No Pictures :(

So the MTB is together and running, i have kind or gotten used to disc brakes, and the bike is dialed in pretty decent. The schwalbe racing ralphs are pretty huge and awesome, and the bike is stiff as all getout.

This past saturday consisted of a 4.5 hour ride with Andrew out to sprague brook for some riding. I have a like/hate relationship with the brook, because the trail is decent to hammer on, but it is not technical in the least, and you can hardly sit down because of little roots that bump you. At a race pace these aren't noticeable, but just riding makes for an uncomfortable day in the saddle.

I felt a bit sluggish and i found out why the next morning, as my lungs felt like a momma bird had regurgitated food to me, and it went down the wrong pipe. I went for a 2.5 hour easy ride anyway, thinking it was from dust the day before.

I should have known better. Later that night at work, i got sick. So now it is wednesday and i have missed work, school, and riding since sunday, not to mention a bike demonstration i was supposed to give to some boy scouts.

This sunday is Greenbrier where Corey, Alex, and I will race AMBC down in Maryland. I'm not expecting much out of my first semi-pro race as i haven't done a race yet! The competition will probably be decent, some guys who were in europe for the last 4 months or something.

Goal: Don't be last!

New Bike, Nice Weather.

Green Machine

Well, it appears as though spring has finally sprung. On my was back from Poughkeepsie, my friend Kate's mom with whom i was riding home with, was awesome and we stopped in Ellicottville to pick up my bike from Dennis at the Ellicottville bike shop. Dennis, an enthusiastic being and cool as well, opened up at 9pm on sunday so i could pick up my rig, a Scott Scale 20.

There were some parts i wanted to change, and to be honest, last week i was quite tired. I swapped out the 175mm crank for a 180mm, got some Alpha Q riser bars, switched to notubes, a sram chain, put an xt shadow rear derailleur on it instead of the xtr that come on it which i would surely roast in short order.

And....I got my fork from fox! A Fox RLC 100.

I rode her once on a very muddy day and me thinks i likes it. It is about a pound heavier than i am used to, but it has disc brakes which are supercool, and a stiffer fork than previous rides. I still have to dial her in, and the wheels are a bit heavy at 1850g/pair, but my coach Doug is getting a pair of these that i will be using in races. This should alleviate the heavy wheel problem.

Went on the first group ride of the year tonight, felt good. Would like to be a bit stronger going into Greenbriar, my first ever semi pro race, but no big deal, i did put on 10lbs on my vacation that will be gone, and another 5 should leave as well. So that is like 45 free watts, right? ;)

Ride across New York, fun and Wow!

Last week was the second week of my spring break and i decided to visit a friend in Poughkeepsie, NY. Eventually i convinced myself that i would ride my bike over that way, and it would be awesome.

Mapquest told me 324 miles. After some encouragement i bought a small rack from Eric at Eric's Cycle Works here in hamburg, he gave me some used tires suited for the journey (thanks man!) and the deal was sealed. I shipped a box of clothes on Saturday. After a haphazard packing Easter Sunday and a last minute map out of my route, i was ready.

Bike prep the night before.

My father gave me a ride as far as Attica which was nice, because it cut out all of the stuff i had seen already many times. At about 8:00 i set out on route 20 in light snow.

By noon i had reached Geneva, NY a nice looking place on the top of Seneca lake. Seneca Lake.After a brief stop in the park there it was onwards. Feeling good about my plan to ride 200 miles the first day, i was making good time. The next city was Ithaca, and it was also a cool place i had never really stopped at before. Shortly after this, my day started to not go as well. I wanted to reach a small town past Binghamton called Deposit, and was on time, but i got lost around 6:30. After some phone calls home my mother found a way for me to get to deposit. It was 25 miles away and pitch black. My lack of planning and directions had me hoping that Deposit had a motel. Broome Tioga motor sports track.

25 miles in the dark down old route 17. This is the point that had me wishing for a light. I had to slow down considerably for fear of hitting the shadows of animals that i thought i saw darting in front of me, and the occasional car, presumably with a slightly inebriated driver coming from a packed bar i had passed a few miles back. After about an hour and a half i saw streets and lights. It was pure elation. The downside to Deposit was the lack of open stores at this hour, (9pm?) but i got some gross food from a gas station (hot pockets and Tony's microwave pizza yum....) I checked in to one of the two motels in town. This one, owned by an old polish lady who was up with her granddaughter looked like the most desirable of the two. She was super nice, and made my food in the house oven, and even made me some awesome tea!

Motel in Deposit

ABC Family hell yeah!

After a night filled with television and eating more than sleep, i felt it was time to get on the move once more. Day two was supposed to be the 'cake' day, in which i rode a mere 113 miles to Poughkeepsie. Well, it didn't quite pan out like that. Northern PA is mostly hills, large ones. I was shot, i could hardly sit on my seat and every climb was out of the saddle. 11,000 ft of climbing+headwind+30lbs of gear makes for hell on wheels. on top of this mapquest routed me through back roads that were the equivalent of the fire road at holiday valley.

Somewhere, the rack cracked, a stress fracture from the bumpy dirt road no doubt, even though i had it under the recommended limit. there also seems to be a lack of road signs in PA, and i started to use the sun for navigation instead of my maps as much.

Crossing into New York once again!

I got back on track somewhere after a guy gave me a ride up a 2 mile climb in his truck. After crossing back into wonderful NY, where the high taxes at least buy roads and road signs, i traveled through a bunch of small towns, most notable of which was Bethel, NY where the Woodstock festival took place. At about 5:30PM i went down the last hill and was on a plain about 20 miles from the Hudson river.

Somewhere then i got lost. I waved a woman down for directions at a stop sign with the Mohonk mountains looming in the distance. As luck would have it, she was heading to Poughkeepsie and offered me a ride! Awesome! Angela, the driver of the car, was a super nice lady in her late 50s with silverish hair. She had some signs in the back seat that i inquired about. She and her colleagues protest the use of depleted uranium in military weapons because of the effects it is having on our men and women overseas. Very interesting.

I asked her to drop me off before the bridge over the Hudson, about 15 miles from where she picked me up. I wanted to ride into town.

Mid Hudson Bridge to Poughkeepsie!

The sign up there says "Bicycles must yield to pedestrians, but if bikes must be walked, should i yield to myself? I played it safe and rode :)

300 miles later, sunburned, tired, and sleep deprived, not to mention the dirt mustache going on...

After 22 or so hours of riding, 309 miles or riding, and 22,000+ feet of climbing i had arrived in Poughkeepsie! Thankful for the 18 miles of car ride i got in addition to my ride out to Attica from my father, it would have probably been more like 360 miles if not, and possibly delayed me by 6 hours or so. I got zero flats on the trip out, attributed mostly to Mr. Tuffy, the greatest invention against flats ever (i didn't have a single flat all winter either)

The week had just begun at this point. After climbing Bear Mtn, visiting New Paltz, New York City, just hanging around with everyone there, a show, and a whole bunch of eating out. I am back. Still a bit tired, but happy and refreshed. (mentally at least)

I will take this week as a rest week with about 6 hours of riding, then some prep work for Greenbriar on the 27th.

Poster in Kate's room. naked ladies and bikes?! i'm in!

Cheers, Chris