My Blogging Mind is a Blank

Closet Training - Yes

Will it work - Maybe

Miles Ridden - Few

Miles Ran - Many

Swiss Ball - Yes

Hot Out - Hell Yeah

Carry on people - See Ya'll soon.

Coffee Talk

For those of you out there looking for the next insane endurance challenge. Or at these following a crazy insane endurance challenge from the comfort of your office CPU. As to peer into ones mind all while sipping on the community office coffee. Check out the Great Divide Race. Good reading and new this year the racers are all wearing the SPOT locaters. This give you areal time location. So every morning during your blog search hit this site, hell it just might inspire you too.

HBW Group Ride

Finally made a Wednesday night group ride. It's been some time since I was able to ride with others, what a nice change of pace. Good group turn out even with the temps still in the 90*s. Slacking on the hydration at work, I went for the pack. Filled it with ice and water. Think of it as an A/C unit for your back. The ride had several regroups and plenty of laughs. Easy tempo for some good riding. The EBB on my SS was quite for a change. This made me very happy. So the riding was even better.
The group decided to head back after Lost Creek, but I had brought my commuter light and was looking for some more saddle time. Headed out towards Stewardship Loop riding the trails in low light is so fun. Reminds me of my 24hr days. Squeezing every once of battery from your lights, conserving what you can. The last little bit of daylight on Stewardship I came up on a bobcat running down the trail. Holy Shit this thing was big. Easily in the 50lbs. range. No, It was not a dog. I was close enough to make out the bob tail and cat like moves. A first at Harbison. Taking every minute I still had of daylight, I rolled every bit of fire road I could on the way back to the front lot. Good sustained pedaling on my SS.

KITS

Just down loaded some pictures from our Kiawah Island vacation over the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Kiawah Island Taxi Service - 2 rides on this beast, both rides were in the 2 hour area .


E had to trust me for our journey around KI on the tandem.
Don't piss off the locals. This fella was about 6 ft. off the paved pedestrian path. Amazing to see all the folks pass by all to never see this fella sunnin'.

Lesson learned

This week's work load for me has showed a touch. My co-worker departing last Friday for a bigger and better job. This means I've been in the office all of this week. More A/C time and less hot sun time. So I felt eager to hit up the Wed. group ride.

Running a touch late from work, I run home and tweak the SS to tension the chain. Filled the hydration pack and fixed a monster PB&honey&banana sandwich and off to HSF. Rolling into the lot @6:33 assumed I wouldn't see anyone. So I headed out towards Stewardship > 2 laps of the gravel road. STOP I can't take it any more. The EBB on my SS was making this awful noise. So I tighten it up a touch and pedaled on. Still every time the torque went up the noise did too. Very annoying, so I'm kinda glad I hadn't seen anyone. Passed Jim somewhere on the connector as I was heading over to Lost Creek. Didn't turn around because with noisy ass bike, I could ruin someone's ride.

Plans were to knock out 2 laps on LC but ignorance got the best of me. Noticing my speed was suffering badly. Was it a lack riding or what? No folks the chain was so tight I hardly turn it by hand. Ah shit, so that's why I feel like I'm riding in mud and the noise is so loud the wildlife is running in fear. Lesson learned - EBB maintenance should be top on the priority list. Seeing how I've only got one gear, I should make sure that gear is working.

Found A+ in the front lot afterwards. We marveled at how the oppressive heat was wrecking our dreams of a smokin' fast average speed. Then Jim & Tim rolled into the lot. Later found out that Toby S. was in the woods somewhere also, so I guess it was a group ride.

D.A.

Roadie Stuff

Follow up on some Ebay stuff.


*Power Tap Computer Harness - Brand New has been installed once but it's never seen the elements.

*Power Tap Rear Wheel w/ Campy wheel bag - PT hub is built up on a Mavic rim. Freehub is Shimano. This wheel has been hanging in this Campy bag for about 2 years.

*Shimano Road Shoes 44 - Near mint shape clean and they don't smell.














*Speed Play Zero Ti Pedals w/ cleats - Cleats have about 150miles on them. The pedals are few years old. They are in good shape would be great for a back-up bike if you already use SpeedPlays.

Stump Jump 08

A step in the right direction. Go from riding 2-3 days a week to crushing the oneself on the race course come Sunday. A pattern I've adopted over the beginning of this season. Maybe it's working for me. Tempting faith this weekend at the Stump Jump XC race.

Forked out $40 bones for the SS race with a total expectation of a high podium place. Game plan - Go hard from the gun and for the entire 2 laps. Funny thing with the SS class is the mixed bag of tricksters you may encounter. From semi-retired Pros to experts who don't care to purchase a USAC license to entry level riders getting there feet wet in XC racing.
Looking around I spot a some riders from the winter stxc series, Erik N. and the recently questionable DQed winner of the Cohutta 100mi SS Will Black. So the kitchen was warming to be set a blaze.

The flame was ignited from the start Will & Erik put a gap on me before the 1st power line decent. I was in third and chasing hard. Sitting on the nose of the saddle spinning the fastest rpms I could manage. By the 1st section of single track they were out of sight. Knowing I needed to stay focused on the trail I tried to keep the lines as smooth as possible. First ride back on a rigid fork. Paying close attention to the many roots littering the trail.

I made no ground on them. A solo ride for the most part. Passing only a handful of sport riders. A podium spot was mine. I just needed to finish up strong. Hammered out a sub 40 minute first lap and matched it on the final lap. I just never looked back.

Finishing up in 3rd place for SC State Championships - 1:20~16+ miles of very nice technical single track. More bike time is needed, especially in the woods.

Mud Jump 08

Bust out the WD-40 and the Q-Tips. It's time for the annual Stump Jump XC races in Spartanburg SC. It's history is steeped in red clay that sticks to every moving part of your stead. Ass busting greasy red clay. You got to love tradition - rain today and tomorrow means mud on Sunday. Thankfully I don't have a functioning geared bike.
Looks like the SS class is my faith for the weekend. No expert one day license. Race page states race distance is voted by voice at start line, a choice of 1-2 laps. Race $30+ Late Fee $5 + USAC one day $5 = $40. This bitch better be at least 2 laps. I'll be dreaming of a top podium spot.

2003 - A little something to remember

"Why Am I" - A True Death March

This thing called PMBAR has a way of bringing most hard core MTB folk to their knees. Crying and aching for dear mercy. Some as a cramping ball of muscle & mass and most are just mentally broken. Sign me up and let me bring a friend into the fire.
The goal was to finish in a time of 6-8 hours for the minimum 4 CP. A possible 5th CP if we were up to it at Club Gap. Now all we had to do was navigate the PNF with little problems and keep our spirits in tact. Plan from the start was to check out the passport before hitting any trails. This would give one plenty of time to think about a possible route on the hike up Black Mtn. Early plans to hit Turkey Pen TH first were set and off we went.

CP1 - Turkey Pen > This hike up Black Mtn. was a hard way to warm up. All was going well. I knew were I was and were I was going. Lots of traffic on Turkey Pen with riders unsure of the skills to rip the hills of Pisgah. On the way to CP1 we managed up with a group of riders. This type of race is every team for themselves. So it's hard to just follow someone. Map check. Missed the left and went right up Mullinax before hearing people talking down by the river. We double back all to be passed by the Mater & Cola Joe.
A bit frustrated because you spend energy passing some slower riders all to be passed up by them while you are back tracking. Made the CP and the good fellings were back on our side.

CP2- Bradley Creek > Pulling out of CP1 with a plan to go to Bradley Creek . Fine but I've never been there before. Navigation would be the achilles' heel of the event. Map Check. Opted to pass on a well used trail for a trail I thought would be better choice. Strike 2. Map Check. Back tracked again but only for a few minutes. Back with the masses on Squirrel Gap. A long train of riders we had passed before, now stuck to wait it out. Slow goings being passed again by M&J 15 minutes out from CP2. Double that for an out and back route to the CP and we are now 30 minutes behind.

CP3- Squirrel Gap & Cantrell Creek > Probably the best trail of the day. A real MTB trail. If you're looking for an example of a real East Coast trail Squirrel Gap is it - Rideable. Plan was to go along to the Buckhorn Shelter area an skip the hike-a-bike up to Club Gap and check out FS 5033 down below the trail junction.

CP4- Club Gap > A good plan turned bad when we (I) missed FS 5033 just down from the Buckhorn/Black Mtn shelter. This would be the mistake of the day. Every trail I pasted on the way down Clawhammer road I would stop and check the map, wasting buckets of time. Somehow it just never clicked, that we had past the trail. Once we stopped at the intersection of Clawhammer and Maxwell Cove, I knew I had screwed up bad. Ten minutes went by. My internal flame was slowly going out. The look on Kenny's face when the realization hit that we would have to climb back up to Club Gap from the Horse Stables, was not good. To finish without a DQ, we had two chooses on the accent. Up Clawhammer fire road or Avery Creek.

Let me just say - It's been a while since my last visit to PNF especially in this area. Anyone in there right mind would not have climbed Avery Creek. Not in my right mind and Kenny didn't know were he was. A peace offering of a delicious brownie was broken. Hoping this would inspire Kenny to continue being my friend, even after Avery Creek.

Some hour & 15 minutes to complete the 3 mile hike-a-bike. All was well till a local Bio-Wheels rider made some comment of our route choice. This set me off - just keep your damn yapper shut if you don't have any encouraging words to say, damn local. So now pissed off and hallucinating a touch. I convinced Kenny that we should catch them before the end. Bombed Avery Creek and back tracked FS 5033. Map check. I wanted to see were I missed the turn 2 hours prior. Hammered Clawhammer road to Maxwell Cove road. Climbing with fury, I've seemed to not realize I was putting my own teammate in jeopardy of bonking. I had a renewed spirit of completing this son-of-a-bitch. Sharing encouraging words with Kenny to keep climbing it wouldn't be long till we would be done.

Around the corner look who is taking up the whole trail eating M&M's and looking like death, our local yapper smart ass. I slow down to share a comment on how bad they looked and slowed for Kenny to catch up. Apparently he could see my blue eyes turn red. Knowing this why we've been riding so hard up Maxwell Cove. Offering more encouragement, a push, more water & whatever it took to push ahead. A promised decent down Black Mtn. would be the reward. Beer never sounded soooooo good. Finished up with almost 10 hours of adventure in Pisgah Wilderness.
Survived On:
29" of Fury rolling 32x20
100oz. H2O
16oz Sustained Energy
3- Clif Bars
2 - Flasks of Hammer Gel (~10)
1/2- Brownie (Shared other 1/2 w/ Kenny - Peace offering for third navigational screw up)
12- Endurolyte Caps
0 - Mechanicals
36 - Map Checks
1 - Compass
2 - Small Navigational Errors
1 - Major Navigational Error
= 10 hours of Pisgah & probably somewhere around 70 miles

Dig The Ribbit

What a weekend to remember - well most of it.
Friday

6:30am - Happy 32nd Birthday to me. I awoke feeling more like 72nd BD.
Noon - Departure time to meet up with LeRoy for the trip to Copper Hill Basin.
2pm - Finally leave Cola. Total chaos with packing one car all to have forgot important stuff in another car that was occupied.
8:30pm - some 6 hrs of traveling, I'm finally at the Ocoee WWC and meeting our group of Asheville folk.
Saturday

3:30am - The rain starts falling and falling. (10pm "it will be raining you pansies" BrouSSard)

7:45am - Just one of 150 riders standing in the drizzle for the start of the 65 mile event "The Big Frog" the middle distance event of the Cohutta weekend. We started up the paved highway to spread things out. With no warm up this had to be a smart time of the day for me. Do I go hard and blow later or conserve a touch and survive? Made it to the Single track some riders back in a group of 15+. Rolling some sticky but super fun trails. A touch of wheels and I bobble into the woods. Lost my place in line and had to wait for a gap to hop back onto the trail. No real clue of where I was or where I was headed. First rest station at 17mi came quick. A right turn and up the gravel road. Gravel mile after gravel mile I climb. The rain had really made the FS roads slick and slow. The kind of mud that just wears you down. This was the first time I questioned my gear choice for the day.

9:45ish - Caught up with passing folks and really getting into the event. Realized I haven't had many calories since the start. Falling into my own pace, I caught up to several hot SS riders who had taxed themselves early. Luck me, I guess. Hooked up with another SS who was running a 32x16. My first response was "Crusher". So this fella and I switched around for a few hours. Pass and get passed.

11:00ish - Still going up or down a Gravel FS road in the mud with grit in my eye. My shades were worthless for the conditions. I would often catch geared riders on a climb, and then just ride away from them. All to have them cruise by in the big ring on the down hills. Finally really able to turn out some Power on the SS. With a slow cadence that kept ticking over with the cranks. It seemed to work well for me. A few times I would get off and walk. Only to get the blood flowing back to my feet again, and because the hill was just too damn steep.

12:00ish – Some 4:30 hours into this thing I once called a race, the first stages of a bonk starts. I haven’t seen any other riders for a while. Good and bad. Now I have no clue how far the next aid station is. I just plug along one pedal stroke at a time. Soon I begin to notice some FS roads I’ve seen before. It’s finally the end of the 34mi loop. This would be the lift I was looking for. The last section of single track was some fun stuff. Too bad I was blasted from the previous 6 hours of riding to fully enjoy it.

A secret goal of mine in all long distance races is not be chicked. Well all was well till the last half of single track. I heard this creaking bike coming up of a few switchbacks. Not yet sure as to whom it was. I started taking more risks on the descent. Popped out onto the final section of pavement and what you know she attacked me. This crazy chick drops some gears and attacked me. “Well Shit”, I only have one gear and it’s spinning as fast as I can without the cramps. I just laughed and fell happy to have not kisses the dirt all day. The effort was enough for a 3^rd place in the 65mile SS class and a possible top 20 Overall. Still waiting on the results to be posted.

After Thoughts:
1 - 70oz. bladder H2O
3 - 16oz. HEED
1 - Cliff Bar
1 - Flask of Hammer Gel
6 - Endurolytes
6 - Sugar Cookies
1 - Muddy 29er
1 - Gear
0 - Mechanicals
1 - HELL-OF-A GOOD TIME

Endurance Step 1

Well 5 days now to my first endurance challenge of the 2008 season. The Cohutta 65miler is on tap for this Saturday and all the anticipation is starting. What gear to run, pack no pack, what tires & how much pixie dust in my shoes? Yeah this feeling is something you never get enough of. After many endurance events I know one thing, go into the race to have fun and suffer. This being hard to image for some, at how one could pay to suffer and have fun doing so. Leave your expectations at the door. My inconsistent training has left my fitness level out of wack. This will just make for an interesting day on the bike. I'll try riding into a respectable fitness level during the race. It's been done before. Now off to clean the Rig and make a list of things I shouldn't forget to take.

Ebay Bound

Spring is here and it's time for a Spring Cleaning. Looking to get rid of some bike related stuff if anyone is interested let me know.

*Gary Fisher X-Caliber 29er - 17.5" (M) Frame - 2004 I think. Front Der. included. Bought this frame as a replacement for another. The frame has served me great. If you are wanting or thinking of going to the 29" platform this would be a great deal

*Independent Fabrication Steel Deluxe 26" - 17.5" Frame - Red/Sid Blue Fade. This a 1996 frame built of Reynolds 853 Steel. Canti brake bosses, sorry not disc tabs. This bike shows plenty of scuffs however thy are all cosmetic.

*Bontrager Race X Lite 31.8os Handlebar - Used normal scuffs around grip area, but no real scratches to worry about. I would still ride it for I prefer the Big Sweep Bar

*Power Tap Computer Harness - Brand New has been installed once but it's never seen the elements.

*Power Tap Rear Wheel w/ Campy wheel bag - PT hub is built up on a Mavic rim. Freehub is Shimano. This wheel has been hanging in this Campy bag for about 2 years.

*Shimano Road Shoes 44 - Near mint shape clean and they don't smell.

*Speed Play Zero Ti Pedals w/ cleats - Cleats have about 150miles on them. The pedals are few years old. They are in good shape would be great for a back-up bike if you already use SpeedPlays.

I'll follow up with some pictures soon.

Reincarnated

Meet my pup, Holly. Holly is a 6 year old German Shorthaired Pointer & reincarnated human. This dog truly believes she is human. This is not staged, she will sleep like this on occasions. Always keeping one eye open for an opportunity to play. Favorite activities include eating, sleeping, chasing her ball and or squirrels when provoked and digging in my flower bed.
I have tried to take her on bike rides but it's very aggravating. She has such a drive to hunt that she seeks out any varmint in the woods. I do on occasions take her for a bike ride around the neighborhood. I always wear a helmet with this beast. One pass across the front wheel and I'm a babbling idiot. She hit 22mph one night cruising around the block.

Happy Birthday Mom

Don't be Fooled

SpokeJunky this is for you to guess the location. One hint: coastal county. There were two gators in the water. Every few minutes a shoulder check and a head count. They usually sun on the bank right behind the EDM. This is about extreme as work gets.
Update 4/02: Location Raw Water Canal, Jasper Co. About 2miles east of Hwy 17. The structure to the left is a concrete flume that transports the river water over the swamp area. This water will travel East for 17miles before entering the Beaufort Co. raw water plant to convert it into drinkable water for the citizens of Beaufort & Jasper Co. So don't pee in the river, you may have to drink it.

SpokeJunky 's new handlebar mounted toy for his AM commute. Possibly NiteRider makes a bar mount for this WWII model. Good Luck with the commuting - stay safe.

Cashing in to be Cashed out

A little late to post on a weekend ride, but here goes it. I cashed in some honey-do credits this past Saturday for a day trip to Pisgah. After a few missed opportunities to hang with some like minded SS freaks, I desperately wanted to climb some mountains with one gear. Early to rise and head North on I-26 all to be the first in the Sycamore Cove parking lot.
A delay start due to a te-kill-a hangover by our ride organizer. At a social pace for the most part heading up Grassy Roads to Sycamore Cove. GR & SC to me brings back some great memories of my first Pisgah experience. If memory serves me right these were the first trails I ever rode in Pisgah. Not 100% on our route for I was high on excitement. It went something like a purge into North Slope (open seasonal) back up Grassy Road then up Black Mountain. The group went from 6 to 4 rider at this point. I believe this dropped us out on Maxwell Cove to Clawhammer. This is were the fuzziness starts. Somehow Buckhorn was involved and another accent up Black Mtn for the North side. Once our rag tag crew of 4 made the Black mtn lookout. It's been a long time since I've seen this view so clear. With the high pressure in the air the views were awesome - ridge after ridge one could see for many miles. Every time I close my eyes I still see that mountain range. Makes for a great soul cleanser. From here to the car all down hill for my first beer in three & half weeks. Then a refuel at the El Banditos in Brevard and drive 2.5 hours back to W. Cola. Gas is getting expensive but time like these makes it worth the price. Cashed out from the ride, what a great time.

Slacker

Finally got my lazy arse in gear and registered for the Cohutta. Plans were to attempt the 100 miler on the SS. With my innate ability to procrastinate to the highest degree, I let the hundie fill up. Well poop on me!!! Good thing, because I've also just started adding longer rides into my weekly agenda. Luckily there were plenty of spots for the 65 miler SS class. So I'll be competing against LeRoy - sorta. The Zen Mater Guy is in the open 65 class. Racing with the gearies, sounds like a page from the BrouSSard manual. So LeRoy it looks like I'll be hanging with ya'll heckling the hundies racers.

Update 3/23 - LeRoy has upgraded to the Hundie and has an entry to the 65 fo sale.

Harbison 3/15/08

Jason picking his way through the rock garden on Spider Woman.
Monty trying to widen the trail through the rock garden on Spider Woman.
Damon showing how his new Kermit Niner handles the Woman with Spiders.
Clint climbs his way out of Spider Woman.

Rattled

Friday was the end to a long work week, and I needed to reward myself with a quality ride. So I gave the road bike a once over and headed South. No real plan just a direction in hopes it would just work it's self into a decent ride. So it's 1pm on a Friday and most of the roads are in good shape as traffic goes. Navigating the back roads of Southern Lexington County. About two hours into the wind or cross wind. Turned around in Swansea and doubled back, hoping to the wind would give me a push home. Now with the tailwind the speed picks up a touch. Traffic was picking up but never nerve racking. Made for a pleasant 3:30 hour (57mi) ride and a great start to the weekend.

Saturday, meet up with Monty, Damon and Clint for an 8am ride at Harbison. Plan was to knock out a 4hr ride. First trail was Lost Creek and our group of four split. The World Cup warm-up Monty & Damon put down was not working for Clint & I. A regrouping at the trail head and back on course we go. We all headed down to Stewartship Trail, Gravel Road Loop and Spider Woman.

This for me is were is ride took a abrupt turn for the worst. I managed to get a touch out of control and lost my front wheel. The wheel slid off the shoulder and tossed me like a rag doll. The only thing I really remember is landing on my face. Stunned I try to stand and immediately have sit back down. Dizzy and confused of what actually happened. My chest was hurting and it was painful to breath.

Luckily I had three good friends around to recall what happened. Monty was on point at the time but Damon was following me and saw every. This is a section of the trail that doubles back on itself around a ditch, and Clint was coming up the other side. He also saw the whole thing. With there recounts of the incident I was able to put the pieces together. Front wheel broke off the shoulder OTB for me. An oak tree stopped the bike not sure how I missed this tree. I landed face first about 8-10ft. from the tree, flipped into a seated position and slid to a stop. All I remember of this is the impact and my neck cracking. You know the kind a popping when you crack a stiff neck or back.

A few minutes pass and I collect myself and slowly make our way down the trail. The rest of the ride was slow for me. Tightness in my chest mostly on my right side and a headache. I figured it was just bruising and to solider on. I managed another hour and a half before the end of the ride. Back at the front lot talking to Monty about the ride, I was looking at my helmet and noticed a crack on the front left. This happened to be the side I remember landing on. The helmet showed other signs of impact with dirt and a green scuff.

Now back at home I had to tell my wife that I crashed and landed on my head. This happens to be the second time in less than a week I've crashed and landed head first. Just last Sunday while riding the railroad tracks looking for an old trail system. My front wheel was kicked sideways and I ran into the rail. OTB and head first into the gravel rail bed. Rattled and scrapped but I was OK.

Worried that this might be a worse crash I alerted her to watch me for a while. Nervous moments for me as ate my lunch a splitting headache and blurred vision on my right side. Contemplated go to the ER, went to Web MD instead. Looking for a home remedy for a concussion. Iced the lump on my forehead and laid down. The headache went on for the rest of the night. Sunday I awoke to a very sore right side and clear vision.

Damage report:
Bruised right hip
Bruised and very sore rib cage
Sore Neck and Back
Sore Right Shoulder
Small Knot on forehead
A cracked Giro E2 helmet

A New Ride

Yes, another attempt at a new group ride. With the time change and the days are getting longer. I called out to a few folks about a weekly ride in the dirt at Harbison. The front lot was swarming with bikers & hikers at around 5:45, a good sign that the trails were in good shape. I knew Monty was already out on the trail and few others were possibly going to show.

Meet up with Monty out on Spider Woman and rolled back up Midlands Mtn to the front lot. All to see Damon and his new Kermit Green Niner. This was the madien voyage. Kermit is the replacement for Tang that blew off the truck on I-20 2 months ago. So the three of us waited till 6:35 and bolted.

Not sure how I always make into the point position leading the way. I think we hit Fire Break > Gravel Loop > Stewardship > Spider Woman > Crooked Pine > Midlands Mtn > Front Lot. Short ride but it's a start to the weekly attempt of getting friend together to ride. Just think in a month this ride will be in the 2hr range.

Another Night

Yet another night ride in Cola town with some HBW folks. With rain in the forecast for Friday, I had to knock out some quality. My usual commuting buddy had other plans so I was going solo. Made it over to the dam in time to meet 4 others (Paul, Dennis, Manny & Tim). The riverwalk was packed with people. That's what happens when it's 70* in early March.
We started out on the normal route up to Elmwood Cemetary, then to the parking garage on Marion St. From here the fellows gave me the lead. I love dragging these folks around town in the dark. Of course I'm going to hit every dirt/gravel road I can find. Random landmarks USC, Sarge Frye Stadium, Olympia, Olympia Mill, Congaree Riverfront, Cayce Riverfront & West Columbia Riverwalk. Split off from the group and headed over toward some hills. Hit up Westover Acres. So not bad for 2:45~35mi. Good thing because there will be no riding today. Crossing my fingers for more riding this weekend.