Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Rain dampers and Hangovers

Well been a eventful week off here at the Houghtling House last weekend we had two parties scheduled for the Saturday. My son's B-Day party at DJ Galaxy Qwest and my promotion party at the house with Keg. Now my son had a limit of 10 people he could invite and had ten kids there 4hrs of fun! wasn't too bad actually and the boys had a good time. Now with the limit my son had on his kids he could have and he still had more people show up for his party than I had for mine! The weather kept alot of people home but those who did show up had a good time and some good food as well. I did my best to put a dent in the keg of beer with assistance from those who came over and paid for my efforts on Sunday! Anyway I got back up on the trainer Tuesday evening and then out to Thomson Trails on Wendseday. Once again I was painfully reminded I need to work on my strength training and climbing so I will do my best while I am out on my Desert training camp so I can come back ready to race in April. The new helmet showed up today and it is SEXY I will leave you with the bike porn and if you are out there on Sunday I Will See You on the Trail!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Training Made Fun

Boy been a little while since my last post been busy with work again, like I said before I hate it when work interferes with riding and blogging time! Anyway I have been up to Atlanta, where we had to go to the mall and of course Performance Bicycle. Well I have been looking at the Axiom Real Trainer with the virtual ride software except they run about $700. Well in the store the trainer was set up with the computer so we could see the actual system in action and it was sweet. It was also $200 cheaper so without hesitation the wife said "Merry Christmas" Well long story short this trainer rocks with the optional courses and displays that track HR, Cadence, Power, and Speed. The training courses are pretty good and the video courses are pretty tough and provide some good training as well, I haven't missed a morning all week! If your seriously looking for a indoor trainer this is a great system to look at and for $500 not a bad deal. Anyway I am planning on taking some time off next week and hopefully get in some trail riding before I have to pack up for my trip which I will be packing up the Vertex to train on while I am out there. Well that is about itfor now so while it may not be anytime to soon I Wll See You on the Trail!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Why Stans is Better
About Our Tubeless System
Stan's tubeless system will convert your existing wheel set to tubeless allowing you to use either standard or tubeless tires. Saving hundreds of dollars and weight over purchasing other Tubeless Systems.
Check This Out

The side walls are touching and the bead lock is exposed!
Features and Benefits of Stan's Tubeless System
Stan's Tubeless System offers two sealing points on the tire versus other tubeless systems which use only the bead lock as their sealing point. First the bead lock is sealed, as well as the lower portion of the tire and rim to create a second inner seal. This unique design allows you to break the bead lock seal without losing air pressure. Secondly, the inner seal flexes inwards with the tire to maintain air pressure (see above photo).
The patented Rim Strip makes installation simple. It can be removed as easily as a tube and can be used over and over again. Time involved can be less than 10 minutes per wheel. With this system you can lose rotating weight in an area that previously was not possible.
Your lightweight wheel set can be converted to a tubeless set up with only 56 grams of added weight per wheel. Saving hundreds of dollars over purchasing new wheels.
No need to worry about the dreaded pinch flat.
Possibly never having another puncture flat again because of the self-sealing qualities of Stan's Tire and Rim Sealant.
You will be able to keep using your lightweight tires and not be limited to buying expensive and much heavier tubeless specific tires.
The New Molded Rim Strip features a new Presta valve stem with a removable core allowing you to add sealant without removing the tire. This removable valve core will make inflating easier by increasing the air flow into the tire. Removing the valve core also allows for cleaning or easy replacement.
Stan's Tire & Rim Sealant can also be used to seal punctures and slow leaks that occur in most tubeless tires. As a result, your tubeless tires will hold air for longer periods of time.
Other Information
If you are interested in rotating weight (and who's not!!) you can lose anywhere from 100 grams up to 400 grams of rotating weight per wheel set.
This System does not require any modifications to your existing wheel set. If you are not satisfied with it, all you do is remove the rim strip, and put your old heavy tube back in and go riding.
This System requires very little mechanical ability to install.
It does not use any glue and you can change a flat the same way you do now.
Lower Air Pressure, Better Traction and Ride
Stan's Tire and Rim Sealant will usually last from three weeks up to three months. At that time you simply add more. (Time will vary due to different tire characteristics). It leaves no mess in your tire.
Stan's Tire and Rim Sealant can also be used in tubeless tires for puncture resistance and STOPS leaks.
Once you seal your tires they will not lose air pressure.
What happens if I get a flat on the Trail? -- Do like most riders, and bum a tube from one of your pals because they always carry one. Heck, use their pump too!! Stan's Tire & Rim Sealant does not use any glue, so you can change a flat the same way you do now.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Pig Trail Riding and Planning for Training
Speaking of the next work related trip I should be able to get some outstanding training in if work doesn't interfere. I will have access to spin classes, ab classes, weight room 24/7 and of course a good 20 miles of road with some guaranteed wind resistance to make up for the lack of elevation changes. This means it is simply a matter of putting together a good 3 month training regiment and sticking to it as well as not overdoing it on the 24/7 buffet of a chow hall as well as all the available junk food. So my challenge is to develop a focused workout plan that accomplishes what I need to create more speed and hill strength using the resources I will have available to me. Not quite sure at this time what I will be able to compete in or if I will even be here for the entire season. As it stands right now that does not have a high possibility of being the case however, I should be able to compete in a couple of the GSC races and the 12hrs of Tsali and maybe one other endurance event. So I am hitting Charles up for a training program for the time frame so that I can get in shape along with my other goal of getting down to 140lbs for racing season, which is a 14lb loss from my current weight. For the time being though I am just enjoying the riding time and am going to stick with the trail since I am going to get plenty of road time coming up so thanks for reanding and if you happen to be out riding while I am I Will See You on the Trail!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Dropped like Michael Vick from a Nike Commercial!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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??"
Saturday, November 10, 2007
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.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Good Week for Riding
Sunday, November 04, 2007
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!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
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!
Monday, October 29, 2007
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!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Road Bikes and WBL Training Rides
Friday, October 19, 2007
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!
Monday, October 15, 2007
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!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Road Ride Casual
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Back again

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!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Been a while
Well it has been a while since my last post I know. I have been keeping busy with work and getting ready for some fun in the sun as well and I don't mean the 13hrs of Santos (I wish that's what I meant!!) However I have been fixing some computer issues and trying to get back up and running here for about the last two weeks. I believe I have resolved the issue and am now trying out this new feature on MS Office 2007 where I can type the blog post in a word doc window and publish it without even going into the blog site. Seems pretty cool if it works. Well I am finally trying to finish my degree as well 4 more classes and I will have my B.S. in Criminal Justice – taken me a lot longer to get there than I thought it would when I started it back in the fall of 86'! Yes that is right folks 21yrs (only 18 of those in the Army so far) and more than a few deployments later I will actually accomplish that goal. Anyway I am looking to possibly hit the trail Saturday or Sunday morning probably out at Arrowhead so if you're out there I Will See You on the Trail!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Transition Time
Sebastian Says "what up?"
Well it has been a slow couple of weeks around here since the Pig Race. Since I have previous vacation plans for September I won't be participating in two races I was looking forward to, Tsali and Dauset. So I figure I will start the transition period this month and get my training year started early still working on the details but I should get some pretty good training in with hopefully a full GSC schedule next summer. Anyway just taking it easy for now going to do some running and weight training and just ride for the fun of it for a while. So if your out there and riding I Will See You on the Trail!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Prespiration at the Pig
Phrase of the day- "Wow its Hot!" I think I heard Bruce make that statement about 100 times today - that was the understatement of the Summer. White wave started at 0930 and by 0940 I was sweating like it was cool I could only imagine what the Sport/Expert racers where feeling as I watched Charles and Noah do their 3 laps starting at 1130. I finally raced the hardtail for the first time ever after 4yrs of nothing but FS I took the Vertex-70 out and placed 6th at the Pig, my best finish in any event since I started racing(Things that make you go hmmmm). The support and preparation for this event was outstanding as was evident by how well the course was groomed and marked. Also excellent was the motivation provided by the volunteers that were all along the course cheering on the riders. My start was a little slow but there was plenty of area to pass and spread the field out before entering the tight twisty single track(I love that stuff!). I managed to get in the dirt in a loose rocky are of the trail on my first lap but otherwise kept it rubber side down for the entire race. Cleaned Chandlers Challenge on both laps, not in the Big ring like Charles did though(You Stud!). In my group Ron Fields placed 2nd to a serious sandbagger - anyone who can beat Ron by 2.4min definitely is sandbagging if they are in the beginner class! Monti took a 2nd in his Sport Class, Jesse did a strong finish in his class as well not sure were he finished, and Stan finished 1st for the Grandmaster class all had outstanding races. Charles and Noah finished strong especially considering neither of them has raced all season. I hung out to help clean up a little bit but even with all the water I was drinking I still had a headache from the heat and had to bail before the banquet. It was a great day overall and a good finish to the GSC series. I missed my goals for the season but am already looking forward to next year were hopefully I will be home enough to participate in a few more races and eventualy get on the podium. Unfortunately I will miss both the 13hrs of Santos and the 12hrs of Dauset both events I would like to do solo but will have to wait until next year to see if I am around for it. Anyway i will probably just chill out this week and hopefully hit Dauset twice before I have to depart for a little while so if your out there and riding I will See You on the Trail!
