out and I got to ride tech MTB stuff. Plus I was only on pavement for probably 10 minutes of the 2 hours. I rode the Clear Creek rail trail, which isn’t entirely paved anyway, but where it is, I rode off the side of it on this real fine gravel. It was good for an MTB workout.

Today:
Chores, blog catch up, get MTB ready for weekend, work, etc…

*
Sunday was Lindsay and I’s 1 year anniversary. We went out Saturday night to nice Italian joint (Gratzie) and ate, then went to The Irish Lion for a drink. It was nice evening. It’s been a nice year.
So that’s so far. DINO MTB this weekend in Logansport. Fast course, should be good. I really want to race the St. Crispian RR this weekend over in Nashville, but I have series MTB points to earn. St. Crispian is on my turf, hilly Nashville, but it just isn’t going to work out this year. IN St RR Championships are next weekend (I think) though. I may go race that. It’s up on the North Side of Indy, so It’s probably flat, which doesn’t suit me well, but oh well, it’s racing!

(pretty) normal week

I haven’t written for few days because I haven’t had much to tell. The weather has cooperated, so I’ve been able to get in a full-normal week so far training wise. One little snag in it though, I got stung by a bee coming in from Wed’s ride. I am mildly allergic to it, so I swell far more than normal. I had just started climbing a minor hill (but hadn’t shifted out of my big ring yet) and I felt it sting my (left) ankle. I looked down and he (it) was in my shoe between my shoe and my ankle. So, climbing in my big ring, I am frantically trying to get my shoe off w/out falling over. My shoes have one Velcro strap, a buckle strap and a tension dial closure thingy, so it was very hard to get off while moving and w/ one hand, but I managed and go the bee out, unclipped the shoe from the pedal, put back on loose and started the climb on my big ring, which was hard enough as is, let alone w/ my ankle swelling to he size of softball. I’ve been elevating/icing it in the eve’s, but this thing is just going to have to work itself out, nothing is really helping. Today (Fri) I can feel the bone in my ankle again, so it’s going down. It should be about normal by Sunday, I would think. Sunday we have planned to do the Nashville 90 w/ some people form Indy coming down, but if that falls through, RS want’s to do a long cyclocross ride, which I’d be down with. My CX bike needs some work, as I commute on it everyday, but CX season isn’t too far off and a few CX rides would be good a) to change things up a little and b) to get out on the CX bike. We’ll see; the weather is supposed to be good, cooler than it has been and sunny…

New Ride

I decided last night to do a new ride this a.m. Not fully new, but riding the same roads in different configurations. I went out across South Shore drive (I was going to go across North Shore, but SS is so much easierJ ), then toward Nashville on hwy45, to Helmsburg Rd, but turned off of Helmsburg onto Lanam Ridge, which is another way to get through the Yellowwood Forest via climbing out of Helmsbrug onto Lanam Ridge, taking the ridge across back to Hwy 45. I google mapped it at about 43 miles, but my watch reported about 41. Whatever. It wasa good ride and climbing up Lanam Ridge is always tough. This would be a good ride to do via North Shore of you want a lot of climbing, or via South Shore if you want more ‘flat.’ Then again, the road that leads to SS from Old Hwy 37 (Robinson road) is solid climbing form Old 37 to the connector for SS (tunnel Rd.), so I don’t really know that NS is more climbing, just different climbing. I left about 8:30 and the temps were good. I did drink more than normal, but I think I’m coming off a little dehydration after being out all day Saturday and riding in the thick of the heat Sunday. Oh well, I felt fine and ride good.
Congrats to Big Tim Green on his first ever Endurathon. I wasn’t around to see him finish, but I did give him some cheers on transitions. Just to finish that sucker in that heat is something special. I almost bonked watching!

Muncie Edurathon; Nashville 90*

Friday:
I left work an hour early to hit the road to Muncie for the Endurathon half Ironman triathlon Saturday. I had several friends competing and wanted to go watch them and see all of my old peeps in M-Town. We rolled into town about 7:30 and parked in front of the coffee shop downtown that outs on an outside party every Friday night in the summer w/ bands and stuff. I had to go to the Endurathon expo to get my parking pass and stuff, but right when we pulled up I saw a few people I wanted to talk to, so I hung out for while, then went to the expo. Of course, while at the expo I saw about a million other people I knew and had to/wanted to talk to, so I ended up there for a good while too. Linds and I were staying at Luther and Jaynes house, so we eventually retired there and got to bed around 11:30. I had to be at the Endurathon at 5:30 to set up my work stand and stuff to give mechanical support to the athletes. I didn’t sleep real well, but whatever, it’s out of town, I went to bed at 11:30 and had to get up around 4:30, what should I expect.
Saturday:
I was pretty busy with fixing and checking people’s bikes this year. I have not been in the past, so it was a change. I missed the start, but once the transition area closed, my work was done (no outside help once the race starts). So I got to watch after that. It was a good race, considering the heat. My old Muncie homie Zach Ruble won, but was penalized for improper bike racking and ended up second on a technicality. Sucks for him (cost him $500), but rules are rules.
After the race I went home to Luther’s and put on my riding cloths, despite the mid 90’s heat and went for a ride. I went around the resevoir, but came in Smithfield because there were still people finishing the race and I didn’t want to interfere that by going across the start/finish area. It was good to ride in Muncie, but sooooo different than what I’m now used to. You can ride hard there, but you have to pedal hard the whole time to achieve that. It makes good TTer’s I suppose. Here you just have to ride to ride hard. My 30 mile ride climbed 340 feet (this will be important later). The plan was to stay Saturday night and ride Sunday w/ a group of guys. That plan didn’t end up panning out for travelling reasons, so Linds and I drove back Saturday night and got here around 1:30am.
Sunday:
I rode to Nashville. I teased the title by calling tit the "Nashville 90" because it was so stinkin hot. I really just went the normal routes, over Bear Wallow hill. (note form earlier, my ride in Muncie was 340’, BW hill gains 300’ in about 2 miles! So basically, I climbed the amount of feet I climbed in the whole 30 mile ride in Muncie over a 2 mile hill in Nashville!) I left around noon, and it was hot and sunny. On the return route, when I hit Trevolac (about 10 miles to go) I fell apart. I just shifted into my small ring and pedaled along at 17mph and coasted down all hills, just trying to make it home. The heat broke me yesterday. I felt like crap for most of the day afterwards, but I put in my normal 1 hour spin on rollers this am and feel fine.

...killing me softly...

I’m so good at bitching about the weather, so…the past few days are killing me. When I got up today to ride it was raining and totally wet form overnight rain, so I decided I wasn’t going to ride because I didn’t want to get soaked and get my equipment soaked. So I decided I would clean out our car, which I’ve been meaning to do for about 6 months and just haven’t done. So I got a bag and went at it. I got all the trash out and was going to go the car wash to vacuum I tout, but it had cleared some, so I suited up and set. My plan was to go out to the flashing light on hwy 446 and back to get a time for that ride for future reference(s). I got out to the Paynetown S.R.A. and the southern sky was looking pretty dark and the wind was stiff coming up for the south, so I decided to turn around there, rather than keep going an end up in a storm. Of curse, it didn’t storm, but unbeknownst to me, riding to the flasher and back would have been a 40 or so mile ride, and since I left late it would have put me home too late to still make my lunch, etc. and get to work on time, so I guess it was good I turned in. I got in a little over an hour, so whatever.
Right now it’s pouring, but it’s supposed to clear, so hopefully I can get it some freaking training this week! Then our "vacation" this weekend (to Muncie). I’m calling it our vacation because work/financial/athletic restraints keep us form actually doing anything and going anywhere. And I’m not complaining either. Really, I chose the life live, and I don’t go places and do things because it hampers my real interests, so really, I’m not complaining. But Muncie for a "vacation," huh?

Rained out...sorta

The forecast looked bad for today from a few days ago. I haven’t seen the strong storms yet, but it has rained. The radar looked like I had window to get it a shorter ride, so I suited up and set out. I didn’t get far. I got about a mile away and it started raining. It was enough to cover my glasses and make me wet and pissed, so I turned around. I thought to myself I would do a good stretching session in place of the ride because I don’t race for a couple of weeks and a day off won’t kill me (even though I had an interrupted week last week due to my back). I got in and decided to lace up my running shoes instead. I haven’t run since (probably) Nov or Dec, as that is off-season work for me. I ran for about 18 minutes and my legs are already sore. 18 minutes may not seem long, but that’s my middle distance run when I’m running. I just hate running; hurts to bad.
So I got home and stretched really god to (try to) keep the legs loose and my back in line. Plus I elevated my legs for about 5 minutes to jump start the lymphatic system (the body’s sewer). The rest of the forecast looks okay, barring the heat/humidity returning, so I should be able to get out on the bike in the coming days.
Then I’m headed to Muncie this weekend to cheer friends at the Endurathon half ironman. We’re going to ride in Muncie on Sunday, which will be fun because I haven’t been back at all, let alone to ride, since we moved about a year ago. It will be so different to ride there now after riding down here on hill country for a year. Plus it will cool to catch up with the peeps…

Nashville 90 (pretty much)

First off, my back is back to normal. It always hurts a little, so that’s normal.
I did the Nashville 90 today. All of the group originally planned faded for whatever reason, so I went it alone. I have to say, this is hands down the best long ride around. The roads are excellent and the hills are moderate. It’s not too hard. Plus it’s the easiest route imaginable for 90 miles. It turn, like, twice. One of the turns, you turn off of SR 58 onto SR 135 and the first thing you see is a sign that says "Nashville 26 miles." You’re headed north at that point and today the wind was coming form the north. Not too hard, but enough o be a nuisance. Overall, though, it’s a great ride. I titled this w/ the (pretty much) because I had about 86 miles by the time I got done. I took a little different route through Yellowwood St Forest that cut off a couple miles, but added some climbing. A big ride like this is always hard the first time you do it and don’t’ know the route, plus doing it alone. My speed was a little lower than I would have liked, but I can’t complain too much being solo and not knowing the "course."
Here’s the stats:
85.3 miles
4 hours 29 minutes
3419’ climbing
av speed 19.2
av HR 158
And I was stopped for a total of 3 minutes. 1 to pee and 2 to water up at a gas station. I hate stopping.
Sweet ride if you have the time.

And I was stopped for a total of 3 minutes. 1 to pee and 2 to water up at a gas station. I hate stopping.
Sweet ride if you have the time.
Lindsay and I went out and ate Tibetan food last night at The Snow Lion. It is the restaurant owned by the brother of the Dali Lama or something. It was good for sure, but I ordered a "4" hotness on the 1-5 and I should have gotten a "5." I douse all of food in either Franks Red Hot, Sriarcha or Buffalo brand Mexican hot sauce and I think I’ve built up a big tolerance for hot. I do love good hot food though.