Going Pro.

Well it's official, I'm on a Professional team. The American Classic/Kenda team based in NC. It's unreal. There is so much racing on deck for next year! We will be going to the SERC series, which is a 10 race series of races in the southeast, a bunch of NUE 100 mile races, and some big races, such as Sea Otter, and nationals. Needless to say, i'm stoked.

I've been putting in some good foundation miles in the last month and shedding the weight i need to to race at the top level. It's actually been relatively easy because of the high motivation level I'm currently enjoying.

Went down to NC last weekend for a little team camp. Did some cyclocross racing on Sunday on my new Blue with Rotor chain rings, which do indeed work and feel awesome!

I didn't feel so awesome at the cross race, still suffering from a lack of sleep and car legs i think. From the gun i got a decent start but a crash in front of me immediately put me back 35 places or so. I spent the rest of the race chasing, and actually had quite a bit of fun picking people off!

My average power for the whole race, coasting included, was 304w, so i can't be in that bad of shape! Hoping to get to a few more before the season is over!

I promise more updates this fall with glorious (or not so much) pictures.

Well, i suppose it's that time, time to blaag. It seems that focusing on one task for more than 5 minutes at a time is incredibly taxing to my mouse brain. Therefore, i must do this between ebay, folding clothing, and finally unpacking from the beast that was the Pisgah Mountain bike stage race.

While i was browsing them internetz in search of pictures from the Blue Ridge Cup cyclocross race that occurred a few nights back in Hillandale park, i found a beautiful rendering of myself riding on fire over at Cyclocross race winner Ryan's place. I'm glad Ryan smoked the crowd, because i saw some smack talk from a sidelined Andrew McKeegan, who had to sit out because of the massive intake tube installed in his leg.

The highlights of the past month+ were going up to NY and racing and riding with friends there, and seeing my family. Corey and i participated in the Suicide 6, which turned to 5 hours because of the 'epic' conditions. I managed to pull the fastest lap of the day and they gave me a giant trophy. Despite a broken chain on Corey's part, we still managed to be the third placed team overall, so not bad. A few days later we traveled over to the old Farmall Hill Tuesday night series. I felt a little better than i had on Sunday, having slept in a house and not my van the night before, but when Jason Hilimire went off like a rocket i remembered the pain that these races bring. But after the first climb i saw that i was more or less in control and managed to win despite some collisions with lappers. The hardest hour race ever.(Corey, making funny faces as usual)

I did a BBC hillclimb the next night as well, with aspirations of setting the record time. Alas i could not do it aboard the mountain bike and ended up in 3rd or 4th? place.

Next up was the Shenandoah 100, which went alright last year, but i had no idea what to expect except 9+ hours on the bike, which it thankfully didn't end up being. In a 100 mile race there is so much that can go wrong, i figure if you make all those things go right, you probably will do better than a lot of people by default. So i went out 3 times and just made sure i knew the course, climb durations and stuff like that. I think it paid off because i managed 9th place. Sure, things could have gone better, i broke my derailleur and got dropped at a bad moment by Chris Eatough and Jens Neilsen. But these are points to improve upon and it was still a great ride. I wanted that 7:30 in such a bad way, but next year right? Rocktown did well overall with Ryan coming in at 8:10 and Kyle smashing his personal best at 8:25! Buffalo crowd did awesome as well with Pat W finishing right around 8:13 and Dennis B not far behind.

Last week i went down to race the 5 day mountain bike race in Pisgah. I was nursing a cold from the start, so maybe my perception was distorted a bit, but there is no harder race i have ever done. 40 miles and 9000ft of climbing a day made me a sad boy by day 4, despite holding 5th place. I got pretty sick on that day and lost a ton of time. I decided not to start on day 5, as i would have probably put myself in the hospital. It was fun overall though. Hung out and wrenched for Jeremiah, who won the race every day and overall, and it really is pretty down there in NC.

I don't have much more for racing on deck for this year, but i am itching to get a bit better so i can hop back on the big and begin the massive prebase of legends that will supposedly turn me into the rider i want to be. Looking foward to the Tidewater Challenge as well, maybe dress up, and hoping not to have the swine flu this time!

Summer Speedup!

I've been a busy boy, starting a month ago in NJ, I went to a Mid Atlantic Super Series race (MASS.) MASS races are super well run, have good turnouts, and best of all, great payout!

The first race back was a super wake up call, and i placed 8th, not more than 6 minutes off the win, but it wasn't a super long race and i knew i was out of shape. Twisty twisty.

A week later i found myself in Maryland somewhere near Delaware for another go. It was a one lap MASS race, and it was good. Another twisty race without much climbing, but i felt my legs were coming back, and even though i was back in 11th, the field was super strong and i felt good about the day.

Week 3! Went up to PA to the Michaux state forest for what was promised to be a rocky race. 4o miles through rocky, steep terrain. After 4 hours, a broken chain, some serious heat, and running out of water twice, i rolled into 5th place overall. My best result of the summer yet, and about 7 minutes off the win, and not far off some serious east coast heat.

The course was AWESOME. A real mountain bike course, which would be worth racing just for the trails. I will most definitely be at the race in the fall!

August will be full of racing for a good lead up to the Shenandoah 100, where i am hoping to better on my result from last year!

MASS race this weekend in PA!

Sticky Like Rice

It's been hot here lately, like 95 and humid every day. That's fine, it sure beats the cold. There hasn't been as much racing in my life as I would like though.

Last month was tough, got a tick bite in may, and a suspected ailment from that. Then, just as i was recovering from that, some sort of flu hit me. Form was very poor going into the important Triple Crown at Massanutten but the race was huge and in town so of course I was going to race!

On Saturday the super d went well, and even though the preliminary results were wrong, it eventually got sorted out and i ended up in 5th behind Sid Taberlay, Jeremiah, and two other hard chargers. The dual suspension was perfect, Racing Ralph tires were hooking up awesome, especially with a 650b front wheel on the rig!

The short track went less than stellar, but being a best two of three i wasn't too worried. I knew i could make up for the loss of top end fitness in the cross country, especially because of how technical and climby the course is.

It was well, hot for the XC race on Sunday, and i didn't keep it together. Pretty much exploding on the second lap. Luckily, when the bottom falls out these days, it isn't as much of a fall as it used to be. Wasn't last in the pro field, and not one rider from another class caught me, which might sound funny, but it happened last year....

I was up most of last night with some food poisoning or something (Wendy's?) and i am watching stage 1 of the Tour. It is going to be a huge weekend for riding as long as i feel a bit better. 4 hours yesterday, hopefully 5 or so today, then maybe hit a Tour de Burg stage at big Schloss rock gnar tomorrow.

The big goals now are to dominate the Michaux race later in the month, which is probably a tall order as i haven't ever raced over there! 4 hours of rocks were promised though.

happy July 4th!

Middle Mountain Momma Kenda Cup; AKA Virginia State Championships

A few Sundays ago the wagon was loaded to capacity with Rocktown's finest to head down to the Middle Mountain Momma Kenda cup in Douthat State Park and the singletrack highway!

The race started at noon in the 90 degree heat, and humidity was about the same, After the initial road stretch of 2 minutes, we started climbing. Climb we did!finding myself in third position, i worked hard to outpace a charging Brian Marsh and Justin Raynes. The Tires were hooking up but i got caught when my chain jammed in between my crank and my big ring!

Finding the eye of the tiger, i charged the second climb, which was much steeper than the first, but about the same elevation change. I found a good rhythm and after the decent and the steep, punchy world cup finish, rolled into third place behind Jeremiah and Matt Bailey!

Racing has gotten off to a slow start, due to a lot of Saturday races that i have to work during, but i am stronger than last year around this time partly because of this. Big rides have been happening twice a week, and my endurance is so good!

Also exciting, a new bike arrived for me this week, a Felt Virtue One! 5 inches of travel should come in handy for training and at some gnarlier races.....Michaux?

Next on the plate, some high intensity training at Giro de Ville!

2010 race season begins!

After months of winter mixes of snow, rain and everything in between, temp started looking up a few weeks ago. I hurried to get a mountain bike together, as it had been road only since new years day. After so much experimentation, i got my setup pretty dialed in. 20lbs with cages. Pretty nice! Rode it 4 times before the race today, mostly in the rocks in hopes of getting some technical skills back. Went up to Fridley's gap where the downhill is steep and rocky!

Running a 2x9 setup 32/42 chain ring combo, it worked great at the race today, and there was plenty of steep climbing!

Schwalbe is my sole sponsor this year, and i am pretty happy about it. Great tires. Been running the Rocket Ron for training and they worked awesome racing as well. Good hookup on the wet course today.

I was pretty unsure of my fitness going into the race. I have been riding about 3 times a week, and will have to improve on that, and am also a bit over my target weight. So when the race started in the 50 degree drizzle i didn't know what to expect. The separation happened early with Nick Waite and i leading, Ryan Fawley chasing hard. It didn't take long until i was alone in no man's land between Nick and Ryan. For the remaining 2 hours i just focused on chasing hard, rewarded with sparse signs of Nick, usually in the form of tire tracks.

Rolled in at 2:38 2nd place, and am still a bit sore. The real 'kick' came when i took my shoes off and i saw my big toe. Couldn't feel it because of the cold, but my toenail was coming off and the toe was very bloodied. It is a bit better two days later, but i have stayed off the bike because of it, looking to do a big ride tomorrow though!

Trying to lay out a race schedule tonight, and getting ready for Dragon's Tale this weekend!

Aero front "snowcone" Isn't structural, but may be UCI legal due to natural conditions. I wonder if Calfee would be interested in my organic choice of material?

The snow has been on the ground here in the valley since early December, and i haven't been on a mountain bike since then. Good training turned into laziness somewhere about a month ago when my powertap broke and motivation waned from the weather. I can't imagine what i would be doing if i were in say, western New York?

Ha! Well, the snow is slowly melting and motivation is coming back. After a 2+ month hiatus from group riding, i have managed two in the past week. Yesterday with Andy and Nick for about 3 hours. Some short vo2 efforts should help with the race in about a week!

I need to get my bike together, i don't know if i will remember how to ride offroad!

Handmade bike show in Richmond this weekend!

The Difference Between Slow and Pro is EUROCITY

So i will spare everyone the boring day to day details. I've been training, not as much as i should, weight work, riding, isometrics, it's all going down. This week is going to be an especially tasty morsel though, 22 hours of fun in all.

The real news around here has been the snow! 18 inches back in December and t is still here! Almost gone in the valley, but i am anxiously waiting for the mountains to melt down like a cone in the summer, and then dry up so some MTB riding can happen.

It's just as well though, as the power meter is on the road bike, and it has helped immensely so far in training. Power is up, and weight is down.

Harrisonburg was mellow and empty over the JMU students' winter break, but the town always swells when they arrive. It was nice having the house and seemingly the town to myself over break, but it is nice when friends get back!