Let the Jealousy Begin!

I had a talk with Mike, my MTB team director yesterday about what bikes I will be racing this year and which events I'll be doing. I'll be racing a Niner singlespeed in almost every event. It will be light blue with green I-9 wheels. Depending on the course, I'll run a Manitou fork or the new Niner carbon fork. Here's the cool part-my frame is going to glow in the dark. Really, how cool is that? Who wouldn't want a glow in the dark bike? I could go camping with it- I wouldn't ever step on it at night accidentally. If I get delirious in endurance races at night- I'll still be able to find my bike. I wonder just how glow in the dark it is? Anyways- I'll race that bad boy most races but still have access to a geared bike if I need it. I'll also have a Jet9 suspension bike to use for 24 Hr events ( Big Bear and Moab ). Looks like all I have to worry about is getting to the race and racing my bike this year. ( Did I mention it glows in the dark?) Were going to have demo Niners for people to try out too so stop by the Terrapin Trailer and try one out. Coming soon to a race near you. Gotta go ride- Later- DH

Quick update

I just got back from the 12 Hours of Santos. I'm tired and sore but here's a quick update. Good weather- 70s daytime, 30s at night. Went down with Adam and Joel, Justin met us there. Good course- I had to race my rigid singlespeed making it a good bit tougher. That course was hard on the SS, rode a few laps and decided to overgear it and hope I could still turn the cranks over on the last few laps. The race went well- ended up winning the Singlespeed class by 2 laps and placing 5th overall. Not too bad- can't wait to get my geared bike with a suspension fork! Held up pretty good and rode strong. The last 3 hrs were very rough- I was barely making it up over the climbs and the downhills were beating me to pieces. I kept it rolling though and had a good finish. Same exact course as last year and I got in 15 laps on the 9 mile course instead of last year's 14 laps. I was really feeling the effort after this one. Usually I finish feeling like I could keep riding- not this time. I think it was the rigid fork and the tall gear on the climbs. My arms, back, and Delts were all cramping w/ 3 to go due to yanking up on the bars for leverage so much. Anyways- another great Gone Riding event in the books. Everyone that came with me had a good day and a good trip. Next up- S.E. Regional #1 ( If my new bike shows up!)
Later-
DH

Guess I complained enough in the last post!

The sun is finally out. It's been 72 degrees and sunny the last four days. This has done wonders for my "bicycle pedaling in competition practice". ie- training. Ended up with 22 hrs and 380 miles this week. Yesterday and today were beautiful out- got in 4 hrs yesterday and a 6 hr death march w/ Mr. Lee today. We did the same loop ( for the most part ) as last week but at 235 watts avg instead of last week's 218 avg. Partly due to bumping another 15 mins. onto the tempo block I did, and partly due to the fun of running 25 mph down hardpack dirt roads, we ended up w/ 120 or so miles. Those roads were perfect today- moist and fast instead of the normal dry and sandy conditions. Francis Marion National Forest is covered with roads like that, you could ride for days up there and not do the same loops. I really need to start heading further north and do some exploring. Anyways, I've got some good tan lines now, lost a few pounds and am starting to feel real strong on the bike. I don't have any speed yet but that will come pretty fast. I can turn a big gear over forever but probably couldn't accelerate out of a wet paper bag! Plenty of time for that later- another week and a half of base training and then I get to do some real suffering!

Later-

DH

Why won't it warm up?

Man- I'm about sick of the cold. I live at the beach for goodness sakes. One or two really cold days during the winter is about the most we ever get. That's why I like it here- mild winters. 40 as the low, 60 as the high. Feels like I never left Brevard. I feel colder here than I've ever been. Seems like WNC has been colder this winter than normal too. That last trip I took to Asheville was probably the coldest I've ever been- I never remember it being that cold. Actually, it feels colder a good bit of the time due to the incessant wind ripping through here. At least it's sunny!
Shouldn't be much longer until warmer weather though- just have to make it through today and tomorrow, the weekend is suppose to get back up to the 50-60 range. Then, my trip to FL will be here before I know it. When I get back from there, it will be spring here and no more cold! I should probably quit whining now- could be raining, I'll take cold over rain any day! Have to go now- need to take 1/2 hr to get dressed for my 1 hr commute to work.
Later-
DH

Wind blast 2009 ride

Man it was windy today! I left the house at 11:00 this morning hoping to get in 5 hrs. on the bike. The first hour wasn't bad, I had a pretty stiff crosswind through to the North side of Mount Pleasant. Stopped by the shop to pick up some water and shed some layers. Good timing as I had to pee so bad I rode the last 2 miles standing up.
After the short stop I pushed on North to Francis Marion Natnl. Forest and miles of quiet paved roads and tons of gravel forest roads. After the rash of flats I was ready for gravel and had installed some new tires. I was packin' 2 tubes, a patch kit, 3 CO2s, an inflator, and my frame pump taped on. ( Traditional road frames are the only ones that really work- but they don't fit on Madones without a little riggin' ) I turned left on Guerin's Bridge road and was dead on into the wind for the next 3 hours. Great. What the heck- I need to do an hour or so of Tempo so that actually worked out well. Put it on 280-300 watts and rolled. A little over an hour later I was done with that interval, ended up averaging 290 watts. Still feeling strong I hit the gravel road network for awhile, ending up at the Witherbee Ranger Station to fill up my bottles again. Somewhere along the line I heard a pop. Looking back at my rear wheel I saw no problems and kept rolling. Must have been the wind or lack of food, or fatigue that I didn't notice the broken spoke in my front wheel. Not good on an 18 spoke, paired spoke wheel. That thing was so far out of whack that it wouldn't even spin with the brake released. I managed to twist up the offending spoke pretty good, offset my brake some, and the wheel turned again. How long had that been going on? I heard it pop a ways back!
Anyways- Made it to Monk's Corner by a little over 4 hrs. in. Stopped for more water and food and got ready to finish it up back to Charleston. Only 40 some odd miles to go. I had calculated that I would get a tailwind now. Due to the incredibly competent Meteorologists at the weather channel these calculations were a little off. Another crosswind it is! At least I didn't have my nose in the headwind anymore though. Turns out that the wind wasn't bad as I made it back to Charleston in a little under 2 hrs. Crossed over the connector to James Island with a tailwind ( finally) and rolled on in right at 6 hrs of riding, 113 miles, 142 avg. HR, and a 218 watt average. Not a bad day's work. It's suppose to get really cold again tonight and tomorrow. That's fine- I think I'm scheduled for 1/2 hr or 1 hr. at the most on the rollers tomorrow morning. Nice, easy spin to clear out the junk from today. I think I'm gonna go surf the couch for awhile!
Later-
DH