And so it began . . . .

Well, it actually began two weekends ago at the MASS relay. Met a large group of racers on the way to the MASS relay at the Wawa in Lancaster, which is a favorite meeting place when heading into Central PA. Quick run to use the bathroom, get some food, and we were on the way. Set up camp quickly among the C3 and Fast Forward Development team and rode a quick lap. Learned how much harsher the bike feels with a rigid fork and was surprised by the roughness of the trails as I remembered them to be pretty buff.

My team all rode well and came within 20 seconds of getting our last relay rider out for another lap. Next year . . . . . I felt good on the bike and as always, loved the trails on the Osterling farm. 16 minute laps with 45 minutes of rest made for some dead legs on laps 2 and 3, but 4 felt pretty good. Fully rigid on the rooty trails in Marysville, not so much (although my front tire choice was not so cushy either).

Sunday, April 11th was the first official cross country race and the venue was 15 minutes from my house, which is always a nice thing. Team Bike Line, along with Mother Nature did a great job in getting the course ready for the race. Just six weeks ago, the course had a foot of snow in places, so it was nice to have a superfast course to race. 62 guys lined up at the start of the Vet II sport race, the largest field in quite some time. I did my best to hold back at the start to avoid overextending myself. As we approached the first turn, I started to move up through the field, but there was still a very long way to go before we would hit singletrack. I could see my teammate Barry up ahead in the crowd and worked to get up to him, which took some time, ½ a lap actually. We then did our best to pass folks and move up in our field. We passed a lot of guys and ended up 9th/10th for the day, crossing the line together and letting the timer decide the winner. It was great to be racing with a teammate, because we both kept each other focused on moving up in the field. I suspect by the time we passed our team tent (first section of the course on the fireroad), we were in about 25th place, so it was nice to keep moving forward all race. Pass and zoom, pass and zoom. Lisa and Isabella made it out the race as well and enjoyed being outside. It was nice to see them at the start of the race and at the end of the first lap as well. Hopefully they can make it out to more races in the future. Props to Mark Sanford who won Vet I Sport on Sunday. You deserve it dude.

Now it is time to work on more training and conditioning in order to improve my placings. I am looking forward to courses with more climbing and technical sections. The Secret Henry’s Team had a good day, although I am not sure how good because I have not seen final results yet.

Gearing up

Prep for the 2010 race season has been going well. The snow has had an effect on everyone's training and has changed the way I have prepared from what I have previously done. I think that is a good thing. The changes in climate have allowed me to do some weight training and focus on specific types of training, training that should allow me to meet my goals this season. Junk miles are not really an effective way to train, but accumulating junk miles on a trainer are really a sad thing.

On the team front, things are going well. We have a core group of racers on Henry's that have some serious goals. A soon to be released website of the team will allow an up close and personal view of the team and where we want to be standing this season. It is good to be back in the folds of the organization that helped form my role in the community. The team is a melting pot of riders from other local teams, some defunct, so I share common backgrounds with many of these folks.

Things on the home front are going very well too. My daughter will start school in the fall, my wife is ever supportive of this insane training and racing lifestyle, and my 40th birthday went by without too much hassle.

Now I look forward to the season ahead, riding on some nice dry singletrack, and racing my mountain bike in about five weeks from now. I am looking forward to that day and now I am going to go do some more preparation work for that day.

Changes for 2010

I am pleased to announce I will be riding for Henry's Bike Shop, located in Wilmington, DE. I previously rode for Henry's in the past, first as a member of FSVS, then again years later in 2007 and 2008 when I returned to racing after a small break. I made a decision to leave the team in 2009 and spent a year with the Allied Milk squad. Things were great with Allied Milk. A great group of guys, all strong riders and great guys. Dan Conrad is a great guy and had a lot of passion for the sport and for his team.

But returning to Henry's was the right thing for me to do. Rick, Andrew, and Vince have always treated me well, heck Vince and Andrew play with my daughter on Saturdays when we sneak off to the shop after gym class. Being on Henry's is like having a second family for me. Being supported by them, even though I was not riding in Henry's gear, always felt a little dirty to me. And the team is taking on a renewed focus towards the Mid Atlantic Super Series. Rick MiHills is poised to make a return to MTB racing and that is a great thing. At this time, I have somewhat of a leadership position with the team and I like that aspect of it, being one of the drivers of the bus.

We also have two new riders this year that moved over from No Cents Racing. Barry Jones and Robert Baldoni have been racing with me for a few years now and I looked forward to seeing them at the races. Oddly enough, our relationship started a few years back when Barry was calling me out for being a sandbagger, a compliment that still makes me blush to this day. I have grown close to him after this event and I am proud for him to be a teammate of mine. Robert is a terror on the bike and he too will make a fine addition. Hopefully we can pull a podium sweep sometime this year - - that would be sweet. At this point, it looks like we will field a small team in the MASS and a separate Endurance team as well.

It is never too late to go home again.

Snotcycle Fail

As I sit here coughing, producing snot!, and feeling pretty crappy, I wonder if racing sick in cold, cold conditions is such a wise move in January. I guess the answer to "Are you going" will be made tomorrow morning. Off to drink some OJ and Cold Ease.

Year End Updates

Finally, after getting sick 3 times in the last four weeks, I went to the doctor, where I was prescribed 2 weeks of antibiotics. The whole family is on a similar program, because we have all been sick a lot. Turns out we all have sinus infections. Every time I got sick, I had the tell-tale signs but I have been trying to avoid all of the side effects of the antibiotics, unsuccessfully it seems. Mostly avoided them because I would recover quickly and the infection signs would go away. I am glad to be on them now as I could not shake the last cold and things were going downhill fast.

Looking forward to 2010, I placed my chips down for the Baker’s Dozen. In a moment of “delusions of grandeur”, I registered for the Cat 1 race, instead of trying to go back and repeat with a top sport finish. I could switch races, but that would cost an additional $15, so I think I will just tough this one out. Since my training has been derailed by snow, rain, and being sick, this will literally just be a ride in the park for me. The distances have been lowered from last year too, because a 28 mile race in January is too much! I do love the trails there on the farm though and cannot stay away. The promoter is running a 4 race series there, so I may be back for more of the same.

Christmas was good for everyone in my family. Isabella was very excited about all of her presents. I think she was most excited about the puzzles she received. She likes the toys, but really enjoys working out problems in her head, so she loves every puzzle she gets to build. On the two days following Christmas, the first thing she said to me was “Can we play puzzles Daddy?” We did.

Hopefully I can get out and ride soon, but I am not going to push it and end up sicker. Sadly our trails are perfect now that they are frozen, but more snow and rain are on the way, so this condition may be short lived. Bummer, but for now, I better stick to the trainer and weights.

Winter Wonderland, or how the deep snow allows me to do what I need to do to get ready for 2010!

Our area got hit big time with snow! Depending upon who you ask, there is anywhere from 12 to 20 inches of the white fluffy stuff. Riding outside on the road may take a few days as temps will be cold for quite some time. Riding off road will be next to impossible, as the trails are very covered and again, the temps will be cold for quite some time. Last year, after a large snow, I rode the same trail over and over in Middle run, about a mile out and back. It allowed me to get some outdoor riding in while others were stuck on their trainers. The section included a climb, so it was a really good training effect and I used it for about a week until the snow started to melt. I pretty much kept it to myself, but it was better than being on the trainer. I am not so sure I am as motivated yet this season, but there is a nice trail network closeby (Redd park) and I could ski or hike there first to push the snow down, then ride the MTB. It is actually a better option than the trail in Middle Run as it is a loop option, about a mile in length - - perfect short track training loop actually. Any takers to help mash it down?

I have taken a different approach with my off-season training from last year. I did not do any running this year, while I ran last year for about six weeks. It provided a good aerobic base and helped keep the extra winter weight off. I was going to continue to not run, but based on our recent weather, I am going to go ahead and do some running for the next month or so. It may be the only chance for outside activity in the near future, although I did see Euro Camp Bound Jeff Bahnson out riding his MTB yesterday.

I also wanted to do a regimented weight lifting program for 2010 and failed there too with only periodic and non structured weight training a few times and not in a regular pattern! Luckily, there is still some time and once again, the weather outside has provided an excellent opportunity to do some weight work. Last night, in addition to other lifts, I did dumbbell squats to failure and my legs locked up big time on the last set, just like they do when I am off the back on a group ride and trying my best to get back to the pack, so I think doing some weight work will help me for the racing season. I worried about being able to get upstairs after the last set, but in time the legs loosened up.

I registered for my first race of 2010 over the weekend, the Snotcycle at the end of January. I went back and forth quite a bit trying to decide if I would race this again, but it was a lot of fun last year and I would be sorry if I did not do it. The course is a good match for my riding style and it is a lot of fun. Perhaps this year there will be no snow on the course and it will be even faster than it was in 2009. I do know I need to take a different approach with hydration, because my bottle was frozen after one lap last year and I was really thirsty! In addition, there is a crit training series scheduled for an area not that far from me and I am looking forward to taking part in a few of these events. I have done training crits in the past, but had to drive for 90 minutes to get to them (T-Town). No info posted yet other than “Wilmington Training Crit Series”, but I keep checking back.

So to sum up, slow rides in the snow once I get the trail cleared, running, weights, and the first race of the season is five weeks away! Time to get moving.

More base, some weights, lots of road, little bit of trainer, and no MTB riding. Another cold set in Thursday, so I missed the best chance I had to ride my MTB this AM when the trails were frozen. Too warm tomorrow for trails, but hopefully the rain holds off for a bit and I can ride on the roads instead of the trainer. I actually have been enjoying my road bike. A lot.

Have to go do some more planning for 2010 . . . .and ride my trainer : (