Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Man, Christmas is come and past, and it was awesome. I got to ride (I was going to blog about it, but didn't, I'll include some pictures in this one) which was cool because it was snowy and I rode my cross bike up 215 and off some little side roads. It was pretty sweet. I also got a shiny new helmet too from the girlfriend, which is super awesome.

Since then, I've gotten to ride my road bike a lot, as well as going down to Clemson for some XC and DH action since there is still way too much snow for mountain biking here. I felt much more comfortable on the Clemson DH than I did during the collegiate race, but I'm not any faster, so I guess I still have some work to do on my skillz. Sweet.

(you don't see Tally look like this very often)

Tomorrow is the annual Carolina Crusher road ride, where people who got a bit rowdy the night before get to ride off their hangovers and get their blood pumping pure again. This year will feature a somewhat altered course to avoid all the snow that is still lingering around. Should be fun.

Oh yeah. Merry Christmas to me...

Snow Day

Well, like you may have noticed in my last post, it snowed last week. Unfortunately for those of us who like to ride our bikes, the snow is still here. I think that one of the main reasons that this area is awesome is because of the fact that one can ride year-round without too much trouble, and since for the last 10 years there hasn't been any significant snowfall, we have gotten really spoiled in thinking this. I mean, most places where there are mountains have to deal with large amounts of snow during the winter, and I guess we are fortunate here to have the elevation but not the real winter. That being said, it isn't actually all that bad of a deal to have 10 years of riding and only 2 weeks of snow preventing rides.

Anyway, the snow has meant that the 1:45 minutes that I've spent on the bike in the past 4 days has been on the trainer. Part of the blame for that lies with a large amount of work the week before Christmas, but still, I was hoping for some night riding to work on my ninja skills. Instead I worked on my ballet-footing skills on a run this morning with the Hoo (or the Who if you are thinking Christmasy thoughts about Whoville).

Being at the shop has only been so stimulating, and I have found myself thinking a lot about this next year, the races I'm going to do, my goals for the year, and what bike I'm going to ride. I am waiting on the Epic to become available, but the thought of a 29er HT has crossed my mind more than once... I don't think I want the 29er Epic (it's pretty heavy), but I'm not sure if I want a HT either. Actually, I can't believe that I'm even thinking about this at all. It's almost like I WANT to go join the circus. Weird. I should go read my own review of the 29er I rode a while back and see what I said then.

Later.

A New Year! (almost)

I am well aware of how long it's been since I've blogged...and I'm sorry about that. I kinda got tired of the whole thing after collegiate nationals, and haven't really had anything to write about since then. Since nationals (where I once again failed to live up to my expectations and big words, despite having a great season up to that point) I have done 1/2 of a cross race, and a whole bunch of mountain biking. I'm loving my Enduro, and have been trying all kinds of stuff that I never would have done on my Epic. It's pretty sweet. I'm sure I'll talk about that in a later post.

It snowed significantly all day yesterday, and combined with getting my wisdom teeth out the day before, meant that I hadn't ridden in 2 days and was going slightly stir crazy. So I kitted up in my super warm clothes (all pretty good looking, if I do say so myself), and went out in the snow. After riding through town and getting wet on all the stupid roads (not to mention getting splashed by tons of cars with slush) I made it up to the forest where there was significantly less traffic.

I passed a group of rednecks attempting to get their truck out of the ditch, and rode on past the horse stables, where I saw Will to the Murr drive over a rather large downed tree and slid

around a bit coming past me. I kept riding past the tree that turned him around, and finally made it up to Looking glass. It was pretty sweet going somewhere that no one else could go for the day, and I felt very explorerish.

A comment on riding in the snow...it's very hard. Kinda like riding in mud during an earthquake on a bike that doesn't like you very much. Seriously though, its way less predictable than mud, not to mention colder.

I'm getting my next season together at the moment, so be looking for the outline for that. I'm hoping to mix it up a bit, and redefine some goals that I've had for a while. Hopefully should be good.

A Request...

I know it's been forever since I've blogged, and I'm sorry for that. I know there are 6 of you who are sometimes vaguely interested in what I have to say, but I haven't been keeping you in touch with my life at all. I do promise to come back at some point (probably when I have something interesting to say).

For now, I am breaking my silence to make a request on them world wide internets... I really want Bracken Mountain to come out with their special edition brownies again for this weekend. That would be amazing, and I feel totally fitting with my winter regimen of eating way too much sugar. Baker Bill, I will even come pick out the special M&Ms for the top if you need me to...

So yeah, peppermint brownies. They're the jam. That is all. For now.

Northstar At Tahoe

Well, just finished the XC race at nationals, and I am proud to say that I have maintained my record of blowing every big race I've ever done. I had a pretty good start, was riding in the top 10, and thought that I was going pretty easy, but then suddenly I wasn't. I faded a little on the rest of the first lap, then blew up super hard on the 2nd of 4 laps. The course had a long 20 minute climb out of the gate, then a long rolling descent back to the finish. I was in my easiest gear for the ENTIRE climb on the last two laps, struggling worse than I ever have before. I couldn't even hit the downhills right... Just being super sketchy on everything. Awesome. I'm hoping to be able to throw down tomorrow in the short track.

The chicks did AMAZING though... huge props to Julia for her 3rd, and Joh for a 5th, and Alexis for a super solid 10th, and Sarah for destroying some souls for 11th. The guys weren't so hot... T Cowie pulled of a podium, but Cory and I were way OTB for 19th and 21st. I think we are still looking good for the overall, so more updates to follow.

On another note, Tahoe is AMAZING! It is so nice out here, I don't even know how to describe it. The house we are staying at is at another level of niceness than anything I've ever seen before. This resort is legit too, not like those goofy ones back home. I see why people come out here to ski...

I'm gonna go beat myself with a stick now. Later.

PS.

In addition (and speaking of procrastination), the South Park online player sucks. Every time I minimize it to pretend like I'm doing something worthwhile, it freezes up and I have to restart it. This actually wastes more of my time than if I just stopped procrastinating my viewing of the show and did it all in one chunk rather than pretending to be doing something meaningful. Then I could go and do my school afterwards without it freezing up. Or just watch another episode...

PIE!!!

Well, after a super fun ride yesterday followed by some super amazing Mexican food (cheesy bean dip is the JAM), today has been really wet and somewhat busy. Bent Creek was awesome, I had a great time hitting up a really chill ride with some of the most talented collegiate cyclists in the country. T-Cowie and Real Tall showed us how it is done on the downhills, and Julia killed it on the climb while maintaining her feminine vibe. Super cool. Just as I was bonking hardcore, we called it a day and headed to Papa's and Beer for the best Mexican around. After that, it was time to pack our babies up in the team trailer for the long haul out west.

Today has been a story in procrastination. I still need to get the last of my things together, still have to write the rest of my lab report, and still need to read some stuff for Ex Phys. Good times. I don't know why I can't seem to stop putting things off... it sucks.

On top of all that, I seem to have developed a speech impediment, which has gotten many laughs from my family tonight, and has somehow translated into my typing as well. Seriously, be glad that I am taking the time to fix all the errors I'm making writing this... you wouldn't be able to read it otherwise.

I also spent several hours today looking for my Garmin... I can't find it anywhere. It's been missing for a week now, and I am starting to think I may never find it. I really wanted to be able to take it out to Cali with me. Since that's kinda why I got it and all...

I'm going to go eat some apple pie and ice cream now. I may also write the rest of my report. You just never know with me. Except for the apple pie thing... you can generally predict that I will be eating sugar of some kind at any given moment (in addition to the title of this very blog).

Nationals - Prep Phase

I've got a lot to do before nats... and I'm leaving in a week. I'm pumped to get to go, and I think it should be a good time for all. BC Cycling is awesome, by the way. Anyway, my list for the week is:

-Get bike "national championship ready" (I already did the hard stuff earlier today)

-Get girlfriend's bike "national championship ready" (I need a rear SRAM shifter to do this... if anyone has a non-clapped out one laying around)

-Get packed up by Sunday to send my stuff out there

-Get pit bike ready for travel... Thad wants something to ride around/steal parts from

-Catch up on school... I've been horribly procrastinating all semester (including writing this blog right now), and I need to get caught up since there isn't any way anything is happening on the trip

-Write article for the T-Times. Apparently there is a demand for this from 3 people, so I guess I should appease them

-Eat copious amounts of bakery product to make up for not being around for a week

-Get project bike done... I can't say too many specifics about this cause it's not for sure yet, but let's just say that I was challenged to turn a bike with a checkered past into a national championship caliber whip with the stock parts in a matter of days. And not have it be sketchy. It's going to happen.

So you see, there is a lot to do. Most of it could be done in an afternoon except for the whole procrastination thing. For instance, a lot of my time is spent watching videos and looking at pictures. I'm pretty sure those will be around for quite a while, but still, they demand my attention RIGHT NOW.

I'm out to watch something about good ass bbq and foot massage.

Later

Clemson

Well, the regular season of collegiate mountain biking wrapped up this weekend in Clemson with the conference championships. I went into the weekend hoping for a couple of good results, and while I didn't really get what I was looking for, it wasn't a complete loss.

I started Saturday out right by sleeping through my alarm and missing the van by an hour and a half. I barely made my short track start (seriously, I got there at 8:56, and was on the line by 9 ready to start. We didn't actually start on time, but I was ready anyway), but the lack of warmup and a crash at the start relegated me to 14th place. Pretty crappy on a course that suits me pretty well. After the short track, I got some food and went to practice the downhill. I got pretty confident on it, and threw down what I thought was a really solid race run. At the finish, I was told that I had put down a 1:32, which would have put me solidly in the top 10, 1 second behind Real Tall. I was really stoked with that, since I had been trying hard in the gravity stuff all season and was sucking pretty badly. I found out today that I had only run a 1:42, which put me in the 30s somewhere, 13 seconds off the win. That pretty much sucked. There isn't much to report for slalom since I DQed my qualifying run by missing a gate (there were about 15 out of 40 riders who did that too, so I was in good company). Big thanks to Dan for letting me use his bike, that thing is sick, sorry I didn't put it to better use.

Sunday's XC went a lot better. I didn't get a great start, but worked my way up to finish 8th. I was feeling really good all day, very smooth and consistent, better than I've felt all season. That course really suits me, and is a lot of fun to boot. I was one place behind the second Union guy, so I think we matched them pretty well. Rimmer was 10th after I passed him about halfway around the last lap with some chain issues. Tristan crashed on the last lap and finished 2nd to the first Union rider. Julia held it down for the first 3 laps, but then faded on the last one to finish 3rd. I'm pretty sure that could have been avoided with some better eating and drinking, right? Its cool though, she won yesterday and sealed up the endurance omnium.

I'm not sure how the results are going to stack up, but it's going to be tight. Warren Wilson wasn't super consistent, but they had some good races yesterday, and as usual, flooded the hell out of the women's fields. Union was strong, but I think their lack of girls will come back to bite them. I'll let you guys know how the points end up once they get them posted. We are reasonably sure that all of our top riders will be making the trip to Cali, which means I need to start thinking about getting a little bit ahead on some school work. I think I'll actually go do that now...

Later.

A 29er

So, today I saw something… I saw pigs flying and people wearing jackets and skating in hell. I know I swore I would never do it, but today my curiosity got the better of me and (insert collective gasp *here*) RODE A 29er!!! And what’s more, I actually liked it. Trust me, that takes a lot of pride-swallowing to say. The shop got in a Stumpjumper Comp 29er hardtail, and of course, everyone wants to ride it (and when I say everyone, I mean the 3 of us who ride that size and are mildly curious about it). Anyway, I was the first one to ride it, and I went into it with as open a mind as possible.

First, let me explain some of my biases and factors affecting my perceptions about the bike. Normally, I ride a Specialized carbon Epic, which weighs just under 23#s with my race kit on it. That race kit (and what I’ve been riding for about 2 months straight now) involves some really light and stiff wheels which obviously is what I am used to. This bike is about 2 pounds heavier than mine, and the wheels are decidedly not race level wheels. I’m also pretty happy riding a full suspension bike, and I struggle a lot going downhill when I’m on a 26er hardtail. In addition, I raced this past weekend, so my legs are still pretty tired. Just keep that in mind when I talk about how the bike rode.

OK, so, what did I think of the bike? Well, rolling out of the parking lot, I noticed a good bit slower acceleration. Not a huge deal, but noticeable. I dropped into lower Sycamore, and liked the bike pretty much from the first hundred yards. Not only does it roll over stuff like everyone says it does, it also has loads more traction than a 26er when climbing on rooty terrain. That made me pretty happy right there, as I was able to clean stuff even after messing up some lines that would have stopped my Epic in its tracks. So, climbing on technical stuff? Check.

Going up Black Mountain, I did notice a lot of sluggishness. Trying to stand up pedaling was a bit harder, and I felt like I was wrestling the bike the whole time. I was able to sit down a good bit more than I would have been able to riding a 26er, but was definitely still on a hardtail. Again, what I am seeing as sluggishness is likely largely the responsibility of tired legs and a difference in equipment quality levels, but it was still there. I also noticed that the front wheel seemed to wander a good bit on the slower parts of Black. However, I felt like the bike really shone once I got it up to speed on the flatter parts. It definitely felt like there was some momentum behind me.

How about going downhill? Well, all of the stuff that I rode was fairly straight, without any of the tight turns that are usually found on a race course in the area. Going down Thrift, I noticed that I had more traction on the looser turns, and I didn’t really have a problem switching sides on an s-berm section. On Sycamore, the big wheels didn’t really shine as much on the really rooty sections. It was definitely better than a 26er hardtail, but not anywhere near as smooth as a fully. This made me realize something though… I had been comparing the bike to a full suspension, when I really needed to be comparing it to a 26in hardtail. This realization changed a lot. Instead of expecting plush, I began expecting fast. And the bike actually was.

All of that looks pretty positive, doesn’t it? It is. So will I be getting one for next year? No. In spite of all of the good things that I have mentioned here, I still don’t think it is a good race bike. It rolls over Pisgah stuff really well, and if you are looking for the simplicity of a hardtail without the punishment, a 29er could be a good option. However, as much as I think they would be OK for a fun riding bike, I really don’t see it as a race bike, particularly not around here. It is just too sluggish accelerating and climbing. Maybe out west where you have courses without a lot of turns, but on the east coast, there is just too much turning and changing directions to have the bigger wheels make sense. I am going to ride it a few more times to see if I get a different feel for it, but for now, I will be sticking with 26 inch wheels…

Also, as an aside, Julia is awesome.

Needed: Dry Weather.

I’m not sure what the deal with Brevard College Cycling is (or actually the SECCC in general), but we always seem to end up racing in the rain. The past two weekends have been mudfests of the highest degree, destroying many a bike in a very short period of time. I’m actually over it.

Since I’ve not written in a very long time, I’ll give you a really brief recap of my races and life. Two weeks ago, the team traveled to Lees McRae for the second weekend in a row, and after a dry and very successful weekend (for me personally and for the team) the week before, we hit some really gnarly conditions. The races were still fairly successful, but the gnarly factor made everyone feel a little less excited about the racing. I had a terrible day in the XC, and then didn’t race DH because of the weather. Short track went just as badly, as I got dropped out of the gate and then spent the rest of the race trying to see and stay on my bike.

This weekend was the Brevard home race, which, once again, was totally awesome. The team cleaned up (as usual) and in spite of the torrential rains on Saturday, kept it together to sweep all but one of the day’s events. I had some really bad luck during the short track, but eventually made my way back up from the very back of the field to finish 10^th. XC on Sunday was amazingly dry considering how wet it was the day before. I managed a season best 7^th on a course that really didn’t suit me at all. I think that was mostly due to the insane cheering section on the most technical section of the course. The local Brevard people are awesome.

Other than racing, I’ve been trying to keep up with school. And unlike Julia, I haven’t really had much to stay ahead of. It got a little crazy for a couple of days last week when I had two tests that needed doing, but other than that, it’s been a really easy semester. Hopefully after racing gets done it will remain easy so I have lots of time to go out and just ride. I really want to get out on my mountain bike and hit up some seasonal trails… I’ve been looking forward to that all year.

Stay dry Brevard!

My Line of Thought...

I really enjoyed this weekend... it was fun. I love that course. I think I do well on it. Most of the time anyway. Except when I think about it a lot and need to do well and don't. Then it kinda sucks. I did have fun this weekend though. I was killing it on the climbs. And although I have descended better in my life, I definitely was going pretty good. I do need some new brakes though… mine weren’t hooking up so well. I should probably get those before next weekend on the same course.Yeah. I got 7^th using non-functioning brakes though, so that’s pretty good. 9^th in the short track too, which is good, but not really dependent on brakes. Definitely a good weekend.

Except for the slalom thing. Just for future reference, if you are in the start gate of a ghetto dual slalom race where the race official is talking to the incompetent timer through a radio about when to start the clock, don’t stop his countdown at the end. The timer at the bottom may start the timer anyway and then forget that you aren’t going yet and just give you the time from when he started the first time. That sucks. Cause I really wanted to qualify. Oh well. Same course next weekend.

I will say though that the massive talent vacuum I left when my time got messed up was covered nicely by the rest of our gravity team holding it down all weekend. There are some major players wearing the Brevard kit this season. And that Tristan Cowie? The boy is a beast. 6^th qualifier in slalom?Winning the XC after breaking his chain? I think he turns into a monster when he has a mechanical and goes even faster than he usually would (and that’s pretty fast to begin with). Way to go Brevard.Awesomeness.

Hmm, I want some food… I should go get some. I got some awesome stuff this morning thanks to Baker Bill… those special edition apple thingies were off the hook. I was so happy.

Julia’s birthday is tomorrow… I can’t wait for the madness that is sure to ensue. Bike riding?Pescado’s? Bike meetings? Bar hopping? I hope she’s satisfied… I think that she has more planned for her birthday than anyone else in the history of the world. Get ready Brevard. It is going to be straight insane tomorrow night… Julia turns 21.

The Good, The Bad, and uhh...

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged, but there really hasn't been much going on to speak of. I started school back up, which is cool, although I still haven't really gotten back into the swing of things. It usually takes me a good while to get back up to speed, but after two weeks, I'm still just waiting to figure out what's going on.

As a result of my confusion in school, I haven't been riding very much at all. Even in the two weeks that I had not racing, I haven't ridden more than like 7 hours. It's freaking weak. And the worst part is, I don't know where all of my time is going. I'm really not in class all that much, and I'm not working hardly at all, and that's about it. There aren't all that many demands on my time, I just don't know where it is all going.

And I'll also go ahead and say, people really don't want to buy stuff right now... I've been trying hard to sell a hardtail (haha), but haven't had any success. Ebay isn't working out so well, and all of the classified ads sites are pretty much just full of scammers. No one wants to buy anything. I was really hoping to have something a little more trail/gravity worthy than a hardtail race bike, but no dice. Oh well.

And now for the good news... I just got a new phone. Again. And it's way better than my old one that kept messing up every week or so. Sweet. Also, I get to race again this weekend, and hopefully I will have a little bit better time than I did last weekend.

Now I have to go look for something for Julia Goolia's birthday. It's her 21st, and while I'm pretty sure that one is overrated, she is pretty excited. I think I have some ideas, but I guess I'd better come through with something good.

Stormtroopers

http://wildammo.com/2009/08/09/what-stormtroopers-do-on-their-day-off/

Good stuff.

School vs. Summer

It seems the summer is finally over... school starts tomorrow, and I have to say, I'm pumped. I am actually looking forward to being in class. Weird, especially considering 3 months ago I never wanted anything to do with school again. But I've got a good schedule this year, and most of my classes should be fairly interesting.

I also start racing this weekend, which is also awesome. I've been waiting for so long to get back to collegiate mountain biking, I almost can't believe it's here. It really doesn't seem like that long ago when we were standing on the podium at nationals for 4th place... not this year. I like to think that we've stepped up our game quite a bit from the last time anyone saw us. I can't wait to see what happens this season.

This summer has been pretty good though, up until the last couple of weeks. I've had fun chillin, and pretty much everything was working out for me. I got to ride a lot, and worked a lot too. Actually, that's pretty much all my summer consisted of. Other than a rough patch right at the beginning, its been smooth sailing. Unfortunately, instead of going into school completely happy though, there are a couple of things that aren't so great right now. I think that summer was just too good, and now I'm paying for using up all the goodness. I don't know how that even works, it just seems like a few things have kinda fallen apart. I guess we shall see how things progress going into school.

Anyway, other than that little aside, racing starts this weekend, as I've said. I should be keeping this updated more often, and hopefully will post something from ETSU this weekend.

Later

Fall is Coming

There comes a time every summer when, quite suddenly, I am ready for fall. This year it was a little longer coming on than usual, but all the same, I have a desire for cooler weather. This time around it was triggered by a visit to a very cool and windy parkway. Something about that was like, "hey, I need a sweatshirt. I am ready for cool." I would like to make the distinciton between "cool" and "cold." Cold is what happens after New Years. Up until then, you are either in fall (which is awesome), or early winter (which still has racing, and looking forward to Christmas, and the end of the semester). After New Years, there is nothing to look forward to except spring, meaning that you very quickly lose your interest in cool and it very quickly just becomes a miserable, bone chilling, mood-killing weather pattern.

I think that cool weather is fairly tied together with this, but I am also ready for school to start. I want to see all of my friends, and I want to learn, and most of all, I want to race. I don't know why I am looking forward so much to getting back in class, I think that I just want structure in my life. I also want the Bracken Mountain Hang Out time to start up again.

I've been going out to Adventure Village a lot here recently with Julia, working on my mad skilz. Last night we went out and saw Dan, Danny, Chaput, Herndon, and Sarah, and rode with them for a bit. I am feeling pretty good on the Slalom track, and except for Danny and Dan showing me up pretty badly, am looking forward to some racing. The only problem is, our track is very much unlike anything else we will race, so I'm not sure how prepared I'll be for normal racing. Julia has improved greatly though, and should be able to hold her own pretty well this season.

And now I have to go eat some Cinnamon Raisin Bread from Bracken Mountain. It's going to be awesome.

Chicken Salad?

I don't understand why people feel like celery in chicken salad is an improvement. I mean, there really isn't a flavor from it, and all that you really get is a terrible overly crunchy texture. If you already have apples in there, then honestly, how much more crunch do you need? Do people put it in there just to take up space to make it look like there is more than there is? Or just to feel better about themselves? If you want crunchy, go buy a Heath Bar. They are tastier and better for you.

On another note, if you are ever considering buying a Santa Cruz Blur, don't. Trust me, there will be a mechanic somewhere someday who thanks you. I know this because I just spent 2 hours trying to change the bearings in a siezed up bike, and I believe that it was the most frustrating repair that I have ever done. All of the trouble with the bearings was compounded by unrelated issues with the bottom bracket, a flat tire, and cable and housing, but still, the bearings go bad way too often for them to be that hard to change.

Also, I will be looking into finding a company who is looking to pay me to advertise for them with my car. I have heard that these programs exist, but that the hard part is finding a company looking for people to advertise on. So if you know of anyone, let me know.

Finally, and I'm really pumped about this one, I have decided to race gravity as well as endurance stuff this coming season. While I will still be focusing on my strengths, I also want to broaden my horizons to include some other disiplines. This means that I will be spending a good amount of time practicing my skills and honing my ninja reflexes and balance. So yeah, I'm pumped about it. Like I said. I can't wait to see what I can do at something I never thought I would be any good at.

Fontana

Man, I've not raced in the mud in a long time... I've forgotten how much fun it is. Well, if you are prepared that is. I showed up to Fontana thinking that it might be muddy, and I was honestly just looking for a chance to use my spikes. After driving through the rain the entire way out there, I decided to switch out the tires before the start.

We had a 20 yard road start followed by a steep climb that everyone was saying was unridable. I even had someone tell me that it was impossible. I kinda took that as a personal challenge, and started as hard as I could to get ahead of everyone else. I cleaned the whole thing, and ended up gapping everyone by a good 30 seconds within the first mile. I rode at the front for a while until one of those damn Cycle Youth boys caught me right at the top of the climb. I started rolling down on his wheel when I cut my sidewall bad. Usually I wouldn't panic, but for some reason, it took me a solid 5 minutes to get it changed (sad, I know). By the time I got rolling again, I had been passed by my entire field, as well as the whole field behind me. Good stuff.

I killed it for the next 2.5 laps, passing almost everyone who went by while I was fixing my flat, and pulled it back for 2nd. I think I made up some time on Cory, but that was probably due to a lot more motivation on my part. The mud spikes hooked up, and I don't think I've ever ridden the mud that well. All of the downhills were completely awesome too. I love being faster on stuff like that than anyone else around me. I also seem to be coming along pretty well with my fitness. I'm looking forward to getting really fast in about a month and a half.

Oh yeah, mad props to Geoff B. for winning the SS race on a borrowed bike with the wrong size wheels. I think it was Talent's picture on the front that did it for him.

Now it's time to head out to Adventure Village to finish the trails out there for our race this fall. Should be fun. And painful. Dan is hitting the DH course for some new lines, and I think that we are going to put some new stuff in for the XC too. As long as it's not raining, it should be a good race.

Top Speed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R9qmX6FmwQ

This is my aspiration in life... to be a bike rider featured on a car show.

Also, I'm racing at Fontana this weekend. I don't think that it will be muddy like it used to be, but hey, I would be cool with it if it was. Although I won't be racing a car.

On the Road Again

So this past weekend, I did another road race. Voluntarily. I know what you must be thinking... "didn't you get enough of that during the collegiate season?" Well, apparently I hadn't, because I found myself signed up for 3 events in the French Broad Cycling Classic. My expectations were low, since my only experience with road racing had been against people who were significantly stronger than me when I had no idea what I was doing.

So I lined up for the TT on Friday night in full speed demon getup. I had borrowed a TT bike from Josh S. and had his sperm helmet to complement my skinsuit. After hearing from everyone that I shouldn't go too hard from the start, I went out conservitively, and ended up feeling pretty good. I averaged 28.14 mph for 26.5 minutes, and walked away with a 2nd place finish. I was pretty happy with that.

On Saturday I did the road race, which was apparently unlike any other event in the country. It was a 40 mile point to point race that finished up a 2 mile steepish climb. I managed to make the main selection in the race halfway through up the first big climb, and then managed 3rd out of the main group, and 8th overall behind an early break. I was actually pretty happy with that, since I didn't expect to do much on the climb, but really felt good and passed a bunch of people late in the game.

I went into the Sunday crit trailing by one point in the omnium standings, so I was thinking that I would have a pretty good shot at the omnium, since I was sure I would be able to best the climbers that had beaten me the day before. I knew I was in over my head though when before the race I got accosted by one of the rival teams who, once they found out who I was, told me that they would be marking me and not letting me win, but that I shouldn't take it personally. Whatever.

That got me a little worked up, so I was like, "fine. You want to play that way, lets go." Only cooler and in a more dramatic fashion. I got the hole shot at the start, and proceeded to do some work at the front. I pretty much single handedly chased down every attack and made pace for most of the race. At one point, after being stupid at the front for 3 laps, I was hurting a little bit and decided to sit in and recover for half a lap. Then I went again. After I pretty much destroyed the team that told me to watch out, I was right where I needed to be on the final lap, 2 wheels back. On the flat before turn 3 I attacked the group and blitzed into the corner just a little too hard. I ended up overcooking the turn and doing a little mountain biking trying to get back on course. By the time I got back on track I was well in the back and held on for 26th place.

I still ended up 3rd in the omnium, which was pretty cool since I went into the weekend unsure of what to expect. I feel good about it since I was stronger than I thought I would be. Cat 3 is definitely where I belong for the time being, and since I don't expect to be upgrading any time soon, that's a good thing. At the moment, I'm just looking forward to racing some more.

The Next Level

So, it's been a long while since I've blogged. Here is a summary of my life since then: ride lots, work some, shower, eat, sleep. Pretty much it. Good times.

So yeah, I've been working really hard trying to get ready for the next part of my season. Unlike most people, my season is just getting started. I've got a full collegiate mountain bike season, followed by (hopefully) a full cross season. That means that I'll be racing until mid december. Since I've already been going since january, its going to be fun. I know I need to not only get ready for the long haul, but I also need to step up my game so that I'm no longer, as someone recently told me, "mediocre." I'm not promising anything great, but I do want to go to the next level.

For some people, the next level is a lot cooler than is it for me, but I'm just hoping to get to where I can either dominate the cat 1 field next year or move to pro. I'm also looking to hit this collegiate season hard, with a solid result at nationals.

Speaking of which, I've never had a good race at any national level event. Ever. I've had bad days, terrible days, race ending mechanicals, and crashes. But never an event that I was happy with. My goal this year is a top 7 in either the XC or STXC, and I'm going all out to make that happen. I'm done with racing like crap in my biggest races.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day. I'm sitting next to Thad right now as he sets up a training program for me. Hopefully it will push me to where I need to be.

Rain much?

I just got back from a 3 hour road ride in the rain. It was awesome. I started out under sunny skies, and the weather was perfect for about 45 minutes. Then it started to sprinkle. "No big deal," I thought. I can handle a little drizzle. I had planned a ride that was pretty much up and down the entire time, and was looking forward to some of the climbs on the route. After about an hour of drizzling, the rain stopped and it looked like it was clearing up. Not so much. I started hearing some serious thunder and then about 2 hours into my ride, the bottom fell out. Now, I have ridden in a lot of heavy rain, and I won't say that this was even close to some of what I've been through weather wise, but it was pretty heavy all the same. I managed to finish the 3 hours, and with about 15 minutes to go, the rain stopped and the sun came out in full force.

The best part is, I feel like I accomplished something today. Such as:

1. I made the weather my bitch. That's right. My bitch.

2. I gained a little bit of toughness both mentally and physically.

3. I found a new way to keep a cell phone dry in an unexpected rain. The first way that I have used for years is the empty water bottle method. However, since it started raining at the beginning of my ride, and I didn't want to dump all my liquids, I had to get creative. While I was thinking, I noticed that people litter a lot. I also realized that a lot of what they throw out could be useful in keeping something dry. So I kept my eyes open for a couple of seconds, and found a discarded ziplock bag. Problem solved.

4. I peed off the bike for the first time today. It was awesome. I felt very pro... peeing off the bike while riding in the rain. Good times. The only issue is, it is very hard to find a stretch of road that is either flat or slightly downhill for long enough to do this properly. You also have to watch out for houses...

5. I was reminded of how excruciating going downhill at 45mph in the pouring rain is.

6. I found a new species of frog. Well, probably not actually, but I was riding by the river, and looked at the road, and there were hundreds of tiny frogs, all slightly smaller than a cheerio, hopping across the road. Hundreds.

7. I had a blast riding my road bike in the rain, by myself, for 3 hours. I don't know why.

Bummer

Well, the biggest event of the season is behind me, and now I don't know what to do. I think I might try to go to Alabama for the Bump and Grind national, but at the moment I am lacking any kind of motivation, particularly after last year's debacle. We shall see. The logistics are proving to be harder than I thought they would be.

12 Hours of Tsali was a blast. This is the first year that I have been decently happy with my laps, and while I wasn't having a GREAT day on the bike, I was having a blast during the day. We pretty much got our butts kicked from lap one, and ended up being not even in the same playing field as the other teams, but who cares. I was only 25 seconds off of Wes D for one of my laps, and who could complain about that??? (I suppose someone REALLY fast, like Sauser or Tristan, could, cause then they would obviously be having a bad day)

The Sycamore team was out in force, and it seemed like a good time was had by all, and that's what mattered. Our sport team won, our women's team won, and our solo man won. It was a good day.

On a different note, I am trying to figure out what I want to do this summer... what I thought I would be doing kinda fell through, and other than some odd bike camps here and there, I really don't know what will be going on. I'm guessing I will be trying to get fast on the bike, which seems like a pretty good idea, but still, it won't fill a summer completely.

Anyone want to hang out?

blahh

I've kinda been not very motivated to blog. Like at all. I went to nationals in Colorado, drove all the way there too, and you didn't hear a peep out of me on the blog. Had some good times, didn't talk about them at all. I'm done with school now, but didn't feel like talking about it online. Had fun hanging out, went on some good rides, had some funny stories, but none of them were enough to spur me to writing.

At the moment, I am hanging out in a kick ass hotel in downtown Winston-Salem, chillin and living the high life, but that's not why I'm writing my blog. I mean, I'm having fun, its good times, but nothing to write the web about.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm not dead. I really did plan to write some stuff during nationals, but kinda got bored and lost my motivation. I think after school let out, I no longer had the drive to do anything. Maybe someday I'll get it back, and maybe someday I'll have something interesting to say too.

Driving anyone?

I've never posted a blog from a car before... I've written one while driving across California and then posted it during a Starbucks stop, but never posted while driving 85 down the interstate. Good times. Speaking of which, Thad is pinned.

I just finished driving from 9:53am to 2:12pm, which seems like it should be about 4 hours and 19 minutes, but actually ended up being 5 hours and 19 minutes due to a time warp somewhere between starting and stopping that leg of the trip.

In that period of time, I figured out the difference between my driving and Thad's...

I plan out my driving at least 2 moves in advance. When I come up on someone, I look around and see what the best option is for getting around them but also what that will mean 10 seconds down the road and then what happens after that. I never go into a corner without a way to get back out. That means that I tend to be a little smoother and less erratic; using the brakes and gas less. It also means that I sometimes miss moves because I think too long, and I rarely am overly aggressive.

Thad is all about the short game. He takes a move based on what he sees first, reacting without always thinking about what is going to happen next. This means that he is good with making snap decisions and sometimes gets places quicker, but also means that he tends to be very jerky and come into stuff too hot.

Anyway, this is a long drive. And I'm trying to decide between watching a movie, writing a paper, and reading a book...

I think I'm gonna read.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia

Related video worth checking out...

The team went down to Georgia, we were looking for a race to win. We was in a bind 'cause we were out of time: and we was tryin’ to grab a meal.
When we came across a late night race around the block where all the racers were hot.
And the Hoo jumped up on a great big fence and said: "Boys let me tell you what: "I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a bike racer too."
And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you.
"Now you ride a pretty hot lap, boys, but give our team their due: I bet a night’s sleep against your watts, 'cause I think we’re better than you."
Skeletor said: "My face is creepy and it might just be a sin, But I'll take your bet, your gonna regret, 'cause I'm the sketchiest that's ever been."

Racers pump up your tires and rip your bike real hard.
'Cause hells broke loose in Georgia and the Manimal deals the cards.
And if you win you get this shiny bike here made of gold.
But if you lose, the monster mile gets your soul.

T Cowie opened up his whoop ass case and said: "I'll start this show."
And fire flew from his shaven legs as he sprinted hard to go.
And he pulled the train across the trail and skeletor made an evil hiss.
Then a band of pros joined in the chase and it sounded something like this.
(insert BRAAAP)
When the race had finished, Tristan said: "Well you're pretty good ol' sons.
But when I get back from Germany I'll have to show ya’ll how it’s done."

And we played fire on the mountain, ride boys, ride.
828’s in the house of the risin' sun.
We up in the bakery pickin' out dough.
"Granny gear off, it’s a big dog show!"
"Go, team, go!."

The Kenda boys bowed their heads because they knew that they'd been beat.
They laid that golden bike on the ground at Tristan’s feet.
Tristan said: "Ya’ll just come on back if you ever want to try again.
I told you once, you sons of a bitches, we're the best that's ever been."

And we played fire on the mountain, ride boys, ride.
828’s in the house of the risin' sun.
We up in the bakery pickin' out dough.
"Granny gear off, it’s a big dog show!"
"Go, team, go!"

I just woke up... ish. I've not been able to sleep past 7 for the past couple of weeks, so I'm pumped to get some more sleep. Particularly with this weekend coming. We're going to go down to Georgia and watch Twilight, and then drive back up to Winder to race some mountain bikes. It's gonna be fun. Good times, cool people, not much sleep, lots of bikes. Awesome.

Also, I've been reading Todd Wells' blog, and it's a pretty cool view into the world cup racing stuff. It's also cool since he always trains with Susi and Burry. Anyway, if you're bored, check it out here.

And school is finally close to being done. I've got a week and a half of classes left, and a whole bunch of stuff to do before I can be done. Yep. I really should be doing that now, but hey, I'm apparently a slacker.

I just found out an interesting statistic about Twitter, just in case anyone is thinking of opening an account... 35% of all Twitter posters have only 5 people following their posts. That's kinda depressing and not really worth it.

Kinda like blogging.

Later.

Hey

Well, I reckon it's been a while since my last post... I reckon this because Julia tells me every day that it's been a while since my last post. The thing is though, not all that much has happened since then.

BC hosted our very own road race, and I'll go ahead and say that it was awesome and was probably better put on than collegiate nats will be thanks to a certain Squirrel and his posse. The A men sucked it up in the road race, with me sucking the hardest (wind that is) after getting dropped on Walnut Hollow on the last lap. I don't think any of us scored any points. Julia held on for 6th in the A women, which was pretty good considering who she was up against. Other props to Jami and Joh for their double win this weekend.

The crit went a little bit better for all involved... Apparently it was an awesome course as far as crits go, but since I've never done another crit, I just thought it was an awesome crit in general. Tristan was on the gas for the first couple of laps, and just about dropped me doing it. After he got off the front, a group of 6 went off the front, and the following chase led to me being popped off the back. I was able to chase back on to the main group, and sat in until the break lapped us. As they were coming by, Tristan and I jumped into the train during the confusion, and rode with them for the last 10 minutes. Captain America jumped hard with a lap to go, and I figured that I would give it a shot with him. I was catching back on when he did a little bit of showing off and railed a turn faster than I thought was possible and put a couple of bike lengths into me. After that I just rode as hard as I could so that the group behind me wouldn't catch back on and ended up finishing just ahead of the chase for 9th place. I mean, it's not great, but I'm happy.
And yeah, Julia was awesome, taking her fury out on some stupid fast people on the last lap and taking a very impressive 3rd place. I think it bodes well for her national's experience.

In other, non-bike related things, I am pinned with school right now. The trip to nationals is up in the air (ooh, look... bike related) and so I'm having to plan to have everything done a week and a half early as if we were actually going. Moving exams sucks. And I'm tired of cramming knowledge in my head in mass quantities. And I was going to do some work on a paper, but my fingers apparently aren't working, and I keep making stupid typing mistakes, and Capitalizing things That don'T need To be, and can't seem to get it together, so I don't think I will.

Also, it has come to my attention that I have a follower. That's right... one follower. I'm not sure what that means, but I looked to see who it was, and I would like to thank Liz for caring about me and my blog. Even if no one else does.

Group Rides and Hangouts

First off, I would like to say that the BMB hangout this morning was totally awesome. Totally. I got to hang out with some awesome people for a couple of hours while eating some totally awesome food and drinking an awesome drink (that no one else respects the deliciousness of except for me). Thank you Tellman family (and Julia for the drink). If you haven't been to a hangout, you should come. They're the jam.

Second, I went on the Sycamore Cycles group ride last night. It was super fun. There were 20 people who headed out with us, and I would say the general vibe was pretty much just people lovnig to ride their bikes. We rode Twin Falls, which usually isn't my favorite ride, but last night it was hooking up. The usual group pinned it up the climb, which was alright, and then chilled going down the singletrack. Props to Julia for being a badass and keeping up with the fast guys on the climb, and then killing it on the road back (I'm pretty sure she took a flyer near the sprint just to see if she could sneak away with it). And props to Wes D for winning the most important sprint of the week over some really tough competition. Anyway, good ride. Good times. The only thing that I'm bummed about is the fact that Julia and I had to skip out on Chapala to go to class that only ended up lasting for about 20 minutes and didn't require us to be there. That sucked.

And now it's raining. And not just raining, but full on storming. Like with lightning and stuff. And I have to walk to class shortly. It's a good thing this campus is so small, or I would be soaked walking to the other side.

And my wrist hurts. So I think I'm gonna stop typing now. Yeah.

Pancakes

I had pancakes, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I always am slightly excited when pancakes are mentioned or offered for breakfast, and so I always go into eating them with a good mindset. However, I always seem to be let down at the end. I always feel terrible after eating them, and I don't actually remember ever actually enjoying them all that much. It is definitely one of those experiences that I probably should try to avoid, but always forget until too late.

And at the moment, I am still working this camp. I've washed and tuned more bikes than I care to recall. Today there is a 100% chance of rain and heavy thunderstorms. Awesome. I feel sorry for the people riding at the camp and "racing" in the AOTC. They are going to have good times. Hopefully this afternoon's ride will be cancelled.

It's been raining so much, that the ground has been significantly wet, which means 2 things. First, mountain biking isn't going to happen for a while, and second, the sides of the roads are soft enough to get a car stuck, a fact that I proved yesterday when I got the rental van stuck on the side of the road. We had to get some help from dirty Wes D and his truck to get it out (thanks Wes).

I got to hang out with the girlfriend last night for a bit, right up until I totally crashed at 10. That is the only social interaction I've had outside of camp since I've been here. I'm looking forward to some hangout time when I get done here.

Pinned

I'm working a CTS camp right now as a mechanic. It's awesome. It's also very very exhausting. I washed 30 bikes last night, then tuned them all up. Nice. I didn't finish until 11:00, and got back to the hotel this morning at 6:30. And then I get to repeat it all again for the next 3 days. Good stuff. I've not done anything but bikes for the last 3 days.

The side effect of all of this is that I am totally disconnected from the rest of the world. As far as I am concerned, the rest of the world seems to not exist. I did get to ride the trainer yesterday for 45 minutes. Got some power intervals done. Suffered badly. That's about it.

And I'm really glad that I'm not doing the Assault. There is a bad weather vibe hanging around here recently, and it looks like it's going to stay around for a bit longer. I'm kinda glad I've not been able to ride. Although if I get a chance to ride this afternoon, I'm doing it rain or shine.

Hobby Park

I did my first mountain bike race of the season this weekend... I did OK, but the point is, I DID MY FIRST MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE OF THE SEASON!!!! It made me happy. I felt OK which was good, since I was a little concerned about where I was with my fitness. But the season is looking like it should be a good one. I don't actually have any idea where I finished, but I didn't blow up and felt strong and finished, so it seems to be all good.

It's also warm. Which is good. And I'm about to go earn some money with a CTS camp. Which is also good. Particularly since I've spent the whole winter without any funds. That was not good.

Finally, it is way too early for me to be overly eager for the semester to end. However, spring fever has hit me. Not cool. As of now, I have 29 days of classes left (not counting weekends). That's 696 hours, or 41,760 minutes, or 2,505,600 seconds. And that second count is less now than when I wrote it. Sweet. I can feel the end coming soon.

Road Racing = School

There is a simple reason for this statement...

I've noticed that with school, there are definite periods when you have nothing to do as far as studying. These periods are followed by periods of intense work and catch up that you didn't see coming and that you frantically try to hold onto life until it calms down.

Road racing has the same surge-rest pattern.

Anyone else think that this is a grand plan by the man trying to hold you down???

Roadie?

The race went OK this weekend, I got like 10th in the field sprint, which was totally weak, and I don't really have any excuse. It was a totally interesting/not interesting in the least race. But yeah, training and racing is going well... I'm not feeling great in the races, but I think I might be possibly coming around. Maybe.

And I've decided that I'm not a roadie. I just don't get the whole thing. They are just too long, and there isn't anything really decisive in most of the races. As an example of this, I was riding with a guy who is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than anyone else in the field, and certainly a whole lot stronger than me. If it came down to just raw power and speed, he would beat me every time by a mile. However, I finished on his wheel in one race this weekend, and beat him in the other race, entirely because there was nothing to separate us. If it had been a mountain bike race, he would have ridden away from everyone and beat me by 20 minutes.

The point of all of that is, it really doesn't matter THAT much how strong you are, it's all about getting lucky. I enjoy riding my road bike most of the time, but I always enjoy riding my mountain bike. As far as racing goes, mountain biking is a whole lot more fun. Mostly because you don't have to worry about crossing wheels with people every second of every race. And finally, it's because in mountain biking, you go as fast as you (personally) can for the whole time. In collegiate road racing at least, you go as hard as you can for 10 seconds, then sit up for 10 seconds, then repeat over and over until the race is over. Awesome.

OK, I'm going mountain biking.

GT Roadie Race

The Brevard boys and girls just finished the first of 2 road races at Georgia Tech for the weekend, and let me tell you, it was off the hook. I didn't feel great, so I pretty much just sat on the back for the whole race. I got a shot at the field sprint, and felt pretty good about taking it, but just as I was making my pass, a LMC rider sat up from his pull and came over on me hard core. I ended up getting pushed off the road onto the shoulder, and by the time I got back on it, I was pretty much at the back of the pack. It was awesome. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to pick it up just a little bit. Actually, I guess I had better pick it up since Squirrel got on me for sitting on the back too much today.

Tristan and Marshal held it down, doing a lot more work than I did and still beating me in the sprint. Good job guys. The girlfriend held it down, and after bridging back up to the break, ended up 3rd in the sprint. Although I guess she could have told you that.

It was good times. Now I get to do it all again tomorrow. Sweet. And then I get to go to class on Monday. I LOVE being a collegiate athlete...

Shredding the Cabbage.

I went and hit up some Caney Bottom and Long Branch today with Julia, Joh, Dan, and a new recruit for some sick single track action. We left from Bracken Mountain after some pastry eating, and headed down to the shop to grab my shoes. The trails were hooking up like they were made of duct tape, and there wasn't a puddle in sight. It started raining just as we got back to the parking lot, and I would say that we timed the ride pretty much perfectly. Today was the first time that I have really felt super comfortable on my bike, and trust me, it's a really good feeling.


I just put a new, wider bar on my bike, and finally got my new double crank, which is pretty much off the chain. Except not really. It's attached to the chain, and so far I haven't had any problems with dropping the chain either. So it's pretty much just awesome. Yeah.



And I was thinking about something, and because this is an area of my life that I catch a lot of flak for, I guess I best explain myself. I like nice bikes. I do. I have 3 of them. 2 of them are each worth more than my car. They both are very very close to the top of the line everything. I have them set up exactly how I want them, and I can't really think of anything that I would change on either of them.



All of that being said, they certainly don't make me any faster than I was on my last 3 or 4 bikes, and I don't think that the half a pound that I was so happy to lose from bike to bike is going to make a bit of difference on the trail. I think that people often convince themselves that having a nicer part, or nicer wheels, or even a nicer complete bike will make them faster than they were on the last, slightly less nice bike that they had. The reality is, though, if you started on a decent bike, the minor changes that you make when moving to a higher level of component really don't make all that much of a difference.












vs.

So why do I have such sick machines? Simple. I love nice bikes. I like the way they work like they are supposed to. I like the way the look. I like the ride that you get from them. I like the X factor of a really nicely riding bike. I'm pretty much just a bike geek, and having really nice bikes is just something that gets me excited. I think that nice bikes are just more fun to ride, and since I have the opportunity to have a couple, why not go for it?

Spring

Well, I'm really enjoying the weather right now. I started spring break during the first real warm wave that we've had, and let me tell you what, it's awesome. I'm pretty sure that all of the bad feelings I was having towards the world were heavily related to the cold. And I know that the coldness will come back (at the end of the week, apparently), but it is just the promise of spring that makes it all OK.

Anyway, we raced down in Clemson this weekend, which was awesome, largely because of the weather that I've been talking about. I got a bad case of cyclists sunburn, which kinda lets you know how good the weather was. I got mid pack somewhere in both the RR and the Crit, but can't tell you exactly how I did because they still don't have results posted. Good stuff. They aren't up from a week and a half ago either.

After some heavy training this week, I am going to be racing in southish Georgia this weekend. Unfortunately they are having 2 road races and no crits, so my "crit legs" aren't going to be able to come out and play. Not that they are all that good right now anyway, but whatever.

Enjoying spring break, but already bored. Awesome.

Later nerds.

Road Racing Makes You Sick (RRMYS)

Yep, you heard me right... SICK. Again. Freaking road racing. I hate being sick, it really sucks.

I raced in N. GA on Sunday for my first road race this year (and incidentally my second road race ever), and the rain was hating on some riders from the beginning. We knew that it was going to be bad, but I don't think anyone expected the conditions to be as bad as they ended up being. In fact, I think that out of a 30ish rider starting A field, only the 4 or 5 who were in the leading break finished the race. Only 2 riders from BC finished, both of them the least experienced in road racing. The rest of us are weak.

Apparently though, dropping out before I completely froze wasn't enough to keep me from getting sick again. This makes 2 times in a year, and even worse, 2 times in a month. I don't actually ever get sick, so this is pretty frustrating. Hopefully I'll be back on it for this weekend so that I can help BC bring the pain. Maybe. I've noticed that neither Wells or I (or probably Tristan) are really ready for high end LT stuff like covering attacks and sprinting up the hills. There are a lot of guys out there who have been doing that for a while already this year, and it is definitely hurting so far.

Also, it has come to my attention that my lunch is cold. I probably should go heat that up so that I don't end up with some cold food disease. I also have several tests this week that I need to be studying for. Peace.

Dahlonega

So, I'm down here at the Cowie house rocking out on some road bikes in the rain. This morning was awesome, we had a TTT at 9. We started in the rain. We finished in the rain. We got 3rd. We raced 2 other teams. We were done and headed back to the house by 10:30, and have been hanging out ever since. We've had a really good time.

There has been some killer food thanks to the Cowie mom and dad, and I think I might puke if I eat another of their awesome cookies. Tristan, squirrel, Julia and I played Halo for a while today, that was sweet. Julia killed us all. I took a nap for a while, and then came back to playing Halo. It's been full on all day. We were finally forced to play some kind of salad game by the girls, and even though we were getting manhandled by the overwhelming girl factor going on, we stuck it out to the end. Not sure why I told you all of that. Maybe just to give you an idea of how pinned we have been today.

Tomorrow is going to be another awesome rainy day, maybe even snowy. I'm looking forward to it immensely. Really.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Three

Thanks to some cleverness by coach squirrel, I am now a cat 3 road racer, despite only having done 1 road race (in cat 5). I am also an A collegiate racer. Although I remain a cat 5 in track... I guess that is the next thing I should work on. Anyway, look for a new member of the Jeff Parker lead out train coming to a race near you. Maybe I can take the KOP's spot since he has sworn off all road racing from here on.

Speaking of the KOP, he was told by a certain someone that he could get a certain placing in the pro field at a certain race because his power numbers were at a certain level. Well, looking strictly at my power numbers vs. the KOP's power numbers (watts per kg in a LT test), we are pretty closely matched at that level. So, if you look at just the numbers, I should be able to get the same placing at said race. However, I'm pretty sure that isn't the case. While I don't really doubt his chances at getting that finish, I know that I couldn't come near it. He is a good bit faster than me.

That just shows a weakness of a power meter. They aren't the end all be all. There is a lot more that needs to come together to produce a good race. Keep that in mind all you power meter'ers out there. Power is only one aspect of bike racing. Don't get too carried away with it.
(I really hope that made some sort of sense... I'm not sure that it came out right, but it was fine in my head.)

Anyway, I'm heading to GA on Friday to compete in my first TTT. It should be fun riding in the cold and the rain. Yeah.

Mountain biking first though.

Have you ever had the feeling that you were missing something, that it was close but just out of reach? Yeah, I have. This weekend actually. Julia and I went down to Greenville to race at the Donaldson Center, which apparently is super easy to find, although not if you follow Google's (totally wrong and completely made up) directions. We ended up getting lost and driving around in circles for about an hour and a half before heading home. Awesome.

It turned out OK, since we got back to Brevard at a decent hour (since we got up and left at an ungodly hour, we had plenty of time for our driving around) and then went mountain biking with Old Man Balls. It was good times. We hit up some Avery Creek followed by Pinnett. AWESOME! After getting shown up by The Hoo on a couple of climbs, and destroyed by the KOP on all the descents, I am confident in my middle range abilities. Although I was just good enough to avoid dying on anything, which is always a good thing.

I love mountain biking. Road riding can be cool too, if you do it right.

Later.

2009 Racing

Well, the 2009 racing season is upon me, and as usual, I don't feel at all prepared. I've done a good amount of training, in spite of missing a lot of riding in the off season because of injury. I don't expect to be on top form until around the beginning of May, and am doing a lot of collegiate road racing to race myself into shape.

Here is my 2009 planned races list...
NGCSU collegiate road race
Clemson collegiate road race
Georgia Tech collegiate road race
Hobby Park
The Assault on the Carolinas
Lees McRae collegiate road race
Brevard collegiate road race conference championships
Winder SERC
Ducktown SERC
Collegiate Road National Championships (if I qualify, Stumpjump if I don't)
12 Hours of Tsali
Bump and Grind
Clemson SERC
Cowbell Challenge
French Broad Cycling Classic
Fontana SERC
All followed up with a full season of 6 collegiate mountain bike races, then nationals.
Finally, there is talk of a possible 'cross season and 'cross nationals. That would either be fun or kill me.

If I do all of these races, it will give me a total of 23 race weekends, not including cross, which is a lot more than I have ever done before. Hopefully I'll be able to learn how to race, and stop with the inconsistent results stuff that I posted last year.
As far as I know, my goals for the season are...
~Top 5 at collegiate mountain bike nats in the ST or the XC
~Top 3 in one of the national races that I do (Ducktown, Bump and Grind, or Cowbell)
~Upgrade to Pro by the end of the season

Finally, my sponsor list is pretty much finalized, and since I don't have all that many (I'm not that bad ass) I'll give you the long list...
I'd like to thank:
Sycamore Cycles and Wes D for helping me out in pretty much everything bike related
Brevard College Cycling
Specialized Bicycles (for their bikes AND tires, the Fast Track LK is going to hook up this year)Industry Nine
Tifosi Optics
Bracken Mountain Bakery (for their awesome baked goods, even though I have gotten in trouble from eating too much of the goodness)

I'm looking forward to a great year...