Fun ride

Tonight brian and i went for a fun ride. We dodged a train at a RxR crossing. Drafted behind a Semi at 35 mph for 3 miles down a country road, had some great ice cream @ cold stone and rode home in the dark with a jerk-off running me wide at an intersection on purpose. Great fun.

Race day

The racing gods have been smiling on me all summer and this weekend was another beautiful weekend of sun. We slept in our secret camp spot with no fly on the tent and it was great. Practice was good, I got four runs in. The last run was right before the pros came down and i hiked back up and reran the hard muddy section, just above where one guy broke his hip and was screaming in agonizing pain. Before race run i tightened down the SPD pedals and that really helped stay on the bike. I may have dabbed one on the tightest turn of the course but stayed on the pedals the rest of the way. I had to check up in the muddy sections to keep it all under control and lost some time there but I was in survival mode and kept in on two wheels finishing 4th of 7. Not a great showing but considering how bad i was doing in the practice sessions i am happy with the finish. Thanks to Sally for going with me.

Snow Shoe Round 3 Practice

Practice was punctuated by me forgetting my shoes and having to run SPD's. It is definately harder to deal with in the rock gardens, and these were Super hard rock sections with lots of mud. I got about 7 runs in and my lack of sleep was hanging heavy on me. Despite the problems, it was a great day of riding. Very challenging.. what i love and live for. Rode with Sean some and it was good hangin out on the trail. Crashed a lot but beautiful weather and lots of fun. Two road gaps, big table top jumps, flowy sections and all kinds of stuff.

Out of the Ordinary

This weeks riding was totally out of the norm. Wednesday's night ride was wild. Started out trying to rain and then went into a full downpour with a good bit of climbing. After a while, still pouring, we saw rainbows. Two seperate bows, each with double spectrums!!! The main bow was one of the brightest i have ever seen. about 25 miles in an hour and 20 mins. The After ride party was pulled pork awesomeness!! Great food thanks tony!!!
Last night I met Steve Austin and Brian at Panorama @ 8pm and we climbed up to Skyland. it was an hour out and 30 mins back. It was my first time there and we stopped at the Restaurant to check it out. Seemed cool.. It was getting chilly on the mountain. got home late and i can feel it

More Skyline

Today I rode from 211 to just past Lewis Mountain Campground on Skyline Drive, and back. It was 53 miles or so with about 5000 feet of climbing. It started out trying to rain, but I out ran it. Then it rained ahead of me but passed before I arrived, only to find the roads wet. At one point I rode through the clouds, illuminated by the sun, it was like heaven on earth, only the road was pavement, not gold. The clouds and rain cleared out leaving cooler air and sun. It was a good time. I was supposed to do 70 miles but oh well.

Track DAY!

Yesterday I went and did a Track Day at Summit Point on my Suzooks. It was fast and fun but really hot and humid. The Dunlops (soft Compound) did not wear well, the 1000 thrashed it. We did 5 sessions before the thunderstorms rolled in and after the deluge stopped I packed up and went home. Yesterday was the first time that I didn't have a mind bending good time. It was good fun but maybe the honeymoon is over. Not sure yet - I wasn't feeling all that great, maybe it was that.

On another note, my knee is bothering me today. Between that and my ankle I am taking another day off from pedaling. Hope it feels better tomorrow.

Granny Gear A GO GO/ Gorilla in the Mist

Today was complicated. I went back out at noon and Left from Sperryville only to get 4 miles out and realize that I didn't have my Skyline Pass. So i turned around and went back to the truck. I decided to drive to Front Royal and do an Out and BACK on skyline. I got there and it was sunny and hot. When i handed the ranger my pass she told me that i didn't need it - this weekend was free to everyone. The first 20 miles were good almost all in my easiest gear, spinning @ about 9 MPH. After 10 miles it got and stayed cloudy/foggy, which is good because it was much cooler. The last 10 miles going out, were a bit harder but not nearly as hard as the way back. The climb out of 211 was really hard. The water in the air was so thick that it gave the hair on my arms a frosting of dew. Ended up doing 64 miles on The Drive with a total of 70 miles.

Rained Out

Went to Sperryville and unloaded for the first real big ride (65 miles with 15 climbing). Everyone else was running late but that doesn't matter because it started to pour right after The Million Dollar Man, steve austin showed up.

On Thursday Brian and I went for an "easy" ride but ended up doing almost 28 miles. The pace wasn't crazy and with a later start (6:30) it was getting close to dark by the time we got back to the shop.

I am thinking my ankle is broken instead of a sprain- just feels like a break.

Criglersville

Went for the group ride last night. I thought the air was thick on Tuesday, but yesterday it seemed almost like water. We did 20 miles in just over an hour. Very sweaty. Nali and Bobby helped me revise my 60+ miles ride for Saturday. That ride will decided if I attempt the Skyline 105.

Riding Purple

Last night the air was thick and so was my ankle. The air hurt more. 35 miles in 1 hour and 54 mins.

Diablo

The mountains were beautiful sunny and not too hot. Both nights camping with no fly sleeping with the stars were great. Practice was fun. The course was really rocky in sections with a ledge section, boulder stair section, and some really loose conditions (lots of dust). I ended up doing about 12 runs on Saturday, about 8 on the race course. There was a new section of BIG JUMPS on Lower Dominion Trail and they are a TON of fun. It took a couple of runs to get them timed well and over the jumps. Ran that about 4 times before turning my ankle on a Trials like trail called Slayer. My problem is that I do the race run several times and start to get in dialed and going faster and then I go into a trail that I don't know too hot (fast)and make mistakes. It happened again at the end of the weekend, smashing my rotor on rock and dinging it pretty good. Advil was my friend and I got a bunch more runs in Sunday morning. I was first in my class to go and I had a dab near the top and stuttered through a tough garden. Other than that it was a clean run and I finished 12th place. After that I did two runs on Dominion for fun and rolled home. I went down 95 and traffic was insane. Stop and Go for over an hour and 20 minutes waiting to get gas in Jersey.. NO MORE! 81 is my friend.

49

This weekend I am planning on Racing DH at Diablo so i needed to get my big ride out of the way (50 miles this week). Brian and I went out and did it today. Felt ok. It seemed a little windy but maybe I just was feeling yesterday. We did 49.1 miles in just over 2.5 hours. I think I a supposed to ride 2 hours on Thursday. Hmmm. I wonder if I can do 37 miles... I should be able to since I am not drafting off of Brian. I am starting to rethink Skyline a bit, the first 40 miles are going to be really hard. Anyway today was good. Thanks Brian.

Oops

Today was supposed to be another "fast" ride for an 1hr, 15 mins. I created a loop but was off on the mileage. We (brian and I) ended up riding 35 miles? can't remember too tired. But we rode for 2 hours. Brian rode his mtn bike with knobbies... crazy

i think i have decided to do my 100 miles on skyline drive. here is the info: 8000+ ft of climbing.

Cross Training

Today Sal and I went for a hike off of skyline drive. We hiked up to Hawksbill peak and then down Salamander Trail and finally back to the car on the AT. It was only 3 miles but it was a lot of fun. The clouds were at the same level as the overlook and it felt under 75 degrees up on the drive. Great for the first day of August. They have paved a good section of the road and I can't wait to go up there to do a road ride on it.