One For The Books

The first race of the season is now complete, and BOY was it a kick in the butt! Dusty, Tim Garret and I left for Arkansas on Friday morning, and arrived in Oden about 5:30pm. We unloaded the expedition, rested for about an hour and then went for some BBQ. After that we went back and hung out at the motel for the evening. The next morning we went out for a mid morning breakfast, and then returned to the hotel to prepare for a pre-ride of some of the course that we would be racing on the next day. We first rode the final miles of the race to see what it looked like. We wanted to know so that the next day, when things go familiar we knew we were about do

After this, we met up with Lelan Bobby and Randy at the venue. We then road the first 10-12 miles of the race so we knew what it looked like before riding it with hundreds of other riders all around. A good time was had by all, and we found out that we were in for one heck of a day climbing, and climbing, and climbing!
Post pre-ride we went back to the motel to shower, clean bikes and gorge ourselves with pizza. After filling our stomach's we went back to prepare for the next day and hit the sack early.

The next day was a blur! Got up at 5:00am to rain. We quickly dressed, had some leftover pizza, loaded up and headed out to the race. By the time we got their it was wet and cold. We quickly got ready and headed for the start line. When we got their we met up with some friends from Kansas City and visited for a few minutes. This is when the first sign of bad luck showed up. I was sitting their messing around, and all of the sudden my front break went out! Close by their was a person with a tool bow. We borrowed a couple of tools, and get it temporarily fixed.

We had to rush over to the start line and find a place. The start was FAST but uneventful. We started of course with a pretty long climb up to the first single track. It was quite congested and moving was sluggish due to being behind a few people that were unsure on the single track. When arriving at the first check point, I opted not to stop so I could get around some of the slower people, and it worked!

The second section was my best of the day. I was able to cruse at will and take my own pace. I was making good time and passing a few people here and their. And the climbs went well in this section. I was able to work hard!

When I pulled into the second check point I was feeling pretty good, and I stoped for a few minutes to refill the water, lube the chain and eat a quick power bar. By this point I was thinking that the climbs were a killer, but was quickly informed by the volunteers that the next section was the toughest, and they were not lying! The third section was by far, one of the toughest areas that I ever remember riding. Their were unrelenting steep, long, long climbs, and then when you were exhausted they threw in some rock gardens that were tough to even walk through!

It was in one of these rock gardens (mile 43) that things turned BAD! I was making my way through one of the rock gardens, and it was very muddy with standing water. As I was riding through, all of the sudden I remember laying on the ground, vision a little blurred, and my right shin hurting. I stood up, and walked for a couple of minutes to gather my composure. I then got on the bike to ride away when I noticed that my read deralure are bent bad. The bike would not peddle properly and I had 2-3 miles to the next check point.

When I finally arrived, the mechanic worked on the bike while I got something to drink and had another power bar. After leaving, the bike was working muck better, but was still not quite right. I went through the last section of some really steep climbing and the legs were shot, and I had climbed DEEP DEEP DEEP into the pain cave. I soon spilled out onto the gravel roads that led back into town to the finish. I was so excited by this point that I was able to move quite quickly down the rode to the finish!

I crossed the line after 62 miles of trails in 7 hours 2 minutes, with 7,375 feet of climbing. Like I said, it was by far one of the toughest things that I have done, was totally exhausted, and had one of the best times of my life! Would I like to do it again?....................HECK YEA!!!!

Peace out!

GO TIME!!!!

Well, I have not updated in a couple of weeks due to the fact that I have been extremely busy. I will try to keep it short and to the point. First order of business, spring break. I spent the week working in the yard and getting a few REALLY good rides in. I had two high intensity rides of about 50 miles each, and between the two of them I did my first century of the year. The 100 mile ride went very well. I was able to do the entire Ride at about 80% of my maximum heart rate, and my legs felt great the entire ride.

Since spring break I have finished the taxes for the year and have efiled them. It turned out much better that the last couple of years. I also was able to get some pretty good rides in since them. They have all averaged about 50 miles each, with a decent intensity, despite the rain, snow, extremely high winds and all kinds of nasty weather.

This week I have cut back on the mileage, but kept the intensity pretty high.. I am tapering for the race this weekend. In the past week I have had a slight glitch though that I am working through. It was nothing major, but it took me off of the mountain bike for a week. Some how the back wheel flared. After inspection, they determined that they were going to warranty it. The problem is, they don't make that particular wheel any more. I guess that the company stopped making race quality rim brake wheels that are tubeless. Any more, pretty much all of the people that race use disc brakes. Since I have an older frame, it is not disc compatible. So, they are going to send me a decent wheel, but I will be going back to tubes with that bike, BUMMER!!!

This brings us up to today. The plan? I am leaving for Arkansas in the morning for the Ouchita Challenge! We are driving down tomorrow, pre-riding the course on Saturday, and the race is Sunday!!!! I am so excited to finally get the race season started. It has been a long winter, and I am ready for the fun to begin. This first race will be a 60 trail race. It is going to be great. Check back next week to hear how the race went, and I will try to get a couple of pictures while I am down their. Well, until next time,

Peace Out!

Bone Bender Postponed!

Tuesday, 10 March 2009 07:36
Well folks, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this latest round of rain just put us over the top on soaking the trails and making them un-rideable for this coming weekend. Sorry but we will have to postpone the Bonebender MTB race until the scheduled make up date of April 18th comes around.

This pretty much sums up the week! After heavy rains on Saturday and Monday, this is the news that I got Tuesday morning. This pretty much messed things up in the schedule. It is like being all dressed up and nowhere to go. I am feeling really good, and in good condition for this time of the year. Now, we wait 3 more weeks for the next race to roll around. This week mother nature has been playing testicle soccer with me, It was not bad enough that it rained twice hard enough that they had to postpone the first race of the year, but, the last three days have been brutally cold!!! On Wednesday, when I left for my ride the wind chill was four degrees, on Thursday it had raised all the way up to ten degrees, and today....a heat wave of twenty degrees!!!! Even with the bad weather I was able to get in a decent 200 miles. Lord, God, when is this madness going to end! I am SO ready for spring to roll around.

The good news, this next week is spring break around here, and the weather is suppose to be much better. I am thinking of having my own personal mini training camp! I think that since we did not get to race, I would like to put in a long hard week on the bike to get ready for the Ouchita Challenge. This is the next race on the schedule. This is going to be a fun one. When they held registration back on December 15, they filled and had to close registration 10 hours later! It is a super fun, large regional race. I am really looking forward to it, but am a little nervous about it because it will be the first race of the year for me.

Well, I hope that you all have a fun spring break, and check back next week for the latest news on the up and coming race season!

Peace out

Riding the Rollercoaster

Where to start? Well, you might say that the wheels fell off of the wagon a little at the end of last week. On Friday I went out to camp for a little spin before work, and I had a mechanical issue! On the last lap that I was going to put in, I broke the rear derailleur cable, so, I just single speeded it back home. I guess if I were to break down, this was good timing. It was 2 weeks before the first race of the year. I was wanting to get the bike in to the shop for Matt to work his magic on it, but was to lazy and didn't want to be without the bike for a day or two.

Since the Zaskar was in need of a little attention, and the business of life, I dropped the bike off at High Gear bike shop on my way into work. On the agenda? A new cable for the rear derailleur, a new bottom bracket, new brakes, a new chain and some pedal work. As usual, Matt had it ready to roll by the end of the weekend, and in race ready condition. Down Town Matt Brown is the man! He works magic on bikes, and is the only person I let touch my bike in Emporia.

Next for the news? well, A little while back I pulled a hamstring and nursed my way through it, and had been doing REALLY well for the last 3 weeks. Well, on Sunday I was helping someone move, and was helping carry a washer down a set of stairs when I felt a POP in the same hamstring that I injured before. CCRRAAPP!!!! At that point I got very stressed and thought the worst. After we were done with the loading of the trailers, I went home and began damage control. Ice, drugs etc. The next 2 days I rode short and very carefully. Then, due to something at work, I took Wednesday off. Today I woks up and the leg was feeling a lot better!

I thought that after 3 days of TLC, and since it was feeling a lot better I would put it to a test. I went out to camp Alexander, and went for a three hour train ride. Since their are some pretty steep climbs out their it would be a good test. To my surprise, things went REALLY well! I actually rode quite strong today. I made all of the climbs with no problem, and at the end of the day I had no signs of any problem. I guess that it was not as bad as I thought. This is great news. I will be going back out to camp tomorrow for another ride before work, and then on Saturday a bunch of us are going to go out Randy's place to ride the new trails and some post ride festivities! Then it is time to decide how to handle next week leading into the Bone Bender! Stay tuned.

Peace out!

No Training, Training!

Yes, you heard it right. The plan for the week?.....Their is no plan. After a couple of weeks of hard training, I am in the middle of a recovery week. That means no set amount of miles, no specific heart rate, no specific speed and no specific amount of climbing! The only thing I am doing is trying to spend 20 hours on the bike at a more relaxed pace. That means PLAY TIME!!!!! I am just getting out and seeing where the road takes me.

I am trying to get in about 4 hours a day, for 5 days. It has been really fun. The first couple of days I did some trail riding. I started out a camp Alexander, I would ride at a fun pace and goof around, then when I started to feel like I was getting a little tire, I would take a little gravel Cruise across town to the campus trails! They are easier and pretty fun to flow through. I have been getting out about 8:00am, and riding until noon.

Today I took a little gravel grinder south of town and enjoyed a 65 degree morning. I really like the recovery weeks. They help to remind me of the reason that I am out their, to enjoy spending time playing on my bike outside, playing around in the dirt, rolling over, through around up and around all kinds of cool stuff. It is really easy to get wrapped up in all of the hammer, hammer, hammer.....crush, crush, crush of training and racing.... To place the little soldiers up against the wall and see who can whizz the highest. Sure, I am just as competitive as the next guy, but it is important to enjoy spending your time on the bike, or why are we doing it? Right? Sure, soon I will be back to the hammer, hammer, hammer, crush, crush, crush of training, but I will really enjoy this week, and enjoy the other s that are to come.

On another note, Matt, Lelan and Garret got out today and started to add onto the trail system out at Randy's place. A bunch of us are going to go out their on Saturday, and work on it some more. When this phase is done it will give us close to six miles of trail out their! I can see some fun group ride/cookouts out their this summer! Good times to come. And don't forget......Bone Bender in about 2 1/2 weeks!!!!! Stay tuned for the latest news next week.

peace out!

Zone 4 X 4 = 200 miles

Training has went well in the past couple of weeks! Last week I concentrated on a lot of climbing to up the intensity in preparation for the quickly approaching season. In a 7 day stretch I went 230 miles and over 12,000 feet of climbing! Not bad for the middle of February. After the week was completed, the legs felt OK, but were REALLY heavy. I decided to give them a little tread and take a second day of rest to give them a Little more time for recovery.

After a two day rest period I thought that I would change it up a little bit this week but keep up some intensity in a different fashion. I decided that I needed to concentrate on some quality miles at the same time since the first two races will be of a decent distance. The plan for the week? Do 50 miles every time I get on the bike, and ride so that at the end of the day the average heart rate would be in zone 4 ( 80-90% ). This has made for an awesome training week for February. In a 4 day period I have went 200 miles at an average of zone 4.2, and am feeling pretty good. I would like to get in another day or two this week before changing things up a little for a couple of weeks leading up to the Bone Bender.

The next couple of weeks I would like to attempt to get in four hour rides each time I throw my leg over the bike, then back it off for the week leading into the race on March 14. Wow time if flying.

On another note, I have really been enjoying the Tour of California on TV this week. On Sunday Shelley has agreed to allow me to have my riding buddies over to watch the final stage, and have the first pasta feed of the new season. A good time should be had by all. That pretty much does it for now, check back next week for the latest news!

Peace, Out!

All systems A OK!

This week has been a good one. I started it off on Sunday with some hill intervals up Highland hill. I was wanting to see how the legs were feeling after the easy week, and to get an idea as to where I was as far as training goes. The plan......do hill repeats at a decent pace for two hours. The results are as follows: 1 hour 59 minutes, 46 times up the hill, 20 miles, 3,768 feet for climbing. After I was done the legs still felt pretty good! I could have went longer, but I got the idea.

With the good report I decided that the training schedule has back in action. I have pushed the legs pretty hard this week, and they have done well, but are starting to get a little tired. As for the rest of the week, I have done 2 days on the hills of old highway 50, one trip out through the beginning section of the Dirty Kanza 200, and another day going north, in the high wind, snow, and 20 degree temperatures! So far I have racked up about 180+ miles and over 9,500 feet of climbing! Pretty good for the middle of February! I sill am going to get a little ride in tomorrow. I think that since Saturday is valentines day, I will take it off, rest the legs a little and spend some quality time with the wifey.

Since this week went well, I will probably do something similar next week. After that, I think that I will put in a couple of weeks where I will spend a little more time in the saddle. I was thinking of something like, a couple of weeks of 4 hours a day, 6 days a week to try to get the body getting use to the LONGER rides. This should get me within a week of the Bone Bender. Boy, Race season is really sneaking up fast. Well, check back next week for more updates! As they say, same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel

Peace Out!