NUUN

It is pronounced NOON. It is an electrolyte replacement that does not have sugars or carbohydrates in it. It is a sports drink. It comes in little tablets like Alka Seltzer. Drop it in your water bottle, and voila, proper hydration. I'm going to try it out at the race this weekend. High is supposed to be 57 degrees. We'll see what happens.

I woke up yesterday morning to the sound of howling wind and 20 degree temps. I turned my alarm off and went back to sleep. That means time on the rollers when I got home. I hate the rollers. All that effort and I go nowhere. It will pay off in the long run though. Dilligence.

Dilligence pays off. That's what they say. How many times are we dilligent, only to learn that we are beating our head against the wall. Dilligence in moderation, I guess. Something to chew on.

Anyone ready for sping time? I am.

Have a great day.

I'd Rather Ride a Bike

Imagine, you are a medical worker, and you don't have a car. You have patients spread out all over the region that you need to reach. It will take you about 1 hour to walk 2 miles. Or, your city has just been demolished by a natural disaster. People are injured and need medical supplies. Motor vehicles are useless. It will take all day to walk across the city. Then you have to walk back for more supplies. Not a good scenario.

Now imagine that someone gives you a bicycle, equipped with a basket to carry supplies. Feel the wind on your face as you pedal 10 miles per hour. You can be across town, visit patients and be back for dinner. In addition to the bicycle, you are trained how to repair the machine that you will grow to love and rely on, so that when something needs adjusting, or a flat tire repaired, the bike isn't left leaning on the side of a building, rusting. It will be repaired, and used, and loved, and help in saving lives.


Now imagine that you can help save these lives. That is exactly what I imagine myself doing. That is why I have joined up with World Bicycle Relief.( click on the name to go to the web page). The cool thing is that each bicycle, including training, costs only $109.

Quotes:


"I am a Midwife. I look after 450 pregnant woman and then visit every house with children in the village, about 3000 people. I travel by bus and foot. Recieving a bicycle will help me tremendously. Currently I can visit about 10 houses per day. With the bicycle I can probably double that."


"In Zambia there are over 1,000,000 orphans and vulnerable children. Over 30,000 are born with HIV/AIDS. One out of five will not see their 5th birthday. Delivery of 26,000 bicycles over the next three years will make a difference. It is a time for hope, and a time for action."


Please consider donating, (these people are you neighbors after all), and saving a life.

Photos courtesy of: Leah Missbach Day


If you would like for a representative to come to your organization to speak about World Bicycle Relief, just let me know.





Have a great day.

Powerless

I had none yesterday. After a weekend including a long ride, cutting and chopping wood, and chasing the kid around, I had no power in my legs. All I could do was spin along. I was surprised however that I was not too much slower than when I am feeling good.

The second Snake Creek Gap Time Trial is this Saturday. High of 55 and sunny. Should be a good time. Hopefully I can shave some seconds. My downhill skills have improved a smidgen, and my fitness is good. I know better where to take it easy, where I can push it a little more, and where I should just pick up the bike and run.

Have a great day.

Who Needs a Gym...

...when you have a wood stove? I spent most of the day Saturday cutting firewood. A guy let me on his land and asked me to cut down some dead trees. Yeehaw!!! I have never cut down a tree before, but I have seen it done before, so I figured I was good to go. And I read about it on the internet. I cut 4 of them down, 12 inch diameter and about 30 feet tall. That's a lot of wood. I'm getting to the halfway point of having enough for next year. I like to go ahead and start gathering it now, so that the wood will be really dry when it comes time to burn.

Sunday, I took my normal Sunday Bent Creek loop. I had originally planned to ride up to Craggy Gardens on the road bike since the high was supposed to be 50 degrees. Factor in 15 mph wind and it feels like 35 degrees. I rode about 1 mile down the road, turned around, came home and got my mtn bike. Off to Bent Creek, via the Parkway-Hardtimes Rd.- paved road to Rice Pinnacle-towards North Boundary rd-take a left to stay on the dirt road that goes below Ingles Field- Right on Bent Creek Gap Rd-left on South Ridge Rd- Hardtimes to the Arboretum- back home on the Parkway=2.52hrs, 38 miles.

As I passed the sawmill on the way home, I noticed the huge log that had been sitting there for a month had been chainsawed into 2 foot sections. The log was about 3 feet in diameter. I couldn't let that go, so I took 30 more minutes of cross training, split the huge chunks in to big chunks, threw them in the truck and stacked them in the yard. That's a lot of work.

And lastly, these Daffodils are as excited about spring as I am:

Leftovers

The Snowstorms that we have had this year, combined with consistently cold temperatures, have thrown WNC mountain bikers for a loop. The trails are in a thawing freeing cycle that leaves them too muddy to ride, lest they be destroyed. Some are traveling to dryer places, some hit the road. I have toyed with the idea of road riding. I usually still ride the mtn bike and stay on the dirt roads. Bent Creek has some great dirt roads that are very family friendly. And also great for a good fast spin that really helps fitness.

Have a nice ride.

Mileage

After getting excited about upping my mileage last week, I didn't break 100 miles for the week again. I decided the pain and freezing of riding when it is 12 degrees is not worth it. And hey, I still get paid if I don't ride my bike. Last night was a workout on the rollers again, more sweat, and lactic acid.


The workout is downloaded on my mp3 player. There is rock and roll music and some dude telling me to " come on, give it a little more", " 1 more minute". And my response is, "whatever dude". I would even say it to his face. If I had a coach, it would have to be someone special to put up with my antics.


This is though, the most fun I have had being torturing myself on stationary rollers. Even more fun would be one of the roller races that are held:

I got a new hat yesterday. It is a cycling cap. Instead of the old style cotton fabric, which are very comfortable if it is not too cold, this one is made of a rip stop nylon windbreaker material:

I put it on, in fact I have it on now. Then as I was sitting in my chair, watching tv, for some reason I smelled the hat. Hmmmm, it has a sort of sweet, herb like ( if you know what I mean) smell. I wonder where it was made? I looked at the tag, Columbia. And I'm sure it is not Columbia SC. Well, it could be incense.....

Have a great day

Everything Went Wrong

I got the the 24 hr race early, set up my tent and pit stop in perfect spot for quick stops. Also it was on a high spot in case of rain. The sky was sunny, the air was warm. I hop in the car to run to the store for last minute supplies. Then it all goes down the drain. While I am gone the storm clouds roll in, the sky grows dark, and the rain falls. Lightning lights up the sky as I park and head to my pits. The only thing is, my pits are not there. The caterer has set up tables and chairs for 500 right where my stuff was.



Where is my stuff? No one know, so I wander around looking for it. 500 people in the muddy field getting ready to race. I don't have my rain gear on and am soaked to the bone. I finally find my tent, laying on the ground, crumpled up. The horn blows, the race starts. Where are my shoes? My helmet? I can't find anything. I can't find my nutrition. Anything. The race started without me. I spend the night looking for my stuff. I can't believe this is happening. I don't even complete one lap.



The next morning, the sun finally comes out. Bright and shiny.



I wake up, safe and warm in my bed.



It was all a dream, a very vivid dream.



Have a great day.

Abdul

I pulled up to the free wood section at the local sawmill and saw that there were about 20 maple logs, 15-20 feet long. I also saw some dude there with a huge pickup truck and a huge trailer that I could fit my little pickup truck in. I rolled down my window and asked him if he was going to take all that wood. It was obvious that he was planning on it, but I asked anyway. He paused for a moment and said, " No, come get some". I didn't have my chainsaw with me so I told him I had to run home and get it. I said" I'll be right back".

Minutes later I was back and ready to wrestle some wood. I picked a small 15 foot log and started cutting. I cut it into pieces and threw it into the back of my truck. Meanwhile Abdul, that is the guy's name, is telling me that he retires in one year. And that he works manual labor and this work is nothing for him. Then he says, " Hey listen, I'll cut a bunch of wood for you". I guess he felt sorry for me as my chainsaw was half as big as his. ( there seems to be a theme here). I said the obligatory, " Really? Are you sure?" He said", Yeah man, you coming back here is a blessing to me. It helps me know that I am not being greedy. See, I can help you get a load of wood, and still have plenty for me". Wow, this is cool. So, we load up my little truck with a little load of wood.
Seeing that there is still more left, he starts cutting for himself again. I decide to start grabbing logs and throw them on his trailer. Before we know it, there is nothing left. We knocked out that pile of wood in no time.
A little team work goes a long way. Two people trying to help their neighbor.

Who are you going to help today?

Have a great day.

Flurries

It's snowing again, sort of. Nothing heavy, but pretty nonetheless. The ridge line is covered in thick grey clouds. I am sure it is snowing up there, we are getting flurries. It is definitely cold enough.



Tonight's ride should be fun, cold fun, stone cold fun. I plan on ramping up my Thursday night training to be less social, and more race pace. Whatever that means. Race pace for me is different than race pace for someone else. I want to ride fast and steady, not fast enough that I feel that I will puke, but fast enough to feel I like I went fast enough at the end of the ride.



Training and having a family is difficult. If training was my full time job, I would be more serious about it. But for now, my family is first, then work- it pays the bills- then training. On that note, I have decided, for now, to postpone the 70 mile ride that I talked about earlier. My temptation is to do too much too soon. And while I believe that I am capable of riding that distance now, I'm going to wait.

I have another Snake Creek Gap TT in 1 week. I think that I will do the long ride two weeks after that. This will give me enough time to recover between the time trials, as the 3rd one is at the end of February. Until then, I will continue to do my 40-50 milers on Sunday afternoon, riding from my house. That leaves all day Saturday to hang out with my family.

So, anyone up for a fast ride tonight?

Have a great day, and do something nice for your neighbor ( either the one next door, the one down the road, in the next office, etc)

Good Morning

It's amazing that 35 degrees feels warm. Several weeks ago ( months?) when the temps dropped to 35 it was cold. Now? It feels warm. It looks like the weather will be in the warm 30's and 40's for the next week. I'm hoping to start upping my mileage as the days get longer. not much, but 30-40 miles per week would be helpful.

I'm feeling good about my laid back training though. Felling strong. I ran the data from my ride on Monday and I climbed around 4500 ft in 37 miles. The Cohutta 100 climbs 14,000ft in 100 miles, so the elevation was comparable.

One Saturday soon I am going to do a long gravel rd training ride. I'll leave from my house, go through Bent Creek, up to the Parkway. Then down Wash Creek Rd, right on Yellow Gap Rd, to hey 276 and back. That will give me 70 miles total. I'm not sure what the elevation gained will be but the terrain is similar to the Cohutta.

There are a lot more challenging routes that I could take. I will be passing most of the classic singletrack trails in Pisgah on this route. But, I am going after specific training. Distance at a steady speed on dirt roads. That is the name of the game. I'm hoping that I will end up with an average of 10-11 mph. If anyone wants to come along, let me know.

Have a great day.

Monday's Ride

37.5 miles. I left the house around 11 am. After becoming increasingly ansty, waiting for the temps to hit 28 degrees, I went outside and decided to go ahead and ride. I didn't want to leave too late, and then in turn get back home late.


It was 17 degrees when I left, but the wind was light and the sun was shining. I managed to layer properly and was able to control my temps by zipping and unzipping my shell.


The ride on the parkway is always seems to take a while. It is a great warm up though. Eight miles of pavement on a single speed is not ideal. But, there are three hills that I try to push hard on, so, there is one benefeit of riding to Bent Creek. Once to Bent Creek, I rode up Hardtimes Rd. The plan was to stay on the dirt roads, thinking that the trails, if thawed would be muddy. I did venture onto a trail at one point. I did not need to worry as everything was frozen solid. Riding around the roads, I took in the beautiful sight of the snow all over the hills, and the bare trees standing quietly. South Ridge Rd had the most snow as it is in the shade most of the day. A vehicle of some sort had driven through, probably yesterday, leaving a packed 8 inch wide trail that I could cruise on. This allowed me to keep up a good spin, without getting bogged down in the snow.



I passed 3 mountain unicyclists. We chatted for a couple of seconds before I headed on, my tires crunching on the snow, and the sunlight glistening. What a great ride, I was thinking to myself. And not too cold. A mechanical would have been cold though. I got back out to the Arboretum and turned onto the Parkway access rd. Up until now, I had been comfortable. Then, a cold blast of wind hit me dead on. Owww! If this keeps up I'm going to be frozen when I get home. I turned onto the parkway, and the wind turned into a tail wind, eventually dying out. The trees on the parkway do a great job of sheltering the wind.



The parkway was closed, so I was able to cruise without worrying about getting creamed by tourists from FLA of USA.



I got home, changed , got Jubal up from his nap. We went to the park and played tackle soccer. Fun Stuff!!!!

MLK Jr Day

I get off today: MLK Jr Day. I'm hoping that it will get warm enough, and I will convince myself to pry away from the comforting warmth of my wood stove to go for a ride. It is 8 degrees as I write this, so a ride does not sound very appealing.

Last night I read an abridged version of Oliver Twist to Jubal. I wonder how many people read that book thinking what a nice story it is, without realising that it represents a real situation for real people in this world. Even people in your town.

What are you doing to cintribute to your society?

Have a great day.

30 Degrees in the Shade

High of 30 forecast for Asheville today. Hopefully it will get up to 35 so I won't freeze on my ride.

We ended up getting some snow yesterday, not much though. I spent the day with my family. 30 minutes on the rollers with iCycle. Put some puzzles together, chopped wood. Chased Jubal around the yard.

I was thinking about criticism. Why are we critical? It seems that we are critical of things when they are not as we would want them to be. If the person in front of me is driving slower than I am, I am critical of their driving, without thinking that there might be a reason for them to be driving too slow.
Sometimes criticism is good. Constructive criticism. This is usually preceded by some compliments and intended to build a person up, to explain how to do something better, or achieve a higher goal. More like advice.

Plain old criticism can become a bad habit. You can get to a place in life where nothing measures up to your standards.

Criticism is often times unneeded, and it would benefit us as a person to take a deep breathe and relax.

Have a great day.

Dissappointed

Like a sucker, I believed the weather forecast, and now am disappointed that there is not 3-4 inches of snow. Waaaaah!!!

We did get to sleep until 8am though. I feel very rested. I rode on the rollers last night. 30 minutes of sprints. Yowzah!!!

Some friends invited me to go mtn biking this morning. I opted to spend time with my family. Good choice. It looks like it is raining where they are riding.

So, not sure what the day will bring. Kinda nice not having any plans. Just meander through the day. Which is fine with me.

Have a great day.

Thinking on Friday Morning

Thinking on a Friday morning can be different than thinking on a Monday morning. Think about that. It is Friday after all.

I've been thinking about nature lately and how she sometimes mandates that we stay inside and rest. Like Wednesday morning for instance. It was way too cold for me to be out, but being stubborn and feeling like I need the miles on the bike, I went out. And last night, I rode in 3 inches of melting slush, which I did not enjoy at all. I knew both times that I should not have ridden but I did. Sometimes I just don't feel like it and have no reason, other times I really don't feel like it and have a reason. The latter, I am learning, is when I need to stay home.

A person cannot go 100% all the time. ( and it is quite impossible to go more than 100% at any one time). We are designed to need rest, to slow down. And it will be ok. I get caught up in feeling like if I am not riding 5 days a week, then I won't be able to be competitive. But, I have come to realise that rest can also help one function better. A delicate balance that I will continue to struggle with , and will change constantly depending on weather, life stress, illness, etc.

So, with the forecast this morning of freezing temps, and ice on the road, I decided to let my body decide if I was riding to work. I didn't set my alarm. That was the test, plain and simple. The results? I didn't wake up until 7:30am. Too late to ride. Maybe I'll get to ride tomorrow.

Rest is good.

Have a great day.

Tomicog Review

I got my Tomicog. I was super excited to get out and try it. It is a cog that mounts on the rear wheel of a mtn bike. It creates a fixed gear for you. Again, I was super excited about something new and different. I'm not so excited anymore. The cog did what it is supposed to do, and it is great quality. It just isn't my thing.

I am selling it, if you think it might be your thing. I'll sell it at a discount if you want it, let me know. It just might be your thing. Not my thing though. Too bad. Could have been fun.

Have a great day.

More Snow

Our Christmas tree from 3 yrs ago.

Our fence.

The forecast was for snow. It looks like we got 2-3 inches. Sweet.

Pain

That's what I felt last night when I was trying to get the tailgate on my pick-up to open. Then it opened, right into my thumb, jamming it and twisting it in a way that it isn't supposed to be twisted. After pulling on it, holding it, and dancing around my driveway, I assessed that it wasn't broken. I then took a couple of deep breaths toe insure that I was not going to pass out. I haven't hurt that bad in a long time.

Today's weather: Winter storm warning. As far as I can tell it is sunny and cold. Too cold for a bike ride, that's for sure. 20 degrees left me with icicles hanging from my goatee. I think 27 degrees is the limit for riding my bike. Any colder than that is idiocy. For me anyway. That means that the Iditabike is out of the question. They only have one spot left anyway.

I hope this winter storm hits hard and I can curl up on the couch tomorrow morning with my hot wife and cool kid, watching the snow fall and feeling the heat radiate from our wood stove.

Have a great day

1-13-08 Map and Profile

Two of the roads are not on TOPO so I attempted to create them. I came up 4 miles short but close enough: Approx 6500 ft of climbing...

I Fixed It

My Tomicog came in the mail today. I now own a fixed gear single speed mtn bike. "Why?" you ask? "Because I can." I answer. Something new, different, it doesn't make sense, so don't try to make it. Just enjoy the ride. I'll let you know how it goes. It might be for sale soon.

Have a great day.