Overdue Update

I've been real busy since the last post. Here's what has been going on:
1. We got a contract on the house and will close next week.
2. Race the Greenville Classic crit last weekend and rode very strong. Top 10 all race long and didn't feel as if it was a very fast race. ( I was assured by teammates that it was very fast though) 5 laps to go and the guy leading into turn 3 crosses wheels on #2 - big crash and most of the top guys go down. No free laps with 8 to go, so bad luck there- game over- thanks for playing. Fitness is good however.
3. Still getting settled into Charleston
4. Going to Johnson City Saturday for my first Cross race of the year. Feeling fast but a little rusty- I'm sure I will smooth out the technique soon.
I'll post more soon- gotta pack for the weekend, Later- DH

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, and then some rain.

OK, I'm sick of the rain. I've done about 10 hrs in the rain the last few days. Did 1 min intervals this morning in rain so hard I thought my eyeballs were gonna get bruised. The morning started nice and misty but by the time I was halfway out the bottom dropped out. Ended up with my feet underwater at some points due to the flooding. That's great for the equipment. Fenders, lights, little caps, and rainjackets- fun. What a harsh contrast to the past weekend's sunny weather.
Speaking of last weekend- had a great time on St. Simon's Island for my Cousin's wedding. Started Sat off with about 80 miles, did half of that with my Dad and Uncle. That was a fun ride, I like riding with those guys whenever I can. Sat. evening was the wedding and it was a doozy. Beautiful area and ceremony, then the reception on Sea Island. The whole famile was there together for the first time in a long while. We ate great food, socialized, and danced late into the night. Everyone had a great time. I also was treated to the sight of my dad doing the Robot on the dance floor. Good Stuff. Going to Brevard at 6:00 am tomorrow for some mountain riding and to move the balance of my stuff down here. Till next time- DH

Nice

Productivity

I've had a pretty good week this week. Lotta miles and hours, Muscle Tension Intervals on Mon. ,then 30 min run PM. A good hard group ride on Tues let me get some solid threshold work in. Recovery ride on Wed AM, 40 min run PM. Got up this morning feeling a little worse for wear but once I got riding felt strong. Then I proceeded to drive myself into the ground. Did 1 min. intervals- all out, everything I had. Then I spun easy for 6 min. Then a min. all out, rest for 5 min, then 4,3,2 ,and on down to 1 min on, 1 min off. After that it was all I could do to stay on my bike and make it home. It will be worth it in a few weeks.

On another note, I had an epiphany yesterday. I realized why everyone is so aggro when they are driving around. What I figured out is that everyone is angry because they got ripped off when buying their cars. I bought my van in North Carolina. I payed the same price as one that was purchased here. Mine however came with a rearview mirror and turn signals. Cars purchased in South Carolina cost the same but apparently don't come with these items. This leads to animosity between drivers with a complete vehicle and those that have been ripped off. I feel sorry for these people, they need to do something to remedy this situation. Later- DH

Weekend Update

I've been really busy this week so here's a quick update.
Fri: Drove to Charlotte for Sat. MTB race. Stayed at Arleigh's- thanks for the hospitality!
Sat: MTB race- Smoked everyone on the running LeMans style start, got the holeshot and rolled it. Got caught at the end of the 1st lap. Got passed and was down 45 sec or so by the 3rd lap. Came back. 1 lap to go, I'm 15 sec back and closing. Got the leader in my sights when we hit lapped traffic. The leader squeezed around a group of women before the singletrack and I couldn't. That was the race right there. After I got around I drilled it as hard as I could but couldn't make the time back up. Anyways- A good race, I felt great and rode very well.
Sat afternoon I met up with Liza and her side of the family for her grandmother's 90th birthday party. That was a good time as well. Drove over to Brevard for a late dinner w/ Chris and Kent. Chris just returned from the World Cup Finals in Slovenia and was exhausted as was I so we called it a night and went home.
Sun: Loaded up the trailer with motorcycles and as much furniture as I could hold in the morning. Went on a nice mellow ride @ DuPont with Chris, Wes, and Horse Jockey. Great day and a fun ride. Much better than the 4 1/2 hrs back to Charleston that followed. Alex and I unloaded the trailer and van and hit the sack for some much needed sleep. DH out.

A Little Slice of Justice

Rarely do I ever see anything that involves automobiles while I am riding that makes me happy. However, today was a special day. I was riding along minding my own business out on County Line Rd. this morning about 9:00. I was cruising at 24-25 mph, straight road with no traffic. A white budget car (Kia or Hundai or some junk) buzzed by me so close I could feel the side mirror brush the hair on my arm. No traffic anywhere and plenty of room. I signaled to him how I felt about this ( not a great idea- It'll get you in trouble sometimes but a kneejerk reaction nonetheless). Then ( the good part ) a huge red dually pickup cruises by me ( giving me plenty of room ) and guns it to catch up with the car. He passes the other car rediculously ( and deliberately close ) mainly in the right hand lane, and cuts back in too soon running the other car off the road. He then slams on the brakes until the other car gets back on the road , drives really slow and won't get out of his way. I was a safe distance back watching this go on for a few miles. Yeah- how do you like that! I don't know who was driving that truck but that made my day. Later- DH

Bluetooth Equipped

I'm really glad to be back in the bike shop. However, I am constantly surprised at the rudeness of humanity. If another customer comes in here talking with a headset cell phone on I am going to flip out. There are only three acceptable scenarios for this: 1. You are an air traffic controller and are at the present time landing a plane. (1b. you are flying the plane) 2. you are in the Space Shuttle or either in FL or TX talking to the Space Shuttle. 3. You are directing an air strike on an enemy position. I have seen no evidence of any of these conditions existing so I will continue to do everything in my power to reciprocate this rudeness upon these aforementioned individuals. DH

Progress

Went out on the group run from the shop yesterday. We had 8 people show up to run in the rain so we headed out into the neighborhoods behind the shop. The greenway was muddy so we ran pavement. I was pleased that it was much less painful to run than on Monday, even though I was on pavement yesterday. I was also pleased that I was not breathing as hard as some of the others out there. I feel much better today also. Got a good ( foggy ) ride in this morning with Jay- rolled out @ 7 am into the fog. By 9 the sun was out and it was a beautiful day. Now it's gonna rain again. Hopefully It'll be over in the morning in time to ride again. Later- DH

Charleston Pics.

Here are some assorted photos from rides and places in Charleston.

Specificity

With cross seson coming up I decided I need to do more running this fall to prepare. This is always my weakness in a cross race so I'll address this and work on it. Got some cool new running shoes and planned everything out. Ran for 20 mins. on the greenway last night. Took off from the shop. Everything started off alright even after leaving the running shorts at home and having to run in cut-off Dickies and no shirt. Felt like an escaped convict running down the road. Anyways- this will take some getting use to- I can race my bike flat out for 12 hrs. or more but after 20 mins. of running I feel like the victim of an assault and simultaneous car accident. Back to the bike tonight, then more running tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. DH

I can see the form way out there... But it is getting closer!

Another great week of riding is over. 20 + hours in, 370 miles. Lots of solid mileage, rode hard on Tues, then had a productive weekend 4-5 hrs each on Fri and Sat. Good group ride on Sat then a trip to the beach with Alex in the PM. Getting my tan back and slowly losing weight. I'm really looking forward to cross season now as I should get rolling somewhere near the end of October. Gonna start running tomorrow so the next couple of weeks will be tough with that going down. Watched some good football games yesterday too, the good Tech won, bad Tech got crushed, and Georgia lost to SC. I wish GA/SC could have both lost but it don't work that way when they play each other. Anyways- looking forward to another solid week, gonna be up at my summer estate in the mountains next weekend, then kick back with a rest week after that. By the way- Carbon Race wheels for sale- CHEAP! any takers- lemme know, I need to get up some $ to get through cross season. Later- DH

Go Time

Did the Tues. night group ride tonight. Fast as usual, felt pretty good- Felt out of shape but my Power Tap said otherwise when I downloaded it. I haven't had too much of a reason to ride hard this year with being hurt or sick for so long .. but that changed tonight. There are some new guys ( very fast guys ) that are riding against me specifically- attacking right after I take a pull and whatnot. Some typical Roadie stuff that needs to be dealt with. So yeah, me and D.L. are all kinds of fired up now and ready to cut heads. Guess we'll all have to get faster. Give me a couple of weeks and it'll be - as they say in wrasslin' ON!

Other than that everything is going well- lots of riding, a couple of 4 1/2 hr days back to back this weekend were good- feeling better than I have all year. Probably better than a couple of years. Back pain is gone and my leg speed is starting to come around. Leg injury sustained last weekend got pretty ugly after a couple hundred miles in the rain this week and required some minor bathroom surgery to look like something human again. Gotta keep that thing clean. I'll post later to keep everyone informed on how the warpath is going. Later- DH

It's so good to be back in a bike shop.

Really diggin it here in Charleston. Get up @ 6:00 am- take Alex to school by 6:45 and to the shop and riding by 7. 3 hrs. to ride every morning then to work. Repairs, customers, bike builds- something new every 10-15 mins. or so. I am not nearly as exausted as I was at Cane Creek sitting in a chair all day. Should get 300+ miles/ 17-18 hrs. in this week. Nice to get back to some decent training. The riding down here is definitely lacking compared to NC but as far as usefulness for training goes, I have everything I need here.
I'm healing up nicely from Sat. miscue and should look as ugly as normal here soon. Gotta go- DH

Bonehead Move of the Week

Rolled out At 7am this morning for the John's Island group ride. Easy spin over and found a small group to ride with with some of the usual suspects. Rolled it 28-30 mph down County line road for 30 min. or so. Hurt me pretty good but I hung in there. Headed on to Hollywood. Rolled in to the hollywood sprint @ 30+. Pulled off right before the sprint to coast in easy. Insert front wheel into hole @ 30mph. The impact knocked both my hands off the bar. The bar was very slippery and due to some incredible foresight I had removed my gloves a few miles prior. Anyways- long story short- fold one week old front wheel, pavement on the face at 30, tear up helment, face, jersey, shoulder, elbow, knee, shoe, rear derailleur, and saddle. ( in that exact order.) The weird part was that I didn't slide, normally there is some sort of projection and then you slide. I got dropped like a sniper got me- straight down on the head and stuck right where I landed. Came out OK- scrapes and a sore neck and headache. I'll take it. Anyways- got a ride home with my new co-worker and his wife (hi- I'm David and I crash on my face ), went through Shower Hell and now I'm gonna go eat. Later- DH

Left out a bit.

I left some details out from my last post. I am working @ The Charleston Bicycle Company, we sell Cervelo, Felt, Seven, Jamis, Cannondale , and Orbea bikes. These are all great brands and I have only sold Cannondale out of all of those listed. Super fired up to be dealing with Cervelo and Orbea- 2 great bike companies with a fine product.
Living up on Hwy 61 with some friends till I can get a house on James Island. Looking forward to getting some serious mileage in this winter ( 25-28 hr. weeks ) and slaying all this spring. I'll be racing for Team CBC in 2008 and we should be a very strong Pro 1/2 team. Later- DH

Somewhat relocation

Well- I'm in Charleston. Worked at the Shop all week. I like it there, cool people and a good shop. The hours pass much faster with some human interaction and sunlight. Didn't realize what a dark cave of solitude I was working in- no wonder I was always tired at the creek. Anyways, got some hours in on the bike this week, looking forward to ten more or so this weekend. Great weather ( a tad hot ) and decent riding. Did a few hours on Wed- got in a couple of laps over the new bridge. That's a no joke workout- wish it was here the first go round. Anyways- living with friends right now and Liza is still in NC till the house sells. Hopefully it will be soon, life is kinda Chaotic right now with everything and everyone scattered out like this. I'll get up some pictures soon- left my Kodak software and USB thing @ B-Town. Later- DH

Last Ride

Did my last ride in Brevard today. Low temps, perfect trails, great day. Solo ride kind of fitting. 2 1/2 hrs., 27 miles. Here's the pictures- figure out my exact ride and you win a prize.

Cool Ride

Went riding on Wed. with Kent. We parked at the Ranger Station and decided where to go. I hadn't been on Twin Falls trail in awhile so we went there. We rode up the Horse stables road to Clawhammer, good conversation on a nice day. The climb to the trail wasn't bad. After a break at the trailhead we descended. I came around a blind corner and found myself face to face with a black bear. He was about 3 feet tall on all fours. I wasn't scared like I imagined I would be. He was- He peeled out with all four paws flinging rocks and debris and crashed down the hillside into the woods before I knew what was going on. Kent came flying around the corner and almost crashed into me on a big nose wheelie skid. We could hear the bear way down the mountain still crashing around. Guess they really are more scared of us than we are of them. Anyways- that was cool seeing a bear on one of my last rides up here! DH

Hall's First Law of Mind Control

I have had a theory for awhile. Today I gathered enough evidence to prove it, therefore making it a Scientific Law. My theory is this: You can directly control the behavior of your entire city by mowing your grass. Yes. I'm not the only one privy to this info.

Anyways this is how I have proven this.

1. went outside with the hedge trimmers to clean up an unruly bush. I reconned the area- 3-4 yards up an either side of me and across the street as well. People were out and about this morning (11:00ish), but all yards were high grass. People were working on other projects. I finish trimming the bush and set my experiment in motion.

2. Crank lawnmower and mow 3 rows in the front yard. Cut off lawnmower and observe. A skillsaw across the street stops. Two people jump in their cars with red gas cans. They are back momentarily with full cans of fuel I presume. One by one lawnmowers start on every lawn up the street. Little red pushmowers, big green John Deere riding mowers. I look across the street- the carpentry work has stopped and full blown emergency grass mowing has commenced. I count eight lawns being mown in full scale panic attack.

This grass mowing epedemic is compounding as well, spreading to the next street over. The next neighborhood too. Who knows how far it will go.

I'm off to drive the nail in the coffin now- I have a weedeater and I'm gonna use it. DH

Dawn Patrol

Woke up at 5:oo this morning. Hopped on the moto and rode up to the Parkway. Made it up to Devil's Courthouse while it was still dark. The plan was to watch the sunrise. The sunrise was nice, but it was the weather that pleased me the most. 65 degrees, crisp, low humidity, and a nice breeze.

It is funny how the human brain works. At that exact moment, the weather made me remember the two other times in my life when the weather was identical.

I remembered swinging on a tire swing at the babysitter's (where my brother and I were soon to be kicked out ) when I was in 4th grade. It was a early October afternoon. I was on a tire swing, not the kind that hangs vertically, but the horizontally hung type that hangs on 3 chains. I was wearing a yellow "Fayette County Elementary Tigers" T- shirt. I loved that shirt. I remember hanging out of the swing and spinning, looking up at the fall leaves in a state of total bliss. I could have stayed there for hours.

The next time I felt this way, I was in Charleston 4 years ago, late Oct, early Nov. I was riding my Mountain Bike out to Fort Johnston to ride some illegal trails. It was the same type of weather- crisp with a nice breeze blowing in off the marsh. The trails were in great condition, the leaves had just started to hit the ground. I wasn't there to train, race season was over. I was riding because I enjoyed it. Rode for awhile , then took one of the trails that meandered out to the beach. Got out to the beach and was completely content for a few moments. With the breeze on my face, the smell of the marsh, and the sound of the waves, I could close my eyes and imagine I was anywhere I wanted to be.

Anyways, the sun was up now, so I fired up the moto and headed down Hwy 215 to Waynesville. That was a really fun road to ride. Further down, at Lake Logan, there was a Triathalon being held. Tons of people were running and riding bikes. They had the swim course laid out in the lake with bouys. Amazing how many more people there were there than the Mountain Bike National Event I attended last weekend. On to Waynesville- Candler- Hwy 151 to the Parkway ( another great road- lots of tight turns ) back down 276 to FR 475, past the Fish Hatchery, to Ingles for a muffin, then Home. 110 miles on the bike, 1 mile hike, 1 sunrise, 1 triathalon, and a muffin before 9:00. Now I can trim some bushes and mow the grass. Later- DH