Alabamer Race Day

As I write this little tidbit, I'm sitting by my lonesome in the hotel room, watching Dodgeball, recovering from my first legitimate professional mountain bike race.  As expected, it was hot, humid, and the competition was fierce.  I was in the unknown, having not raced competition this tough for a while, and coming off some heavy miles on the bike.  I knew I recovered well the past week and was rested, but still ran the risk of having a lack of pep in the step.  Well, turns out, I lacked major pep and had a crap start, getting caught in the back of the bottleneck into the singletrack.  In general I felt good, but just wasn't fast enough to catch up and do some major passing.  Everytime I tried to accelerate I knew I risked popping quick, so I just kept the pace as high as I could and rode within myself.  Not sure where I finished, but that's not important today.  The experience was important and I'm definitely going to be able to build off of today and improve every race.

Next weekend is the next US Cup race in Virginia.  I heard that the course is quite technical with a lot of climbing, which should suit me well.  I'll be traveling with the Annanator and Super Jeff, pictures and stories to come.....

Alabamer Cruisin

Hit the course today after breakfast.  Fun and fast, it's just that simple.  Really looking forward to tomorrow after a great pre-ride.  While out riding, got to see some of the real Pros and ride with them.  Very cool watching them ride through the trails and getting to trail along.  The heat may play a factor tomorrow, as I noticed some riders talking about it.  It doesn't seem to be bothering me, and I'm staying on top of my hydration.  Bike was working great!  The Racing Ralph's were the right choice of tire, amazing combination of speed and grip on the trail.  Will lower the tire pressure a tiny bit for the race to hit the fast roots a little smoother and take the load of my back.  Now it's time to continue to rest and get some good stretching in before dinner.  Toodles!

Alabammer + 4, then + 1

In the hotel room in Alabama after a 15hr drive.  The Twins and I made smooth work of the drive too, not too stressful.  Martin and Matt were here already, in bed.  The room is a tad small, but there's just enough free oxygen to keep us alive for the duration of the stay.  The Annanator should arrive early tomorrow, which will make for some more fun and entertainment.  Tomorrow's plan:  sleep in, eat, pre-ride, rest & recover, and eat some more.  I'll snap some pics of the course while I ride.  

Long week done to Alabama

25 hours in the saddle over and done with.  It was a great feeling unclipping on Sunday, knowing that I completed a long and solid week of training without hesitation and giving it 110% the entire way.  Even the Plateau ride was bigger and better than normal, with a longer course that required even more focus and attention than normal.  Big props to Big Ed for putting that one together!  Har-har even stopped by for a few cheers with Girtie.  

Saturday I did a sweet solo ride in Michaux State Forrest, my old stomping grounds.  It always feels like I'm doing secret training there, as it always seems to be a breakthrough type of ride.  This time it was hill repeats on Dead Woman's Hollow that really got me going.  After turning my legs to jelly on that climb, I went straight for 3-mile trail to see if I could ride it 100% clean, which I almost did save for one dab.  Then I hit grave ridge trail which I also rode fairly cleanly.  Sunday was a relatively chill road ride through Jersey around Washington's Crossing, Stockton, and Lambertville.  It was hot this whole week and tough to stay hydrated, but I feel like I managed well.  

For the holiday I actually did NOTHING!  What bliss it was!  Strolled through a local fair for some beer and hotdogs, grabbed some soft-serve at Rita's, met my good buddy Brad for a slice of pizza and to talk about his latest dating experience (quite the entertainment).  Now it's time to start the routine for getting ready to leave for Alabama on Thursday.  Staying at the Oak Mountain State Park campground, weather looks decent for the weekend!  I'm really focusing on my recovery this week and am aiming for a good result this weekend.  I'll try and throw up a post once I'm down there, but no promises!

Until next time, keep it hebrew!

Come Visit Beautiful Tymor Park, and Alabammer ahead.

There's something to be said about racing a great mtb course, no matter how bad you feel physically, it keeps you going mentally.  That was the type of course I raced yesterday in Lagrangeville, NY.  With a ton of old trails, everything held up great to the rain the night before/morning of the race and helped seperate the skilled riders from the bunch.  Even though I ended up a distant 11th, I saw myself ride smooth and consistent and make few mistakes on a course that saw some people flopping about like squids on ice-skates.  After a long week in my final block of intense base training, I'm more than happy with that.  And I know that once I start race-prep my high end will wake up and I'll be able to match some of the harder accelerations that seperate the front from the rest.  

On tap this week is 24hrs of road and mountain biking.  No race for me this weekend, as I'll need to concentrate on putting 100% into this final base period in order to make sure my engine is as solid as can be this year.  Then it's on to race prep workouts and monitoring improvements and weaknesses up until the Mount Snow/Windham back-to-back weekends.

In it's middle phases are the travel plans down to Birmingham, Alabama for the Bump-N-Grind, stop #2 of the US Cup East.  This one should be a doozie with a lot of fast riders and a large(r) field.  The timing is good, as I'll have just finished up with the previous mentioned looooong training week and will be recovering the week before this race.  A few edits to the training plan and I should be snappy and ready to go!

Aside from cycling, I'll also be back on the Farm this week to help with more planting and such.  I'll be limited in my abilities as I have to make sure to stay rested, but it's so much fun hanging on the farm and working the earth that it's hard for me to stay away.  More from the Farm later!

Cookie Ride, Philly Union, and new adventures

Just back from the Belmont Plateau ride and boy are my teeth tired!  Great ride tonight, getting my petutie handed to me by Big Ed and Pistol Pete.  Someday I'll learn to ride those twisty tight trails fast.  

On Monday I was down in Philly with Joel 'ABADABING' V for the official unveiling of the Philadelphia MLS (Major League Soccer) soccer team, the Philadelphia Union.  It was sweet!  I can't wait to hit up some games.  The stadium 

will be in Chester, and you can get details at www.philadelphiaunion.com, yeah!  After, Joel 'ABADABING' V and I hit up Nodding Head's for some bangin burgers, beer, and frites.  OOOOOOOOH BABY!

Tuesday was my first time doing the cookie ride with Har-

Har.  It was fantastic.  We kept a great pace all the way to the bakery.  I got my first taste of the Chocolate Chip Espresso cookie.  Ding dang!  This is a secret too good to let go of, but if I like you enough I'll bring you a few next time I see you.  Harlan got a new dog too.  Super energetic little guy, and happy!  He'll be going on mtb rides soon enough.

Wednesday was another fantastic morning mtb ride with Big Ed through the Wiss.  Last week we had to hit the road bikes, but the weather was nice so we were able to hit the dirt this week.  I was tired, so Big Ed has to take it easy on me so I didn't wrap my tongue on my chin, but we still had a good time.  Afterwards I was cleaning up at the house and Big Ed's dog, Mouse, got ahold of a baby bird and unfortunately I was too late.  Mouse was just playing around, but baby birds tend to be fragile.  I said a Hebrew prayer and laid the fallen child to rest.  

So this weekend I'm headed to NY for one of the Campmor/H2H series races.  Should be a good time, with many a Mid-Atlantic folk making the journey up in the wake of the cancellation of the Marathon XC on Saturday.  Love those last-minute change of race plans!  Also starting to get some concrete plans laid down for the road-trip to Alabama for the Bump-n-Grind US Cup East race at the end of the month.  It looks like Matteo, Matteo's girlfriend, The Annanator, and I will be making the trip down in style in Matteo's team van.  Possibly stopping in Athen's GA along the way.  Many a picture and blog posts shall arise from this trip I predict.  Like Yoda I speak, yes.  

Well, I'm off to shower and bed.  Shalom and sweet dreams!

Asphalt Boycott Live Chicken Delivery

Sheesh, what a mental breakdown today.  I lasted 2 of 16 laps at the circuit race today.  I realized as I got squeezed to the inside of a tight turn into a narrow bridge on today's course that the last thing I wanted to be doing was racing a windy circuit race.  I was positioned towards the front of the pack at the time, and was riding comfortably coming up to the uphill portion of the circuit.  After crossing the bridge, I made the decision to pull off and say 'Uncle'.  I chatted with Gretna Bill for a bit before heading to my teammate's car, grabbing my bag, and starting off on my ride home.  I did feel bad for not sticking it out and helping my teammate, but enough is enough with these short and fast road races.  Dirt racing from here on out!

On the farm this week I found myself unloading crates of chickens.  Hopefully these will last a while and won't become food for the fox.  I forgot how much chickens stink, and upon getting home I threw everything I was wearing into the wash.  Since it was dark

 out, the chickens were ready to sleep.  Since we didn't want them sleeping in the small crates, we took them out.  Being chickens, and therefore birdbrains, they didn't figure out that they needed to get on the roost and kept huddling near the crates.  To remedy this, we picked up the chickens and put them on the roost.  This worked roughly 65% of the time, the rest of which we found ourselves cracking up as half-asleep and blind-in-the-dark chickens fell clumsily off the roosts onto the straw below.  Guess you had to be there.......

Nocturnal Potatoes, Saying Goodbye, and Granogue Mtb Race

Welcome back!  Glad to see you, how have you been?  Good I hope!  Well well, where to begin.  Let's start off with last Saturday, April 25th.  I received an urgent message from one of my closest friends as I was getting ready to sleep the night before the Greenbrier AMBC mountain bike race.  I called him and got the shock of the year.  His father had passed away a few hour earlier.  I sat there, stunned.  I wasn't sure what to say, but there wasn't anything really to say.  I thanked him for calling and told him I'd call him tomorrow after the race.  That man, my friend's father, was like a second father for me.  I respected him and cared deeply for him, and will miss him.  I wish I could say that I pulled out a big 'W' the next day in his honor (and believe me, I wanted to), but unfortunately two rear flats caused me to have to pull out after a lap, having no more CO2 and no hand pump available.  The entire week was hard to get through emotionally, as I spent much of it with my friend and his family.  The funeral was nice, held at a V.A. cemetery where his coffin lay draped with the flag of his country.  The ceremony ended with a 21 gun salute (7 rifles fired in 3 volleys) and the folding and presenting of the flag to his wife, my friend's mother.  It is a day I will remember always.

Upon returning home, I swing by my Aunt's to 

see if she needed help at the family farm.  I seemed to be just in time, as she was in the middle of tilling the fields and planting vegetables to be sold at the farmer's market come June.  I put my shoes on, and strapped on my headlamp (it was late and getting dark at this point) and hopped on the tractor for some night-time potato planting.  I drove, she sat on the planter placing the potatoes as we went.  It was harder than I though trying to keep the rows straight in the dark, but I managed pretty well.  This picture was taken from my phone with a hiking headlamp while I drove the tractor at 2mph.

So, let's wrap up our discussion with this past weekend's race reports.  First, we'll discuss Saturday's Turkey Hill road race.  I lined for the 125k Pro-1-2-3 race and  despite not riding my bike during the week, I felt pretty good after loosening up.  We had 12 laps, the last 5 of which would climb the short and steep Gamber Road hill, which on occasion has made a difference in the race, but on this day wouldn't have too much of an affect.  Unfortunately, I never made it to Gamber Road, as I found myself riding into a road-side ditch on the third lap.  As I passed the pack on the right-hand side to re-position into the front after dropping my arm-warmers, another rider had the same idea at the same time I was passing and sort of 'hip-checked' me.  I know this wasn't done on purpose, but careless nonetheless.  I was a little shaken, but luckily did not fall.  I got back on the road surface and still had a possibility of rejoining, but hesitated too much and road back in on my own.  The race car behind me also came up pretty quick and asked that I wait for the Cat 3/4 race to come by, which solidified my decision.  Bummer, but it ended up being a good decision as I later found that my rear skewer was completely loose from the incident.  Guess bad-luck turned out good in this case.  

Now for granogue!  I pulled up to the race with the Joe Reynold's Foundation and found a parking spot on a relatively flat part of the field in which we had to park in.  This field ended up being a muddy slippery mess by the time we left, and it was entertaining watching so many cars flail about trying to maneuver their way onto pavement and home.  We lined up for the Elite/Open race ready for a battle, 

but not really knowing what we were in for.  At the start, we headed up pavement and made a wide sweeping right hand turn in to a small section of woods to a grassy open climb.  While making the turn, some riders touched in front of me and knocked the course tape off a post.  I decided to take an inside line to avoid them and make some quick passes to better my position but was riding in the rough and my front wheel snagged the stubbles of whatever had been weed-whacked the previous day and my bike was pulled out from under me.  Not falling down myself, I quickly remounted and set up in the rear of the pack, passing riders on the grassy climb to descend through the fields mid-pack.  As the race wore on, I steadily passed riders as the course steadily deteriorated more and more.  Eventually, there was no option to ride and walking or carrying your bike was the only option.  I made the mistake of trying to ride too much and my bike got attacked and eaten by mud, which made it extremely difficult to push and almost impossible to carry.  Anyone who knows me well will tell you I can ride through poor conditions, and often ride well, but I have a limit for how much I will push/carry my bike in a mtb race and this race far exceeded that.  After 1 lap I abandoned for the bike-wash line with no regrets.  Better to keep bike and body in-tact for the next race then suffer possible injury and mechanical failure for a local race.  Picture is of the Joe Reynold's Foundation chairman after his 11th place Elite/Open finish.  

For you entertainment

I needed a laugh and this provided one for me.  Hopefully you find it funny too.  Enjoy!