A-ron

2011-11-01T12:36:00.000-04:00

Can't seem to shake this weird feeling for the past couple of weeks. Something like being sick, fatigued, or plain unmotivated. Or some depressing combination of all three. I struggle every year to fill my off-season with something. Anything. While it seems like every other pro is off taking vacations or decompressing in some epic location, most Octobers and Novembers I don't do much of anything. I've got school which is finishing up this semester, which is a little bittersweet. I leaned on that crutch pretty hard for a while so that will shake things up but I think for the better. And maybe I'll have some money too.

But maybe that's it. Maybe my thing is not doing much during the off season. I feel like I put a lot of energy into my MTB season so when October and November roll around, I need a healthy dose of downtime. I look forward to snowshoeing and eventually hitting the gym later on but in general I think a deep recharge is in order. Sleeping in, short and easy rides, and yoga all feel really, really good. And feeling good is the name of the game right now. So I'll stick with that. If there's one thing my experience tells me its that a good season starts with and good off-season. And a good off-season is whatever you want it to be, as long as you feel good about it.

Some game changing news about to hit the local MTB scene!! Gotta keep the lid on it for now though.

Bear Creek MASS Finals

2011-09-23T12:58:00.001-04:00

For once a race season hasn't flown past. For me, 2011 started on March 12 down in Danville, VA and it actually feels like that was almost 7 months ago, not just last week. The MASS series wrapped up this last weekend at Bear Creek. I love everything about Bear Creek. It's a mountain biker's course with a little bit of everything thrown in. It's intense and it's not watered down at all, and rewards those who get their flow on, relax, and let it roll, and just let your X-fusion take care of it. Basically, you need skills and it's the kind of course that will exploit you if you don't, which I think is good, because that's what makes if off-road racing.

I had a good races on both Saturday and Sunday taking the W on both days. Brandon kept me honest on Sunday where I really had to stay on the gas all day. Its so cool to be so competitive with but still be really good friends. I think we really feed off of each other and make sure the other never gets too comfortable. We get along great off the bike, but once the gun goes off, it's game on and I think we're both better because of it. He was just within sight most of the race but I kept my head down, mashed the pedals, hit my lines, and prayed for no mechanical problems like the last few weeks. With the win this weekend I locked up the Overall Elite title for the series which I can now say that I've won. I probably would have won it the year or two if I would have just registered for the series...

Letting the body english take over.

I only had about 5 minutes to sit down after the XC until I had to pull race support for my nephew Ryan who made his racing debut in the kid's race on his sick Lightning McQueen whip. We did a little course recon, scoped out the major climbs of days and decided where the most of the major attacks for the day would be. A couple hot laps through the techy log section and he was ready to rage. I'm pretty sure I saw him marking the other kids on the line.

Met up with Scott Wilson, the new East Coast Marketing dude for SCOTT to test out the new 2012 Spark 26 and put it through the paces in Michaux. I have to say, the changes from the last edition to the 2012 is noticeable. The back end is much stiffer with the 142x12 thru axle, the rear shock pedal way better than the original NUDE, and the tapered head tube is (for a lack of a better cliche) confidence inspiring. Changes to the geometry were huge too. Travel is up from 100mm to 120mm and the chainstays felt noticeably longer which make a super stable ride. The kicker is in the rear pivot design that drops the BB by 8mm and slackens the headtube by half a degree by flipping two small chips on the rear shock pivot. A two minute adjustment turned a full-out XC bike feel more of all day trail riding rig. Nice.

Terror of Teabery on Sunday!

BC Bike Race

2011-04-29T12:44:00.000-04:00

Just booked all travel plans for my one big trip of 2011.

I made the decision to jump on the stage racing bandwagon after day 2 of the TSEpic last summer. I wasn't even there, but thats exactly want made me want to do it. I was so jealous watching the race interviews of everyone being toasted from riding awesome trails for days. I totally wanted in on it. My first choice of racing TSE was squashed because of scheduling conflicts with a summer course that I need to take so I can graduate in the winter. That leaves me with my second, but equally awesome choice of BC Bike Race instead. TSE was enticing because it was close, cheap, wasn't at 7,000+ feet of elevation, and involved rocks, roots, and other proper mountain biking features.

BC fits all but two of those criteria, which are covered by my credit card and relatively high credit limit.

I'm expecting nothing less than an epic week. The day to day endurance/recovery part I'm not too worried about. I'm good at recovery. I'm more concerned with being able to hang towards the front of the race each day. But whatever, we'll see what happens. I feel somewhat fit, and I've got some decent motivation, so it's looking good. There's a lot of hype around this event. Naming yourself the 'Ultimate' stage race takes some balls, so I hope it doesn't disappoint. Come to think of it though, I've never heard anyone say anything about BC that didn't make it sound like the 'Ultimate'.

Jen and I are having a little role reversal going down this weekend where I get to pull support crew duty for her half marathon. She says she just wants to finish, but I think she's just playing it cool and gunning for the win.

I have been unbelievably tired for the past week. Maybe more. I think its a combo of allergies and maybe getting sick. I hear a lot of people coughing like crazy around me in the library right now. I probably shouldn't be here, but I think its too late.

2011-04-12T11:26:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a pleasant surprise. It's exciting to have some gas in the tank when you your expecting it to be empty. The last couple weeks have been stressful (me, stressed?!?!), lost a lot of sleep and subsequently felt like a piece of garbage all week. I got dropped on the local race ride and had to bail halfway on two other rides this week. Oh, and I cut a brand new tire with about 15 miles on it. Do I have to race this weekend?

I haven't had a 5am wake up call for a race for at least 6 years (probably false), so I almost bailed on that too. With all that stuff going on, I had a little bit of luck on my side, in the sense that the MASS season opener at Fair Hill wasn't a total sufferfest for me. The Fair Hill course has been the same for the last few years. Its crazy fast, with not that much climbing which means that there's always a lot of pack racing and small gaps which makes for an exciting race. Racing is so much more fun when you have some control over whats going on. Or at least when it feels like you do. Maybe the white wheels helped me out?? Or my new X9 group?? That stuff's race ready isn't it?

Here's go the detailed race report-

We started really hard and went pretty fast for a while. A few position swaps in the lead group of 5 and we kept riding trails pretty fast. Kept going pretty fast until the end of the last lap, where we stopped going fast. I was the 4th person to stop going fast. Lots of heavy hitters were present.

Tried to be all pro and stuff, by trying to dial in the bike this week. I tried to get a 1x10 setup going on but the spacing for the new SRAM cranks and big chainring wasn't jiving with the MRP guide, so I put that on hold and worked on the suspension setup. I've had my X-Fusion Velvet RL setup pretty well dialed in over the last few seasons, but it seems like every time I play around with it, it just keeps getting better and better. It's crazy how a click or two of rebound and some air pressure adjustment can make your bike feel like a rockstar. Without trying to sound overwhelmingly cliche, I love this fork. I would buy it over any other fork on the market. Its way less expensive and works way better. I can't wait to get the 120mm version on the race bike soon!

Thinking about a double header this weekend...thinking about the big show.

Out.

2011-03-24T00:08:00.000-04:00

Two race weekends are in the books. It feels good to finally to get that first one out of the way. For some reason it didn't feel like it was my first race of the year though, like it normally does. Usually the first time I pin it, I'm stuck racing at 80% but it feels like I'm going 110%. This time for whatever reason, it felt like I was almost 100% already. I actually had some gas in the tank. Not sure why, since I'm so far behind in my training schedule because of the whole knee deal, but I'll take it.

That's not to say I won the race, cause I didn't. The hefty prize list attracted some heavy hitters. Nick Waite, Rob Marion, and Scott Frederick were the three that made up the lead group with me just a few seconds back. Rode the whole race by myself and came home 4th, doesn't sound impressive, but it's a super good sign for me this early. Plus those guys live down south and don't have to deal with quite the same weather all winter, so really, I was the first placed yankee.

The second race this last weekend was my first 'drop handlebar' bike race. I hit up the Philly Phlyer collegiate road races with some of the other guys from the Ship cycling team. Having never done a single road event in my life, they would only let me race in the B field...

To keep from feeling like a total sandbagger, I figured I needed to work pretty hard for whatever placing I got so I took a shot at a solo breakaway in the 4 lap circuit race, which ended up working. I went off the on the first climb of the first lap and held a fairly steady gap of 30sec to 1 min to the finish. Feeling pretty smoked from that effort, I did what I could to repeat in the crit on Sunday. I got away for 2 or 3 laps towards the beginning but couldn't hold anything, so I resorted to sitting on the front of the group taking pulls that lasted an entire lap. Made one last solid surge to the front at the start of the last lap, and held the lead through the last corner to take second in the sprint.

And thats all I got.

Drove from PA to almost Cuba

2011-03-10T11:08:00.001-05:00

My last spring break. Well, its supposed to be...

Daytona has always been a sort of home away from home. I've coming down here since I can remember. (15 years?) My grandparents have lived here for years, and my parents just bought a place a few years ago so I have grown some psuedo-roots down here. I just wish the riding was better. Last spring, I came down for a week with the Experience to get in a good mini training camp culminating with a sweet XC race. We did put in a solid week, but we used up just about all the rides that I know of around here. Without spending 3 hours round trip in the car, we're limited to either a sandy 5 miles of singletrack or going shoulder to shoulder with traffic on 4 lane highways.

This year, I set up my schedule so that I didn't have to worry about getting in a ton of saddle time while I was down here. Rest weeks really lend themselves to having a worthwhile vacation.

We're just getting back from a few days in Key West with the spring break crowd. Had a super good time with Jen and the parents. (Doesn't everyone spend spring break with they're parents??) Rented a scooter for the day and enjoyed some throttle twisting for the day, while also confirming the notion that it won't be long until I get a moto. Probably the new Triumph Tiger 800 that I saw in the demo fleet last week at the speedway during Bike Week. Street shows, live music, beach bumming, huevos rancheros, and trying not to be a victim of a huge tourist trap. Its hard to stop eating all the key lime pie that I bought.

Two more days in Daytona, then leaving towards home on Friday to hit the first MTB race of 2011. Can't wait. Lots of driving.

2011-03-04T19:53:00.001-05:00

So whats been going on?

The off season was a good one. I started back at school, with only 2 more semesters left. I should be graduating by December '11. It only took 6 years...

I kept busy with a moderate amount of snowshoeing whenever possible, did some weight lifting, and kept on the bike at least a day or two per week so I didn't get too slow this year.

The biggest addition to my training this year has been a pilates class at the Rec Center twice a week. That is the hardest thing I have ever done! I feel like I'm in pretty good shape even when it comes to doing things that aren't just riding a bike, but I struggled with finishing these sessions for weeks. It took about 2 months until I could finish the whole class without stopping and taking a break, but now I can't get enough of it. Hopefully the benefits will be noticeable on the bike with a more stable core but I already seem to have a lot less upper-body movement too throughout the ride. Plus my whole body doesn't feel worked over after a ride, just my legs which makes recovery easy too.

I just got back on the bike about 3 weeks ago, after a banged up knee from a crash at the beginning of January. It was just a stupid little crash having fun on snow covered trails, but it ended up being a little bit more and kept me on the couch for a bunch of weeks. I'm glad thats over. So I jumped right back into the big miles and just finished my first big block of the season. It's awesome to see past years of training starting to come back and pay dividends now. Last year during the winter, I bumped up my base block to quite a bit more than I've ever done before, more than I thought I could even handle but its starting to pay off. What was hard for me to finish last year, seems like cake this year, mostly in the way of day to day recovery and being able to handle a series of 4 or 5 big hard days strung together in a block. I think its proof that going beyond what your used to really pays off, even it happens a little ways down the road and even if it feels like way too much at the time. Know the difference between your head being tired and your body being tired.

My race schedule for 2011 will be a lot more local than the last 2 years. Partly because of the whole school thing and needing to take summer courses, and because of where at the ProTour events are this year. I'll have a couple of big events, like the Wisconsin ProTour, some Triple Crown events, and a bunch of AMBC's. Plus one other thing that isn't totally finalized but would be kinda a big deal.

Now that the snow is all gone and temps are getting warmer, its not taking as much coaxing to get myself out the door and the miles are coming a lot easier. This week won't take any coaxing though, I'm in Daytona Beach just in time for a rest week. Lots of easy spinning, napping, laying by the pool, and tan-line work. I've only been here for 10 hours and there already burned in.

Get a load of this garbage

2010-09-22T21:41:00.000-04:00

So the ProXCT schedule just came out today. Let us have a look at it:

March 12- San Dimas, CA
March 26- Fontana, CA
April 16- Sea Otter, CA (Already know I won't be at that lame event) (my perspective on said event is documented in an issue of Moutain Bike magazine from this summer)
April 30- Dripping Springs, TX
June 18- CO Springs, CO
June 25- Mt. Morris, WI
July 24- Missoula, MT

Keep in mind that Nats are in Sun Valley, ID for the next two years...

The closest event for me entails a 16 hour drive. The second closest, over twice the drive. Doesn't seem like much of a Tour to me.

Seriously pissed.

2010-09-01T20:25:00.000-04:00

School. Bleh.

It's only been two years, but everyone already looks so young here. Like little kids. Am I really that old already??

So far the only real problem I have is not having AC in this joint. I can't stand being hot. I'll take being too cold any day. I've spent the last two night chillin in the library to stay cool. Maybe again tonight.

Day 3 and I haven't missed any classes yet! That counts for something right?

Daytona

2010-08-17T21:50:00.001-04:00

Skidded into Daytona Beach this morning after driving all night. Made it in 13.5 hours, beating my own PR by about 30 minutes. I think I need this week off, my body more so than my mind. The whole 'being pro' thing made me feel guilty for even thinking about not bringing a bike. So I did. But only the road bike. And no promises that I'll even ride it.

In the interest of money and a completely unnecessary amount of time behind the steering wheel. I pulled out of going up to Quebec for the final Canada Cup and instead hit up the H2H at the Taconic 909 park with Jordan and Jen this weekend. The race lived up to the H2H standard of being top-notch, albeit a bit long at almost 3 hours. Jordan and I made it a PA 1-2 finish and took our winnings to a hole in the wall mexican cafe for some serious grub.

I hope plans for Pisgah come through....

Super Secret race prep

2010-08-14T21:43:00.002-04:00

Taking the tandem down the Perk trail for a few hours. Never thought we'd be able to get it moving as fast as we did. Passing guys on road bikes holding a steady 20mph the whole time. Man that thing holds momentum!

It was probably better that she couldn't see a thing. She likes to panic.

But we didn't crash and she didn't kill me either. She probably trusts me. Almost.

It worked to perfection for Sunday though. Besides the lamest start that I've had for as far back as I can remember, which was due solely to the unexpectedly quick start, it was a blast. I swear the guys here start harder than the guys in any of the ProXCT races. After realizing that almost all 28 guys were ahead of me, I must admit, I panicked a bit myself. There were lots of heavy hitters lined up today, none of them slouches in the slightest bit. I got to it and started picking everyone off and making my way towards the front, hoping that I didn't miss the train that was almost definitely forming while I was stuck near the back. By the halfway point I had made it into the top 5 with Brandon, Kerry, Harlan, and one or two other guys. To say that I was feelin it (in a good way) is an understatement, so I kept my head down and hammered out another lap on my own. It felt great to have such a strong ride with that many local heavy hitters in one place.

Only a few more local races left this year. Where did they all go. Moving back into school after a years hiatus next week. Can't wait to get back to the 'chaux' and do some real mtb'ing. Hopefully in preparation for this one in a few weeks.

'Heads up, there's poison ivy everywhere'

2010-07-27T22:24:00.001-04:00

said the guy directing traffic into the field. Great. It was fitting that the reg bags included a sample of technu poison wash. Jen was scrubbing her ankles down at 2am before jumping into bed.

The concept of the race was really awesome. It didn't change the dynamic of the race as much as I thought it would, it was just dark out.

Stephan started a million times harder than I would have ever expected.
Brandon and I rode away from everyone.
I tried pretty hard to drop him on the first lap. Could get a small gap a couple times but couldn't hold it. He was riding really fast too.
Settled in on the second, realizing it was going to be another sprint between us.
Didn't know who won for a few minutes.
If it was up to me, it'd have been a tie.
My Lupine was flawless. They are the best lights in the world.

No pics. Prolly cause it was dark.

Colorado Riding

2010-07-20T02:12:00.004-04:00

Nationals- meh. Looking forward to next year already. Unless they decide to put them up high again, in which case, f-it. I really don't understand putting them in high-altitude. For an organization that is so gung-ho about fair-play and leveling the playing field, i.e. doping, it seems counter-intuitive to hold a one-day, national championship event in a location that puts half the country at a physiological disadvantage. The locals say that it affects them too being up over 9000ft. Really? I live at 200ft, yeah just two zeros, above sea level. Your saying that even living at just 6-7k isn't even the slightest bit of a headstart? I get it, CO is a hotspot for the sport, but seriously, how many dusty switchbacks can you put in one race course. OK, I'm done complaining, your probably thinking that I'm just bitter. Well, maybe, but it seems like they get all the glory. I did get a sweet interview though, I won't complain about that.

Riding before and after Nationals in Steamboat Springs with an old friend- dope. Today we put in a manly 5hr ride on the Continental Divide Trail. To make it extra sweet we rode from the center of town, and climbed over Rabbit Ears pass which was over an hour of steady climbing. On pavement, before we touched a lick of dirt. Once to the top, around 10,000ft we hooked up with the trail and rode along the ridge for about 26 miles back to the Steamboat ski area where totally railed 3000ft of continuous descending back into town. It was so sick.

Jeff promised me we'd see moose up top. We didn't, and I was just slightly disappointed. But to be fair, the entire ride looked like a postcard, so that helped.

Its been a blast out here, especially getting to ride some real trails and not just race courses. It actually gave me a whole new perspective and more respect for riding on the west coast. (even though it is not and could never possibly be as sweet as home, it was nice)

Tomorrow afternoon I fly home and get to have Jen pick me up in Newark to spend the night with here. I'm looking forward to night racing next weekend. Will definitely not miss that one this year.

2010-07-06T23:07:00.000-04:00

Another great MASS event this weekend. I wasn't able to make it to this one last year, but I can't remember why. I couldn't turn down an event in Michaux though, it's been almost a whole year since I've even ridden there. Jen and I left on Saturday afternoon to meet Brandon and Jocelyn and rough it in start finish area. The camping was alright, it got a lot colder than we were prepared for but the air mattress didn't quite lose all of it air during the night, which was nice. Once the sun came up though, the temps started jumping up fast. By the time that the 10am start came, it felt like it was already in 80's.

I think every race should start with a neutral roll-out. A nice one mile cruise out of the parking area before the everyone starts going nuts. When we hit the first singletrack section, Brandon and I were in the front and cruised out of sight in the first couple minutes. Each of us had a slight mechanical issue that involved yanking some sticks out of derailleurs and wheels and by the time we reached the next long road section and singletrack descent, a handful of guys caught back on and formed a cute little lead group as we rolled into the first significant climb up Canada Hollow which instantly separated most of us again. I rolled over the top in second, chasing Jordan who had killed it from the very bottom, with Chris Beck and a twin within sight behind me. Chased Jordan for the next hour, barely catching a glimpse of him a couple of times on the final road climb, guessing I was about 45 seconds back. Closed it down to about 10 seconds coming down the last fireroad into the last 2 minute climb, without him knowing I was so close and was able to sneak right up to his rear wheel as we turned into the final powerline climb. I could tell that I, at the very least, had the element of surprise on my side, but neither of us were sure where the finish line was. Jordan threw down a cramp inducing attack on one the punchy spots up the last climb but I was able to get around when we crested the top thinking that the finish would be at the bottom of the descent and out on the fireroad. Turns out I won the sprint by a few feet over him and neither of us really knew it. I still can't believe how Jordan killed it all day like that! Its good to see him finally getting some fitness nailed down.

Oh and Matt had a pretty stellar ride too, busting out a podium finish too!

Nationals is in two weeks, in Colorado. Thats about it for the traveling this year, which is nice. I like doing local races and hanging out with the local crowd. It feels like home.

Also got my new helmet today. Louis Garneau Diamond. Feels like a pillow on my nogin. Realized I've had my old helmet for longer than I've even know Jen. 6 years. It's about time.

2010-06-24T20:54:00.000-04:00

The Hoo-Ha was fantastic. 3 killer courses, and some top-notch competition. Ended up 6th in the overall and stuck it to some heavy hitters from the west coast. It felt good to have a good weekend of racing after a few less than stellar showings and came home with a lot more prize money than I was expecting to. I will live in Virginia again one day.

Right now The Experience and I are chilling in Wautoma, WI for the fourth edition of the ProXCT. Haven't gotten out on the course yet, but the video from the event site looks pretty nice. Probably a lot like 9Mile just up the highway. With all the driving so far this year, I'm getting awfully used to being crammed in a car all day. The 16 hours out here was barely anything. We got here this afternoon after stopping early last night because of tornado warnings all across northern Indiana last night. There was some wicked lightning and rain for about 30 minutes until we got to an exit to stop at. Didn't see a tornado though. Dang.

Looks like Matt just finished fixing his ripped Stans tape and his tire is holding air finally. Time to get out and ride!

2010-06-10T21:33:00.000-04:00

Race Video

2010-06-08T09:39:00.003-04:00

I strapped the new GoPro helmet cam on for the race this weekend at Iron Hill again. This thing is addicting to race with. I might never race without it again.

My body hated me. Its time for a real break, since I haven't had one since the beginning of March. No bike riding for at least 7 days, maybe a bit more. I'm already on day 2 and it is awesome. The saying around the shop is, 'a day off is just as good as a day on'. I wonder if that applies to taking an entire week off.

Yes.

Sponsor Highlight- Raw Revolution

2010-05-05T12:39:00.000-04:00

Nothing makes an athlete happier than knowing they're doing the best they can to take care of their body. For the 2010 season, Scott RC is chowing down Raw Revolution Organic Live Food bars. The best you could imagine. The box says it all.

Taking in enough calories on long rides is tough. Usually, by the time you've gotten enough, you feel like you'd rather take a nap than keep riding. These things are packed with just under 300 calories per credit card size bar, which keeps me feeling like a champ and not like I'm carrying so much that my jersey feels like its hanging down to my knees.

If your not into nuts either, don't worry. Later this summer, Raw Rev is set to release three new, non-nut based bars. (Dates and cashews are the big ingredients in the regular guys) I got a little sneak peak and got a chance to try them out a few weeks ago. Personally, I'm looking forward to the Tropical Banana. Check them out.

2010-05-04T22:38:00.001-04:00

Two races to post about tonight.

Greenbrier AMBC-

Experienced a small miracle with the weather holding out just in time for the race. When Gunnar and I left in the morning in the team Sprinter van we had some light rain. Every mile we drove the clouds parted and by the start of the race, the sun was shining and it was starting to actually get hot out.As soon as we pulled out of the parking lot and hit the interstate, it poured rain the whole way home.

Had an awesome race here last year. One of those superman days that only comes once or twice each season. This year, the legs didn't feel quite as good as then but was deceiving because my time was 3 minutes faster last year, even with the new little piece of singletrack along the lake. Not bad for feeling like a piece of garbage.

Granogue-

The man in the middle.

Another good result following a mediocre performance. The first race that my parents have been too for as long as I can remember. The last two weeks I've been doing a lot of intensity and volume, and its starting to weigh heavy on me. Taking it easy this week, with lots of shut-eye and relaxing, and a weekend off of racing (plus some work to pay the bills) and I'll be ready to kill it for the next chunk of racing. Looking for that superman day. On deck in the coming weeks: Cascade Classic, Iron Hill, and then a sweet road trip to Texas for the ProXCT race at Lance's place.

2010-04-29T22:23:00.000-04:00

The perfect day today.

Spent the night at ESU with the girl.

Slept in.

Lunch- The best sandwich in the world at the best cafe in the world with the best girlfriend in the world.

4 hour road ride down to the training crit and back. Finished the last two hours in the dark.

Pepperoni pizza for dinner.

Something good to blog about.

Boom

2010-04-29T09:58:00.002-04:00

The obligatory bike breakdown...

My trip to the west coast landed me with the last little bit of sponsor product for the season, so I'll get this over with.

My race bike this year is sweet. Really sweet. Scott hooked me up big time, and I'm lucky enough to have an event-only rig for 2010. The Spark RC frame is identical to last years, save for the BB30 bottom bracket and updates graphics. I love the way it climbs, and it just floats over everything on the descents. It rides just as good as it looks. I love it. And I'm not just saying that.

As soon as I made on the ground in Monterey, I hoofed it straight to the X-Fusion booth were they handed me matching 2011 Velvet fork and O2 shock to mount up. Initial impression, really really good. They've got a good thing going. I was surprised how keyed up they were on tuning the squish for each person. They must have re-tuned 20 forks or shocks everyday for riders. So far, my setup feels awesome, just dialing in some of the fine tune adjustments and dialing in air pressure for the rocks back home here. Plus, the graphics are painted on. So...no more peeling decal stickers! I hope the second fork and shock show up soon.

And the rubber...Schwalbe. The first time I've ridden them extensively. Most noticeable...super supple casing. Went with high volume 2.25's all the way around. Rocket Ron, Nobby Nic, Racing Ralph, and Smart Sam. Even rolling on 25c Durano's on the road bike. Bigger seems to be better, or at least cushy, very cushy.

The fillers:
Full Sram XX kit
Ritchey WCS wheels, with bling white DT Swiss hubs
Crankbrothers Candys 4ti
ESI grips
And the same old saddle...

It really is as cool as it looks.

Check out the new SCOTT RC Mountain Bike Team blog, new for this year. Look for race updates, pics, sponsor stuff, and other generally cool things.

2010-04-17T01:02:00.000-04:00

In Monterey, Cali for the Sea Otter Classic. After the Fontana fiasco, I pulled off some last minute plans to make it to here. The guys at X-fusion were kind enough to give me a bed to sleep in for the weekend. That and some sweet new suspension to rage on. Fresh out of the box, the 2011 Velvet weighs in at 3.2lbs, on par with any other top end fork. Raged it on the new Pro XC loop, which turns out to be nothing more than a cross course disguised as a mountain bike course, and was . Can't remember the last time I raced on a course that, directly after an XC event and without any changes to the course, could host a legitimate cross race. It took a whole lap and half before I was bored of it and redirected my attention to the 20 mile loop of proper singletrack. I sorta can't help but feel ripped off.

Funny story...
Rode downtown looking for food this afternoon, with a keen eye for a burrito joint. Instead came across the Breakfast Anytime Cafe and ordered a stack of blueberry pancakes. The whole place was run by (nice) hispanics and the one waiting on me starting asking me about my bike, sitting just a few feet away from me. The usual: do you race? yes. is it light? pick it up. expensive? more than you can imagine. He tells me about his friend who races (what he meant to say was commutes) across town every day. He walks into the kitchen yelling my order plus something else in spanish and next thing I know, five of them come walking out and start touching and picking up my bike all asking the same questions again. Once they were satisfied (about 15 minutes later), they went back to work, and I back to my cakes.

I guess you had to be there...

What else...

Last weekend was the first local XC in the Mid Atlantic area at Fair Hill. Awesome race between Brandon and I culminating in an adrenaline fueled last lap. The first two loops we worked together and separated ourselves from the rest of the field, cracked jokes, and had a generally good time riding our bikes hard. Lap 3 we figured we should start racing since it was actually a bike race, and started throwing down on each other. Got around him with 2 or 3 miles left and tried to key in on laying it down anywhere I thought he might be able to get back around. Figures that the one spot I didn't think he had a shot at was the one he gave it a go at. The hard downshifts gave away his attack but I was not ready for it. He started coming around quick and I responded as best I could trying as hard as I could to keep it clean and elbow-free as it funneled back down between the trees. Held onto it and edged out the sprint for the win and some lunch money for the day. Looks like I get to keep my car for another month. Never been this fit so early in the season, now I'll most likely start to do some hard riding and really ramp it up for the year.

Short track tomorrow at 3pm.
I wish Jen was here though.

2010-03-23T20:08:00.000-04:00

Florida was a success. Matt and I got in a good week of training capped off with our first XC of the decade. My fitness was about what I expected given the time of year and the lack of high intensity riding so far. Lap times were 15-20 seconds faster every lap which left me overly satisfied at the end of the day. It was the best, first race I've had to date. Scary moment of the day was almost breaking my ankle after catching my toe on a piece of 2 inch steel cable buried in the ground. That would have made for an inconvenient drive home being my clutch foot. But then again, Matt swears you don't even need to use the clutch.

Speaking of the drive home, we were packed and rolling within an hour of the finish to get Matt to his 8am class the next morning. Bet you can't guess how many complete bikes are in there.

2010-03-14T23:54:00.001-04:00

Race #1 in the books. Compression socks, grandmoms chocolate cake, tomato pie, and heading to see jen soon. Finally taking a shift in the passenger seat.

Let the pictures do the talking

2010-03-11T11:54:00.000-05:00

Matt doesn't like that I'm making him ride so much. I couldn't care less. He'll thank me later. We've got 10 hours of riding in 2 days, a practice race, sunburn, and countless fun.

During yesterday's 101 mile shoreline ride: We stop around mile 75 for some food along the beach. I order a root beer and ask how big a basket of fries is. She brings the basket to show us. It's a healty size. I say "Alright I'll take two of them." She writes it down as she turns away. Matt stops her with "Hold on, I'll take two as well" There was a mild hesitation as she corrected her note. The fries were amazing.

Plates

2010-03-03T00:26:00.000-05:00

Handmade by Jen and I at the pottery studio where she's been working. Place settings for 12, with small salad plates, larger dinner plates, and soup bowls. We made a variety of extra salad bowls and baking dishes to go with it too. Thank you JoAnn for allowing us to make these.

I wonder how long it'll be until I have a place of my own to use them in...

Seasons run together

2010-03-02T13:51:00.001-05:00

Half a decade of Pro/SemiPro licenses

2010-03-01T11:27:00.001-05:00

2 seconds captured in 4 pictures. Matt realizing I'm taking pictures of him.

2010-02-16T19:52:00.000-05:00

Baby Steps

2009-12-24T23:57:00.009-05:00

So alots gone on in the last 118 days since we've talked last. I don't know where to start. Thats where the baby steps come in.

I got a new car. A new car. 2010 Mazda 3 hatchback. Its so new, its from the future. I already love it.

Pictures. I've been taking alot of them, and I am finally learning how they work and how to have them come out. I just started messing around with HDR images. They're pretty neat too. I don't know that much about them, but they're composite images of between 3-5 images of different levels of under/over exposure that are combined so that the whole image has proper exposure. Its just barely starting to make sense to me, but the images look pretty cool. I will have examples.

Sitting on top of a mountain, taking pics of the sunset.

My first HDR of our living room

Training is 100% in swing for next year too. I jumped right back into it again starting off with 18 and 20 hour weeks. The legs feel great, like they haven't lost much fitness since October. I like riding long miles in the winter and getting to spin around different areas. I've already found a ton of roads I've never been on that aren't even that far from my house.

I've already had my first epic ride of the year last Saturday in Stroudsburg. The day we got like a foot of the white stuff, I thought I'd try and get in a good 4 hours along the Water Gap up into New York. We weren't supposed to get much snow up that way so I hoped that I would make it without trouble. Within an hour of me leaving town, unbeknownst to me, it starting snowing in Stroudsburg. I was riding north, directly away from the storm. I felt awesome and thought I had pulled on over on mother nature. On the way back, about 15 miles from home, the roads were covered about an inch deep. It got to be too sketchy to ride up or down most of the hills so I was off the bike hoofing it on foot. I ran about 3 of the last 15 miles of the ride in the dark.

I will be back soon.

Point; Counterpoint

2009-08-28T18:43:00.014-04:00

A subtly packaged shipment showed up on the doorstep this afternoon. It was like christmas, and I got excited. Oh gooshies! Let me get some scissors...

Inside was the new Tesla 5 by Lupine Lighting Systems, plus a bunch of extras.
I could hear my old delapidated Niterider already sulking in its drawer. I felt almost guilty. How could I move on so quickly to something newer and better, pretending that it had never even existed. For years we had been nocturnal buddies. He would provide me with enough light to ride my bike through the gnarliest terrain and in return I would provide him with a steady but still adequate flow of ventalation to keep his delicate little internals from overheating. It was the perfect relationship. I needed some justification, so I sat down with each to hear their arguments.

The Niterider was up first, (it's got seniority)

"Hey Moab, how's it goin?"

"Not too bad, chief. We should hang out sometime, it's been a while."
"Alright, will do. Down to business now. This new Lupine just showed up, but we've had so many good rides together, I don't know if I want to give you up. Any thoughts?"

"Well, to be honest with you, I'm just a big, dumb, heavy, outdated peice of crap."

"Wow, your kinda hard on yourself, don't you think?"

"Yeah, maybe I am. I mean I do put out a solid 500 lumens and my burn times are pretty awesome."

"Yeah but, now that you mention it, you do break all the time. Your cables break, and your connections go bad on a regular basis. In fact, I've sent you back so many times, nothing about you is original. Come to think of it, you pretty much suck."

Then it was the Lupine's turn.

"Yo Tesla, how was the trip?"

"Not bad buddy, so you wanna here about how awesome-"

"Actually, you don't have to, the last guy just dug himself a pretty big hole. You got the job."

"Oh, so you don't want to hear about my 700 lumen output and 3, 9, and 24 hour burn times?"

"Nah, it's cool."

"Well what about how I weigh less than half as much as that other guy, and I'm only about half the size too, but I'm still brighter than he is?"

"No seriously, now your just embarrasing him."

The proof is in the pudding. The selling point is in this little guy. Up to 1.5 hours of light on this little helmet-mountable gem.

A sincere thank you to Todd and Bill at Gretna Bikes and everyone at Lupine.

I'll get the hang of it one of these days

2009-08-27T21:10:00.001-04:00

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

Never look at the camera

2009-08-21T08:26:00.005-04:00

Except during a real interveiw. Yeah, I know now.

From the Windham XC on Saturday.

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

I was happy with my race but not so much with my finish. I had feeling pretty beat down after the last few weeks so per my coach (ok, my best friend), I took the entire week leading up to Windham off, and it seemed to pay off. My legs were alot better than they had been the previous week and they were able to put inside the top 25, right where I know I am capable of being. That felt good. With so much traveling in the last few months, my body's got a weird vibe. Most years, around this time, I've done so much riding and racing that I'm ready for the season to be done. But with so many high-key races lately, I haven't been doing a whole lot of riding, let alone training, during the week at all. Come to think of it, the last time I really "trained" was clear back in the begining of July and not much then either. So my mind is still ready to go; but my body is sabatoging that. Lets move on the Sunday.

As per my sweet interview, Matt and I drove home to hit French Creek the next morning. (That should actually read, 'I drove Matt home, whilst he SLEPT in the passanger seat', but that's neither here nor there) I was in my bed by a very respectable 11:30 that night considering a 2pm start time that afternoon. Long story short; I got 2nd, again, for the third year in a row. That stings a little, but at least it was to my other bff, who I hadn't seen since April. So it was cool.

2009-08-12T21:14:00.001-04:00

2009-08-06T10:32:00.003-04:00

The only race picture from the last two weekends. Towards the end of the lap at Bromont. I had just made a handful of nice moves around the guys right behind me.

Canada

2009-08-04T22:08:00.009-04:00

In a grocery store parking lot-
I'm finally home, at least for a few days, until I leave again for Mt Snow on Thursday. The Canadian World Cups went well, well at least one did. Mount Saint Anne was a disaster. I made it up to Quebec in time to get in two pratice laps on Saturday afternoon. The course was just about what I expected from a World Cup venue. Fast, steep, and technical. It rained most of the day on Friday so everything had a nice coating of grease on it too. After dialing most of the lines, I cruised down the road to the national team condo and layed low for the afternoon.

It only took me a few minutes Sunday morning after I woke up to realize that my mind was a mess. My head felt sort of foggy or cloudy, and I wasn't feeling very focused, but most telling was the lack of nerves. I did my normal pre-race thing, but the switch inside my head never flipped into race mode. Fast forward to 10 minutes after the gun goes off. We've all walked single file into the singletrack, and the inital adrenaline is fading into real pain. I feel ok. I look back. The sweep moto is 20 feet off my wheel. I'm last. Dead f'ing last, and I'm going as hard as I can. How about some karma. My bib number was 125. Besides being 3 digits and getting me a last row starting spot, that was the first number I ever pinned on my bike 9 years ago as a first timer. Seems like it bestowed the same phsyical ability I had back then too. I never got into a rhythm all day. My tire choice didn't help. A set of worn out Crossmarks were less than ideal for the slopfest the course had turned into. Frustration just kept piling on. I stayed off the back, and was pulled after 3 of 6 laps. Welcome to the World Cup.

How about something positive and optimistic. Bromont.

I always race better later in a big block of racing. I think it's a mental thing. Bromont was race number 3 in a 5 week block of national and international events, so I was starting to expect some better results. That combined with week void of anything but recovery was mentally stimulating. I like being alone and being able to do my own thing. I took Friday to go into Montreal for the afternoon and walk the city, watch street performers, and eat ice cream.

I took a bit more liking to the Bromont course. It was a little more traditional for a ski resort course with a climb/descend profile. In response to the awful time I had keeping my bike upright the week prior, I swapped tires and got some real rim meat that hooked up great in the super chunk peanut butter. The course started drying out quickly during the week but the weather forecast was looking ify for the weekend with rain possible during race time. It would be one extreme or the other. I was doing my rain dance all week.

Around 12 noon, just as I jumped on the bike for the one hour spin over to the venue, I got my wish. It started raining hard. By the time I made it to the USA pit, I was soaked and my shoes were heavy with water. Then it started raining harder, and it stayed that way for the entire duration of the race. The start felt like deja vu. Dead last as we all started walking up the narrow double track switchbacks to the top of the mountain until the course started heading down. The descent was where I made it happen. Railing all the technical shortcut lines, I cruised past 5 or 6 guys each lap followed by one or two each time up the climb. Hung in there for 4 of the 6 laps before getting pulled in 74th place with a huge smile on my face. I had managed to make up about 30 or 40 spots from the start.

So for now its back at home until Thursday. Then up to Mt Snow with the experience and a quick transfer back home for the Neshaminy xc on Sunday. Then repeat the following week with Windham and French Creek for the ultimate double double weekends. I finally got a new battery for my computer, which means its a laptop again. Not a desktop.

2009-07-27T21:25:00.002-04:00

Who would have ever thought I'd be where I am right now? The UCI World Cup circuit. I've only ever seen pictures of it. Competing on the largest stage of the sport feels surreal, but in the same respect it is inspiring. In the last 2 months I've plunged head first into the world of professional mountain bike racing. That's not to say that I have become any more "professional" than before all this happened, but it has motivated me to try and make the switch, and bridge the big gap between being pro and being a professional.

Lets get down to the racing bit. My motive behind all this crazy racing lately boils down to UCI points. 2 or 3 years ago, the UCI mandated that all athletes have at least 20 points to qualify for the World Cup events. These points, especially in the US, are hard to come by for younger, developing riders, so USA Cycling offers spots on the National Team for these riders to get into WC races without having enough points. That is how I got where I am now. Next year I will not be a U23 anymore, which means there will be no more foot in the door, and I'll need my own points next time. So far its working. As long as I finish this weekend in Bromont I will just make the cut with 21 points, and be free to race WC in 2010.

This crazy block of racing started two weekends ago with the US National Championships in Granby, CO. With a starting altitude of 8200ft, my expectations going in were relatively low. For a while, I considered not going at all, but who doesn't show up to the biggest one day event of the year? In the interest of my financial well being, I opted for the skid in/skid out approach for the weekend with the option of racing the night XC at Marsh Creek, Michaux, or both in hopes of making my wachovia statements a little less embarrassing. The latter would not materialize. Less than 48 hours after flying in, I was back on a flight the Philly with a nice little satisfactory 7th place result in my pocket. I landed back home by 4:30 on Saturday afternoon, with plenty of time to make the 11pm start time in Marsh Creek. I started getting excited because eveything was going so smoothly, which should have made me realized something wouldn't go so smoothly. I made my way through the terminal and down to baggage claim and in a few minutes it cranked up and started spitting bags out onto the belt. I watched and waited as the number of bags and people dwindled until it was just me and the baggage claim. Then the carousel stopped and the lights shut off. I wouldn't get my bike until the next morning, just in the nick of time to not make either race. Perfect.

With that, I am going to take a nap. I'll tell you the story of my first world cup race tomorrow.

2009-07-09T09:17:00.006-04:00

Where do I start?

So much has happened in the past week. My 22nd birthday was last Sunday. I spent it racing my bike, eating an amazing cake, and filing police reports. Wow, vehicular burgulary, just what I wanted!! How did they know. I didn't really want those 2 ipods or the cell phone anyway, and I was just thinking that it was about time to replace my passenger side window too. Thank you! Less than 24 hours later, the Experience and I were in NYC knocking out a couple of LT intervals down Broadway. Motorpacing, ya know? We hucked some rocks in central park and napped along the Hudson. Then I got smoked by a taxi cab door, thrown to the ground, and met perhaps the most apoligetic man in the city. My wounds are healing.My friend Matt Lester also had his wedding this weekend. I was part of the wedding party and go to dress up and look pretty sexy. It was an outdoor ceremony in a state park, and was really nice. I'm glad I had to chance to be there. Nice job Matt. I would totally hit on me if I wasn't me.

Now it's time to get back to racing and regain some focus. I need it. My schedule has never been so packed as it is right now. A snapshot of the next 6 weeks:

Leave Weds., the day after tomorrow, for CO. National Championships on Friday morning. Catch the soonest flight back east in time to race the Marsh Creek XC saturday night and/or Michaux on Sunday. Work. Leave Weds enroute to Mount-Saint-Anne for the World Cup number 5, followed by Bromont World Cup one week later. Come home and work. Leave the following Thursday for Mt Snow ProXTC. Come home and work, then leave the next Thursday for the ProXTC in Windham, NY on Saturday, skip the short track on Sunday and come home for the French Creek XC instead. Then maybe a weekend off. Or maybe not.

Get the dirt

2009-07-01T21:36:00.003-04:00

I've been meaning to do this.

So there's this new website, cyclingdirt.org, that provides nothing but the best mountain bike racing coverage all over the US. Most of us already know about it, and log on daily. For those that haven't heard, give it a look. The site is run by Colt MacElwaine, and used to be centered in his apartment in MA, which he has since sold and has been on the road jumping from race to race all over the continent. His coverage is solid. His coverage picks out some of the lesser known riders and gives them an outlet for some exposure. He hypes up the rivalries between the top dogs. And he gives a peek into the life of the pros by posting interview all the time. And he's got race results posted quicker than most other sites to boot. His site could single-handedly change the sport. It's exactly what the sport needs.

2009-06-30T09:48:00.004-04:00

This one is a bit of a throwback. All the rage during the 90's and early 2000's, Spring Mount vanished for a while, but Randy Bergey and associates have been working hard to bring it back. A proper balance of some fresh new singletrack and classic older sections, the course should take on a contemporary and also nostalgic feel. It's where I made my racing debut back in 2000, taking it to the first timer class at the tender age of 12.

2009-06-22T22:08:00.007-04:00

Rapha Gentlemen's Race - New Paltz, NY from RAPHA on Vimeo.

From a few weeks back. I had the pleasure of acting as last minute sub for Team Bicycling. 125 mile, 6 person, team time trial. Our experience was the definition of teamwork. Epic as well.

All the cool kids are doing it

2009-06-20T19:15:00.003-04:00

The Marysville Mountain Bike weekend.

So there's this race goin on next weekend. It's totally cooler than whatever race you were thinking about doing. The format is has changed, so bring a friend, or two. It's not over July 4th weekend this year, so you can't play the holiday card either. Just register.

Final Thoughts

2009-06-14T17:28:00.016-04:00

Our last event here was the Bundesliga Cup race in Albstabt. The course was, again, very steep and very short. 7 laps, 4.5km lap, 600ft of climbing per lap. The climbing was broken into two seperate sections. One was right off the start, lasted for about 2.5 minutes and had me pushing my granny at 4mph. The second was a bit longer, not quite as steep, but finished offf with a nice kicker to throw you into the red zone. U23 and Elites were seperated this time so the playing field was a bit more even. From the start I tried as hard as I could not to red-line during the prologue loops but put in a nice little surge just before the singletrack to get a couple more spots on the opening climb. The rest of the race was a blur and the next 7 laps flew by. In the end, I finished 29th out of somewhere around 80 U23's and smoked the kid with the ugly mullet in the sprint. I was pumped.

Saturday evening were the Albstadt City Sprints. We all assumed it would likely be a short track event. Turns out it was even shorter. The format was totally different than anything else but was interesting and made for a cool event. It started with a qualifying ITT, one lap around a normal ST length course. Lap times were less than a minute and a half. I qualified 9th, one spot and half a second behind Jose Hermida. The top 30 of the 70 or so qualifiers were randomly placed in 5 heats. Each heat ran two laps on a shorter tighter course but total race time was still less than two minutes. Top 2 from each heat advanced and so on until there was a winner. I got shoved out quick at the start line and failed to make in past the first heat, but it turned out to be a good opener workout for Sunday.

Now I'm killing time until we head to the airport. My bike is packed and sitting in the van outside. I'm ready to go, but i don't want to. I wish I could stay here. I like it here. It's only been 18 days since we were unpacking our bikes, but it feels like months. My last ride in town on Friday I spun out to the Rosskopf downhill. Its a 25 min fireroad climb to the top, and 10 minutes bombing straight down the bermed descent. I got the bottom after one run which was all I planned on doing. I had to ride the whole thing again. I will probably never have the chance to come back.

I've had the time of my life

2009-06-10T04:12:00.000-04:00

http://www.scottusa.com/news/bike/2037

Swiss Racer Bikes Cup

2009-06-08T16:13:00.010-04:00

I feel like yesterday was a success. Let me define success.

-I got a top 25ish call up at a European UCI cross country event.

-I did not crash.

- I pushed hard enough to make my quads cramp. My quads have never cramped before.

-I only got lapped once.

-I took this super sweet pic of Russell.

Synapse- The race was hard. Eye-opening. Humbling. The course was a blast. 4km/2.5 miles. 11 laps. Descents were steeper than anything I've ridden before. They were more fun than anything I've ever ridden before. I think I'm hooked on the Euro race format. I finished 45th out of 60.

Now for my pics

Uncertainties

2009-06-06T15:26:00.003-04:00

It's the eve of the biggest race that I will have ever done. I'm halfway around the world, sitting in a dark stairwell, the only place where the Internet connection is sufficient, sipping water from my bottle. The Counting Crows is playing over the tiny speakers of my laptop. I'm wondering if I've prepared myself for this. I'm trying to settle my nerves.

Why do I get so nervous? Why do I always have trouble sleeping?

Perhaps the reason is because I see bike racing as a game of chance. Training hard, eating right, sleeping enough, putting together tricked out bikes. To me, these things just increase your odds of a good result. But there's so many things that you can't control. There's always a royal flush to beat your straight, and nothing trumps waking up on the wrong side of the bed. That's what makes me nervous.

Stuck somewhere between a USAC National events and a UCI World Cup, the Swiss Racer Bikes Cup event tomorrow is a little intimidating. There's 60 elite men in our field. My starting number is 54. I was number 54 last week....

Press!

2009-06-04T11:12:00.000-04:00

A very brief write-up on the race this past weekend in Switzerland.

http://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=4171

The Grind

2009-06-04T08:12:00.010-04:00

7am: Wake up. Roll over and go back to sleep.

8am: Wake up. Roll over and go back to sleep.

9am: Wake up. Get up for real this time.

9:01am: Breakfast. Typically cereal, granola, and/or nutella sandwiches.

9:15am: Bowel movement. Its taken a full week to get back on schedule.

10:00am: Ride. 1:00pm: Shower/laundry

1:30pm: Lunch. Typically 1-3 pizzas.

2:30pm: Nap, emails, blogging, MTV.

7:00pm: Dinner. Typically an additional 1-3 pizzas.

11:00pm: Fall asleep to german MTV music videos

My perspective

2009-06-01T14:54:00.009-04:00

Easy day.

1.5 hour spin.

Took the train to Freiburg.

Hazelnut ice cream.

Spent 5 euro.

Ate a doner.

Wathed MTV.

Ventured onto a Euro sex shop.

Cigarette vending machines.

Even the stairways are bike friendly

Arnon Bike Marathon

2009-05-31T17:20:00.011-04:00

The marathon today in Switzerland was a 35km, single loop course that skirted along the edge of a huge lake and then climbed to the top of the ridge before dropping back down to the finish. We started with an odd neutral start that rolled out of town for about 5 or 6 km to the next twon where we re-staged before getting the real starting gun. It just seemed a little unnessecary. The course, however, was killer. The amount of singletrack was pretty limited, maybe 10km or so, but descent down into the finish was dope! The rest of the climbing was on long, loose fireroads that had some spectatular views that made my reconsider racing my bike, and just spectating. I finished up the race in 9th out of 45 U23 riders, and was the top American in our field. It was awesome!

Nice!

This week will be focusing on recovering, staying fresh, and eating more Euro cereal. Next week is the Swiss Racer Bike Cup/Mini World Cup.

2009-05-30T12:06:00.015-04:00

I been on top of taking pictures so far. All but one of these are from today. The days ride was on Hinterwaldkopf, the big mountain just outside of town and the site of the '95 World Championships. We got about halfway through the course, which was almost entirely narrow double-track, got bored and opted for some of the sweeter singletrack. The trails here are interesting. They're mostly smooth, not overly technical, but are crazy steep. They don't do switchbacks either, just straight shots up the mountain. There is one rippin descent that come off the ridge into Freiburg that's about the sickest thing here. It's one long 2000 vertical foot out of control two wheel slide that blasts straight down the mountain with a few manicured berms, drops, and lots of braking ruts.

They also love graffiti. It's on almost every building. Most of it is normal junk thats ugly and doesn't really mean anything. Then there are others that more like murals and probably took a lot of time. Those are cool to look at.

I think the most interesting part of being here is the language barrier. Being in a smaller town, English isn't quite as commonly spoken as we all thought it would be. I can't even tell people that I can't speak their language. All I can do is shake my head and walk away. I ordered a pizza today by pointing to the picture of it on the giant menu boards on the back wall. I did the same with the pastry I bought a few hours later. They seem to catch on quickly that were Americans.

Matt, this one's for you...I know how you love them

Tomorrow is our first event. We're racing the Arnon Bike Marathon is Grenichen, Switzerland. They're telling us its a local race, but we're in Europe, and I have my doubts.

I slept with Harlan Price

2009-05-28T15:58:00.006-04:00

Don't believe me? Today was the big travel day. Not only was the flight never-ending, I couldn't fall asleep either. I landed in Frankfurt with ehh, maybe two full hours of shut-eye before pileing into a Eurovan and driving three more hours to Kirchzarten.

Bikes freshly assembled, we took a short spin on the bike paths of Freiburg. Man, bikes are big here. Everyone rides a bike. They own the roads.

We're being put up at a small bike hostel right in town. The place is small with limited/nearly insufficient utilities. Take your hands and make two fists. Now fist bump yourself, in front of your chest. Your elbows would now be touching both sides of the shower. I guess it adds to the culture.
The Aaron Snyder Signature Edition bottle collection.

With all this down time, my posts should be frequent.

Focal Point

2009-05-12T22:12:00.005-04:00

As of 3pm this afternoon, I have professional modeling experience. No SI centerfold or Men's Health cover shot, but you'll come across my mug somewhere within the August issue of Bicycling.

I was suprised at how awkward the whole thing was. Being the focal point is not my thing. Lighting sensors, flash bulbs, light reflecting panels, and cases of lenses. I faked pain faces, I lathered up with tanning oil, and I flexed so much it hurt. It was terribly unnatural at first, but when a guy's laying out of the side of a mini-van cruising at 30-35 mph with a camera a few inches from your front wheel, its hard not to feel a little rockstar-ish.

Bill, I know your checking this out, so thanks for the referral.

Less is more

2009-05-10T17:45:00.002-04:00

In a hole of fatigue, the only ladder out is recovery. I'm standing on the bottom rung right now, looking up. My body is tired right now. Not from over-training, or over-reaching, or over-exerting. Just under-sleeping. I made a pretty stupid error last weekend. A very, umm..., unprofessional mistake. Exactly one week ago, following the US Cup race in TN, I drove straight home, more or less all through the night, with only a 2 hour nap in Maryland.

It wasn't like I had to be home for anything. I just wanted to get there.

I figured a little nap in the afternoon an early night the next evening would satisfy my sleep deficit, but it's been slowly catching up with me all week. I've been taking naps, going to bed early, and sleeping in, only to wake up still exhausted. I few more easy days, and I'll be back at it.

This weeks lesson: Shut eye is the best thing to happen to an athlete. Don't underestimate it, don't underdo it. If your tired, take a nap. If your not tired, take a nap. And remember kids, less is actually more. (exept in the case of money)

US Cup East Coast Opener

2009-05-04T13:21:00.007-04:00

Race my bike in Tennessee. Check.

I was a little wary of what to expect at the first big east coast event. I ditched the Cascade Classic and Granogue for the chance to race somewhere new. Its been a little while. It was a big race too. The 13 hours cruise down I-81 felt like the longest one ever, though I've made the drive dozens of times. I never had to dodge full size sofa beds falling off of trailers before though...I cleared it by mere inches.

The forecast for the weekend was grim. The rain gods had me thinking that it might hold out, but the next morning it was pouring. Not raining. Pouring. Fortunately, most of the trails in the southern Appalachians are resistant to water and hold up well and we were even luckier to have our race time slotted perfectly within the best two hour window of the day. The rains stopped and the sun was beating down on us for the start, only to open up again immediatley following the finish.

The racing action was superb. Though shortened a bit, the course suited me well. With the middle section removed, it was a true mountain bike course with a climb/descend profile. On the opening climb I found myself recovering from a poor start and by the top of the course I had passed most of the field, and made my way into the top 5. Swapping back and forth with Ryan Woodall, we pushed a hard pace, trying to real in the lead group. The second time down the descent, a lap rider got between the two of us and held me up just enough to give Ryan a small advantage. By the bottom, the gap was about 20 seconds. I mashed the 3rd lap but wasn't able to pull him back and the gap stayed the same. 6th. Darn, so close. I can't complain though, I'm more than happy with it.

The legs felt awesome. I was hoping last week wasn't just a fluke, and its not feeling like one. It makes me feel really good. It would be nice to not get second for the third year in a row at French Creek this weekend.

Brakes were smoked by the end

don't keep me boxed in like this

2009-04-29T21:56:00.004-04:00

Greenbrier didn't always used to be so nice to me. We've slowly become better friends over the past 5 years. Heat exhuastion, DNF's, flats, and stubborn UCI officials have kept me from having respectable days there. Ok, so I did crush the singlespeed class two years ago on a borrowed pink bike, but I should have been racing for Olympic points. In more recent years our relationship has taken a smoother road. Last year I think she felt some pity for me. This year, she let me go all the way.

The starting line at Greenbrier is always a little different than just about any other race. The mix of people is always a little more varied and definitely a little deeper. It's UCI credentials draws competetiors from both sides of the Mason Dixon and usually a few from Canada. Its always a hard book to judge by its cover.

Immediately, from the start, I liked how I felt. Nothing felt hard, accelerations were matched, and I really started to feel like I had a shot. Brandon took over a lot of the pacemaking towards the beginning as a group of 3 of us pulled away somewhere on the second lap. With the heat, we kept it rolling at a sustainable pace for the next 4 laps, all staying together. When we hit the 5th lap, it started to break apart. Brandon, who had been without a bottle for a lap or so, (and said nothing about it as to not give away a weakness) slowed a bit to take advantage of his fresh bottle. Figuring we'd see him again in a few minutes, I rolled up next to Harlan, asked him how he was feeling, and heard a hesitation. That was all I needed. Without straight up attacking, I accelerated on a smaller climb early in the lap, but as soon as I was out of sight I gassed it til the end. My first significant Pro win, and UCI point starter kit. I hope these legs stick around for while...

The trip across the pond is still 4 weeks away. Passport, flight booked, forms signed, I'm all ready. There's nothing to do but wait.

Rocktober Marathon is only 16 days away though. Circle May 16th and be there. The website isn't that helpful right now so check out the bikereg page for the real info and ultimately to sign-up! It will break a lot of people!

funny the way it is

2009-04-22T15:25:00.003-04:00

If you think about it.

My race time this weekend at Fair Hill was a full two minutes faster than exactly one year ago. Identical was the course, conditions, and motivation. My finishing spot was 3 spots worse. Hmm? Does that mean my fitness it better or worse? Half empty or half full?

The legs felt good though, which makes me happy. I felt fairly consistant throughout the day, which also makes me happy. This is about the time of year when I start racing my way into form. The first few weeks are usually downers; tasting blood on starts, not being able to hang with the lead group, getting dropped, and generally feeling negative towards myself. I tend to internalize it all. But in about a month that all goes away, and the legs come to life and the tables turn. I have a little bit of control in the lead group and most importantly I get to drop others and return favors. I can't wait for that!

After the race, Jenny and I hung out and put in some extra credit miles. We took advantage of the mildly technical trails and took a lap on the course. She hammered it out and impressed me through a few sections I didn't think she'd make. I guess I shouldn't under-estimate her!

I'm really digging the weather lately. I'm not looking forward to it getting any warmer than what its been the past week or two. Why can't it stay in the 60s all year? I prefer cooler rather than warmer and I dig knee warmers and long sleeves. At least then I can hide my unsightly tan lines that still don't line up. But they are getting better...

Yeah!

2009-04-06T23:27:00.012-04:00

I need to book a flight to Frankfurt, Germany for an 18 day UASC U23 race camp. I just got email conformation this afternoon. I wish I could contain myself!

Pics from the relay on Saturday and AT hiking on Sunday.

aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex gly

2009-04-02T11:43:00.004-04:00

Makes me want to sail a yacht.

Phony diamonds.

Trans fat!

Smells delicious

Do they make a ti version? I like to cut weight where I can.

I hope everyone puts off buying a new one as long as I do. You know, scraping the little blue plastic thing against your armpit, trying to squeeze a few more days out of it.

Mahogany

2009-03-31T11:01:00.009-04:00

Between coffee, tea, GU's, and fruit smoothies, most of my calories from the past week have come from liquids.
I make two of these every day.

Quite a bit has gone on in the way of riding the past week or two. There was a race. I didn't do so well in this race, but in a sort of way, I'm glad I don't have a whole lot of fitness right now. The past 4 or 5 years always seemed like I came out swinging early on in the spring. I'd like to temper that this year. Race legs aren't that far away though...

I spent this past weekend at ESU with Jen and got in some good miles there too. 15 minute hell, I mean hill, repeats up and over Rt 191 on Friday. Saturday was a big mile, tri-state ride through NY, NJ, and PA along new back roads along the Deleware Water Gap. I love riding in the spring. Knee warmers and longsleeves are my favorite. So much more than shorts and short sleeves.

Then there was the Knife Fight. A 70 mile group ride with a handful of dirt road ((very steep)climbing) time sections. It was tough. It was cold. It was raining. It was a mess. It was a hell of a good time. I had no idea there were so many dirt roads round here!

Why do I look so serious?

I'm starting to get pretty comfy on the Spark. I like it!

People not Places

2009-03-18T22:28:00.002-04:00

I am finally working! Who gets this excited about work!? I do.

I am also excited about a day off the bike tomorrow! Sunday was 70 some miles from home to East Stroudsburg for the night with Jenny. Monday morning saw me retracing my steps home. Tuesday was out to Shippensburg as soon as work was done for Ship U race ride. I got a little mroe than I expected with this one when Matt slipped a pedal and I waited for him as the pack kept hammering. He sat up a few minutes later and left me to chase full-bore for the next 10 or 15 miles. I caught the main group and won the sprint to the line then. And finally today was a solid two point five hours at Michaux with the Experience. I think I deserve a day off, right? My legs think so!

I'm finishing up an application for a 3 week U23 devo camp in Germany over the summer. And I don't look as good on paper as I thought I would...mostly because I didn't do so many national races last year. 3 weeks in Europe...I hope so!

I don't just ride bikes

2009-03-14T14:42:00.006-04:00

I build things too. Who ever knew I was this handy? The pots were supplied (and hand thrown) by Jen, the base by Lowe's, and the incredible ingenuity by yours truley...

1/40th of one second

2009-03-11T09:45:00.018-04:00

I'm thinking of an eleven letter word.

Its the word of the millennium. Its what humans do best.

I took a sociology course last year that I kinda liked. The professor was undoubtedly a conservative so the course took a sort of environmental track. I really liked the guy. He showed us a video that was far and away, the most influential thing that I have ever seen. It could very well be the only thing that I have a definitive opinion about. I think about that video every day. About the truth and reality of it. Manifest Destiny.
I have always been aware of it to some degree, but realizing its massive scale is alarming. Its almost ironic that the thing that is the foundation of our society will be, one day, what is choking out our existence. It's not just about saving plastic bags or using less paper towels. It's so much bigger. People say that one person can make a difference. Bogus. They can't. At least not here, not in something this deeply rooted in each our own little worlds. It needs to be a change of human culture.
We take from the earth like nobody's business. And all we give back is our garbage, buried in huge holes. We take everything that nature has to offer, cut it down, burn it, use it up, and then spit it back in the earth's face. Our culture is so fundamentally distant from nature, from earth, that we've gotten to a point where we don't think of ourselves as part of the natural processes fo the earth, but that we exist entirely outside of them. The natural world has become just some primitive thing that we have to travel through to reach another piece of the world we've created. We have this notion that the earth belongs to us. That it's ours to use and exploit and that the consequences of our ignorance and recklessness don't impact us? Really? But in the end, we're the ones that get burned. The environment will survive, not us. We're the ones living outside our means. The American Dream.

Humans, as an entire species, often disappoint me. There's a lot that I don't like about them, but nonetheless, I am one of them whether I like it or not. I'm not pretending to be a saint either. It has its place within my life just like everybody else's. I have become a whole lot more aware of it. I recognize it in everything that I do. I do what I can, but maybe this economic downturn is a good thing. After all, it's mostly because people aren't buying things. How successful are we really, if we can't survive without buying things?

Guess the word yet?

consumption

A Metaphor

2009-03-07T21:17:00.003-05:00

black velvet

2009-03-05T21:57:00.012-05:00

I'm not talking about Pat Benatar.

What I am talking about is the smooth buttery stuff found throughout construction sites, new developments, or when PenDOT decides that it's time to take care of the roads full of winter potholes. The stuff makes me giddy. I hit a 3 or 4 mile long stretch on a slight downhill with a light tailwind. Everything was silent, save for the hum of the rim-wrappers on the freshly pressed pavement.

All the new race gear is in! The bike looks pretty pimpy and the threads pretty fly. Enter the Scott Spark. 4 inches of squish, and all carbon. The only aluminium pieces on this baby are the threads in the bb and the bearings and bolts in the pivots. Everything else is carbonium, dropouts and cable guides included.

Last night I got my build on and threw it together. This evening I took it to Cyclefitters for the, chopping of the post and professional fitting. John does a awesome job with his fittings, the bike feels amazing so far. Don't let the garage setup fool you, he knows what he's doing! Check out the website and get your bike custom fitted to you. And tell him I sent you!

Right now local crazy, Rob May, is grudging across the alaskan tundra in the 350 miles Iditabike race. Temps floating around 40 below, 30lb bikes loaded with close to another 30lbs of gear, and 18 hour shifts either in the saddle or walking and pushing. There is real time updates from each of the check points here. The report is that the weather has taken a turn for the worse and Rob had to turn around and head back to the last checkpoint to get out of the storm. Hopefully he's able to grind through it and finish the last half. If anyone can, it's Rob!

happy square root day

2009-03-03T23:05:00.003-05:00

I saw it on the news this morning, so it's gotta be true. Math guru's are up in arms celebrating 3/3/09. Don't people have better, more productive things to do?

Its about time I get back on the trainer and ride fast to nowhere.

Free-Air Anomaly

2009-02-22T14:51:00.003-05:00

My days have been about as simple as it can get. Yesterday was the first day I been up before 9 since I've been home. It's alright for now. It's already getting old though, and I'm ready to start working, but even that I can't do for another month. Ebay has been providing a steady income though, 300 bucks a week ain't shabby.

My Valentine...
We spent Heart Day laying around the apartment, watching movies, making cards, and drinking Simply Orange with Pineapple. (ok, only I was drinking the OJ) But we did go out for a pretty fly dinner at Sarah Street. A mutual favorite.

09 Spark frames and clothing are in and we are awaiting a team meeting date to get the goods. You'll see it here first.

Making me

2009-02-12T12:03:00.009-05:00

It's a process. A series of steps, if you will.

I took a big step last week. It feels good and, for now at least, I know it will work out. The hardest part of it all was explaining it to my sidekick. How do you tell someone who did you a favor by following you somewhere, that your not going to be staying? Would Batman ever turn his back on Robin? Is that really being a friend? It took me 9 days to come up with the words. Or at least the confidence. This was several weeks in the making.

Right now there are 50mph winds pummelling our house. I can see my window frame flexing inside the wall. Intense. I'm already over being on the trainer. Maybe a night ride on the mtb?
Meet the Owen Cup. Fabricated by John Frink of Blacksburg, VA. Mounted by John Delong. Named after someone named Owen.

The last time I was around for the psuedo-race I spent 65 miles off the front of the pack fighting with the wind. This year I brought some back up in the form of Brandon, but still got dropped starting the last lap. It was my annual IS (Intensity Shock) to the legs. I'm ready to start racing now. Sunday, was big miles, and big climbs. 100 miles of appalachia, 60 degree temps, people I haven't seen for quite a while, 3 major climbs plus a 35 minute trip up Mt Lake made for nothing short of a perfect day on the bike.

The entire trip felt like the poster in the background of the trophy. Yeah, its paradise.

Deja vu

2009-01-15T11:42:00.004-05:00

Its refreshing to see that upon starting classes this week, school is just as unenjoyable as it was when I left it exactly one month ago. My motivation towards academia is also right about where I left it about a month ago. Right around zero. Rock bottom. Usually I'm on top of everything for at least the first week or two and then I start to let everything slip away. I haven't even gone to get any books yet. I need lots of books.

Don't blink

2009-01-04T18:39:00.006-05:00

Would you believe me if I told you I took these?

warning labels

2009-01-02T22:02:00.010-05:00

Army Holds Annual 'Bring Your Daughter To War' Day

I had a scary moment today. Cleaning and replacing contaminated brake pads this afternoon, I whipped out the brake cleaner to touch up the rotors and calipers. After hitting both rotors, I turned to the rear caliper and gave it the tiniest squirt to get the brake fluid and brake dust out. The cleaner went into the caliper, and then quickly richoceted directly into my eyeball. I almost panicked. I stood there, debating with myself whether or not I would retain sight in my right eye. But I did, it just burned like hell. I looked up the MSDS sheet for brake cleaner. It read, "In case of contact with eyes, flush for at least 15 minutes. Seek emergency assistance immediately".

I only flushed for about 11 minutes. I hope it doesn't come back to bite me.

Photos are hard to take in a moving car. This is a perfect example. But it sort of looks like lots of bikes.

And it's impossible for me to get enough of these

Or this

Maraschino cherry to be exact

2008-12-29T12:25:00.005-05:00

Man, break is going way too fast. Only two weeks left, and I still haven't done anything here at home. Except put in lots of time on the bike. I haven't ridden my mountian bike in over a month. I don't know what I'm going to do about that.

I popped my Philia cherry Saturday night when I went downtown with Matt to hang out with Jordan, whom we haven't seen in a long time, since he moved to Colorado. It was the first time I was in Philia without being on my bike. I almost wore my chamios out, because I didn't know what else to wear. It was a good time though.

Orangeman came today. Its too big. I don't know what I'm going to do about that either.

I love my new camera. And photo editing software.

High Quality Visual Aids

2008-12-26T23:50:00.005-05:00

Christmas was sweet.

My new camera is awesome. The included manual to all the settings and controls is huge, and difficult to understand. but i'm trying. Now I can post lots of cool pictures that aren't blurry, out of focus, or just plain crappy. I love it.

I'm too tired to wait for any more to upload. I'm tired. I rode 105 miles today.

Wow, that was fun

2008-12-21T11:03:00.002-05:00

New personal record set just minutes ago. 4 Hours on the trainer. Sweating everywhere. The first and last 45 minutes were the worst. They dragged on and on. The other 3 hours were lost somewhere in the middle. A list of the activities I did.

-Watched 3 episodes of MTV's Made
-AMA GNCC Harescramble recorded from the United Kingdom
-24 Solo
-Downhill skiing, recorded from the 2006 Winter Olympics
-Called Mateo, just to talk
-Called Rob May, also just to talk
-Drank one full gallon of water

Tomorrow I am most definitely going outside.

Post #101

2008-12-20T11:41:00.002-05:00

I missed my chance to celebrate my 100th post. Small oversight. The 101st is still pretty cool though. However, I wish I had a more spectatcular post the comemorate it with. I'll just leave you with a story about today's comment of the day.

So I'm standing in line waiting for my fantastic Thai Chicken burrito at the famous California Tortilla. I've already ordered, but I'm waiting just to the side of the register for my food. A woman with her two young kids, I'm going to venture a guess of about 2 and 4ish, approach the counter ooggling over the massive menu board over the wall. I think nothing of it. I continue anticipating my burrito and the spicy peanut sauce that it contains. After a moment or two, and inquiring to both kids what they want, the woman turns to the girl behind the counter and asks this question. "Is it possible to eat the taco salad while I'm driving?"

What?

The words floated into my eardrum, high into my cerebellum, located near the limbic system, and actually caused me to stagger backwards.

I've been riding quite a bit the past three weeks as well. And going to the gym. And spending time with Jenny. And sleeping. And also inherently doing alot of laundry because of he sloppy road and trail conditions.

Oh my darling clementine

2008-12-02T09:43:00.002-05:00

Who doesn't love orange juice. Sure there will always be disputes over pulp content or brand preference (Topicana is the only one I'll recognize), but everyone can still agree that OJ makes the world go 'round. Or at least makes you hate your day a little less. It is simply amazing.

As a complement (not to be confused with supplement) to our routine gallon jug of Tropicana, the best orange juice on the face of the planet, we purchased some clementines. Because they're delicious too. I couldn't wait til this morning when I would have the oppurtunity to enjoy one of these suckers for breakfast.

So I'm walking down the sidewalk, engaging in the most serious of discussions with Matthew, when I put a peice clementine in the mouth. I brace myself for the overwhelmingly euphoric taste of the fruit segment detenating inside my mouth like a tiny, delectable little bomb. What followed was nothing short of total disappointment. "UGGHH", I spit it out. I was thoroughly disgusted. It was the worst peice of fruit in a long time. But I had a lot of questions.

Was it bad?

Is this catastrophe limited to just this one clementine, or is the entire box destined for bottom of the trash can?

Should I spend more time scraping some more of the awful white stuff off?

Why did this particular clementine contain so many seeds?

Was this even a real peice of fruit at all?

I tossed it into the bushes. Ok, so I took out my rage on it and fired it as hard as I could into the nearby chainlink fence. I felt only slightly better. Matthew and I continued on, despite the lingering taste in my mouth. Walking only a few hundred feet away, it hit me. I realized what had caused me to judge that poor clementine so brutally.

I had brushed my teeth just moments before walking out the door.

My hands do still smell delicious though...

That's what I'm talking about

2008-11-24T00:12:00.002-05:00

The station directly next to this on, a mere 80 feet away, was ripping people off for $1.99.
Mmm...free market economy

FSX

2008-11-21T12:33:00.003-05:00

The temperature is hovering right around freezing. My fingers lack feeling. The thin red layer of polyester that had been holding a small amount of heat against my body is now gone. It's laying on the concrete floor of the garage underneath a red and blue children's bike. I took note so I can return to it as soon as I'm done. I'm standing in a driveway, surrounded by multiple World and National champions, an Olympian. I'm wondering why I drove through a snowstorm to get to where I am but ahead of me there's a dark strip of mud that leads into a group of trees. It reminds me why. I can't see it very well with the three small LED's coming from my light. I'm not sure I have enough battery power for the night so have to wait for the last minute to turn it on. Now I'm shivering, watching my steamy breath floating in front of my face, obscuring the light shining from my head. The image of my surroundings reappears as the condensation dissipates. Someone yells "Go", cans crack open, then laughs. The man next to me laughs as well. Harlan. He's not Bill. Bill is the official starter. He laughs too. Comic relief. Or more accurately, comic continuity.

We've been racing for a little while. It doesn't feel as long as it probably has been, but I can hear a bell coming through the trees. I'm dripping with sweat now, my fingers noticeably warm. I'm comfortable. One more time down the driveway, up the run-up, through the swing set, dodging the childhood gang that's bound to pop out somewhere like ghosts in a haunted house. I hop the second to last barrier just behind an unknown rider. I recognize the red knee warmers, it must be Taylor. Taylor's hair isn't that big though. There's only one hippie with hair like that. I've been chasing Topher all night, now I'm right behind him. Around the slick goat-pen turn. He knows somebody is coming. Not who though. Each of us slam the chain onto cogs a couple teeth harder than ones we were just turning. We're accelerating towards the final set of barriers. The finish line lies just a few feet beyond the second wooden plank.
I'm a sucker who can never turn down a good sprint. But not through barriers. We keep accelerating towards them. A few strides prior to crashing into the first barrier, I ride the brakes, unclipping my right foot and swinging it to the ground. Topher mimics my movements. His much faster than mine though. By the time I have both feet on the ground he's about to stride over the second barrier. I see the beam of his light swing straight up into the canopy of trees above us, his bike falls from his shoulder, he makes some noises that I couldn't make out as words. Concerned moans come from the spectators as they try to make sense of the high-speed action.

His botched barrier won the hearts of the spectators. My assist went unrecognized. I did get the pass though.

Just between me and you, I'm starting to fancy my cross bike. One week ago, I could only ride in the drops. Then I took it for a straight up trail ride in Valley Forge and made myself stay in the hoods. It paid off. Last night, I rode entirely on the hoods. And went even faster.

I've hit 10,000 views this week. I guess people like what they see.

backyard bike racing

2008-11-15T18:12:00.004-05:00

The Emmaus crowd is the best. When Bill Strickland opens up his back yard for local bike jockeys to play around in, crowds show up in throngs. I like the atmosphere, it's serious to a point, but the night is always grounded on the fact that because it's Bill's backyard, anybody who acts like a dick is well....quite simply, a dick. Don't be a dick. Its fun. Its dark. Its hard. Its muddy. It heftly awards those who enjoy, or at least are able, to down PBR's very quickly. but its not mountain bikes. This week it was raining as well.

I crashed twice, ran a lot, got beat by Topher both races, and rode the entire duration of both races in the drops. because the hoods make me feel insecure. Not about myself, but my safety and well being and my ability to not get thrown into the ground.

Friday morning, Jenny and I, at her unprovoked request, took a two.5 hour spin down to Manyunk for some lunch, and rode back. It was raining as well.

For the third day in a row, for the first time since Bear Creek, I rode yet again. Following the cross trend of the weekend, and even more torrential rain storms Friday night, I rode the smoother trails of Valley Forge. My cross skills improved appox 10 fold. I can clear medium sized logs and ride on the hoods. I came across a doe being chased by a 6 point buck, who was chasing off at least 4 other bucks, trying to claim the doe as his own. They starting mating. I stopped and watched. Is that weird?

-I'm not sure i used the word "throngs" in the proper context

TCOB- Taking Care of Business

2008-11-10T14:34:00.002-05:00

Finally a truely original idea.

To our knowledge, Matt and I have just listed for the first time ever, a half eaten food item on ebay. At first glance, it may not seem like a huge deal deal, or for that matter, a profitable one. But don't be fooled, the food item is not what's really at stake here. This is about the exploitation of a new and original idea. Hopefully, this will take the nation by storm and we'll be famous. The paparazzi will have a field day, Katie Couric will have to interview us, and if all goes well, we'll be special guests on The Colbert Report. Or something like that.

So spead this to as many people as you know. But lets make on thing understood, this is our idea. Accept no imitations.

On behalf of Matt and Aaron: The original sellers of half-eaten food items.

Street Fighters

2008-11-06T22:56:00.005-05:00

Personally, I'm a fan of the 360 windmill aimed at the opponents carotid. The strategy was there, execution not as much.

This week's highlights

2008-10-27T16:50:00.008-04:00

-I bought a pair of jeans this afternoon with a 29 waist size. The smallest size that I've fit in in no less than 6 years.

- My cross bike didn't sell on ebay...again

- The nutritional difference between Centrum and Centrum Performance vitimans comes no where close to justifying a three-fold price difference

- That douchebag from my history class that cheated the other week....did it again today. I wish he knew how much I really hated him.

- I'm waiting on three (3) new bikes to arrive in the coming weeks. Scale, Spark, and CR1 pro

(I paused during the writing of this post for a 2 hour nap right here)

- Matt and I thought we were getting pretty good at raquetball, until two days ago when we were dominated in a doubles game with two fat kids who play all the time.

- I heard that the Phillies won some big game or something, I was preoccupied with not voting.

I think this picture is awesome. Vertical pictures are my new trademark.

Your conscience eats at you and can't breathe without me

2008-10-17T18:06:00.007-04:00

I'm a sucker for good quotes.

And benches painted with helpful bits about personal health

No position to give advice

2008-10-17T00:07:00.002-04:00

Racquetball is sweet. But what makes it so sweet?

Maybe its being in a perfectly sealed, perfectly square white room with no windows.
Maybe it has to do with the intriguing geometry involved with hitting a ball around said perfectly square room.
Or could it be because the extreme echo makes it impossible to make out words, no matter how soft you speak.
How about the lack of ventilation/circulation leading to extreme sweating of the temporal area?
It could just be that chasing a ball around can be a fair amount of fun.

All of these are viable explanations for why I had to play today. I've been thinking about it since the second my eyes opened this morning. One hour was enough to wipe me and Matt out. Sweaty cotton is not cool. After 5 hours of hot summer riding in a chamois, it's easy to log in a good hour or two of loitering before starting the feel a tad gross but cotton...immediately appalling.

Tomorrow I'm heading down to the Philia area to participate as an athletic supporter (pun most definitely intended) for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. Both my mom and Jen are determined to walk all 60 miles so I'll be there for some motivation and picture taking. As long as I remember to get batteries...

Miscellaneous thought to leave you with- Jenny and I are getting pretty darn close to our three year mark. Feels like a long freakin time.

Titleless post

2008-10-14T21:38:00.006-04:00

Ok, yeah. This lack of material is getting a bit ridiculous.

I wish I had some proper reasons/excuses about how I've been so incredibly busy with school work that I just don't have time to keep you guys entertained. But I'd be lying.

Today, though, that was almost true. In a very rare fashion, nearly the entire day was spent outside the room. Highlighting the day was a car ride to Harrisburg to check in on and distract Kyle and Ray, already hard at work doing nothing. We effectively wasted an hour of their time while loitering on the home gyms until we decided that our time could be much more well spent at the burrito joint down the street. The place only took cash so we had to hunt down an ATM. The kicker, there was an ATM conveniently hidden out of sight behind a refrigerator inside the restaurant. I love burritos. ATM service fees, umm, not so much.

Hmm. What else? Warranty season is more or less in full swing. One bike is completely in pieces and scattered about the contiguous lower 50 seeking maintenance that I, unfortunately, am not capable of giving. Hopefully one day, in the near future, we can all get together again and go for ride. That'd be nice. Another bike has found its way onto ebay and is actively searching for a loving family. Interested in helping? Adopt him here.

Everybody likes to ask how schools going. My answer's always the same. It's alright. I still show up to most of my classes, which is an inherently good thing, but that's about it. It seems like this stuff gets easier and easier every year. Is the educational system really working or am I just getting better at working the education system?

Bicycle riding status- 10 days off and counting. But I'm looking forward to get back to it aboard the new ride which in en route.

Doping tests

2008-09-30T16:39:00.005-04:00

This has been boiling inside my brain since 8am.

I watched some chump cheat on a history exam this morning. The old note card sticking out of the bookbag trick. I bet he felt so clever. I thought he was a douche bag.

Now I realize that the world has it's fair share of liars and cheats but luckily I haven't had the chance to meet many of them in person. I also consider myself to be amoung those who has led a fairly honest life. As far as academic dishonesty, the only time I've gone astray was in 4th grade on a math test where we weren't allowed to use a calculator. I used a calculator. And I still feel bad about it. I just don't care enough about school to take the time to cheat. People who do suck.

Just thinking about somebody being that much of a jerk makes my head hurt. Watching this guy, it was immpossible to to focus on my own work. I was completly blinded by rage. I needed my whole body to just hate this guy. What a douche.

I'm slowly getting over it. The only red I'm seeing now is a box of Capn Crunch.

Fresh Air

2008-09-29T21:09:00.007-04:00

It's amazing what opening a window can do. For the first time this year we have fresh, uncirculated air and it feels like, well, a wave of fresh air. It was noticable immediately. And just like that, I was able to string words together and make a posting. Albeit a weak one.

The rodeo came to town this weekend at East Stroudsburg. A legit rodeo. I have never seen as much rain as I did during the rodeo. In all reality, I probably have, but I'm just trying to illustrate the fact that it rained alot.

Take a look at this pretty little thing. No I'm not talking about me... Pictures like this one are hard to come by

After a 4 day rest period, I hoped back on the bike this morning. I met papa bear in Gettysburg for a self guided tour around the battlefields and surrounding areas. I could ride around Gettysburg forever. It gets better every time.

I can feel my eyes burning, which means I'm tired and need sleep. Why are my eyes always red?

You were always on my mind

2008-09-25T21:02:00.007-04:00

Grey's Anatomy just doesn't do it for me. But as I sit watching the two hour season premier in a room steaming with estrogen, my mind is drifting elsewhere.

Australia.

This morning, for reasons that I'm not able to pin point, I found myself researching legal migration to the Land Down Under. Cost of living, fuel costs, health care systems, and taxation. I even passed the practice test for citizenship. I've always thought about how cool it would be to get my aussie on.

Who knows why

Ha! It'll never happen. I don't think... But about a month ago I came across some interesting info. 2009 Worlds in Australia, and I want to go. I'm trying to get ahead of the game for this one. Already working on what the selection process is and what races really count. I will have to try my hand at one or two World Cups this year. Holy crap. Thats a tall order but I'm going to make a serious attempt at this. I won't make any guarantees cause I'm not down with empty promises but I'm not taking it lightly.

Saturday I got to spend a day in the life of Matt Miller2.0(07) after cutting two tires during the short track within a 20 minute period. One warming up and the other on the penultimate lap. On the same rock. At least I was able to make up for it in the Super D where I had a smooth run. Crossing the line I felt like I put in a good time but probably not a winning one. Well, I didn't win...but I did take second. By half a second. And Brandon took third by 0.11. I don't know if I could handle DH racing if I had to win or lose by splits like those.

Don't let the black and white fool you, that's some major number plate bling. Try not to be jelous.

Closing time

2008-09-17T14:39:00.005-04:00

The number of races is dwindling and so is my interest in it. One more bike scrimage this weekend. Well, two if you count the short track. I love the fall. Not because the leaves change colors or because of the mild weather or the apple cider. I like it because racing goes on the back burner for a while. Dont get me wrong, racing bikes is awesome. But not racing bikes is awesome sometimes too. I like not having to think about it or worrying about getting saddle time in. I ride only when I really feel like it and its fun that way.

Speaking of short track, isn't it really just a short 'cross race. Everyone gets so excited about cross season each and every year. But no one likes short track. Isn't the reason for its popularity because of its sick and twisted kind of pain? It sounds fairly similar. Can somebody shed some light on the disparity of short track and cross love?

The only thing cooler than Mark Taylor is Mark Taylor laying into a corner. On flats.

Who's the man

2008-09-08T20:00:00.003-04:00

Spent two nights with the lady this weekend. It was like spending a few days as Jane Goodall studying primates. I had no idea the opposite sex could be like that. It was just like in the movies. During my time there I cooked up one of my favorite meals. It looks a little something like this: Pinneapple Chicken Fa-gee-tas
Also on the food front, I found a local farm market just outside of town and paid a visit. They have lots of season fruits and veggies grown by the very folks selling it. I picked up a bushel of apples, pear and apple butter. To be honest, they are the best apples I have ever eaten. No joke.

Paradise Blend

2008-09-05T00:26:00.003-04:00

Fresh posting on cyclingnews.com on their latest Project Bike. The Scott Spark. Sub-20lb double squish. Sick...

Visual Aids- Tour de Duece

2008-09-04T22:39:00.012-04:00

Finally was able to swipe some pics from the Tour de Brew a few weekends back. The inaugural edition last summer was unique enough that I made it a definite destination again this year. The promoters one-up'ed the course from last year, which ran through the Allentown Brew Works, by running the event through the adjacent parking garage in addition to raging through the brewery. After pulling off a a pretty poor celebratory wheelie across the line, the PR began. The local news station asked for an interview, pictures were taken, and then I stepped on the podium to receive my gallon container of beer.
I'm not sure how much cooler this race can get next year.

Photo credit goes to Andy B

Photo Hunt

2008-09-03T14:38:00.015-04:00

"This is awesome, what a stress-free race"

Indeed, the Seven Springs 24 Hour was very stress-free. It turned out to be a very long, fun ride with Brandon, sweeping the top 2 spots. From the start we held a consistant pace, keeping our lap times well under 1:20 until the sun disappeared. By about 3am we had put third place 2 laps down, and from there til the finish it was more or less just damage control unitl we had the top two spots locked up. We finished the race with 16 laps, 200 miles and approx. 24,000 ft of climbing. We had time to fit in a 17th but we found it to be a bit redundant.

Key points worthy of mention:

- "Getting a gap" in the opening laps of a race this long is not a foremost concern.
- Pizza works wonders on the 2am bonk.

-The greatest people you know are the ones who can stare you in the face and tell you that they don't care how much it hurts to ride your bike at 4 in the morning, and make you get back on.

- Inducing vomiting can make you feel like a million, no- make that two millions, bucks

- There is always one more lap. Always.

-My taint may actually be made of steel.

Recovery is coming along nicely. Sunday was rough. Monday was alot better. Today is mostly normal. Actually went clothes shopping on Monday which is unusual. Now I own some sweet new threads that don't have race logos plastered all over. Who woulda thought. I'll have to get used I guess.

Last Chance

2008-08-29T10:05:00.002-04:00

I'm finishing the packing arrangements for Seven Springs. I'm doin it. I don't know why. This one is the deal breaker. If I don't finish this one, I'm done with them. For a while. It's too much time and money and preparation and focus and effort to do half a race.

The weather is looking more promising every hour. Yesterday rained all day but its stopped for now. Chances for storms the rest of the weekend are getting lower and lower. I hope I have enough brake pads.

First thing next week is a reveiw of last weekends Tour de Brew, which was awesome.

Less is more

2008-08-19T18:56:00.003-04:00

This really caught my eye the other day. A video clip of Sam Hill in this years DH Worlds. If you've not seen it, now is a good time.

Unbeliveable. Second place by only half a second after a run where, at one point he was laying on the ground several feet from his bike. Totally flying.
I've come to realize over the years that there is no correlation between the amount of stuff I have at school and the amount of it that I use. The more I have, the more that sits un-used. This year the challenge continues. How little can I get by with.
School starts on Monday. The Experience and I move in on Thursday. Good times to follow.

118B

2008-08-14T00:50:00.010-04:00

Sometimes, not extremely often but once in a while, I start to miss something I wish I still had, or perhaps, something I wish I was still a part of. 118B is the Blacksburg exit off of I-81 in southern Virginia and for whatever reason, I never feel more at home than the moment I see that big green sign with 'Virginia Tech This Exit' written on it. Something about Blacksburg just feels right to me. I can honestly tell anyone that have no regrets in my lifetime. Except one. I spent two years in Blacksburg and leaving that town was a mistake. One that I wish I could take back. The people that I met there were some of the best. So was the riding. Blacksburg is home to thousands of people but somehow it always felt like it was my own secret place. In a way I guess it kinda was. I did a lot of exploring on my own and I found a lot of cool things. I was really proud of the place.

Its been almost two years since I've lived in Blacksburg and the reason for coming back north still escapes me. In retrospect it was a rash decision coupled with a short time when I was down about a lot of things. I guess I didn't know what I had until I gave it up. I still talk to my freshman year roommate, Bryan, although not as often as I should and I still get the cycling team emails everyday about who needs to borrow a fixed gear hub or who forgot their arm warmers after the Race Ride which still kinda makes me feel like I'm still in the loop. But I know I'm not really, not totally.

I would love to go back someday but I think that all the people I've come to know will have left. I don't think it would be the same. I just wish I could rewind back to those days. A bit depressing I suppose but I couldn't sleep until I wrote about it. I will say, however, living with this guy for a year should be awesome.

More cool people

2008-08-08T12:37:00.003-04:00

Looks like another member of the cool kids club. About as cool as seventh graders slow dancing to Savage Garden.

Shoulda just done some smack and he'd a been a free man. Be eatin cereal right now.

Universal Solvent

2008-08-06T09:37:00.007-04:00

In the field of chemistry, water is referred to the 'Universal Solvent'. It's unique chemical composition of both an H+ cation and an OH- anion allow it to dissolve both acidic and basic compounds into solution.

Time has the same profound effect on a human being's mind. More specifically, the amount of time continuously riding a bicycle. Time is capable of dissolving any aspiration. It makes no difference your motivation, your confidence, your optimism, or your fitness. Time will break it all down. Time doesn't care. Time is relentless.

The changes within are staggering. Within hours, every ounce of effort in getting there is reduced to nothing. The 40+ hours of round trip driving, the dollars spent, the time investment of the support crew, the time investment of your own in training, the good luck wishes of hundreds of people are meaningless at that moment. You just don't care anymore.

24 Nats weren't the best. The course was so much fun. Sections reminded me exactly of Valley Forge. Stomach problems started early and didn't get any better. Ran 6th and 7th pretty consistently until a bit past the halfway point but couldn't put anything down without it feeling like it would come right back up. Even water. With nutrition steadily heading downhill I pulled the plug around midnight. Later that night, I ended up throwing up on the side of highway on the way back from getting some food. I was suprised to hear in the morning that Brandon had also abandoned a few hours later. PA bitchslap.

A big thanks to Matt, Jenny, my mom, and Renae and Joe D for all the help this weekend.

Countdown to Seven Springs- 24 days

Bein' Busy

2008-07-27T12:07:00.002-04:00

Being on the road for almost 2 weeks was a blast, but I'm glad to be home. The racing was good and the company unbeatable. The Windham race went rather well, where I place 32nd after my last place call-up. The bottleneck start put the rear end of the field about 2 mins down to the leaders in the first 100 yards. From there consistancy paid off for me as riders suffered in the east coast humidity and started falling backwards. I would have welcomed a fifth lap, as I was closing in on a handful of guys who finished within a minute in front of me. A top 25 for sure. Coulda shoulda woulda. Survived for well over half the short track. Got much needed confidence for next weeks main event.

Following Sunday's short track festivities, I moved on to Vermont with Zach and Martin in search of a 4 bedroom house that would be ours for a few days until the rest of Martin's team arrived. It was nice to sleep in a proper bed for a few days despite having to abandon my hand built sleeping platform in the Mazda to do so. The waking hours of Monday thru Wednesday were spent eating, riding slowly, and veiwing Family Guy marathons. Transferred residences on Wed night to stay with Carl and his uncle where Family Guy was replaced by Deadliest Catch.

Thursday-race day. Upon waking up, I can feel that "not really going to cooperate with you" feeling in the legs as soon as the feet hit the floor. I go about the normal race day routine thinking happy thoughts about last weekend. Disapointment overshadows false optimisim throughout the race as I'm on the defensive all day trying to not get passed instead of making passes. Ending up in 12th place isn't the worst thing, but it's far from what I knew I was capable of going into the weekend. Everyone has bad days, it just sucks it had to be this day.

One last chance at redemtion in store. 24 Hr Nats is only a week away. Feeling pretty good about it and looking to hopefully have a good time during most of it. Slightly concerned about the total lack of elevation change. That and the quality of the guys that will be there. With a descent amount of luck there might be a shot at a top 5. I'll pop in 24Solo again tonight...that'll be 4 times this week.

Side notes:

- Zach Adams knows whats up when it comes to making dinner

- I finally learned to play "Oh" by DMB. I'm excited about this.

- There is a very good chance that the twins shower together

- Adam Craig enjoys partying til the early morning before winning national championships

- I took not a single picture while I was gone

I can't believe I crashed in my own driveway

2008-07-09T16:27:00.009-04:00

It poured all afternoon here in G-ville. I was about 20 minutes into a 2 hour practice race ride when it started coming down. Unfortunately, I didn't have my helmet visor- aka safety glasses proudly perched on my helmet today so the eyes were taking a beating. I made it through the intended loop, after only being dangerously cut off only two times, and headed for home. Side note- I've have a couple confrontations with stupid people driving cars too fast of too close to me. I might start carrying an extra bottle just as ammo. One said incident was evn with a guy on a motorcycle, the one group of people that I would expect to have some sort of understanding towards other two wheels travelers. What a jerk. I digress.

After spinning back home, still in the downpouring rain, I swing into the driveway in a standard fashion and was promptly body slammed into the pavement. The brownish patch must be oil or something cause i've never felt wheels come out from under me so fast. When I came to a rest, I, as well as my bike were pointed almost directly at the mailbox.

This...

Left me like this...

And the driveway like this...

But then I found this....