Snake Jumping & Tymor recap.

Rocked 5hrs at French Creek today. It was rad. I jumped 5 snakes. R-A-D.

Seriously, it's over. Just give up.

Was on a rest week this week until today. Had some nice easy rides, last night's being the best. Something about having good company makes even the most stressful times better.

Despite a rest week, I definitely was not doing enough of this.

Man, I do NOT look cool. Fortunately, I have sweet gear to help.

Capped a strong training block last week with a XC race in Lagrangeville, NY, the Tymor Park Challenge. It's part of the Campmor/H2H race series and the course is sweet! Lots of fun climbs with nice descents and technical features. Felt the affects of the previous few weeks and wasn't on top form, but rode strong to 4th. I'll take it!

4th Place Pro, 1st Place Jew. Whatever.

Aside from racing, I've been running around doing interviews here and there. It's an understatement to say that I'm past due for employment. It was January 28th, 2009 when I got hit by my own little piece of economic downturn. I've been trying to stay in the Philthadelphia region, as I feel this is where I want to stay put for a while. Not sure if that's going to happen though, may have to do a temporary move. Hmmmmmm.......

Look forward to now.

That is what I am doing at the present moment. Amidst job interviews and facing imminent change, I am trying to grasp these last precious moments of freedom. It's almost a euphoric state, yet a trance that will be ending soon. Snap back to reality.

Through it all, I have been looking for something, but did not realize I was searching for it. As if my subconscious was leading the way, keeping my conscious mind at bay so as not to be hindered in its quest. Recently, it has merged with my waking, after taking its time and coming to its conclusion. You see, my subconscious is slow and methodical, yet wise beyond the years of which I've existed. It knows that in order to make an important decision, my conscious mind must be kept busy, as it tends to be overly logical, proud, and often stubborn. However, it seems that the time it has borrowed was too great, or perhaps not needed at all. I search for my partner in crime.

So as the days pass, and change draws near, I will not look forward to the future, however it may turn out. I will look forward to now.

Wrong turn to painville

Team report on the race HERE.

My 2 cents. With 30 seconds to go for the start of Saturday's Cascade Classic, one of the twins came running up asking for 5 minutes more. You see, they JUST arrived and needed time to get ready. Unfortunately, the group as a whole was not ready to oblige (Matt and I said nothing, which I'm oddly proud of).

We took off, and there was a crash on the first turn that I had to stop for and ride around. Picked off riders while on Double-A's wheel, then he took off on the first set of climbs, leaving me in 5th to reel in the group containing the front 3 on my own. No problem, got within 10 seconds of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th after Double-A blew by them on his way to victory. Then, I took a wrong turn on an unmarked junction, along with a slew of others. Boo-yah. Hoofed it back up the fire road I accidentally descended on after being scalded by Matt for talking about how we got lost (thanks for setting me straight!). I then tried to keep my focus and make up as much time and as many spots as I could.

Nearing the end of the race, I picked up two more Pro/Open racers who were pretty tired. I had some energy, but as we were in some sloppy & technical singletrack I decided to wait until the final set of climbs to make my move on them. Unfortunately, a set of straggling sport racers decided to mix it up with us, despite our rather polite request to let us pass. We kept our cool until a short road section, but I had to dismount as they stopped us over a tree-hump obstacle and briefly lost contact. Down the road, I tried to pass them before a steep descent, asking to be let through and race my race, but they again were oblivious to our pleas, so I tried to pass anyway. My mistake, as there was a skewed set of logs I didn't see that caused me to slip, my right foot unclipping and my pelvis crashing down on the back of my Fizik Antares saddle, which is not known for its padding. Pain.

Eventually I got up, the pain subsiding, and rode into the finish. Miraculously, I finished 8th and still made a few bucks. And to boot, the organiser returned my entry fee for the wrong-turn, admitting that they forgot to mark that corner in the morning. Very stand-up thing for him to do, and greatly appreciated!

In the end, super happy with the way my form is coming around. And I still feel I have a lot more gains to make! This helped dull the disappointment of missing out on a top-5, or very possible top-3 result.

This coming weekend I'll be heading up to Lagrangeville, NY for a Campmor/H2H series race that I did last year, the Tymor Park Challenge. I enjoyed this course last year, and am looking forward to racing it again. And word on the street is Martin will be coming with his pimp new Giant XTC 29er. I predict a very good dat indeed.

Sorry for the lack of pics, Toodles......

What's in my head

Ketchup, mustard, relish, and a rock. That's about right.

Lately I've been a jumble of thought. Coherent thought, but too much at once. It's almost gotten me distracted a few times, but for the most part I've done a good job of keeping my focus. Today, was NOT an example of keeping my focus. Woke up, wandered about for a short bit before eating breakfast late. Actually read through my morning e-mails for once, then shuffled out the door down to the Wiss for a ride on Boy Blue. While on Forbidden Drive, I passed two women running who yelled out 'Watch out! Rabid Raccoon!', and then kept running. I wasn't sure if they were joking or not, but I didn't see any raccoons, let along rabid ones. Was actually a little dissapointed........

Yeah, I get mad when the toothpaste foams out my mouth too.

Threw in some good efforts over the course of my 3hr ride. The suspension on Boy Blue is amazing, it is smooth and plush when open on the descents, and when I put it in Pro-Pedal, it is stiff for the climbs, but still a little forgiving for the flats, which means I don't have to switch it as much. Actually, I rode a lot of the Wiss with the shock in the Pro-Pedal position. I'm sure that won't be the case at this weekend's Cascade Classic. Pretty rocky and rooty stuff up there! More so than French Creek I'm assuming, where I had fun poaching the course last weekend!

All smiles on my first lap of the day. This wasn't the case 4 laps later.

Have a job interview next Friday, and hopefully that will go well and I can start earning a real paycheck again. I've been rather disgusted at the fact I haven't found a job yet, but since I can't even get a call back from the local recruiters and headhunters once they know what I'm looking for, I guess that's just an indication of how bad it is still for my field. Also, I have a wedding that same day, so I can get snazzed up and kill two birds with one suit. Speaking of the wedding, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get a gift. I asked for the registry and they printed me out a novel. Rediculousness! Thankfully I found something on the second page. Should have asked for the cliff notes......

Sac time!

My Boy Blue!

You thought you had a nice bike, until you saw mine. The team Anthem's arrived last week, and after a solid training week I finally had time to build it and take it out on it's tune-up spin down the towpath and on some fine Joisey roads. The Giant crew did a fine job with the pre-assembly, as it shifted great out of the box, and only needed some minor tweaks as the housing seated. The suspension is everything and more, and those white suspension links are oh-so-very pimp. The Giant brand carbon SLR bar/stem combo is also oh-so-very pimp, as well as oh-so-very light and stiff. And I still have some more spiff parts for it (here's a hint, X, T, R). Spent the rest of the day after the ride doing chores and truing some training wheels for it's maiden voyage on the dirt later this week where I'll fine-tune the suspension settings and loosen things up for the Cascade Classic race on Saturday.

Also, the team wheels arrived from Stan's last week. My teammate Richie Rich now works for Stan's, and brought them to the French Creek race. Droooooool! Crest rims built to ZTR hubs, light and solid! Exactly what the Dr. ordered for our style of racing here in the Mid Atlantic. Waiting on some sweet stainless steel rotors to arrive for them, 79g per rotor!!! My Geax treads are screaming at me to be mounted on these things! Patience children........

MUTHA!!!!

Beerfest and the Sauna of Granogue

I'm still a little flat from this weekend, but will try and liven things up a bit as I write.

Cheers to beers!

Saturday brought the heat back as I found myself driving up to Quakertown with the AC on part of the way to meet up with the crew of Intercourse Brewing Company at the McCoole's Spring Beer Festival. I was pretty psyched to hang out there for a few hours and pour some delicious brews for the crowds. The weather was fantastic and everyone was good-natured and absolutely loved the beer! I did partake in a little myself, but only a little........ After a few hours, I said my goodbyes and was off to the office for a 1.5hr race prep ride. After standing around for 3+ hours, it was much needed and the legs felt better after the ride!

Nicole (owner) and Jay of Intercourse Brewing Co.

Sunday was even hotter, with a little overnight rain to help intensify the humidity. This time, I drove down to the Granogue MASS race in Wilmington, DE with the AC on the entire time. Not wanting to hang around outside too much before my start time, I got there about 2hrs early. After setting up the tent and going over the raffle sale instructions with my helper du-jour (aka my Aunt!) I checked in at registration and hung out in the shade watching the sport racers tackle one of the steeper climbs on the course. I was dressed and on the bike with about 30 minutes to start time which was perfecto on the day. I was sweating profusely at the start but wasn't too worried thanks to the fact that I had been prepping with my Elete Add-in and Tablytes. That stuff is a miracle in a bottle for warm weather!

Elete: Puppy and Hebrew Cyclist approved!

One of the more humorous moments of the day, aside from Marc's shirt and tie, was Mr. Dupont driving through the start line with 30 seconds to spare in a sweet vintage car. We all gave him a round of applause and thanks for letting us use the property for the race and we quickly got re-set with just enough time to breathe before Marc said 'GO!'.

Mr. Dupont on his solo parade lap. Sweet ride, what's it got, a hemi?

Marc lays down the rules while I check to make sure I put on clean socks.

Up the road, we bore down on the cones that directed us to the right and into the first short section of singletrack which dumped us out on the climb up to the iconic tower seen in all the pictures for the race media. From there, it was a ton of sweet flowing singletrack with plenty of slick roots and rocks and off-camber sections to keep you on your toes. The end of the course was littered with short steep rocky climbs that were still a little slick form the previous night's rain, and bit into the legs pretty good before getting out into the open for the climb up the Koppenberg to the finish. Ironically, while it's usually unbearable up that climb with the steepness and the heat, this year the winds gave you a cool breeze as you topped and went through the start/finish. Thank you mother nature!

Despite a little fatigue in the legs from standing and beer-pouring the previous day, I felt great on all the climbs, but was riding the off-camber like a sissy, and had trouble on the slick climbs at the end of the lap, where I normally excel. Went from 6th to 10th in the second half of the race, but won't complain as coming in 10th with a relatively poor performance is much better than what I would have done last year!

Big HECK YEAH to FatMarc Vanderbacon for putting on a sweet race, and to Elete for supplying an awesome product that kept me hydrated and cramp-free all weekend!

I'll be taking the next weekend off from racing, but will still be with the team at French Creek. I'll be toting around the raffle tickets so don't give me too hard a time and buy a few! $3/ticket and 2 tix/$5 gets you in for a sweet prize pack from Intercourse Brewing Co. and our other sponsors with over $200!!!! See you there!