Been forever since my last post and slow going in the saddle too. Not much going on lately fitness wise and my rides have been short, slow going and few and far between. The bike has been in the shop for close to a month now trying to get all my bearings replaced in an attempt to fix a cracking type sound it intermittently has been making for about 6 months now. Giant shipped the wrong parts twice and then when they finally got the right parts in, come to find out they had to special order a freakin Giant specific tool to replace them so that was another week. However, good news this morning and they say this afternoon they should have it all wrapped up and I sure am ready to get that sucker back. Been riding a loaner Stumpjumper that just never could get comfortable on. The stumpjumper has been a decent ride but not sure if its because it is a large vs my medium or what but it just feels bigger. Maybe because its geared more towards all mountain with its 2.2 wheels and 6 inch travel but just not the same in the tight stuff.
Tom and I are planning to hit HSF tonight at 6 if anyone else is interested come on out.
Also, just joined facebook and that seems like a pretty cool way of messaging too if anyone else is on hit me up.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Fats or Carolina Adventure World
Anybody feel like heading to Fats or Carolina Adventure World tomorrow morning (Saturday). Up for anything, just figured it would be nice and dry and its about time to get some variety again.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Race to the River
Race Fever was in the air, it was the biggest turnout I’ve seen at Harbison today and our addition to the Southern Classic appeared to be a good thing. The Sport field seemed in line with the numbers that were at the last Stump Jump State Race so will be interesting to see some final totals but definitely was a good turnout for the most part. Recognized several faces and regulars in other brackets but in the 30-39 sport class it was just me and Tom from the local riding club accompanied by Bike To Nature Dave and some of the Hawley crew; that I was aware of anyway.
From the start heading up the gravel road reality hits this is a race and the pace quickly moved fast. So fast that trying to fight for position into the woods the burn and HR was reminding me this is just the start and started second guessing taking the last three days off to rest. Outgunned into the woods had to muster what I could to keep the lead pack in sight. Tom and crew ahead were motoring along good and tried to focus on keeping Tom in sight when I could. Kudos Tom you were riding strong there for awhile and it was more trying to catch glimpses of ya here or there. Ive raced with that Brad(2nd place) fella at a few other races and I cant ever keep up with him for long. Passed a few riders here and there along the way to spider woman and finally got within distance of Tom but wasn’t until inner loop that I was able to pull up along side him. There was some other rider behind Tom that had to hit the brush to finally get around him after tagging his rear wheel a few times. That was the first time I had done that and it wasn’t deliberate either, there just wasn’t too much room and you know those quick down and ups , well, he’d slow to much on the ups and I was right on his tail and kept tagging him probably 3 times before I had to hit the brush to get around. Then caught up with Tom and he let me go on around. Thanks a bunch Tom, that inner loop was putting it on me and I sure didn’t have no hammers to drop. Then on that hardest climb section there was another rider ahead that luckily let me by right at the crest/turn. After the Rock garden section there was an older guy who broke a chain on one of those small climbs and the fella came rolling straight back at me and had to unclip to move out the way. The poor guy probably skidded 5 feet OFF the trail. After he acknowledged he was alright I had to leave him be and took off.
The addition of spider woman inner loop sure can make a difference and by the time I got to the long fireroad midland mountain climb I had to hit it a couple gears lower than what I know Im capable or pushing. It was way to early but legs were burning , my side was aching and was borderline on blowing myself up. Had a couple riders pass on by and had no idea what class they were in and really didn’t care at the moment as I was just set on getting up this dang hill looking forward to the crest when I knew I’d have that section to recoup a little. The rest of the first loop went as expected and was easier going for the most part. Had some guy pass me leading to the open halfway point open field, but he couldn’t hold it and ended passing him back as soon as we entered the woods again for loop two.
Second loop went good and by this time we were spaced out enough and whether I should have or not didn’t feel I had to try and maintain that near max heart rate pace so was a little calming. On the second loop up the switchbacks one of the expert riders passed me and turned into spiderwoman and I was sooo glad that we only had to do that once, a second inner loop would of definitely been my definition of hell today. The final push thru the creek then up the firebrake climb one of the Hawely guys (Ken, Kenley or something like that) blew on past at a strong pace, standing the whole climb, hats off to him for sure there was NO WAY I could come close to that. In all respect he earned it 100%, he was even running Single speed and ended up taking 3rd racing in our geared class. Good racing indeed!
I Ended up pulling out a 4th place finish and earning a good nights sleep.
Congrats to Tom who placed within a minute or so with me that was pretty cool. And congrats to Toby P who placed and SS and Eric who placed in Expert 40+.
From the start heading up the gravel road reality hits this is a race and the pace quickly moved fast. So fast that trying to fight for position into the woods the burn and HR was reminding me this is just the start and started second guessing taking the last three days off to rest. Outgunned into the woods had to muster what I could to keep the lead pack in sight. Tom and crew ahead were motoring along good and tried to focus on keeping Tom in sight when I could. Kudos Tom you were riding strong there for awhile and it was more trying to catch glimpses of ya here or there. Ive raced with that Brad(2nd place) fella at a few other races and I cant ever keep up with him for long. Passed a few riders here and there along the way to spider woman and finally got within distance of Tom but wasn’t until inner loop that I was able to pull up along side him. There was some other rider behind Tom that had to hit the brush to finally get around him after tagging his rear wheel a few times. That was the first time I had done that and it wasn’t deliberate either, there just wasn’t too much room and you know those quick down and ups , well, he’d slow to much on the ups and I was right on his tail and kept tagging him probably 3 times before I had to hit the brush to get around. Then caught up with Tom and he let me go on around. Thanks a bunch Tom, that inner loop was putting it on me and I sure didn’t have no hammers to drop. Then on that hardest climb section there was another rider ahead that luckily let me by right at the crest/turn. After the Rock garden section there was an older guy who broke a chain on one of those small climbs and the fella came rolling straight back at me and had to unclip to move out the way. The poor guy probably skidded 5 feet OFF the trail. After he acknowledged he was alright I had to leave him be and took off.
The addition of spider woman inner loop sure can make a difference and by the time I got to the long fireroad midland mountain climb I had to hit it a couple gears lower than what I know Im capable or pushing. It was way to early but legs were burning , my side was aching and was borderline on blowing myself up. Had a couple riders pass on by and had no idea what class they were in and really didn’t care at the moment as I was just set on getting up this dang hill looking forward to the crest when I knew I’d have that section to recoup a little. The rest of the first loop went as expected and was easier going for the most part. Had some guy pass me leading to the open halfway point open field, but he couldn’t hold it and ended passing him back as soon as we entered the woods again for loop two.
Second loop went good and by this time we were spaced out enough and whether I should have or not didn’t feel I had to try and maintain that near max heart rate pace so was a little calming. On the second loop up the switchbacks one of the expert riders passed me and turned into spiderwoman and I was sooo glad that we only had to do that once, a second inner loop would of definitely been my definition of hell today. The final push thru the creek then up the firebrake climb one of the Hawely guys (Ken, Kenley or something like that) blew on past at a strong pace, standing the whole climb, hats off to him for sure there was NO WAY I could come close to that. In all respect he earned it 100%, he was even running Single speed and ended up taking 3rd racing in our geared class. Good racing indeed!
I Ended up pulling out a 4th place finish and earning a good nights sleep.
Congrats to Tom who placed within a minute or so with me that was pretty cool. And congrats to Toby P who placed and SS and Eric who placed in Expert 40+.
Monday, April 13, 2009
New Hoops
Finally broke down and got me a set of some decent wheels. Been going back and forth over what to get but ended up grabbing a set of 2009 Mavic Crossmax ST wheels. http://www.mavic.com/mtb/products/crossmax-st-disc.996801.1.aspx I know I could of done better with a lighter set but wanted an all around wheel I could install and ride with as my main set of wheels, take to the mountains and yet still feel good using them for the races too. Got them with the Mavic MP3 plan so atleast theres some confidence should anything come up in the next two years they will repair/replace them free of charge. The last selling point for me were they come 15QR compatible so I'll be able to go that route should I want to when the time comes to replace that all coil 5.2lb beast of a fork I have.
This is the deal for tubeless too man, was running those wtb rims and had to build up the rim cavity, install the stans rimstrip and work the tire on to get the bead seated. With these babies, just install the tire and a little juice and thats it... simple and my tires pop right on the beads with no need to work anything,, sweet.
While there not the lightest out there by any stretch, they sure made a difference in my setup. My bike weight before the upgrade was 29.4, afterwards its now 27.7 so I'm guessing my old wheels were somewhere around 2000g + velox & rimstrips. I've only been able to ride them on two wet rides so far but I think I'm getting a feel for how a stiffer/lighter wheel seems to react quicker.
This is the deal for tubeless too man, was running those wtb rims and had to build up the rim cavity, install the stans rimstrip and work the tire on to get the bead seated. With these babies, just install the tire and a little juice and thats it... simple and my tires pop right on the beads with no need to work anything,, sweet.
While there not the lightest out there by any stretch, they sure made a difference in my setup. My bike weight before the upgrade was 29.4, afterwards its now 27.7 so I'm guessing my old wheels were somewhere around 2000g + velox & rimstrips. I've only been able to ride them on two wet rides so far but I think I'm getting a feel for how a stiffer/lighter wheel seems to react quicker.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Pisgah Initiation
Oooh Baby, oh baby :) This weekend headed out for my first Pisgah adventure with Joe and Dennis to meet up with Jonathan and Rob for some initiation into Pisgah riding. Gotta say this was another eye opener moment into the glimpse of what some real mountain riding is like. Before this Tsali was my high point and these trails made that feel like Fats is in comparison to Harbison.
The trail conditions were pretty wet out there at the lower elevations and our first couple warm up loops had sectioned that literaly felt like we were skiing. There was was one downhill section that it was all I could do to just keep it a controlled forward slide for about 50 feet or so never daring to touch the brakes as it would of instantly lost what little edge I had just keeping the sliding in check as I washed from side to side.
This place definatley puts your technical abilities (or lack there of) in check and the combination of the later and the slickness presented several humbling dismounts and close calls just in our warm up. Then unexpectedly I hit this downhill section that instantly got me reved up and was awesome. Had I seen it coming I'm pretty sure I would of dismounted and walked down but by the time I realized what I was about to comit to it was to late. It was some trail that had a long series of stair like BIG drops and my ass was so far slung back to keep from going over the bars that a couple of them drops I was actually more worried about dragging ass on the back wheel than recking. Hu rah what a sweet mother going down that section.
Next we set off for the black mountain. That was one long freakin climb and I swear I dont know if I'm more sore from being wipped by granny gear or the hiking. Dont know for sure but by the time we reached the top it felt like I only climbed a third or so of the way as I never did so much hike a bike than on that sucker. It was alot of ride a tad then walk and repeat again the higher we got. But then it was time to go back down :), and down we went. That was by far the BEST long downhill I could of even imagined. Man that was sweet and have been thinking about that the whole day. After a ride like that I can definately relate how you could get hooked on some downhill riding. This definately puts mountain riding into perspective and cant wait till the next oportunity to do this again.
The trail conditions were pretty wet out there at the lower elevations and our first couple warm up loops had sectioned that literaly felt like we were skiing. There was was one downhill section that it was all I could do to just keep it a controlled forward slide for about 50 feet or so never daring to touch the brakes as it would of instantly lost what little edge I had just keeping the sliding in check as I washed from side to side.
This place definatley puts your technical abilities (or lack there of) in check and the combination of the later and the slickness presented several humbling dismounts and close calls just in our warm up. Then unexpectedly I hit this downhill section that instantly got me reved up and was awesome. Had I seen it coming I'm pretty sure I would of dismounted and walked down but by the time I realized what I was about to comit to it was to late. It was some trail that had a long series of stair like BIG drops and my ass was so far slung back to keep from going over the bars that a couple of them drops I was actually more worried about dragging ass on the back wheel than recking. Hu rah what a sweet mother going down that section.
Next we set off for the black mountain. That was one long freakin climb and I swear I dont know if I'm more sore from being wipped by granny gear or the hiking. Dont know for sure but by the time we reached the top it felt like I only climbed a third or so of the way as I never did so much hike a bike than on that sucker. It was alot of ride a tad then walk and repeat again the higher we got. But then it was time to go back down :), and down we went. That was by far the BEST long downhill I could of even imagined. Man that was sweet and have been thinking about that the whole day. After a ride like that I can definately relate how you could get hooked on some downhill riding. This definately puts mountain riding into perspective and cant wait till the next oportunity to do this again.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Night Ride at Harbison ?
Whoa, whats this ..... http://www.thestate.com/living/story/711841.html . Somebody at work asked me about this and this was the first I heard of anything going on at harbison after dusk. Not that I even have a set of lights, but this would definately bump the lights up on the priority list if we can start riding the local trails at dusk now.
Did any of ya'll participate in this and do you know if this is going to be something that there going to start allowing now?
Did any of ya'll participate in this and do you know if this is going to be something that there going to start allowing now?
Friday, March 6, 2009
Saturday Invite
Tis the season fella's!
Weather is looking great and wanted to extend an invite that Tom and I were meeting up at Harbison in the morning if anyone would like to join. Planing to meet up in the front lot at 8:00 AM incase anyone else feels like joining .
Weather is looking great and wanted to extend an invite that Tom and I were meeting up at Harbison in the morning if anyone would like to join. Planing to meet up in the front lot at 8:00 AM incase anyone else feels like joining .
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Frigid Ride
Whew it was a chilly one out there this morning. I had afternoon plans and had to make a quick solo ride this morning to get back in time. Sure wanted to wait till things warmed up a little but with other things to do it was early morning or no ride at all. Ended up hitting the trailhead around 7:30 and I swear it had to be below thirty out there. I had thought I rode around the 30 mark before but after this morning I have to think it quite wasnt as cold before. I had all intentions on laying down some hammer to keep warm and make the most of the short ride but this plan quickly came to realization that it wasnt in the cards. It was a slow pocky going as my fingers felt like frost bite was setting in and I had to make three long stops before the steuardship harder section just to warm them up. Apparently the gloves I got just dont cut it for me and I figured it was the wind that was making it so unbearable so I just had to poke around for awhile afraid anything faster would just make me have to stop again. Thank goodness the cold mornings are about over as this is pretty pathetic (or stupid one). Anyway, the entire first loop I was so slow that by the time I was warmed up and ready for to do some real riding I had to cut it way short and and just do a modified short second loop as I was running out of time. Spent 2 hours out there and only got 22 miles to show for it. Maybe next time :)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Eye Opener
Got a taste of a little road riding today and gotta say definately opened my eyes to my fitness level (or lack of). Respect and hats off to all the roadies and commuters for sure, never did I imagine the paved road could work you like it does and whats up with that headwind. Were on bicycles for goodness sake, but dang if that wind cant put it on ya.
Tom was up for a Dam ride to HSF today but having never put the Trance on the road I was a little hesitant at first I admit, but figured what the heck and was time to give it a go. Ever since last year when Jason and Monty would do those runs I had been meaning to try it but always fell back on timing issues, one exuse or another so was time to step up. We parked at the walking lot at the dam and just road from there to HSF, Lost Creek, outer loop, Spider Woman, Bluffs and back. It was a good paced ride and opened my eyes to how bad I am trying to fall into a good cadence and shift timings on the road part that I hadnt experienced before. Heck by the time we got to HSF I was already starting to feel it. Definately need to do this one again or atleast some of these higher mileage rides to start getting back in shape. Good eye opener for sure!
Distance : 35.42
Avg: 12.0 (I'm sure not fast for adding some road mix, but enough to put it on me today)
Max: 30.4
Time: 2:55
Tom was up for a Dam ride to HSF today but having never put the Trance on the road I was a little hesitant at first I admit, but figured what the heck and was time to give it a go. Ever since last year when Jason and Monty would do those runs I had been meaning to try it but always fell back on timing issues, one exuse or another so was time to step up. We parked at the walking lot at the dam and just road from there to HSF, Lost Creek, outer loop, Spider Woman, Bluffs and back. It was a good paced ride and opened my eyes to how bad I am trying to fall into a good cadence and shift timings on the road part that I hadnt experienced before. Heck by the time we got to HSF I was already starting to feel it. Definately need to do this one again or atleast some of these higher mileage rides to start getting back in shape. Good eye opener for sure!
Distance : 35.42
Avg: 12.0 (I'm sure not fast for adding some road mix, but enough to put it on me today)
Max: 30.4
Time: 2:55
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Rollin again
For about three weeks now my BB has been creak'n pretty good whenever I would put any significant amount of pressure on in so figured it was time for "another" greasing. This was the third time since Ive had the bike that I had this problem and each time under warranty they were able to quiet it down by removing the BB and applying grease between the BB and shell. It would last a few months then would have to repeat. This last Saturday was gonna do the saturday morning ride with Dennis then drop it off for repair afterwards but ended up having our ride rained out so decided I would use the morning and try it myself if nothing else to see how that sucker comes apart and all. So after drilling Dennis for questions and picking up a puller took it apart only to find the BB was shot. I had an old FSA ISIS splined cartridge that with the cartridge off the bike turned like a meat grinder full of bb's. I had the 3yr warranty with the bike so ended up taking in to see what my options were on upgrading to a better crank rather than just getting this replaced. I was hoping to move up to XT grade but the budget didnt permit and ended up going with a 09 SLX they had onhand from an order that fell thru.
Was finally able to go for a ride this afternoon for the first time in over a week and was good to get out. Was the first time ride with the new crank and woa baby, what a difference in how smooth this thing rolls. Guess thats one of those slowly degrading parts that I was just accustomed to how it felt (meat grinder), I really didnt pay any attention before other than the anoying noise but now that this new BB and crank is installed this thing feels like butter compared to those wiped out bearings.
Anxious to get out again to get some hammer out now, this afternoon was a lot of babying going on admiring how smooth it was, checking out how she shifts and messing with cable adjustments. The chainline seems a bit more outboard with this crankset and not sure if thats dialed or not yet. Was installed per the specs with 2 shims on the crank side and 1 on the left but it definately sticks out a tad more than the old.
Was finally able to go for a ride this afternoon for the first time in over a week and was good to get out. Was the first time ride with the new crank and woa baby, what a difference in how smooth this thing rolls. Guess thats one of those slowly degrading parts that I was just accustomed to how it felt (meat grinder), I really didnt pay any attention before other than the anoying noise but now that this new BB and crank is installed this thing feels like butter compared to those wiped out bearings.
Anxious to get out again to get some hammer out now, this afternoon was a lot of babying going on admiring how smooth it was, checking out how she shifts and messing with cable adjustments. The chainline seems a bit more outboard with this crankset and not sure if thats dialed or not yet. Was installed per the specs with 2 shims on the crank side and 1 on the left but it definately sticks out a tad more than the old.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
CAW - Mush Ride
Had the urge to get out and hit something different today especially after missing out on two Fats rides and having to settle for 1 ride a week lately. After a little finagling with our schedules Tom and I were able to work out an after lunch pass and plan a Carolina Adventure World ride. While we were heading to the meet point Dennis called and was able to pull off something similar and we were able to turn this into a good group ride now, alright! Something about the group ride just gets ya stoked and we were ready to hit the trails.
Well, we really did start with high ambitions anyway, talking how we wanted to get in three loops, hit all trails and such. Off we went. Hmmm, I didnt remember this much climbing last time and 30 minutes later we made it llke 2 or so miles(lol), whew, then we crested the heli pad climb and was starting to get doubts. Think Dennis made a comment along the lines of "so are we gonna ride some trails today or just climb"(lol). The trails were wet, mushy and it sure wasnt like riding on anything that you could call hardpack.
After we crested the heli pad section we got to roll good for a section or two but then hit the leaves where it really didnt seem like they did any cleaning since the last time we were there. There may have been less trees in the path but the overall condition may have led you to think it was mainly just clean up and strewn about from other riders clearing the way here or there. We probably ended up moving about 8 small trees ourselves during our first loop.
About half way or so was beginning to feel the work we were having to put in and thru most of the inner areas it was really soggy and felt like you were riding on mush robbing any momentum you would otherwise be carrying. We gave all trails a go the first loop but when we hit D we managed to loose the trail once again due to the trail litter. By the time we were rapping up our first loop we needed to hit the parking lot for some fuel. Boy what a difference the terain can make, we were out thee over an hour and just covered around 12.x miles.
After a short energy bar snack and a bottle refil for me we hit it again. When we crested the heli pad the second go round there was no mistaken this wasnt gonna be a 3 loop ride today. While we definately were making better time the second loop the burn was setting in. Funny how you get used to your normal routines where you would knock out a 12 mile HSF outer loop rather quick and but here we were pokin around and working for those miles. Ended up skipping 'D' round two since it was so littered but gotta be honest and say I'm glad we did also to save the legs. Was pretty much spent by the end. I really do like this place, just cant wait till it gets packed in and cleaned up.
Stats:
Time: 2:19
Distance: 17.94
Avg: 7.7
Max: 18.5
Well, we really did start with high ambitions anyway, talking how we wanted to get in three loops, hit all trails and such. Off we went. Hmmm, I didnt remember this much climbing last time and 30 minutes later we made it llke 2 or so miles(lol), whew, then we crested the heli pad climb and was starting to get doubts. Think Dennis made a comment along the lines of "so are we gonna ride some trails today or just climb"(lol). The trails were wet, mushy and it sure wasnt like riding on anything that you could call hardpack.
After we crested the heli pad section we got to roll good for a section or two but then hit the leaves where it really didnt seem like they did any cleaning since the last time we were there. There may have been less trees in the path but the overall condition may have led you to think it was mainly just clean up and strewn about from other riders clearing the way here or there. We probably ended up moving about 8 small trees ourselves during our first loop.
About half way or so was beginning to feel the work we were having to put in and thru most of the inner areas it was really soggy and felt like you were riding on mush robbing any momentum you would otherwise be carrying. We gave all trails a go the first loop but when we hit D we managed to loose the trail once again due to the trail litter. By the time we were rapping up our first loop we needed to hit the parking lot for some fuel. Boy what a difference the terain can make, we were out thee over an hour and just covered around 12.x miles.
After a short energy bar snack and a bottle refil for me we hit it again. When we crested the heli pad the second go round there was no mistaken this wasnt gonna be a 3 loop ride today. While we definately were making better time the second loop the burn was setting in. Funny how you get used to your normal routines where you would knock out a 12 mile HSF outer loop rather quick and but here we were pokin around and working for those miles. Ended up skipping 'D' round two since it was so littered but gotta be honest and say I'm glad we did also to save the legs. Was pretty much spent by the end. I really do like this place, just cant wait till it gets packed in and cleaned up.
Stats:
Time: 2:19
Distance: 17.94
Avg: 7.7
Max: 18.5
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