Showing up when you don't want to

It's not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. -Anonymous

I planned to ride the local YMCA sponsored group ride since early August. It was right after I had done a whole bunch of rides and I was overflowing with confidence. That was before I started my new job and realized that I just didn't have time to ride as much as I thought I would.  I have been so inconsistent with my rides that doubt crept into my brain all week. It reached it's peak on Wednesday when I tried to do a ride on the trainer and quit in 10 minutes. It was a mental and physical struggle to even think about riding, so I bailed out on what was suposed to me my last training ride for the 80 miler I had on the books for today. On  Friday night I wasn't sure I wanted to even show up, but something motivated me and I found myself packing up all my stuff so I could sneak out of the house at 6:15am.

I would have kicked myself it I hadn't shown up, so I thought I would give it the 'ole college try. My only bail out option was the 65 miles turn off, so I decided to take it mile by mile and see how it went. I did at least take care of myself all week trying to stay hydrated. It's so easy for me to forget to do that, so at least I made an attempt to increase my odds of finishing.

As I lined up at the starting line, it was a sea of spandex. Muscle toned freaks in team jerseys, tri bikes, water bottles, gps units, and shaved legs. Here I was with hairy legs and full of doubt wondering when I would be dropped and forced to suffer a solo slog on the back roads of NC and SC. The start was moderately fast. 18mph then slowly creeping up to 20mph. I wasn't sure what to do as my solo rides have been around 18mph. In a group ride I can generally go up 2-3mph without too much suffering with the aid of the draft but not for 80 miles. I decided to try and hang on. Mile 10, turned into mile 20, then 30 and I was feeling generally great. At mile 37 I had to make a decision as that was the last turnoff for the 65 milers. I was hanging good with 7-8 bike team members, so I really didn't hesitate at the turnoff. I was going to do the whole enchilada. Then it happened, everyone turned right except for 3 team riders and me. It was the 4 of us. There was a ton of miles ahead and I really didn't want to solo 45 miles, so another decision. Try to hang with these guys or turn back. By now my legs were feeling the twinges of cramps, but I decided to try and hang on. As a mountain biker, I'm really enjoying learning the rules of road biking like how to draft, taking turns pulling at the front of the pack. Its a total adrenaline rush. I love it. Through 51 miles I was able to pull a 20.3 ave. which if you asked me before the ride would have been a joke. I was hoping for a 16/17 ave. After that I let the team riders go and suffered by myself for a little while.

The next 15-20 miles was mostly solo, but I could occasionally hook up with some other riders at the rest stops where I filled myself with bananas and orange slices. Mmm tasty. Overall, I never really cramped that bad and although I was suffering, it was totally manageable. I'm convinced the SportLegs capsules I was taking every hour kept me from totally bonking. My speed dropped significantly without the aid of drafting, but overall I ended up with an 18.3 ave., which was far better than I expected. If you re-read the quote I started with maybe now it makes a little more sense. I was so convinced that I was not able to do the ride, when all I had to do was try. I'm so glad that I did. This was the longest ride I've ever done. I wanted to get to 100 to make it a true century, but that will have to wait until another time. Good times on the road today.

Limitless

The two weeks have been fantastic. FANTASTIC. In a lot of ways I felt like kid again. Although I had a lot of personal stuff to take care of, I set aside a good amount of time to play, and play I did. Here's what I've been up to over the past several weeks (lots of pics).

Before I get started, I have to mention that after a few days off of work I felt limitless. Did you see the movie? I had ridiculous amounts of energy that allowed me to play for part of the day and be responsible the the other part. It was great. Mine was done without the aid of a little pill however.

Limitless Trailer

I couldn't help but remember the beginning to my journey as I watched the trailer. I got slammed in the eye and stung by a bee my last week of work. I looked super awesome. this picture was before it turned black and only really shows the swelling.

My excuse for looking like this, I'm an engineer (who likes to ride his bike).

It all started with a trip to Roanoke. The wife had a girls weekend in Christiansburg and I was going up to Roanoke to pick up a new mountain bike I has in the works since April. All my bikes are typically black, so I went a little crazy with this build and went with purple and gold. I was really excited the way it turned out.

Purple Santa Cruz Tallby LT (TBLT)

Right after picking the bike up from the shop, I headed out to my favorite riding spot in Roanoke. North Mountain. This is the same trail I did the Dragon's Tale race on in April. This time however, I'd be riding up to the ridge from the other direction. Out of the parking lot I saw that the trail was extremely overgrown with briars and stinging nettle. I'd come to regret that later, but I had a nice ride on North Mountain. I didn't feel all that great on the climbs, so I held back a little and took the road back to my car knowing that I had another ride planned for later in the day.

The 2.2 miles up to Deer Trail killed me, but the descent was great and allowed me to test out the big suspension on the TBLT. I was a little tentative on the way down due to storms that took a lot of trees down, but I made it out without incident. EXCEPT for the fact that I got a tick on the ride that I didn't notice until dinner. I hate ticks.

I love going to Roanoke. Not only is it a great place to ride a bike (any kind of bike), but my kids also love to go. My in-laws live in South Roanoke, so it's an awesome location to get some decent road rides or even mountain bike rides out the door. The in-laws are great with the kids and a super accommodating by allowing me to sneak out for some rides. My wife's brother and his family also live in Blacksburg, so it's always a good time to get the cousins together as well.

Just before dinner one night, I snuck out for a ride on Mill Mountain. I can ride to these trails from there house and they are surprisingly good. Really good for bing right next to downtown Roanoke. 

Junk Car Trail on Mill Mountain

It wasn't all about biking though. I had a great time at the park with the kiddos too. This park was at the Elementary School the wife went to as a kid. 

The kids loved the tire swing.

On the turf with their cousin.

Afterwards, we went to 7-11 for some Slurpees. That certainly made me feel like a kid again!!!

After returning to Charlotte, I used Monday to get some personal stuff done. I needed to get my drug screening for the new job done and I had some weeding to do. I had just received a nasty gram from the homeowners assoc. that the weeds next to my mailbox were to the level of a warning. Sheesh. I went medieval on those weeds and then took it upon myself to paint the mailbox, cut some stencils, and re-paint the house numbers on the paper holder. Way more ambitious than I would get under full time employment. Limitless!.

The next day I headed to the Uwharries for another spin on the mountain bike. I intended to head up to Pisgah, but just wasn't feeling up to it. The Uwharrie trail system is much more forgiving if you're having a bad day. As it turned out, I hd a pretty good day on the bike.

Stopping for some fuel.

My eye finally healed! just in time for the new job!

In addition to the mailbox, the back part of my yard hasn't seen any work in 4-5 years. The tree in the picture below wasn't even visible. This work took be the better part of two days and consisted of me getting destroyed by mosquitos one night and attacked by fire ants the next day. Oh yeah, remember the stinging nettle from Roanoke? That destroyed my legs too. So for the record, stinging nettle, ticks, mosquitos, and now FIRE ANTS. I'm also super allergic to anything that itches so I was a real mess. As I write this days later, the itching is only now bearable.

Yard Project.

I also had a great breakfast with E at the Flying Biscuit after a ride on the Greenway. It so rare that we actually eat by ourselves quietly. It was great.

Biking with E on the Greenway.

After all that, and on a whim, we packed up and headed to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. The kids loved it.

A loving it.

L loving it.

T loving it.

This was a cool restaurant at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle. We didn't go, but this looked like something that needed to be in Vegas. After 5 years in Hilton Head, which has nothing like this, we had a good time with the kids.

The girls enjoying their treat on the boardwalk.

Burying A int he sand. She loved it.

T Cannonballed for hours.

L rode the water slide a lot. So did I.

For my last hurrah, I drove up to Lak Norman for a ride on the trails there. I've been wanting to do that for years, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was a perfect day ont he trails. Mid 70's for the entire ride. Nice.

 Figuring out the trails

 Enjoying a break by the lake.

Wish I had time to kayak

After all that, it's time for bed. I have a new job to start tomorrow. :-)

New Beginnings

After I graduated college and starting working for the man, my mom bought me this motivational picture and frame. I used to have it on my desk at my first job, but it has been hidden in a cabinet for the last 7 years or so. After last week, I though of it immediately and went right to its location and pulled it out.

sorry for the bad photo.

The reason it is so relevant is that I quit my job at Honeywell last Monday. I have spent the last 8 years there and now I'm starting a new position on August 1st. It's a little hard to move on but comes at the right time and I'm very excited. 

As I touched on in my last post, I really haven't been riding as much as I would like to. My fitness has suffered as a results, but that's ok. I needed a little down time. Realizing that I'll need my fitness in a few months for our annual trip to Pisgah, I started a pseudo plan to get my legs back. It started on Friday with an invitation from my coworker for a group bike ride. I was reluctant to go because my current level of fitness and group rides are not exactly complementary. I decided to give it a go for two reasons. 1) I really like the dynamic of a group ride and 2) I wanted to get a true feeling for how in or out of shape I was.

I have only done 1 group ride before and it was an all out suffer fest. I tried to hang on to an "A" group with an average of 22-23 mph. It was hard, but I loved it. I got dropped on that ride, so I had that in the back of my mind as I considered doing another one (in worse shape). The ride email said 19/20 mph average which I knew was at my threshold. I could barely hold 17/18 on my solo rides and "my" rule of thumb is +2mph for a group ride with the benefit of drafting. Nevertheless, it was still on the edge of my capabilities, but I showed up at 8:30am anyhow.

The ride started off tame which was great. Sometimes you're sucking wind almost immediately. I was able to get warmed up without too much trouble and was even able to hold a conversation for the first 8 miles. Around mile 10 and on the open road is when I started to crack. We were hitting 21-22 in the straights and I just couldn't hold the wheel of the person in front and was dropped slowly off the back. I considered quitting, but I was able to keep the pack within reach and rejoined at the next stop light. Over the next 10 miles I hung on as best I could, but it wasn't a matter of if, rather only, when I wold be dropped. Around the half way point, I lost contact with the group and my group ride turned into a solo effort from that point forward. I was also the furthest I'd ever ridden from home on roads I wasn't familiar with. Luckily, I had my Garmin to guide me home.

I had been keeping tabs on my physical needs all morning. It was really hot, so I was drinking and taking supplements to keep on top of it. After getting dropped, once I found my route home on my GPS, I stopped for a minute, took another salt tablet and drank the rest of bottle #1 and slogged it back to the car. After downloading the ride, I was very happy with the data. I averaged 18.4mph over 34.5 miles. Not the best ride ever, but not the worst either. with some proper rides over the next few weeks, I should be back in shape in no time. Let's see how that holds up.

Focus Pocus

Focus. Somewhere between April and June, I lost focus on my plans for 2012. In business terms, I had a terrible second quarter. The kind of quarter where you have to look back and ask "what happened?". I started off the year great with the off road tri, the Charlotte 10 miler, and then the Dragon's Tale and then flamed out. There's a reason for that which I'll get to later. Mentally, I just needed to check out for a little while. I kept a decent base of cycling, but gave up running completely. That's ok with me though. I really love mountain biking and have gotten in a decent amount of trail so far this year. 

My mountain bike project is nearing completion and should be done towards the end of July. I'm really excited about a longer travel full suspension 29er. More details on that coming soon as well.

I've also discovered Strava in the last few months. I really love this app since it works with any GPS enabled device. Your phone, or in my case, my garmin tracks your ride (or run). The cool thing about it is that it tracks your performance over segments (either ones you create or ones that the community creates). You get awarded PR's, and performance medals to keep your motivation high. The more I use it, the more I like the features. Garmin should pick up this company to make Garmin Connect even better. Well, I say that, but it would probably kill the spirit of Strava, so maybe its better that they innovate on their own. Anyhow, I love their app, so I thought I'd pass it along.

I just got back from our annual trip to Hilton Head Island. We've been going there for 5 years now. It's hard to believe it's been that long. The kids are growing up so fast too. All of them were babies when we first started going. Mommy and Daddy were even enjoyed the vacation this year as the kids are soooo much easier to handle than the little ones who ate sand, threw fits, and cried all night. What an awesome time at the beach. It was my first vacation of the year and man I needed it.

Harbour Town Lighthouse.

Bike Project TBLT Greenlighted an Saturday Solo

I've been busy the past several weeks figuring a few things out. For the past three weeks, I've been battling a non-illness that has made me pretty lethargic. Lack of energy, mild headaches, explosive diarrhea. Ok, I'm kidding on the last one there. I think it explains my brain cloud post a few weeks ago. Maybe allergies, I dunno, but whatever it was, I'm ready to turn the page. After this weekend I feel like the positive energy is flowing.

I've been motivated lately to sell off some (more) bike stuff. This weekend I sold another bike, my road bike, so the list is up to:

1. Trek Mountain Bike
2. Trek Road Bike
3. Mountain Bike Wheelset
4. 2 Mountain Bike Tires
5. Shimano MTB Crank

The green machine and the one on the far right of the photo are gone. With the influx of old bike ca$h, I've been plotting what to do next. Lately, I've been enjoying going downhill more than uphill. I'm less interesting in the racing scene this year and more interested in the smile on my face. When I bought my "race" bike I struggled with the 80mm suspension decision. It was a step backwards from my 120mm Trek, but moving to a 29r platform picked up the gap nicely. My Jet9 is an awesome bike and I still love it, but I'm still wanting a larger cushion in the mountains, so I pulled the trigger on Project Santa Cruz.

Let's just say that Santa Cruz released a bike on April 1st that I haven't been able to pull out of my head. It's a 135mm (5"+) long travel bike. It's been so popular that the wait is currently out to August for custom builds. Since I'm always tinkering, I decided to wait for the frame only option so that I could build it up the way I wanted it. A lot of stuff I own is black. Its a neutral color that I tend to gravitate towards. I don't know why, but I'm forcing myself to try something different on this project. PURPLE. That's right, I'm going with a purple themed Santa Cruz Tallboy LT (TBLT). It's supposed to look something like the photo below.

Because the wait is so long, I decided to get an early start on the wheelset. Purple I9 hubs laced to Stans ZTR Flow rims. I just got the email on Friday that they are done and the photo looks fantastic. The good news is that I can run them on my current bike while I wait.

I can hardly contain my excitement for the frame. Over the next several weeks I need to pick out the rest of the parts for the build. Very exciting for me. For you, probably not so much unless you like riding your bike down the side of a mountain like me.

In other random news, I was able to test a new product out over the weekend. I struggle with cramps in longer endurance events and if I don't pay attention to it, it completely cripples me. During the Dragon's Tale race, with less than 5 miles to go, I had to climb over a guy completely destroyed my muscle cramps. He was literally writhing in pain in the middle of the trail. just so you don't think I'm a total jerkface, someone was already helping him. I've been THAT GUY so many times before. Now, I'm smarter and rely on electrolytes to keep replenishing the stuff that is lost through sweat. This product has a minimalist concept. Why include other stuff you don't need and I like the idea so I picked up a bottle of Salt Stick caps at REI.

The first ride was a success. I decided to only take one of these before my 25 mile solo EPIC on Saturday to see how well it would perform. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but hot enough to have an effect over an extended ride. I had a great ride and pushed it at probably 90-95%. I never had a inkling of cramps until I stood up on the pedals on the gravel road back to the car. Before I declare success on the new fuel, I'll need another long ride in Pisgah to test my limits.

Saturday was a great day to ride!!! :-) I snuck out early on Saturday to hit the Uwharrie National Forest. 

Brain Cloud

For the past week and a half I've been in an inexplicable grey area. After surviving the Dragon's Tale race, I have lost a little energy. Last week I had absolutely no motivation to do anything and although I felt tired, every time I went to sleep, I found my mind racing about nothing in particular. The office didn't help either. I'm used to a lot of audible distractions in office since I work in a cube farm, but this past week was especially bad. In order to add another row of cubes, my office was running a metric ton of copper wire. All week the scissor jack motored back and forth while some guy drilled, snaked, pulled, yanked and dropped white cables all over the freakin' place. Just when I felt like I was being productive the lift would appear, rise up, yank on some cables, drive 1 ft., yank on some cables, yank some more, drive 1ft. yank, drive, yank, bzzzz, pffft, zrrrr, kshhhkshhksh, vrrrr. HOLY LORD!! At one point a maintenance worker felt the need to use the lift to change a light bulb which resulted in a 2000 point turn in someones cube to achieve the optimum light changing altitude and angle. Pandora was a life saver this week, but this didn't help my state of mind. It was clear I had a brain cloud.

Scissor Lift Jerkface

The cure seemed pretty simple. Just hit the trails, so that's exactly what I did on Saturday morning. Rain battered the Charlotte area on Wed. and Thurs., so my first choice was closed. I decided to hit Sherman Branch which is always fun. I haven't been there in ages, so it's always fun to discover a few new surprises. There were two new ladder drops that I didn't brave today. Maybe next time.

Bamboo Forest

Log Ride - A balance test. Yes I rode it. :-)

I planned on staying out for a 2 hour ride, but after the first lap I knew I didn't have it in me. I still had a great ride, but have a little more work to do to completely clear my brain cloud. 

In other news, I sold a bunch of bike stuff last week, including my 2008 Trek Fuel EX8. I'm a little sad to see this bike go.

Trek Fuel on a trip up to Mt. Mitchell.

This bike has a ton of significance to me. It brought me out of retirement as I rode myself back into shape. I did my first ORAMM on this bike back in 2009. It's an awesome bike and I will miss it. Now that it's leaving, I'm finding myself looking at long travel 29ers way too much. This bike descended like a runaway train on rails. It was especially adept in the rough stuff and I miss a lot of that extra travel on my current bike especially in Pisgah. I also learned how to repair everything on this bike. After too many bike shop incidents on this bike, I became determined to do all my maintenance myself. Since doing that, I haven't had one single issue. In 2010, I tore the entire suspension apart to replace all the pivot bearings that had seized from too many water crossings. it was a fun project. In a few weeks I have to say goodbye to a great bike.

Enjoy the Journey

I read an article this week in the Charlotte Observer that resonated with me.

Charlotte man makes one more run at the Olympics

It's not that I think I can make a run at the Olympics. My Olympic DNA has been dormant since the late 70's. I'm not winning anything and I'm ok with that. Most of the stuff I do is just because I like a challenge. I do it because I like it and I like to push my limits. I'm not a good quitter and there have been many times I wanted to quit. I've found that I can go well beyond many boundaries as long as I have the right attitude.  You've heard it before, it's all mental.

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory" - Mahatma Gandhi
I love that quote. For this week, I shall enjoy the journey. The only problem is I'm not sure where I'm going or when I need to get there. I'm in a state of ambiguity. This year I decided to try a few different things. After doing the off road tri, a 10 miler, and the Dragon's Tale mtb race I'm out of ideas. I'm thinking about trying to race in the summer mountain bike series here in Charlotte. Mostly just to keep in shape and have some fun. It starts on April 18th on the trails next to my office. How can I pass that up. Time to file a authorization request into house management.

I leave you with these tidbits from an Olympic hopeful....


ENJOY THE JOURNEY

David Hepp, 38, has returned to elite whitewater canoe racing after a seven-year retirement and hopes to make the U.S. Olympic team. His advice for any older athlete who wants to return to playing a sport more competitively:

• “Do it because you love it. Enjoy the journey, wherever it takes you.”

• “If you’re burned out on one sport, pick up something else that’s totally new – maybe something you can do with a group to help with motivation.”

• “When you’re training, go slower to avoid getting injured. Some days I just admit ‘I’m tired’ and we stop earlier. I never used to do that.”

• “Practice enough so you’re not going to embarrass yourself.”

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/04/09/3160541/charlotte-man-makes-one-more-run.html#storylink=cpy

Dragon Battle

It was a little harder to walk down the stairs this morning. The battle with the dragon proved harder than I anticipated. It was a hard day on the bike indeed. For the impatient readers, my unofficial time was 6:26 over about 37 miles. The day started with a 45min drive over to New Castle from Roanoke where I was staying. After fumbling around for a bit, I spotted some bike toting vehicles and followed them into the staging area. I was checked in and ready to go by 9am, but had an hour to waste, so I snapped this picture and sat on my minivan looking like a tool for 59 minutes.

I think I was probably the only person driving a minivan. In my immediate vicinity, everyone was riding carbon and XTR or better components. There were some serious racers in the house. I don't know why, but my nerves started to get to me. It was probably all the waiting around; I just wanted to get moving to settle down. After messing around with my smartphone and using the bathroom like 10 times due to maximum hydration issues we soon started rolling out with the pace vehicle for the neutral start.

There was about 4 miles of pavement before the pace truck pulled off are the race began. It was a full on sprint on that fire road. The race description warned of a stream crossing so I was expecting it when it came up. I rolled through it no problem (or so I thought). Then, 5 more stream crossings came. I was pegged near my threshold, so when some guy cut me off in the water I was thrown off a bit. I spent the next mile or so just trying to get the heart rate down knowing that a beast of a climb (Grouse Trail) was coming up. Here's where my first mechanical started to affect me. During the stream crossings, I washed off all of my chain lube and I started to experience the dreaded chain suck. I was in for a long day if this was starting already. After a half mile up Grouse, I couldn't take it anymore, flipped the bike and blasted it with a stream of water from my camelbak podium bottle and was back rolling in short order. Problem fixed, or at least my drive train wasn't locking up anymore. I rocked it up Grouse, only having to walk a few of the switchbacks and a rather nasty section that I was not looking forward to a second time. Once at the top of Grouse, I took a right and headed over to Deer trail. I have ridden this trail several times and blew it open on the descent (fully edited video to come later in the week, sorry, no audio today)

Before I knew it I was at Grouse again for the 2nd climb. I was determined to ride it again as I have been beaten up by this trail numerous times before. I pedaled all of it again, but was feeling the pains of my efforts. Once at the top, around 19 miles, I knew that it was going to be a hard day. Just a few miles earlier I experienced a leg cramp that forced me off the bike. I couldn't move my left leg at all as my quad decided to tie itself in a knot of fury. Uh oh, cramping at the half way point. Luckily, I've learned to deal with this problem. More water, electrolytes, and a slightly more cautious pace seemed to do the trick.

The North Mountain trail runs along a rocky ridge. It's nasty, cruel, and delivers on it's soul crushing warning. When I stared rolling out on the ridge is when I started to realize the difficulty of this race. It's rocky beyond belief. Knowing that, I aired up my tires to 28-30psi to save myself from flatting. The technical features keep you on your toes and for the most part I was picking solid and safe lines all day. My confidence was high until one unsuspecting section. I had cleared a hundred more just like it earlier in the day. The conditions must have been perfect...leaves down, hidden rock, front wheel hits rock at perfect location, weight just enough forward, etc...I endo'ed and landed hard on my left side in a garden of rocks. Knee was immediately bloody, but my shoulder was at the top of my concern. I hit hard enough that I wondered if I broke something. I did a quick range of motion test and convinced myself that is wasn't broken. My seat bag was torn off in the rock dance, but I continued on with diminished confidence. 

I probably had another 8-9 miles to go on the ridge when I smashed my shoulder. For the next 3-4 miles the pain worsened. I was beginning to wonder if I could continue. At some point I passed two riders talking about bailing out. That certainly didn't help my case. On a few of the descents I kept tabs on my shoulder. I was able to keep my weight on it, so I figured I was good to go, so I just kept moving.  The ridge was littered with so many hike-a-bikes that I went into survival mode. They were so hard, I just literally focused on trees a couple hundred feet up the trail and said, "I just need to get there". So, I plodded along in misery every time I came to a steep uphill section. It was on and off the bike for 5-6 miles before I recognized the downhill. I was relieved. At some point on the ridge I also ran out of water. I was running on fumes when I made it to aid station #2. I downed a Coke and a PB&J which seemed to immediately help. I was warned about the last climb, so I asked the guy at station #2 for his summary: "Two more climbs, first one starts off steep and then levels off, probably 20 minutes. 2nd climb isn't as bad, maybe half that" My body wanted to stop, but I knew if I stopped that the legs, knee, and shoulder would have gotten worse. Once I was refueled, I immediately left. Of course it turned steep really quick and I found myself walking again only this time with another problem. My shoe broke. Now if walking wasn't bad enough, the side of my shoe was now torn open allowing dirt, rocks, and twigs to enter. I was too tired to deal with it so I hobbled up the last climb, mounted my bike and tore down the last downhill before the road to the finish.

All I can say is wow, what a race. I wished I was able to ride a little more of the hills in the second half of the race, but I went into survival mode in the latter stages. I'm happy with the results. More thoughts, pictures and video later in the week.

Dragon's Tale Preview

On Saturday, I'm headed to Roanoke. Sunday is the Dragon's Tale race. With a 10am start time I hopefully won't have to worry about a brisk starting temperature. I'm a little nervous about stringing together 40 miles of mountain biking this early in the year, but I'm committed to giving it a solid effort.

Thanks to my good friend in Roanoke, I have been on the majority of the trails in the race. He's tortured me on everything. The exception is some of the stuff off Broad Run Mountain. Most of my rides on North Mountain, however, have been in the 10-15 mile range. I've never pushed myself on this mountain. That's usually because the mountain usually unleashes it wrath in short distances.  

I expect it to be hard. Really hard! Grouse trail is very rocky in the beginning and if you lose your balance, pick a bad line, or are in suffer mode, you are in for a bad day. The first time I rode it, I flubbed it and ended up walking a crap ton of trail just because I couldn't get solid footing or enough momentum to get moving in the loose rocks. Painful. The worst part is that you have to ride this twice in the race. Oh boy. All of the climbs ar narrow sidehill stuff with rocks and nasty switchbacks. I suck at riding uphill switchbacks, so I'm sure I'll be walking a bunch of them. I'll give 'em a try though, but not enough to blow myself up. The key to this race is going to be recovery. I'm also going to have to think about how much food to carry vs. stash at the aid stations and how much water I need to carry. If I go out too fast and I'll pay the price on the climbs. The ridgeline will keep me honest as its littered with rock outcroppings and jagged off camber technical features. Last time I was up there I fell flat on my helmet trying to navigate one of the rock gardens. It was almost captured on video. 


Speaking of video, I finally got a proper mount for my Contour HD video camera. Now I should be able to capture some video without trying to use some horrible makeshift mount. I did a shakedown ride on the Greenway this weekend. The mount worked great, but I need to work on the camera angle a bit. Although the video is rather boring, it shows how lucky I am to be so close to the greenway. I can get 14 miles in right from my front door which is a blessing when the trails are closed due to rain. 

Well, that's it for me until Monday. Check back for a race report then.

Uncle Sam Doesn't Care

Since I usually owe money to Uncle Sam, I usually delay my tax preparation until the last possible moment. I seem to delay it more each year. I still haven't started my taxes, but I did make a move in the right direction this weekend. To keep my sanity, I made up a new rule this year. The rule is something like this: As soon as I feel frustrated with my taxes I quit immediately and move to something more fun, like differential equations, healthcare reimbursement forms, watching CSPAN, going to the DMV, or watching the The Real Housewives. Pretty much anything but taxes. On Sunday I downloaded turbo tax federal, and the NC and SC state forms. Since I work in SC and live in NC, I have to pay SC taxes and file for a credit in NC, PLUS pay the difference in the NC rate. That means I end up owing more to the Tarheel state. As you might have guessed, taxes didn't last long and I was off running an errand at Target. Uncle Sam doesn't really care that I have other interests besides doing my taxes.

After most of the day was spent and the kiddos were in bed, I cracked the last Sunny Haze beer and headed out to the garage to tackle some much needed work on my bike. Since the man trip to Pisgah last October, my mountain bike has been ridden twice. I punctured my tire in Pisgah and never went back to full tubeless so I had a small project ahead of me.

While removing the rear wheel, I noticed my cassette was looking rather craptastic, so I broke out the citrus degreaser, completely disassembled it and scrubbed it clean, and reassembled it before tackling the rear wheel. I meant to take care of this the previous week during the cabin trip but I forgot the valve stem (still in my Camelbak from October). Doh! Once I retrieved the Pisgah encrusted valve stem from it's hideout, I removed the old tube, put the (clean) stem back in, poured in two cups of Stans tire sealant magic juice and reassembled everything. Then I did the NoTubes dance to seal it up. I also added a scoop and a half to my front tire just for good measure.

My bike area is a complete mess. Take a look. Since the Winter Challenge, I 've been in stack mode. At some point in the near future, I'm going to need to clean this mess up, but it wasn't today.

I regreased my through axle bearings and reinstalled the tires. My rear brake has been dragging for what seems like forever, so that was going to be next, but when I reinstalled the rear wheel, everything was ok. I guess my rear wheel was slightly off axis before. A quick driveway test ensured I had achieved success.

Next up on bike maintenance:

• air pressure check on front and rear shocks
• chain cleaning and wear check
• shift check
• general cleaning

After that, I should be in good shape for the race. Then I'll need to finalize my hydration/nutrition strategy for the race. Sheesh, lots to do before Friday.

Why I ride!

This post has been percolating in my mind for over 4 years, maybe longer, but I've never been at a point to express it. Even those that know me well, probably don't know this back story of why I do what I do. Sometimes I don't even know what I am doing and why I do it. Everybody is influenced by something or someone. It very often changes your outlook or mission in life. I'm no different, just usually a lot more introverted about it. This blog is another vehicle of change for me. Everyone has a story. This is mine or at least a portion of it. Think you know me?

Read the rest of the story.

Checked Out

This weekend, the family and I checked out of Charlotte and headed to the mountains of Western North Carolina. There are a million other things we "need" to do, but sometimes its just good to get away. When the topic came up a few weeks ago, I said yes immediately. It's so relaxing in the mountains. I love it when the whole family escapes to the cabin. The view in the mornings and evenings never gets old.

Since the wife is training for a half-marathon in a few weeks, Saturday morning was kids watch for me while she knocked out 11 miles. It's difficult to find flat areas to run near the cabin, so we headed over to Lake Junaluska which has a lake trail around 2.6 miles. They also have a nice playground which is where I would camp out while she ran. The interesting part of the visit was that the lake was gone. Vanished. Hmm, my immediate thought was that the dam was under repair, but a quick search of the interwebs this evening revealed that they are removing 25,000 cubic yards of silt. Of course I began to wonder how long it would take to fill a 200 acre lake. Good news. they answered that too. About 3-4 weeks. I also investigated the Waynesville Greenway as well. I've always seen it leading off Rt. 19 and wondered where it went. Now I know that it's a 5.3 mile greenway to near downtown. Pretty neat. I'll have to check that out next time I'm in town. The other playground we usually go to is at the end of the greenway, so it'll be a good excursion during the next escape.

After resisting a St. Patrick's Day beer at Nick and Nate's pizzeria, we returned home where I had a ride pass for a couple of hours. Since I didn't have time to head to Pisgah, I opted for a front door ride to Purchase Knob. I have hiked up there a dozen times, but never on the bike. Since it's part of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park bikes are verboten EVERYWHERE. I assumed I'd be ok on the entrance road and I had no intention to poach any of the surrounding trails. I simply wanted to ride some hills. Shortly after exiting the neighborhood, I saw the sign honoring Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton. Let's face it, he's a legend in Appalachia (fer moonshinin' y'all)and just so happens to hail from Haywood County. Sadly, Popcorn met an untimely end as the feds net folded in on him. He was busted in Tennessee and some say had he stayed in NC that his moonshine would still be flowing. Oh well, would have been nice to pull over for a glass of moonshine, but instead, I kept rolling up to Purchase Knob.

It was a 5 mile climb to the top, but its a rather unpleasant gravel grinder. Some sections had me standing and mashing the pedals to survive the grade increases. Once you are up there, you are rewarded with awesome panoramic views of NC, TN, and the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's simply awesome. You can view the webcam at the top here. I stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the view and take a few sips of water. before heading back down.

On the way back down, I remembered a road that headed up to the Cataloochee Ski Resort. The previous night I saw people skiing from the cabin. Given the unseasonably warm weather, I wanted to see first hand if they really had snow, so I hung a right on another gravel road. This particular road is nasty. So much so that there is a warning on it that says its impassable by car. Since my Silverado once made the trip up, I knew it was passable, but would probably be difficult on my bike. It got so steep, I considered walking at one, two, three points. This road averages about a 15% grade over 0.8 miles (the last tooth on the elevation chart below). I definitely pegged my heart rate on this climb, but made it up without walking (barely).

So, were they skiiing? Yes, yes they were. They must make incredible amounts of man made snow here, but still neat.

In the end, I had an unexpectedly hard 10.8 miles. The best part though was that I did it all from the front door.

Survey says?

So much for being a day of rest. Sunday was a day of test(ing). The day to test my legs against the fire breathing dragon by a simulation of mental and physical pain through road biking at an extended distance. In the latter part of last week, I had to back off training slightly to allow for recovery. My knee was still recovering from the Charlotte 10 Miler and I felt it.  It hurt just enough to feel bad, but not enough to quit. Over the course of a few workouts though, that began to change, so I took Friday and Saturday off to let the body mend in preparation for a BIG ride on Sunday.

It's hard to find time to do rides like this due to the time commitment, so I was appreciative when I got the green light from house management. My goal was to get out somewhere between 50-80 miles. Given that I had a time window of 3-4 hours, it was more realistic that I would see something between 50-65 miles. 80 miles would take me well over 4 hours, maybe even 5, so I'm not sure what I was thinking there.

I had prepared everything for the ride on Saturday night. Water bottles, cold weather gear, co2, tubes, I was ready. Imagine my disappointment when I rolled down the first downhill and realized my food (gel and honey stingers) were left on the counter at home. Normally not a big deal, but on a ride of this length, I was worried (and annoyed at myself). Luckily I had added an extra half scoop of GU Brew electrolyte into my Camelbak bottles. After beating myself up for a few minutes, I finally settled into a groove.  My chosen route took me south into Union County through Marvin and Waxhaw. Since I usually ride the Waxhaw sections with a friend (who knows the route) I was a little worried I'd screw something up, but thanks to my Garmin, I had pre-loaded the course to keep me on track. Everything was going great until I got to about the half way point. When I was supposed to turn left there was a sign "NO THROUGH TRAFFIC, BRIDGE OUT" I love my GPS, but it's very hard to judge distances and detours in the middle of a ride. At home off the bike it would probably take me 1 second, but out in the field it was a 5, 10, 20 minute snafu I was unwilling to entertain, so I simply turned around to make it a out-and-back type ride. One the way back I latched on to some team roadies who pulled me a good clip for a couple miles. it was a welcomed relief at mile 40 or so, but I had to lift it up a notch to hang on to their wheels. It felt pretty good to be able to do so since the quads were feeling it at this point. So, here are the final ride stats:






Overall, I felt good. The knee still hurts, but not as bad as a week ago. I'm happy with the ride, so the survey says.....YES... or the Magic 8 Ball says "Signs Point to YES". If I still had a Ouija board I'd ask it too. 
It looks like I'm going to register for the Dragon's Tale this week.

Puff the Magic Dragon

When I'm not mountain biking in Charlotte, I head to Pisgah. Pisgah is a mecca of mountain biking, but there is a very close second to Pisgah, and that would be Roanoke VA. Fortunately, my wife is from Roanoke and her family still lives there. Whenever we head to the Star City, my bike is generally in tow. The Blue Ridge Parkway, Carvins Cove, North Mountain, Fort Lewis Mountain, and even Pandapas Pond in Christianburg all have something to offer. The routes on North Mountain and Fort Lewis Mountain are no joke. They generally consist of very tight singletrack, rocky ridges, long climbs, and some very fun and, in some cases, ridiculous descents (thank you Elevator Shaft). I have walked every climb in Roanoke. Even when I'm "in shape" I'll generally have to walk uphill at some point. It's taken years for me to have the stamina to ride some of the stuff up there. On of my favorite routes traverses the North Mountain Ridgeline. There are three trails off the ridge (Deer, Grouse, and Turkey). Here's a few videos from a trip up there last year.

The Dragon's Tale race rolls out of New Castle, VA, runs down the spine of the dragon, runs up Grouse trail twice and returns on a few tails I haven't been on yet.  At 40 miles, it's a beast of a ride. I have had more pain dished out to me on these trails that I'm wondering why I would return to "race" on them. Honestly, I don't know. I just like riding my bike. Slaying this Dragon will take everything I've got. 

The historic course is described as...

Tight, narrow, mossy, off-camber Appalachian sidehill singletrack that run's a tight and rocky spine like ridgeline. It's a wonder that the bicycles of the 90's were about to complete the course. Not only did they complete the course, but "they" included world famous riders like Flyod Landis, Jeremiah Bishop, Gunnar Shogren, Sue Haywood, Carol Waters and Chris Eatough."

Tomorrow, I head out on the road bike to see if I'm fit enough to try this race. If yes, then I'm registering for the race tomorrow. If no, then I'm still going to Roanoke to ride the beast in a much more enjoyable pace. Either way, I win. I love Roanoke!

10 Guinesses

I probably heard this joke over 15 years ago....

An American walks into an Irish pub and says, "I'll give anyone $100 if they can drink 10 Guinness's in 10 minutes."


Most people just ignore the absurd bet and go back to their conversations.
One guy even leaves the bar. A little while later that guy comes back and asks the American, "Is that bet still on?"


"Sure."


So the bartender lines 10 Guinness's up on the bar the Irishman drinks them all in less than 10 minutes.


As the American hands over the money he asks, "Where did you go when you left?"


The Irishman answers, "I went next door to the other pub to see if I could do it."

...and for some reason it still makes me laugh. The thought of trying that feat makes me sick, but I think this guy might be able to give it a go.

Any time I come up with a new challenge, I automatically think of the Irishman. How do I prove to myself that I can do it before actually doing it?


I'm faced with a dilemma. Today is exactly 4 weeks from the Dragon's Tale race. I've been on the fence for a month or more now. This is a race I have wanted to do ever since I first heard about it. The problem has always been timing. I've never been able to make the stars align until this year. With no excuses or obstacles, it's totally up to me. I have ridden my mountain bike once this year, so I'll be going into the race cold turkey on the mtb and gaining all my training on the Kinetic trainer. My bike has been sitting with a flat tire for over a month now. Is it time to get serious? This is the week to drink 10 Guinesses errr test myself and make a race decision next Sunday.

Today's race probability is at 80%, but I still haven't registered or gone through my "test". Instead of riding the trainer tonight, I had a bowl of ice cream and hot fudge. Great start.

Note: I don't know why beer has been on my brain so much. I think it's because I've been wanting to start home-brewing again. I even made a special stop on Friday to pick up a few craft brews. The winner for me was New Belgium Super Cru this weekend. 

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

-Benjamin Franklin

Charlotte 10 Miler course, official results, and back on the bike

The official Charlotte 10 Miler results are posted here.

Official Time: 1:22:18
Overall Rank: 135/334
Average Time: 1:26:03

Average Male 1:21:17

There was only 1 second difference between my data and the official timing which was pretty rare, but even more unbelievable was how quickly the results were posted. Queen City Timing and Start2Finish had the results up on Saturday afternoon, just a few hours after the race. Back when I used to run a whole bunch (the 90's), I remember that I'd have to wait for a few days before the official results would be posted. I actually saw my results before I left the race though. They had on site printouts taped to the race trailer as soon as I recovered from my sprint to the finish. That's pretty common nowadays, but not so common just 10 years ago.

The Charlotte 10 miler course was perfect. I live in Piper Glen (the part on the map that says Mitchell Pond #6) so, as you can see, this race was in my backyard. Although I've ridden the greenway a bazillion times, I've never run it end to end. This race was the first time. Since living in Charlotte, I've never been in shape enough to finish the whole thing. The greenway is awesome. In addition to ending at Trader Joes (Mmmm), it's just a cool part of nature. Paved sidewalks, marshland, boardwalks, gravel roads, birds, beavers, deer, fox, coyotes, and a sewer treatment facility. Although I wish the last part weren't true, it's a necessity for the citizens of South Charlotte. Anyhow, it made a great backdrop to this race and made it a fast one at that. As you can see from the elevation chart, mile 8.5ish brought on some pain. The race peeps dubbed it heartbreak hill and it was pretty tough late in the race. It was a great venue and overall a great race. I sure hope they keep it around and that I am able to do it again next year.

Carolina Sport Pix also took pictures during the race. I've purchased most of my bike race photos because they turn out pretty good and I look uber cool. When I showed these to the wife, she said "umm don't buy any of those. They are terrible." Say whaaat?

  

In the first photo (probably mile 6.5) I seem to be doing my Edward Scissorhands impression and I don't appear to be too happy (notice the gratuitous cropping of female participants who are passing me). In the finish line photo, it's not quite as bad, but I was really bookin' it. This photo exudes speed. Yes, I said bookin' it.

Isn't this blog about biking? Oh yeah.

Tonight I did my first "real" trainer workout on the bike since last April. It's an oldie but goodie Spinerval workout called Aero Base Builder. The graph below probably means nothing to you but it's significant to me because it's shows that I didn't bonk in 1:27 of moderate pain. 

You want to see nice square waves. During the peak of my training for ORAMM last year, I almost never completed this entire workout....mostly because I went out too hard. Today was day one of training for the Dragon's Tale in New Castle, VA on April 1st. Sometimes I wish it were an April Fools joke, but if I can keep up the momentum, I'm going to give this race an old college try.