Today's ride

Got in 50+ solid miles today on the mountain bike. 60-63 deg. and sunny made for a good day! Here's some pictures-

The camera is back in action!

Lost my download cable for my camera so I haven't been able to get any new pictures up. I have also lost my belt and my leg warmers somewhere in the move. I found the cable this morning so I'm up and running there. Now- if I can just find the belt everything will be fine.

Anyways- here are some pictures from the Savannah Cyclocross race and one I took while road riding up in Asheville a couple of weeks ago.

Headed out now for 4-5 hrs on the mountain bike for some tempo effort. I'll get some pics up of that as well.

Later-

DH

Tuesday

Winter is finally starting to show up here. 42 deg. today and awfully windy. Tomorrow morning it is suppose to be 28 degrees (gasp!) People are gonna freak out here. They will probably run out and buy up all the bread, water, and fire logs that they can find. They can't handle any kind of weather change down here. Hurricanes, cold snaps, and heaven forbid snow. I remember in 2002 a flurry was reported and everything shut down. People got into wrecks on I-26 and 526 out of principle I guess. Bizzare.

Anyways-
Got in a good 3 hr. tempo MTB ride at Marrington today, despite the conditions. It was still sunny out so it couldn't be that bad! The legs felt good and wasn't very hard to knock out some mileage. Have a new carbon fork on order for the rig. Can't wait to get that as my hands were done in again today by the roots. Man that place is rough. Got to ride some new trails too- once finished and worn in , they will be the best by far in Charleston. The new trails have a surprising ammount of elevation change, some rocks, a couple of creek crossings, and something new to the area that I have identified as a "bench cut singletrack".
Anyways- figure I should go ride em' as much as I can to help wear them in.

Got to see a crew of guys turning a swamp into a lake out there too. 3 huge boats destroying everything in the water. They had huge blades spinning at the bow that were chopping everything to oblivion. Muddy water , mud, logs, and bushes were flying 20 feet into the air. Never seen anything like it. There were other boats as well, they had conveyor belts and paddle wheels. Those guys were picking up the destroyed gunk and loading it into dump trucks up on a dike. Never noticed how big that swamp was until it turned into a muddy lake. Guess they will dredge it some too then that will be that!
I need a nap-
Later-
DH

Long overdue update

I guess I've got alot of catching up to do. Here's what I've been up to in Oct. and Nov.:
1. Cyclocross race in Savannah Oct 19th- Raced the singlespeed race first on my Gary Fisher Rig w/ 700c disc wheels. Was way undergeared and had a hard time on the flats- there were alot, but managed to get 3rd. Geared up a couple of teeth for the Pro race next and rode much better. Finished mid pack @ 15th.

2. Bought a house on Oct 24th and moved in that weekend. We had a good group and moved the whole house in 3 hours flat. Pretty impressive. The new house rocks! I think- all I pay attention to is the garage. The garage rocks! Tons of room for many bikes and motorcycles.

3. Work

4. Riding about 16 hrs a week now, gym work for the last 7 weeks. Feeling pretty strong.

5. Trip to NC to "race" the Swank 65 Mtb race in Brevard. 40 ish miles of technical terrain. Took the singlespeed rigid rig instead of suspension and gears. Didn't regret it. ( regreted it for about 5 min climbing up to Farlow Gap ) Race went well. I had decided that I would keep my HR under 175 since it is winter and I should be doing base training. Raced in cutt-off Dickie's to remind me to not get too serious. Managed to stay under 170 hr and have fun for the most part. The best part was passing all the full suspension walkers down Farlow. Rode that section better than ever, only dismounting for a couple of creeks at the bottom of the steep stuff and one 10-15 foot drop into a creek. Thanks to the 29" wheels rolling over everything! Anyways- Never red lined it, had fun, and rode well to finish 18th out of 150. I'll take it for now.

Later-
DH

Fall is starting to show up.

The weather is finally starting to get nice. 60's in the mornings and mid to high 70's by the afternoon. I am so ready for summer to be gone. Should be nice out until Dec. now. I hope so, I've got alot of miles to ride from now until January! Speaking of that, I'm feeling much better now. The soreness has all gone away and the legs are starting to feel good- getting alot of power out of them at low levels of intensity. Added more weight to my gym workouts yesterday and ran a much longer loop last night than normal. I think I'm gonna push it longer on tomorrow's run as well. Got one of my new bikes up and running this weekend. Brad and I got up to Marrington Plantation for a couple of hours of trail riding. I have to bump up the gearing on my bike- already ditched the stock setup and still need a taller gear. The race bike will need an even taller one when it comes in. So goes the fun of singlespeeds- looking forward to a different setup every race. Anyways- the bike rode well- 29'er w/ a rigid fork feels nearly as comfy as a 26 w/ a suspension fork. I spent all last year on the Yeti w/ a rigid fork and enjoyed it so these new bikes will be cake to ride. I'll end up with 2 Fox 29 suspension forks to sell if anyone is interested!
I need to go to work now-
Later-
DH

I've been crippled!

Started my training for 2009 this Monday. Doing about 8-10 hrs. a week on the bike w/ weights and running added in as well. I'll ditch the running in about 6 weeks, then the base training begins. This will carry on until Feb culminating with about 25 hrs. a week. Then switch to a 9 week build period so I peak when I want to and wreak havoc when appropriate( schedule is decided but will not be revealed yet).
Anyways-
Back to the crippling- started weights and as always- overdid it the first time and now I can barely move around. I can run and ride but any movement requiring muscles other than those used for that don't function very well. Even hurts to sit down on the throne. That is slowly going away. I have a gym workout tomorrow that will hurt, but the soreness should be gone after that.
Got to go- DH

News, News, News.

There's been alot going on lately. We are buying a new house here on James Island. It has a big garage for bikes and motorcycles. I think the rest of the house is nice too but really only paid attention to the garage.

Teamed up with Robert last weekend to win the 2 man class at the 12 Hrs. of Dauset. Great weekend, great course, and great competition. I rode my singlespeed as we were just going down there for "fun". However, we grabbed the lead from the KHS guys 3 hrs. in. It wasn't about fun anymore as we steadily built on our lead to end up lapping the field and setting a new 2 man team lap record at Dauset. Robert rode very well and everything went as smooth as you could ask for.

I will be racing for the Lowcountry Volkswagen team for 2009. They are well funded and have good support so I made the decision to ride with them. I have a ton of work to do there, organization, coaching, motivating, and finding some more 1/2 riders is on the top of the list for me. Not to mention getting that heinous uniform redesigned. I can't race in something that resembles used toilet paper.

That's all for now- gotta go to work-

Later-DH

Happy day after Labor Day

Got up to the mountains again for the second weekend in a row. Robert's birthday party was the excuse this time. Liza and I drove up early Sun. morning ( well- Liza drove, I slept the whole way ). Hung out for a few minutes when we got there, then Robert and I got ready for a ride around 12:30. Beautiful weather and milder temps. added up to a good ride forecast. Robert's surprise party was at 5:30 and I had instructions to keep him out until then. It was suggested that we leave later to make sure we didn't get home to early, but I figured being home to early would be the least of our worries where we were headed.
We headed out of Fletcher over to North Mills River, picked up FR5000 and started climbing. Got up to Spencer Branch Trail pretty quick and shortly descended Trace Ridge. I found out on Trace Ridge that I probably need to bleed my front brake as it faded all the way to the bar and did nothing. Fortunately I had two- one for the each of ya.
After a quick stop for more water we headed up Yellow Gap Rd. for a nice climb. Then up Laurel Mountain for some more climbing. That trail is in great condition right now, the downhills are a little washed out but the rest of it is perfect.
Saw a bear at Good Enuff Gap. Never seen one move that fast but he was haulin'!
Robert didn't see him as he had just crashed and had a leg cramp at the same time. He was in a spot of bother and couldn't enjoy the wildlife at present.
Topped out at Pilot Rock after a bit. A long bit. The hike a bike was surprisingly enjoyable to me- must be the running I've been doing over the last few weeks. Usually I hate that section. Pilot Rock was good as well, although it has apparently seen a ton of use this summer- very washed out and rough today. Not the condition I am use to seeing that trail in. After an uneventful descent I was ready to get back to the gravel road. The last couple of minutes were starting to test my fatigue and pain tolerances. The rigid fork I'm on and the fading front brake had me worked over by the time it was done. My shoulders were cramping from absorbing the impacts and my hands really didn't work anymore. Still a great descent though.
Robert showed up a few minutes later commenting on how perfectly he nailed the switchbacks and rock gardens on the way down. Not one mistake where he had to unclip to put a foot down. Never got on the bike, so he didn't have to get off at all. Walked a perfect line in the technical stuff. Better safe than sorry on your birthday.
Got back about 6:30, overshooting my time goal but allowing everyone to get to the party before the surprise entrance. Good party with some very much needed good food. Got to catch up with almost all of the Brevard crew and had a great time.
Drove back home yesterday and cleaned out my bike stuff in the garage. Need to get up some money to race with so I found a bunch of stuff to sell on e-bay. I need to get rid of stuff anyways because we should be moving into another house soon. Later- DH

Goodbye Velo-News

Dear Velo News-
I regret to inform you that I need to cancel my subscription. While your magazine is the best racing oriented mag out there and I enjoy it very much, the last cover was the last straw. When Lance was racing, 95% of all covers were dedicated entirely to him ( apparently the only important thing in bicycle racing ). OK- I can see past that. Then this last cover. Lance gets 2nd in Leadville. Dave Wiens has won the last 6 straight Leadville 100s. Last year he beat Floyd Landis, this year Lance. Dominating the race. Lance gets the cover. What's next? I got it- next year how about this one: Chistian Van deVelde wins the Tour de France, Lance gets a new riding lawnmower- Nothin' but a 10//2 jersey on John Deere green all over that cover! Give the race winner a blurb in the Hot or Not section. Rediculous. If I see lance in a current bike racing magazine again I think I'm gonna' puke.
DH

Weekend Report

Arrived home last night from a 3 day backpacking trip in Shining Rock Wilderness up in Pisgah National Forest, NC. Alex and I had a great trip. Started a little rough- we started hiking at 10 pm friday night and made it to the top of Black Balsam (6,240 ft) at the same exact time as an enormous wind and rain storm. (Wouldn't be a trip of mine without fine weather!) After fighting the wind, rain, and tent we finally had a somewhat dry and safe shelter to hole up in until daylight when we could get off that mountaintop. The night was pretty rough, with the tent getting pushed down on top of us and the constant wind and rain it felt like a jet engine on top of us. Sleep eventually came however, and we woke at 9am to calmer wind. Visibility was still 3 feet as we were still in the clouds.

Cooked breakfast, got packed , and got out of there. As we descended, the weather improved and the day turned out beautiful. Made it out to Shining Rock for lunch and a nap. 3 times on the way there I got stopped to give directions and answer questions. Do I look like mapquest to you? After telling the last guy directions twice and orienting his map rightside up we were on our way for awhile. Looped back on Ivestor Gap trail, then on to Graveyard Ridge, then down into Graveyard Fields for the night. Found a great campsite by the river and got set up. I think we were about 20 feet from where I last camped up there with my dad in 2001. Hiked downriver to the falls where alex jumped off a huge rock into the water. Once. Too cold, lets go eat.

Cooked dinner, made a fire, and Alex went to bed at 8pm. He would not move again until 8am. I messed with the fire till around 10 then turned in myself to a much nicer night than the last one. Woke up at 8am, cooked, packed, and we were out of there by 9:15. Beautiful morning as we headed up and out of Graveyard Fields. The hordes of blueberry pickers were already descending as we made our escape. Had a great hike up the Mtns. to Sea trail, back to Black Balsam Road by 11:00. In the car and on the way to Cieleto Lindo for some much needed Mexican food immediately. Overall a great trip and we are already planning another. DH Out.

It's in the air

Rainy morning. Took out the trash and when I came back into the garage something caught my eye. My stack of tires was against the back wall. On top of those tires were all my cyclocross tubulars. My deep carbon race wheels were leaning conspicuously against the pile of Tufos. "No more road racing on the schedule" I thought to myself. Pulled off the road tires and on went the CX tires in all their red, black, and yellow glory. Much better. Those wheels look so good with the proper tires mounted up.
30 days till go time.
Just have to find a bike first. No one ever has them available until cross season is almost over. Every year, same story. You'd think the bike manufacturers would figure out what they are making the bikes for and when they will be used.

Anyways-
Heading to Pisgah this weekend for a 3 day backpacking trip up at Graveyard Fields with Alex. Should be fun. Come back Sun. then no holds barred preparation for cyclocross domination this fall. What I mean by "domination" is don't come in last every race.
Later-
DH

Friday Morning MTB Necessity

Got up this morning, loaded the megavan, and rolled up the the Weapons Station for some MTB riding @ Marrington. Looking forward to a nice mellow ride to stretch the legs out after my travels, I was not prepared for what would happen next.
Got to the trails, got dressed, got out the new Yeti and rode over to the message board to start my ride. Someone had written lap times down on the board. Hmm- times and names, looks a little like a results list. No reason for that out here, if you want to compare times and such you need to go to a race, not the local trails. Maybe I'd actaully see some Charleston guys at races then. The damage was done however. Whatever part of the brain it is that controls my personality saw " results list" and clicked to race mode.
Like I said, I was not looking for a hard ride today, but I got one anyways. Pushed it pretty hard for the lap. Not full on race pace, but hard enough. The new Yeti is much stiffer than the old one. Coupled with my switchblade fork and the plethora of roots, it took me awhile to get in a rythm. After riding that Fuel it felt like I was on a jackhammer. Smoothed out and settled down after 20 mins. or so and started really rolling. Felt good to hammer for a reason.
Took 15 mins. off of the previously posted time. Not my fastest lap but solid none the less. Don't know who put the time up but hopefully someone will come along and kill my time. Then I'll have a reason to ride harder next time. Or not. I prefer to bring out the A game at races, not the weekday MTB ride.
Maybe I need to get a race going at Marrington again so that those lap times will count for something. Think anyone would show up?
DH

Overdue update

There has been a ton going on as of late. Just got back from the Trek Bicycles dealer show in Madison, WI. Spent a few days up there in seminars, checking out the 2009 product line, and riding the 09 bikes. The whole line looks great. Some of the stuff they were spouting was hooey however. Got in about 80 miles or so on various mountain bikes from Trek and Gary Fisher on Tues. The Fisher Superfly was my favorite until I rode the Top Fuel 9.9 . Best mountain bike I've ever been on. By a lot. I hate saying that. I've never said that the bike is what makes you go fast, but this bike WILL make anyone faster. Trek has created an un-level playing feild for riders on this bike. I've ridden all the designs out there and they are all fast. Until now. After some suspension adjustments, that bike was incredible. I was going to do one lap on it but ended up doing 4 laps and skipping the road demo completely. I had already ridden 4 hrs and was getting tired but after I got on the Fuel my lap times were getting faster and faster. The bike begs to be hammered harder every time. Got to get one. All I have to do is "find " $7000.

Anyways-
Got back home late last night after a horrible day of airline travel. New bike came in on the UPS truck when I got to work. Was built shortly thereafter and the Yeti is ready to roll. Now just have to make it through another long day of work and the weekend will be here.
Later- DH

Keep on Keepin' On

Rode home in the dark tonight. Got off at 8:30, suited up, and rolled home. I like riding in the night. Sure, it's nerve wracking on the busier roads but when you get to the quiet stuff, bike lanes, or the bridge it is very enjoyable. Feels weird riding in the dark when it is 85 deg. out. Night riding is usually a winter activity since it is dark after work and the only option. I get off of work when it is dark so I have no option. Had a headwind tonight so I was riding a little slower than usual. You get to see alot more activity at night from the bike than you would in a car. Ride through the hood in the dark and you would be surprised how much foot and bicycle traffic there is. There are more people hanging out on the steps than in the houses. The blue lights from the police cars are startling they are so bright. You would be amazed also at the number of bats that exist around here. Tons of bats.
After a detour passing cars down King Street ( I like checking out the lights and people out at night ) I headed on home. The connecter was eerily quiet as the headwind changed to a tailwind on the Harborview exit ramp. Going downhill combined with the wind shift caused a huge increase in speed propelling me quickly to the safety of the bike lane across the bridge. The tide was in as water was on the road and I could smell the sweet stench of pluff mud as I completed my journey home.
The house was quiet when I arrived and dinner was waiting on the stove. Now for a shower and some sleep. Gotta get back on the bike at 7am, ride to work and do it all over again tomorow.
Later- DH

A week of beat downs

Man- what a rough week I've had. Started last friday with a terrible ride at Marrington. Riding a borrowed bike, I was going through all the usual setup problems with the suspension and positioning. Not to mention the trail was VERY dry and sandy. Not a good combination with euro style ( backwards) routed brakes. Augered in on a step down double when I tried to scrub speed in a sandy turn with the front brake ( suppose to be rear). After dusting myself off, I got on with it and eventually got my setup close.
Drove to Brevard the next day and dropped Alex off at the skatepark for a few hours. Ran by Sycamore to chat with Wes and headed for the Fish Hatchery for some riding. Pulled up in the parking lot and ran inyo the woods for a pee. The sweet smell of deep dark dirt and forest greeted me and I knew it would be a good day. Got in about an hour and fourty minutes ( 2 laps on Caney Bottom) of great riding. Best ride in 3 weeks ( the count still continues ). Got the bike dialed and headed off to pick up Alex. We immediately drove back into the forest to the river to go swimming. That done we headed to dinner, hung out with Kent and Mary, and set up camp. After a campfire and marshmallows we called it a night.

Sunday:
Got up way too early and drove to Fontana. Pre- rode the course, changed tires, and got ready to race. Took off at the start and that was about the fastest I went all day. 2 mins. of fury. Rode like poop and had one of my most pathetic races to date. In the other side of the glass, however, was the fact that the trail was great and I love riding there. Anyways- rolled in for 11th and last place in the Pro class. Should have been closer to 5th but it's over now so I'll shut up about it.
Drove down to the river, went swimming at the bottom of Fontana Dam and drove home.

Tuesday:
Went riding at Marrington again. Trying to lick the wounds from the weekend I was headed out to nail down some fast laps. On my second lap I was feeling good and riding smokin' fast. Compressed the suspension in a dip as I was pedaling- Left crankarm digs into a pile of rocks and I go 20 mph to zero in .0005 seconds right on my head. Laid there for awhile ( after the bike flew up in the air, then down on my back ). Gathered my wits and did a damage assessment. Pretty bruised up and sore due to hitting the ground harder than I can remember doing since Albany. A couple of small cuts and scrapes, busted helmet, Deep bruises on my thigh, kidney area, and calf. A fat sprained ankle finished everything off. Limped on out and rode back to the car to go to work.

I was sore yesterday, but much better now. The bruises are continuing to get nastier as more blood comes to the skin. Maybe I'll post some pics of those for ya'.

Next up- GA Cup in Elberton- We're off to that tomorrow. 20 Mile Team Time Trial Sat. AM, Crit PM and 90 mile Road Race on Sun. I'll try to stay off the ground and post a positive race report next! DH

I'm gonna get to race my bike this weekend!

Gonna go to Fontana Village, NC this weekend and race a mountain bike. It's been almost a year since I've done a cross country race. Broke my Yeti a couple of weeks ago and haven't received the replacement frame yet. I am fortunate to have good friends that let me borrow bikes. Nathan set me up on his Giant NRS for this weekend. I have 2 days to get use to it but I'll be OK. Don't know why but I am super excited to race, but 2 hrs. of self inflicted pain sounds great for some reason. Maybe I'm so excited because I haven't had my MTB for 3 weeks now and have been deprived of dirt. I live in a pavement world here in Charleston and have been using pretty much the same routes for the last month now. I need to get off road ASAP. Gonna race the FL state mtb series this fall and winter. Turns out most of those races are relatively close to me and since FL has some of the best riding around I'm gonna do that instead of spending tons on gas and freezing at cyclocross events all winter. It'll be 70-80 and sunny through Dec. down there so that makes the decision easier. Miami in Nov. sounds pretty good.
Anyways- the weekend plan is to go to Brevard on Sat for a long ride and then camping Sat. night. Head over to Fontana Sun. morning and turn myself inside out. No expectations- no clue of fitness with the lack of riding/ excessive work to get the new store up. Gonna show up, race as hard as I can and have a great time on one of my favorite trails around. Kinda funny that I'll be going from a fully rigid aluminum bike to a full suspension carbon rig. I'm interested to see how it goes. Hopefully the race will be long so all the endurance training this year will pay off. If I could just find some speed somewhere I'll be alright. Maybe I'll find some in time. We'll see! DH

Consistency

Finally starting to get some consistency down as far as work, riding, and diet. I have a schedule figured out now and am ready to roll. Most of my weekly training will take place on the way to work and back. It's a 22 mile commute one way so I should get in alot of miles regardless of wether I try to or not.
Yesterday was a good one. Left the house at 7:00, got in 2 1/2 hrs @ 239 watts. Worked 10:00 to 8:oopm. Got on the bike @ 8:20 and headed home. Called in an order to Yo Buritto for food and rolled by to pick it up. Sat at the bar in spandex while I paid and waited for my food. Ate, then headed home. Almost the whole ride home was in the dark, good thing I've got lots of lights.
Everything was going great till I made it to Calhoun St. downtown. Heard some glass crunch as I weaved through between a car and a dumpster. One mile later- front flat. No problem except my spare tube had a hole too. Bummer.
Whip out the phone, call Liza and wait for a ride. Game over. Thankfully, Liza had come home from Sonoma a few hours earlier or I'd have had a harder time getting a ride.
While I waited I noticed that it was quite hot and humid out still, something I'm not use to while riding with the lights on. That's normally a winter endeavor.
I also noticed the large ammount of people out on bikes at 9:30 at night. Must have seen 10 or 12 during my 10 min. wait.
Anyways- I'll give it another go seeing as I work till 8 again tonight. Let's see if I can make it home without any problems tonight. DH

The New Store is Open

The new store opened today. It went very well despite no advertising or signage. Thankfully I have tomorrow off. I need it. Put in 70 hrs this week culminating in a 13 hr day yesterday to get things done in time. That's alot of bikes. I need to ride, been working so much and standing on concrete that I'm just absolutely worked over right now. Couple that with not really riding in 2 weeks and I feel all out of whack. Quality of life is not great right now. Should improve over the next few weeks though. Still gonna have to work alot as we need another mechanic on staff- anyone interested? Good pay and sunny beaches!
Anyways- got to get some sleep now- might actually get to ride tomorrow!
DH

How Not to Win the National Championships

Race Report:

Hard race, with no huge team representation, it was complete chaos. Attack after attack after attack went up the road. No cooperation to chase let several large breaks stay out for awhile. I tried not to work but had to do something with 10 laps to go and 12 guys up the road. Chased hard for 3 laps then others contributed bringing the break back by 5 to go. 2 to go the pace ramped up and the jockeying began. Last lap I was top 8-10, came inside w/ 2 turns to go to move up to 4th wheel heading into the last turn w/ 250 meters to go. Perfect. First 2 guys would fade in the headwind and I would charge around the 3rd guy to win the National Title.

Unless the guy in third wheel skips a pedal, highsides into my front wheel, and my fork snaps in half. On the ground at 42 mph. Again. Get up and walk in with 1/2 of my bike in each hand after some "words of encouragement" to the offending bonehead. I'm fine- only 2 quarter sized spots of road rash?! I actually still ended up on the results in 22nd place. Not many people left by the finish of that one if I walked in at 22nd. What hurts the worst however is knowing the win was right there in my hand. Then it was gone. I have 364 days to stew on it though! DH

Made it

Made it up here to KY. Well, Indiana actually- we're at a KOA just across the river. 6 hr. drive yesterday was not bad at all. Stopped at Norris Dam, TN for a ride. Pretty cool area and a beautiful day kept us riding for 2 1/2 hrs or so- 40+ miles. The legs are starting to feel pretty good again. After an invigorating soak in the river, we got back in the megavan and headed north.
The KOA is pretty cool, had to drive through the ghetto to get there. We crossed "the tracks", however and everything was good. Had some great food downtown, caught a 4th of July festival w/ some live music, then packed it in for some sleep.
Rain is pouring down right now but the weather forecast is for a nice day. The plan is to hang out till the rain stops then get 3-4 hrs. in. I think if we head north up the river we'll find some good roads.
Got to eat breakfast now. DH

Forgot Something

Just remembered that I haven't "officially" announced my change in employment. Last day at Charleston Bicycle Company was June 30th, I start my new job when I get back from Nationals on the 8th. I will be the mechanic for the new Trek concept store opening this month in Mount Pleasant. The store is going to be first class ( by far the best shop Charleston has ever seen ) and the $ and benefits were too good to pass up. Kinda sold out as the atmosphere will probably not be what we had at CBC but the chance to go to the next level came up so I took it.
Lost my spot on the CBC team as well, hence the new sponsor Sycamore Cycles ( thanks Wes!).
Anyways- looking forward to getting that store started up, I've started from the ground up in a shop before and that is pretty fun. Gonna have about a billion bikes waiting to be built when I get back, so I've got to get some rest. Later- DH

Final Preparations

Just finished packing up for KY. We are leaving in the AM, driving to Knoxville, riding, then on up to Louisville. Had a good couple of days up here. Robert and I met up w/ Kent yesterday and the 3 of us got a good ride in at DuPont. Had to cut it short due to a Robert flat, Kent crash, and I cracked my frame. Good ride till then though, a beautiful day out and perfect trail conditions. By the way- the new stuff( to me ) on Burnt Mtn. is so much better. So we packed up and rolled into Brevard for some double cheeseburgers and tater tots at Daggie's.
We then caught the Wed. night crit at the Mellodrome, got some Moe's then hit the sack.
Got in an easy AM ride today. The legs were junk so we scrapped the motorpacing and rode motorcycles all afternoon. Picked up a jersey from my new sponsor- Sycamore Cycles, and rode up to Weaverville to watch Robert's son @ BMX practice.
Hit the parkway on the bikes at dusk for a nice ride and got back here around 8pm for too much pizza. Now I'm just sitting here like the Goodyear Blimp.
Hope to get in a good ride tomorrow, maybe the legs will feel better, then on to Nationals.
DH

Bound for Kentucky

I'm in Asheville right now. Got up here yesterday, hung out at Cane Creek for awhile then rolled out with Robert to the Etowah group ride. The weather is great up here. Sunny and 70-75 degrees makes for an enjoyable ride. The Etowah ride was good, the usual suspects were present as well as some unusual individuals as well. That ride has gotten much better since I have moved with a smoother feel to it. It used to be all herky jerky but last night was steady with a nice solid pace. My legs were kinda funky feeling from the drive up but not too bad. Didn't get anywhere near redlined but did put down a few good leadouts for the sprints. Ended up with a pretty fast ride. We got in a little over 3 hrs with a 21+ mph avg. Not bad with the hills.

Heading out to DuPont for a 4 hr MTB ride today, some motorpacing on Thurs, then drive up to Nationals on Friday. Looks like good weather all week as well as good riding. I'll let you know how it turns out. DH

I'm still here

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive. I've been really busy lately but haven't had much constructive to say. I'll get some good posts going soon. Later- DH

Dirt Sweat and Disaster

The weekend didn't go so well. Drove a long way to "race" for 2 hrs. Pre-rode the course on Friday and loved it. Rolling, witha few steep but short hills. Twisty singletrack was very nice. By raceday it was terrible. Made a bad tire choice and paid for it. Was running fifth into the woods, feeling like I was riding easy instead of all out off the start like normal. The trail was wet, but not too bad. 4 miles in it fell apart. We came out of the singletrack onto a dirt road. I was running a 2.3 tire up front. I had also taken my rigid fork ( the one with miles of mud clearance ) off and replaced it with my suspension fork. Bad mistake. My front wheel got so clogged with mud that I couldn't even push the bike more than 10 feet without it stopping me. I had to carry my bike for the next six miles to finish the lap. At one point I had cleaned enough mud out to roll and I got on for a downhill. I made it 20 feet and the front wheel clogged so bad that it stopped and I went over the bars. Broke my derailleur hanger on that one. Was planning on trying to change tires and get something going on lap 2 till that nonsense. I was about to be lapped on my first lap when I finally got out of the woods and back to the pit area. Packed it in and went home.
Injury report: A good cut on my left knee ( slipped while walking w/ the bike)
A long cut on my right shin ( caught my fender in the endo!? )
A pretty nasty disc brake rotor burn on my right shoulder.

The drive home was long to say the least. I HATE quitting. Anyways, after that display of dominance I am no longer placed high enough in the USAC Ultraendurance series to justify traveling to the rest of the series. Therefore, my schedule will change a bit from here on out.
Stay tuned for the rest of the season. DH

Big Week Coming Up

I had a good weekend. Rode up to Southern Pines, NC this weekend for the Tour De Moore Road Race. We had good representation with Nathan, Scott, and I in the race. Looking at 70 miles in the first hot day of the year, we were loaded up with water.
The race went pretty good. We were in a constant battle with the Hincapie team and their negative racing tactics. They would get a guy up the road in a break and sit 4-5 wide across the road at 12 mph and not let anyone else past to start chasing. This is racing in it's most cowardly and most unsportsmanlike form. No one else in the race wanted to race either as the other teams succumbed to these tactics. Weak. Wouldn't want the race to come down to who is the strongest and tactically astute. That's not honorable racing. Eventually, Nathan and I worked our way to the front and started to bring the break back. It wasn't easy as the 2 guys were out of sight up the road somewhere. We spent over a lap on the front to get it done. Thankfully Scott made his way up right as we caught the break. I knew a counter-attack would happen when we caught the break. Nathan and I were wasted from chasing for so long so Scott would have to go with any attacks. Thankfully he attacked as well and 7 guys were up the road. I did what I could to slow up the field and soon had nothing to worry about. Hincapie had 2 guys in the break and soon their whole team was spread across the road slowing things to a crawl. Game over. At least we could take advantage of the lame tactics.
Long story short, one guy got dropped from the break, the remaining 6 split 3-3 but stayed away. Scott was in the 2nd half, struck a deal with the other 2 to not sprint and split the prize money. This worked out well as the other 2 were better sprinters ( he started riding away on the hills and they got scared he would attack so they wanted to bargain.)
I finished well in the field sprint so we had 2 in the money. That paid for our gas and we all went home with more dough than we came with. Worked out well. Especially since I had my doubts about finishing after chasing so hard. I was cramping pretty bad in the sprint but had something left.

Next up:
USA Crits in Walterboro on Wed night. Lots of money and Pro's to beat on me. Pain Central for this week. Gonna do the Cat 2 race before the Pro race to win some cash before I get beat on.

Then...
Dirt Sweat and Gears 12 Hr. in Fayetteville, TN on Sat. 2nd race of the USAC Ultraendurance Championship Series. I am currently tied for 4th. The goal is to ride well and move up into the top 3.
I'll let you know how it turns out! DH

Motorpacing Night

Got out with the guys for some motorpacing last night. Big crits next week to get ready for. We probably should have started motorpacing a month ago, but what the heck! Got in about 45 miles last night, mostly at 35-40mph. Some of the team had never done it so I guess it was good practice for them. I meanwhile was trying to see just how close I could get off the bumper ( fortunately we had a good road and a smooth driver or I would not do this and do not recommend anyone else do it without getting use to it first. Trained professional and whatnot.) Had a couple of tense moments where we had to come around the car in corners (cars corner way slower than the driver thinks they do!). That was fun as well. Anyway(s) we got in a couple of good hours of speedwork and headed home. Funny how you can turn over 2 gears higher on the way home ( into the wind ) than you did on the way out after that type of workout. Motorpacing "redefines" your perception of speed.
Got in another great ride this morning- a few hours in the sun makes the rest of the day go well. DH

Cohutta Write Up

Basic Cohutta Race Write Up:
7 am. start- Rain- It wouldn't stop for 5 hrs. Very fast up the 1st climb. About 200 in my category. I'm cruisin' about 15-20 guys back in the pack. Someone attacks with "old school fury" over the top of the climb and I come off. Not wanting to go that hard, I back off and figure I'll settle in with the 2nd. group. There are about 30 in the front group. Surprise- no one in sight behind me. I guess the top 35 or so guys blew off the front and left everyone else ASAP.
This worked pretty well for me because I had a clean shot at the singletrack when we hit it. I started picking guys off pretty quick once I hit the trail. This went on for awhile, suffering on the climbs and recovering on the downhills. Putting out as little effort as possible while still maintaining decent speed.
About a mile and a half from the first aid station I break the chain. Great- no tool, couldn't find it in the toolbox before I left. No one had one so I figured my race was over and walked the mile and a half to the aid station. Hung out there for awhile as no one there had a tool either. Finally, after about 10 mins., I hear a guy coming up the hill with a flat tire. He was hollerin' out to see if anyone had an air cartridge. I said " I've got 4 for you if you've got a chain tool!" He had one and dropped it for me while he filled his leaky tire.
Game on again. I figured I just lost about 30 spots and 15-20 mins., but it was a long race and anything can happen. So, on I go- trying to stay steady and not chase too hard. I know how hard this race is and I'll need it later.
For the next 5 hours, I steadily pass people back. I keep it nice and steady doing damage control on the climbing and punch it hard on the rollers-making up time there and on the downhills. I meet up with Nathan around 50 miles in. He is cramping pretty bad and we get separated after a few miles.
Finally, after 92 miles I hit the last aid station and the last climb of the day. I stay as strong as I can up the singletrack and top out at 94-95 miles. All downhill from here. I have to struggle to keep it togather on the downhill as I'm coming apart at the seams and having problems focusing on the trail.
Mile 99- out of the singletrack and on to the bike path to the finish. I spy Floyd Landis and Chris Scott ahead. I pin it then figuring I might have to turn myself inside out but I'm gonna try to catch them. I come up fast and go as hard as I can. I come by fast and they can't really react as I drill it to the finish. I'm cramping badly and hope I don't crack and get passed back. That would be embarassing. I hold it out to the line, almost catching another guy but running out of racecourse. I ended up 24th place. Not too bad with the mechanical and all ( had to repair the chain one more time too). Exhausted, Nathan and I eat, pack up and head home. DH

Cohutta 100 Pictures

Nasty hard race. Rain for 6 hours. 2 1/2 miles of elevation gain. No idea how I finished, slow results. Here's some pictures, I'll post a write up soon. DH

Weekend Preview

Looking forward to a great weekend. Gonna leave tomorrow night with Nathan. Driving up to Asheville to stay at Robert's on Thurs. night. Getting up on Friday morning to run by Cane Creek and give everyone a hard time. Got to get a carbon rim to replace my broken race wheel while I'm there. Then it's on to Ducktown, TN for the Cohutta 10,000 gravel road extravaganza. We are going to ride all the singletrack sections on friday. 73 deg. and sunny temps should make the trail that much better. If I remember correctly from last year, the trail sections were really good. Camp out Fri. night and throw down on Sat. Floyd Landis is suppose to show up and throw everyone a beating. That has no impact whatsoever on my race. I don't care who else is there. All I want to do is beat my time from last year and I'll be happy. The weather forecast is looking favorable for Sat. as well. 67 degrees and rain showers. I love racing in the rain. It's great to see guys that are normally much stronger than I am have spectacular meltdowns in bad conditions. It will be a heck of a day one way or the other! DH

Baker's Dozen No Go

Didn't race this weekend. Went up to Charlotte w/ Liza and Alex. Liza ran a 10K running race Sat. morning. We stayed w/ Liza's Grandmother south of Charlotte. The 10K went good, the rain held off for the most part. Got done around 11:00 , then I got to ride. Was looking for 4 hrs. at least so I headed south towards the Leroy Springs trails in Fort Mill. Did a 12 hr. race there in November and remembered the trails being very good and close by. It took me 25 min. or so to get there, then I was on dirt. The trails were in good shape and I had a great time till the rain showed up. After an hour or so it started storming, harder and harder. I got muddier and cold, I didn't want to tear up the trails or my bike so I ducked out to the baseball fields and hid out in a dugout. Called Liza and 15 min. later she came to collect me.
Got back, took a shower, ate 2 pieces of Key Lime pie, and zonked out on the couch for about an hour. Slept on the way home too. And all last night. Guess I was tired- I guess 4 nights of no sleep will do that to you.
Anyways, looking forward to Cohutta 1,000 gravel road extravaganza this weekend. Should be fun. Later-DH

Foggy Morning

Got up really early this morning to go get in a couple of hours on the MTB before work. Made it up to the trails about 7:15 and got ready to ride. Very foggy out. Nice and misty too. The ferns and other vegetation were very bright green. Combined with the fog the place looked like I was on Endor. I halfway expected to see Ewoks and stormtroopers battling it out. Anyways, the trails were in great condition and the first lap went by before I knew it. Got hung up for awhile at the " jump" area, someone has been digging alot there. There were 3 or 4 new sets of double jumps that caught my attention for a half an hour or so. I soon realized that if I didn't get back to riding I would be late to work so I took off. The 2nd lap went by faster than the first and I got back to the car just in time. #1 to get to work, and #2 just in time for food as I had started to come apart a little near the end of the ride.

Load up and drive in to work. Greeted by UPS and a big box of tires. Thanks Maxxis!

I'm a slave to the computer right now as I am waiting to find out if the race on Saturday will be cancelled for the 2nd weekend in a row. We'll see- I really want to race. Later- DH

Why the Mountain Bike is cool to ride on the road:

Got a great ride in yesterday evening. Headed out from the shop on my mountain bike. Hit the greenway and headed south. The plan was to go to John's Island, loop over the big bridge and head back. Got on the road at the end of the greenway for awhile and decided to do some exploring. There is a railroad line that parallels Hwy 17 for miles and miles. I decided to ride down it. There was an access road on a few sections, others I rode down the tracks. Riding down the tracks was better the faster you went. That is unless there was a crosstie missing. Had to pull off some quick maneuvering every now and then. Got way out in the middle of nowhere and rode across a long section of bridge over the marsh. Pretty cool or nerve wracking to ride. Had about 8 inches to ride on then a rail on one side, 15 foot drop into water on the other, tires going whump, whump, whump.
Anyways, got to the next road crossing down at Hwy 162, hung a right, merged onto Hwy 17 and headed north back to Charleston.
Pretty cool day, wish I'd brought my camera. Nice to ride some new stuff every once and awhile, even if it is unconventional. Later-DH

Manchester State Forest

Since today's 13 Hr. race was rescheduled on next saturday, Brad and I drove up to Sumter to go for a ride yesterday. The trails were in great shape and very fast. Nice day, we got in 3 hrs. for around 35 miles. Rode tempo for the most part. Had to kick it up to race pace for a few minutes on Cambell pond trail to see how the legs were doing. They are good to go for next weekend. Later- DH

I just wanna ride!

Yeah- I'm sitting here with nothing to do. It's raining out. All I want to do is go for a night ride tonight. By myself for a couple of hours out at the trails. Quiet, smooth, in my own personal tunnel of bliss. Not gonna happen though. Guess I'll ride the rollers. Again. I'll just have to close my eyes and imagine.
DH

Diagnosis

Still looking forward to Sat.'s race. Babying my leg by riding easy, I want to go out to the trails tomorrow and drill it. Better not. I'll be raring to go for this weekend though.

Got back started with my chiropractor from a few years back. Had some X- Rays, assessments ,and other scans done on Mon. Went back today for the diagnosis and to figure out what to do. He didn't really know where to start there are so many problems. Most stem from the 7mm leg length discrepancy. My left hip drops and causes pain in the right. This explains why my right leg has been junk the last couple of years. An orthotic will solve a good bit of this.
Another area of concern is my neck. There has been so much trauma over the last 32 years that my neck is not bent right. There is suppose to be a nice curve in the spine there, but 2 vertebrae are curved then the next 3 or 4 are straight. Basically, he told me that I REALLY don't need to crash anymore. Multiple whiplash "events" have wreaked havoc around the base of my skull. Maybe that is why it creaks and groans every time I turn my head. This can be fixed with adjustments and exercises that I can do. He mentioned traction exercises too but that is a last resort.
Then my back is jacked up around T12 -14. He didn't mention anything about my gallbladder problems in the last few months but I did some research and that is the area that is connected to the gallbladder. Possibility there.
Anyways- Now I know what the problems are for sure and what to do about the problems. I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel now and I will soon be able to train like I should and take care of business.
DH Out.

Weekend Outlook

This weekend will hopefully be better than last. Racing in the Baker's Dozen 13 Hr. race this weekend. Gonna race the 2 man team with Brad. Never done a duo before. Should be fun. My legs should be fresh, they felt great last Saturday in NC. I haven't been riding a ton this week, trying to ease off my right hamstring- it's a little pulled right now. Got some time in on the rollers tonight and it felt better.
My new mountain bike fork will be in on Thurs. and I'm really excited about that. I got a Bontrager Switchblade fork. Gonna ride rigid singlespeed for a bit. It just feels better. The bike is so quiet, simple, and light. Most of the time I think the rigid fork is just as fast as the suspension. Most of the time. I like the singlespeed as well, it makes me ride harder up hill- can't ease off and spin. The only drawback is on the flats getting spun out. Fortunately, I am a road sprinter and can hold high RPMs for quite a while.
Anyways- looking forward to this weekend, driving up on Fri. AM to pre-ride and hang out. Brad managed to reserve an 18th century Huegenot cabin for us to stay in. Should be a fun weekend.
I'll let you know. DH

Assault on the Carolina (Just one)

Left yesterday for the mountains. Stopped by Sumter, SC to do some moto riding. Went out to Manchester State Forest to ride. Rode there in 02' but haven't been back since. Remembered having a good time when I was there so I was looking forward to going back.
I had a great time. Fast trails and I was riding smooth and having a great time. Did 60 or so miles ( 3 hrs.) The last lap was pushing it as I was getting tired and starting to make mistakes, so I decided to call it a day and head on up to Asheville. Rolled up at Robert's ready to relax. Robert was dressed to ride and made me ride my bike. I didn't want to but felt better after a short spin. Nathan, Jay, and Thaddeus showed up around 10:30 and we hit the sack.

Assault on the Carolina:

Woke up to a VERY rude alarm at 7:00 this moning. If that wasn't bad enough I was also hearing the sweet sound of a torrential downpour. Great- I love racing in hard conditions, but a charity ride cruisin' with friends in a downpour- not so much. Anyways- rolled down to Brevard High School for the Assault start. The rain stopped long enough to start the ride and we rolled out nice and mellow. I was actually feeling really good today and rolling comfortably in the lead group. I told Jay I'd ride with him so I figured I'd ride hard till the top of Walnut Hollow then double back for Jay. However, it wasn't my decision. Broke a spoke on Country Club road and had to stop. Robert doubled back instantaneously. I wrapped the broken spoke up around another, checked to see if the wheel would turn, and we were off. We rolled easy for awhile and Jay along with a small group caught up. We had a nice ride for a bit. As soon as we got over the Continental Divide however, the bottom fell out. Torrential downpour of epic proportions ocurred. Hail, dropping temps, and water running down the road made the descent on 178 very dangerous. Not to mention that my front brake was disconnected so the wheel would roll. A fact that I had forgotten until I hit the brakes in the first switchback and nothing happened. I was getting colder and colder and we still had another 1/2 hr. of downhill left before we could warm up by climbing. I stopped at the state line and waited for the other guys to catch up. I proposed that we head back up the mountain to get warmed up then head back to Brevard. I didn't even finish my sentence and everyone was u-turned and left me standing. Instant warmth once we got rolling. Saw some other guys I knew and they joined in as well. Looped back through Rosman and on to Brevard. The rest of the ride was great once we got out of the deluge. Made it back, cleaned up and waited for the others to get back. My other teammates rode well getting back at the front 3rd and 4th ones in and anothr in the top 10 as well. Sycamore cycles had a good showing in the top 10 as well in a very strong field today.
Even with the bad conditions, the Assault on the Carolinas is one of the best around and I had fun anyways. Seems like every other year the conditions are good. So- I guess next year will be nice. Better be beause I'll be back again. DH

Updates

I've been pretty busy lately, so it's been awhile since my last post. Finally have gotten some sort of consistency going with the bike. 400 miles/ 23 hrs last week. Hopefully this week will be the same. Headed up to NC this weekend for a long MTB ride Friday and to ride the Assault on the Carolinas event this Sat. Whole team is going so it should be fun. Great event, great course, and I know a ton of people that ride that one. Hoping for good weather, you never know at this time of the year. Plenty of good weather here lately, got some tan lines going finally. Also have a black eye to go with the tan ( freak screwdriver accident ). Resting as much as possible today. All I want to do is sleep. Later- DH

Yellow Death

The yellow death is falling from the trees now. Having a hard time with the time change. The guys that ride after work are lovin it but I ride in the morning. Getting up an hour earlier is still a pretty bitter pill to swallow. Still cold in the AM here. Gets up to 70-75 degrees by lunch but those morning rides are still cold. Had a good one last night, got out on a solo night ride over to Mt. Pleasent. Did a few hill repeats on the bridge. Tons of people out with the time change and all. Got in about 3 hrs/ 52-53 miles. Last time over the bridge felt the fastest ever. Started raining after an hour or so, sprinkles on and off. It felt pretty good so I kept going. Got done around 8:30- about 2 min. before the bottom dropped out.
Hard to get up this morning. Shook the cobwebs out of my head and was on the bike 10 min. later- that's pretty rough. I don't recommend it. Got warmed up after 1/2 hr. and felt OK. I've been going pretty hard the last 2 days so I planned on having flat legs this morning. Propper planning= propper execution and I executed the flatness perfectly. Got in a couple of hours and felt better when I got to work. Couln't really remember anything from the ride when I got there. I knew I was doing alot of thinking while I was spinning along, but I didn't know I was that wrapped up in it! Gotta get out on the mountain bike so I'll have something to pay attention to.
Healing up well- elbow is still in pretty rough shape, but I am not stiff and beat up feeling anymore. I am thinking about getting a T-shirt made that says "Yes, I did crash in a race last weekend." ( see back for a detailed explanation because I'm not going to explain it to you.) I think that would cut out some hassle with customers at work.
Anyways- got to eat now, gonna try to get another 2 hrs. in on the way home. Later-DH

Windblast 2008

What a windy day. 30mph. sustained wind. So... I decided to go for a long motorcycle ride instead. Got suited up, stopped by ChicFil-A for some biscuits and headed south. I had a map and just went. My route crossed the Sat. group ride's route and I caught up with them ( all 3 ) at the Hollywood gas station stop. Chatted for awhile about how my moto was a much better idea this morning and they headed off. Got a drink, fueled up, and headed off toward Edisto Island. Never been there so I thought I'd check it out. A half an hour later and I was on the beach. I'm sure Edisto is cool in the summer but right now it was kinda creepy. First off- it's waayy out there in the middle of nowhere. Then there are miles upon miles of great beach houses. They were all empty, a ghost town. I was maybe 20 people the whole time.
Stopped on the way back to get some photos of the "Serpentarium". More creepiness- a snake house in the middle of nowhere. They were closed or I'd have gone in to see snakes and totally freak myself out.
Got in some great dirt road riding and some off roading as well to round out the trip. Got in about 4 1/2 hrs. and 200 miles.
Time to clean up and get some food. Later-DH

Summer Plans

Sitting around looking at racks and bags for bikes. Something I never thought would ever go on my bike. I am making plans for this summer , however; I will need bags and racks to pull off said plans. Don't really want to spill the beans yet but I'll be riding a ton of trails way up in the sky come July. Later- DH

Lucky # 13

The ominous feelings began last Friday. I was headed to Albany, GA for the first stage race of the year. I got online to check start times for the time trial on Saturday morning. I printed out the start list and highlighted all the start times of my teamates. Then I noticed it. My race number for the weekend was #13. That can't be good. Everyone told me to not worry, that was lucky. I figured I'd do the traditional thing and run the number upside down and I'd be fine. Besides, it was my 32nd birthday this weekend so nothing bad could happen. If it was my 31st -I'd have stayed home.

Anyways, we loaded up the megavan and trailer to capacity with Liza, my team, and myself and headed to Albany. The trip was long but we watched movies the whole way so it was not bad. Checked into roach motel and tried to get some sleep.

Time Trial:

I couldn't run my number upside down. That didn't bode well. Good course for me, 3.2K with 16 turns. About 80 guys were in the Pro race andd some were straight from the Tour of California. No problem- I get the countdown and blast off up the street, around turn one and head to head with an oncoming vehicle at 30 mph. Volunteers were running everywhere, the truck didn't know what to do and I didn't have any time to react. I squeezed around in the gutter on the far side of the street costing me valuable seconds and most importantly messing with my oxygen starved brain. Blew another corner further in for some more lost time and rolled in to finish 40th. Nathan had a good ride finishing12th for our highest GC position.

Crit:

Nothing exciting here. 8 corner, 30mph Avg crit. I felt pretty good and was having fun with all the corners. I rolled in 23rd for our highest placing. We all moved up to top 20 in the GC with Nathan in 10th now.

Road Race:

I was looking forward to this one. Rolling 96 miles should be a good day. Got things started quick with a break on the 1st lap. Cleve and I rolled up the road about 5 miles in. Got joined by a super strong guy a couple of miles later and we rolled out. I wasn't wanting to stay out all day, the intention was that when I was caught, Nathan would counter-attack. Cleve broke a derailleur cable and was gone, we were now low on horsepower after 15 miles or so it came back togather. After a flurry of activity, a break went again, this time with Nathan in it. One other guy in the top ten was present and no one else had a strong enough team to bring it back. If the break stays, we win. A good situation. Starting the last lap the break had over 4 minutes. Done deal. We roll into the feedzone waayy too fast on the last lap, a break is forming and the feild is chasing. I know we are too fast and try to slow so I can grab our feed bag as we are all out of water. I see Jay and the bag, grab it, and I'm on the ground at 30 mph. Got hung up and dragged down, lots of guys crashing now. I'm curled up and getting run over and slammed into for an eternity. I'm starting to wonder if the everyone looped around and they are crashing into me again. Anyways, It's over and there are guys scattered all over the road, one guy is not moving and leaves by ambulance. Everyone else is dazed and bleeding all over. I'm not too bad off, alot of abrasions on the right side but OK. Crunched a carbon wheel too. Liza and Nathan help me out of the road. That's right- Nathan who is suppose to be 4 mins. up the road. I inquire abou this and he had the same thing happen to him. Feedbag- ground correlation. So we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Had the race locked up and now nothing. Happy Birthday sucker! Long ride home an lots of sticking to the sheets now. Later- DH

Back on track

Last week was a rough one. Took me all week to recover from FL. Normally I recover in 3 days or so from a 12 Hr. race. This time however, I think there were other issues in on the delayed recovery. Rode a couple of times last week, trying to get the new road bike dialed in. I know it is set up right but I've been on the mountain bike for the last month and the Cervelo still feels weird. It'll feel good soon. It better. I'm headed to Albany, GA this weekend with the rest of the team for the GA Cup opener. Sat morning we have a 3.19 K prologue Time Trial, Sat PM is a 50 K- 8 corner Crit, Sun morning is a 148 K road Race. I've done NO speedwork or even gone anaerobic for more than a minute or two since Cross Nats. It's gonna hurt. The TT will be fine, the crit will be a life or death situation, and I am looking forward to the road race. Suppose to be good weather so hopefully I'll get some tan lines before I come home. Gonna do what I can to help my team and get some miles in.
Got to Yoga last night and I feel so much better. Should have gone last Mon. as well, maybe I'd have felt better later in the week. I was afraid to go last week, hurting like I was. My legs may have given out , I'd have fallen over , and knocked some other people over.
Had a nice day on Sat. Liza had an 8 K run out at Folly Beach so I went with her and cheered her on at the mile markers. She did well, right at the time she was shooting for. She out sprinted my Doctor at the line. No, he still doesn't know how to fix me.
Anyways, we got downtown in the afternoon to walk around and eat lunch. Nice day for it, 75 deg. and sunny. Got home and I cleaned up the garage for 4 hrs. Would have been 2 hrs. but I had to rebuild my clothes dryer before I could get anything else done ( long story ).
Got to go- DH

12 Hrs. of Chaos

Looonnng story short: 12 Hrs. of Santos- Started OK-2nd for 2 laps. Felt bad, Front tire exploded, fixed it, too much time in the pit fixing bike at the end of several laps.(wheels, brakes )Legs feel terrible. Going backwards. Back around 30th place now. Meltdown. Forget it. I'm out in 4 hrs. I quit, can't do this for 8 more hrs. Take off jersey, eat some food, relax.

Not gonna work. Not Me.

Back on the bike sans jersey( too hot ). My A game shows up out of nowhere now. 40th place to 7th place in 6 hours. Flying now, fastest lap is the 11th one. Still chasing down the leaders, they know I'm coming too. Crash really hard. Thought I broke my hip. Hurts, but I can still pedal. Run out of time and end up 4th. One off the box.

Should be top 5 in US Ultraendurance rankings now.

Gotta get a spare bike!

Feel like I've been run over by a bus now.

Later-

Virus

Sorry folks,
I had a good post with pictures and everything from FL. Some jerk commented right away with a virus attatched to it. So if you read the comment it infects your computer. Had to delete the post and comments. I'm not looking forward to retyping it - it was a long one. I'll get the details out soon. Later- DH

Last day before FL

Got the Cervelo built last night. I think it will work out pretty good. Have to make quite a few adjustments and it'll be good to go. That thing is definitely light. 15.5 lb. w/ pedals. When my Red group shows up I'll probably lose another 3/4lb. to a full lb. I don't think I've ever had a bike that light. Wonder how it will ride?

Anyways, have some packing to do to get ready for departure tomorrow. Have to set up some spare wheels and load up the pit equipment for Brad and I. Feeling pretty good going into this race, I've always done well there and have no reason to expect anything else this time. I did find out that one of the top guys that I thought was coming is going to another race. Bummer, I really wanted a shot at him. I'll get my chance at Nationals hopefully.

I'd love to write more but I need to go get some breakfast now. And then some more, and then some more. That's probably my favorite part of 12 hr. racing- I can eat whatever I want in the days leading up to an event and it probably still won't be enough. Later- DH

Big day today

Lots of stuff goin' on today.
Got the Yeti ready to roll for an all out assault on Santos, FL.
My Cervelo Road bike FINALLY came in. Have to get that built up tonight. I'll post some pictures soon.
And most importantly---
The Tour de France organizers pulled out the " I aint gonna touch you with a 10 foot pole rule" and excluded the Astana team from the tour this year. About time someone had enough of dealing with bad reputations. This does however exclude 1st and 3rd place riders from last year's tour. Ya lay down with dogs boys, ya get up with fleas!
I've got to go build a bike now- Later-DH

3 more days

Only two more days of work and I'm outta here. Fun and sun on the horizon. On a different note- bad luck has befallen our relay team for the 12 hr. One by one the members have fallen to the following: 1. Broken collarbone, 2. Pnuemonia, 3. Funeral ( not the team member ). So it looks like Brad is the sole remaining member and will be forced to race solo if no one else steps up. Not that there is anything wrong with racing solo- but if you are not planning on it it is another thing. Fortunately there is still time to get prepared. We are both still excited however, and my excitement grows by the hour. I just wanna race my bike!

Check this out:
I devised a formula to determine the races I want to do this year are worth it.

Hours Riding on the trip > Hours Driving X .75

This applies to most races. National Championships and " classics " races don't count because they are worth the drive regardless.
Gotta go ride- Over and out. DH

Friday Can't Come Quick Enough!

Had a pretty good last 4 or 5 days. Got alot of mileage in over the weekend up in the mountains. Thought I would be tired and wouldn't be able to do my tempo workout this morning. Very windy out but I felt pretty good. Didn't have to work real hard to keep it in my Tempo zone and the interval was over before I knew it. I'm really excited about racing in Florida this weekend. They have the best courses down there and the terrain suits me well. I'm feeling pretty good now, my bike is running great, and the weather is looking great at 80 degrees and sunny. We have a large group going down this weekend with a shop relay team and I'm racing solo of course. We'll be camping out for 2 nights and it should be a ton of fun. The only question now is do I go all out and bury myself trying to win the race and be blown for a month? Or do I ride like I'm down there to train and save myself for more important races? I am going to race- and once it starts It will be hard to hold back! Guess it depends on how I'm riding. If I'm running near the front I'll have to bury it, sometimes you gotta go for it. Stay tuned to find out.

Finally some nice weather

The whole last week has been great weather down here. 80 degrees and sun out today. It's good to be able to take advantage of that and get some good base mileage in. Still don't have my road bike yet but I kinda like riding my mountain bike everywhere. I've gotten in about 200 miles or so on it in the last 5-6 days. May just ride it for awhile. Training has been going well lately, finally sleeping better and the abdomen pain is getting easier to control. I'd like to think it doesn't hurt as much because I am getting exponentially tougher daily, but I think it is the Yoga that is really helping me out. If I skip a week then I feel like crud and don't sleep at all. That stuff keeps me right. Got in a very nice ride this morning , gonna get a couple more hours in tonight on the group ride. It's off to A-Ville again on Thursday for some more wheels. Looking forward to the mountains. Hoping to get in at least 4 hrs. daily on Fri. and Sat. We'll see. Later- DH

Weekend Photos

Went to Manchester State Forest to ride MTB on Fri. Road Group Ride on Sat AM, Moto at Wambaw Swamp in the afternoon, and MTB at Marrington early Sun. morning before I had to go to work. Pretty good weekend.