WHITE Christmas

Well it was a good Christmas visiting my in-laws up in the artic......I mean Michigan. Travel was interesting both on the way up and back as we ran into a snow storm on the way up and on the way back near zero visibility fog and heavy rain. I managed to get in two running days while I was up there considering the conditions the runs took a little longer than they would have down here. Anyway I am back at the house now and looking forward to the Snake Creek TT coming up on the 3rd so I am going to get in the New Years Day ride to get a few miles in before the TT which should be a good challenge to start the season with. So I will leave you with some pics of the White Christmas I enjoyed and I Will See You on the Trail!

B-E-Autiful Weather for a Road Ride

Well it is Great weather for spring, let alone the middle of December and a beautiful day for a ride which is exactly what we had today. Hit the road around 1430hrs for a 45miler enjoyed a casual pace for the most part with some good downhill sections I managed to hit 48mph going down the one hill it rocked! Tried out the new Sigma ROX 9.0 for the first time it is a great computer that monitors just about everything from speed to temperature. Have to work out the ride log setting since I didn't get it this ride but will be able to set it so I can do the graphical display for the transfer to the laptop so I can analyze the training. it should be a useful tool to get ready for this season. anyway this is short I am getting ready to head to MI for the week so I will be doing some cold weather running to keep in shape. so here are some picks and Merry Christmas to everyone. I Will See You on the Trail!

Hit and Miss riding

The sleeping herd of Dauschunds

The Three ladies of the herd

Working out the setup on the FS


Hello all, well it has been a while since I had anything to post and really don't have much to post today just want to keep the site a little updated. Since I have last posted I have trail rode once at Thompson - still working on the set up on my FS to get rid of some back pain - and hit the rode about a half a dozen times mostly short rides with a 50miler this past Sunday starting from The Bike Store. It was a good ride with just about a 17mph pace and was pretty enjoyable, since that was my first group ride in about 4 months I was just looking for a good cruising ride to loosen up the legs and get some pedalling in. Looking forward to the Snake Creek TT coming up in January, don't think it is going to be a better time - at least in January since my training regiment has been less than consistant or stellar! Either way I am looking forward to a good time up there and definitely bringing the Craft base layer stuff for the cold! On a more important note my wife has just about accomplished her first goal in her nursing carreer of graduating from the LPN program at CGTC! She has done a outstanding job and is going to be a great nurse. All her instructors have said the same thing as she displays how much she loves working in the field of nursing it is evident even as she goes through class. This is very important in the promoting of my career goal after I retire from the military of being a stay at home Dad and a Bike Bum, she is going to have to make enough to keep me in Rocky Mountain Bikes and top of the line accessories! Anyway training for the next week or so will have to consist of running (in the snow) as we are going up to Michigan (YEA!) for the holidays so should I not get the chance to post again before I go Have a Happy Holiday and when I get back I Will See You on the Bike!

Dauset Pics II

Dauset Pics

Our Fearless leader taking us through Huff and Puff!

Monte thought he would take a recovery day to ride slow enough so us mere mortals could keep him in sight(I however was unable to do that for any distance greater than a mile)

A few group pics before we headed out

Winter Wheeling

Well it may not be snowing but boy it is pretty chilly out there. Been a while since I posted keeping busy with work, school and everything around the home while still trying to get in some riding. Dauset festival was a good time I enjoyed helping out with registration and course marshalling as well as leading a group ride afterwards. Today I brought the road bike in to work with me and hit the road for two laps around the airfield. The wind was kicking up pretty good so I got a strong workout on both laps by switching directions on each lap to even out the head/tail winds. Kudos to the creators of Kraft undergarments that jersey kept me nice and warm even with the strong winds. Tomorrow I am looking forward to hitting Thomson Trail for the first time since I have been back this time I am charging the lights as I type to make sure I can see where I am going. So if your out there tomorrow I Will See You on the Trail!

Just another day at the office

Hey, how close we going to get to this guy?

Now this isn't your average Fuel Stop


About $150,000 worth of gas later,"thanks for the fill up"

Whats the view out your office window look like?


Well getting close to wrapping it up out here for another exciting trip to the desert. This was a short one this time so I am not complaining since so many of my fellow soldiers are out here 4x's as long as I am at a time on average. I am looking forward to getting back home - didn't bring the bike with me this time so it has been spin classes and weight lifting primarly while I was out here. Not sure what this years schedule will hold for me as I am moving to a new assignment in March. It will be further SE from my current location, still in GA and still within acceptable driving distance for several events. I am leaning towards focusing on the 12hr solo events this year as well as some of the Epics, it would be nice to make it to a couple of the Snake Creek TTs and ORAMM. Well other than that not much new looking forward to seeing everyone at the Dauset Festival so hopefully we have good weather for it. Thanks for reading and if your out there when I get back I Will See You on the Trail!

What more could a guy want

My current Residence this trip


My projected assignment coming this spring


Which will probably result in a return visit to here!


Well another fun month in the Desert, 16hr work days, a dependable meal schedule you can set your calendar by, routine workouts that you can attend either day or night, and 3 beers a day available whether or not you want them, not to be confused with the 3 day turn around on the laundry. But all in all could be alot worse for alot longer so I try to look at the good side of things. Anyway along the lines of workouts I have had to take it easy over the last week due to a sore throat just when I was starting to get in some good weight training. Tonight I was even so lazy that I skipped my spin class. I am trying to get over this so I can get back to training for the month. It appears the Army may have other plans for my residence come spring time though so we will have to see, I think I am going to have to pick and choose what races I can attend this summer due to relocation. I currently am slated to still be in GA just 3hrs to the Southeast. Funny if I do have to go there I will be retiring from the military in the same place I was when I first came in - talk about coming full circle. To be Honest that is not a circle I was looking to complete there is other locations I would much rather remain in my current location or go to Ft Carson, Colorado or Ft Huachuca, Az especially in light of the fact that I am reaching 19yrs at the time they are moving me. So much for the best laid plans of mice and men huh? Well I am looking forward to getting back in time for the Dauset Festival hopefully and being out there with everyone for that weekend so if you are out there and riding that weekend I Will See You on the Trail! Thanks for reading

What was I thinking?!

Well I am not sure what I was thinking but I am pretty sure it wasn't the same thing I was thinking as I finished my first 15K training run in preparation for the 20K. That was the longest distance I have ever run in my life and I can see why I don't do that on a regular basis......Well a few days later, now that I have finished my third 15K run(in the infamous words of ET OOWWWW)I am sticking with the shorter 5-10Ks just working on my pace and keeping the conditioning up for the 20K in 9 days now. It is starting to cool down out here so it shouldn't be too bad depending on how the weather goes. Life is back to it's usual schedule out here, with the number of trips I have made it is easy to fall back into the same routine. I am trying to avoid that using the opportunity to cross train, work on some strenght training as well as running. I am also trying to work on some educational stuff as well trying to self-teach MS Office 2007 interesting stuff with some unique features I wasn't aware were there until just a little while ago. Anyway keeping busy working and when I am not doing that trying to keep busy doing something productive. Saw the results for the 4hrs of Pig and constantly recieving the reminders about the 12hrs of Dauset just makes me that much more jealous but this being a short trip I will be home for the Dauset Festival so I am looking forward to that. Well that is about it for now so keep riding and eventually I Will See You on the Trail!

Fun in the Sun

I need one of these at my place!


Well this is nice I can access my blog from here! Well I am doig good over here keeping busy and trying to fill my time in between work with some computer learning and some conditioning. I have already found a event to try to get in quick shape for that being a 20K run they are doing out here on the 27th of September.......Charles your a bad influence I don't think I would have even considered this event if you hadn't spent all summer talking about endurance trail running! Anyway I have done a couple of 5K runs and a 10K this morning and am steadily working myself up to it. My primary concern being more the nutrition side of the house, I have been blessed with the ability to get my conditioning ramped up fairly quick most of my life(I have noticed it has taking a bit more effort as I get older though). Anyway the humididty out here is the kicker even running at 3am I still look like I just jumped in the pool with my PT's on when I am done! Seeing as I left the bike at home this trip it will be mostly running the first half and then some weight training with some spin classes for the second half of the trip as well. Well that is about it for now so I will keep all my readers posted on my progress for the run and thanks for reading!

Riding and Raining

Well we got in a good ride this morning at the Pig managing to get out there before the rains kicked in. The trail was still fairly dry as it looked like it hadn't received much rain prior to last night. Charles and I were out there early and ran a lap with the lights - it is always good to use the lights whenever I can seeing as the combined cost of my two lights was $700. We ran a lap in reverse, then a second lap at a pretty good clip and then started a third but cut it short due to time constraints. Now I find it odd that right before I go out on another sabbatical from riding that this phrase that can be found on my December 07 post comes back to haunt me "Was a good ride overall and had a great time I felt a little bummed out though I was unable to hang with the guys when they kicked it up a notch on the trail, it wasn't as if they kicked it to race pace or anything I just couldn't hang with them once they got going." That was once again how I felt on the third lap thru the technical sections as Charles and Ethan left me in the throes of a tourettes fit that would have had a sailor blushing. While my training regiment has been less than stellar or regular I just cant believe I fell off as much as I have since the beginning of this season. So the plan is to get in some solid weight training over the next two months while still maintaining a strong cardio routine consisting of running and spin classes. The goal being to develope some sustainable muscle strength so it doesn't fall off as bad as I have currently and in the past. Now being 40yrs old I guess I also have to take that into consideration that 3 weeks off will have more of a impact on my conditioning than it used to in my younger days. Well I will be out of net for a couple fo months again but aparently I will have a less restricted access to the internet so if I can get to the net to post for all my avid readers I will anyway today was the last ride until I return so it will be spin cycles for the mean time until I return. So have fun out on the trail and I Will See You when I Return!

Season Pics

GSC #8


GSC #7


GSC #6


GSC Make-up SERC #6


GSC #5

R&R time

Well the race season is over for me this year I would have like to have competed in the 12hr solo at Conyers and Dauset but the Army has other plans for me the next two months. I am enjoying the downtime just taking it easy doing some PT getting in a short break before I start my transition period. I am looking at doing some weight training and some swimming while I am deployed as well as the infamous abs classes, I always come back in better shape than when I left. Anyway this weekend will be the first time in 4 months that I am not planning on doing any riding either trail or road so we will see if I don't go into withdrawal. I will however be doing the fun household chores that have gone neglected for the past race season so I will have a full schedule even without the riding not to mention it will be nice to sleep in both Saturday and Sunday so if your getting up to go riding this weekend I Wont See You on the Trail!.........Have Fun!!

GSC Series Pig Trail Race

Started in April with flat rock...........


First Win Ever at Ft Yargo.......


Athens mudfest that was a challenging race.........


Clemson race that was a cool race with some good climbs........


Carter Lake a Challenging Course and my second GSC win of the season.....

Well it was a great day for the GSC Final at The Pig Trail. The weather was pretty warm and the trail was in perfect condition. I ran a pretty good race but my plans for a perfect day were spoiled by a North Florida rider who had nothing better to do than come up here and steal my season finale win by stomping my time by over 2.5min. Anyway I managed a 2nd place finish and clinched the GSC Series for the 40-49yr old class for 2008. Gone Riding provided some outstanding awards for the overall awards and provided a good banquet on the short notice cancellation of the previous arraignments. OMBA crew once again put on a first class event with great support and a perfect race course. Mark, Monte, Eddie, Jake, Grant, Rick, Renee, Dean, and a dozen or so more that helped put on this event I need to Thank for putting on the event. A Big thanks to Bill Stoudt and Charles Reeves from The Bike Store for all there support thru the Season and while not officially sponsoring me I couldn't think of a better couple of guys both personally and professionally to promote cycling for. I think I might take a rest from the trail for a little while, maybe a ride up at Dauset for a fun Sunday morning before I have a work imposed two month hiatus from the trail. Looking forward to Tuesdays Stork demo Ride at The Bike Store so if your out there I will see ya there

Preparing for the Pig

Well just one week away from the end of the GSC series and accomplishment of my overall goal I set back in January when I started training for this year. I finally got the Vertex-70 out and back on to the trail at the Pig, wow little different riding a 16.5" FS with 5" of travel then going to a 18" hardtail with 105mm fork. So I am getting used to the handling of the hardtail again and checking out the new sections of trail that were cut. I have my training plan all set out with a ride out at the Pig Saturday and then again Monday morning, Tuesday will be a Spin class during lunch and then back out to the Pig on Wednesday, with a recovery day on Thursday a training ride Friday evening and a Spin loosen up ride Saturday morning before the race. Quiet a bit of riding this week - just a good thing its getting close to the end of the season as the wife is getting about at the end of her patience for my obsessive behavior when it comes to MTB racing. anyway I have been getting in some good road riding as well trying to keep up the conditioning this past week the Tuesday group ride had a good pace with a overall pace of 19.3mph, it was a good thing the train came thru in Byron otherwise I probably wouldn't have seen the front of the group until the finish as they dropped me pretty good there for a while when they started doing the pace line. Anyway I will be switching out the Maxxis Ignitor with a High Roller for the race so I am going to do that tonight for the next week and get used to the handling of that tire, from what I read it has some great grip, very predictable and low rolling resistance so I am looking forward to seeing how that works out. I will be sporting The Bike Store new kit and for the race with the Ergon Team grips as well(gotta keep that color coordination). So if your out there at The Pig this week or Sunday I Will See You on the Trail!

GSC#7 Ft Mountain

Getting ready to go to the Dinning Out Friday evening

The Elusive Bruce is spotted at the GSC Event

Was hoping to get back to top of the podium with Gary absent but Steve was more determined

Getting ready for the start of the race

Well after a month off from the race scene it was back to the trail this weekend. This was a new trail for me as I have never rode Ft Mountain before and it was quite the challenge. I arrived up there late Saturday night and camped out with Steve and some other riders who were competing up there, BTW Ft Mountain has a great Camping area if your ever looking to go camping in the area. Anyway it took me longer to get there than expected so there was no opportunity for a pre-ride of the course and was just going to have to wing it for the race. Sunday weather was great for racing and we kicked off on the second wave around noon I was able to get a strong start I could tell this was going to be a challenge with how it started climbing early into the race. Anyway Steve must have been training something fierce cause he was climbing like a man on a mission, I was able to catch up to him at the end of the first lap right at the Start/Finish when he thought he had a mechanical but he managed to close up again about a mile into the first lap and just took the lead and away he went on the second lap. Anyway since I wasn't getting on the top of the podium I went for the cool points, ripping down the Power line Hill at the end of the course I was passing another racer doing 29+mph and got a little squirrely to put it mildly and somehow managed to recover, well Bruce was announcing the race and I guess it was impressive enough that he even held his breath for a second before announcing I had the good hands award for the save of the day. Well it was a good time overall, and a good work out and warm up to get ready for the Season Finally at The Pig. It is time to crank it back up a notch and make sure I am in top form as I plan on winning this race decisively. So if you happen to be out at The Pig over the next 10 days or so or if your racing in the event I Will See You on the Trail!

Back to the Spin Cycle again

Sporting The Bike Store before I get all dirty on the trail!


The Pregnant Zoe and the proud Dad........Anyone want a puppy?

Well after a couple of weeks of recovery and healing time it is back to training and getting ready for the next race at Ft Mountain. I started off the week getting rained out at The Pig trail on Sunday, I was disappointed in the new reroute on the trail I like the difficult, sometime treacherous downhill sections that are considered trail erosion to most I guess(I do not claim to be knowledgeable about trail building either btw). I try not to complain because I am rarely around for trail maintenance but sometimes it seems to me we try to tame down the trails so much that when I go somewhere that has some of the more mountainous terrain it is that much more difficult due to lack of opportunity to ride it here. That being the third such reroute around the more challenging areas of the trail since the storm. Enough of me complaining though I appreciate the work that everyone does on the trails to maintain them even if I don't agree with some of the changes. Well I managed to get a lap and a half in before the rains and see how the hip and knee felt which was pretty good. This morning I got in a 4 mile run and then hit the spin class during lunch. While not the funnest of ways to train it definitely helps with the training as it makes me push myself harder than if I am on a group ride our out by myself on the trail. I am also working on the diet as well trying to get myself back down to 140-142lbs for my race weight, I still have 3-5lbs to go. I plan on hitting the group ride on Wednesday and get a trail ride in Thursday. I will be taking Friday off and then heading up to Ft Mountain on Saturday so hopefully the training will get me ready to go on Sunday. I will be sporting the Army Kit for this race coming up but am looking forward to showing off the new Bike Store Kit it looks really sharp. So if your out there on Sunday I Will See You on the Trail!

Rockin the Pig

Not me....my son, 11yrs old and really not to keen on the riding scene had me wondering who was this kid on the bike in front of me as he went charging up hills and rolling thru some of the sketchy stuff. It was definitely one of those moments when I was so proud I was just smiling all the way thru the ride. That was until I decided to do my second lap, now I haven't ridden since the 22nd of June at the GSC #6 Race due to my leg injury and having some travel requirements. So all told a little over 14 days since I last turned the cranks the leg seemed to be healing OK still having some weird muscle issues at the point of impact on my upper thigh but still not hurting when I ride. Anyway I get no more than 2min into my ride and one of those don't know what hit ya happens and I go down right on the same spot, OUCH!

Well not to be refused that easily I get up shake it off and ride on, I had several motivating factors driving me. 1) No training last two weeks 2) CGS #7 coming up in 10 days 3)GSC #8 at the Pig Trail in just under a month. While I am not sure how my performance will be at Ft Mountain I am determined to win at the Pig at the Season Finale. That gives me 24 training days to get back into the shape I was in for the first half of the season. Being that the Pig Trail is more about speed than technical I figure some solid spin classes and maybe a couple of road/trainer rides and a weekly trip out to the Pig to memorize the trail and I should be ready to race.

So while it has been a nice break the past two weeks I had wished it wouldn't have been injury driven. From what I can tell I did damage to a muscle that is apparently not a primary cycling muscle but can cause some issues with the leg itself as my wife can attest to. Apparently a deep tissue bruise can lead to calcium deposits being left behind in the muscle after the blood clears if it has been pooled there for a length of time. Hopefully I did enough over the past two weeks to keep that from happening and am not causing more damage by riding(as long as I don't keep falling on it). If the calcium deposit is big enough it basically acts like a bone spur floating in the muscle and causes a cutting effect when it gets stuck in the muscle just right and can be fairly painful and requires surgery to remove it on occasion.

Well that has been alot of rambling about not much of interest to others but I figure it keeps my avid readers current on the excitement that is my life. So if you have plans to ride the Pig Trail this weekend or any weekend before the 3rd of August or our racing at either Ft Mountain or the Pig I Will See You on the Trail!

Rock Hawk Photos

Hanging out Chillin' before we get racing

This was the "Steep" drop-off at the start of the race

Some of the new section this was a serious technical second half of the trail

I was glad to see this line the second time I came around

Hopefully I won't have to race the guy on top of the stand in the last two GSC races might stand a chance at being up there at the top of the stand!

All Photos courtesy of Mesta Photography