Checking out the night life

Well starting to get everything around for the 12hrs of Yargo, making sure I have a list of all the things I will get half way up there and realize I forgot anyway! Since it has been almost a year since I have trail ridden at night I thought it would be a good idea to try the lights out and make sure I still could ride at night and not run into a tree(Oh wait I do that during the day anyway -- boy am I screwed!). So with the FS in the shop getting the race tune and clean up I took the HT out to Thompson and put the lights to work. 50 yards into the trail I had to turn around, first lesson learned, need bandanna under helmet harness not secure enough otherwise that lesson left a nice mark across the bridge of my nose. back out on the trail and rolling along.... OK bouncing really...those of you who ride hardtail regularly at Thomson your Hardcore! Anyway the rest of the ride went pretty good worked on looking through the turns and down the trail to get the best light use and quickest travel. So tomorrow after work will be the preparation and packing evening and will be heading up to Winder Friday evening my pop up will already be up there thanks to Mark D. So if your going to be racing up there this Saturday I Will See You on the Trail!!

A New Vue, and a New View

Well this week saw a couple of new things first a new Saturn Vue which we got a great deal on that gets much better fuel mileage than the Colorado so the wife is driving it to school and we are taking it to the races. The nice thing about Saturn is you can get one pretty much loaded with very nice features, the OnStar turn by turn directions are great, but the cost is much less than what you would pay on a equivalently equipped vehicle from any other manufacturer. Also they finally started allowing the GM Earnings to be used on Saturn purchase which helped us a bunch.
Now for the other new View I finally got to see what it felt like to finish the race first and be the tallest rider in the class(which I need some help with at my height). Ft Yargo was definitely the fastest trail I have ridden in GA combine that with the wet trail conditions and we were in for one awesome race. I arrived out there at about 7am and since I had never ridden the course before I figured I would hit a familiarization lap and check out the course. It was in good condition even with the rain and for the most part a big ring course. I ran the setup as planned 4" in the rear and 100mm on the fork it worked great. Since we had a 0930hrs race the lap served as my warm up as well, I had a little trouble on the start getting clipped in dropped to 4th but by the first half mile I was out front and staying there. I was also trying out a new pair of Tifosi sunglasses with a optical insert, they worked great didn't fog up and stayed clear even with all the mud and muck the tires were kicking up if your looking for a pair of shades or just eye wear that works good for riding check them out. This was a good warm up for the 12hrs next weekend I am looking forward to that it will be a great event. Not sure if I will hit the trail or just hit a group ride this week, have to get the bike into TBS so Charles can make sure it can take the abuse I will dish out but if your out at Ft Yargo this weekend I Will See You on the Trail!

Running Sucks!!

OK well maybe it doesn't but if you haven't done it in about 4 months and then try to hang with the fastest guy in the Company (Army Unit) for 4 miles it does. I felt pretty good during the run, and was even able to hang with him when he was pacing at 6:30 a mile, when he kicked it up to 6 min miles then he left me behind. but for 4 miles I was able to hang with him. It was the following 24hrs when the leg muscles started tightening up that it hurt. Anyway that was monday morning, I spent Tuesday night on the trainer did the 17 mile Ligomes course with a pretty strong pace kept the cadence high to try and spin out the legs. They seemed to loosen up a little this morning which I spent stretching out trying to get the lactic acid out and focus towards race day. Picked up the bike from Charles today at the LBS he did a race tune up on it for me and put some new ignitors on it these are supposedly the Lightwieght UST aka LUST which I promptly tried out at Thompson this evening. The tires work great good grip on everything, which I can attest to becuase I kept catching sand in the face off the tread even though the trail was bone dry! Ran two good back to back laps out at Thompson and then headed home. Will hit the trainer again tomorrow for some speed work and then The Pig on Friday to fine tune the setup for Yargo which is should be similar to that as I keep hearing how flat it it so we will see. With all the training I have been doing focused toward the races I have had minimum long rides on the trail but Sunday I did get 26 miles at Dauset and felt pretty good all the way through. Hopefully I will still have the endurance abilities to go for 12hrs in two weeks at Yargo, I would like to make a good showing in my first endurance event of the season. Well that is about it for now so if your going out to The Pig on Friday or racing at Yargo on Sunday I Will See You on the Trail!

Hardtail vs Full Suspension

Well it has been a enjoyable two weeks with nothing but riding time and getting acclimated to being back home but all good things must end and after this weekend it is back to work again. I made the most of it with almost a 1:1 RPD (thats Rides Per Day) average for the last two weeks including the race. I was able to get a ride on the trainer on Monday, did a 17 mile course on Ligomes on the real axiom, stairmaster for 30min on Tuesday, Thompson for 2 laps on Wednesday and then Arrowhead today for 3 laps. I have been maintaining a pretty good schedule this week which I will hopefully be topping off with a morning ride at Dauset on Sunday. Today was not only to get some training in but also get the new Fox Talas RLC set up I am debating on which bike to take out to Yargo - the Vertex or the ETSX. The course description sounds like a good hardtail candidate but I am doing the 12hr Solo there the next weekend so I would like to get a feel for how the FS is going to ride out there. I believe I found the set up that will work for it, if I set the fork to 120mm and lockout with the pressure activated lockout release and set the rear shock to 4" travel with the propedal set + that seems to lock it down pretty tight while still providing the travel where needed. Anyone considering the Fox fork be it the Talas, Float or anyone of the models there in you can't go wrong, this fork is sweet and adjusting on the fly is fairly easy as well. During my 3 laps out there today I ran it through the gauntlet of its adjustments messed with the rebound and compression and got the fork set for my riding style. Then worked through the varying travel settings and the automatic lockout release pressure settings, the fork responded great in the fast technical sections of the trail I was flying thru the stuff like it was cool. Once I locked it down it climbed like nobodys business I have always been a fan of Marzocchi Forks and still believe they are good forks but I gotta give it to Fox this Fork is a sweet ride. Anyway I hope to be out at Dauset on Sunday morning so if your out there I Will See You on the Trail!

Flat Rock - Podium Finish

FINALLY!! I got to feel like what it was like to lead a race, still waiting on how it feels to win it but I managed a second place finish and felt pretty good overall about my performance. It was a fast course with some changes to last years layout that allowed for a better start and spread the field out before it got to the narrow single track sections so you could pass. After getting past the eventual 3rd place finisher I had to make up over a minute on the leader to catch him which eventually I did(only because he figure he had such a lead he could cruise for a while - my turtle and hare ploy almost worked!) The interesting part was once I caught him he apparently thought I was in a different class and waived me around shortly after that he realized it, I was a good sportsman and offered him the position back however he said no and from there the race was on. I managed to keep him working for it all the way thru the single track and the first part of the parade lap but couldn't hold him off after that and basically blew up on the last stretch of climb. Hopefully next time I don't get so far behind and don't have to work so hard to catch up. This was a good start to the season and hopefully one I can continue in two weeks at Ft Yargo. I was reading the reviews on that course it would appear that it is also a good trail for a Hardtail and pretty fast as well, however I am planning to do the 12hrs Solo there the following weekend so I may take the ETSX out there to get a warm-up run in, guess we will have to see take both out there just in case. Anyway the plan for this week is some drivetrain maintenance, some trainer time or road ride with some stairmaster thrown in for good measure and a trail ride or two out at Thompson. I would be remiss without mentioning a Big Thanks to Bill and Charles and the rest of The Bike Store employees for all the support and assistance they have provided me over the past two years which has directly contributed to providing me with this awesome finish Thanks Guys!! Anyway if your out at Thompson this week I Will See You on the Trail!.

Back in the Saddle Again

Well after the last two days at the Pig hopefully I have knocked the rust off the trail riding skills and am prepared for my first race of the season at Flat Rock. The last three months of spin classes and some interval road rides on the hardtail have helped alot on the conditioning and weight loss I have gotten down to a race weight of 141 lbs so hopefully the weight to power ratio has been helped in both directions. I have been able to improve the lap times each of the last three days of riding up at the Pig which is a pretty close match to the course out at Flat Rock so I am feeling pretty good looking toward Sunday just hoping the weather is good this weekend for it.
Hopefully this will be the start to a full season of racing for me, work schedule appears to allow me to be home to compete in the entire GSC Series this year. I am quickly approaching the big 40 so I will be competing in a new age group this year but same class, I am sticking with my commitment to have a competitive season in the beginner(base) class before moving up to Sport where I will continually get my butt handed to me. Along with that I am planning on competing in two 12hr events, Yargo and Tsali in the solo category as well as competing in the 64 miles of ORAMM again this year, that race was a A$$ Kicker! I am looking forward to keeping myself busy this summer and hopefully be more active in the OMBA chapter as well to give back to the group.
Well that is about it going to pack for the race tomorrow and relax and get ready for Sunday me and Rick will be carpooling up there together and racing each other once we get there. So if your going up there on Sunday I Will See You on the Trail!

Trainer and Pig Trail

Well I was looking forward to hitting the trails the day after I arrived home however the weather put a kabosh on those plans. So while I was waiting for the trails to dry I did a couple of sessions on the trainer, which was still better than the spin classes at least I was on a regular bike. Today when the sun came out I figured the Pig had enough time to dry so me and the wife headed out to break in her new Trek Fuel EX8 WSD and get me some trail practice for Flat Rock on Sunday. The trail was in good condition a couple of rough spots but was ridable for the most part. I am looking forward to getting back out to the race and see how I do on the hardtail at Flat Rock. I am planing on hitting the Pig early tomorrow, putting in a couple of laps hopefully knock off some of the rust on the handling skills due to being limited to road rides and spin cycles for the past 4 months. So if your heading out to the race on Sunday or out to the Pig tomorrow I will see you on the Trail!

Back and ready to ride

Well it was a long break from the trails but a short deployment overall only 3 months. I was able to kee myself in shape with the spin and abs classes and the frequent long road rides thrown in. Will have to see how well it pays off in a week here up at flat rock GSC #2. Well I will be out on the trails this week so if your out there I Will See You on the Trail!