More CO Pics- Rocky Mtn. Natnl. Park Backpacking -Part 1

Left Bear Lake for a couple day backpacking trip. Lots of beautiful high alpine scenery, some snow, rockfields, lakes, and tons of mosquitos. The $3 bug spray Liza picked up turned out to be the best purchase of the whole western trip! Spent the night at ove 10,000 feet up at Spruce Lake. It was a beautiful, pristine lake that was tough to get to and a nice night as no one else was there.

Gonna hurt ALL winter now!

Ordered my new CX frame and some parts today. I have a sweet Salsa Scandium frame w/ an Alpha Q fork. Already have a parts kit, so I need to find some deep carbon race wheels and get some Tufos and I'm off! I haven't raced a full cross season in a few years and am excited for this one. Last year I rode a singlespeed 29er, the year before I raced on a Surly Cross Check. Not bad bikes but a bit off from the race bikes I rode in the past. This year's bike should turn out to be a rocket ship. Don't be surprised if I only run one gear at certain races though!
Planning on hitting up the NC series, NC winter cup, Mid atlantic UCI series, and maybe a race or two in the GA and TN series. If I'm not completely thrashed by mid-Dec.................maybe a trip to Portland for Nationals. A very faint maybe!
Anyways- gotta go- DH

XC National Championships Pics.

Sol Vista Ski area. A place I'll hopefully never return to. They cut the trails the week of the race and they were absolute crap. The first day I rode them they were fun........2 days later- hub deep ruts with 2 foot tall braking bumps. Don't get me wrong- the Amateur XC course was good further out- nice singletrack and fairly technical. The Pro loop was junk however. As usual. That was probably the last USA Cycling National event I'll ever do. Why pay $80 for that crap when the NUE series, Gone Riding, and other promoters have much more economical events with better courses. Anyways- here's the pics.DH

Pike's Peak

Drove up Pike's Peak, ate "High Altitude 14,000 ft Special Recipe Best Ever Only Place Available Donuts". They lived up to their billing. Able to talk trash and back it up- that's why I liked these donuts. Did some bouldering and noticed it was late so we drove back down. We were forced to stop for awhile by the park service brake check station half way down. 560 degrees was the temp. on the brakes. I had the Megavan in the lowest gear possible but when it wants to go it's hard to reign in. I wasn't about to apologize or make excuses for pure unadulterated speed so we parked the Megavan and went climbing around some more. Got the green light again after 20 mins. or so and we took off again, soon to be in Boulder for the night.

DH

Colorado Springs

Cheyenne Mtn Park for some riding then up to Pikes Peak.

The Promised Colorado Pictures

These are from the way out. SERC Race in AL, then the drive across Kanasas into a pretty cool storm, then we were in CO Springs.

FG100

Here's a picture of a fool at Fool's Gold 100 last Saturday. I'll get a full race report up as soon as I figure out how to accurately describe the whole situation. My brain is still tired from the race. Condensed report: Rode fast- crashed hard 30 miles in-did $1000 worth of damage to my bike- rode 70 miles with my right pedal flopping in the crankarm- blew up 6 1/2 hrs in on Bull Mtn. and lost 2 spots to end up 5th singlespeed and I think 12th overall. I'm really sore and beat up still from the crash but I'll be OK in a couple of more days-DH OUT

Weekend prep

I'm slowly getting all my preperations done for the weekend. Finally fixed that irritating creak in my eccentric on the niner. I've been resting alot and doing shorter rides this week. I've found in the past that I do really well in endurance races when I've ridden little in the week prior to the event. After 2 weeks in the 20+ hr range w/ over 400 miles each I was ready for the rest. Did 5 1/2 hrs. last Sunday and felt like I hadn't even ridden. Of course I slept 11 1/2 hrs that night and 10 the next night. Guess I needed the rest! I've been just cruising around on the singlespeed this week mainly. I think I'll probably try to get in at least 3 hrs. tomorrow and open things up. Leaving at 6:30 friday morning with Joel for the drive up to Dahlonega. Should be there by lunch, ride some of the singletrack sections of Fool's Gold, and pick up our packets. 7:00 AM on Sat we roll out! Should be fun- tough, but fun.I'll try to get some pictures up for the weekend. Still need to get some CO pictures up!
Later-
DH

SERC # 10 race report

Alex and I drove up to Fontana Village, NC last Saturday morning for the final round of the Southeast Regional Series. I found the course technical enough for my liking and the climbing not bad at all. To make matters even better I had good legs and it rained all night.
We awoke to rain and an absolutely disgusting course. I was delighted as I love racing in the mud. The worse it is the better I ride.
Started towards the back of the group and rode a mellow pace for the first climb. I started to pick it up on the second climb and passed a couple of guys. The technical downhill went fine, and I pinned it pretty hard to pass another guy on the steep gravel climb. Rode the last downhill conservatively and had a little gap over 7th place at the end of the first lap. Rode conservatively up the first half of the climb as 7th place was burying himself to catch me. He made contact mid way up and I immediately attacked him and rode off. Soon after I caught 5th, then 4th, had 3rd place in sight and was closing fast and feeling strong while watching others suffer and have trouble with the mud. Only one lap to go.
The one inch tear in my tire sidewall put an abrupt end to all that.
I repaired the tear with a gel pack and aired it up the best I could dropping back to sixth place in the process. It was amazing how blown apart the race was by then. Repairs done I rolled out to try to make up time. Five minutes later I got my second flat and was forced to abandon. The walk back out was rough but the silver lining was that I got back before the race was over and made it to the hose first to wash off. Clean bike and body, we loaded up and drove home. I hate DNFing but am enthusiastic that my legs are good right now. Looking forward to the next event- Fool's Gold 100 in Dahlonega, GA next weekend. Good trails, good event, and I'll get to see my parents! Should be fun.
DH out.

Back from Colorado

Had a great trip to CO. Started in AL with the S.E. Regional #9 @ Mt. Cheeaha. Raced the SS in the Pro race. Not many guys and I got 5th. Felt strong but was overgeared so the low turnout helped me out. Had a swim at the cliffside pool with awesome views and headed for AR for the night............................................

Long story short- Colorado Springs, Boulder, Denver, Denver Airport x 5, Granby, Winter Park, Nationals- had some problems but finished strong to get 16th, Denver, Ft. Collins, Backpacking @ Rocky Mtn. National Park- some of the most beautiful high altitude backpacking I have done, bears, elk, snake, Ft. Collins- New Belgium, Fat Tire, 1554, Trippel, Yetis, Colorado Springs, Back to Charleston.

Really too much to write about but great trails ( riding and on foot ) Beautiful scenery, lots of sights, great resturaunts, and plenty of time in the megavan.

Too bad I can't get the camera to download right.

More Pics to come............

DH out

Cowbell

Well- the Cowbell melted on Saturday. It was so hot- truthfully the most suffering I've ever put myself through on a bike. Hands down. I went into this race with no expectations as I've only been training for two weeks after being off for two and a half months. I was feeling good but you really never know how you're gonna hold up until you get that trial by fire known as racing.

Got up at 4 AM on Saturday and drove to Charlotte for the 10 AM start. Facing 60 ish miles and 97-98 degree forecast I made sure my cooler was well stocked with fluids and ice. Got there in time to get my number on, get suited up, get my pit set up, and say hi to a few people. I decided to skip the shuttle and ride to the start- good call as my legs needed some loosening up from the drive.

The start was chaos like I expected as we flew down the road for the 6.5 mile trip out to the course. I was fine for the most part but got dropped from the lead group while spinning at 300rpm to keep up on a downhill. Managed to pick off quite a few people whenever the road went up and by the time we reached the course I was in decent position. Fought through some traffic and was finally clear and with the leaders by the end of the first lap. Closing on DJ and Shane I was starting to figure on a good day. Wrong!

I got a bottle handup from Mike on the 2nd lap. I think it was too cold and I drank it too fast. A few minutes later I hurled it all over. The whole bottle- and whatever else was in my stomach. Not good went to worse quickly as I had to drop my bike and hold onto a tree to keep from falling over with dizziness. After a few minutes I kinda got it together and limped on feeling like my head was going to explode any second. The rest of the lap was terrible- no power and I was getting passed by everybody! Finally got back to the pits and told Mike I had to rest a bit and get my head together. Loaded up on water, drank a coke and decided to roll out slowly for the next lap- I hate DNF ing but this wasn't looking good- I'd already dropped back to ninth or tenth place.

After a slow lap I started feeling better. Laps 4-6 went as follows- Grab one bottle for drinking, one with ice to pour on me, and one gallon of water poured on me while pitting. Seemed to work. The heat was unreal- 115 degree heat index I heard- but i was managing to keep cool. My competitors were dropping left and right but my lap times were steadily decreasing as I continued on. Staying soaking wet the whole lap was working- barely. I'd roll into the pit at the end of each lap absolutely spent. Stop- mike would switch my bottles and douse me with water- then push me back out for another.

The last lap was of course the worst as I was still trying to make up lost time and pushing as hard as I could. The field sections were the worst- out in the baking sun for extended periods of time, then followed with a steep climb where cooling down was impossible. With 5 climbs in the last couple of miles I thought the end would never come. I charged hard up the last climb to the finish exhausted but elated to be finished. I ended up 3rd place, missed catching 2nd by 29 seconds. He had an eight minute lead at the start of the lap. I'll take it after all that went wrong. I've got a couple of weeks left of training, then it's time to taper for Nationals.
It's hot out there- stay hydrated-
DH

Happy Trails Steve

Steve Larsen died yesterday from a heart attack during a running workout. He was 39 years old. I remember this guy absolutely dominating all the NORBA series races in the late 90s. When USA Cycling passed him over for the 2000 Olympic team ( the 2nd time in a row that the fastest guy didn't make the team ) he took it out on every racer that showed up to challenge him. Watching him race those races in person was a good thing. This dude turned into vindication incarnate as soon as the gun went off and destroyed all comers. That was the first time I'd seen anyone race for some other reason than to win. Winning seemed a foregone conclusion, the question was only by how much. A man with something to prove is very dangerous indeed. When the path of destruction ended at the end of 2000, Steve left the sport. Crushed them all and walked away. Pretty classy I think.

Anyways- Steve was an incredible athlete either on a MTB, a road bike, or in triathlons and will be missed. Godspeed Steve-

DH

Manchester

Loaded up the Megavan w/ 2 Brads and Andrew yesterday and headed North to the wonderful land of Manchester State Forest. After a few stops for junk food and a requisitioning of an awesome "Bass Fever" vanity plate (courtesy of Brad P.) we made it to Manchester.

The trail was just as good as I remembered. My bike rode well and the shoulder held up fine. I did come up with a few gripes however: 1. I rode with a few gears on my bike. Reminded me why I've been on a singlespeed- hated the gears and they are coming back off! 2. I'm out of shape. Bad. I've been riding the road bike somewhat well but when you can ride a road bike effectively you can really fake being in shape and still go fast. On a mountain bike it's black and white- you know 100% for sure when you are not fit. Anyways- to paraphrase a great song-"we've got a long way to go and a short time to get there"- time to get to work.

Yesterday turned out to be perfect weather- high 60s- low 70s and partly cloudy. The trail was in good condition, and we all rode well together. The Brads were moving out while Andrew and I were cruising in the back. We had F-16 fighter jets screaming overhead all day on mock bombing runs and dogfights- pretty cool. All in all a good day out with no incidents. I'm looking forward to getting some fitness back and some of the big summer/ fall races.

Later- I've got to go ride now, I'm done being slow! DH

Rainy day

I'm trying to get motivated to ride my bike right now. I have the morning off and it's pouring rain. That means rollers. Yay. I'm so sick of the rollers. I'm really sick of not being able to have some sort of consistent training going on. The shoulder is still not healed- It's 85% but I still can't pull up on the bars. Normally, everything is fine- it's the little jerks that hurt and I still get some considerable pain when I yank on something hard or torque a bolt. Not much I can do about this being a Mechanic. Pretty much doing the 2 steps forward, 1 step back for awhile now. I guess I'll eventually get there. Can't get any leverage and still having some control issues when going hard. Hate to say it but I'm a little squirrely on the bike. Fortunately I know this and try not to endanger my fellow riders when like this. It would be nice if the other squirrels out there knew it and were not oblivious to their lack of handling skills but really- what can you do?
Anyways- rollers this morning, then the day off tomorrow. Meeting up with a couple of Brads for a day trip to Manchester SF and some decent trails. Hopefully everything will go well and I will get to ride my brand new Niner MTB ( That I've had for a month and a half but haven't been able to ride.). Manchester is a good trail system and I like riding there- they work hard to improve the trails there. Should be a good indicator of if I'm ready to ride off road again or not. Hope I'm ready- I need to get back racing soon. I've missed alot of good racing and feel bad for my team that I'm not out there- big waste of time and resources if I'm not out there. I won 2 out of 3 races before I got hurt and want ( need ) to keep that going. So.... cross your fingers- I'm going to find out where I stand tomorrow! Hopefully I'll have a good ride report to post.
Later-DH

Treasure

Check out what came into the shop for some service yesterday. Fat City team bike. Circa 1995ish. I remember seeing these at the NORBA national races in 94-96. Always wanted one. Use to actually see spectators and racers at those races too. 600-800 racers in the expert waves, 120-150 in each age group. My how the times have changed!

Good Stuff-

DH

Figured out how to get a bicycle on my motorcycle this morning! Racing just got a whole lot cheaper. Working on a permanent rack though. Picking up the cargo boxes on Saturday then it's ready to roll. Later- DH

New Ride

My new bike is ready to roll................as soon as the shoulder is. I can ride the road pretty well and am getting in some pretty good training. Off road however is still really painful. Hope to be back 100% by the Cowbell 12 Hr. in June.

Later-

DH

Back on the Bike!

I made it all day Sunday without pain meds or my sling. The shoulder was feeling better- still hurts but the range of motion and flexibility has improved a ton. I can do alot more and can support myself somewhat.
Today was a beautiful day so I decided to ride. Dragged a TV and my rollers out to the patio and rode for an hour. Kinda hurt to get on and off the bike and had to drink with my left hand( that's one angle my shoulder can't do yet!). Other than that everything went well- I can stand up and ride with no pain and feel much better now.
We'll see how I feel tomorrow when I get up. I plan on getting an hour a day this week, and back on the road next week. I think off roading will have to wait awhile longer though!
Anyways- good progress and I'm healing well- not too old quite yet!
Later-
DH

Time out

What I had planned for this weekend:
Up at 6 AM Sat- ride 3 1/2 hrs. before work.
Work.
Drive to Macon, GA for the Georgia State XC opener.
Get my new race bike dialed in.
Race.
Come home.

"Plan B"
Up at 6 AM Sat- ride.....6:30 AM- get up off the ground and ride back home one handed.
Go to the hospital.
Get x-rays.
Get a sling to wear for a few weeks.

Long story short as I am typing with my left hand..
Seems that all the trash on the road here pulled one over on me and I got booby trapped.
A metal handle from a 5 gallon bucket seems to have hooked a spoke in my front wheel and got sucked into the wheel where it stopped dead when it hit the fork. I think I was still pedaling on the way down trying to force the obstruction through. Didn't have any Idea that was going to happed and never even got my hands off the bars. Landed square on my right elbow at a 90 degree angle to the pavement resulting in a separated shoulder. Got up, started to feel the effects of going into shock and sat down to figure out what I should do. Watched some cars pass for awhile- not one person stopped when it happened- big surprise- and decided to ride back home as Liza's phone was probably out of earshot.
My front wheel was so jammed up that I had to release the QR and kick down on it to get everything loose. One bent spoke. That wheel also survived the last vehicular assault on me as well without a scratch. Got a broken frame, fork, and a blown tube- but the wheel was spotless.
Anyways- got the wheel on and rode home one armed and going into shock. Took me alot longer than it should have but finally got there and then on to the hospital.
Remarkably, that was the fastest I've ever been through the hospital anywhere- probably about an hour from parking lot to parking lot. Diagnosis- fotunately no bones broken but my shoulder is separated. Should be OK in 3 weeks. I figure another couple of weeks after that I'll be able to race my mountain bike. Singlespeeds are not very easy to ride with a weak shoulder.
Anyways- That's it for now- I'm gonna go NOT ride my bike now. Be careful out there- freak accidents can happen anywhere!
DH

This Race Report is Brought to You by the Number 2

Went up to Athens, GA to meet up with the Terrapin team and race the Dirty Spokes 6 hr. I raced Singlespeed Solo, Shey and Bill did the Open Solo, and Chris and Jeremy did the 2 man division.
Long story short- I opened the throttle on the 2nd lap and didn't look back. I got my 2nd win of the year, had the 2nd fastest lap time, started hurting bad with 2 hrs. to go, had to stop and fix a rear flat 2 times, ended up 2nd overall and 1st in my race, and had 2 flat tires when I took my bike out of the car for the 2nd time this year- 2 days later. Shey got 2nd in the solo open, Bill got 5th, and our 2 man team won. Rode well and am looking forward to my 2nd XC race of the year on the 22nd in Macon, GA.
Later-
DH

Dream Bike

Motorcycle that is. As far as a bicycle goes, it doesn't matter to me. As long as the bike has 2 29" wheels and a decent ride- it'll do. This is the motorcycle to end all motorcycles as far as I'm concerned. The perfect package. All I've got to do is find $12,000!

Later-

DH

The Darkness

Had a sketchy ride home tonight. Got off work around 7:40 and hit the road. My light went out around 7:55. On Rifle Range Road between the IOP connecter snd Coleman Blvd. Pitch black. If you know this area then you already know how sketchy it is riding here in the daytime. Normally I feel safer at night. With all the lights, the cars should have no excuse for not seeing me. They normally give me a 3-4 foot larger berth than normal. Meaning 3 feet 1 inch to 4 foot 1 inch. But now I couldn't be seen as well and not at all from the front. That light didn't flicker out either, it died in about 2 mins flat after being full brightness when I left. Fortunately I still had a couple of high powered blinky lights on the back so I figured I'd be OK. I'd have to really pay attention and look ahead.
Everything ended up fine witha minimal ammount of evasive manuvering. Some spots were actually very nice when there were no cars and it was quiet and very dark. Very quiet. Fortunately, I've ridden these roads so much I didn't hit any holes and made it home in record time. I was feeling strong and for some reason in a hurry so I got home faster than ever!
Quick race recap for SERC #1 in Gainesville, FL:
Hot- Hilly course with alot of steep climbs. Went down after work on Sat w/ Liza. Got up Sun. after a decent night's sleep to a beautiful day. Made it to the race after breakfast and went to pick up my number. I had registered for the Singlespeed race but saw that no Pro's were allowed to do that race. I told on myself and got my registration changed to the pro race. That was fun on a singlespeed. I feel like I can go about as fast on a singlespeed as I can on my geared bike when I am on the right course, and geared right. Neither one of those were going on at this race! 10 mins. in I knew I was geared wrong. Not much I could do now except to run wide open till I couldn't turn the cranks over anymore. Through lap 3 1/2 I was rolling really well and moving up through the field. The flats were killing me on the first laps, by the end however, I was barely making it over the tops of the climbs, I mean I was creeping over the tops. Downhills and the rolly, technical stuff were still great though. I faded some on the last lap and a half and wound up 16th out of I think 22 that started. I rode as hard as I could and felt good doing it. That was my second XC race in a year and a half. I forgot how quickly you recover from a 2 hr race compared to the longer stuff I've been doing. I feel great now!
I'm glad I raced the Pro race instead after all. Turns out another Pro did the SS race and won by 6 mins. My lap times were the same w/ 5 laps instead of 3. We'd have had a good battle but it would have been very lopsided for the rest of the SS racers and not fair at all.
Later-
DH

Weekend Pictures

Race report to follow soon!