Excuses, excuses!

At least I didn't have to look too far for an excuse not to ride today huh? I know, I know I have a trainer I could throw my bike on but what fun is that!!!

Maybe tomorrow...or Saturday, but I heard Sunday it was going to be a little warmer!

Is that a shinny trail I see behind me..."What a slug"!!

What can you do with a lazy dog?

I tell you what, I just haven't been jacked up about working out these days. I'm not sure if it's the cold, the holiday's coming up, old age or if I'm just plain lazy ! 

I could have done about 2 hrs on the trails to day but blamed my not riding on the rain...well the sprinkle. I'll gladly take any excuse these days to bag a workout...other than my Tae Kwon Do class that is. I'm still feeling my dirt munch from Saturday...neck all twisted up and shit and I'm still going to class!

Nothing a handful of vitamin "I" can't fix right? (Thats ibuprofen for those not in the know)

So I'm just wondering what it's going to take to get my ass back in gear and be a little more consistent with my training? I sure as hell don't want to realize I needed more training when I get out in the fucking wilderness at Cohutta. That's a long way back to the start if you loose it out there.

Well we'll see how things progress over the holliday...maybe I'll have to make a new year's resolution of something...anything!!

It's funny until someone gets hurt, then it's hilarious!!

After a pretty long hiatus from some serious training, I've finally dusted off my bikes and started to get some consistent riding under my belt. Since there's only four and a half months until the Cohutta 100 race, I better get my ass in gear....right?

I hooked up with Tony on Saturday for a few hours of snot rocket riding. It had been a few days so I was glad to get out there and just tick over the pedals for a while.  I hate riding in the cold, (oh the memories of 18hrs on the farm and the feeble attempt to keep my feet warm with duct tape...brrrr), but I figured we would warm up pretty quick...and we did.

Everything was feeling and going great until I pulled a stupid move and tried to wheelie on the double track and promptly threw myself to the ground. Ooooh that's going to leave a mark~!~

Although the soreness in my arm and wrist have subsided somewhat the bruise on my gluteus maximus has grown and darkened in a Rorschachian type pattern. 

"So what do you see...a butterfly...or a bird...No wait, it looks like the Crab Nebula!!!"  Is that Uranus over there?

Well I'll lick my wounds a another day...head to the Chiropractor and get straightened out, and then get back on the Snot Rocket and ride! 

....and no more stupid pet trick...just keep it on the trail!!!

No, I'm not dead..just sleepy!!

Okay I know it's been WAAAAAY too long since I have written a post. That's what happens at the end of a season I guess...you just get a little lazy. So this is my official apology and I hope you can except it...pretty please?

So just for an update on things, my back issue (which had plagued me for longer than I would have guessed) is now a memory...phewwww! I have only been keeping active and not really training in a formal sense. ..so just not getting a beer gut in other words.

I also started taking Tae Kwon Do classes. This will come in handy when I'm out biking in Pisgah and I roll up on a bear, He'll never know what hit em, poor bear!!....OR if I have to battle to the line at my next MTB race...(try and snatch this water bottle from my hand grasshopper...)

But if I never get to use it in those situtations I will at least have a great collection of collored belts.

So cheers for now...

Back from the back

Things are still looking up for the back injury. It's been two weeks with no pain and I've finally...FINALLY, started doing some training again this week. Light stuff, but at least it's stuff. Right?

So just some easy jogging, light weights and a little spinning on the trainer just to make sure there are no lingering issues to be concerned about. So far so good so I'm just pushing forward!

Looks like I might get some trail time this weekend with Tony. Maybe even get to demo an Intense Spider 29er....Ooohhh that's a sweet looking bike.
















But even if I don't demo it this weekend I'll still get out there on the old reliable "Super G" and get my trail legs back under me!

Hopefully if all is going well through the next week I might be able to do the Riverfest 50 miler. Then end the season with 12hrs in the PIT...(that's if they ever get the damn thing organized already)

I'm an athletic supporter! (insert snicker here)

For me it's hard to think about going to a race without actually racing. I find the standing around...cheering.....waiting....cheering...waiting...pretty painful. In most cases I would rather schedule a root canal...but that's just me!

But this past weekend I had the chance to support my friend, Tony...aka Type1Rider, at the 18hrs on the farm MTB race in VA...a race that I planned to do but was sidelined with an injury. (Please refer to my earlier post if you are interested in the details of my latest self induced pain and suffering)

Tony and I did this race last year when it was rescheduled to Nov due to a storm that took out some trees on the course and they needed to be cleared. Needless to say the temperature was a little different in August! We almost lost some toes to frostbite last year..well, okay that's a little exaggerated...but it was really cold!

So this year I was off the bike and on the sidelines for 18hrs of supporting fun. My wife, Sara, and I would be keeping Tony fueled...hydrated...motivated...and whatever else it took to help him reach his goal at this race! Last year was 8 laps...this year had to be at least 9 and a top ten finish.

















(The pit de jure)

The roll out for this race was 4PM. So lots of night riding at this one which is awesome and Tony digs those night stealth missions anyway! The pack was led out by a guy on a unicycle...yeah, you heard me, a unicycle! I got pics!! check em!!

















(Unicycle dude leading out the race start...did you check the chrome helmet?)

Okay, back to the race. Tony rolled out just fine on the first few laps. Everything going as planned. A little pit stop. Fill up the H2O and some nutrition, check the blood sugar and back out there for another....and another...and another...(see that's the part of being on the sideline that kills me...I keep seeing everyone rolling by and I want to grab a bike and follow right along...wait for me everyone)

So sometime around 10 or 11 PM Tony comes in for a blood sugar test and things are a little off...like too high and Tony is not sure why so he chills in the pit for awhile to see if he can correct it or figure out why and all. (did I mention that Tony is a Type 1 diabetic...well okay...Tony is a Type 1 Diabetic...now you are in the know)

(Tony on lap one...and that's my lovely wife Sara right behind him in the hat)

So after about 30 mins there isn't much change but after a little discussion about not bailing so soon and figure out some contingency plans he rolls back out to get another lap and see what happens. We made sure he had his phone so if anything happened out o the backside of the course he can report in. Then we could call for the choppers and have him extracted. just kidding there folks.

Tony comes back to the pit after that lap and everything seemed to have worked itself out and the BS test was right on...(That's blood sugar...not bullshit)! This was the case for the rest of the race actually. Now that all of that was under control our main goal now was to keep Tony motivated and try to keep up with how he was ranking.

With the dark came a chill in the air so stopping for more than 10 mins would be a challenge to keep warm and not start shivering....(nightmareish thoughts of last year's event...berrrr!) We need to bring a clothes dryer next year...or that RV Tony keep talking about!

Hardest part of the race was from 2am until sun up! Sara and I were pretty punchy by this time for sure, and when Tony would come back to the pit he was pretty punchy too. There's nothing like laughing yourself to tears while sleep deprived.

Phrases like:

...slap the chicken

...a pack of cohutta warrior monkeys

...don't forget to sign the blow up doll

...anyone who brings back a glowing chicken will get a prize

To name a few!
















(this the chicken that was being slapped..and by some choked...)

At 6AM the latest results are posted and Tony is sitting in 12 place but the guys behind him, and the 4 in front, had not posted any new laps. It looked like they bailed in the middle of the night or just stopped to sleep or something. But Tony went out for number 8 and we would keep an eye on the results to see if anyone behind him sneaks back into the race.

Coming back into the pit after lap 8 and Tony was feeling pretty beat! But now he was in 8th place and the end was near. But he had to go out on one more to beat his last year lap count and solidify his top ten finish!!


























(Tony going out on lap 9...still smiling!!)

We had a close call when we noticed the guy who was in 9th place come rolling in so we had to wait and see if he would go out for another or just bag it...and luckily he bagged it! Tony would have rolled out for another if that guy went out man was he glad when he didn't...phewww!

So 8th place with 9 laps, 85.5 miles of riding...AWESOME! Tony is the man!!!

Now what?

After my debacle at Wilderness I decided to take a week off for some physical and mental recovery. Having put in the training I had with a less than stellar result left me feeling pretty flat. So I figured the best thing would be to chill, not think about training, and enjoy some cold ones.

The plan seemed simple....but SURPRISE!

All I was doing was walking through one of the areas super large stores and then I sneezed! Yep folks you heard me, I just sneezed! Then I felt a twinge in my back and a had to stop for a second to see if it would settle down. It did for a minute but never went away!

By the time I got home it was feeling a little tight. After sitting in my desk chair for a few hours it was throbbing. This was really looking bad..."do some of that pilot shit Mav and get us out of here"!!

So off to the Chiropractor to get me straight. After three days in a row of adjustments I was starting to feel pretty good. Just a little sore is all. So I was figuring the rest of my season and looking forward to some riding this week.

But again...sounded so simple!

Sunday I wake up and I'm back to square one. Don't know what happend...slept wrong or wha ever...but now I'm back to feeling like I got drop kicked in the spin. So back to the Chiro for some more adjustments and hopeing for the best!

Now it's looking like my season might just be cut so short that it's over already! If I don't get back in the saddle, literally, I will have a long way to catch up to even do better than last year at the PIT.

Fingers crossed that it's just an alignment thing and not something worse!

Wilderness 101: Whisky Tango Foxtrot!

Ah the feeling of my first DNF! How it really sucks!

Wilderness 101 was not very kind on race day. I had done a ton of training leading into this race in the hope that my performance would be better than Cohutta back in April. But you just never know what will happen on race day...NEVER!

The venue for this race is pretty epic. The landscape is awesome to look at and damn demanding to ride. Coming from Raleigh, (where the idea of actually riding up mountains is not going to happen), when I hit the climbs my legs rebel big time. This doesn't mean that I can't climb, it just means that my climbs are a slow grind instead of a Lance style speedfeast!

The race started off great from Coburn park in PA with about 300+ riders toeing the line on a cool and comfortable Saturday morning. We had a lead out pace that went through some small town roads that led us onto a fire road and the first climb of the day. It felt like I was blowing up and I was starting to go backwards in the pack which was alarming. It took me a good 40 mins until my legs really came around and I started to feel good to go! At the top of the climb was a bombing downhill on fire road where I made up for the time I lost on the climb.

The descent was fast and on gravel which made for some hairy turns. Some riders misjudged in front of me and off into the wood they went. Tony, who was a little bit behind me, said he had seen those two guys walking back up the fire road so they must have had some big troubles.

After the descent were a few more climbs before the 1st aide station. Then we turned into the woods on some single track that was slightly technical because of the rocky terrain. I was still feeling good at this point and continued to hold my pace. We did some more back and forth with the fire road and single track and then had a screaming single track decent on a crazy rock cluttered overgrown path. If you thought you could relax on the down hills at this event you were WRONG!

Not only were the single track descents fast, but the rocks where everywhere. From big bobbles to slippery scree...and most of it hidden in the underbrush and overgrowth! Some serious shit here folks...!! This would have been a great place to stock up on water bottles since I must have seen at least a dozen...and one with the cage and all!!! Hummm!

But out of the woods and onto another fire road that led into aide station 2. I was totally on a great pace at 13+ MPH. I stopped for about 6 mins to refill water and the nutrition in my drop bag. So quick stop and we rolled out heading to aide station 3. I was with a group of about 4 riders and leaving out I asked the guy I was with what his GPS was reading and he had us at 35.8 miles...so we were moving and had what I though was 24 miles to go to the next stop!

It wasn't long before we hit 6 mile climb. This was a non stop fire road climb with some switch backs that reminded my of an Alps stage in the tour. I was going steady when all of a sudden the walls came tumbling down.

My HR climbed into the 160's...NOT good!

My power dropped to a granny with her walker...NOT good!

My gut shut down and started sloshing what was in there already...NOT good!

My stomach started to cramp up..NOT good again!!

So WTF? Everything was going awesome...the planets seemed to be all in line and standing at attention and shit....WTF?

I stopped and took a little breather and watched with angry eyes as rider after rider rolled past...even the FAT GUYS! WTF!!

So now it was a game of survival. I was in the smallest gear I had...grinding slower and slower hoping the climb would end. Finally, FINALLY, the climb ended and we turned into the woods again on some single track for the descent.

I thought I would now have some recovery time and maybe get myself back into it but I was sadly mistaken. This downhill was even worse than the earlier ones. I mean white-knucking and out of the saddle for the whole deal. I don't think my HR dropped more than 10 beats. More big rocks...more scree..logs...people...I mean shit throw in a bear why don't you an call it a day!! I would have welcomed being slapped off my ride by smokey....I was already smoked anyway!

At this point I already threw in the towel. I just needed to get to aide station 3 so I can make it official. I was out of water....bonked big time...and my gut was still sloshing its contents with every move...so I was truly DONE!! Stick a fork in me bro...WELL DONE ANYONE?

By the time I limped into the aide station I was in bad shape...not sweating any longer I knew I was one step away from a bus ride to the ER so I called it and sat with a cold towel on my head and began my water sipping regiment to get my hydration back in check. It took me 7.5 hrs of sipping fluids and taking in some food before I was able to piss...I was DEHYDRATED folks...with a capital DUH!!!

Lessons learned:

1. Never trust the stated distance between aide stations...it's like the weatherman, sometimes he's right and sometimes he's not...most of the time he's not!!

2. When someone DNFs because they are too tired for the next downhill section it's a tough course...so be prepared for that and practice those downhills!!

3. Always, ALWAYS, bring your iodine tablets to a hundie...just in case...I crossed a lot of little steams that would have been right on time!

4. Find out in advance if there will be an EMT unit on site...if not, Uh, know where you are so you can call for extraction!

5. DNFing is one of the worst feelings I have ever had...now I'm pissed...now I want to kick Wilderness' ass...TWICE!

Next year I have to go back and do this race. Not only to redeem myself by finishing this one, but because it really was a great race venue...so check it out!!

Into the Wilderness

Finally the recovery/taper week is here. This is almost as exciting as Christmas morning. REALLY!

I've had some serious volume and intensity over the past three weeks and this is perfect timing for some rest. I only hope that all of this effort will show some improvement in the Wilderness 101 this coming weekend!

We plan on traveling up to PA the day before to check in and scope out the race location. After the 8.5 hr drive I'm sure we'll be ready to stretch out our legs...might even spin a little on the bike! But maybe not!

So now it's rest time and I'm going to make the best of it...so feet up...head back...ahhhhh!

Phase three...MORE HELL!

After having a few days of rest and recovery focused workouts I'm feeling much better. The last two weeks of training was really pushing me to my limit. Although this training is fucking hard, it's exactly what I need to move my performance to the next level.

I have found that, (although these training sessions are extremely hard), I'm enjoying them.

This year more than prior years I have been pushing through the periods of threshold pain in order to see how far I can actually go. In the past I've felt that lactate building up and started to back off before going over the edge. I was sort of using the "live to fight another day" argument in order to prevent injury or something. But these days I have pushed my boundary out farther and I'm feeling stronger for the effort.

Now we'll see how the feeling of power actually translates on race day! Wilderness 101 is just 10 days away so we will see soon enough if things are paying off compared to my effort at Cohutta.

2nd Degree Burns

Finally finished with the second phase of hell training and boy are my legs tired. Yeah I know, sounds like some sort of stand up routine but no joke here. I was blasted with about 250 miles of riding in just 3 days. And that's not all, I was also thrown some swimming and running just to keep from getting bored of course!

What put everything over the top was the 12 miles run yesterday. I was feeling pretty good, surprisingly, until the last 20 mins when I was ready to be laying down drinking a cold one! Although if I were laying down I would be more likely to be pouring it onto my face instead of actually drinking it. But that would have felt just fine too.

But most of the hard stuff is behind me for know. A few hard sessions next week and then we taper into the Wilderness 101 race. I'm ready to get this one under my belt and start focusing on the end of the season!

Hell week

Last week was what my coach called Hell Week #1. It was the perfect name! I did 250 miles of riding, 2hrs and 45 mins of running and 6K of swimming.....whew! I'm tired again just thinking about it.

Now I've had some nice relaxing recovery days to get all amped up again about the next Phase of training....you guessed it Hell Week #2. It's not exactly a week but really 4 days of jam-packed training. Now I'll have 275 miles of riding, 2 hrs and 30 mins of running and 5.5 K of swimming..oh yeah throw in 2 sessions of core strength and mix it all up...simmer for few hours and your Hell Week is ready for tasting!!! Emmm tast the pain?

So that's it in a nut shell...!

One more Hell Session before Wilderness 101 and then we are getting down and dirty for the Peak at the Duke Half in September. My plan there is to tear myself apart to go under 5hrs!

Cowbell Challenged

After such a detailed search for the right tires to ride in muddy conditions, (amazingly it turns out the weathermen were wrong yet again!), the course was as dry and dusty as a wagon train heading West. So no worrying about traction for this race.

My day started off very, very early. Up at 4:30 am to get some yummies in my tummy and some good old caffeine down the hatch before heading over to Tony's for the 2 plus hour drive to Davidson. We arrived at 8:15 giving us plenty of time to check in and get our PIT all prettied up for the long day ahead.

We had 6 racers in our PIT, Myself, Tony, Greg, Marcy, and Mark. We also had the best PIT boss, Sara, (my wife). Without her help with the bottle hand-offs and nutrition replenishment I would have been much further down the list of results.

Mucho Kudos for the PIT boss!!!

Back to the PIT...we had 2 tents which provided ample space and plenty of shade from the sun, (again many thanks to the weathermen for such accurate forecasting). Once we checked in and readied the PIT I donned my gear and warmed up a little...not that I was going to race like a Jack rabbit, I just wanted to get some blood flowing to my legs after the long drive.

We started up the road in a mass start with the Pros out front. This created a nice dust cloud once we were under way promptly at 10:00 am. So off we go to see what kind of challenge the Cowbell with throw at me.

First 3 laps I turned in a sub 40 min performance. Then things slowed a little and I started turning mid 40s until my first PIT stop after 6 laps. I just did a quick one of about 10 mins and headed right back out to get 2 more laps which I held the mid-40 pace. So I was feeling pretty good about being consistent with my pacing. Then I Pitted again for about 15 mins. Again just some off the saddle time and some refuel with something I could chew. After a while you need to have something other than liquid fuel. Then out again for another 2 laps. I did number 11 in the mid-40s again.

Coming in the timing shoot I asked what time mandatory lights on was again?

The guy there said 7:30 and after a quick look at my watch I figured I could turn one more before having to PIT and get my lights on. I slammed that one at 41 mins and was feeling a little spent. So I took a little longer in the PIT. Resting, getting my lights on, taking in some water and figuring out if I wanted to pick up another 1 or 2 laps.

My goal was to finish at least 12 laps so anything else was now icing on the cake. Sara, (The PIT Boss), told me that I was pretty close to 3rd place and after a quick check she came back and said I was already in third...HOLY CRAP! I had no idea who the other guy was that could take 3rd away from me so I had no way of knowing who to hunt down. Plus now it was getting dark and I wouldn't be able to find him out there anyway.

I noticed Greg, one of the other guys in our PIT, start to sneak out of the pit to turn another lap. Greg is behind me in the race by about 20 seconds so I know he is heading out to try and lap me and take my position.

I see how you want to roll man...So game on!

I roll up on him after about a mile and hang right where I can keep an eye on him. You see I'm behind him...BUT really I'm in front of him...see what I mean?? So I'm in the perfect position to at least keep my place in the standings.

So now we're about done with lap 13 and the race is called...WHAT? I guess they didn't like the added obstacle of dodging lightening strikes or something. Since I have no reason to conserve anything I just threw it into high gear and decided to blow past Greg and hammer it into the timing shoot....and I did!!

That felt good Greg..sorry!!

Now it's wait time until the last person is off the course so we can see if I place or just go home. Looks like I just go home this time. The guy who took 3rd from me did it by 2 mins and 31 seconds...duhoooow!

I guess I should have shortened that last PIT a little.

Now I know what to expect for next year and I'll be a wee bit more familiar with who's in my category so I know who the hell I'm supposed to chase.

But I had a great race. Loved the venue. See you out there next year!!

Cowbell Countdown

Only 15 hours until the bell tolls, Cowbell that is!

Now that I have all of my gadgets and thingys all neatly packed up and organized according to expected time of use I happen to notice the weather report...NICE? Uhhh...Not so much!

Our friends, the meteorologists, are now saying rain will be upon us way before the race start. I know, I know...why trusts these guys anyway. I mean they get it wrong way more times then they get it right and they still get to keep their jobs. Must be their use of those fancy maps and graphics that secures their employment! But back to how this impacts the race!

Now I need to figure out which tread to throw down on the trail in order to keep my ass on the saddle and my head out of the mud. I don't have too many choices in my quiver anyway so I had to do some research and see what I can find on such short notice.

After some searching I've come up with the perfect tire and accessory that will guarantee plenty of traction on just about any trail condition. So check it out!

I know this will add substantial weight but what good is a light bike if you always end up on the ground.

Think I should get the mud flap package with these? They have those pretty chrome girlies on them!

Swimming in enterococcus

Although we've had a bit of a dry spell recently the good news is that Falls lake is pretty much full. Isn't this great! Now we're able to do the open water swim workout we used to do before Falls had almost dried up last year. Sort of hard to swim in that mud... So whoohooo, right?

But wait there's more!

So Friday I do my first open water swim workout, (at our secret location), in like over a year. It felt pretty good. Until of course I find out that the "legal" swimming areas at Falls lake have tested positive for; "enterococcus, a bacteria normally found in the feces of humans and many animals". Holy shit! Are you serious? I've been swimming in shit?

After hearing this wonderful news I had this immediate need to take another shower....with iodine...or alcohol wipes...or something, yuck!

I think this is a classic example of not being able to "have your cake and eat it to". We have to choose. Do we want to have the option of doing an open water swim, or do we want to have a full lake? You see you just can't have both. If the lake is full...we'll you swim in shit. If the lake is low or empty, you can't swim...BUT, you don't swim in shit! Ahhh, see now your getting it...

Now one last thought! Falls Lake Reservoir is where we get out drinking water from. Ummm good ole H2O!

Return of the dirtdawg

Okay already, so I've been away from the blog for a little while. I know that life getting in the way is just a lame ass excuse, so I'm going with "my dog ate my blog post...no really he did, all of them"!

So now that we got that out of the way shall we move on?

Cowbell is right around the corner. Only three days left to get all of my shit together, clean my bikes, rethink my strategy, plane my nutrition and relax! With a little luck and attention to detail I think I have a fighting chance at accomplishing all except the last one. I'm never able to relax before a race. I'm constantly rethinking my plan, second guessing my training and hoping my bike will fare the race with as little damage as possible. This usually ends up being a lot of worry for nothing but it seem to be a integral part of the racing process.

I had considered taking the "Snot Rocket" in case I wanted to do a lap or two on her but after my night riding incident last Thursday I'm not sure anymore. I mean the bitch totally rebelled and threw me to the ground and damaging herself in the process. It was just a badly bent front wheel. So to teach her a lesson I rode like that for another hour and a half. (You see, what we have here is a failure to communicate....) I think she is thinking more clearly these days but I just can't fully trust here yet. We'll see!

So my plan is to ride "Super G" for this little shindig. I've tweaked the position a little the past few weeks and I'm feeling much more comfortable on this baby. But we'll see how things go after "12hrs in the saddle". Now that's a good name for a MTB race...hummmm. (Welcome to 12 hours in the Saddle) Has a nice ring to it huh? I'll have to talk to my people, tune in folks!

Adventures of the Snot Rocket

Wednesday was the maiden voyage of the "Snot Rocket", (for those of you who have not been following by blog, that means you, the "Snot Rocket" is my Single Speed 29r MTB. Built from new cheap parts, hand-me-downs,  duct tape and puppy tears). 

There are still a few bugs to fix for the position and some adjustment to the front break, but other than those items she has performed well her first time out of the stable. She lived up to the "Snot Rocket" name producing large quantities of the sticky stuff throughout my ride... although the rain and temperature drop probably help a bit!

I did 3 hrs mostly on the double tack and then through Crabtree. The rain started so I B-lined to the gate so they didn't lock me in...geeeeze a little water on the trail and everyone starts to panic...these are mountain bikes folks, they like to get dirty! So lube up the chain and jump in the mud, come on!!

But I digress, sorry about that! 

Overall the ride went well...let's put a check in the success column. I do think playing around with the gearing for the Raleigh are is in order. But I'll give it some time on the trails before making the change. Seems like I can go with an 18t in the rear and still get by around here. But if we head to the high ground for some rides I'll have to slap the 20t back on there...I'm new at this SS stuff ya know!!

Going to camp...Tri-Camp that is!!

This weekend I had the most awesome opportunity to join some great coaches and athletes for a 4 day EPIC triathlon camp. The camp was held in Wilkesboro, NC on Kerr Scott reservoir. This was a great venue for a camp of this type. We occupied a lodge that was right up hill from the dock we would open water swim from. After the 2nd day this hill would become an ass-kicker. Talk of how we could slide down in the row boat...but getting back up was problematic. Or maybe driving down the hill...but that would not be EPIC!! By next year maybe they might have a ski lift installed....uhm..NO!

So day one was mostly orientation although there were a few of us crazies who went for swim just to loosen up from the long drive. The water was perfect temp for a wetsuit. (since I pride myself on being a mediocre swimmer I love the wetsuit)

Day two was an early morning open water swim of about 3 miles. This was followed by consuming mass quantities of food in preparation for the next training session. We packed up the bikes and running gear and headed down the road to the start of the Bandits Challenge race. We went out on the 28 mile bike course which is a pretty tough route. There were some who opted to go out for a 2nd loop but I hit the trail for a run instead. (I was saving my legs a little for the next day's ride. This would turn out to be the right choice for me!!)

After the jam packed day of training we headed back to the lodge for some more consumption of mass calories. We really needed to pack them in to recover from the workouts and be ready to hit it again in the morning!

Day three we had another open water swim of 1.5 or 3 miles...athletes choice on this one! (I opted out of the swim since my shoulder was a little sore and I didn't want to piss it off any more than I had to.) After the swim we packed up the bike gear and headed over to Boone for some riding on the Blood Sweat and Gears bike course. We would be doing an out and back on this one so whatever we road out we knew we had to ride back. (Sometimes that sucks...I mean ignorance is bliss when it comes to mountain climbing right?) We split into "A" and "B" groups to start but that naturally splintered off into "C", "D", "E" and so on. I hung onto the "A" group until I had a flat. Some of the group stopped and waited for me to re-tube and hit it again. so we were now the "A2" group. (no one likes to fall back to the "B" group so "A2" was the new name!!) We ended up doing 92 miles and 8,000 ft of climbing. By my watch I had 4:45 of ride time..(and that included the time to change the flat...NOT BAD...)

After the ride we headed back to the lodge for yet another calorie consumptionfest. We packed back some food man. I loaded a plate with a steak, (that was awesome), salad, corn, bread & butter...and whoofed it down. 30 min later I was hungry again and packing back some of the homemade cookies. (they didn't last long)

Day four we headed out for a long run. My legs were feeling pretty tired after the ride the day before so I figured I would take it easy. This plan worked well until I turned around and was feeling pretty good so just started to hammer back. I payed for this afterwards but doing 11 miles in 1:20 was a great feeling and worth the two days of leg aches I had after. We headed back to the water for a little cool down swim. A nice easy 2K was all I needed and wanted after the amount of training that was packed into these four days.

I split by noon to head back to life but sure wish I could just eat sleep and train like the pros. Can't wait until next year to do it all again!

So What's Up Doc?

Today was the day of my VO2 Max and Lactate threshold bike test! I studied hard all week but I was still a little nervous... "Will I be a fitness failure or would I pass with flying colors?" For those of you who don't know what a VO2 Max and lactate threshold test is check out the Human Performance Lab site and see the real scientific information.

I got to the lab early, (I'm very punctual),  and bring in my bike and gear...get changed and hang around and stretch for the big event! Once we get the bike on the computrainer and hook up all of the data collecting gizmos, I mount and start my warming up. We strap on the heart rate monitor, and check that everything is reading correctly. "Roger Houston, I read you loud and clear".  With a few minutes until the test start I get to don a mask that will measure my oxygen usage. This also allows me to brush up on my imitation of Lord Vador..."Luke I am Your Father"...always gets a chuckle!

So we're off...now I ride in 3 min intervals. After every 3 minutes they test my blood for the level of lactate, (A chemical that is formed when sugars are broken down for energy in the absence of adequate oxygen...not breast milk...ugh, I should have studied that chapter!) They do this by pricking my earlobe and squeezing out a drop of blood. Also, after each 3 min interval the difficulty increases for the next 3 min interval. Oh yeah feel the burn baby! This continues until you're no longer able to push the pedals or you pass out, whichever comes first. (don't worry, you'll most likely stop pedaling before you pass out, really!)

After this 20 min pain-fest you get to spin for a few more minutes to cool down and see how long it takes for your heart rate to return to it's before test level...this is one indicator of your fitness. (the longer it takes to return to normal the more they make you ride...just kidding, this means you have lots and lots of room for improvement) As the songs says..."always look on the bright side of life, 'whistle, whistle, whistle...now everyone sing along...!!

So now you wait for the results to be compiled, charted and graphed for you to take home and study. (So on the next test you can do better, you know...look up the answers you got wrong and all....) Now you have a handful of data that's priceless.

Info you will take away from YOUR test:

Your height (so you know what size pants to buy)

Your weight (whether you like it or not ladies)

Your percentage of body fat (again, sorry ladies)

Your Max heart rate (so you know when you will explode)

Your Lactate Threshold (this is when your legs hurt really, really bad)

VO2 Max (when your lungs stop working and you can no longer breath)

Percentage of VO2 Max (how much of your lungs you are really using)

Calories you burn per minute while working out (so you can calculate how many Krispy Kreme doughnuts you can shovel in afterwards)

Aerobic training zone (so you know how slow you can train)

Threshold training zone (so you know how fast you can train)

Max wattage output (that's just a cool number to know)

I'm figuring I can do about 2 hours of (VO2 max, divided by 3, (carry the 1), times my max watts), and then recover with a box of Ho Hos and latte...I love these results!

Dropped Rider Protocol

During today's ride, which was going quite well, a situation arose calling into question, "What to do when one of the members of your pack gets dropped?"

First let's get one thing straight, the rider was not me...really!

There are several different scenarios for being dropped. For instance, if you and your buddies actually pick up said rider and drop Them. This usually never happens unless you are accompanied by someone you don't know very well and they are pissing you off.

But if you find yourself in this situation you should:

• Make sure he, (or she), is not hurt too badly and then quickly mount up and leave the scene!

• Then make sure the last person in line drags a leafy branch behind them to cover your tracks and insure you are not followed by the above dropped rider!

• Then make sure to tell the next person you see coming the other way that a crazy person on a bike is follow you.

Another way of being dropped is if most of the pack is feeling really strong and things are clicking like a set of those wind up teeth, one of the riders may just fall off the back!

In this case you should:

• Wait until they are totally out of sight but you can still barely hear their feeble gasps for air.

• Then stop at the top of the next available climb and quickly grab your gel, bar, or bottle of nutrition and start fueling up like you have been just chilling there for 5 min or so. (they really like when you do that)

• Then right when they catch up, stow your nutrition and start hitting it again. (they rally like that too)

Another situation would be if everyone is feeling good, everyone knows the trails, but somehow one rider gets slightly separated before a trail choice and incorrectly chooses.

If you find yourself in this predicament:

• You should stop and wait for them to realize their mistake and catch back up. (the amount of time you wait depend on how good a friend the dropped rider is...this varies of course)

• If they do not regroup after what you have deemed a comfortable period of time, you should head to the trail exit and wait for said rider

• If they don't appear after 10 mins, head to the next discussed trail head

• If they don't show up at that location in 10 mins., head back to the last trail exit and begin yelling the person's name in 2 min intervals. (Yell really LOUD)

• If still no luck, begin calling their phone numbers...yes all of them!

• If no answer, leave a voicemail message on all phones.

• If there is no call back in 5 mins. begin calling each number every 2 mins. (they love looking at their phone and seeing that they are so popular, "Wow I have 47 missed calls")

• If by now you have still not made contact you should just head home. (No reason to hang around and be questioned by the police if something bad has happened. I mean your the number one suspect after all! Don't you watch CSI?)

Since these situations do actually happen, I'm proposing that all mountain bike riders be implanted with a GPS chip and have their chip registered with my new company "BIG BROTHER" For a mere $5 per month, (Sign up for annual membership and pay only $50 for the entire year! That's a $10 savings!), and Big Brother will keep tabs on your riders for you.

Once you are implanted and registered all you have to do is ride. Leave the worrying to us. If you are out in the woods and become separated, or one of your pack is lost, just call our toll free number and we will locate your missing rider for you. easy as that! So make sure to get your implant as soon as possible. You never know when you might need a Big Brother!

If you're still a little squeamish about having a Big Brother chip implanted, at least be safe and carry some emergency flares. (You can buy your own set of emergency flares from, you guessed it, BIG BROTHER! A 2 pack only cost $19.95 and are sold in a variety of colors) If you get separated, just stay where you are and set off one flare. Wait 15 mins and if still no contact has been established set off the other one. This should do the trick since you most likely will have started a forest fire by now and there are a lot of people on their way to your location.

Sit tight help is on the way!!

Being Handled

Well yesterday started off being pretty uneventful. Went to the pool and did my time with the floaties, and kick boards and fins and all that. (since I've been focusing more on mountain biking instead of triathlons the swims have decreased, making it feel like I don't know how to swim every time I get back in the water) So all that was just dandy. Now I smell like chlorine all day! Head back home to sit in front of the bane of my existence, you guess it the computer. So after about 4 or 5 hrs....(who can ever remember how long they sit there when you're getting radiated, or micro-waved or whatever from that screen)...I go and do my strength workout! No big deal with that. I just head upstairs to the famed workout room. (Although it does have so many other uses...so many more that time will not allow me to address them all at this time) 

But anyway, that goes off without a hitch! Have the afternoon caffeine blast and snack then back in front of the life-suck machine for a few more hours of work! With dinner hour approaching we decide on home made pizza. Pizza is the best and you all know it. Pile whatever you like on a slab of dough and the whole meal is right at your finger tips. ( Just watch that first bite of scorching hot cheese that inevitably will stick to your lip or face or something making you remember that pizza for the next few days...I've done it! Come on, so have you!)

Where was I, oh yeah...so with the pizza in the oven and Sara, (my wife), on her way back from the store with some groceries and the much needed brew, I was already thinking of the hot shower and the cold beer that would follow. But unfortunately that was not in the cards for little old me tonight. With mere seconds on the timer to alert me that the wonderful gooey goodness that WAS my dinner could be extracted from the oven, I bent down to pull something out of a cabinet...and that something just so happened to be attached to the drawer above it...(Hummmm see where this is going). Being so good at "being in the right place at the right time"...and with all of this genetically gifted athletic ability, (that's a joke folks), I happened to position my face right in front of that drawer.

Now I'm watching the slideshow in my head of the wonderful things that could have been, hot shower, clean shave, cold beer,  hot yummy home made pizza, relaxation on the couch, all go up in smoke standing there with a split bleeding lip! After a quick peek in the mirror I know it needs a stitch or two. "Now why couldn't this have happened at 6 or 7, instead of 8 PM?" Now the slide show has changes from things that could have been to what I know to expect at the emergency room of any hospital, on any day, at any time. The long wait with all the other misfits, wing nuts, and accident prone noodle heads like myself. Oh what fun this will be! 

(If you ever have some free time on your hands and you want to do some people watching, this a great place to get a laugh)

Well 3 hrs later I emerge hungry, thirsty, tired and with two brandy new stitches in my upper lip. At least they used black thread to blend it with my already 3 day old growth. Looks like I'll be sporting a goatie for a week or so until I can pull these out...ehm "I mean so that my doctor can pull them out"...wink, wink!

I would have felt much better having a story about getting some "sweet air over some epic log pile" and "endoing into a pile of cinder blocks" to answer all of those, "what happened to you lip questions", but the truth is pretty funny!!

PS. After careful consideration, (and since this was a blatant and obviously unprovoked attack on my person), I have decided to remove all of the drawers from my kitchen cabinets and have them replace with better behaved ones. I know the cabinet doors were involved in the planing of this attack but since we have no solid evidence of this, we are unable to hold them responsible as well. So luckily for them, they get to hang around just a little longer!!

Rollin on Super G

Today was the first bike since PMBAR and it felt great. I saddled up "Super G" and headed out from my digs over to Umstead to string together 3 hours of mixed riding. It ended up taking about 45 mins of road riding, (well sort of sidewalk/road riding), to get over to the Ebenezer Rd entrance to the park's double track. I cruised over to the Crabtree side of the park and did a fast loop of the 265 trail, (or is it 285...I can never get that one right), and was out of the woods in another 45 mins. So I was feeling really good and headed home to finish the ride in just under 3 hrs. So I called that a done deal.

Also, I finally order a front wheel for my SS 29r, (aka "The Snot Rocket"), so I can get that build finished and roll some trail time on that thing! I can't wait to use the SS for some quality training rides. I think I'll take that to Cowbell and see how she does for a lap or two...shit it might feel so good I just keep her saddled up for the whole enchilada!!

Back in the Saddle

So getting away from it all is always good to do every once in a while, it's getting back into the mix of the everyday that's the hard part!

Now that I'm back in good old Raleigh I find that I'm trying to clear the accumulated work crap off my plate so I can get back to riding! The whole time I was on vacation I was thinking of riding and the races I've done and yet to finish!

But, back to work so I can check on the stable and prep the stallions for some riding this week!!

Time to Chill

Today we head out to Lake Lure for a few days of well deserved R&R. Although we'll be doing plenty of activities, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, etc., I'll still be ready to mount my steed and hit the trails when I get back.

I'm thinking I might join my friend Tony at the Cowbell Challenge this year. We talked about this race last year but I was sort of focusing on some other races and was unable to check this one out. So this year I'll just squeak it in before Blood Sweat and Gears. Should be a great time! Only a 12 hr event...so should be easy right? yeah sure...none of these things are defined as easy in my book! That's like choosing an easy Ironman. They're all hard in their own right so I just try them out, see what happens and hopefully learn a little more about how to do well in these things.

My biggest hurdle to date has been figuring out my nutrition on endurance MTB events. It's so much easier to fuel on a road bike than on a mountain bike, in the woods, on some single track, hopping over some rocks or trees or something. So still gathering all the data to inch closer to a more effective nutrition plan.

That's the deal for now!

PMBAR under my skin

It seems pretty crazy, (even to me), but ever since finishing the PMBAR I can't stop thinking about it. How could we have gone harder?...or if we should have gone for a 5th point? I keep looking at the map, studying the trails and where they connect, to burn everything into my head so next year, oh yeah, NEXT YEAR, I can remember every little nuance of the terrain and we can move faster and more efficiently.

This race really does get under you skin. No other race has made me revisit the event in my head as much as this one. I can't wait to give this race my all next year!

PMBAR 2008: My Nuts and Bolts for team GS

So I guess since it's been 3 days since the PMBAR event I can sit down and relive the experience and get down in writing what the hell happened.

My teammate, (Greg Schuster), and I arrived at the Davidson River campsite on Friday afternoon. It was a great location for this race. I mean we were right across the street. Couldn't ask for a better place.

So we arrived and set up base camp then headed out to get some dinner. Needed to fuel up before the the big day..right! So what better than a burger and a cold one...ummmm, nothing that I can think of right now!!

So didn't get the best sleep the night before, but I never really do anyway. So nothing out of the ordinary for me in that department.

Up at 5:30 so we can get some caffeine and oatmeal into the system and then mount the trusty steed and head over to check in...plot the off limits trails and roads...and then head back to base camp for one last use of the porcelain before we get our passports.

8:00 am sharp we are given the order to open the passports and commence with the day's madness. We took about 20 min. to check all the points, plot them on our map and choose our route. We decided way before this race started that we were only going for 4 checkpoints and then heading home. This being my first attempt at this race, and Greg having a bad experience his first attempt made several years earlier...we just wanted to get this under out belts and get back for the cold brews to celebrate.

So off we go towards the first checkpoint. The route to checkpoint 1 is long and what seemed like non-stop climbing. I felt totally off from the start. Legs felt tired, HR was up there...and never was able to get a good full breath! This was like a total system shock having never ridden out there...I mean these are mountains! Raleigh in comparison is a parking lot!!

So once we make it to Checkpoint 1 and get one out of the way I settle down and figure the worst has to be behind us know. So head right back up the way we descended, so more climbing. But the route to checkpoint 2 seemed to go much faster than I expected and before we knew it we had 2 out of the way.

Now the long haul over to Checkpoint 3. Not real bad but now we had been out there for 5 hrs or so and we started to feel it. We both had some issues with bad line choices and some slips and falls, but nothing bad...just annoying stuff. The stuff that gets you when your tired! So mental focus time was in order and things smoothed out a bit after reaching number 3!

Over to checkpoint 4 was a haul with a few sections of pushing the bike up hill again. I was starting to wonder where the hell that point was. But right when you start to get to that limit then there it was!!

Now we collaborated with the teams that were at CP4 and sort of took a poll on which routes everyone was taking back to the finish! We all seemed to be going the same way so mount up and hit it!!

Big mistake that cost us some time was missing where the trail picked up the fire road. So we ended up pushing up hill in the opposite direction that we wanted to go. So that cost us about 45 min to an hour overall! Finally back to Black Mountain trail and the last bit of Bike-a-hike to the top before the bomb into the finish! That was a sweet downhill man...SWEEET!

So official finish time for us was 9:47...I say not bad for my first time out there and first time as a team! Next year we are going for the whole thing! 

7 or bust!!

The race was a truly great time. We met some old faces and some new ones, and had some cold brew at the finish. Who can ask for a better way to spend the weekend!!

Cohutta: 100 miles up...

So my good friend Tony Cervati floated the idea of doing this NUE 100 mile MTB series by me and I took the bait and signed up while on the phone. Tony is a seasoned 24 hr soloist and has many more endurance MTB races under his belt than me. That said, I have only two endurance MTB events to my name...so this was a pretty big jump.

So whatever, right? Just go freaking ride already!!

So we head up the day before so we can check in...get our numbers and turn in our drop bags. All that goes smoothly. Hardest thing was trying to figure out when and where you might actually need the items you are dropping. Having never done one of these before I was totally guessing on this part for sure! So made my choices...just have to live with what happens on race day. Rock on!

Race morning the worst is realized...the night brought the rain!! Ugh! A nice wet, muddy start to the day. Get some caffeine and some oatmeal down the hatch and then off to the race site. We had about a 30 min drive over so time to focus on dealing with the race start..."did I choose the right tires...air pressure...do I have my floaties?"

Now we all toe the line...pros and all in a mass start. I don't really plan on seeing any of them again anyway so "SEE YA". Underway and feeling good to go. 

The course starts with about 3 miles of pavement leading to the trailhead for the first 2 hrs of single track. This part was pretty awesome. We were pretty bunched up which caused me to go a little harder than I would have if I was by myself. I mean come on we have 100 miles to do so don't blow it in the first 20 right?

But anyway I get to the first aide station in 2 hrs and find out that it's like 18-19 miles and not 15 so I'm feeling pretty good about that. I'm on my expected pace for now...so a quick bottle fill up and peel off the arm warmers and then I'm back to it!

Now we get to the real long climbing...I'm totally not used to the climbing in the mountains so this is pretty tough for me. Even though we did climb mostly on the double track. That was the best thing though...I could just keep my head down and grind up, and up, and up...so totally different riding than having to climb on single track!!

Great thing about having to climb for what felt like forever was that awesome bomb down into aide station 4. That was the shit man...! Aide station 4 I happily excepted the offer to have my chain whipped down and lubed...that was much needed after the muddy riding! Shoveled in some pretzels and peanut butter.....more fluid on board and off to the next aide station!

Five was closer than the others and I was there in no time. Only about 20 miles left at that point so I knew that I was good to go with my plan of getting my ass out of the woods before dark. Few handfuls of trail mix...(drain the bladder)...and back to it. Up the 18% climb to descend into number 6.

At aide station 6 we drop into the single track for the last leg to the finish. It was at this point I was able to unlock my rear shock and put it to use again! I thought no problem now...I'm almost there. Of course that's when things go bad, right? Now I start getting that almost ready to cramp feeling in one leg...then that goes away and then I get it in the other...so the rest of the sweet single track I'm teetering on the edge of pretzeling up on the side of the trail....that really sucked. So I just was tooling along keeping it easy making slow progress, but at least progress. So that was good. Every minute I'm closer to getting done!

Finally I'm out of the woods for the last mile on the pavement to the finish. I figure I can throw it in the middle ring and hammer it home. But no...those cramps were right there...so back to the granny and just coast my friend!

So my first 100 miler took 11:35...I made it back before dark so met my intended goal!

Next year we'll see how it goes!!