Wow, never make fun of roadies again!

Seeing as I was getting pushed up half the hills we rode by someone 10yrs my senior as we were doing about 15mph and he was talking like he was on a casual ride and I was huffing like I was on the last hill at ORAMM! Just want to give a big thanks to Eddie and Shane, wouldn't have made it without you guys! That was quite a ride the WBL started up this week. I am trying to add that missing dimension to my training so out I went, I heard road riding helped with your speed and aerobic abilities boy did these guides prove it! I am getting a road bike so I can continue to participate seeing as that was one of the more difficult rides I had done in a while I figure if I can get to a point where I can hang with these guys I should be doing pretty well come race season. We had a good group and everyone was really great about giving me some pointers on how to ride with the group and not be the spaz nobody wants to be near(I tried to keep those skinny little tires as straight as possible!) Anyway I am looking forward to the next ride this Sunday where I will try to cut down on the arm workout I provide for others. So if your out there I will See ya on the Road!

Road Bikes and WBL Training Rides

Well it has been a whole week of nothing but the ab wheel twice a day no riding or running due to a encounter with a baby gate and my pinky toe. Hard to imagine that a little pinky toe could stop ya from doing so much but dang breaking that toe is painful! Anyway I will be hitting the road with the WBL Group tomorrrow on a Trek 2.1 road bike I am borrowing from Jesse(actually his Father) from TBS Macon. Took it out on a test ride around the neighborhood this evening after putting my Candy Pedals on it and those skinny little tires are pretty skitish - it oughta be interesting tomorrow so I am looking forward to it, at least I should be able to hang speed wise with the group so we shall see how it works out. Still planning on heading out to Dauset for the festival and not sure if it will be viable to go up to Razorback for the retirement weekend that is definitely a unfortunate situation to be losing that trail, it was a good trail. So that is about it for now not sure if I will be trail or road riding this week for the most part hopefully the toe heals up quickly I am getting fatter as the days go by I can feel it! So if it is on the road or on the trail I will see ya on the Bike!

What if I couldn't ride a Rocky Mountain..........?

Well that is a question that was given one possible answer on Wednesday out at Thomson. I was originally planning on doing the group ride from The Bike Store on the road however I had to change plans when nobody showed up(One of the reasons I ride trail, don't have to wait on anyone). So since I had the road tires on the hardtail that wasn't a option, however the Trek Top Fuel 8 was looking pretty sharp sitting on the Saris Themla 3 rack in the store so I hit Charles up to demo it since that was what it was there for. So we put some pedals on it and I headed out to Thomson for a ride. The frame was 17" with about 3.5" of travel all around with mid level components all around except the SWEET Fox RL fork in the front. It is about 2lbs lighter than the Rocky and due to the fact it has 1.5" less travel it has a noticeably lower Stand over height. On the trail the Trek suspension turned Thompson into a fairly smooth trail absorbing all the roots and bumps the trail dished out fairly comparable to the ETSX. The combined weight and suspension set up made this bike handle like it was on rails! I took it through turns as comfortably as the ETSX and while I took it easy on some of the downhill portions, I still maxed out the travel, it felt like it could handle everything the trail had and then some. I felt like I could go faster on the trail due to the lighter weight and good handling capabilities. If I was in the market for a new full suspension that would fit into a XC race season as well as enjoyable riding this bike would definitely be in the running and for the set up it is a pretty good deal at $2500. Since The Bike Store in Warner Robins, or Macon carries Trek you could easily pick one up from either location. Well that is my humble and limited opinion on the bike but don't take my word for it go Demo it for yourself and if you happen to be out there at the same time I am I Will See You on the Trail!

Cruising, on a Sunday Afternoon

On such a B E A Utiful afternoon how could one not get out and ride somewhere? Since I had a change of timing but not necessarily a change in plans I headed out to Dauset around noon after a late breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Once I got there I was one of many riders who decided it was a great day to be on the trail, unloaded and headed out. The trail was in great condition, even some of the way back stuff had been cleaned up so the trail wasn't covered by pine needles or leaves. Huff and Puff was fun as always managed to cruise thru it pretty consistently. I had just done some work on the bike on Thursday adding some STAN's Tubeless to the back tire to refresh it and keep the tire inflated, also pulled the seat post out took it apart and cleaned it off in a last ditch effort to find out what was causing the irritating creaking on the bike. Well that seems to have done the trick cause I did the entire 17 miles of Dauset and not a single creak out of the bike wish I would have tried that earlier. It was a extremely enjoyable ride got back into a comfort zone on this ride with more time in the saddle after Thomson and started adding some more speed and catching some more air. What was also nice was the tempature, for the first time since April I didn't get on the bike and be soaking with sweat by the end of the first mile! Well it was a good start to the week as I got that ride in and then a 3 mile run this morning so training is getting back on track still looking forward to getting on the road as well for some good training rides also. Looking to hit the group ride on Wenseday again as that was a good ride last week so if your out there the I Will See You on the Bike! Thanks for reading

 

P.S. If you're a movie watcher and like horror movies DO NOT
rent BUG that movie sucked!

Road Ride Casual

Well after a Monday out at Thompson which was really enjoyable, I hadn't been on the trail in over a month so worked the rust out. Trail showed a little bit of wear from the rain but overall is in good condition. The Stans Tubeless must have been dried up because the tire kept going flat by the end of the lap so I had to stop and re inflate it. Anyway it was a good ride kept it a little conservative on the speed just to get back into the trail without ending up on the trail. Today was the casual group ride we had eight riders in the group and a new rider from Idaho out for the ride. We headed out for the 26 miler and about the 7th mile the new guy decided it was time to pick it up so we had a pretty good pace for most of the ride. While I was able to hang pretty well with the group on flats and downhills the up hills caused me to drop back a little but considering I was on the Vertex hardtail with road tires I didn't feel to bad and finished up with the group at a 17.5mph average. The ride left me questioning my sanity in attempting to do the WBL rides on the mountain bike so I may be in the market for a road bike here shortly if anyone has a bike they are looking to sell at a reasonable price I am in the market just remember I am only 5'4" tall. Well that is about it for now hoping to get a ride in on Sunday morning or afternoon just not sure if it will be trail or road so were ever it happens to be I Will See You on the Bike! Thanks for reading

Back again

"The newest Lazy Boy Water Chair"

Hello all, well it was a short trip this time, out and back in less than 45 days so it wasn't too rough. Had a good month got back into my running(wow I need some work there my times really fell off on my run!) did some eliptical training and also got in some spin class. The spin class was pretty cool I had never tried them before and saw the benifit of the classes and look forward to getting some more in the next time I head out there. Anyway I am back home and going to looking forward to getting training for the 2008 season, still looking for that elusive 1st podium finish so to that end I am going to try and structure my training a little more this off season. I am also going to try and apply some diet adjustments this year and see if I can't drop a few pounds and try to improve the strength to weight ratio see if that helps. Well with the way the weather is around here and in a effort to expand my training regiment it is more likely you will see me on the road here in the near future than the trail so were ever it is I will see you on the Bike!