And then the snow came . . . . .

Riding has been good lately. I managed to ride with one other person last week and we had a great ride. I went on a group ride the weekend before and that was a blast. And then the snow came . . . . .

Conditioning is coming along. I have been getting in a mix of trainer rides and mtb rides. Cyclocross bike is built up and ready to be ridden on a homemade course right across the street. And then the snow came . . . .

I planned on getting the road bike out next week for my Wednesday rides. I planned on my typical Maryland farm ride out by Fair Hill. And then the snow came . . . .

I am in my second week of base. Yeah, it seems early, but I want to be at my best in early June and then again in September. And then the snow came . . . .

Yeah, you could say I hate the stuff. I mean, I enjoy XC skiing, but there is no way to ski in this little bit of frozen crust.

Testing, Testing 1, 2 , , 1,2

No, not microphone test, LT test. Did a 20 minute LT test to set heart rates and training zones on Saturday. Was a bit lower that I thought it should be, but I got a lot farther in 20 minutes than I expected, so I think that was a good thing. I rode farther in this off season test than in my 20 minute intervals last season, so I think I am heading in the right direction.

MASS races are posted, 2011 goals are set and the training plan is mapped out. Trying some new things for 2011 and hopefully I hit upon something good. In 2010, racing started out good, but fizzled out by early sunner. I am currently being tempted by two bike racing related things: Snotcycle is open for business and taking accepting restrigations daily, so I think I am headed there. The other is reading about all this cyclocross racing has put me in a place where I think I will try and race one of these late season, less than serious races (or more likely, take the cross bike out once a week for some specific workout I can do on a cross bike).

Broken Stuff

I should post a pic of this, but my scandium hardtail is broken. Nice crack along a weld, I am sure it will be covered under warranty and the manufacturer has a new design from the one I am riding, but with this being frame #2 broken for me, I am not so sure about me on a scandium frame. The first one lasted almost two years and this one lasted 18 months, but it saw a lot of use in those 18 months and about 25 races. I have a really important race in two weeks, so I have to see what I can do for that race. More than likely, I will use it in the race but train on another bike. Highly doubtful I can get a replacement in two weeks. Sadly, Atomic blue is no more, so it will be white, orange (no freaking way as #1 was orange!), or raw.

On the same "broken" theme, I rode up on a local guy today with a broken leg. I should post a pic of this, but 1) I do not have one and 2) it was gross! He was on the phone with 911 when I rolled up and asked me to wait at the road for the rescue crew to get there. After waiting a bit, Meinrod (no stranger himself to a broken leg) came running up saying the ambulance crew called and they were waiting at the crosswalk where I was standing. Huh? Some quick riding later and I found they were not at the other cross walk either (Pleasant Valley Road and Creek road). Turns out they went to Carpenter State Park. Lucky for the rider, a ranger was alerted to the situation by another rider, came along and radioed to the emergency crew the scene of the event. The rider was wheeled out on a one wheel stretcher that the trail spinners had recently donated to the fire house. The lower leg was broken in half and it was flopping all over the place . . . ewwww. Glad to see his sense of humor all the way though, until they had to move him. The EMT asked that the rider not hit him because it was going to hurt!

Thanks Meinrod for helping out here too. It does not seem like too many people wanted to help out.

Been like three weeks . . . .

Fair Hill did not work out so well for me. Hung tough in the beginning, sitting in the top 7 guys, feeling good in the singletrack for the first two miles. Got out into the open section and while I still felt good, everyone just rode away from me on the road sections. One guy, Danny Deo, even asked me if I was OK, which I thought I was at the time.

Continued to get dropped bad and about six miles in on an incline, everything fell apart. Looking back, it was heat but when I was in the middle of it, it was just suckness. While climbing a small series of inclines (three sisters for the locals) I just lost everything. Head hurt, stomach hurt, but worst of all, I had zero power in my legs. Started drinking, picking up onopened gels from the trail, and all water bottles I found on the trail were poured over my head. At the ten mile mark, I refilled my bottles and poured water over me. At mile 12ish, I started to feel better and started joking with the riders around me. If a top finish would be out of the question, I would have fun anyway. I continued to have a good time on the racecourse and started passing people again. So much fun, alternating between drinking, passing others, laughing, and making up nicknames for people, like "Pro Trials", some guy who pulled off a 20 foot "crashing" nose wheelie without crashing. I eventually rode away from the laughing crowd and finished 18 of 32 riders, not bad considering 2 guys jumped me in the last 200 feet when I had nothing. It was my worst finish of the year and forced me to not race the next two series races. I am in the process of figuring out the rest of the season right now and feeling stronger on the bike than I did a few weeks ago. I have not ridden my geared bike since that race though and have not really trained since that race.

My overall position in the series in going to be out of the top ten. I have not have the same results as last season for a number of reasons and while I struggled with that in July, I am ok with it now. Having a point series is a good thing, but worrying about points and rankings lead to things like six hour round trips to race for two hours or less.

Let's see if I can put something together to finish the season strong. Or at least to race a few more times.

About to embark

on one of the three big races here in my home state. Nice when the venues are 10 minutes away by car. It has been a long season, some ups, some downs. Many just one away from the podium, one podium (at French Creek!), then some not as good finishes. Every year it seems to get easier, then harder. Something about me and summer racing does not go together well.

But Fair Hill, Fair Hill usually treats me well. I like the endless miles of singletrack, up, down, back, forth, all over trails I have ridden hundreds of times and never get bored of. Spent a lot of time at the place the last two months, pre-dawn rides all over the place, using the stinky porta-potty one morning, solo rides, rides with team bike line, some geared, lots of singlespeed. Sometimes I forget what a treasure the place really is at times. THE best riding nearby, with apologies to Iron Hill (THE 2nd best place by a small margin).

Speaking of singlespeed, I am going to go against the grain and actually racing my normal geared bike. Like to race on a SS there, last year was the 26er TREK STP experiment there while recovering from swine-flu (although I do feel another 26er experiement coming soon, still have the scandium Kona in the basement, anyone have a SID for sale?) Kidding . . . . . I think.

I am hoping for a top ten finish today and it is there for the taking. Felt miserable last week, tired, too many hours at work, and hated the bike. Rode yesterday and the legs felt incredible. Best they have all year. Worked hard to get openers done, yet keep the legs in good shape. This series we call the MASS is ending soon, three more for me (Fair Hill today, Marsh Creek next week, and the finals at Bear Creek). Hoping to find a race or two in August, but we shall see.

Cyclocross? Not for this rider. Too long of a season and have fallen out of love with it. It's OK, as I tell the 15 people that ask me at every MTB race. It's OK. I think the cyclocross question is asked more than "Where is your singlespeed today?", not sure which of the two I am most identified with, even though I have not raced cyclocross since 2006. I guess that happens when you are part of the best cyclocross team in the region at the time (RIP, FORT-GPOA!) But I cannot be away all year racing my bike, so I have to choose and MTB is #1 for me. Not saying I will not "race" the practices if I can find some, but . . .

I will report back on my success from today. If I can get up on the podium, great! If not, I will use it as training and fuel, because this is not my last rodeo by far, even though I thought it might be on Wednesday. Amazing how easy it is to bring yourself down because of a bad MTB race or two.

So still searching for that elusive podium and knowing I will be up there again before the end of the year.

Andrew Mein's Amazing Adventure

Or the race formally known as "Escape From Granogue"

I just love racing at Granogue. The course is very special to me, very peaceful, and very fun. I hear comments about the course like "It is very technical" or "It is one of the hardest courses in the series", etc. I really do not think it is either, but I am not going to sell it short and say it is easy, because it is not. This course has a lot of climbing (Barry, do you have a GPS track for this course??), a little bit of rocks, and lots of fun sections of singletrack. I cannot ever remember having a bad race here, but I certainly can remember finishing one spot away from awards many, many times. 2010 was no different.

The week prior to the race, I injured my back while working on a home improvement project with my father involving a toilet and a lot of wet flooring that had to be replaced. I was concerned about racing in my geared class, so I opted for the SS class. Seemed to make sense to me because I can control the hurt while on a SS. Back was better prior to the race and I was second guessing myself, but went with it anyway. The SS class is chock full of talent and it was easy to see who the ballers were on the start line. I have a history of racing singlespeeds, even though I have not in over two years. Many times guys see me racing on a geared bike and ask me about the singlespeed. Going back to SS, none of those guys asked me about gears, just welcomed me back into the fold. Starter said go and I did. One guy was a major turbo off the line and I went for his wheel, but decided to let it go. I maintained 2nd for a little bit (real little), fell over, and dropped back to somewhere around 8th. That will happen when you fall in the first mile of a race. I rode the rest of the first lap not passing anyone and not being passed either. and wheel to wheel with the top ten guys. I was hurting. Bad. A 52" gear is not the best choice for this course, but I went with what I had on the bike rather than switch something out at the last minute. On the 2nd lap, I felt much better, rode with Mark Sanford a bunch (which was new for me, but since he started 2 minutes back and does not like wet technical courses, it makes sense). I went back and forth with another SSer all race and he rode away from me in the last 1/2 mile of singletrack. Turns out he was the fifth place rider and got the last step on the podium. He deserved it!

Came home, took the singlespeed apart, and plan on racing a geared bike for the rest of the year. My hats off to you SS guys. I hurt worse at Granogue than I have all year. I am doing well in the points for Vet II sport and need to remain focused on that class.

Next up, French Creek. Not wishing any bad luck for the promotors, but I hope it gets very wet for the race, as wet, slippery, climby, and technical are the best days for me. The weather forecast for the day of the race is: RAIN! Yay.

See you out there?????

Come and Gone

Last year I purchased a copy of Joe Parkin's book "A dog in a hat". This book has become one of my favorite books and I read it about once per month. It is a fairly fast read and hard to put down once I start. Sure, I know what happens next, but I seem to enjoy it every single time regardless of how many times I have read it. The joy of experiencing life through two wheels is captured well by Joe and his descriptions of making a living as a pro cyclist in Belgium makes one want to cross the ocean and give it a try for themself.

Last Friday when I got home from work, Joe's new book "Come and Gone" was there. I cracked it open at 6:00 PM and by 11:00 AM the next day, I was reading the final words. The book is that good. While the first book was about Joe's early bike racing experience and upgrading to a professional cyclist in Belgium, the second book penned by Joe is about his return to the US and racing there, both on the road and later as a mountain biker (with a bit of cyclocross thrown in for good measure). It is interesting to read about the differences with pro life in Belgium VS in the US. He also returned to the US when the economy was not doing very well and sponsorships were getting harder to find.

Now both of these books are on my list of favorites and I find them equally entertaining. Joe experienced things I will never experience, yet reading about them inspires me to try and experience some of them. I highly recommend the book. I hear Mr. Parkin is now editor of BIKE magazine, making me wonder if that publication is worthy of my purchase these days.