Smoked Like a Cheap Cigar

Well not quite the race results I was hoping for but there was a good side to the 8th Place finish out of 12 at the Pig. After bumming about the 7 guys who finished between 2-6min in front of me I checked out the standings and discovered the same individuals were the top six in the class and had competed in at least 7 out of the 8 races this season so that made me feel better about the finish seeing as it was my first race since the 1st GSC race and I had only been back on the trails for 2 weeks. Anyway the race was fun I enjoyed the trail and the support was great! Thanks to all the volunteers out there on race day and who fixed the trail up before the race it was great. What was really cool was the soldiers that were out there on the trail for the Race, they were down from Fort Benning on medical hold before they completed basic training, all of them are training for 11B which for those of you that don't know is infantry, I had my Army Jersey on and these guys parked out on the top of Chandlers Challenge and provided the motivation I needed to ensure I didn't walk up the hill both laps it rocked!! Not sure if the Drill SGT is a biker or what but when I was talking to him and the troops he said the saw the flyer and decided to get the soldiers out of the barracks for the day and brought them down pretty cool in my opinion! Anyway I am getting ready for my first solo event this weekend as long as Ernesto doesn't ruin the 13hrs of Santos Checked out the tent and got the 130mm fork put on the TrailBlazer to ensure a pluuuussshhh ride on the trail still taking the Optygen and hydrating as much as possible. Got the new bike rack in today and tried it out seems to fit pretty good if your looking for a trunk or hatch back rack the Saris Bones rack is a good one I know The Bike Store has one in stock for someone needing a two bike rack. I am planning to go out to Thompson tomorrow and ride a couple of laps to loosen up between PT all week and riding tomorrow I figure I should be ok I will be out there in time to preride on Saturday since the race isn't until Sunday just trying to stay loose in between races, I have one every weekend through the 24hrs of Pisgah before I call it a short season Well I have gone on long enough thanks for reading and if you happen to be out there tomorrow or Riding at Santos On Sunday I will See You on the Trail!

Back to Work

Well after enjoying my R&R time since I returned, riding the trails, buying new cars, getting ready for the race on Sunday it is now time to return to work. Looking forward to it, son and wife already back in school need to get back to being productive here. Rode out at Thompson last night must have arrived there shortly after it rained however the trail seemed to soak it up pretty well and the only really slick part was the roots. Ran two laps around the trail and am getting closer to my times before I left so that was good to see. Trying out a endurance enhancing product called Optygen from First Endurance loading phase has me taking 6 capsules every morning for a week - I don't blink until lunch I am so wired, add to cups of coffee and I am ready to bounce off the walls! Not sure if that is a intended affect but it is there none the less. Signed up for the begginer class at the last GSC Race at the Pig so will be looking forward to trying out the new bike in the race. Still looking at bike racks Charles is looking into Saris for me to see what I will need without breaking my bank. Well weather permitting head out to the trail one more time tomorrow before the race and run some time laps see how its looking and stretch the legs out so if Your out there about that time I will See You on the Trail!

Sunday Rides and Roof Rack Shock

Plenty of these out there Sunday Morning!

Well was the first one out at the Pig Sunday morning so I got to play web catcher on the first lap. Not sure but I think the spiders are conspiring to see if they can get enough webs in a row they can cacoon the first rider thru working together! The trail clean up and taping was good easy to find your way around and the work done to level out a small tricky area was pretty good, there is a switchback turn that could use some tape just to identify it little tricky and kinda hidden, since I wasn't there to help prep I will just say thanks to those that did and I will come out on Saturday to help with prep then, the trail looks great. Still getting used to the TrailBlazer, but definitely seem to be able to handle it a little better in the tight areas and technical stuff still debating on the fork change will probably leave it for the Pig race and change it out for the 13hrs of Santos. Now on to the Roof Rack, looking at the prices for those setups and going into sticker shock, didn't realize they where so expensive, doing some shopping around may look at ebay, anyone having recommendations based on there usage is welcome to provide feedback here as I am still looking for a good deal on a good rack. Well this week I will be getting ready for the race using the guidance provided by Joe Friel in his book The Mountain Bikers Training BibleI will need all the help I can get, the four months on the stationary bike didn't do much to help my times on the trail I am finding out so we will see how it turns out. Will be doing some limited race focused riding this week so if your out and about at the same time I will See you on the Trail!

Value vs Vanity

Well it is done, the easily recognizable beautiful green fully loaded - Gas guzzling Chevy Silverado is gone. Traded to make way for the fuel pump friendly and more financially viable Saturn Vue, guess I can't have my bikes and the Silverado, so I had to choose, and to tell ya the truth I like the fact that I can drive from Bonaire to Macon and not burn $20 in gas so I am sure I will be able to adjust. Anyway I had another revelation last night as well it appears that the measurements were incorrect that I have been believing these past three years and I have been riding a 18" Frame,(those that know how short I am can attest to that being entirely to big of a frame for me) so that has shed some light on to why adding the extra 25mm of fork on to that has caused me some grief handling the bike thru the turns, at least that would seem to make sense to me in my limited knowledge of handling and suspension on forks and steering. So I am tossing around the idea of switching the 130mm over to the new 16.5" frame I bought and see if that maybe hits a happy medium with what I am used to riding and what I should be riding and have now, plus that would even out the front and rear to 5" of travel all the way around. Not sure how much difference it will make as there is only 1 degree if difference in the head angle of the two frames but I am leaning towards doing it anyway. Will probably owe Charles another 12 pack of Sweet Water or Sierra Nevada as he will have to change over the Hopes on the front fork for me well not to much new have to get a new bike rack for the Vue looking for a roof top rack, wife doesn't want me sticking a bike rack on the hatchback and I don't have a trailer hitch but for what they are asking for the Thule System I could probably buy the trailer hitch mount and get a rack for the same amount just wouldn't be used for anything but the bikes(The Vue has a four cylinder, power vs economy, guess who won). Anyway I will be out at the Pig tomorrow bright and early hope someone beats me out there don't feel like web catching on the first lap but may have to suck it up. So if your up and feeling motivated to ride I will See you on the Trail!

TrailBlazing at Thompson

Verdict is still out on whether the Bling-Bling was worth the $Cha-Ching$ for these beauties
Well once again back out to old faithful on Monday Morning this time on the TrailBlazer. Could be just me but definitely a noticable difference in the ride between a 2005 Marzocchi MX Pro ETA 130mm fork (can't have a blog w/o a link, Charles would be disappointed!) and the 2003 MX Pro ETA 105mm fork, stuck the turns much better and just seemed more in control overall, could be that I have ridden that for the last three years and am use to it or it could be the overall bike setup - whatever it is I have to say I like the shorter travel better on that aspect of the ride. However,(there is always a however) I must need to adjust the air or compression on the 105mm because I definitely maxed the travel on it!(zip tie on the left stanchion said so!) not sure if I did that on the three drops or that B E A utiful drop in at the end of the downhill run on the backside regardless neither of which are so radical I should be using that much travel, in my opinion but maybe. Course all my talk may just be to see if maybe I want to actually try out the multi knob, need a degree in pnuematic engineering with a minor in hydraulics, to set correctlyFox Float 130mm XTT. Well heading out to the Pig tomorrow with Charles and a whole bike gang of people to get some laps in out there hopefully 3 and might even go tool around Thompson tonight just for some seat time and some S&G's not pushing it to hard just working the handling skills hopefully won't be eating to much dust come the 27th out at the Pig. Looks like Sunday will be my ride day for this weekend so somewhere in one of those days hopefully I will See You on the Trail!

Yea I know she's adorable and she knows it, Anyway it was a good week back went out to the Pig with Charles, Andrew and Steve, got there late cause I overslept but did a lap on my own on the TrailBlazer, sweet bike and great trail, that is going to be a fun race, bike is lighter and smaller than I am used to but that is probably a good thing since everything I have read or been told is that I am riding a frame to big and to tell you the truth I can handle the new bike better even though it is supposedly the same size frame however, the triangle and geometry are noticable different. I would say the ETSX-70 Bonfire is built more for racing than the 2003 ETSX-30is. However I took old faithful out to Thompson on Thursday and did two laps around that trail to test out the handling skills again, the cut that they put into the 3 drops hill is wicked fast coming out of there and their is a nice drop off on the left side of the hill just after that climb Don added last winter, that is sweet, maxed out the travel on the 130mm Bomber I put on the bike before I left. Still getting my skills fine tuned but managed to stay on the bike and upright thru the two laps just ran a little slower than I am used to but figured that would be the case when all I rode all summer was a stationary! Well hopefully will get another day out at the Pig again this week and might shoot to get out to E. Macon as well, with a Dauset ride either Saturday or Sunday so hopefully somewhere in there I will See You on the Trail!

I'm Back in the Saddle Again!

Thats right folks he's back!! Well it is good to be home and looking forward to riding again, hitting th Pig in the morning with Charles and some friends can't wait to see how the TrailBlazer handles I know I said I was going to refresh my skills on the Rock but just can't wait to ride the new bike so I am taking it out there and giving it a spin. It is good to be back home and while the humidity is a kicker man is it great to see green again. We will have to see if all the wieght training and the stationary riding paid off can't believe I was able to wait three days to go riding but after 4 months I guess that isn't that long. Anyway glad to be back and will try to keep my avid readers entertained and informed of my riding adventures, mishaps and success's. As always I will see You on the Trail!