Less than two weeks till my first races of the season. All but two days of it I'll be in Charlottesville working on the new Stringdusters record. Fortunately the bike's going with me and we're staying away from town in a nice wooded area with some hills and country roads. Unfortunately I had a run-in with a banjo case on the bus night before last and tore off the tip of one of my toes and it hurts. To walk. So it'll be interesting to see if I can get in the right kind of workouts this week with the limitations.
Cross the Way Series
Monday, September 21, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Real Practice
Yesterday's practice was mostly a little barrier hopping and some bullshitting. I like to bullshit, but you can't shit a shitter and I wanted to ride, so today I went to the hardware store, bought some rebar, some eye hooks, a 4 lb. sledge, and some spray paint and built some barriers. I also picked up a mess of those little orange flags and headed over to Charlotte Park for some real rehearsal. It had been raining all night and all day so the course was thoroughly soaked. It was a little like last January in Knoxville; water everywhere. I set up the barriers, layed out the flags and ripped off 6 laps in 53 minutes. I was basically whipped by then from riding with that much resistance (deep grass and deep water) but with the flags out it made bike handling an issue and I think I've got a really difficult course. The barriers are a little small, however, so I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board and find some 1x18's and really make something to jump over. I took a picture of the spray paint phase but it didn't come out and it was raining too hard to show off the course so you'll have to wait for next time (a few weeks from now...)
Anyway, I'm headed out of town tomorrow, won't even have time to golf before I leave town, but hopefully I'll get into a little riding when I'm over in Charlottesville. Season kicks off in 17 days, hard to know what my fitness is like. There were some fast guys at practice last night but they weren't really showing me anything so it's hard to say... At least I weigh less than I did at the beginning of last season, of course I was racing the 4's last year and I opted to upgrade to 2's at the end of last season. 1 full hour plus the SS race should whip this old boy into shape...
Anyway, I'm headed out of town tomorrow, won't even have time to golf before I leave town, but hopefully I'll get into a little riding when I'm over in Charlottesville. Season kicks off in 17 days, hard to know what my fitness is like. There were some fast guys at practice last night but they weren't really showing me anything so it's hard to say... At least I weigh less than I did at the beginning of last season, of course I was racing the 4's last year and I opted to upgrade to 2's at the end of last season. 1 full hour plus the SS race should whip this old boy into shape...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Cyclocross Practice Tonight
The folks at Uphill Grind, purveyors of fine cyclocross races in the Nashville area (Cross the Way Series) are putting on their weekly practice session just down the street from my house in West Park. I'm a little bummed we aren't using my personal practice course just around the corner in Charlotte Park, but such is life. I'm hoping to drag them over there sometime and show them just how great it is.
This week I've done a few days on the mountain bike with mixed results. Sunday I headed to Montgomery Bell with the intention of riding a few hours and just got bored. Weird, huh? I guess it's just that time of year... But I will say that riding around aimlessly in a 100 acre park is losing it's appeal. I think it's time to move back to CO, home of the all day epic. That's the plan, at least, in the next few years, to relocate to my homeland.
Headed out for a lap or two around Percy Warner with my boy Jeremy prior to cross practice, hopefully it'll be rainy and miserable. I know no one reads this thing, but if you do, if you find yourself with nothing to do tonight at 5:30, head over to West Park and catch the fever!! It'll hurt.
This week I've done a few days on the mountain bike with mixed results. Sunday I headed to Montgomery Bell with the intention of riding a few hours and just got bored. Weird, huh? I guess it's just that time of year... But I will say that riding around aimlessly in a 100 acre park is losing it's appeal. I think it's time to move back to CO, home of the all day epic. That's the plan, at least, in the next few years, to relocate to my homeland.
Headed out for a lap or two around Percy Warner with my boy Jeremy prior to cross practice, hopefully it'll be rainy and miserable. I know no one reads this thing, but if you do, if you find yourself with nothing to do tonight at 5:30, head over to West Park and catch the fever!! It'll hurt.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Long Ride
3 hours on the Mountain Bike yesterday at Lock 4 just about killed me. The cramps are back. I don't know if I've gone soft, if all my running has left my legs ill-prepared for the SS or if this is just what happens now, but the last three times I've really put it down on the Mountain Bike, I've battle serious cramps. My intention was to do four laps at a 6 lap pace to determine if I could ride 8 laps in 6 hours for the inaugural 6hr race at Lock 4 on October 10. I did, missing the mark by only 1:35, but I battled some serious cramps early on that sent me to the car midway through lap 3. So, 6 hours of riding aren't necessarily the best preparation for 'cross season, but it came up on the calendar, on a weekend I'm home, and it's 45 minutes from the house and I don't know if I can do it, so I think I'll try, though, after yesterday I'm having my doubts. I'm going out again on Wednesday, the day before I leave for two weeks, to give it another go, hopefully do 5 laps at the same pace and see how I feel. David told me yesterday he's considering dropping the price to $50 for a week to encourage pre-registration. If he does that, he'll probably seal my fate. So three hours seems to be my limit right now, I'm praying I can do nearly 4 by next week. It shouldn't be so hard, Lock 4 has virtually no climbing, but I've got the runner's quads going on right now and there's not a whole lot I can do about it.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Bloggggg
So, it's been awhile. A long while. I've entered a few races this summer, had some success, some vast failure (my explosion at Stanky Creek for example) and now, as I return home from another long and beautiful tour, I greet the fall season. cyclocross. So the question then is, Can I keep this blog up? I've been blogging consistently for the band on our Tumblr blog, the Infamous Word and I dig the interface but the aesthetics blow so I suppose I'll stick with One Speed. For those of you who follow (both of you) this blog should indicate a return to blogging dominance. If I can figure out how to do this from my phone, you can count on some riveting content. If not, well, dear reader, you will still be bombarded with random thoughts and ride recounts... anyway, as I prepare for season two on the cross bike, it's time to go ride, then tear that old boy down and recable the entire apparatus. Headed out the door for another warm weather afternoon ride, but soon the air will crisp, the leaves will fall, and I'll line up for my 7-10 races before the glorious ski season begins. It's all cycles, people, and finding the balance is always difficult, but always rewarding. Until next time (or later today) adios.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Stanky Creek Part 2
The Backstory:
Last year the Dusters spent 5 weeks cooped up in a tiny van in Europe. On a day off in southern Germany we stayed at a super hip, tiki-themed hotel that had a fleet of mountain bikes. I'd been riding an old bike, a bike from high school, really (my racing bike had been stolen during a party in college) and the fire had been dying. The thrill was gone. With nothing better to do I set out on a ride and quickly lost myself in the hills.
Germany knows what is what and their network of paved trails is unparalleled and after 3 hours I limped back to the hotel exhausted but with a new resolve to get back on the bike.
As soon as I arrived home I started shopping and found my Bianchi on ebay in California for $1100. By mid June I was riding as much as possible and in August I wandered onto the TBRA website and signed up for the Stanky Creek XC and TT.
The race weekend was the start of a two week solo mountain bike pilgrimage and it started out with a bang. I placed 5th overall in the TT and won the XC (I must be honest here, there were only 4 single speed riders) and the hook was set. Cyclocross season followed with moderate success toward the end of the season and two XC victories this summer had me pretty confident that I would repeat the feat at this years Stanky Creek. Not so.
Stanky Recap:
4am, crawl out of bed, meet Nate at Waffle House, watch Nate eat Waffle, drive 3+ hours at 80-85mph, pass the competition (on the highway, this was the only time I would pass Adam all day) arrive an hour before start time, warm-up, pre-ride, forget excedrin, GO!! There were more people in the race this year, 11, maybe 15. I don't really know. I took the whole-shot. I always do, I don't know any better and I get anxious following on single track. I felt really good, at least pretty good considering (4 hours sleep, 3 days on bike in last month, mild heatstroke and soreness from kickball the day before, etc...). First half of the first lap I was really hammering. Second half involved about a mile and a half of fresh singletrack and that's where it started to unravel. My preparation caught up with me. Stomach was upset so I didn't eat, and I started to soft pedal to ease up on my legs. Just after the start of the second lap second place came around me. I went slower. Adam caught me right before the water station and soon after that I started getting chills (in 85 degree heat?) leg cramps and mild hallucinations. I stopped. It felt good. I stood on the side of the trail and ate stuff and chilled out for like 10 minutes. Watched 4 riders ride by, they said I had an unsettling smile on my face. I must have been hallucinating still. I was thinking of quiting. Got back on, kept riding, cramping got much much worse. I didn't know I even had that many different muscles in my legs. At one point, nearing the finish, I stood up on a little rise and first my left, then right legs completely locked out from the cramping and I nearly fell off the bike. I don't know what my split times were, but I bet my second lap was 15 or 20 minutes longer than my first.
Live and learn. Preparation has always been the cornerstone for me. Should have stayed in bed.
On a more musical note, the band played the Opry this weekend. Vince Gill was on. That guy's really amazing. Cyclocross season is coming and this race was a serious wake-up call.
Run on sentences are cool.
Last year the Dusters spent 5 weeks cooped up in a tiny van in Europe. On a day off in southern Germany we stayed at a super hip, tiki-themed hotel that had a fleet of mountain bikes. I'd been riding an old bike, a bike from high school, really (my racing bike had been stolen during a party in college) and the fire had been dying. The thrill was gone. With nothing better to do I set out on a ride and quickly lost myself in the hills.
Germany knows what is what and their network of paved trails is unparalleled and after 3 hours I limped back to the hotel exhausted but with a new resolve to get back on the bike. 
As soon as I arrived home I started shopping and found my Bianchi on ebay in California for $1100. By mid June I was riding as much as possible and in August I wandered onto the TBRA website and signed up for the Stanky Creek XC and TT.The race weekend was the start of a two week solo mountain bike pilgrimage and it started out with a bang. I placed 5th overall in the TT and won the XC (I must be honest here, there were only 4 single speed riders) and the hook was set. Cyclocross season followed with moderate success toward the end of the season and two XC victories this summer had me pretty confident that I would repeat the feat at this years Stanky Creek. Not so.
Stanky Recap:
4am, crawl out of bed, meet Nate at Waffle House, watch Nate eat Waffle, drive 3+ hours at 80-85mph, pass the competition (on the highway, this was the only time I would pass Adam all day) arrive an hour before start time, warm-up, pre-ride, forget excedrin, GO!! There were more people in the race this year, 11, maybe 15. I don't really know. I took the whole-shot. I always do, I don't know any better and I get anxious following on single track. I felt really good, at least pretty good considering (4 hours sleep, 3 days on bike in last month, mild heatstroke and soreness from kickball the day before, etc...). First half of the first lap I was really hammering. Second half involved about a mile and a half of fresh singletrack and that's where it started to unravel. My preparation caught up with me. Stomach was upset so I didn't eat, and I started to soft pedal to ease up on my legs. Just after the start of the second lap second place came around me. I went slower. Adam caught me right before the water station and soon after that I started getting chills (in 85 degree heat?) leg cramps and mild hallucinations. I stopped. It felt good. I stood on the side of the trail and ate stuff and chilled out for like 10 minutes. Watched 4 riders ride by, they said I had an unsettling smile on my face. I must have been hallucinating still. I was thinking of quiting. Got back on, kept riding, cramping got much much worse. I didn't know I even had that many different muscles in my legs. At one point, nearing the finish, I stood up on a little rise and first my left, then right legs completely locked out from the cramping and I nearly fell off the bike. I don't know what my split times were, but I bet my second lap was 15 or 20 minutes longer than my first.
Live and learn. Preparation has always been the cornerstone for me. Should have stayed in bed.
On a more musical note, the band played the Opry this weekend. Vince Gill was on. That guy's really amazing. Cyclocross season is coming and this race was a serious wake-up call.
Run on sentences are cool.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Mountains
In Bozeman today after traveling up from Santa Fe, through Crested Butte and Carbondale, CO. When I'm on tour, running is the thing so I've embraced it. Short shorts and all. Ran 12 miles today, mostly unintentionally. Brains still a little mushy, so I may cut this short.
Here's a shot from the Racoon Mountain Race (I think this was before the cramping started).
The wife and I have initiated relocation sequence. Got to get closer to the mountains. May be 5 years, may be 9 months, hard to say at the moment but the wheels are in motion. I have dreams of moving into my fathers house, 1 minute from 100's of miles of world class singletrack and fire roads. I'd probably have to add a tooth or two to the SS...
We're in Bozeman for a couple days, then heading over to Idaho and Oregon, Washington and California. More running. Next race is the last of the SERC series over in N.C. I intend to be about 5 lbs. lighter with some high altitude lungs to try to keep my streak alive (3 entries, 3 victories in SS XC since my return.
Here's a shot from the Racoon Mountain Race (I think this was before the cramping started).
The wife and I have initiated relocation sequence. Got to get closer to the mountains. May be 5 years, may be 9 months, hard to say at the moment but the wheels are in motion. I have dreams of moving into my fathers house, 1 minute from 100's of miles of world class singletrack and fire roads. I'd probably have to add a tooth or two to the SS...
We're in Bozeman for a couple days, then heading over to Idaho and Oregon, Washington and California. More running. Next race is the last of the SERC series over in N.C. I intend to be about 5 lbs. lighter with some high altitude lungs to try to keep my streak alive (3 entries, 3 victories in SS XC since my return.
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