Back where we started, here we go 'round again

Day after day I get up and I say Let's do it again, do it again, do it again. OK. Song over. Woke up early today to head out and do some start efforts as prescribed by Fat Marc. He suggest some short yet strong intervals to get the body used to the efforts. This is actually the second time this year I have done these and they are starting to feel easier. Not really, but I guess I am adjusting. I rode around the resevoir doing these efforts, so I could get a good rest in between. There must have been like 1,000 geese in the water up there and at one point, I must have scared them because they all started flying out of the water. The noises they made, both their "quack" and with their wings flapping was pretty amazing. Some folks live really close to the water and probably hate the noise, but it is better than a highway or a passenger train zooming by (been there!).

Another workout tomorrow morning followed by a mellow (advertised that way anyway) group MTB ride. First time I have ridden with anyone in like three months! I am looking forward to it.

Early Tuesday AM . . . . .

So on Tuesday, I was having a great ride at Middle Run before work. Trails were rock solid frozen with a coating of snow, but traction was even better because of the snow. About 30 minutes into it, the rear tire started feeling soft.

I have been running a Bontrager TLR wheelset and tire since March with no problems. Unfortunately, the Stan's Latex is also ten months old and did not seem up to the task of fixing the wheel. At least it did not at first. I turned the wheel so the leak was at the very bottom and the air stopped leaking. The tire was very soft by then though, so I had a choice to make. I took an inventory of supplies and I had 1 26 inch tube, 1 Co2, and 2 tire levers. My tubeless set-up has worked so well that I stopped bringing 2 air cartridges on rides. I even raced last Fall at Marsh Creek without a tube or Co2. My confidence had grown that much with the TLR set-up. After thinking about it for a minute or two, I decided I would shoot some air in the tire so I could continue my ride. Air it up. Hssssssssssss. Turns out the air stopped leaking because the snow filled the hole and the pressure was low enough that the air was holding until I put a respectable amount of air in there.

At that point, I decided I would put the tube in so I could continue to ride. I had some air left in the cartridge, so I went ahead and started taking the tire off the wheel. As the tire came off, much to my surprise I found this little guy ---------> living inside of my wheel. I also found some very thin Stan's fliud inside. I suspect this little dragon ate up a bunch of my fluid (look at how full his belly is!) and that is why the tire was not able to seal. Pesky little devil.

I had some trouble getting the 26 tube into the 29 wheel, but it went in finally. I aired it up and to my dismay, I did not have enough air left to fill the tire. I started to ride home, but the tire was very soft and in 200 feet, it was totally flat. Apparantly I pinched the tube when I re-installed the tire (or ten month old tubes taped to a stem do not remain to be good). Lucky for me the snowy ground mated well with a flat tire and I was able to ride home very slowly.

So now I will ride today with a regular tire and tube and hope that works out well for me. I need some new more Stan's latex and hopefully I will be able to patch the old tire with fresh fluid.

January Training Ho Hums

This week has been nothing but MTB rides, because the high has been 30 and the average has probably been like 15 degrees! It is good to get out and ride and the trails have been nice and frozen, but I do miss getting out on the road bike. Yesterday was 30 during my ride and it actually felt warm.

I signed up for the first race of my season too. Pretty early to race, but I would like to get the race experience under my belt sooner rather than later. The race is the Snotcycle in Leesburg, VA and will be held 1/31/09, rain or shine. There are no age classes, just Beginner, Sport, Expert, and SS. I will be in the Sport class with my gears, unless the temps are warm and the course is wet and sloppy. We shall see.

Hopefully I can work on more frequent updates.

Holiday Fun

So looking back, it is safe to say we had a great holiday this year. Isabella got a lot of stuff from Santa (so much that Santa put some to the side on Christmas eve). Her face was full of joy every single time she passed the Christmas tree, proclaiming "WOW" every single time. That never got old. Lisa and I really enjoyed Christmas this year with Isabella. It was a really good time.






She was a little unsure about opening presents too. She frequently tries to rip her books and always gets told not too, so getting her to rip open the wrapping paper was not an easy task, but we helped her and it went fine.



We had family over too for breakfast and dinner. Dinner was really easy, because everyone else cooked and we just made some vegetables. Here we are a week later and I think Isabella still has some stuff she has not played with yet.



One of her favorite presents from Santa was her princess couch/bed. She tries to sleep in it every night, despite it being less comfortable than her own bed!


So now I just have to get though year end at work and continue with my training. Base 1 is already over and we are one week into Base 2. Fitness seems to be coming along well and the season schedules should be out soon, so once I know when all of the races are scheduled, I will finalize my training plan.


Happy New Year to all!