The 12hrs, No Wait - 6hrs of Tsali

First let me say to the riders that were injured in paticular the one that was severly injured my well wishes for a speedy and full recovery. While I don't know the specifics there was a rider who was injured on the second lap that required a Air Evac. All told I believe they had to take 4 ambulances out on the trail in the first six hours of the race. As for my weekend I headed up to Tsali on Friday with the family we got up to the resort around 5 pm and checked in I dropped the family off at the cabin and headed up to preregister. I drove up to the park and once I got up to the registration site began to realize that the set up was going to be somewhat of a logistical challenge. So realizing that it would be a good 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile hike up hill with any equipment and family members in tow I prepositioned the pop up and some other equipment. Figured to be at least one trip up in the mornig and then the trips back down at the end of the race to get it all back at the end of the night. Anyway race day was beautiful! Wheather was perfect I did forget my sunglasses(left them at the resturaunt the night before)and a few other odds and ends but at least I had the bike and my riding shoes! Had nice stroll up the hill from the start line always fun watching them team racers sprint up the hill fighting with each other to see who gets the bike first. Anyway by the time I got to my bike and headed up the hill it was like I was on a Sunday ride out by myself. Well my first run down the first hill was interesting since I hadnt preridden the course I had no idea what to expect but it was a rocking ride! I came around the right hand turn into the section with the jump and saw the first casualty of the day, a 12hr solo rider who wrecked on the jump and was getting assistance from the EMT's with what appeared to be a race ending collar bone or shoulder injury. Turned out to be the shoulder and he was at the pop up right next to mine. From there I started to find out how much fun this course was, The downhills have great flow with AWESOME banked turns and the climbs were a challenge but weren't so rough the killed you right off the bat. I started picking off riders about halfway thru the course which wasn't a big deal since I am sure I was dead last off the start but it felt good anyway. Ran the first lap at about a hour went up the feed zone back to the pop up and took a 5min breather which was my plan for the day to do each lap with 20min breaks after every 3rd lap. The second lap I was running a little faster since I now had a idea of the course layout but as I approached the first downhill again this time there was a EMT at the turn before the jump warning of a ride down on the track. This time the individual was unconcious and bleeding he didn't look good I rode on but with the image of that in my head was a little distracting last I heard he was doing ok and was awake and responsive but didn't hear anything other than that. Any way my next three laps took me to the 6hr mark and if I had to compare this course to anything local it would be a faster flowing version of Dauset and a Kick Ass ride! However due to the afformentioned logistics and the cost of the lodging arraingments I called it a day at the six hour mark and packed up the tent as it was it took 2hrs to get everything together and get the family moved out couldn't imagine trying that at 11pm at night with everyone else doing the same thing. All in all if it works out that I can be stateside for the event next year and the weather is as good I would be willing to do it again, just arrainge to camp at the park this time. While disappointed in not completing the 12hrs as planned it was a enjoyable weekend and I rode away in one piece so I am happy with that and will look forward to this weekends race at Dauset. So if your out there I will See You on the Trail!

Thompson Evenings and Arrowhead Mornings

Well getting warmed up for the 12hrs of Tsali with a couple of back to back rides before I start preparations to head up to NC this weekend. Trying the Joe Freil recommended approach with a couple of race effort runs and finish it off tomorrow and give myself the recommended 72hrs of rest before the race. Also been trying out the Optygen suppose to increase VO2 Max and help hold of LT effects so will see what impact that has. Taking the family up to the race with me and staying at Nantahala Village resort figured make it a enjoyable weekend for everyone, my son will have a game room he can go to if he gets bored and I lose my pit crew about 7pm when the All Star NASCAR Race comes on. I am looking forward to the race I haven't done a 12hr Solo since Santos last year and from what I have heard thru the grapevine it is a challenging course so I am looking forward to the ride. Hopefully that 1500 training miles in the desert will provide me with the endurance I need to be able to keep a steady pace and ride for the full 12hrs. I will be sporting the new OMBA kits as well as The Bike Store Gear and should get a oportunity to wear the ARMY jersey and of course the Rocky Mountain jersey as well and get the wife to take picks so I can post a few here(talk about shameless promotion and I aint even gettin paid except by one and it aint for my riding skills!). Well getting late here and I am going to be up early so if your out there at Arrowhead I Will See You on the Trail!

Ergon Mania Strikes!

Can You spot the Biker in this Picture?
Well I am officially part of the Ergon grip crowd. Picked up a set today at TBS from Charles and already can tell I am going to like them on the 12hrs of Tsali. Also did the Bike Fitting on the ETSX by Jesse which was pretty informative and hopefully will help with the lower back pain I have been experiencing lately. Took the wife out to the Pig Trail Monday to allow her to get out on the trail again she hasn't been riding since the horrific wreck she had at Thompson last fall so this was a pretty big step for her it went well she managed to keep the rubber side down for the entire ride. I also had a chance to check out the new Maxxis Ignitors that I got from TBS. These tires have some of the lowest rolling resistance I have ever ridden on they are fast and reliable handling I would definitely recommend them. Tommorrow I will be heading out to Dauset for a birthday ride so will be seeing if I am still able to hang with Charles out there. So if your out there I Will See You on the Trail!

I'm Back in the saddle again!!

Thats right folks I'm back less than 48hrs after my return I was on the trail! I may have put in almost 1500 miles on the road out there in my desert oasis over the past 3 months however the technical skills were a little rusty as well as the handling skills. However I did manage to keep the rubber side down for 2 1/2 laps out at Thompson so I felt pretty good about that. I don't know when I will be called on to return to my second home however until then I plan on having fun and doing as much riding as possible starting with the 12hrs of Tsali and the next GSC race at Dauset. Speaking of Dauset my plan is to hit the trail out there on Sunday not sure of the time yet but if your out there I will See You on the Trail!!

Flying and Riding

Well that is what I am going to be doing for the next several months. I will have the Vertex-70 with me this time so I can get some quality riding time in while I am gone. I have some driving goals to keep me focused while I am training, and recently added the 24hrs of Conyers to the list of events I am planning to do. I am trying to get one more ride in before my departure so I might be out at either Thomson or the Pig Trail so if you happen to be out there when I am I will See You on the Trail!

4hrs of Fun

Well it was a fun 4hrs at Thomson, just for the record I did 7 laps and had fun racing the other rider right at the end there it was a good ride before I have to go for a while. Between all the CGC jerseys and Bike Store bibs you would have thought we had organized a team just for the event. Charles and Noah blew my socks off right from the start but where gracious enough to take a long break so I could catch up and we rode the 6th lap together before I headed out for my 7th. They built in a nice little ramp to circumvent a good jump through some cool water to cool ya down during the lap which is what I went through every lap, it was warm to begin with so it actually felt good, Dans Bastard was enjoyable every lap as well. Anyway if I had a hardtail I might have been able to catch old boy at the end there but when he shifted it up at the end there and kicked it in even matching gear to gear I just couldn't catch in time with the FS. Well I will have some quality training time here over the next 4 months and will be doing some big gear riding and some interval training to increase my speed hopefully so I will be competative when I get back here. I am planning on riding Wenseday night and trying to get out to Dauset this weekend so if your out there either day I Will See You on the Trail!

Smoked in Milledgeville

Well went out to Milledgeville with Charles today and was enjoying the ride right up to the first good hill. Now I am not the billy goat I used to be out in Az but I am no slouch either. So when we hit the first hill and all of a sudden I couldn't catch my breath I was pretty suprised and concerned once I did we rode to the next good hill and I was working my way up pretty well when it hit me again. This time it was pretty persistant and wouldn't go away for a while felt like my heart was just out of rhythem and I was going to be sick. Anyway this scared me a bit and forced a slower ride than I think either me or Charles was planning. Well I have been taking prilosec for about 4 days and this evening I went on line to check out if there was any side effects of prilosec that might have been a cause and I found out that one of the less frequent side effects is a abnormal heart rhythm on a severe level so I am going to get off the prilosec and see if that stops the issue. Anyone else out there had any similar situations from a heartburn meds? Anyway I will be out at Thomson Day on Saturday which will be my last event until May but I will have plenty of training time so look out when I get back! Since this time I am shipping out the Vertex between being able to actually get some riding in and using the eliptical for intervel power training I should be able to do some pretty solid training. Well even though I am not doing much to help out at Thomson Day I will be out there riding and doing what I can so if your out there I Will See You on the Trail!

The Longest Miles

Well just shy of a year later and all I can say is I must be suffering from short term memory loss in my old age. Back to the Snake I went thinking oh yea I can do this in 4 1/2 hours this year....NOT! Anyway ride day arrives and we started off groups of 3 the first 5 miles weren't too bad the creek, the mud, and a few minor climbs and I was hanging pretty well with the group I started with and some single speeders(I was smart this year and let the women start ahead of me so they wouldn't have to pass me!). Anyway my limited lactate threshold kicked in and I was starting to feel the pain around mile 7 and the granny gear was barely helping, so I rode the next 5 miles of uphill reaching the first mile long stretch of downhill on the gravel road which allowed for a quick breather before the next climb. The following 4 miles after that took some time, I enjoyed that last mile of downhill right before the midway point, getting ready for that big climb on the start of the second half.
So I am sitting there at half-way point thinking maybe I should pack up and catch a four wheeled ride back when Grant, Mark and Jake all arrive. Not bad since they started 24min behind me and caught me already, somehow that provided me with the motivation needed to decide to gut it out and finish what I started. So away we go I was able to hang in there for awhile until once again my lack of conditioning kicked in and I started lagging behind again. the second half had some more interesting features, the root wall, which was a conveniently placed 3 1/2 foot vertical wall of roots right at the bottom of a fairly flowing downhill, the 500yrd mud slick located conveniently after a creek crossing going uphill of course, the dead fall downhill, where the was a large tree right in the middle of some technical downhill section which required a dismount crossing. This was also where I ate it pretty good when I managed to get a little left of the trail and almost plowed down a couple of saplings. Then of course the icing on the cake the 2 miles of rock garden or as I like to refer to as the hike from hell, while there is some ridable area throughout it has many more dismount points than any other trail I have ever been on. This is the section where you definitely can reflect on why you got started in mountain biking to begin with as well as questioning your sanity for putting yourself through so much suffering not to mention paying for it. Anyway I saw the towers as I approached the 32 mile point signaling the end of the torture and a pleasant 2 mile downhill split between a gravel and paved road to the finish line.
Now if my calculations are correct we have 2-3 miles of downhill in the first 17 miles and then about 4 miles of downhill in the second 17 most of which is in steep sections one mile or more at a time so once again my question remains Who was the sick individual that developed a 34 mile trail with 27 miles of climbing? And why do I keep riding it?? If nothing else it should me where I need to start focusing my training and getting my latctate threshold up as well as working on my power looks like I might be doing alot of interval training. Well with that I am looking forward to Thomson Day this Saturday and in light of 6hrs of trail time I had on Saturday and the 4hrs I plan on doing next Saturday I will stick with some light road rides this week, however if your out at Thomson Day on Saturday I will See You on the Trail!

In Memory of Oscar

My last post introduced a new member of the family, this post unfortunately says farewell, Oscar Duncan died prematurely last week. It is amazing how attached you can become to a family member, because thats what my pets are, in less than a week. His passing has made this week pretty hard to concentrate on the upcoming TT at Snake Creek but I will give it my best and try to make this a healing event. I am here in Dalton all my gear set and ready to go and looking forward to the challenge once again this year. This will be a good warm up for the 4hr ride at Thomson next week especially seeing how much more climbing it has and the higher altitude at this location. Anyway I will be out there giving it my best tomorrow in Memory of Oscar so if your out there I Will See you on The Trail!

Houghtling's Hounds (Dashunds)

Well another Christmas and another Dashund to and to the collection introducing Oscar "The Cat Slayer" Duncan Houghtling. Hopefully he will pay off in the future as we have a long hair miniature female we plan on mating him with so we will see. As far as the riding goes had to do some research on lower back pain and riding and do some adjustments to the handlebar height to see if that will help, don't need to be doing the Snake Creek TT and having a sore back a hour into it. Looking forward to the New Years day ride with the CGC rinding my Vertex hardtail with some Kenda slicks recommended by Charles at my local LBS . Should be a pretty good time, Also now that they gave us Tuesday off as a Federal Holiday looks like I will probably do some trail time thinking about trying out E. Macon haven't been there in a while. If anyone has ridden there recently and has a trail update or status would love to hear it. I have adjusted my schedule to still have a chance to be competitive in the GSC Series will have to make races 4-8 and fit in the make up in Clemson S.C. to be eligible for the Series I will only have one endurance race during that time so I am going to focus my training on strength and speed to be competitive. Since I will have about 20 weeks of nothing but training time hopefully I can make the most of it so if some of the more knowledgeable and experienced riders out there actually read my post and have some training tips for me I am all ears! Well that is about it for now I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Safe and Happy New Year and I Will See You on the Trail!

Hard Tail - Hard on the Tail

If that doesn't say customer loyalty I don't know what does!

Well I figure since I paid for it and sold the FS ETSX-30(No not the new ETSX-70) frame I had that I might as well ride it. So I took the Vertex-70 Hardtail out to Thomson on Sunday and again tonight, and it is definitely a learning endeavor. I enjoy the fact that it is lighter and faster on the less technical portions of the trail however I miss the ability to point and go down the hills or thru the rough stuff. Not that this is a totally bad thing I could use some work on my ability to pick the best line thru some of the trail, and another unexpected surprise is the way it flys thru the ditch and up the hill on the end of the trail I was surprised to find I could still jump thru there like I do on the FS and not have the feel of a much harder impact - momentum truly is a good thing at times! I am looking forward to doing the 1st Snake Creek Time Trial in January - Yes I am going to attempt to do the 34 mile course again, this year hopefully a little bit faster. I have only that and the Thomson day rides that I can participate in before I go back to work for my Uncle and have to miss the start of the season but I plan on packing the hardtail and have some better training this time while I am gone as opposed to just riding a stationary bike this time! Anyway I hope to keep up my current consistent work out schedule which is primarily cardio with some strength training going thru the next month and then get into a good training regiment for about 16 weeks and try to fulfill some of the goals I set earlier, obviously the 12hrs of Razorback is out so I wish you all luck and I will be working from a deficit when I get back as I will have missed the first 3 races of the season. Just more motivation to train harder to see if I can't accomplish the goals I set for myself for this year regardless of the adjustments. Looking to ride this weekend hopefully Dauset, not sure what day or time,(More than likely early) but if you happen to be out there as well then I Will See You on the Trail!

Cold Mornings!

Well this week has been a pretty good one for cardio training I have managed to get at least one 30min session in everyday this week with a couple of 5 mile plus runs and some high intensity training sessions in between as well as riding a couple of laps on Wensday out at Thompson. The first lap I did without a light and had to keep up with Brady and then borrowed Jasons light and rode a second lap with Brady again. Then to the shock of most OMBA members I attended a meeting!! I think Mark almost fell out of his chair! There seemed to be a preccupation with wood and how much we could get...........for Thompson Day that is. Anyway much conversation about the planning for the weekends events which sound like it will be a fun weekend with something for everyone. Anyway I am not sure where I will be riding this weekend but think I will be riding the Vertex, it has been hanging out in the garage for the past two weekends however I am leaning towards riding out at E. Macon, havent been out there lately and there was some mention of doing some trail maintenance on it anyway however I may just go ride the Pig...decisions, decisions. Well where ever it ends up being it will be early either Saturday or midday on Sunday and if you happen to be there where and when I am....I Will See You on the Trail!

Good Ride at Arrowhead

Well Sunday was a good ride with a good group felt bad for David hope your doing ok if your reading that was quite a wreck. Good couple of laps though was pretty much riding alone the first lap and was a good group ride the second lap though. Just been doing PT the last couple of days and have a PT test on thursday so will see about riding on Friday hopefully. Will be doing the group trail work this Saturday and then Going out to see Charles race at Macon on Sunday so will be a busy weekend without much riding though. Still trying to sell the ETSX-30 Frame on Ebay so if anyone is interested 2 days left. Also have a Saris Bones 3 Rack for sale as well so if anyone is interested in that as well post a comment and let me know. Other than that nothing too exciting going on just needing to get some miles in and work on the cardio conditioning depending on how long we are working at Thompson might have to do a lap or two as a reward for hard work so if your there I will See You on the Trail!

Ridding Arizona

Well back again from Az had a good week out at my old stomping ground. Flew out there on Tuesday morning and was riding the trails by Tuesday at 3pm! Rented a Stumpy from Sun and Spokes and hit the trails. I was a little slower than I remember being, of course being at near sea level for the last year and then going back to 5300 ft elevation will have a impact however I was able to climb the hills anyway, I think the 31lbs bike might have helped keep my traction on the climbs, man that stumpy was heavy! Well rode Tuesday and Wensday while I was out there it was pretty enjoyable hitting some downhills where I actually had to get back off the seat and work some hard technical rocky sections. The drawback being all those thorny branches and bush that are out there on the trail those I haven't missed since I have been out here so there is a trade off. Well got back here on Friday and have just been tooling around I need to get serious about putting in some training time and getting myself back in shape so I can be ready for this season, primarly the first big goal I have for the 12hrs of Razorback. Anyway I am going to get in a couple of rides this week with my PT as well so I should get a good start, if you happen to be out on the trail, or I end up on the road this week I Will See You on the Trail(or Road)

Pig Trail and Hard Tail

Well it was a little warmer this morning at the Pig Trail than it was last week at Dauset but it was still a little chilly. I started off on a bad note forgot my jersey but remembered a base layer so I ended up throwing a T-shirt over that for riding. Took both the Vertex and the ETSX out with me today the plan was to do a lap with each figured I would start with the Vertex check out how a hardtail felt on the trail and then compare on how I rode with the ETSX. The first thing I noticed at first was all the bumps on the trail, wow hadn't felt those before! Some of the noticeable differences of course as everyone knows it climbed somewhat better, standing going up Chandlers Challenge, was able to get going pretty quick through some of the flat trail as well. The trail was a little wet and I did notice that through the turns it seemed like I was on a gyro as I peddled the bike through the turn it would rotate-slide the rear tire from the torque I guess pretty cool actually. All in all it was a good lap and I felt pretty good at the finish I had taken it easy picking out the lines in the technical sections so I didn't get myself in trouble first time on the Vertex.

Hopped on the ETSX -70(TrailBlazer) for the second lap and enjoyed that good old fashion full suspension romp through the woods didn't push it all that hard still just enjoying the ride and working the technical skills a little bit hitting a couple of the hills doing repeats. Finished up around 10am and called it good - bikes still need to be cleaned up and are still on the back of the car but I will get to them soon enough. Would have liked to have rode out at Arrowhead with the group from IMBA and OMBA but had other plans with the family so missed out on that but I am going to try and make the December Meeting, we will see so far I have a pretty bad track record as far as supporting the group events and meetings but hopefully I can change that this year. Anyway I will probably make it out to the trail again next weekend I am thinking I will try Arrowhead and see how the hardtail feels there so if you happen to be up early and out riding - I will See You on the Trail!

Todays 2nd lap 8.5miles, Time 50:17, Avg Speed 10.1

Riding yesterday Running today

WOW did that hurt this morning!! Yesterday about 0830 I was out at Dauset a chilly 38 degrees when I started and I was the first one on the trail so there was a few webs but not many. Rode the full 17.9 mile loop, you can tell the sections that aren't getting rode that much by the leaves covering the section, which helped to add to the difficulty of the technical sections by hiding the lines. I did a casual lap my first go around started seeing some other riders as I was getting closer to the end of my lap and the temps where picking up. After the first lap I got a power bar and stretched out some and went back out for a second lap the thought process being that 2 laps equals the distance of Snake Creek even though it doesnt match the difficulty it would give me a baseline to start from and see how much I need to work to reach my goal for the time trials. First lap ran 1hr 52min, 9.4mph avg, 17.9 miles my second lap ran 1hr 57min 9.1mph avg. Anyway after that I had to get up this morning and do PT with the company and so I stretched out this morning and ran 3.5 miles, not to brag but normally I can smoke just about anyone in the company however today I was having trouble just keeping up a good pace so I will need to get a little better in my conditioning. Getting ready to take a trip out to Gods Country (Arizona) and will be packing some riding gear with me I should be able to get a bike to ride either from the LBS or some of my old riding buddies and hit some of my old stomping grounds out there which will be sweet!! nothing like hitting a 2mile stretch of uphill trail and 12 miles of awesome down hill single track unfortunately I will have to do some work out there as well! Well other than that just waiting on the frame to come in so that Charles can put it all together and I can get some pictures of the ETSX-30 and get that posted to sell. Well I will wrap it up here not sure when or where I will be riding this weekend but if you happen to be out there I will See you on The Trail!

Time to get back to Training

Well it is that time of the year again, starting this month with some base training, doing some lifting and cardio training on the eliptical. Figured out my Goals for the season the year and they are as follows:

Goal 1. Win the overall Championship for the GSC MTB Series 30-39 beginner Group.
Goal 2. Finish in top 3 at 12hrs of Razorback 12hrs of Dauset and 13hrs of Santos solo Cat.
Goal 3. Complete the Snake Creek Time Trial in under 4.5hrs
Sounds lofty I know but I figure I shouldn't be suffering from a break in my season this year so I might stand a chance to accomplish them and as I was once told by a High School coach(Yes that was a long, long time ago) "It is better to shoot for the stars and drag your feet in the treetops than to shoot for the treetops and drag your feet in the mud."
I also have a new hardtail that I am going to start riding- see if that cant help improve not only my technical skills but my times on some of the faster courses we ride around here like the Pig trail. Also to use possibly doing some road miles. The new bike is a Rocky Mountain Vertex-70 So if there is anybody out there that is looking for a full suspension Mountain Bike Frame I have a 2003 ETSX-30 18" One of the HOTTEST Epic/Marathon XC Racing bikes EVER. Hand built with pride in CANADA.

If you don't know Rocky Mountain, they are one of the highest quality bicycle builders in the world. ALL their bikes are built right here in North America NOT Taiwan or China. Just check out the beautiful welds.

This framset is a 2003 model.. and is signed by the actual welder that welded the frame. It is a size 18" so it should fit anyone in the 5' 7" to 6' 0" range. The paint job is a Red, Black & Dark Grey Moondust and is clearcoated. The stickers are UNDER the clear coat. This frame retailed for around $1000 plus. The welds are perfect, the alignment is perfect. LOVE THE RIDE!!

You will have no problem, using normal high end parts, building this bike as a sub-27 lb bike. Frame weight is 6.5 lbs ACTUAL including rear shock (I weighed it).

The ETSX - or Energy Transfer System - suspension creates a plush and responsive feel through the use of co-rotating wishbone linkages - technology adapted from Formula One race car swingarms. The finely tuned virtual pivot trajectory moves the rear wheel on a near-vertical path, with minimized chain growth through the pedaling portion of travel. This bike is virtually bob-free. The Cloud Nine Shock creates a plush and responsive ride.

CHECK OUT THE REVIEWS ON MTBR.COM
FEATURES
Custom Easton tubing for uncompromised frame quality.
Adjustable rear travel: 3.5", 4", 4.5".
Cam-actuated quick release on travel adjustment for ease of operation.
Rocky Mountain hand built quality.
All frames faced and chased for perfect build integrity.

For more details including all meaurements please visit, www.bikes.com. ALSO: 26.8mm seatpost, 31.8mm clamp, 1.25" top pull front derrailleur.
with a Cloud Nine rear shock, less than a year old, and new rear swing arms and pivot bearings

Well I have carried on long enough so I will wrap it up here I am planning on going to Dauset early Sunday, probably freeze my butt off for the first hour or so but should be plenty warm after a lap. So if anyone is interested or heading out there anyway I will See You on The Trail!

Missing the Good old Days

I know it has been a while since I posted, also since I rode, I did enjoy a good ride on Sunday last week with the group and did some miles on my own Dauset. Didn't get any riding in this past week barely any workouts at all, managed one workout on the eliptical on Friday and hopefully can get a more consistant schedule starting this week. I guess it isn't all that bad since this was my transitional month after the month of racing I did, so the off time at least fell on a time when I can have a excuse for it. Anyway I am going to try and get a ride in tomorrow at Thompson if I get off work early enough they have been keeping me busy there which is also accounting for much of why I haven't been riding during the week much. I am Developing a weight training program to get started working toward next season using the Joe Friel Mountain Bikers Training Bible there is alot of good info in that book. Other than that nothing too new the Saris Cycle-on Bike rack is, to quote Jesse an, "Awesome looking Rack!" which it is and it also works great as well very stable and when in the stowed position I still can open the hatchback on my Saturn Vue Well hopefully it wont be as long next time between either my post or my rides so if I do manage to make it out there as I plan , and not forgetting Saturdays night ride I Will See You on the Trail!

Three up, Three down

Three for Three who wants to Downhill?? I have managed to wreck the last three riders who have ridden with me on a downhill sections, I haven't really done anything to cause them to wreck it just seems to happen the latest victim while riding at E. Macon. Now don't get me wrong I don't think Jeff D. would even think of what I refer to as downhill as anything more than a slight grade but I consider anything that gets me going 26mph as a pretty good downhill. Anyway a while back I mentioned that the verdict was still out on the Hope Mono M4's I can honestly say they kick butt. I haven't had any problems with the pads or squeaking and the levers are self adjusting and work great. Once I contacted them about a warped rotor they were quick to send a replacement without needing the one I had sent back. However don't take that as totally the brake, if you read the reviews on MTBR they definitely need to be set up correctly, Charles did a great job on that -- Thanks Charles. On another item, while it cost a few bucks after just two days of using it the Saris Cycle-On Racks are great not only do the hold the bikes steady and away from the vehicle the rack folds up and since it has the hitch arm it is far enough away from the hatch back I can open it without having to remove the rack so that is a big plus. Well just saw the post on OMBA for Sunday ride at Dauset maybe? Time TBD so if your not doing anything and looking for a ride Hopefully I will See You on the Trail!

Missing the Trail

Well it has been a week without a ride, ok not a full week but 5 days. Sure I have done some running even got in a day of lifting but it just doesn't compare to a good ride on the trail. I am looking forward to starting a program of training during the off season but not sure whether I want to squeeze in one more endurance race or call it good for this year. The 12hrs of Truth in TN looks like it might be a worthwhile drive for a last Solo event of the year, just not sure if work schedule will be flexible enough to allow me to be in half way decent shape to ride it we will see. Should be picking up the Saris Cycle-On racks this week from The Bike Store as well as a new bike for the son ever since he rode Moms Trek Fuel 70(the same one she took on the tree at Thompson on) he just can't ride the WalMart special anymore get I spoiled him at a early age. So he is getting a Giant hopefully he learns to be a little more graceful than his Mom! Anyway regardless of how I decide to go I am looking forward to doing some cross-training and seeing if I cant improve my strength and speed training see if I can't win a couple of lap races next season and improve my finishes in the endurance races I am already looking forward to Snake Creek and Razor Back. I guess my shortened race season has left me wanting more as opposed to burned out however I am not quite sure about the CycloCross riding so I think I will watch a couple and see about maybe even riding in a race. Well for the Punctuation Police that have been monitoring my postings as of late should be satisfied with my use of periods as I created a few more sentences than I usually do. Well Hopefully this weekend I can get out and ride a trail, not sure which but will figure it out so where ever it is I will See You on the Trail.