Flight Lessons

Took the day off and planed to hit the Charlotte course as a preride to see what type of trails the Sunday race was going to be like. After waiting around till 10:00AM to check the trail conditions online at http://www.usnwc.org/Trail-System.html was only disapointed to find they were still posting closed. Not sure how this weekend is going to be since there showing chance of rain for both Saturday and Sunday and there is no mention of racing in rain or shine at the catawba site. Guess I'll be keeping an eye on the usnwc site and hoping the weather holds out.
Well heck, went and took a vacation day just for this and aw be darn if this was going to ruin a planned ride but I had the yearning to tread new trails and didnt wanted something different than the familiar harbison so decided to use this as an exuse to go try out FATS.

Ok, Im syched now, after the hour ride thinking about treading new trails, got to trailhead around noon, woofed down a hammer bar and I was ready to roll. Not sure what to expect and by myself I packed heavy and carried an xtra tube (think Monty mentioned a pinch flat there so wasnt going to take any chances). Headed out and thought I'd try the Deep Step trail first since it showed to be the only one off the beaten path. WOW, freakin AWESOME, I was taking flight and getting air all over the place and not even trying. Heart and anxioty is in full gear now and Im grinning like a kid in a candy store, this is so sweet. Was wishin some of the other guys would of been around just to let out a little exuberant yells or something. Well ok, I couldnt hold it back and had to start letting out some brew ha's on several airborne ever so sweet landings. This place rocks. I can see how you could get yourself in trouble around here, even though this is by far the smoothest flowy course Ive riden just when your going airborne, up , down right and left there are a few places that come up on you before you know it and I had to lock up brakes a few times to avoid a wipe out or worse the local wildlife. Whats up with them turtles, I must of almost nailed 4 of them? These are some pretty big ones and the suckers would be right in the middle of the main trail. Couldnt tell if they were coming out from their nights sleep, laying eggs or just plain releiving themselves. Ya, tellin ya, It would be wet from where they were trying to crawl away from, craziest thing I have had to deal with on the trail.
Anyway, after Deep Step rode Great Wall, Skinny Loop then Brown Wave. Kudos to whomever designed these trails they sure knew what they were doing. Its a hard choice if I had to pick one trail above the rest but think that Deep Step and Brown Wave made me feel like I was flowing the best.
This was a whole different kind of riding experience for me that I think I could learn alot about being smoother and working with the bike if that makes sense. Anyway, hope to start hitthing these trails more often.

Alternatives

Not able to hit the woods anywhere close to as often as I would like or need to I ended up getting a NordicTrack Bicycle machine in an attempt to fill in for those days you just gotta do some crankin but cant manage to get out. It was a tough choice when I would of loved to spend that money on lightening up the real rig but this choice won the mutual vote since Tonya can get some use out of this too and fair is fair. With the rains coming thru today didnt make it to Harbison and used this as oportunity to give the new bike machine a go. This isnt one of those high end professional machines but rather an affordable compact unit that is just meant to fill a gap for not being able to make it to the trails and have something to get the heart rate going. Well, ... I can say I like it much better than sitting around in front of the computer or couch but nowhere close to being out on the real thing. B O R I N G, sums it up, but hey atleast I'm crankin I kept telling myself. I guess you get what you pay for but dang, the seat on this sucker has to go. Unfortunatley the seat doesnt look like I can change it so I'll be trying to think of some way to rig a real one. The angles are all wrong with limited adjustmentsand a big honkin love seat that must be made for someone trying to loose 100lbs of ass. Had to end my wana-be ride after just an hour due to a new uncomfortable feeling I havent experienced before, its definately gonna take some getting used to. Its way to smooth too, maybe this is something roadies can relate to but I was hoping to be able to simulate that instant climb feel where you have to give it your all to make it or drop and its just nowhere to be found on this thing. All in all Im am very glad to now have something I can somewhat work on getting miles in on even if its not the real thing, just doesnt compare to the real thing.
On a positive note having missed the real ride today Im gonna try and take Friday off and head up to Charlotte to ride the trails at the US Whitewater Center to see how they are and hopefully do the race on Sunday. Would do it Saturday but I'm still at a point where I do better with a day of rest before hitting race pace. I know it is a normal work day but if anyone is off and interested in going let me know and would be great to make it a group ride.

Saturday Milestones

Real good ride today. Set out with the intention of hitting a new milestone to complete 30+ miles which would be my longest ride todate and actually hit a couple other milestones along the way too. Monty and I left the front lot around 7:45 at a controlled pace which was working out good considering I was set on completing 30+ miles and wanted to have enough steam left to keep it going. First half of the ride was able to pick up some good pointers and tips and try a couple new techniques (trying no breaking at a more controlled pace), this actually seemed to make Lost Creek an entirely different ride where I didnt realize how much I normally was off and on the brakes. Next we cut across firebreak to Midlands and did the bluffs in both directions for a total of navigating thru it 3x. In reverse that was a rough one and didnt make it up that inner short left climb without a dismount, however was still feeling fine at this point. Thats where my new 1st milestone came up next, taking the back side around midlands to spider woman I cleared ALL the downed trees/logs with the exception of this new one that was more like a freakin wall that needs a bridge to get over. Anyway, this was the first time I made it over all the normal downed logs that break across this trail without a dismount or crash. From there hit my 2nd milestone and finally made it all the way UP thru the rock garden without a dismount then we exited thru the fireroad. This is when things started to get difficult, me and my big mouth made a comment about wanting to do a time trial on spider woman sometime just to get a reference. Well, that was good enough for Monty, he was now just getting going and ready to bring out the hammer so we rode back to the entrance and decided on a time trial hammer down run including inner loop. It was on that inner loop when the legs started letting me know I have already been riding 14+ miles and was work to maintain the push and ride out concious of the clock. My cycle computer didnt have a reset just for the clock so when I rode out Monty was graciously standing spinning his front wheel to get my time for me. My time and now baseline for spider woman with inner loop is 22.5 minutes.
After sucking down a couple ounces of hammer gel (with caffene) and a breather I was ready to roll again. Cutting back over Midlands on the switchbacks we ran into Jason, stopped and talked shop a few minutes, got some insight on the heart rate monitors and cycle computers and off we all went. Getting hot from the lack of wind on the short stop, never has the quick spritzer splash thru the creek at the bottom of the switchbacks felt so good. When we got out of stewardship to hit the long gravel road up I was ever so greatful that Jason took the lead and pulled ahead with Monty. Dont recall the mileage we were at here, but I was feeling it and was all I could do to stay 40+ yards behind them, it was time for a shot of the caffene (gel). But hey, I was gaining ground on the inital goal to hit those miles and just kept going.
Ok, almost there 6 or 7 miles togo to hit 30, another nice easy ride thru lost creek and back will put it there. One mistake, I neglect to really think about who I'm riding with, Monty is ready to bring on some more hammer and wants to do another time trial run thru Lost Creek. Oh geeze......, so were all there across the road saying bye to Jason who needs to get some food, Im sucking down any remainng drops of cafeeen I can squeeze out and Montys anxiously pacing in circles ready to bring it down, Im thinking oh man.... this is gonna be a tough tail end of my ride. Well, I signed up for this event so off we went... Thats really about it though for me, I did finish and pushed it where I could, but Lost Creek definately got the upper hand on me and had to face humility pushing it in granny on the way out on a couple of the climbs. Think it was somewhere around 39+ minutes but really cant be certain as it was such a disapointing effort that I didnt dwell on it and just gave this one to the Lost Creek +1 , Jim -5 . All was not bad though and Monty nailed his run somewhere in the twenties and made up for us riders and put the score back in our favor, Monty +10, Lost Creek -1 . From there it was parking lot or bust for me, 3rd and final distance milestone achieved!

Self Note: Dont try to set a new distance record ride and do hammer down time trial runs in the same ride.

Overall Ride Stats: (Now with an acurate cycle computer setting)
31.72 miles
10.3 average
26.0 Max speed

Short Trip

Didnt think I was going to be able to ride tonight because I was home all day with a couple of sick kids but my thoughtful wife was able to b-line it home after work and releive me of parental duties for a bit. That was just what the doctor ordered, was itching to get out and stretch the legs and all with this being my first ride since the race. Was running a bit late and didnt head down the trail till about 6:20 and figured Id just get a quick solo ride. Headed down Lost Creek, reset my timer and was going to do a time trial run when I barely got a little over a mile in and heard a familiar voice yell "Rider Up" , it was Monty and Joe heading the opposite direction so I just pulled it aside, did an about face and did the normal try to hang routine. Must of just pulled out ahead of Jason as he came out right after me and we all met up back on the main trail for a breather before pulling off again.
Had to cut the remainder of the ride short to be back home by 8 ish and cut out and skipped Spider Woman and just did the outer loop straight back to the lot. This was my shortest ride in months and wish I could of done more miles but better something than nothing (12.8 miles) .
On the plus side, at least this one logged me a quicker time than I can ever normally log and I had a 12.1 avg speed vs my normal 10.x. I know it doesnt count for a hill of beans since I didnt take any difficult trails but hey ya gotta have something to shoot for once you log it once one way or another.

Refreshed

Resting the last couple days my legs finally feel ready to go again. Nothing like resting a couple days after the race, I needed it. Was looking forward to the group ride tonight to get a chance to get them crankin again but ends up both kids are sick and had to stay home with them today so not sure if I'm going to be able to make it or not at this point. If I miss the ride and anyone feels like doing a double or anything I will be going for my makeup tomorrow at the sametime.
Anyword on Monty's new additon, havent seen anything posted in awhile and beginning to wonder if congrats were now finally in order.
Tear em up,

The Crash Cronicles

Whew, what a race. Didnt go anything like I was hoping but none the less was quite eventful and even as I sit here aching got to say I very much enjoyed the day.
I must say however that I have never crashed so much in one day. All in all I didnt have a lap go by that I didnt crash atleast twice, my legs and arms look like I was an escape convict crawling over that razor wire you see atop the prisons, and they feel real nice too.

Guess I should of figured by the way things started that it wasnt going to be a ride without incident as when I unloaded my bike my front tire was about 10psi. But, overpacking as I do Im thinking no worries, let me go ahead and just swap this baby out. Well, thats when things started going wrong, put the new tube in and after fighting to get the presta valve unstuck, bead popped on good then , hisss started coming out from some pin hole atop one of my trusty excavator knobs. Dang, must of missed something inside the tire so back off it came. This was one of atleast 3 on and off ventures and I still could never find where that air was coming from. 15 minutes to start time we finally ruled it must be air coming from between the tube and tire and had to let her fly. Luckily, good ole Harry from cycle center wandered up and seeing me looking all worried volunteered lending me a spare tube to carry along. Thanks Harry, that really made a difference in me not worring the entire time that my tire was going flat and Im screwed if this thing goes down on me. Although this made for the heaviest pack Ive carried to date, xtra tube, 3 cans of gas and pump, but I was determined Im finishing this bitch one way or another.

Ok, so time to race, lets roll. Well, that was the next incident, but Toby got me straight on that one and pointed me to the right group of riders; was about to start with the wrong class of riders behind the 30-39 group. Boy, look at this amature here Im thinking, so Im now ready, my 20lb pack and all hobling over the bike frame from pack to pack, I didnt even bother to try and wiggle to the front of the line and think I was the last out of the gate. Now Im really just grateful to be on the way.

So now were rolling and I was feeling good, think I passed 4 or 5 people headed down accross the power lines thru the creek, then up we go. But no, not again, my front derailer that after 5 trips to the shop was finally shifting good wont downshift out of the big ring. Clank clank clank, maybe a couple more times and no downshift, finally couldnt hold the big gear and I started to tumble sideways, of course were not even 1/4 mile in yet so remaining pack is all right behind me and here they come, oh no I see Jason coming first, I dont want to ruin his day too but I quickly heard him yell a "oh sh$t" , and he pulled off a manuever Monty would of been proud of and up and around he went, whew, I didnt want both of us to get knocked out of this thing already, let alone by the cause of me. After I got up the hill I saw Jason looked to be back in his groove and was moving along good and it was all I could do to keep him in site from time to time the remainder of the lap till I closed in to a bikes length accross the mats. After being wipped around by the course and the crashes from the first lap it was almost like our wednesday rides and had a moral boost as out of nowhere Monty and Toby S came shooting down the sideline giving support and thumbs up, thanks fellas.

If anything atleast I feel good that I was consistent. The details from within the laps were pretty much the same for me from lap to lap, while I did take note and learn from mistakes made the lap before I somehow seemed to find a new place to crash each iteration. I didnt complete a lap without crashing atleast twice, unfortunately though, the severity of the crashes kept getting worse. There at the end when those pro/expert level guys started wipping by I got off my line and couldnt regain it quick enough and hit that big oak around that downhill 90 degree left and went rolling down the hill. Man, thats when I really realized I was spent, when I got up to try and walk back up the hill to get my bike I could hardly move, every muscle in my legs felt locked and felt I was tearing those muscles with each step climbing back to the bike. Ya know, in hindsite I think that may have actually helped as it forced me to stretch them out no matter how unpleasant it was at the time.

Finished somewhere in the last heap of the pack but all in all it was a good experience and good motivation for PLENTY of room for improvement. I gotta limit these crashes though next time, I even lost my darn ankle timer somewhere in those woods today, luckily the guy at the end that normally cut them off went straight to the judge and had her log it manually.
Good riding to all the other guys today and especially Toby who got podium on single speed.

New Blog

It seems everyone that I ride with has their own blogs going and is a really cool way of keeping up with things and such so wanted to give this a try myself. Not sure who if any friends or family will make their way to this site but it may seem a little drab until I get the hang of this stuff.

Less than 24 hours to stump jump race and getting psyched. Having only been riding less than a year this is just my second event and I seem to be getting all anxious and nervous again. I thought that just happened the first time at race to the river because it was my first ever race, but nope already that way again a whole day before the event - geeze.