Dropped like Michael Vick from a Nike Commercial!

Well I have fallen behind before in a ride but always been able to get pulled back up before I lost the group however today that was not the case. For the first time in my vast experience of 4 group rides I was dropped and then subsequently lost. So after missing the left turn I should have made that I didn't see(my bad as well I failed to print the map) I continued straight on RT 42 for about 7 miles until I finally decided that I would have come across someone by now so I turned around and headed back to the last known position, Forsyth. So by the time I went back to Forsyth I had 56 miles on the Garmin and decided rather than try to get back to Macon I would just call the wife have her drive out and pick me up. Charles who asked me if I wanted to go ride with the group today and James another rider spent a good hour checking the route for me so they did attempt to locate me once they got back and realized I wasn't there so I appreciate that. The first half of the ride was pretty good the group got doing some pace line work which started my demise as we hit the hills. I really need to work on my climb strength that seems to be my primary weakness because I can hang on the flats and I have never had any issues with downhills. However I am not deterred, just more determine to get up to speed with these guys I figure it has to help the MTB Racing if I can get up to speed with the road guys enough to hang for the entire ride. The technique of tempo riding is a interesting one, most situations I fly down the hills no brakes getting as much speed as possible for the impending uphill. With these rides I am breaking all the way down the hill to stay off the guys wheel in front of me and spinning earlier to get up the hill but it definitely makes ya work for it up the hill. I did get some good cookies though due to the fact that I was dropped so I was lucky there they were some good cookies, Thanks Steph. Well this week will be a couple of more short rides during the day a night ride on Wenseday with Charles and a ride this upcoming weeked which will probably be the last road ride I do on the weekends as I will be road riding for a few months after Christmas so I will be looking to get some trail time in before then. But for the near future I Will See You on the Bike!

Dauset or Road this weekend, Hmmmm?

Well been a little while,(over a week) since my last post and has been a eventful week. The Good news is I was selected for MSG by the board so I will be getting promoted sometime in the future, hopefully near future. The drawback to that good news is with that promotion comes a guaranteed PCS to a new duty assignment so come this time next year I will definitely be somewhere else. Anyway as far as riding and training goes I had a good week last week, ran 3 days for a total of 10 miles and rode 50 miles during the course of the week and the WBL ride on Sunday for 57 miles. This week has been a little less with the holidays coming and all the arraingements that have to be done so looks like a Wednesday night ride with Charles and either a trail or road ride this weekend haven't made up my mind on that yet. I will probably see if anyone is going to do a group ride on the trail and what time and see if that fits the schedule and then make my decision so whatever the outcome I will See You on the Bike and thanks for reading.

"hmmm, what gear should I wear and how can I get these gloves on??"

Dauset Festival

Well it was a good day at the Dauset Festival today I headed out about 0730hrs and was there by 0900hrs. I had plenty of gear and the bike and everything loaded up the night before so I was well prepared for the day and looking forward to it. I think the last time I was at Dauset was about a month ago so I was ready to hit the trail. we had a good showing of riders to begin the day with and it only got better as the day went on. So we started out with a good size medium group and me as the group leader-first time for everything since I hadn't been a ride leader before. I tried to keep everyone together while making it a fun and challenging ride for all. Based on the feedback I guess I did a half way decent job of it. We did the entire loop and were back in time for lunch, which was some Delicious firehouse sandwiches. After that I relaxed for a hour or so and then got some clean riding clothes and hit the trail again, this time it was solo cause everyone was out riding already and I wanted to do Huff and Puff again(not a popular choice the first time!). This time I kept a fairly steady pace, eliminated the stops and rode straight thru the whole route so I completed it in 28min..... oh wait no I mean 1hr and 51min. Had to head back home after that so I didn't get to make the weekend of it but it was great to get back on the trail again and 34 miles on Dauset at any decent pace is a pretty good work out. Tomorrow will be a day of rest and relaxation and I will probably hit Thomson on Monday since I have it off(don't forget to thank a Vet)and will be out there early enough that it won't be dark before I finish. So if your out there I Will See You on the Trail! Meanwhile here are some pics of today's festivities.

Good Week for Riding

Well this was a good week for riding at the Houghtling House. After Sundays ride I took Monday off and recovered, on Tuesday I was able to get in a hour of PT in and did 15.9 miles at 16.9mph avg, Wednesday I did a couple laps around the airfield for 15.6 miles at 17mph avg and then Wednesday night received a call from Charles to do some intervals which was pretty fun it was pretty cold out there at 9:30pm, 37 degrees to be exact. Today I went out and did the C group route for 21 miles at 18.3mph avg I started at 4:45pm and by the time I wrapped up 1hr and 9min later according to the Garmin it was getting dark. The kicker was I decided that I would be warm enough with the short sleeve jersey and the wind vest, well two miles into it I realized that decision might have been a little off. Well since I was already out there I was going to suck it up and I managed to keep myself somewhat warm. I also realized why riding alone(particularly road riding) was not such a good idea but ya do what you gotta. I am looking forward to this weekend out at Dauset I will be out there Saturday for the festival days and since I haven't been on the trail in about two weeks I am looking forward to getting some dirt and catching some air. So if your out there riding I Will See Ya on the Trail!!

Rockin the Trek 1000SL

Well the Trek 1000 came in on Friday and Charles put in together and had it ready to go for me that night and ride planned on Saturday morning. So at 0730hrs (and yes it was cold!)out we went for some intervals. Now knowing Charles natural speed and the fact I have never trained intervals with a plan I figured to have a pretty good workout in store for me. I was not let down that was some good training and gave me a good feel on the new bike for Sundays ride with the WBL. We had beautiful weather for the ride and I was looking forward to a good workout. Since the bike is the flare orange I figured what the heck I would wear my OMBA gear which matched it nicely(I may not be fast but I look good!). I recieved several compliments on the bike which I purchased from The Bike Store in Warner Robins. Well we headed out and started out with some problems as Collin had a mechanical which caused a wreck and a injury, hopefully he is ok. So we got going again without incident and were cruising at a good pace even with the occasional wind. I was considering getting up front and pulling for a little while but Eddie gave me some advice I was thankful for later, which was to not worry about pulling on my second ride and save my energy we still had a way to go. This would prove critical as I had a couple of times were Shane had to drop back and pull me back up to the group, thanks Shane. Jesse was also very helpful in keeping me up with the group and riding with me when we took the shortcut at the end. Since this was my second road ride with the group I felt pretty good I hung with the group for the most part, only got pushed up part of one hill and didn't hold the group up to much. Overall had a 19.4mph pace and did 54miles total and felt like I had a great workout with good efforts and good riding. This week I plan on doing a couple of hour training rides during the week and hitting the group ride on Wenseday and the Dauset Festival on Saturday so I will miss this weeks ride on Sunday but I will be back the following week. So depending on the day I will See You on the Bike!

The Hours of Power

Well been a uneventful week as far as trail riding haven't gotten any in and don't look to this weekend either. Not a problem though since the broken toe is preventing me from running it has given me a excuse to ride the bike during PT. So over the past three days I have gotten in a hour of riding each morning on the Vertex to help get me in better condition for the Sunday WBL rides. The Trek 1000 should be in tomorrow so I am looking forward to trying that out on Sunday. Moments like these make me realize that the phrase "I will never...." is a set up for contradiction somewhere in the future. I have come full circle from a individual who stated "I can't believe anyone would pay that much for a bike.", then "I only want to trail ride" to now, "when does that road bike come in?" But I guess as we expand our horizons, push out our goals and try to improve ourselves we find ourselves trying things we didn't think we ever would - good to know I can still learn something new even at the young age of almost 40. Anyway got in 4 rides all about 16 miles each steady pace and was able to use my lights since it is still dark at 0600hrs in the morning, so hopefully I will show some improvement on Sundays ride. So if your out there I will See You on the Road!