Wheel Day

The kids after the ride:

Stephen and Jubal:

Lookout Joshua Juarez!!!

Yesterday was Wheel Day at Jubal's school. They are learning the letter W. They all got to bring their bikes and scooters and ride them around in the school parking lot. Of course I wanted in on the action so I invited myself.

We rode around in circles, races, there were some hard crashes but no permanent harm done!

My commute home/ training ride consisted of sprints. I'm not a sprinter, I like to climb and spin. I almost talked myself out of the sprints but realised that that is exactly why I needed to work on that skill.

My nutrition experiment worked out really well. For the hour ride to work on no breakfast, I felt great. I also did not have the driving hunger that I typically have after getting to work. Then the 1.5 hr ride home was another good test. I usually get hungry about 45 minutes in to my ride. But last night, I didn't get hungry, and when I got home, just like in the morning, I did not have that driving hunger that I usually have.

Hmmmmm, any thoughts?

Have a great rainy day!!!

Nutrition

I continue to attempt to dial in my nutrition for endurance racing. Once I get that figured out, I think that I will do really well. I'm thinking about my body and what it needs and likes. On just a day to day basis, what is it that my body likes? The first thing that comes to mind is bland.

Don't get me wrong, I love some good chicken wings, or pepperoni pizza...rich comfort foods, but later or the next day, I can tell that my body did not digest those foods like it would a plate of spaghetti, or another less fattening type of dish.

So, I am thinking that I need to fee my body bland foods on my rides. So how do I do that, I don't know.

But, I was reading about make your own energy food, and looked at gels in particular. My favorite gel is based on Maltodextrin. Hmmm, I have a tub of Maltodextrin sitting at home ( don't ask why). So, I say to myself," Self, why not mix some Maltodextrin with water and add some nuun?" And that is what I did.

To try it out, I skipped breakfast this morning, and drank my concoction on the way to work. One problem with this test is that my ride is only one hour and it was 40 degrees this morning. So it is difficult to really test this past the 4 hr mark which is where I usually run into trouble.

But, I will say I felt good. I sipped on it consistently, felt a twinge of hunger here and there but I actually felt better than when I eat breakfast and then ride to work. And after arriving to work I didn't have that driving hunger that I usually experience. Hmmm.

Any thoughts?


Have a great day.

1st Weekend Of Srping

I got in some good rides after Rhonda got home from work on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I parked at the Kitsuma Trailhead, rode Kitsuma, to Star Gap, Jarrets Creek Rd, to Curtis Creek, then back out on the pavement to Hwy 70, up the newly paved greenway back to the truck. 3.5 hrs of bliss.

Sunday I planned to do a similar ride, only go up Heartbreak Ridge as far as I could and get back to the parking lot by the time it got dark. But cut the ride short so that I could get home and hang out with my family for dinner. I ended up with 1 loop on Kitsuma, good stuff.

Curtis Creek:

The Point Lookout Trail:

The Kitsuma Trailhead:

This week hopefully we will get some windows and the addition dried in. I picked the skylights up this morning!!

Have a great day.

Burn

I hit the parking lot at Kistsuma with a 30% chance of rain. 2 minutes after getting on the trail it started raining. Warm spring rain. About 10 minutes later it let up, leaving the narrow, rocky rooty trail slightly slick. That's good, I need more practice riding on wet rocks and roots.

Last year I started doing the Kitsuma loop twice. Great training for ORAMM, but somewhat monotonous after a while. Last night I decided to continue on the route up to Star Gap. I decided that I could continue on up Heartbreak from there, or turn around and head back home.

The single track on Kitsuma:

When I got to the rail road tracks this is what I saw:

Apparently this happened just last week. The forest floor was scorched all the way up to Star Gap. Farther up I came saw something interesting. Looking at the picture below, you can see where the fire was not able to jump the trail. The forest below the trail is scorched while the forest above the trail is untouched. Hmmm, another reason for more mountain bike trails: they contain forest fires!!!

I felt good, better than I have in a couple of weeks. I can now understand what the pros mean when they say they are "coming back into form".

The Black Mtn Range:

(the dates in the pictures are not correct. Jubal turned the date stamp on inadvertently!!!)

Have a great day.

Congrats

Jeremiah Bishop joins the Mona-Vie Cannondale MTB team!!!

Not only does he race like a madman, he helps build trails and gets people excited about cycling!!

Congrats to the Bishops!!!!

Have a great day.

Not Much....

...going on right now, other than the normal training rides, house construction, chopping and stacking wood for next winter, etc.

I did get news that the new WBR/Siren kits are going to be mailed today. Hopefully I will have a bike to match soon!!! The team also just ordered some sweet wind jackets, which will be ready in a couple of weeks.


Ride, work, ride, eat, play with family, sleep, repeat. That's about it and I am enjoying the monotony....and the warmth!!!!

Have a great day.

Sodium

Not enough and you get dehydrated, too much and you get dehydrated. Looking for that delicate balance makes me dehydrated!!! Namrita O'Dea continues to work with me on this. She knows her stuff, so if you have any nutrition questions, contact her.

Yesterday I did some tempo work on the way home from work. Getting back on the bike after roughly two weeks off is great, but I can tell that I have lost some strength and fitness. I usually recover pretty quickly though and this morning I feel good. I am still really encouraged about where I am and how well I was riding at Snake Creek Gap.

The house: we now have studs in one gable, they are coming to build the interior wall today, or get started on it anyway. I'll post some more pictures when that is done.

The insulation guy is coming this morning to give us a quote. It looks like we are going with the spray in Icynene insulation. We'll see after the quote.

Have a great day.

Save The Trails

I finally signed up for this one last night. The local chapter of SORBA puts it on: Pisgah Area Sorba.

This is not a race, officially. They do have lots of cool stuff to give away though. It is a great fundraiser, this area needs more of these types of rides/races.

The have 3 courses, 15 miles, 25 miles and 44 miles. I asked if we could combing the 25 and 44 milers for 69 miles. The organizer is thinking through the logistics of it. That would be really good for training.

Speaking of training, I am back in it. Feeling much better, the headache is gone, my energy is back. It is time for allergies, but exercise usually helps keep those in control.

Have a great day!!!

Buncombe County Landfill

Pictures courtesy of Jubal: ( the dates are incorrect)

This weekend's theme was rain. And lots of it.

Jubal and I took our remodeling trash to the Buncombe County Landfill on Saturday, then came home and installed some drain pipe around the addition. Jubal also used the nail magnet to make sure there were no nails in our driveway. That kid is a huge helper!!!

This week, when the rain clears, the decking will go up. The metal roof and windows have been ordered. The Electrician should come later this week, we have to get the inside wall built first. Then the insulation. Fun stuff.

I rode Sunday afternoon. Just went out for an easy spin. Since I have been off the bike for most of the week, I was really feeling sluggish. It rained on me, but it was 55 degrees so not to uncomfortable. And the best thing about it was, I was riding. This week I will be building back up to my training program.

The lesson here? When you are tired rest, or else you get more tired.

I signed up for Burn 24 Challenge last night. It is in May. I'm really looking forward to it!!!

Have a great day!!

Friday Again

And so we come to another weekend. This week has been a rest week for me. Fortunately it was scheduled and I do not feel that I have missed out on much training. Although I do enjoy the easy rides during rest week. I feel my fatigue finally going away and this alien that is in my head seems to be letting go of my frontal lobe. Maybe the mother ship will call him back tonight and I will be left alone. ( the aliens, can't trust 'em).

On tap for the weekend? Rain. Cold rain. But that's fine. I'm not complaining one bit. It's another daddy Jubal weekend, so I'm sure we will have fun no matter what!!

The rafters are completed and the decking goes up on Monday. I'll order the metal roofing today. After literally months of deliberation, Rhonda and I finally decided on a color, in fact we have the entire color scheme of the outside of the house figured out. But, I'm going to keep that a secret until the roof goes up!!!!

Any guesses?

Rafters

Yesterday I got off work early again, thanks to my gracious employer for letting me be a part of my building project!! I got home and the neighborhood was a-buzz. In both of my neighbor's yards were huge red Hyatt Electric bucket trucks. After I was home for a few minutes, one guy asked if my dog would bite if they went in the yard. I told him the dog would not bite, but also asked why they needed to go in my yard. He had not asked to go in my yard, just sort of let me know that that was his intention. He said they needed to string up new power lines because of the new houses next door. He then told me that my power would be out while they did this.....

Then, as we were standing around trying to figure out what to do with no power, the city inspector rolled up... But, not to worry, we have a permit and all the government stuff was in order.

The inspector was super nice and did a pre-inspection inspection. He gave us some pointers and tips on what he wanted to see, and pretty much we are right on track.

Two hours later, we had a new power line, our saws worked and we were able to cut some rafters. Our house suddenly went from a little house to a small add-on swallowing a little house!!!

After the dust settles from this project, we will re-assess the finances. The next phase will be to tear back the current roof, build a short wall on top of the current structure's walls, and then match the add-on roof line.

The windows are covered up with ply-wood, these will be cut out at some point.

Not only does this project bring our house up to size with the surrounding houses, our house will no longer be dwarfed by those houses.

The view from the front!!!

Rain in the forecast, work might slow for the next couple of days. Saturday will be Jubal's first trip to the Buncombe County Landfill!!!

Sweet!!! The team landed in Cyclingnews.com again, and MTBracenews.com,

and several others including Guitar Ted's blog, if you like 29er's and guitars, he is your go to guy.

Have a great day.

Rest Week

Not much going on this week as far as training. I've been feeling really tired and a little funky this week, so I've been trying to rest up.

The addition is framed up and waiting for rafters, which we will hopefully get up today. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Lynda and Dave....

.....welcome to the team!!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WBR-Siren Bicycles finalizes endurance roster, adds Wallenfels and Harris
TUCSON – (March 10, 2009) – Team World Bicycle Relief-Siren Bicycles is shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with in 2009, adding the powerhouse duo of Lynda Wallenfels and Dave Harris to its already strong roster of endurance mountain bike pros.

"Lynda and Dave represent what endurance mountain bike racing is all about," according to Siren Bicycles founder Brendan Collier. "Their accomplishments on the dirt are only eclipsed by their considerable support of the sport and its athletes. We are very excited to welcome them to the team."

"Coach Lynda" recently won the 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo, completing 16 laps on a single-speed, a result that put her on equal laps with the 4th-placed solo man. Together with Harris, in 2008 they became the first-ever open mixed team to finish Trans Rockies on single-speeds while riding to an astonishing 3rd place overall on GC.

"I’ve been riding a Siren for about a year," Harris said, "so to be part of all this is pretty exciting. We’ve more or less taken the stance lately that we’d rather not actively pursue sponsorship because we just don’t like to promote stuff we don’t love."

Their support of the endurance community extends beyond the race course, as Wallenfels is a premier endurance coach and owner of LWCoaching.com. The pair is passionate about self-supported endurance events, promoting the annual 370-mile Trans-Utah and holding men’s and women’s current course records for both single-speed and geared for the 142-mile Kokopelli Trail. Harris also holds the record for the 342-mile Grand Loop race (geared) and the Kaibab Monster Cross (both geared and single-speed).

Their activities will now also extend to include World Bicycle Relief, the non-profit founded by SRAM 4 years ago that provides bicycles in support of healthcare, education and economic development opportunities in underdeveloped regions of the world. The WBR-Siren Bicycles team is part of the organization’s "Grassroots" campaign, in which athletes and teams support its work by serving as ambassadors.

Wallenfels and Harris join Pro endurance racers Dan Brennan, Todd Carpenter, Brad Majors and Chris Strout, and amateurs Craig DeAmbrose and Stephen Janes on the team. For 2009, they will focus on the 24-Hour National Championships in Moab, Utah, in addition to several other geared and single-speed races throughout the year.
###

The Snake

The Start
Me getting in the draft of Wild Bill/ Terrapin Racing

We started the weekend on Friday. I have found that it is so much less stressful to take the entire day before the race off. Sleep in, load up, and head out. The only hitch was that Rhonda woke up with a head cold. She was game and said we should go to the race anyway.

We hit the road and headed down to Dalton, GA for the 3rd and last in the Snake Creek Gap TT series. I was excited but not sure what to expect. My previous time was 4:07 hrs, and my best time from last year on the single speed was 3:57. I was a little discouraged that I had not beat that time yet, considering that this year I am on an actual training program.

We stopped at River's End Restaurant in the Nantahala River Gorge for lunch, before heading on the GA.

We checked into the hotel, got some dinner, watched the food network then went to bed.

Saturday morning, I got up and went through my coffee and bagel ritual then went to check in, back to the hotel to pick Rhonda and Jubal up, then off to the start. I am so glad that I have a personal shuttle to the start. I think that if I had to ride the shuttle, I would not be doing this race.

We got to the start, got unloaded and as I was standing in line for the restroom, I suddenly was overcome with nausea. Ok, that was weird, that usually does not come until 4 hrs into a race, when I am depleted. I had been eating and drinking all morning and was not so sure what was going on. It went away after a couple of minutes and I felt fine.

I started well. One of my goals was to not go out too hard. This has been a common mistake for me. I figured that at this point, if I continue to make mistakes, then I was throwing away all of the training hours that I had put in so far. So, I had my plan and I was going to stick to it.

I focused on keeping a high cadence and a steady heart rate. The day was beautiful. Shorts and short sleeves, short fingered gloves. The sky was overcast, and there was a slight breeze on the ridges. The trails were mostly dried out but the spots that don't see the sun this time of year were muddy, and the creeks were up a little bit.

I was feeling steady but not fast. I was actually feeling a little slow, and mentally wondering if all of my planned training was helping and if it was worth it.

About 10 miles into the race, I realised that not a lot of people had passed me. That got me to wondering. Then I started doing some math, and since I am not great at math, especially when I am focused on riding, I did the math about 5 or 6 times. At my current rate, I would get to the half way point ahead of my normal 2 hr mark.

Then suddenly on a climb, a wave of riders caught up to me and I heard from behind:" Single speeder back!!", in a very commanding voice. As if telling everybody in the vicinity that he somehow had the right of way on this climb just because he was on a single speed. I'm pretty sure that if that is what he thought, he was wrong. So, I held my ground, someone called " On your right" so I kept spinning and gave him enough room to pass. He tried, bobbled, fell and I found my toes stuck in his front wheel. Somehow I did not go down, he apologized and I went on.

After the terrain leveled to an easier incline I heard "single speeder back" call out " On your left". That was all fine and dandy but I had heard people coming up behind me, so I had purposely moved left. The trail at this point was nicely groomed and almost wide enough for 3 bikes. For some reason at this point, I preferred the left line. So, I moved left, giving the 2-3 riders behind me way more than enough room to pass.

Again I heard "On your left", then once more, a little louder " I said, On your left!!!".

At one point in my life, I would have slammed on my brakes and asked him what his problem was, I have done it before, on a road ride, when someone yelled at me. I don't like to be yelled at.

So, something close to this little conversation ensued:

Single Speeder: I said on your left, that means you HAVE to move over.

Me: No, you come up behind me and ask if you can pass and I say on my right.

SS: No, I called the left line so you HAVE to move over.

In my head:(I'm really not sure that he can tell me where to ride on a trail, I'm certain that if he wants to get around me on the right, there is plenty of room, I am riding as far left as I can to make sure he has room, what is up with this dude?)

Me: No, if you want to get around you can go on my right!!

And he did, along with the person behind him. Weird!!

On to the half way point. I got there, as it turns out, 20 minutes faster than my previous time. I was feeling good, sweating, spinning, and having fun. I decided not to pick up the pace for the second half of the race but to keep it steady and see what came of it.

Then it happened. I turned onto the last 12 miles of single track. I was 2 hrs and 45 minutes into the race. Last month at this point I was 3 hrs and thirty minutes into the race. 45 minutes faster than last month. But then my stomach started churning. I made it another 3 miles before stopping. I ended up squatting in the woods for about 20 minutes. Montezuma had his revenge, or maybe it was the chili from River's End, or any number of other things, bugs, viruses I picked up from who knows where.

I knew that there was 8 miles of the most difficult trail to go. I also knew that I would not be able to finish. I also believe in miracles. I had stopped about 50 yards from a volunteer. The volunteer did what he could to encourage me, but also did what he could to talk me out of continuing. ( he didn't need to try very hard!!). He said that I had 3 choices: 1. continue, 2. go back 3 miles of single track, technical single track to the last sag to get a ride back, or 3. take this little renegade trail about 1 mile downhill to a dirt road then another mile to the trailer and wait there for a ride.

OOOOh, down hill then dirt road. That was my ticket out of there. I made him repeat the directions about 3 times so I was sure I would not get lost:" take this trail all the way down, there are no turns, it becomes a dirt road, follow that until you get to the trailer, it will take about 5-10 minutes". Simple directions, but being a little fuzzy and depleted, I wanted to make sure!! I headed down and found the trailer. Someone showed up within 20 minutes and I was back at the finish line almost before Rhonda could start worrying.

I was able to eat some that evening but my stomach did not feel right until much later that night. I'm pretty sure that this was caused by something out of my control, ie not electrolytes of other nutrition, and I definitely was not riding beyond myself as I have done in the past.

So, I am definitely bummed and discouraged about not finishing, but the more I think about it, the more excited I get that the workouts and training are actually accomplishing something. 45 minutes off of a finish time is not joke!!!

Unfortunately, we did not get to go to the Knoxville Zoo on the way home as we had planned. Rhonda woke up feeling terrible, so she spent the morning at the walk in clinic, while Jubal and I played in the parking lot. It turns out that she has some sort of sinus infection, bummer.

Kind of funny though, I was sick for the first race, Jubal the second, and now Rhonda for the third!!!

Have a great day.

Framed

The first wall is up. We are so excited. It makes our current house look small!! One thing about the addition is that it is square and solid.

Lookin' good.

The 3rd race in the Snake Creek Gap TT series is tomorrow. I am looking forward to this one. I have another month of intervals, power workouts, endurance workouts and some mandatory- dictated by the weather-rest days.

I am going for a sub 4 hr time, my time to beat from last year is 3h57min. And that was on a single speed. If I can control myself in the first hour and not go out too hard, I should be able to do that. Oh yeah, it is supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny too. I imagine the north facing trails in the first 17 miles will still be muddy and nasty though, so trail conditions will be about the same. I'll be relying on nuun to keep me hydrated. I'm going to try taking one less bottle of meal replacement shake and replacing that with a bottle of nuun. Last race I was dehydrated when I finished. This time I have a two pronged plan: drink consistently and ride steadily.

Last night I did a gravel grinder at Bent Creek. I mainly just rode at a really easy pace, with a couple of intervals added into the mix to keep it real!!

Have a great day.

Warning: May Contain Offensive Material

First off, I will discuss religion and world views with anyone at any time, ( unless I am sleeping ). I don't really care if you have a different opinion, I will not be offended. ( as long as you don't mind being wrong.....ok, bad joke). I most likely won't be swayed in my beliefs and am not trying to sway your beliefs, merely interested in knowing what other people believe and how they got to that belief system.

My beef is with Christianity today. From my perspective, Christianity is a relationship with the one who created me. I constantly hear from preachers, teacher, disciplers about how terrible we are as people, and how we have fallen away from God and His plan, and how we need salvation and sometimes they mention a renewed relationship.

Ok, I agree with those foundational beliefs, ( I can't say that I fully understand all of the nitty gritty details involved there, and am still searching for truth, ...challenge me there if you want to. In fact, challenge me on any of this).

BUT, once we renew that relationship with God, sure we continue to make mistakes, but now I am free, and you don't have to keep telling me what a horrible person I am and that I am filled with sin etc.

Kind of like riding a bike. I have failed a lot. I have crashed, I have gotten dehydrated, heat exhaustion, and more. But no one points to those events and says" Stephen, you are a bike racer, but you are also a dehydrated, heat exhausted, crashing, ER fodder, bike racer". Instead the people who care about me say stuff like", hey, good luck, you can do it, go for it, good job".

How many times have I heard a sermon where the preacher said something like that?: " Good job people, you guys rock, you have so much potential, you can love your neighbor like yourself, stop whining and asking God for strength, direction, etc. He has already given that to you and you know what you need to do, and you can do it, so go do it!!!!" I have never heard such a sermon or teaching.

Back to riding a bike. I am racing endurance now because 3 years ago, someone said to me" You should consider racing, you have the skill, go practice and race".

I was enabled. So, I am saying to my fellow people: " You should love your neighbor, you have what it takes, you know what to do, go do it".

Have a great day!

Warming Trend

We have a warming trend going on here in the South East. Yesterday morning the temp was 8 degrees, today it is 20, tomorrow is supposed to be close to 30......sweet!!!

Last night when I got home from work I got on the rollers to try some more cruise intervals. It went a lot better this time and I felt pretty good.

After that it was homemade tacos for dinner.

After dinner, I started on my second job, the house. I pulled the siding and old rough milled planks off of the corners where we are going to tie in with the addition. I'm going to pull all the nails out of the rough milled planks and reuse them somehow. Not sure how yet.

After that I started cleaning out some dirt from the outside of the block wall so that we can seal it and waterproof it. I ended up widening the trench about 1 ft wide, 2 feet deep and 10 feet long. That is some good cross training.

The framing starts tomorrow!!

Have great day.

The Cyclist's Prayer

Please make the weather warm and sunny!!!!

I'm trying not to complain, but I'm getting a little cabin feverish and grumpy.

I got to stay home from work yesterday and play with the family, which is cool, but with a 4 yr old you can't stay outside and play all day. I'm not so good at the inside play. I don't like board games or card games. Playing ball and rolling cars across the floor is cool, but after 45 minutes it gets a little boring.

We got the sled out to go find some snowy hill to ride down. As I was pulling it out from under the house, I noticed that there was a light dusting of wood shavings in the sled. Not good. I also noticed a little beetle.

I called Termanix. They showed up within 30 minutes and confirmed that we have a Powder post Beetle infestation.
Powder post beetles, (Lyctus brunneus), are about 1/8" long, cylindrical shaped and dark brown in color. Their larvae do most of the damage to wood. The larvae are white, are also cylindrical shaped.
We were expecting a cost of anywhere between $500 and $1500. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the cost would be $286. It is a lot, but not a lot compared to buying a new house or replacing every single joist.

My contractors called yesterday to say that they are coming out today, it looks like with the temps warming up this week, they should be able to get started on the framing!!!

Have a great day.

Snow Day

I didn't get much in the way of riding this weekend. Saturday rained all day and I was not motivated to get on the rollers. Sunday it rained, then turned to snow. I went out to Bent Creek to ride the gravel roads, but it was sopping wet and windy cold. So I came home to ride the rollers, that only lasted 30 minutes. I could only do one cruise interval.

Saturday I tore down a wall that used to separate our living room and dining area. This was a totally separate project from the add on, and now we so much more open space. Its amazing what moving wall around in a house can do. I recommend trying this at home!!!

Sunday afternoon, we went out to play in the snow. It was really sticky so Jubal and I built a snowman. And later, after Rhonda came out, we had an invigorating snowball fight.

Today we woke up to this:

Have a great day!!

The Slab

We got the slab poured yesterday. Jubal was sick so he got to stay home and watch the action. The cross beams that you see are embedded into the slab and will be used to attach the sub floor to so that we can then nail a finished wood floor. It the 2 inch space we will put some sort of insulation.

We should have it framed in sometime next week, unless of course the weather decides otherwise.

It was great. The truck driver basically sat in the cab, pushed some buttons to release the concrete, and raise and lower the chute. I held on to the chute and swiveled it back and forth while Hap and Thomas spread the concrete.

After we were done, I took off for a nice 3 hour mtn bike ride. I parked at Rice Pinnacle, rode around Bent Creek, then up and over to Mills River, up Trace Ridge, down Spencer Creek, then back to Bent Creek via Sidehill. What a great ride. I got back to the parking lot after dark, but it was warm and I felt really good.

This is what I look like after dark when a flash goes off in my face at point blank range.

Have a great day.

Concreke

Today I get to stay home from work...and work. As Jubal says, we are getting a load of "concreke". We are pouring the slab. The ground has finally thawed enough that we can level the dirt and pour today.

I am also meeting with the developer from next door about the drainage from next door and how we can keep a river out of my yard. My property is below his and the drainage was not a problem back in the day when it was 1/2 and acre of grass growing. Now that there are 3 houses and a paved driveway, all the water immediately form a creek flowing through my yard at the edge of my deck.

The city was out yesterday talking to them and they have a plan that they want to run by me. We'll see how that turns out. I really don't want any of the drainage flowing through my yard. Depending on who moves in, there is no telling what kind of waste will be washed down. Any suggestions?

Have a great day

Fun Times

The weather felt great even though it was only 35 degrees. I think that the longer days have a lot to do with it. Or, I am just a little crazy. I left the office and rode around camp property, following old logging roads up to the saddle, then down the trail that would lead to the 4-H camp:







My goal for the ride home was to make up time from this morning. It was 20 degrees, and I opted to have Rhonda drop me off at work, since Jubal's school is nearby. A secondary goal was to find a dirt road that climbs up to one of the ridges behind Rockmont property. After a couple of failed attempts, I found it, but ran out of time and only made it about half way up.

I incorporated big gear hill climbs in my ride home. I like these workouts. Switch to a more difficult gear, grind uphill, watch my heart rate rise, recover, repeat. It hurts but I like it.



So, on Friday, hopefully I will be able to explore all the way to the top of the road, and what I will find, I don't know.

Today, I get to drop the truck off at the shop, ride to work, then come home and get the site prepped to pour concrete on Thursday. We should have it framed up by the end of next week!!!

Have a great day.

Get in the game...

This weekend I took the vinyl siding off of the front side of the house. Underneath that was this beautiful old asphalt siding. Hmmm, I wonder if I can find some of this at Home Depot!!
Here is a picture of the forms and area that we are going to pour the slab. The plan is to pour that on Wednesday.

Tomi of Tomi Cogs is trying to get to the Breck Epic, he has entered a contest to blog his way through the entry fee, then blog about his experience. I don't know Tomi, but I did buy one of his cogs once and it was a quality American made in his shop product. I dig that, and you should too. I think he deserves your vote, so go to this link, and vote for Tomi. And if you can't think of a good enough reason to vote for him, not only is he gonna ride single speed, he will ride fixed gear. That means he won't be able to stop pedaling, unless he stops riding, and he is not gonna stop riding, because he does not want to let you down after you took the time to vote for him.... ready....go....!!

I talked with Brendan of Siren Bicycles last night. It sounds like he will be able to get started on my ride in the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you updated.

Have a great day.

Friday Adventure Ride

After work on Friday I was finally able to get up the ridge from camp and over the other side. After 20 minutes of riding up hill, and a 30 minute hike a bike, I made it to the top of the ridge. Now I could either drop down on the ATV trails to Bee Tree and ride pavement back, or try to ride the ridge line over to Eden Rock.

With the sun setting I decided to drop down into the valley. Cruising down the ATV trail that turned into double track was quite fun. I was concerned that I would run into a disgruntled land owner and possibly be shot, but that never happened.

After about another 20 minutes of riding down, I came out on a dirt road that led to a paved road, and I eventually found my way back.

Wow, that place has some potential. Now I just have to figure out who owns the land so I can get proper permission to be on it!!

Saturday after Rhonda got home from work, I hit the Blue Ridge Parkway on my road bike. The goal was to get up to Craggy Gardens then turn around and head back. Since I didn't leave until 4:30pm I knew that I would be out past dark, so I put my lights on the bike.

When I left the temp was right around 40 degrees. The temps drop fairly quickly as one rides up higher, but I was comfortable. I felt really good and was keeping a moderate pace. The sun was dropping and the ridges looked like they were on fire.

The wind was gusting around some of the corners and I made a mental note for the way back down, when I would be going 35-40 mph.

I got to the entrance to Craggy Gardens right about the time the sun set. The gate was open meaning that I could go all the way to the Visitor Center. I thought about it, started to keep going, then turned around. A lot of reasoning went on in about 30 seconds.

As it turns out, I was really glad that I made that choice.

After about 2 minutes of riding down, I noticed that the temps had dropped significantly. There was no way to keep warm. The wind was blowing against me and I was riding down hill. I attempted to pedal but when I did, I went faster and the wind chill got worse. I put it in an easy gear and tried to spin. I was cold. I was more than cold. My shoulder muscles were stinging from tensing up, trying to keep from shivering so I could maintain control of the bike.

I finally came to the tunnel, I slowed way down because there was no wind in there. As I coasted through I started to feel warmer, but as soon as I went out the other side, I got cold again.

I was miserable, I wanted to be home, but there was nowhere to go but down. I finally got down the mountain and onto the roads to home. I was no longer worried about maintaining my heart rate, but rather attempting to warm up. I was pretty much all out the last 5 miles to home. I never really warmed up, until much later, after a lot of food and a hot shower.

Note to self, when the sun sets, it gets really cold up on the mountain!!!

Have a great day.

Up and Over

I decided to stay on Rockmont property for my ride last night. It's gonna be tough to get my hours in this week with Rhonda working, so I decided to use the time riding rather than driving. I was also set to go race pace, so why not ride race pace on some difficult terrain. That would keep it real!!

It got cold. It was colder than when I rode in in the morning, and so I was just a bit under dressed. I got on the bike and into the woods. Going all the way to the logging road on the edge of the property. What follows is about 30 minutes of up, some of it pretty steep.

Part of my goal is to find a trail that goes up and over the ridge, to the other side, giving me more options for my commute.

At one point I saw the remains of an old logging road going in the direction that I wanted to go. I go on it, hiked 30 yards and found what looked like a trail. Unsure if it was a hunting trail, game trail or hiking trail, I tried to follow it, but soon lost it.

Back on the logging road, I continued up. Almost as far up as I could ride, I noticed another trail that went off the side of the mountain. It looked like it went down into the next valley. Cautiously, I dropped in. I reminded myself that I would have to hike back up if the trailed petered out.

After about 2 minutes, I realised I was at the spot that I had been shortly before, and not been able to find the trail. Now that I was heading down, the trail was more clear. So, I continued down. Suddenly, the trail was cleared of leaves. Cool. Then I passed some sort of large sized gazebo shelter. I knew that the 4-H camp property was over here, maybe it belonged to them. On down on to a more cultivated dirt road. After a couple more minutes of down, I came out on the main road of the 4-H camp.

Cool, I now have an back way, although quite steep, to get to and from camp.

I road most of the way back up the mountain to the Rockmont property. On the way back up, I made a mental note of another dirt road, leading of in another direction. Hmm, another road for another day.

It was getting really cold by the time I got back up to the ridge. I took a little detour and headed back to the truck, then home.

Today. Brrr. It is 19 degrees right now....

Have a great day.

Mid-Winter Spring Rain

I got caught in the rain last night on my ride home. Fortunately it was 60 degrees and felt great. A taste of what is to come. My only concern was that the temp was going to drop like a rock before I got home. It didn't happen. I loved it.

Today I get to do some race pace workouts. Sweet.

There has been quite a bit of discussion in pro road cycling about the use of radios. I got to watch the Tour of California yesterday, online. I see the same scenario play out time after time. The race starts, then the breakaway specialists start to do their thing. After who knows how many attacks, a few guys finally get away. The peleton settles down for the next 80-100 miles. Then the guys in the cars start doing the math, and suddenly the peleton gets the signal to pick up the pace. Then 1 mile from the finish line, the 1,2,3 sometimes a few more who have been out front all day long, get reeled in.

I say get rid of the radios, let's have some suspense back in the race, instead of the racers being pawns, let them make the call as to when they should and should not chase.

Have a great day.

Here Comes...

...the rain again.

It is definitely raining this morning as I type this. 100% chance of rain. And it does not look like it is going to let up. Another roller session tonight.

Last night I lasted 57 minutes on the rollers. That is a record for me. My previous PR was 42 minutes. I started off in the shed, and after 15 minutes got really hot. The temp was 45 degrees, so in the fading light I moved the rollers outside onto the little concrete stoop in front of the shed. That was much cooler and I was still dripping with sweat.

The neighbors deck is about 60 yards off to the side and they had a clear view of me. I'm pretty sure they think I am crazy. They keep their distance and whenever their kids wander towards our fence they call them back.

So, I rolled on my rollers for 57 minutes. They sat on their deck and looked at me while they smoked cigarettes, I hate cigarettes.

I did cruise intervals. I was able to add time to the intervals since the last time I did them. I kind of like doing these. I had heard horror stories about them, but I can see the necessity of them and so, like many other aspects of cycling, I embrace them. Fun stuff.

We the blocks are laid for the addition. The next step is for my contractors to come take a look and decided the next step.

Have a great rain day.

Spoiled

The warm weather we had the past week and a half really spoiled me. It's 20 degrees outside now and I don't want to ride. It might warm up by the time the sun comes up , but I'm not banking on it. (bad choice of words in these times).

Speaking of the economy: Everyone is trying to find someone whose fault it is. I have not heard anyone accept the blame. From the banks who loaned the money, to the people who borrowed the money, I have not been able to pinpoint any one group of people who are at fault. Sometimes I don't really worry about whose fault things are, I just like to find a solution and move on. A lot of times in crisis, no one is at fault, per se, it is simply a matter of education.

I think there is need for that in this situation as well. But, I'm not the one to give financial advice. I will tell you that we make every attempt to live below our income. If we don't have it we don't spend it, and we wear our shoes until they have holes in them and fall apart.

Times are difficult, but with a little creativity, you are going to be ok.

And lastly, if you have been blessed with more than enough, even just a little bit, consider helping someone who is struggling. We are all in this together.

Have a great day.

Fine Weekend

Friday Morning:
We got the footers poured:

We caused quite a scene in the neighborhood. Traffic was backed up and people we walking back and forth.

Valentines Day: Typically everyday at the Janes residence is Valentines Day, so when the actual Day rolls around, I have to try really hard to do something special:

To the left you can see one of the monstrous modular homes that was recently installed, the rock work in the center is part of the present:

More rock work around our veggie garden, and in the background, the newly installed picket fence:

The rock work around the garden, to the left, at the bottom of the privacy fence, I also installed a long flower bed for Rhonda. She we very excited to see it when she got home.

After wearing myself out on Saturday, doing all of those projects, I woke up on Sunday to get ready for my Lactate Threshold Heart Rate test. This test consists of warm up then 30 minutes time trial pace. The last 20 minutes, I record my average heart rate and that is what I use for the basis of my workouts. One key element is to go into this test well rested.

So, back to waking up. I woke up, sore and stiff from all of the projects on Saturday. I considered not doing the test. Another factor helping in this decision was that it was 36 degrees outside. Brrr. I have put this test of for several weeks because of the cold and decided I needed to at least get out and try it.

So, I went to the Mellowdrome and went at it. The result? Average HR is exactly the same as last time. Cool, that means that I either did the test wrong, two times or I am doing it right. Unfortunately, I did not record my distance for the first test from a couple a months ago, and don't know if there was any improvement. But I feel confident that I have improved and am not going to stress about it.

So, in 4 more weeks, I'll do another one, and in the next 3 weeks I will be doing some drills that will teach my body to deliver "power" to the pedals.

Have a great day.

Pain

I started getting worried about my shoulder yesterday. It had been four days since the crash and the pain was about the same. One of my co-workers was a massage therapist before coming to Rockmont, so I went in to ask her about it. Then she started prodding and poking the area. She poked really hard a couple of times and really made me flinch. We stood around discussing her diagnosis.

I started to feel a little lightheaded. Ok, I though I must be a little hungry. Then I got a lot lightheaded and tingly. Then my ears popped. I decided to lean on the table. The room got a little foggy, I sat on the floor while my co-workers looked at me like I was crazy. I told them what was happening and they laughed. Not a menacing laugh, but a " oh wow, this is kind of weird" laugh. After sitting on the floor for a couple of minutes I was able to get up as the fogginess had subsided, and the dizziness left.

I continued to ice the shoulder throughout the day. We had decided on inflamed Bursa because after the icing, most of the pain was gone.

Feeling a little better, I decided to pick up some landscaping rock on the way home. I loaded about 15 large rocks into the truck and felt about the same. I iced the shoulder again on the way home. When I got home, I unloaded the rocks, and laid them in place.

The rocks serve two purposes. One is for aesthetics, the other is part of my skills course. Pretty cool.

So, after they were in place, I got my bike out and rode the course a couple of times, then went to dinner with Rhonda. Amazingly, the shoulder started to feel better, a lot better. And upon waking this morning, almost all of the pain is gone. Yeah!!!

Have a great day.

Greenway News

Yesterday I wrote about my excitement about the future Greenway System here in Asheville. Later, I read this article in the Asheville Citizen Times!!!

City Council voted 6-1 , and devoted a large sum of money to the Greenway project connecting Carrier Park to Hominy Creek Park.

Wow, very exciting news!!!

I also found out that 73 people showed up for the trail day at Richmond Hill on Saturday!!! 73, that has is close to the record trail work day for the area!! Awesome!!

Keep up the good work Asheville.



Have a great day.

Improvement

This week is a rest week. That means that I get to ride slow enough to enjoy the view. The cool thing is, that when I got home last night, my ride duration only a couple of minutes different than my time used to be when I used to hammer to and from work everyday. I interpret this to mean that I am way more efficient on the bike and am now properly training. Very encouraging.

The past 6 days, we have seen some most excellent weather. I have been wearing shorts everyday and loving it. I don't like being encumbered. I'm sure that we still have some cold days to go, and with the warmth we are experiencing now, it will be that much harder to ride on cold days. But my guess is, in about 4 weeks, we will see warm weather coming to stay, with one more major winter storm in the last week of March.

I am really excited about Asheville and where the surrounding area is headed regarding cycling. SORBA and the city have been working together for a while and the groundbreaking at Richmond Hill was last Saturday. Every time I ride through Azalea park, I now get to ride on the dirt down by the river instead of dodging cars on the pavement, I get excited about the prospect of a greenway running from Asheville to Black Mtn., and beyond.

What does it take to keep these projects rolling? People, time and money. The greenway system will take time, but I get the feeling that it is picking up speed. More people are getting involved and taking interest. More people are getting excited about getting fit, getting exercises and staying healthy.

And a good solid greeway system is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle.

Check out this power point presentation and get excited!!

What can you do to help? I believe the most important thing is to get out. I believe that there is power in numbers and that when the city and county see that people are getting out and wanting more space to play, then this project will gather more momentum.

Also, attend any city council meetings that are held concerning the project. Again, power in numbers.

Volunteer, even if you only have time to help out with a project once this year. Don't feel bad, we all have stuff going on, and are busy. But that one time is going to help a lot more of your neighbors than if you did nothing.

So I challenge you to get out, enjoy yourself, help your community and have some fun!!!