Priorities - Husbands of the year

And who says some wives wouldnt be willing to rough it on a MTB camping trip....

This United Kingdom fella only got honorable mention for husband of the year. Ya know, that kinda does look like it could be SID fork, so ..... ya never know.

followed closely by the United States

and then Poland

>

but third place had to go to greece

it was very very close but the runner up prize was awarded to ...

Serbia

but the winner of the husband/partner of the year ... is Ireland

The Irish are true romantics. Look he's even holding her hand

Race to the River

It was a great day today and things panned out way better than I had set expectations. I managed to pull out a 1st place finish in my class (30-39 Sport) and 2nd overall for sport. The second overall was somewhere around 30 seconds difference but I just couldnt real him in.
Heading into the race my plan was to go as light as possible with hopes of placing somewhere in the upper half of riders. I did a little gambling on the gear trying to shave any weight I could and just took my sons smaller cammel back with NO tools or xtra weight whatsoever. I thought this being the last race of the season I would go all out and make it thru problem free or have to settle for last if anything went south.
It was a brisk morning starting out but didnt take long to get into a groove and warmed right up.
From the start down the gravel road to the single track I managed edge into second position entering firebreak. After a couple of turns I couldnt hold back the urge and even though I knew it was early decided to drop my first hammer and take the lead before entering the flowy section. I was determined I wanted to pick my own lines thru there and not fall victim to the follow the leader role. Having nudged up to front so early I just kept thinking I better keep laying it down to put some distance between us before I start to back off. Unbelievably the legs were feeling fine and breathing wasnt to labored so I pushed it all the way thru the connector to the slight uphill climb right before the stewardship downhill. It was there where I backed off and let my breathing and heart rate stabilize. The plan was to regroup and save the next hammer for the downhill and get into harder with no one ahead of me. Having passed a couple of the other class riders along the way to here there was one more about to enter the downhill section and had to drop hammer two here to make an unannounced pass but then I was good. Next up was someone inside of harder I caught up with that didnt want to have to follow all the way thru so had to do another awkward pass. This is cool I was thinking, I'm usually one of the ones riders being passed but having efficiently worked thru a number of riders it kinda worked as a mental boost so just kept laying down what I could. By the end of lap one things were looking good and started thinking I actually have a chance at a podium position if I can keep it going. Trails were nice and fast especially consideirng all the leaves, aside from the usual wet spots and creeks.

Lap two was another good one, passed some more other class riders and was stoked that I wasnt dualing it out and fighting anyone off. Kept thinking I was hearing someone just enough behind me that I was able to keep at bay by dropping the hammers when I could and concentrating on trying to be efficient.

Lap 3 things were to good to be true, still nobody had passed or came to within the uncomfort zone. This was it, now or never, I may not have another chance this close within grasp I thought. Lap 3 I dropped all I had left to keep the pace going the best I could and by that last firebreak hill climb after the creek the legs were on fire but the end was just around the corner.

Never felt so good to finish. Was one of those good riding days, good energy levels and boy how nice it is to know the trails, I think that helped sooo much. Where I usually have a few wrecks today was able ride my own race.

Think my time ended somewhere around 1:23:15 +- .xx
Avg 12.8
Max 25

Modified Race to River Preride

Today was finally able to complete a full preride of the upcoming race to river course. This was my third attempt and both previous times I got flats on either front or rear and wasnt able to complete the full course. Ive had a rough time lately with tubes and before either of the first two attempts with flats I went thru another set when I went to head out one saturday and found my rear tire had been shreading knobs down to the white threads and was forced to get a new tire and went back to a 2.2 on the front and just rotated the 2.0 to the rear. Then after this weekends trip to Tsali I went thru another 2 tubes and was forced to hike a bike for a mile or so to get back to the campsite. That was the final straw so now I'm running the stans juice with rim strips. What a major pain that first tire was to get going until I figured out the best combination needed to build my rim up in the center. After trying combinations of the recomended 3/16ths weatherstrip, felt, two runs of velox the trick that seemed to be the best balance and still be able to seat the bead was just one strip of 10mm velox under the rim strip. This was my first ride since the ordeal but tires held up fine and did seem to have a confident conforming feel to them.
Ran into Jason on lap two up by the Gazeebo and was good to see him again. We were talking and it seems like its been months since we rode together and was good to ride again. I guess riding with Jason again I had to rekindle the bushwacker name and I ended up cliping a small tree that sent me for a spin and down hard on my already sore left knee. Was fine right after the incident but as the miles tacked on it started hurting whenever I put to much pressure on it and for the climbs there at the end I could only work on keeping it spinning and didnt try to hammer anything.
Good ride and good company for awhile anyway, still not sure about the distance of this thing though, I ended up logging 26.65 and the only extra I thought I did was starting the ride from the front lot instead of Gazeebo? The race (sport class) shows its only supposed to be 4 laps of 5 miles each so go figure.

Tsali Trip

Last weekend was an awesome trip up to Tsali trails around lake fontana. Got to enjoy 2 days of riding bliss on some of the sweetest trails I have yet to ride. We left out Saturday morning around 7, drove around 3 hrs to finally setup camp at the Tsali campgrounds right there at the trailhead. Upon ariving the mood was instantly set that this was truly a mountain bikers oasis as the whole campground was full of tents and bikes everywhere with a constant shuffle of riders coming and going from the trailhead. Wanting to get right in on the action we opted to hit the bikes for a loop before unpacking and setting up camp. We headed out and did Thompson loop and Mouse before coming back for some late lunch and setting up camp. The scenery around this place was absolutely breathtaking and I only wish I could portray how nice it was. I kept thinking now this is what its all about and it definately had my blessing for being rated in the top 10 U.S. trails. This being my first "real" mountain ride my adreniline was high riding the along the narrow ridgeline overlooking the cliffs. Sure I have had rides with a section or two putting you on your toes on the edges but this was the best with several sections of the trails keeping constant reminder that any bad judgement call would cost you dearly.
After getting camp setup went back out for one more shorter ride thru the Mouse Scenic route just to take in some of the scenery one more time then it was back to hit the showers and head out to the get some real food at the Nantahala Recreation Center.
Next morning we werent in any real rush to get moving since it we were waking up to what was supposed to have been somewhere around 33 degrees and we wanted to let that sun come out a little. Day two of riding we got to hit the Left and Right loop which surprisingly up'd the ante from what we rode the day before. Left and Right loop were the icing on the cake in the form of both the trails and surrounding scenery. The trail conditions were good other than a bunch of whoopty do's with low spot mud holes but they were short enough that it actually added to the experience. One thing we learned after day one first loop was that our white lightning chain lube didnt hold up worth anything out here and we had to swap to a wetter condition lubes.
Day two I had one endo crash going thru a creek crossing where it was around a corner and when I made the turn there were a couple of guys waiting for me to clear before proceeding but they were standing on the side I would of normally picked for the line and when I went right I had to crest over a big root which upon clearing found there was a crater on the other side which stopped my front wheel in its track and over I went. Was kinda funny, one of they guys standing there actually caught my bike as it was being flipped right at him so that atleast kept it from landing on top of me :).
Cant wait to do something like this again!

Casualties:
2 tubes
bottle of chain lube
bruised knee (from endo crash)
broke off my big toe tonail

Wednesdays Spills

Headed out to Harbison yesterday afternoon with the intention of getting some hammer out and having a good steady ride but had a couple new spills that broke up the momementum. Was rolling around just fine thru the outer sections but once again spider woman put it on me. First was thru the rock garden where I kept fumbling around with multiple stop/restarts. I seem to still not have the nack for getting recliped fast enough on the eggbeaters and end up missing my oportunities to make the most out of the stop/restarts that seem to be my norm lately thru that section. This go round I was to frustrated and just did the walking shortcut and bypassed a few sections after the third stop/restart. After leaving the rock garden and making thru the riverside section, up and down thru the creek/low section and was heading up that last sharp right climb to the back side of spidy I somehow managed to hit that corner climb at a bad angle and just hit the dirt. It wasnt like I didnt see the fall coming and thought I was gonna be able to get loose from the bike but my left shoe wouldnt unclip so down I went. To add insult to injury as I lay on my side my left shoe still didnt unclip. It must of been a site I was laying there for awhile twitching the left leg/foot around like some sort of spasms trying to release and nothing. I had to take my freakin shoe off to get out of this one, pathetic. Dont know if it was the downhill angle I was laying with my foot and bike still up the hill or the newness of the cleats/pedals but i never had to do that one before and hope not to repeat. Glad I was by myself, ya'll would of been doggin me to get with the program and come on already :)
From there thought I was in the clear and stayed on the outerloop sections till I hit that new kiddie single track trail. Was going around the first section and there has been a downed pine for awhile and the thing is half rotted but I managed to hit that baby wrong and racked the family jewles something fierce. So after pacing around grunting for a couple minutes I had enough and the thought of riding around on the seat over the roots and such was not gonna happen. For another first I left the trail and cut thru the woods to hit the gravel road and head back, didnt even want to ride the trail out.

Guess I was due, it's been awhile since I had back to back bad spills just hate that I had to cut things short with my tail between my legs and head back to the lot. With the odds that these types of rides are getting fewer inbetween I'm confident I'm ready to climb back on the horse and reset the clock next ride.
On a good note I did run into Toby S out there on the long dirt road climb back by Stewardship then back at the lot. Hadnt seen him out there in forever and was good to see a familiar face.

Stats:
Distance: 22.55
Time: 1:54
Avg: 11.7

Stretching

Never heard this perspective before ...
"
Stretching Pros and Cons

Researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia reviewed the world's literature and concluded that stretching does not prevent muscle soreness that follows vigorous exercise (1).
Athletes train by taking a hard workout, feeling sore the next day, and then taking easy workouts for as many days as it takes for the soreness to go away. Since stretching does not reduce muscle soreness, it does not help you to recover faster from hard exercise. The best way to recover from exhausting competition is to move with little pressure on muscles, such as cycling on a stationary bicycle (2).
Stretching does not prevent injuries (3). Muscles and tendons tear when the force applied to them is greater than their inherent strength. Anything that makes a muscle stronger helps to prevent injuries, but stretching does not make muscles stronger or faster.
Even though most high school and college coaches have their athletes stretch before games or races (4), you should not stretch before competition because it decreases muscle strength (5) and impairs your ability to run fast (6).
However, stretching can make you a better athlete.
Muscles attach to bones by long fibrous bands called tendons.
Stretching lengthens tendons, and the longer the tendon, the greater the force a muscle can exert on a joint (7). So stretching a tendon to make it longer allows an athlete to exert more force around a joint to help him jump higher, run faster, lift heavier or throw further (8).
(References: 1-Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 4; 2-American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, June 2007; 3-Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, March 2005; 4-Clinical Journal of Sports medicine, May 2006; 5-Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. April 2006; 6-Sports Science, May 2005; 7-Journal of Sports Science, February 2006; 8-The American Journal of Sports Medicine, February 2006.)
"

Tsali - MTB Camping Trip

Anyone interested in a weekend of "Smoky Mountain Zen"? Some of the Cycle Center guys are planning a trip to Tsali Oct 25-26. Check out the writeup, it got 7th of the top 10 US trails (West & East Coast) to ride and looks like we would be in for some great rollin sweetness. I talked to Eric and so far it looks like its just the regulars that would ride out at Harbison (Eric, Harry and Erin).
Ive been wanting to do something like this ever since the mtb fever took hold and already cleared it with my better half, bought a tent and I'm ready to go :).

Something like this could be just the thing to add that sense of adventure back into our otherwise familiar routines.

http://cyclecenter.com/merchant/194/files/cyclecentercamping.pdf

http://www.bikemag.com/features/onlineexclusive/021306_best/

Dont let the cost of gas or supplies be an exuse and would be more than willing to carpool/share as needed.