The Return

I plan to resume regular blogging here again and to expand topics beyond the bike as much as I can. I know I've neglected this site long enough, too long actually, but the reason behind my absents here was a woman. I may get into the specifics in greater detail later since the entire situation was extremely confusing and ultimately hurtful for me.

Ugh!

I'm not ready for Bump 'N Grind and have decided to lay off racing until the Fall when a couple of endurance events kick off. If everything works out, I'll give those a shot and go into the winter months more focused on training. In the meantime, I've pretty much decided to just ride for fun and gradually - hopefully - work myself back into form.

Catching up.

I haven't posted in ages and I really don't know why other than it just slipped my mind. In any event, my training is s-l-o-w-l-y coming along, but I'm worried I won't be ready for Bump 'n Grind in a few weeks and may have to skip it. I don't see the point in going all the way over to Birmingham, spending all that money, only to get thumped like an overweight cat-3. I'll know more as race day draws closer.

In other news, The Mississippi River is still overflowing its banks and threatening cities from St. Louis to New Orleans. The ensuing flood is expected to be the worst in over 70 years and is drawing comparisons to the great flood of 1927.

The clean up continues from the tornadoes that hit the area a few days ago. I fortunately didn't sustain any damage, but an area maybe a mile south of my house got hit rather hard. I noticed several demolished homes and broken trees as I rode south of town.

Lea Davison

Back in September I listed my cycling heroes and ended up omitting Lea Davison. Well, I'm here now to correct that mistake.

Lea Davison became a "some to watch" in 2008 when she won both the short track and super D races at Sea Otter. She has been on fire ever since. At the 2008 mtb National Championships in Mt. Snow, Vermont, Lea took third in short track behind Katie Compton and Mary McConneloug who would go on to represent the U.S. in the Beijing Olympics. Lea beat out non other than Georgia Gould to take the last podium spot. It was an impressive showing and one I witnessed first hand. Yes, I was there watching and cheering. It was awesome! It's imposable not to like Lea Davison. If you've ever seen one of her pre or post race interviews, you no doubt have witnessed her enthusiasm and energetic personality. Lea's hero status not only comes from her racing success, but from her social entrepreneurial venture called Little Bellas. The Little Bellas is a mountain bike organization whose goal is to help young women realize their potential through cycling. This is why Lea Davison is a hero.

Privacy Fence Frustration

I've battled my privacy fence ever since it was built in November of 2010. So far, I've had to raise one section a couple of inches to help water run off and one crooked post was also replaced. The thing was so poorly built from the beginning that I get nervous every time the wind picks up. I will probably be lucky to get five years out of the thing before it has to be completely torn down and replaced. I'm dreading that day.

The gate has now been rebuilt three time due to sagging and warping. In its latest incarnation, I replaced both posts on each side of the gate because the old ones weren't level and the one on the hinge side leaned. I discovered that one only had 25 or so pounds of cement holding it in place. This third gate is reinforced with metal braces on all the joints as well as wood glue. I have four hinges holding it to the post and the posts around the door are braced with 2x4 boards making a rather sturdy frame. I'll probably add some cross braces later, but everything seems okay for now.

2012 Olympic mountain bike course

The 2012 Olympic mountain bike course has been completed at Hadleigh Farm in Essex and the reaction, at least on the Internet to the unveiling, is a collective yawn. Rather than being staged in a forest, this course is laid out on an open hillside, presumably to make it more spectator friendly and easier to televise. I can understand that and appreciate anything to give Olympic mountain biking more exposure. The lack of enthusiasm to the course seems to center around the track not having any real (natural) technical challenges beyond a few man-made “obstacles” scattered along the trail in odd places and the overly groomed nature of the less challenging sections that are more akin to a walking path than a mountain bike trail. After viewing several of the online video previews for myself, I have to admit the course does appear less challenging than one would expect for an Olympic venue. I realize the camera has a flattening effect and probably doesn’t do the climbs justice, but it does appear like something geared more for a cat-3 racer rather than the World’s best. If anyone reading this has actually been there or ridden it, I’d love to hear your opinion of the course.

Here is a highlight preview of the 2012 course along with some video of past Olympic races for comparison.

London 2012 course preview:

Atlanta 1996 (time 10:15)


Athens 2004 (time 10:00)


Beijing 2008 (time 4:00)

How did THAT happen?

I managed to get out to the Whirlpool trails after work today for a planned two hour training ride, but things just didn't work out that way. Not 30 minutes into my ride, I magically get a 5 foot long, 4 inch thick, log jammed between the chainstay and spokes of my rear wheel. ... A log - Seriously!

I didn't have my camera with me, but I promise it looked like this.

Spring has Sprung!

Ned Knows 29ers

If you still aren't sure about 29ers, or want to know what all the fuss is about, just listen to mountain bike legend, Ned Overend, explain why the 29er is the future of mountain biking in this interview.

Can't Catch a Break

I was supposed to start getting super serious about my training today, but it seems I can't catch a break. It's like something always happens that throws a wrench into my training plans. I had planned all week on going out to Clear Creek bright and early today for three laps or more of hard endurance training, but not two seconds after I woke up I did something to my right shoulder. I literally opened my eyes, started stretching as I woke up and WHAM! I get a sharp pain in my shoulder and couldn't move without hurting.

2011 Races

I didn't do a single race last season because the economy tanked and I'd just bought a new house, so something had to give. I'm hopeful the worst of the bad economy is behind us now, so I've been looking at various race websites and trying to figure out which, if any, I'd like to do this year. Naturally, this all depends on a lot of unseen variables like gas prices, the general economy, budget cuts, and even bad weather, so I reserve the right to change my mind and just stay home. One thing for sure is I probably won't be doing as many cross country races and I've done in years past. In fact, I only have two XC races on my list. This is the year I'm making the jump to more endurance (XXC) style events.

April 30, Cohutta 65/100
June 5, Bump 'n Grind at Oak Mountain, Birmingham, AL.
July 24, ORAMM, Old Fort, NC.
Aug. 20, Fool's Gold
Sept. 11, Black Bear Rampage, Ducktown, TN.
Oct. 2, 12 Hours of Stank, Memphis, TN.
Oct 15, 6 hours of Herb, Collierville, TN
Sept 4, Skool of Hard Nox, Louisville, MS
Sept. 18, Clear Creek Challenge, Oxford, MS.
Nov 12, Oak Mt. 6-hour Race, Birmingham, AL

New XO Brakes

I have a new set of brakes to replace those lousy Elixir CR brakes that gave me nothing but grief. I'd finally had enough and contacted the shop about getting SRAM to man up and replace those worthless things. To SRAM's credit, they came through and sent a new pair of XO stoppers.

They look and feel great, but time will tell how they perform on the trail.

My only real complaint so far are the ridiculously long cables. Seriously! Just look at those things. I don't know why the shop didn't cut them to fit when they were installed. I'll eventually have to get that corrected, but I'm just thrilled to have working brakes for now.

Another day in Oxford, Colorado

Snow Ride

We got somewhere between 8 or 9 inches of snow Sunday night, and I didn't want to chance the car on the roads, so I mountain biked to work and got to experience a little Colorado like weather in the process. If I lived in the mountain west, I would definitely invest in one of those super fat-tire snow bikes like the Surly Pugsley. Riding through deep snow was a tom of fun and surprisingly easier than I expected. My Mooto XZ 29er plowed through it with very little problem and the deep snow actually seemed to help stabilize the bike.





In other news, I'm still working on changing up my blog, so that's why I haven't posted in so long. I need to come up with a new name that hasn't already been taken, which isn't easy to do.