JPOK's Place

2011-08-11T17:03:00.001-07:00

.I advise you to visit this site immediately! Don't miss your chance, looser! http://schmittdaniel.free.fr/friends.page.php?vjsid=64yr7

Wayne Ultra

2010-08-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: wayne.jpg)
So the day after the Hill Billy was the Wayne Ultra in a way it sucks that two good races are on back to back days but it's also pretty fun racing on back to back days. When we were leaving the Hill Billy we found out about the BIG BALLZ award that Jason Mahokey from XXC Mag was putting out there. I wasn't even sure what the prize was but the rules were pretty simple finish the Hill Billy on Saturday and the Wayne Ultra on Sunday. If more than one person did both the winner would be the best overall time. It seemed pretty simple and there was only three people up for the challenge Gerry, Ruth and me.
We met up with some friends at the campground Saturday. We were all in for a night we'd all remember for a long time. Not sure what time it was but I'm pretty sure it was after midnight. We were all awaken from a domestic squabble it was annoying as hell but funny at the same time. Some highlights man says you don't put that two piece bikini on for me. But my friends come over and you jump into it. Woman I'm tried of your neck twisting around every time a girl walks by. This continued back a forth for a while then man says you know that's a what a whore does that makes you a whore and you better be careful when your pointing your finger at someone cause you got FOUR fingers pointing back at you. But final word from woman FUCKEVER. Then it went silent.
OK now on to some race stuff yesterday was hot as hell and took allot of me today was going to be even hotter. The race started with us heading out the highway behind a motto and TJ pulling into the parking lot nice timing jackass. We paced up the first climb pretty slow then the motto pulled off and it was on. I tried hard to on but fell off quickly and was just trying to keep the leaders in sight. I went into the woods like 7th but for some strange reason I was riding pretty well through the singletrack and started passing people. I felt surprising good and was struggling on the climbs a little but felt like I was riding pretty strong. I worked my way up to second place and that's when everything started falling apart fast. I heard the hissing from my rear tire and was hoping for the best that it would seal. I stopped put some air in and hoped for the best again but within about 1/4 mile it was flat again. This may sound lame but it's been a while since I've flatted in a race and didn't know where to get started. It seemed like it took forever and I got passed by allot of people. But finally I was up and going again and wasn't feeling as good as before the flat. But finally I passed a few people and started feeling a little better. I popped out on the road at a check point and went about a 1/4 mile and seen Gerry riding towards me and I was like WTF. He shortcut and was tapping out said he had enough. I was like cool and was thinking maybe I should have asked him for his tube and stuff cause I was all out. Then about one minute later I really was regretting not asking cause my tire got squishy quick and I had another flat. I walked up the road and made it to the aid station. They had 26" tubes but no 29" tubes but they had a patch kit and so I figured I'd give that a shot. So I got some water and was getting ready to head out but before I left it was already flat again. At this point I was thinking about calling it a day that's when Jeremy Palermo rolled in and offered up his tube. Good thing for him is that I found out it already had a hole in it. So at this point I was pretty much had decided to call it a day and that's when Big Cat came in a offered up his tube as long as I would ride with him. It took a little time and I said OK that's when I did a big favor for Big Cat and found out that he was carrying around a 26" tube not a 29" tube. That's when I made up my mind not to try and continue on. I grabbed Ian Palermo's tube out of his drop bag figured he already went through and couldn't get it anyhow. Then I did my ride of shame back to the car.
The 25 miles of the course I did was awesome wished I could've seen the rest. So the BIG BALLZ award got changed to the BIG NO BALLZ award and Ruth is now the owner of some sweet ass XXC Mag swag. But FUCKEVER

J

Hill Billy Roubaix

2010-07-22T09:37:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: tires.jpg)
(See attached file: HBR.jpg)
First thing first I'm getting the same question asked over and over again from lots of different people "How was the Hill Billy Roubaix?" My answer it was hard but fun worth the price of admission. So here's my best description it's a dirt and gravel road race. It's 70 miles long has about 30-40 miles of dirt and gravel roads about 5-6 miles of quad trails and the rest is pavement. The next question is what's the best bike setup? That's easy a CX bike with at least 30C tire. I took the hard route and used my road bike cause my CX bike is setup for commuting and was to lazy to make the necessary changes. I did get lucky and was able to squeeze a set of 28C on which are still on 4 weeks later. The fast started pretty fast and there seemed to be a pretty group of like 10 people that formed pretty early and got smaller quick do to flats. After we got through the first rocky downhill and some quad trails it was group of 4 Gunnar, Gerry, Andy and me. Then it went to 3 people and finally Andy and Gerry dropped on a descent. From that point on I past Andy and the only other people I seen was Ryan and Ben on the motto. I was feeling good and still trying to chase Gerry down but around hour 3 I started cramping. That's when I went from chasing to worrying about be getting caught. Somehow I finished and managed not to get caught and was second overall. So yes it was hard and fun all at the same time and worth checking out. Thanks to JR and his crew for the fun. I got some moonshine and I'm pretty that this time next year I'll still have some moonshine.

J

Lumberjack

2010-07-01T08:20:00.001-07:00

So I went to the Lumberjack 100 the third stop in the NUE series. The trip was OK, driving in Michigan is awesome the roads are in great condition and not much traffic. But no matter how good the roads are 9 hours of driving is allot of driving. Ruth and me got to the course around 1:00 on Friday and did some pre ride. The course was and trails were pretty sweet no big long climbs but a few short kickers. It seemed like it was going to be a fast race on Saturday. We met up with some other Burgh people and had dinner and then off to bed.
We got to the start nice and early and started getting ready and got our transition pit setup. Everything was going great but I still had a strange feeling that something wasn't quite right. I got dressed and went to turn on my Garmin and nothing WTF. Now I'm pissed and just waiting for something else to fucking break just like everything I've bought this year. Seriously is there anything made anymore that doesn't fail to disappoint and break? After scrambling around for a watch or something to keep track of time with Ruth said I could borrow her Garmin cause she had a watch. So I headed over to the start still feeling like it was just a matter of time until something else would go wrong. The start went good and with in the first 20 minutes I worked my way though the field and got in a fast group of about 7 racers. It was nice at this point cause I was on a single speed and got pulled though one of the maintenance road sections. Then back into the singletrack I decided to push the pace and went out in front Gerry came with me. The two of us rode together for a while I just couldn't be how fast, fun, and easy the course seemed. It was all singletrack but not like the singletrack I'm used too. It was super smooth and no rocks or logs but super flowing and I was having a blast. I told Gerry it was like cheating cuase it was so much fun. Then we popped out onto another maintenance road some fast geared guy that had flatted earlier came flying by and we jumped on his wheel. I was the last one and was following them and somehow picked a crappy line though the sand and fell off. Later in the woods I tried to catch back on but wasn't able too. Everything was going great there was about 4 miles left in the first lap and I got to where I pre rode the day before. That's when it started my Alum Specialized single speed Stumpjumper rides and handles great but creaks, rattles and makes a new noise every time I ride it. But this noise sounded familiar it sounded just the noise when the brake caliper came loose at DSG. So I slowed down just a hair and tired not using the rear brake but the noise was still there. I figured it'd be faster just to ride it out until I got to the transition area and take a look at it there. I get there and grab a three-way and start checking both brakes are tight, the rotors feel tight, bottle cages are tight, stem, seatpost, bars everything's tight WTF? So I grab my food and bottles and head back out the for the second lap thinking this is why I like SS nice and quite less shit to break. Great news is about 3 miles into the lap I finally found the problem. Bad news what the problem was and how I found this out. My cranks just locked up WTF? I jump off and start looking to try and find the problem. The fucking lockring on my White Industries BB come loose and the BB bearing backed out and got wedged the lockring between the crankarm and BB bearing housing. You gotta be fucking kidding me so how does shit like this fucking happen? So after using some mad mechanic skills I got my cranks to turn. They wobbled a little but figured that it'd be OK. The next couple of miles seemed OK maybe it was the hate I was experiencing. But after that went away the creeking got worse, then the thought of the Seven I ordered that still isn't in was in the back of my head. I just kept thinking how nice it will be to ride a bike that's not a creeking piece of shit. Then shortly after that all the fun was gone and the reality set in that I have to ride this creeeking POS another 50 miles. That's when two things happened first I decided that I will never ever ride this bike again and second when I get to the start I'm not going back out.
So after I got back I waited about 30 minutes just to make sure that I really wanted to DNF and it sucks not finishing but mentally I was wrecked and couldn't take the mental abuse anymore. Ruth had a good race and finished 9th and in under 10 hours that was cool. I guess sometimes it's best live to fight another day.

J

Big Bear 2x12

2010-06-25T07:29:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: Big Bear.jpg)

Late and behind again but whatever here it is. I'm really not into 24 hour racing anymore it's fun and I night riding is a blast. But there's not enough fun to make up for all the sleep I lose. But this year was different I was actually looking forward to the annual 24 Hours of Big Bear this year because it was going to be the 24 Hour Nationals. But thanks to Greedy Gear is was cancelled thanks Laird your the best. But something good came out of the 24 hour race getting cancelled. Mark Schooley the mountain biker that runs Big Bear Lake stepped up big time and decided to put on some type of endurance race that same weekend. It started out as the Big Bear 4x24 but in the end it was the Big Bear 2x12. Its a pretty simple format teams of two racers each must complete 2 or 3 laps depending on your class. The more I thought about it I liked this format plus the first place payout of a $1000 made in even more attractive to me. My hardest decision now was to decide which class and finding a partner. In the end I asked Suz Falvey to team up with me. Even with a stacked coed class I liked our chances. Just for the record Ruth doesn't like racing with me says she feels to much pressure.
Packing was super easy cause I knew exactly how much stuff to bring cause I knew how many laps I had to do. I met Todd and Suz early Saturday morning and headed down. The trip was pretty uneventful except for spotting a cool ass General Lee replica on 68. We decided that it would be best for me to go first. I was pretty happy when I found out that there wasn't going to be a Le Mans start. As usual I felt like I was rushing around trying to get ready and before I knew it was time to line up and go. One thing for sure is that if you never rode at Big Bear it's worth the trip just to check out the awesome trails there. Some people say how technical and rocky it is but I just think its fun that's the stuff I love riding. I had a good first lap and come in third and then the battling started. We went from first to third and back again. But in the end Shogrens and the Riddles were to much for us and we finished third. Which was OK but with the winner take all format third or last it still meant nothing. In the end I had a blast hope to make it back again next year the only downside was the Stoopid 50 was the next day and I decided not to make the drive. Thanks to Mark and all the awesome sponsors for the good times. Almost forgot to mention that it rained a little too thanks for the picture Ben.

J

To Dash for Cash or Not?

2010-06-08T10:26:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: dash.jpg)
Not much racing lately but had to make a tough decision between the Dash for Cash and the Mohican 100. The Dash won for several reasons not necessarily in this order cost $30 to $150, drive time 20 minutes to 3-1/2 hours, wake up at home or in a tent, rush to pack and leave Friday night or not packing and sleep in on Saturday, give my hard earned cash to someone I really don't like or give it to a local fire hall, show up at a local race in hopes they have more or go to an over hyped 100 miler, hangout with some cool people drink a few beers and eat some good grub (this would be the case at either race). If I would have only wrote this down the decision would've been some much quicker and painless.
Anyhow about the race I was stoked about the a new record turnout of a 126 racers. I thought with the crappy weather the days before and the crappy projected forecast not many people would come out. Image that I was wrong good think that never happened before. They use a TT format for the start 2 racers at time at 30 second intervals. The reason is to prevent bottle necks but I'm not so sure it really works to avoid that but the TT format is always cool. Do to my lack of paying attention and not realizing how many racers there were I got started in the near the back of the pack, It didn't take long to realize it was going to be muddy also I got caught up in the allot of bottle necking that the TT was supposed to prevent. It was all good everyone was pretty cool about passing and stuff. The mud wasn't to bad in years past the mud used to get to me but riding in the mud is all about attitude. You need to embrace it and think realize everyone else is out there in it to so how bad can it be? Then I got to the first deep creek crossing and it was so freaking awesome they put ropes across it to hold onto so no one got swept away. (The one in the picture is the small crossing sorry that's all I could find) Along with everyone else I had some bike issues and finished second. Anyhow some awesome trails and great food afterwards what more could you ask for. So if you ever get the chance be sure to give the Dash for Cash a chance you won't be disappointed. Thanks to Jarvis Lindsay and family, all the volunteers and sponsors plus the Buffalo Riders. Next time the my decision will be allot easier.

See you next year
J

Dirt Sweat and Gears

2010-05-18T09:37:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: DSG.jpg)

(See attached file: no gas.jpg)
I made the long trip to the Dirt Sweat and Gears 12 hour race in Fayetteville Tennessee. Even with all the rumors and stories about the mud from last years race when I first heard about it I gave it some consideration. I was thinking of racing solo or solo SS but couldn't find anyone to carpool with. Then about 2 weeks before the race I was looking at the calendar and there didn't seem like much else going on that weekend. So I mentioned to Nathan Annon and he said he'd do it as a duo and do the driving so I figured why not. Then the day after we got registered I heard about the Cranky Monkey 9 hour race that was only 3 hours away. But whatever at this point it was to late to turn back. I got to Nat's on Thursday evening and we did a short road ride though Grafton WV. Then it was time to unpack my car and load up his car. It seems no matter how light I try to pack I always end up bringing a bunch of useless crap and never have the one or two things I really want.
Our plan was to get there early enough to do a preride and setup camp and then chill out. We left at 3:00 and the trip done was pretty uneventful for such along trip. The only thing that seemed really strange about the drive was Nat's got a GTI and he's from WV so that's two licenses to fly and he's driving like 5 mph over the speed limit WTF? Whatever but we finally got there and setup camp and headed out to do a lap. One thing I noticed right away was that it was allot hotter down here than up in the burgh. The course was pretty fun about 10 miles long I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of rocks and rocks. It didn't have any long climbs but lots of short and steep climbs. I was running a 34x19 gear and it seemed about right Nat was running a 34x20 and thought it was a little heavy and switched out to a 34x21. We ran into Mike Schultz and he was nice enough to let us take a shower his motel thanks Mike.
I liked the fact that the race didn't start until 9:00 plus we gained an hour crossing the time zone so it was really like 10:00. I convinced Nat to do the start because I just didn't feel dealing with of the traffic on the first lap. He came in 9th on the first lap I picked a few people off pretty early on. Then about 5 miles in the rattling noise on my bike kept getting louder and more consistent. It sounded like a loose bottle cage I moved my bottle into the other cage and still luck. Then I heard a really loud noise and thought my wheel came out of the dropouts cause the rear brake stopped working. I stopped and looked only to see that one of the bolts that hold on the rear brake caliper was missing and the other was backed out halfway. So I figured it'd be fastest just to ride out the rest of this lap without the rear brake. It worked out OK cause no one caught or past me before the end of the lap. Now it was time to start hunting down a bolt I asked allot of people and no luck. Then finally I got lucky and the guy from the Moots demo truck took one off of a demo bike thanks. Then while I was waiting to head out for my second lap the rain started. It didn't seem like it rained to hard or for to long but the trails were pretty slimly. I past allot of people walking and pushing their bikes and seen people using sticks to clean out the mud. It was bad but I didn't think it was to bad my first lap was like a :54 and my mud lap was a 1:06. So after I finished and get my bike cleaned up I heard that they decided to shorten the course to remove some of the mud. I was like WTF and went and tried to convince the people in charge to leave it alone without any luck. My case was we were racing on SS and I figured that we'd fair better in the mud than our competition that had gears on. They said tons of people were whining about how bad it was and they didn't want anyone getting hurt and also didn't want to have a bad experience and not come back next year. I understood his points agreed but it's never fun not getting your way. They were really fair about how they put people onto the shortened course too. You had to be on the same lap as the leader of your class that way every team got a little taste of the mud. I guess I'm a little more used to the mud than some others. Because they basically removed the first 2-3 miles of the course. I past some of racers in that section and finished the lap washed my bike and was waiting to head back out and they were just coming back covered in mud and they even short cutted back didn't even finish the lap. We never really got close to the first place team and went back and forth with 2nd and 3rd. In the end we finished 2nd and I was OK with that.
After the race was cool lots of free swag some god food and some great local beers. Then the rain came and it rained all night long. We woke up early and packed up in the light rain which sucked but I'm glad we left when we did cause that's when it started to rain even harder. Two rules I found out when traveling with Nat first the passenger it's allowed to sleep and second what the gas gauge. Overall I think it was a pretty awesome race and venue the only drawback I see is the 20 plus hours of driving. So as of now I'm unsure about next year. But thanks to everyone for the fun check it out www.dirtsweatandgears.com

Plus one more shout out to Scotty Holmes for his roadside assistance along 79.

J

Tennessee

2010-05-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

The past 3-4 to weeks have been pretty strange for me. Here's a quick run down of it I've never been in Tennessee then back in April I went there for the Cohutta and now about a month later I'm heading down there again for the Dirt Sweat and Gears 12 hours race. It should be a good time as long as the weather holds up I've heard if it rains the mud is insane. So I find it pretty strange that I've never been there in 39 years and now I'll be there twice in less than 4 weeks apart. Some other strange happenings is that I've ridden 3 new bikes in the span of 4 days that's a record. Usually when I get a new frame I build it the same day that's what I did last Friday. Then on Saturday I finally built up a frame that I've had for over 5 weeks that's a record. Then on Tuesday I built up a frame that I picked up on Monday that I ordered about three months ago that also is a record. But enough about that Tennessee here I come again.

J

They call me Dustin

2010-05-05T05:48:00.001-07:00

Out of the 4 races last weekend we decided to go to the second WVMBA at Mountwood. First choice was the Middle Mountain Momma followed by the Michaux race. I crossed both of these out because I didn't feel like having to leave on Saturday and pay for a motel. So that narrowed it down to the Grassman and Mountwood. I guess Mountwood won because I've been there before and it's always been a good time. It was raining on and off for the entire drive but finally we got there. I had decided to use my SS today because it's the only bike that was ready and I thought it might be better with all the rain and mud. At the start everything was going good until the hill at the start seemed longer this year than in year's past. Finally at the top and into the singletrack I was pretty far back at this point. Funny thing on the first lap the trails seemed to be in better shape than I had anticipated mostly running water, lots of turtles and but not much mud. Then on the second lap some sections seemed to be allot muddier but nothing to crazy. In the end I managed to finish 4th overall and was 3rd expert Montana had a great race and got the overall win on his SS. In the end I wished I would have sucked up the drive and cash for a motel and did Michaux or the Middle Mountain Momma. I had fun but it just seemed like such a waste of a day 6 plus hours of driving for only 2 hours of racing. But here's what someone else had to say about the race.

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/529431.html

I guess in a way I deserve this? Because I always forget people's name and butcher their names as bad just as bad as they butcher mine. But whatever it's like I was never even there.

J

Cohutta 100

2010-04-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: Cohutta.bmp)
I guess it's safe to say the 2010 race season has started. Mine began with the first race in the Appalachian Road Race Series the Morgantown Road Race. I just got one small little problem with this race why the hell is it called the Morgantown Road Race when the entire race in PA? Whatever the race didn't go to good for me I was at the back of the pack at the start of the first climb and got dropped. Then rode with a few different groups for the rest of the race. I did feel like a got a good workout in so I was happy about that. Then a few weeks later I headed out for the first OMBC at the Mohican Wilderness. As luck would have it it was the same day as the first WVMBA race at Big Bear. I love racing at Big Bear but choose the Mohican race over BB because the Mohican course seems to have allot more climbing and I was hoping it would help more in my preparation for the Cohutta. Last year at Mohican I raced my SS and did pretty well but last year the conditions were allot different from this year. This year the course was fast and dry I had a good start but got dropped out in the flats and never caught up. I got a good ass whooping and finished 7th. The only good I took out of this race was the fact that all my lap times were consistent.
Now it was time to get ready and head down to the Cohutta 100 the first race in the NUE series. I've never done this race before and the reason why is I figured the drive would suck. Now onto the race it starts on the highway with about a 2 mile climb then a short downhill then into some really fun singletrack. I had an OK start and was maybe in the top 40 or so headed into the singletrack. It was pretty tight and I passed a few people then I finally caught up to the big line of people. It seemed pretty chill like and not much going on and the pace seemed pretty easy to handle. Then we hit some downhills and it opened up and I was able to get around a few more people. Then back in the tight stuff I think the first 20 to 25 miles was pretty much all singletrack and a blast to ride. Then we hit the gravel and dirt roads and started climbing. I passed the first aid station and everything was going good. The climbs seemed to be pretty long but not to steep and it be allot of up and down. I got the second aid station and made my first big mistake of the day. Usually I don't put anything in the drop bags because I figure what's the chances of putting in the correct stuff. You could put 20 things in and forget the one thing you do need and so everything is else is useless. The only reason I used them this time was because I wasn't sure how stocked the aid stations would be so I just packed some food, coke and redbull. Now for the mistake it wasn't what I packed it was remembering which stop I put it in. After searching through the bags twice I left and figured that I must have put it in #3 not #2. Not sure how many miles in it was but at about 4 hours in the rain started. It was pretty steady and some thunder and lightening too. I got to #3 and found my bag and continued on. Then around mile 80 I was seeing allot more people I think this was around where the 100K racers rejoined 100 milers. I was feeling pretty strong still and every time I would get near someone I was looking to see if they were a SS or geared racer. Not sure but I think I passed like 5 or 6 other SS racers. Then I hit the final piece of singletrack and figured from what everyone had told me I had about 10 miles to go. It was pretty muddy and wet I felt like I was riding it pretty well. Then it happened my chain fell off I stopped and put it back on it happened early too but I decided not to fix it then. Then it happened again and again I think it happened like 5 or 6 more times. At this point I was debating about stopping and retensioning the chain but it was a tough call when I didn't know how much further I had to go or what the trail was like. I was watching my garmin like a hawk and knew I was getting close because I was at 94 miles. Then I passed a tent and they said 1-1/2 miles to go. I Finished without anyone catching me so I was pretty happy. My late surge put me in 4th in the SS class and around 20th overall. I was pretty happy about my placing but there was a big time gap between me and the SS in front of me. Two other note worthy details about the race for me first 100 miler in under 8 hours and first 100 miler that didn't have any hike a bikes.

Here's a few things I learned
#1 Remember what stations your drop bags are at
#2 Try to preride the beginning and end of the course
#3 The drive did suck
#4 Racing and riding in the rain is allot easier than the aftermath of changing, packing and waiting in the rain
#5 That there's an awful lot of Porn and fireworks for sale along 75 in Tennessee
The only one that was new was #5. But big thanks to everyone at Newleaf Adventure Center for all the good times and thanks to all my sponsors. Also Ruth made the trip and finished but lets just say she had a bad day and spent to much time in the cabin.

J

It's back

2010-04-01T06:34:00.001-07:00

After 20 weeks of no racing it's back. I'm heading to Morgantown for the first race of the year. I'm really curious to see if all the training pays off. I feel like my endurance is good, my short efforts feel OK but not sure about the rest. But I still got nothing hope this ends soon.

J

Got nothing

2010-03-24T10:57:00.001-07:00

Spring is here and I got nothing WTF! The nothing I'm talking about is blog material. So I'll do my best with a short little rant about the annual suck fest known as daylight savings. With a little bit of research it seems that's there's no clearcut reason behind this annual ritual of stupidly. But one reason seems to be that it saves electricity. I'm all for the saving of electricity it seems as a country we really waste allot of it. But the thing that really makes no sense to me is why not just do it all year long? If your saving electricity in the summer by doing this shouldn't work in the winter? I have no preference when I get my daylight. I really enjoyed riding to work with no light but I also like riding home without it. So whatever just pick one time and stick to it the changing back and forth is the problem. My body doesn't like the adjustment period.
I've been keeping busy riding and skiing but after almost two months of not riding in the trails it finally happened. The snow melted and the trails dried up. At first it felt weird but it didn't take long before for it felt normal. It was almost like when you go on vacation and on your first day back to work it hits you that feeling you get like you never left. It was allot like that but except for one huge difference this felt really really good and that never does. Sorry it's not much but that's all I got.

J

Torn

2010-02-19T09:35:00.001-08:00

(See attached file: ss.jpg)
After almost 2 weeks since I rode any bike I might give it a try this weekend. Strange thing is that I'm not experiencing withdraw symptoms like allot of people are crying about. The strangest thing about all is that I have very little patience especially when it comes to playing with new toys. My new Specialized Rockhopper SS has been built for about two weeks and has yet to be ridden WTF? Back at the start of winter I decided that I wasn't going to ride my trainer or rollers all winter. So I rode in the cold got some studded tires to ride in the snow and started climbing the stairs at the cathedral when I wasn't riding. Then it happened the snow came and the outdoor riding stopped. The stair climbing also stopped from fear of trying to find a parking spot. So I started doing some more cross country skiing. The thing about CX skiing is I have lots of fun sometimes and not so much fun other times. I think the problem is my skis weren't meant for the type of skiing I want to do. But last weekend I got to try something new. Gerry had an extra pair of snowshoes and if I wanted to go. I figured sure why not give it a try. We went up on the Laural Highlands Hiking Trail and it was awesome. The snow was like 4' to 5' deep and I think I got spoiled because this was my first time and conditions were prefect. We stayed out for only 6 hours and only went about 10 miles but it was a blast the entire time. I had such a good time that Gerry only has one pair of snowshoes because I bought his extra pair. So after snowshoeing everyday except one I'm torn literally. Yes I want the snow to be gone so I can ride my bike but I also want it to stay because it's been such a blast. Good thing it's only skin it'll grow back in no time.

(See attached file: torn.jpg)

J

Enough Already

2010-02-11T08:06:00.001-08:00

I've had enough already and I'm not talking about the weather. But in a round about way I guess I am talking about the weather. It seems just about everywhere at work, on the radio everyone is crying about the weather. Is everyone a WUSS? It's just snow and I don't like to inconvenienced but that's all it really is. As far as I know no the snow hasn't killed anyone yet. Or did it and I missed something? I'm sure the it would suck not having power for several days. Most of the people crying about shoveling the snow could use the exercise. The people crying that their street hasn't been plowed try walking it will make you appreciate your car a little more. This is like a once every 20 year storm maybe you should try to embrace the snow? Try skiing, snowshoeing or go sled riding? Whatever funny thing is about it is the some people complaining about the snow now will be complaining about the weather when it's to hot and humid in the summer.

J

Can't always get what you want

2010-01-27T10:00:00.001-08:00

(See attached file: Rockhopper SS.bmp)
When I first started riding a Single Speed the main reasons were because it was cheap and the lack of maintenance. It was cheap because I just used a bunch of old parts that I had lying around. The less maintenance is pretty self explanatory. It didn't take long before I started having allot of fun riding a SS. I'm not sure were I stand on about it being harder or that it's better training. To me it seems like you have allot of harder efforts but you also get more recovery so is it really harder or not? If I had allot of free time and extra cash I'd like to race a 100 miler on a SS with a powertap wheel then race the exact course with a powertap on a geared bike and look at the KJ output. I have a powertap wheel but it doesn't have disc mounts and none of my mountain bikes have rim brake mounts. So until I can do this or someone else does it I'm still up in the air about if it harder. But by riding one you learn how to keep your momentum up so you ride faster. On a side note you can also take crappier lines because you don't have the fear of ripping something off, and the smaller chaining up front clears allot more stuff so in a way you ride sloppier which means slower. So I'm pretty convinced that riding a SS for me a better training but not for the reasons you think. The lack of maintenance and the cost are the two biggest reason why. Less maintenance equal more time riding and low cost equal less time wasted working so just by being able to ride more it's better training. Maybe not the best but still more.
I'm slowly getting to the point of this post. I like to get new stuff and every year I try to get a few new bikes. I justify this by telling myself that I ride allot and deserve a new bikes every year. This year was no different than in the past. What I would like to have is a inexpensive lightweight frame that could be used as a SS or geared bike with little effort to change between the two. Funny thing is there's really not many of them out there and I don't know why. When you have a SS as everyone know you need some way of tensioning the chain. There's several ways to accomplish this feat here's a few with some advantages and disadvantages of each. EBB easy to manufacture, works good, easy to adjust but they add weight, some creak and change your saddle height. Horizontal dropouts easy to manufacture, cheap, but they're a pain in the ass with the brakes, slipping, and some use bolt on axles. Chain tensioners cheap, easy to use but take away that clean look and also chain slap. So out of all of these is any prefect? No but it's just like anything pick the one that best suits your needs and go with it. The one system I've seen and like is the slider dropout. Not many companies do this and I'm not sure why? I've heard from some that they slip, creak and just don't hold up. I've also heard from others that they work great with no problems. So why don't more bike companies use this system? Is it that it because it's not reliable, to heavy, costs to much to make or is it that they want to sell two bikes instead of one? I can't say for sure what the real reason and we may never know. But that's really what I wanted to get and didn't. So then I started looking at SS only frames and decided on the Specialized Stumpjumper SS frameset. That's when I hit my next snag I can't get one until like May and I hate waiting. Back to my point about liking a SS because it's cheap. WTF is the deal with companies making carbon framesets that cost outrageous amounts of money? I'm sure they're light, ride great, and are super nice but it seems crazy to me but whatever. Maybe some day I'll change how I think or maybe it won't seem that expensive to me. After talking to Todd at Pro Bikes he steered me in the direction I should have looked earlier. I've been looking allot of different bikes on the internet but never noticed this one.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=45808&eid=4340&menuItemId=9253 It's not exactly what I wanted but it's allot of want I wanted. Cheap and seems like it will be pretty light after I swap out a few things and the EBB looks promising. So only time will tell if it's what I need.

J

Review

2010-01-20T10:18:00.001-08:00

(See attached file: review.bmp)
It's that time of the year when there's not to much going on. So this is the perfect time for a review of 2009. My miles and hours were up from 2008 but the number of races were down. Reason for this was because of the broken arm early in the season. So thanks to my Garmin here's the totals, I included hours on the trainer and rollers but the miles don't count towards the total. It's not much but here it is

7027 Miles
670 hours on the bike
most hours in one week 29
least hours in one week 4
most miles in one week 306
least miles in one week 8
26 races
16 Centuries
4300 approximately the miles I spent in the car traveling to races
As of right now I don't really have any specific plans for 2010. A few general things I'd like to do in 2010 get more miles, hours and commute to work more often. Do more races not sure which ones right now. This maybe a huge contrast but my favorite types of racing now are 100 milers, ultras, multi day stage races and cyclo cross. So until I figure out which races I'm going to I guess it's best to ride lots.

Here's my after thoughts on the La Ruta de los Conquistadores. I think the three questions I'm asked the most about are how hard was it, was it fun and would you do it again? First I'll tackle how hard was it. Yes it was hard but it wasn't hard in ways I excepted it to be. The climbs were very long and very steep, but not technical. Allot of the climbing was on gravel and black topped roads so that made them allot easier. The mud that you see all the pictures of was only like 5 or 5 miles long and for the most part was completely unrideable. For me one of the hardest things was the schedule. Getting up and being ready to ride everyday by 4:00 AM, along with the fact of sleeping in a new bed every night became very taxing on me. But from the lack of technical trials it failed to give me the total all over beatdown that I crave. So the answer is yes it was hard but it's really more the miles and elevation gains than anything else.
Second was it fun? Yes it had it's moments but to me they seemed to few and far between. I was under the impression that the race would be in the remote areas of the rain forest. In a way it was but I was envisioning crossing suspension bridges made from ropes and vines and being chased by monkeys or some form of wild life. There was none of that but we were in remote areas that most tourist would never see. I was also a little disappointed that it was accessible by jeep or at least by quad. I had fun going through some of the small villages and getting a quick glimpse of how they lived. Some of the double track trails were fun and challenging but weren't enough to make up for the black topped sections. The other disappointment was because of the weather rain everyday I missed out on what would have been some incredible scenery.
Would I do it again? I'm still up in the air about this one. First I'll list the reasons not to go again so that way I can end on a positive note. It was a little expensive for me but I'm cheaper than most. The language barrier was a little to much for me. It seems like every conversation in Spanish is an argument. Not enough off road sections to me. It's a bad time of year for me it pretty much wiped out my entire cross season. I think there's some more but can't think of them right now. Now for the reasons to do it again and a few things that would have to happen. I know what to expect, stage racing is fun, the weather is awesome even when it's raining, and it was well organized considering the logistics involved. If I went back I'd like to go with a group I think this would make the traveling allot easier. A couple other things about going back to would be that I would have my bike setup better. Finally I would like to go back again to do better. I had a few bad mechanicals but still felt like I should have done allot better.

J

La Ruta de los Conquistadores Day 4

2009-12-23T07:12:00.001-08:00

(See attached file: elevation_chart_stage_4_la_ruta_09.jpg)

Looking at the elevation profile for the final day the hills all seemed pretty short compared to the other days. The one small concern I had was the railroad tracks that I've been hearing so much about. It rained everyday that we've been here but today start off in a terenchal downpour. I got in the my usual position near the back of the pack but to my surprise I was right beside Roberto Heras. At the start I managed to stay with him and followed him to the front of the field. I was really happy because this was the first time I actually was in the lead group at the beginning. I was able to stay with them for about 35-40 minutes then I fell off the back. I was still riding pretty strong and the hills seemed to be normal less than two miles long. I made it to the first check point and everything was going great and I didn't bother stopping. As luck would have it things took a change for the worse. Going up a climb the pitch got pretty steep and I shifted into my granny ring up front and got chainsuck instantly. I stopped and pulled the chain out from between the frame and chainstay and was like WTF. I got back on and the chain was jumping all over in the back I stopped and looked for a kink but couldn't find it. So I just limped along on the climbs riding in the biggest cog in the back. When I finally reached checkpoint two I seen Tyson. He was there wrenching for a few people and I asked him to look at my chain, and he found the kink in like one second. I felt like such a dumdass for not be able to find it was happy that he did. So after a quick removal of the bad link I was on my way again. Shortly after that I hit the first section of the tracks. They didn't seem as bad as some of the tracks I ride on near my house. The railroad ties were made out of concrete and seemed a little closer together than usual. Then I got to the first bridge and couldn't be how slow people walked across them. At this point it was allot of on the tracks for a little then back off of them for a little. Not sure how many bridges we crossed but I was able to ride two of them. Funny thing is that I thought the tracks were not longer being used. I ran into a slow moving train in between two of the bridges, I felt lucky because I wasn't on the bridge like a few other were. After about 15 miles of tracks it was onto a dirt road the paralleled the ocean. After 5:24 I was finished even with all the troubles I had I finished OK 49 minutes back 6th in the vet class and maybe in the 25. I got cleaned up and was waiting for Ruth and getting a little nervous because I knew that she was going to have a hard time on the bridges. Then after a long wait she finally came rolling in and finished too. I'm planning on writing a little about my overall experience and post race thoughts but not sure if it will happen. Just don't feel like writing much now.'

J

La Ruta de los Conquistadores Day 3

2009-12-10T09:44:00.000-08:00

(See attached file: day 3.bmp)

I'm not sure if I was getting used to getting up at 4:00 AM or what but getting ready this morning didn't seem as bad. We headed down to breakfast and I was dealt my first bit of adversity of the day. Up until today the breakfasts have always been a buffet with a descent selection of food. But not today there was some fruit, toast, cereal and eggs which would be fine if I liked eggs. I really don't like cereal but figured I'd give it a shot and that was when I found out just how disgusting the milk in Costa Rica is. So I ate a few bars that I had brought along and got on the shuttle hoping that the locals had the wheel they promised for Ruth. We got to the start and found them and everything was cool to go what a relief.
I've been hearing about today's stage all week long and how technical the downhill from the top of the volcano was. Looking at the elevation profile there was about a 20 mile climb to the top then a long downhill. It didn't look as steep as the climbs from the first two days but we would be climbing up to about 9700 feet. I got in my usual starting spot near the back of the back. It had rained everyday since we arrived but today was the first day we started in the rain. I had a good start and was riding pretty well. The road up was a gravel road that had some rocky sections and a couple of hike a bike sections. I was still passing people and not getting passed and got to check point number 1. It was only 12 miles in and I didn't even bother to stop. Shortly after that is when we turned onto the pavement for the last 10 miles of the climb. After a few miles on the pavement not sure if I slowed down or everyone else picked up the pace but I got past by allot of people. Then finally after 22 miles of climbing I made it to the second check point which was the top of the climb. I was pretty hungry and ate some stuff and put on my jacket. The downhill started out as a gravel road then quickly turned into a rutted up jeep rock with lots of softball sized rocks. The rain picked up and went from a light drizzle to a terenchal downpour. Funny thing is though this was the most fun I've had after 2-1/2 days of racing. It was also the first time when I thought having a 29er was an advantage and not a disadvantage. I past allot of people and found it funny by how much trouble they were having. After a few near misses with some horses and cows I reached checkpoint number three. That was the end of the rocks and ruts and it was back onto the pavement for about 4 more miles of downhill. It flattened out and there was about 8 more miles to the finish. Today I had my best finish about 1:15 behind the leaders 10th in the vet class and maybe in the top 35 overall. Ruth had a good day too and then it was off to get ready for the last day and the dreaded railroad tracks.

J

La Ruta de los Conquistadores Day 2

2009-12-02T06:13:00.000-08:00

(See attached file: brake.jpg)

So after spending $60 for a new chain and having some time to lick my wounds from the first stage it was time to get ready for day 2. I forgot to mention that early during yesterday's stage that I had a small crash and broke my brake lever off. Lucky for me I was able to reattach it with some zip ties and some electrical tape. The checkpoints seemed well stocked and I decided to pack a little lighter for the second day. I also tried to study the elevation profile a little more, it helps knowing what's coming up next. Funny thing is just about everyone that I could talk to had different feeling and thoughts about the first day. Some thought the mud and hike a bike sections were super hard, others didn't think the climbs were to bad and didn't mind all of the pavement. For me I had mixed feelings about the first day, and I was hoping the second day was going to be a better for me. The climbs were hard and longer than anything I've ever ridden before but was disappointed with the lack of off road trail. But I was hoping the second day would be better than the first.
Thanks again to the super early and very insane start time of 6:00 I found myself near the back of the pack for the second time. Within the first half mile or so the lead group had separation from the part of the field I was in. I wasn't happy about it but there wasn't anything that I could do about it. Today's stage started off with a big climb early on the first few miles the grade was pretty tame. Then we turned off of the pavement onto a gravel road and it got steep quick. I'm not sure how accurate it is but I had my Garmin set to display the grade. It was going between 10% and 25% which is pretty steep. Then the surface changed from gravel to a very rough concrete with lots of rocks and broken bricks in it. Usually this would be a good thing but not today because it got steeper. I was already in my granny and didn't have many gears left in the back. I stayed on my bike and was riding but there were plenty of others that were already walking. I looked down at my Garmin and a couple of times the grade was 40%. I'm like WTF but finally I seen what appeared to be the end of this insanity only a few hundred feet away I seen lots of people standing and cheering. I made it and was happy thinking that worst was behind me now. I found out quickly that I was wrong and the first climb had 4 more sections like this. I rode as much of it as I could but had to walk some of the sections. Then we went back down quickly on some pavement and I reached the first check point and was feeling OK. Then is was up and down on shorter hills but not quite as steep but it was all pavement. At about hour three I had a mental meltdown of sorts and was like WTF. This sucks I'm riding my MTN bike on roads don't have a clue how much further or how much more climbing there is. At this point is when I just was content on finishing and no longer worried about were I was in the standings. Not sure how long I was in this state of mind. But then part way up a climb I caught up to a guy that was from Canada and spoke English. We worked together for a while and finally reached the last check point. After a short break I was ready to go and my mental lapse was gone. Then we hit a long off road downhill it was fun but was basically a long wide dirt jeep road that had a few rocks. At the bottom we went though a small village then up a few short pavement climbs to the finish. I was happy to be done but disappointed with another poor performance. 5:51 about two hours behind the leaders.
This is when things got a little interesting, I got to use the showers at the finish for the first time. Which basically sucked and what sucked even more was not having a towel. Then I was off to see the mechanics to try and get my tires changed for the next day. This would be super easy if we both spoke the same language. Then I seen Glenn from NC who we met a couple of days before. He was there supporting his wife Cricket who was racing and there friend Chris. I seen him and he said he left the last check and seen Ruth and she was doing OK and was ahead of Cricket. Then Cricket came across the finish line and I asked her if she seen Ruth anywhere and she said no. So after about an hour I'm starting to get worried wondering how Ruth left before Cricket and Cricket never past her and Ruth was still not back. Some of the event staff spoke a little English and they finally understood what I was trying to tell them. So I left with someone to head out and look for her. We finally seen one of the vehicles that were sweeping the course and they didn't she her either. Then we got a call on the radio and Ruth had just got in. When we got back I found out what had happened. Ruth missed a turn and on her way back onto course her freehub died and she had to walk the last 5 miles. That's why nobody seen her but she did get to have an exciting finish. When walking though town and getting close to the end she seen someone else that we met who was riding a motorcycle. He asked if she wanted towed to the finish and she said no because she wanted to finish. So he left and went to the finish and told them what happened. They said to go back and it would be OK to tow her into the finish because it's not safe to be walking though that part of town by yourself. So she came across the finish line doing 40.
Now we had to make a decision about what to do with her rear wheel. I took it apart and tried to fix it but didn't have any luck. There was a bike shop traveling with us that was pretty well stocked but very expensive. The cheapest wheelset they had was $200 and pretty crappy. The worst part about buying it was that we wouldn't even be able to take it home because it wouldn't fix in our luggage. So after searching and begging for hours we finally found a local that was working at the Giant booth that said she could borrow his sister's wheel for the rest of the race. Now it was time for a 30 minute shuttle ride to our hotel. This is when we ran into another little snag. We got our room key and went to the room and it already had people in it. While we were waiting everyone that came in after us was having the same problem. After the staff went and knocked on every door they found us an empty one it only took like 2 hours plus we got a roommate too. His name Phillip he spoke English and lived in Texas but was originally from Costa Rica. It was nice meeting someone form there to learn a little about the country. But it seemed like we didn't get to talk much because of mix-up and having to be ready to leave on the shuttle at 4:00 we had to get to bed early. Hoping the next day would better.

J

La Ruta de los Conquistadores Day 1

2009-11-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

We left on 11/8 for the race and encountered our first setback early on. We left for the airport around 4:00 am and had to turn around after about 20 minutes after Ruth relieved she forgot her driver license. When we reached the turn around for the second time is when we realized that our 8:30 flights were really 6:15 flight. Somehow we managed to get to the airport in time and get on our flights but were scared that our luggage might not make it. I don't fly much and don't like to either. There's lots of reasons why the biggest is I don't like the idea of other people being in charge of my schedule among of things. Finally after four stops, three transfers and ten plus hours of traveling we arrived at the San Jose airport. We got lucky and only one piece of luggage didn't make it. After about 2 hours of trying to talk to someone about it that spoke very little English we were ready to get on our shuttle to Jaco.
It's didn't take me to long into the ride to realize a few things. First everyone drives like a freaking asshole and is constantly blowing there horn Second the hills were long and steep. After a long drive we finally made it to the hotel got checked in and went to bed. The next day we rented a car got lost but did manage to find our final destination which was a suspension bridge tour. It was OK but it's really hard to see anything when it's pouring. We did see two tree frogs and a toucan bird sorry but no pictures because of the rain. After that we drove down to a river crossing and were lucky enough to see two crocodiles.
The next morning at breakfast I seen Roberto Heras, Manny Prado, the Monavie-Cannondale team and lots of other fast looking people. The rest of our luggage finally showed up so we decided to try and ride some of the first stage. When we got to the first climb and I seen how steep it was like holy shit is that steep. I rarely use my granny gear but couldn't seem to get out of it on this climb. After about 5 miles it got flat but that didn't last to long then it was back to more climbing then finally after another 3 miles I reached the top. I was thinking to myself that wasn't to bad. So I turned around and headed back down. Not knowing the terrain or want the aid stations would be like. I decided to pack a little heavier than usual for the first day just to be safe. I was taking two water bottles, water in my camelback, enough food for all day, two tubes. I would find out later that I had plenty of everything but forgot one very important thing. I went to bed early for the stupid 5:00 start but it didn't go to well. I've been sick for what seems like forever and was coughing and hacking all night long and to make it worse someone kept yelling at me about it.

Wow does 3:30 come early after dragging myself out of bed it was time to try and eat and get ready. With about 30 minutes to it seemed like everyone was already lined up and ready to go. So with about 3 minutes to go I lined up at what seemed like the very back but I guess there was maybe 20 people behind me. Then it was on after about 60 seconds it cleared out enough for me to get on my bike and start riding. After a little bit of flat road we started into the climb and I thought everything was going good. I was passing people and nobody was passing me about a 1/4 mile up the first climb there were a ton of people already off and pushing there bikes. I made it the top in about an hour and was feeling great then we went down a gravel road for a bit. We turned of off it into some mud which wasn't to bad then we hit a steep rocky downhill and I passed allot of people that were walking. Then we were riding in a muddy trench like canal that was about 8 feet wide that had allot of drop-offs in it,. Then I came to checkpoint #1 and didn't even bother stopping.
Shortly after that is was my day took a turn for the worse. Up the next climb I started getting chain suck it wasn't too bad and I keep riding. Then it kept getting worse so I stopped and looked at it and seen I had a kink in my chain. I tried to straighten it out and it seemed a little better, but then it got worse. I decided the best thing to do would be try and take a link out. This is when I found what I forgot, I have a Topeak mutlitool that has the 2 black pieces on the side that can be used for tire levers. But side that has an allen wrench that is used for the chain tool was missing. After a frantic search through my camelback with no luck I continued on walking and riding when I could. Some times it's hard to get help from someone during a race but it's almost impossible when they speak a different language. Don't know how long it took but finally someone gave me a chain tool to use. But for some reason it didn't seem to work WTF, I couldn't get the pin in the tool to line up with the pin in the chain and it would just bend the chainlink more. I finally forced the chain apart and put in my spare quick link and was off. But the chain suck was still happening and upon further inspection I found another twisted link. I took it out but couldn't get the chain back together correctly because of the tool kept bending the links. But after a few more miles it really didn't matter much if your bike was useable or not. Because that's when I got to he mud that you see in the photos and hear so much about. Something I learned quickly is that don't put your bike down or try to ride it. It's only makes it heavier to carry. This section was about 5 or 6 miles long and I finally made it to the next aid station. After wasting serval minutes trying to get a chain tool from them with no luck I decided leave. My chain was skipping around allot and would only stay in the big gear in the back but I figured it was better than walking. Then I started up the big climb of the day. From what I remember it was all pavement and a little over 20 miles long and very steep at times. Finally after reaching the top we went down for a little bit then started back up a gravel road. That's when my chain finally broke and I started walking not sure how far I went but someone that spoke English asked if I needed help. I was so happy he let me use his chain tool and gave me a quick link and I was back in business. I knew the ending was getting close by looking at the mileage. There were still allot of hills but they were in short only about 1 or 2 miles long. Then finally after 8:38 of riding I could see the end.
The end of the first day was the best because the hotel was right at the finish which means not shuttle. After taking a shower and eating I looked at the results and was very disappointed. I didn't plan on winning but almost 3 hours back from the winners was a pretty bad feeling. I had some bad mechanicals but until they have a class for people that have mechanicals it really doesn't help much in the standings. Some good news was that Ruth finished too in 10:53 and everyone says the first day is the hardest. Funny thing is that is it was hard but it wasn't what I excepted it to be. I went to bed hoping to tomorrow would be a little better.

J

Marilla WVCXS #3

2009-11-04T10:21:00.001-08:00

(See attached file: marilla.bmp)

This was the second year for the Marilla cyclocross race Carrera de los Muertos (the race of the dead) in a way the name was very fitting. We go to Morgantown Friday afternoon around 5:00. The weather was a pleasant surprise it was like 70 and Halloween was the next day. So we did a few laps on the Red Sled and the biggest change from last was the barrier placement and the spiral that was added. It took a few times but we finally found a line through it, but had no such luck trying to ride the "Hill of Death". We headed over to Gina and JR's place and got cleaned up and were just hanging out waiting to head out for dinner. After what seemed like a long wait we finally got confirmation from Gunnar that they decided not to go. We headed to Black Bear for some great food and a few beers.
The nice thing about staying close to the race the night before is you get some extra snooze time. It was nice waking up at 8:00 and only having a 5 minute drive the race thanks JR and Gina. When we arrived to Marilla Park the weather was nice almost 60 and a little overcast. The single speed, vets and women were the first group to go at 9:30. I was able to catch some of the race before having to get ready for the Tandumb rematch. It was pretty fun cheering people on and ringing the bell. Ruth had a good race and finished fourth in what we found out later to be the biggest women's field ever at a WVCX race.
It was perfect timing for the weather to change for the worse. As soon as the first race was over the rain started coming down. Racing in the mud used to ready bother me allot until I learned to relax and try and be more patient. The worst things about racing in the rain and mud are getting ready and the clean up. But it was time for the second race of the day was the B race it also included the clydesdales and the tandumds. We go off to a bad start and got caught behind allot of traffic. By the time we got to the spiral we didn't even have a chance to ride it because of all the traffic. Maybe we should have practiced that last night? But to late now then onto the next obstacle the gravelpit. Same problem here too we rode it last night and before the race with no problem but didn't even come close. The worst part about not riding the gravelpit is the rocks that get in your shoes and trying to get clipped in after you get out. Then it was onto the next dismount the Hill of Death. Of all the obstacles the Hill of Death seemed to be my favorite because it had all the people cheering. I couldn't believe how much worse the conditions of the course got after each lap. We tried to chase the Gunnar and Betsy but didn't seem to be having any luck. Not sure which lap it was but we started getting chain suck and chewing through the brake pads pretty fast. I would have loved to seen the look on Ruth's face when we were headed down to the Hill of Death and I said shit no brakes. But even with very little brake left I was able to slow down enough to get to the bottom safely. Finally we came through and the sign said one more lap. Somehow we managed not to get lapped and finally finished the our last lap.
Now it was time to get ready for the A race I kept asking myself why am I doing this? I just finished racing for almost an hour and I was changing and getting ready to do it again. The worst part was I only brought one pair of shoes and they were trashed from the first race. When it was time to line up there looked to be a descent sized field of about 25 people and plenty of fast people. I had an OK start but it got tight quick and it was hard to follow because of the rain and mud. On the first lap I was maybe 7th or 8th and then I picked a few people off and was in 5th. I was trying to catch up to Gunnar and Jason Cyr but wasn't having much luck. Then after about 30 minutes the race changed for me I went from being on the attack and trying to move up to not trying to be caught. Funny thing about the cool spiral was when you were in it was hard to tell how close you were to other riders. I wasn't sure either if it was faster to run it or ride it. I knew that Chris Mayhew was on my tail and it was hard to tell how close he was. As the race went on the Hill of Death could have been easily renamed to the Descent of Death. Every lap it was getting harder and harder trying to find a safe route down it. By the end I managed to stay in 5th I was happy to be down but wasn't looking forward to the aftermath of two muddy races. Thanks to Marc Glass, Gary Rodosta, the great sponsors and everyone else for the great time.

J

Month of Mud #5

2009-10-29T10:05:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: MOM.jpg)

Finally it was here the final MOM race of the year at Moraine. I was excited and worried about being in first place in the single speed series. In the past I've been in contention for the overall going into the final race and always managed to screw it up somehow. I was hoping this year would be different. The morning went a little better than some but that would soon change. I only left 20 minutes later than planned and stopped to get a cup of coffee and everything was going good. Then with less than a half mile to go on 422 the day took a turn for the worse. I was more concerned about getting to the race than the speed I traveling. Luckily for me a nice PA State Trooper decided to stop me and point this out to me. So after that unexpected delay I was really getting there late. I hurried up got registered and then more bad news. When I got back to my car to get ready Team Echo was parked beside me. If you know Echo this requires no explanation. While getting dressed I heard 15 minutes to get lined up. So after a short quick warm-up I felt like crap and figured today was going to be a rough one. We lined up and rolled out on a neutral pace to the start.
It's always nice to get a call up so tried to make the most of it but came up short. After a short flat section we started up the first climb and I was feeling it and getting dropped. Then after a flat section we were headed up the second climb and I started feeling a little better and managed to be fourth into the single track. I worked my way up into third and felt like I was doing OK then it happened. I don't ride with headphones or listen to music much when I ride. Usually I can get a good song in my head and get in a groove. But today my mental playlist was broken. I got a bad song in my head and couldn't get it out of my head. The cover of Careless Whisper by Seether how does this song and group get any air time? Then I crossed the road and was headed into the big rock garden. I ride at Moraine at least twice a month and if I don't clear this entire section of trail I'm disappointed with myself. Not sure if it was the mental abuse from my playlist, the fresh leaves or the fact that I was running a tube in my rear tire but I couldn't ride any of it. After running and walking though it I got my playlist working again and caught up and passed to Tim. Then it came back and I'm not sure what happened but I crashed it was like I just fell over. Tim passed me and we rode together through the finish and headed out for the second lap. This is when I looked down and noticed my Garmin was missing and figured it came off during the crash. I started feeling a little better and past Tim then is was back. I got in the rocks and somehow took a really bad line and rock or something knocked my rear wheel out of the dropouts. While I was getting it straightened out Tim went past me. Then I crossed the road and was heading into the rock garden again. I was thinking to myself that there's no way it could me as much trouble as the first lap did. I soon proved that thinking to wrong and walked through it again. At this point I pretty much wanted to be done. I came to the area were I crashed on the first lap and decided to look for my Garmin. The only reason I stopped was because I was feeling lazy and knew it would be hard to get the motivation needed to go back and look for it after the race. But after some leaf picking I decided to move along and finish and come back for it.
By the time I reached the finish it wasn't great a race but it was OK 4th overall and 1st SS. I also had a huge relief because I knew that I had won the series finally. While I was waiting at the finish I was happy to Joe Fotia come rolling in he had allot of pressure going into this race. He was one point behind Frankie Ross at the beginning of today. So if he could beat Frankie he would have the tie breaker and the series win. I talked Joe into heading back with me to look for my Garmin and some leaf picking I got lucky and found it.
I was happy that the series turned like I planned for once. I also had a couple of other surprises waiting for me at the award ceremony. The big one was I got inducted into the Month of Mud Hall of Fame I'm really happy and honored about this. So that means I'm like famous or something now right? Almost but not quite my plaque has my name spelled wrong. So is it really me or someone else they meant to induct? Funny thing is that I like that it's spelled wrong. For as many races that I do my name always gets spelled wrong. It's my own fault for not listening to Sheriff Gary NO CORRECTIONS FOR SPELLING ERRORS PRINT BETTER NEXT TIME! I just want to say thanks to the Month of Mud crew and Rob Riddell who did an awesome job filling in some pretty big shoes. One more thing be sure to listen to the Sheriff.

J

Murrysville Cross

2009-10-27T12:33:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: Murrysville.jpg)

I took advantage of last weekend being race free by doing a couple of long rides. Saturday I managed to get a nice 5 hour mountain bike ride in. Then on Sunday Ruth and me did a century on the Red Sled. Centuries are hard but I'm not sure why they seem even harder on the Sled.
The only bad thing about this weekend was that it was booked with local races. Saturday was the Murrrysville Cross which was cool but Sunday there was a conflict the MOM race at Moraine and the Raccoon Cross race. If I wasn't doing the MOM series I'm not sure which race I would chose. Saturday I was looking forward to the cross race even though I haven't ridden my cross bike since the Grove City race. I did this race last year and it was a blast fun course, well organized, muddy and cold. This year the biggest difference was that is was about 20 degrees warmer and I didn't do the Dirty Dozen the day before. I surprised myself and got there in enough time to get dressed and pre ride the course. The course was similar to last year with only a few changes but still seemed fun and challenging too. Using the I only have a single speed as an excuse I had decided early in the week to race the 35 plus race and if I felt OK after that I would race the 1/2/3 too.
It was finally time to get lined up and there was 23 people in my group and I got a spot on the second row. We took off up the pavement and turned into the muck and not long after that there was a crash which somehow I managed to avoid. I was in a group of like 5 people or so and getting close to the hill that I rode every time during the preride but as it would be no such like. The worst thing is having to dismount when your not planning on dismounting because your not ready and lose all your speed among other things. I continued to work my way through the field until Gunnar was the only one in front of me. We rode together for a little then I managed to get past him. I had a small gap after the first lap then starting into the second lap Gunnar past me. We traded places a couple of times on the second lap then that was it. I tried to catch him but never did and the only thing that changed was the lead he had on me. With two laps to go I was feeling pretty spent and was worrying more about getting caught than catching him. At the end I managed to stay in second and was happy to be done. Now it was time for the worst part of cross racing getting changed. It feels great to get out of the muddy clothes but it sucks knowing that you have to go hame and clean it up.
I came close to racing in the 1/2/3 race but decided against it with the hopes of saving a little for Sunday's MOM race. With nothing planned for the rest of the day I figured I would hangout and watch the other races that were going on. While waiting for the races to begin I ran into Gerry Pflug and he was planning on using his mountain bike for the race. I also seen Tim Carson and he was planning on racing a borrowed cross bike. Both of the decisions had me scratching my head. Both of these guys are super fast but after racing the course I thought a cross bike was the way to go for Gerry and felt Tim would be better on his mountain bike. Why the difference in bikes? Here's why it was a traditional cross course a little bit of road, some tight twisty turns, run ups, and super muddy. Gerry races allot of cross and practices allot too so I felt he would be better on a cross bike. Tim on the other hand only does a few cross races here and there and uses his mountain bike. So by not ever using this cross bike before I thought he would be a disadvantage. The race finally started and it was a pretty exciting race. Early on it was a two person race for first between Steevo and Mike Mihalik with other battles going on for the rest of the podium. Not sure when Gerry and Tim switched bikes but it seemed after they did they each made up a few positions. In the end Mike got Steevo, Gerry ended up 4th and Tim was 7th. Funny thing is I know some other people that race a little bit of cross and say there faster on there mountain bike than a cross bike. I tell them that might be true but that because they don't ride there cross bike enough. But now it was time to head home to get ready for Sunday.
Thanks to Fred Baldassare, Henry Dimminck, the Freddie Fu and AG3R teams and everyone else that was involved in the great time.

J

Month of Mud part #4

2009-10-15T11:53:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: Grove City.jpg)
At this time of the year I feel like I should be taking a break from long rides and start focusing on cross. But with La Ruta coming up in November I feel torn between trying to race cross and doing long training rides. The hardest part for me about doing long training rides this time of year is the lack off daylight as I found out on Saturday's long ride. In an ideal world I would like to do my harder shorter workouts on Saturday then on Sunday do a long easier ride. But I'm still searching for that ideal world. I decided that I would do a long ride on Saturday and the MOM race on Sunday. After getting started a little later than planned I was out the door on the fixed gear at like 11:30. The plan was head down towards town then jump on the tracks and hit the Armstrong trail up to Tempelton and back. The idea of bringing a light never crossed my mind. Near Ford City I ran into Ruth she left about the same time but went straight to the trail. We stopped in Kittanning and got some water and food. I planned on riding north on the trail until for another hour or so then turn around and head back home. When I turned around it finally hit me. It's after 5:00 I have about 45 miles to get home it will take a little under 3 hours but it will be dark out in less than 2 hours. When I was getting close to Schenley I caught up to Ruth and it was getting pretty dark at that point. I told her that I would just ride ahead and get home first and come back with the car to pick her up. The worst thing about riding in the dark is finding that hole in the road that you for didn't know about and getting blinded by oncoming cars. I got home a little after 8:00 and was getting ready to go pick up Ruth (she thinks this makes her tough) but she called said she'd be OK riding home alone. After she got in it was time to start getting ready for the MOM race at Brady's.

Surprise I got to Brady's an hour before the start and was pretty happy about that. I got ready and did a pre riding to check out the course and then with little time to spare it was time to go. It's always cool to get a call up, but I also knew that it wouldn't help much. Because during the prolog around the horse arena I knew I was out gunned being on a SS. Just as I figured I think I was pretty far back in the pack when we started up the hill. I rode as hard as I could up the hill and passed allot of people. I think I was like 5th or 6th heading into the singletrack for the rest of the climb. At the top I passed a couple of more people and was in third. Funny thing was I figured after the long ride on Saturday that I would be climbing slow. But I seemed to be climbing good, but I was descending pretty slow. There was a few times I'd look back and nobody would be in sight then right after a downhill Joe would be right on my tail. In the end I got 1st SS and 3rd overall I was pretty happy with the results. This weekend I get a break from racing I was thinking about going to the Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die cross race but just going to stay home and put in some extra miles. Thanks again to the MOM crew.

J

Month of Mud part #3

2009-10-09T05:51:00.001-07:00

The Grove City MOM race was the third of the series and the second and last cross race of the series. I really wasn't looking forward to this race because I was feeling crappy and sick all week. So I took is easy and reduced my hours but it didn't seem to help to much. The one thing that I was excited about was that it was going to be the Tandumb rematch. We got to the park with little time to spare as usual I was going through the over thinking of which gear to use. I decided to stick with the same gear as last week 42x19. It seemed to be a little heavy at Raccoon last week and was hoping it would OK here. At the start I found out that it was a little light on the road and got past by lots of people. After the prolog I started to make some up some ground and passed a few people. I could see Gerry and Steevo had a pretty big lead on everyone. I knew I had no chance of catching them. The gear felt OK in the woods and grass but I was getting crushed on the road. I was going back and forth with a few people on the first 4 laps. Then after about an hour it was over I finished 9 overall and was the first SS. I was hoping for a little better in the overall but whatever.

Now to the main event of the day the Tandumb rematch plus one more. It seemed like less pressure with three Tandumbs racing. Because when there was only two you could go from first to worst by one position change.The Shogrens learned something from the last race and had 26" mountain bike tires and wheels on. In the beginning on the prolog we were in third but passed Andrew and Maggie. It seemed like our barrier practice was paying off because we were keeping it close on the barriers. This race was going allot like the first race. We passed Gunnar and Betsy in the woods only to be passed on the road. There was one section that had a downed tree were we had a big advantage. We were riding the log on every lap and they were dismounting on it. But thanks to the hecklers the started riding it on the last two laps. We gave it our best shot and kept it close but in the end the Shogrens got the W. It was only by 12 seconds but as anyone that races cross knows that 12 seconds is allot. We never seen Andrew and Maggie after the beginning and found out later that they flatted. Now it was time to get cleaned up and head to the North Country Brewery for a few well deserved brews. Thanks again to the MOM crew and the rest of the fine sponsors.

J

Month of Mud part #2

2009-09-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: Tandumb.bmp)

Even after a long day of racing and traveling on Saturday I was pretty excited about racing the 2nd MOM race at Raccoon. This was going to be my first cross race of the year and I wanted to see if my practice would pay off. We didn't get home Saturday until like 10:00 and got cleaned up and I did some last minute bike preparations. Sunday morning came way to early as usual. The plan was to get to the park by 8:30 to do some pre riding so I could pick my final gear and also wanted to practice some dismounts on the Red Sled. But as usual left late and then to top it off 10 minutes into the drive I seen I forgot my helmet. Finally we arrived at the park at like 9:15 got registered and dressed that didn't leave much time for any pre riding. I asked a few other SSers what gear they were using and changed my to a 42x19 which was the easiest I had with me. I did manage to squeeze in a full and got to the line. The field had about 40 people in it and I was very happy to get a call up. Then it was off I had a good start and after a couple laps I found myself in third. Which I was pretty happy with but after about 30 minutes of this pace I popped and had to slow down. By the end 4 people passed me and I was glad that there wasn't anymore. I would have liked to done a little better but after a long race the day before 7th overall and 2nd SS will have to do.

Now it was time to hurry up again and get on the Red Sled to do a little practice. If you think dismounts and run ups are hard on a regular bike try it on a tandem sometime. After a few dismounts and remounts it was time to go. Mechanicals always suck but somehow we managed to pop our chain off in like the first ten feet. I want to say THANKS to the Shogrens our only competition for the day that waited until we were up and going before taking off. We stayed pretty close to them on the first couple of laps. It was amazing how clean they're dismounts were. I think on lap 3 is when we started to make up some ground. This is also when I realized that we had a big advantage over them big and wide tires. We were making up lots of time because we could almost everything and they were walking allot due to there skinny little tires. Then on the 4th lap we go around them and held them off to get the win. It was fun and pretty intense racing on the Red Sled and thanks to everyone that was cheering us on. I noticed that Gunnar is already onto us and looking for a different wheel for his sled. But maybe he needs to look a little closer at the pictures to see the big advantage. I never noticed it until I looked at the pictures was that our pedals were out of sync. Stay tuned for next week's rematch at Grove City. I also need to say thanks to the MOM crew and Gary Dugovich for the awesome job like always.

J

Revenge of the Rattle Snake

2009-09-28T10:27:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: ROTR.jpg)

Where should I begin? One thing I knew I had working against me from the start was the goal of by 6:30. We came pretty close and left at 7:15. It was wet, rainy, windy and chilly on the trip down. Almost seemed like the prefect storm for a race in Davis. The goal was to get to Davis by 10:00 for the 11:00 start and we were so close to making it. At 9:50 and only a 1/4 of a mile to go traffic was stopped at a 10:00 Ruth decided to jump on her bike and ride down to get us registered. Finally at 10:20 traffic started to move and I found somewhere to park and found out what the holdup was caused by. The Leaf Peepers Festival was a holding a 5K run with a huge turnout. So after a hectic scramble to get ready in the rain I was finally ready and headed down to the pre race meeting. That's when I heard something that I always hate hearing. " Make sure you take a map with you" we marked the course yesterday and you never know if anyone sabotaged it. I know it's hard to mark a course and when it's a 40 mile race it's even harder. So here's my problem the I have no map reading skills so if I'm off course I wouldn't know and wouldn't be able to get back on course. What I have learned in the past is always try to follow a local or at least someone that knows the way.

But at 11:00 on the dot it was race time and we were headed down route 32 for a little bit onto a gravel road. For the first 3-4 miles it seemed like a bad course for a single speed and I was wishing I had a little steeper gear. But finally I got into some single track and everything was going get until I realized that I was on Mountainside. If you ever rode this trail it's pretty hard to forget. I don't think it's to technical but it's a gentle downhill grade but it's littered with baby head rocks and just beats you up and without any rest until the end. Nearing the bottom I happened to see a couple of familiar faces TJ and Nick Waite were pulled over and fixing the flats together how special. Finally at the bottom I was looking forward to the long climb out. At the top of the climb was the first aid station and Matt said I was 5th. I was pretty happy cause up until then didn't have any idea where I was. This is were we turned onto Plantation trail another one of the world famous in Davis. At this point I was feeling pretty good. The trail was rocky, rooty and wet but for some reason I felt like I was riding pretty well. Funny thing is sometimes when you think your riding well your really not because you either get caught or dropped. But today at this point I was still catching and passing people. I passed three people and had the 4th in site and it turned out to be Rob Spreng after riding with him for a little I passed him. He stayed close and we passed someone hiking in the trail and he told us that aid station 2 was only about 1-1/2 away. I popped out on to route 32 and got to the aid station first and grabbed and fresh bottle and something to eat. As I was heading up the road I looked back and someone was right on my tail. I had to look twice because it wasn't Rob anymore it was Nick and Rob was right behind him. The three of us headed up the road together and then when the trail headed down I just was spun out and they were out of sight.

Something else that happened very soon is when all the technical skills that I seemed to have disappeared. The trail was freshly cut and at some points it felt like I never rode a bike before. It didn't come soon enough but I came to the 3rd aid station and didn't even stop. But I felt allot more comfortable because this is where we got onto to the State Championship course which I've raced before. I heard someone saying that we would be riding Moon Rocks in the opposite direction. I was hoping that it was going to be a little more rideable in this direction. But I can found out quickly that I was wrong. But all I knew is that I had to be getting close to the finish and finally after 4 hours of riding there it was. Just like that it was over I finished 3rd overall and first SS .

It seemed to rain for the entire race but as soon as you finish and stop you get cold really fast. So I quickly headed to the car and got cleaned up and grabbed something to eat. I also decided to move the car to the other side of town so when Ruth finished she wouldn't have to ride as far. Just as I was parking the car I looked over and was surprised to see her riding down the street. What happened is Betsy and her both missed a turn early on in the race and had to back track and got to aid station after the cutoff and were sent down route 32 to the finish. We were hanging out under the tent and had some great food from Sirianni's Cafe and some awesome beer from Mountain State Brewing Co. That's when Gunnar and Betsy talked us into racing the Red Sled at the Month of Mud cycle cross race at Raccoon Park on Sunday. Stay tuned to see how it turns out. Thanks Blackwater Bikes

J

Month of Mud Part #1

2009-09-25T09:54:00.001-07:00

Way back in the day my first bike race ever was a Month of Mud race at Brady's Run. Don't even remember where I placed but I do remember that I had a good time. So after lots of racing I still always try and put some MOM races on my to do list. Now that the Month of Mud is all grown up it even has it's own web site www.monthofmud.org Sunday kicked off with the time trial at Bavington, I think this format works great for the course. While I was waiting to go out I seen Shane go out maybe like third. I was very surprised to see him coming down the road that you cross over in the first mile. I thought maybe he was lost or something. But upon further inspection I seen he had I nice gash on his forearm. He went over the bars early and was coming back to get it fixed up hope you have a speedy recovery Shane.

Lately I've only been riding my SS so I decided to race it. It was my turn to go and I felt OK but no great. I don't ride at Bavington to much so I only remember some of the highlights. It seemed like I was riding fast but not to smoothly and was being pretty sloppy in the corners. When I crossed the road for the last time I knew the end was close. When I finished I looked at my time and it seemed a little bit shorter than last years. I finished first SS and 4th overall with a time of 40:43 only 16 seconds better than last year.

This weekend should be a good one too. Planning on going to the Revenge of the Rattle Snake on Saturday it's the last WVMBA Ultra of the season. Then Sunday off to the MOM cross race at Raccoon to test my cross skills. For some reason I like racing on back to back days the hardest of it for seems to be the traveling.

J

Peanut Butter Festival

2009-09-21T11:07:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: pbf.jpg)
It's that time of the year again the days are getting shorter the leaves are starting to change. So here in Western PA that could only mean one thing it's time for bike racing season taking center stage with some great local events. Last week was the Tour De Strongland which didn't work out to well for me. The 14th annual New Bethlehem Peanut Butter Festival was on Saturday and the Month of Month starts on Sunday. In year past these races always seemed to be the last races of the year for but that has changed. I'm planning on racing cross in to early December and also have the La Ruta coming up quickly in November.

Not sure how many times I did the PBF race maybe 5 or 6. I really enjoy this race for lots of reasons it's close to home, has a pretty laid back atmosphere, I get to catch of with people I don't see to often, and there's not much going on in New Bethlehem so the Peanut Butter Festival always takes center stage. The course had a few changes for this year. The start had a longer stretch on the road to get an little more separation and some new single track was also added. As usual the start was fast and hard but I managed to be the first into the single track. I always seem to remember bits and pieces of the course and the new single track was nice. After coming out of the new single track I came to a very familiar section the tunnel. The only bad thing about coming to the tunnel was until this point in the race it was dry with only few small puddles. Then not long after that it was onto the long double track climb it's not steep but it seems pretty long. I was very surprised by how many puddles and mud bogs there were. When you finally get to the end of the double track that's when it gets steep. Up though a grassy field onto a road that seems like it's someone's driveway then across a black topped road onto a gravel road back into the woods. I knew I was getting close to the end when I got to the stream crossing behind the school. Then back onto the road for a short uphill finish. I was really shocked when I crossed the finish line and looked at my time 1:04:29. I was pretty happy with that time if I remember correctly my time from last year was about 1:15. Waiting at the finish I seen Ruth come across and seen she also won.

We got cleaned up and headed over to Gumtown Park for the festival and to get something to eat. This was also the final race for the Bike the Wilds series too. When my name was called I was very surprised because they announced that my time was the new course record. Not sure what the old record was but I was very excited to break it. More good news was to follow too I came in third in the Bike the Wilds series and Ruth was second. If that wasn't enough fun for the day I planned on riding home after the race. I've always talked about doing this but never did it was 58 miles and about 3:30 hours. I think 2 hours would have been prefect I seemed to struggle a little more than I wanted too for the last hour and a half. I just want to say thanks to everyone involved for the good time.

Check out all the action here www.pbfmtbrace.com and www.fattirechallenge.com Next year the rumor is the Bike the Wilds will be a five race series including the Dash for Cash

J

Strongland and Weaklegged

2009-09-16T11:18:00.001-07:00

It's the week after Labor Day so that means it's time for the Tour De Strongland. Finally a race that's only 20 miles from my house yippee. But for some reason I have to get up just as early as a race that's 150 miles from my house bummer. The short trip turned out to be my highlight of the day. This was one of the first races I ever did, way back in the day. I liked it then and still, do the course has changed allot since then for the better. I was feeling a little under the weather and even considered not going. But figured I already registered so I might as well go. I managed to get a great start and was the first into the single track but that didn't last to long. After about 5 minutes I felt really bad and was going to quit but figured I should at least finish because quitting sucks. This was one of the few races I did that I didn't even bother to look at the results or where I placed. Guess I'll file this race under a "Bad Day" and move on. Sunday was the Tour De Strongland road race. I pre registered for it to but felt really bad on Sunday morning so I opted to stay home glued to the couch. I hope it pays off.

J

Not Much

2009-09-15T11:58:00.001-07:00

Funny thing about the Shenedoah 100 this year for is I did it did OK and don't have much to say about it. But here it goes anyhow. Ruth and me got to Stokesville Campground much later than we planned on Friday night it was close to 9:30. After driving around through the woods and finding several deadends we picked a spot out and setup camp. Then Saturday morning after some walking around in the daylight and some long and hard consideration we decided to pack up and move camp to a better location. After that we planned on going for about a 2 hour ride, then get a shower and head to Snowshoe for JR and Gina's wedding. But as it turned out that plan would soon change. Thinking that the wedding started at either 4:00 or 5:30 and it was about a 2 hour drive we have to leave around 2:00. We forgot the invitation at home and was calling some friends to confirm the time and guess what? We found out it started at 2:00 and it was already 12:30. We deicided to cut our ride short and get there as early as we could. I think we got there around 4:00 just in time to see everyone leaving the church and heading over to the reception. We had a good time at the reception and was very suprised by how nice JR looked all cleaned up. Unfortantly we planned on racing at the SMT 100 so that ment no beer for me or very little. But it still was allot of fun and our group which constied of the Shogrens, Chrissy McGill, and Ruth decided to leave around 7.

The trip back to Stokesville took a little longer back thanks to Hank. We got back and after talking to several people I decided to change my gear from a 32x19 to a 34x20 this turned out be almost a very smart decision. Going to bed I knew my biggest challenge of the day was going to be getting up and being ready for the 6:30 start. This goes back to my reasoning that it's not healthy to get up this early. This is confirmed by the fact that humans dont have good nightime vision. So we should be left sleeping until the sun comes out. But enough about that with about 7 minutes to go Ruth thought her front tire was low on air so when pumping it up the vavle broke and we hurried up and put in a new tube with 3 minutes to spare.

Wow we I rode up to the start I couldn't believe just how big of a pack 500 plus racers make. I found the best stop I could and squezed in. Then we were off and it was a pretty skechty start but I managed to stay out of trouble. Everything seemed to be going OK I felt pretty fresh and the bike felt OK too. I did this race once before in 2006 but for some reason couldn't rememeber to much of it. But just like in the Wilderness 101 there was plenty of back and fourth. I'd catch the same people in spots only to dropped or pass them only to regroup later. Finally when I the end was near I had some bike issues and ran in the last 2 miles or so. I was happy with a 5th place SS and 36 overall placing with a time of 8:32. That's all I got.

J

Back to Back

2009-08-21T08:06:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: Templeton.bmp)

Last weekend I think maybe I reached a milestone. But either way I did something that I've never done before. I really don't like bragging about feats or accomplishments but I this one was a pretty cool and seemed note worthy. Are you ready? OK here it is back to back centuries. Saturday's was a trip on the road bike to Foxburg and back 5:20 ride time and about 5:50 total time and yes it was hot and humid. Sunday was an action packed fun day on "The Red Sled". We rode along the Allegheny river up to Templeton and back on the Armstrong Trail. We wanted to go a little further but was unsure if the trail ended or what the deal was. There were no trespassing sign up and bikes hanging from trees and that's when we decided to turn around. But it was nice to finally get a full century in on the Red Sled because we've been close several other time. About 7:00 or ride time and out for a little over 8 hours which included a little picnic like lunch from Gray Avenue Market in Templeton. Plus we got lucky because Sunday was just as hot and humid as Saturday.

J

Count em

2009-08-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: ring.bmp)
OK it's hard to count them but it does have 34 teeth. Plus it's custom made by yours truly. I really wanted to switch my single speed over to a 34 tooth ring in the front it seems to make more sense. But I have a really nice pair of XTR 960 cranks that I have to put to use. Good thing that Shimano made them with a bolt pattern different from everyone else thanks you corporate assholes. This is just another reason I hate Shimano I think there quality is great but all the stupid none compatible bullshit pisses me off. So after searching long and hard for a 34 tooth ring for the 960 cranks with no luck. I decided to take advantage of working in a machine shop and make my own. I would rather had the option of just spending $50 and not spending more time at work but I had no choice and had to do it. SO SCREW YOU SHIMANO.

J

Big Bear Ultra

2009-08-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

We headed down to Bear Big on Friday to avoid having to get up super early on Saturday for the Big Bear Ultra. Friday night we just hanging out and got to see an awesome fireworks show compliments of the WV Nightclub. No matter what I do morning always comes to early for me. But after struggling to get up and trying to get ready I finally was ready to go with 5 minutes to spare. That's when I seen lots of people that still weren't ready and I also found out that the start was getting pushed back until 8:30. I wasn't sure if this was good or bad but I did like the extra 30 minutes of down time. Either way it gave me some extra time to think about what I was getting myself into. I love the trails and terrain at BB but they're pretty relentless and unforgiving.

At the start I was getting nervous first because I was getting worried that I my gimp arm wasn't going to hold up. Then I seen Gerry Pflug was there and after reading the rumors on the internet about him being a bad ass on a bike and eating people I was pretty scared. I know Gerry pretty well and I can confirm he's bad ass on the bike, but I've never seen him eat anyone. But if your the owner of a buffet you should be worried if you see Gerry coming. I been racing a single speed lately because they're fun, seem better in the rocks and make you work a little harder sometimes. After some instructions from Mark about how the course was marked it was on. I figured it would be best just to ride my own race and not worry to much about my placement. It was pretty tight and congested in the beginning but I felt really good and was able to stay with the lead group. After about an hour or so of racing I was riding with Rob Spreng and found out that we were 2nd and 3rd. It was nice riding with him because I knew if I could stick with him that my pace was OK and it was nice having someone to chat with because I figured it was going to be a long day. Close to hour 2 is when nature called and I couldn't wait any longer and that's when I lost contact with Rob. Shortly after that is when the trail wasn't being as kind to me as before.

Finally I made it back to the start and this was about halfway though. I stopped and grabbed a water bottle, a red bull and a few fig newtons. Not soon after I left is when I was starting to get a little worried. I felt really good except for the gimp arm and knew that the trail was going to get a little rougher. I've ridden at BB allot but with all the new trails and the way the course was routed I was pretty confused on where I was. Finally I knew where I was and how much farther I had to go then on a downhill Steve Hill came flying down and I let him by. I rode with him for a little until he was out of sight. Soon I was on the last descent with the finish in sight. 44 miles and a little over 4-1/2 hours I finished fourth overall and first Single Speed I was really happy. Then I heard some even better news that at the halfway point Ruth was in second and not far behind Betsy. At the end Ruth was able to hold onto second. I wonder if the new bike has something to do with her improved performance lately?

I just want to say thanks to Mark, his crew and all the volunteers that made some awesome trails.

Justin

Long Time

2009-08-04T12:56:00.001-07:00

I like to commute to work by bike and used to do it allot more. But there's several of reasons why I don't as often as I would like too. First I hate getting up early, second I hate getting up early, third and the biggest reason is I hate getting up early. I know I've been slacking on my commuting. So this morning I sucked it up and got up at 6:45 and rode to work. Some people don't this that's early but they're wrong. So I decided to see when the last time was that I commuted to work by bike. 9/17/2008 HOLY SHIT I can't believe it was that long ago. There was lots of other days between then and now that I commuted but I did it the lazy way and drove halfway. So I'm going to set the bar pretty low and try to commute at least once a week from now on.

J

W101

2009-08-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

OK I was thinking this was the year that the Wilderness 101 was going to be kind to me. I've been doing lots of long rides and felt pretty confident this year. Also I was going to race a Single Speed, I figured I'm pretty slow on the downhills now so I didn't think it would be to bad. I also had a three goals first was getting top 5 in the SS class, have a better finish time than last year, and not have any major meltdowns. One of the biggest debates after I decided to race on a SS was what gear should I use? I had only three choices 32 x 20, 32 x 19, or 32 x18 after talking to some other SSers and remembering how hard some of the climbs were even with gears I chose a 32 x 19.

We got to Coburn on Friday around 7:30 and got our tent setup up had dinner and was just hanging out and went to bed. Before long I heard that old familiar sound of the gong which only means one thing get your lazy up and start to getting ready for today's big adventure. For me this is one of the hardest parts of the day. Getting up before the sun comes out just is really hard on me, plus trying to eat this early is a little troublesome too. After rushing around getting ready it was time to go. I was able to get lined up in a good spot and down the road we went. Then we made a left turn and the race started up the first long climb. The pace this year up the first climb was allot slower than last year. Then after about 1/4 mile I'm like WTF my fork decided to squat down and not work. I tried locking it out but still luck, I figured OK this won't be that bad. I keep the lead group in sight until we hit some flat sections and a few short downhills so I was feeling pretty good. Then before I knew it I was riding all alone then a group caught up to me and I stuck with them for a little until I fell off. At this point I was wishing that I had went with a 32 x 18 instead. But in the back of my head I thought it will be OK, this gear will be good when I get to the big climbs in the middle and end.

I was just cruising along by myself when I was caught by another group. I hung with them and we were rolling into check point #1. I never stop here because it's so early on. But there's a big climb leaving this check point and I felt good and passed allot of people up the climb. Then a long descent and some road then we hit the first piece of single track. It's only about 3 mile long but it seemed very slippery from the rain. At this point I was feeling pretty good both mentally and physically. I started up the next big gravel climb and seen allot of people ahead of me on the road. So this gave me a little motivation to try and catch them. I was very surprised that one of the first people I caught was Gunnar and he said that now I was now in 5th SS. We rode together for a little and Roger Masse soon caught us. Then when the road made the hard left I figured it's time to go and I bridged up to the next group and was able to get past them. Finally when we reached the top I was feeling good but that didn't last to long. The trail started heading downhill and so did I. About halfway down everyone that just I just worked hard to pass went railing past me. By the time I reached the bottom everyone was out of site. Once I was on the road I was spinning like crazy hoping I could catch a glimpse of someone but no such luck. At this point I was like it's OK and I was regretting the gear choice again that's when another group caught me and I tried to stick with them but was just spinning out and couldn't hang. Alone again I was thinking about quitting. Because I was getting frustrated about the fork and knew how much harder the trails were going to get. My arm already felt numb, cramping and was tried. So finally I rolled into checkpoint #2 and got some supplies and debated about quitting but figured WTF I might as while get my money's worth.

I left #2 and was pretty frustrated because I knew no matter how strong I rode the climbs it wasn't going to be enough. Because I was going so slow on the downhills. Going up the climb I didn't really care about getting to the top to quickly because I knew the downhill was pretty nasty and wasn't looking forward to it. But finally I reached the top and turned into the single track and to my surprise the trail was in the best shape I've ever seen it in. Usually this trail is very narrow only about 12" wide but this year is cut back and you see. What sucked is that I was going slower than ever down it. Then I had another WTF happen my rear brake seems to start squealing which I can deal with but it also causes the entire bike to vibrate. I'm not sure what the problem is but it's very annoying and to the point where I was riding using the front brake only. Finally I reach the bottom and get back on some gravel road and everything is OK for a little bit. Then I start thinking I'm only like 3-1/2 hours into this and my arm feels like crap, I'm walking on the rocky downhills, my fork's not working and my brakes just started acting up and I'm not even halfway. Finally I made it to checkpoint #3 and was sitting there and was really thinking about quitting. Funny thing is I've done this race before and never thought of quitting this early, but my legs also never felt this good at this point in the race. So I decided to press on and told myself relax and don't worry about placing just finish because DNF sucks. So after about 10 minutes of sitting around I left and started up the single track climb.

OK now things took a turn for the better, usually the climb out of #3 kicks my ass but this year I felt great and passed a few people. The single track at the top was well groomed I walked some sections but I still felt good. The only sections that worried me now was the climb out of #4 and the descent going into #5. But before I knew it I was at check point #4 refueled and headed up the climb. I was pleasantly surprised because I felt great on the climb. Finally made it through the climbing and hit the descent. I was really nervous because this descent has taken it's toll on me every year. But I just took it easy and walked a little and before I knew it was over onto some blacktop and then checkpoint #5 was in site. I left #5 feeling fine and knew that it was almost over. I hit the rail trail and spun as fast as I could then it was up over the last big climb. I finally hit the Fisherman's Trail and walked through that and was onto the road back to the park.

It was a long day but not crazy long 8:55 10th SS 48th overall. I know that usually I'm completely wrecked after this race but I felt pretty good at the end but I'm not sure why? Not sure if it was because I raced a SS and got more recovery or what but I was happy not to wreck like usual.

I was hoping Ruth was having a good race it was the first race on the new bike. She finished in 11:05 which was about an hour better than her best time but sadly her placing was her worst ever. I guess everyone must be getting faster.

J

End of an ERA

2009-07-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: era.jpg)
I'm not sure but look closely and I think end of and ERA has come only time will tell.

J

Hazardous Terrain

2009-07-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: Hazardous Terrain.jpg)

Hazardous Terrain

2009-07-29T08:05:00.001-07:00

It really not that hazardous terrain but a few months ago someone fall off the ledge. So the dept of parks decided that a sign was needed to make everyone feel safe. But on another note this was one of our first tandem rides in woods. It seems to made easy trails hazardous so I thought the sign made sense today.

Justin

Born to Ride

2009-07-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: Born to Ride.jpg)
Here's little recap of the Shannock Valley and 6HOP races. OK finally feels like I'm getting back and track with racing and what not. This was going to be the first weekend with two races in a along time. We planned on going to the 6 Hours of Power on Sunday. The Shannock Valley race was on Saturday and it was on the way to the 6HOP. I've done it before but not sure how many times and when was the last time. It always seemed to conflict with something else. But I remember it was pretty short only like 10 miles, not to technical and very fast. We got there and registered and then got ready I seen allot of familiar faces that I haven't seen in a while. At the start they were happy almost 100 racers 95 to be exact. The weather didn't seem like July it was overcast and humid but only like 70 degrees.

As soon as we started I realized that the new chain I put on last night didn't match up to well with my cassette. After a few minutes I started to find which ones worked OK and which ones didn't. The race started on a paved road then we went some grass which looked like it was someone's yard. Back onto some blacktop and up a long climb then onto some double track dirt roads. Not long after this there was just three of us Travis, Shane and me. It had rained the night before it wasn't muddy but it was slick and there was lots of water puddles. The three of us rode together for a while then we started into some single track and Travis was leading. Soon the trail started going downhill and so did I that's when Travis put a little gap on me. Since I've broken my wrist I'm been really dogging it on the downhills and in the technical sections. There's lots of reasons I guess but the biggest ones are I don't want to test it and see it fail, and by not riding fast everything is off like my timing and reaction time. But with the little gap he had on me I managed to miss a turn. Lucky for me Shane was close and yelled at me that I was going the wrong way thanks Shane. After getting back on course I was riding behind Shane for a bit. Then he almost missed a turn and I got around him. I seen Travis a few times and also looked back and seen Shane a few times. But before anything else changed it was over and Travis won I was second and Shane was third.

I spun around for a little bit and then got back to the finish hoping to catch Ruth coming in. But she went to fast and I missed her finishing. But the good news she won the women's overall. We got cleaned up and headed over to the park where the awards were going to take place. There was also a festival going on with lots of good food and some small rides and games. That's when the rain started but it didn't last to long. So after some good food and a new trophy it was time to hit the road. www.runhigh.com has all the results

So were off I've been to Ellicottville 5 or 6 times and had a good idea on which way to go. There's a couple of different ways to go 79 to 90 to 86 to 219 I've never went that way because I really don't like driving on interstate. Another way is up 28 to 66 to 6 to 219 which is the way we usually go and it a scenic drive up thru the forest that never seemed to bad. The other way was the way my iphone and google maps sent us which about the worst way possible or at least it seemed that way. Up 28 to 80 to 219 and it was such a struggle just trying contain all the road rage I was getting. But during a bathroom pit stop is when we scored the mother load of free stuff. There's allot of things when the word "FREE" is put before are allot more appealing. So here's the list hot dogs, red neck hats, lighters, cans of pop, small snack sized bags of chips, and red neck tee shirts. I picked up a few can you guess which ones? If not that's OK my list was a hot dog, red neck hat, and some lighters. Ruth's list was small bag of chips and a can of pop.

After a drive that took an hour longer and was 30 miles longer we finally arrived Eillicottville. We met up with some of our neighbors for the weekend. We sent up our tent and I fixed my bike and got registered for the race. Ruth and me decided to team up together and do it as a duo. Then to Ellicottville Brewery for some food and a few beers. Then we went back and everyone was hanging and looking for extra clothes because it felt more like April than July. A few storms and some rain came during the night. But our tent kept us nice and dry unlike Tim Heck's.

No matter how much time I plan on having before a race I seem to be running behind. So I decided to do the run for our team seeing how I got there late I got lined up near the back of the pack for the Le Mans start. Off we went I noticed that it's allot harder to pass people running than riding. Maybe that's because I'm a much worse runner than biker? But either way I was near the back by the time I got to my bike. I took off up the climb and started passing people. A little more than halfway up I could finally see the lead group. I was able to work my way up to them before the top of the climb. I was in a small group as we started into the double track. Then I knew the single track was coming soon and I got into it first. Pretty soon it was Evan, some dude in a Cannondale kit and me riding the single track together. At this point I was thinking it would be cool to be the first one back. I also knew that the course finished on a long downhill. So my only chance was to put some time on them before the downhill. It seemed like I could put a small gap on them on some of the short uphills but they would make it back up on the downhills. Then we came out onto a gravel road and it was just Evan and me. He got around me as we were heading to some rocky single track. At this point he just rode away from me in the rocks and I was trying not to get caught be anyone else. But it happened on the last section of the downhill I got caught and came in third.
Now it was Ruth's turn to head out and she came back with a really fast lap too. Then I had good second lap and started getting ready for number three. My third lap was OK I felt good but my arm was starting to get fatigued. So I started checking the results and seen we had a good lead on second place. It also looked like if Ruth kept her lap time close there would be time for me to do one more lap. After looking at our lead unless Ruth had a big problem there would be no need for another lap. With three minutes left Ruth was coming down the last hill and I stopped her, and told not to cross until it was over. We won the mixed team class. Now for the hard part packing up and driving home. www.heartrateup.com

Justin

Bobcat on your left

2009-07-23T11:21:00.003-07:00

(See attached file: bobcat-1.bmp)

Bobcat on your left

2009-07-23T11:21:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: bobcat-2.bmp)

This past weekend plans changed again but it still turned out to be a good weekend. Early in the week the plan was go to the WVMBA in Davis on Sunday. But after putting the gash in my shin on Thursday I figured it would be best to skip the WVMBA race. For a few reasons the biggest being that every time I've done this race in the past and it always involves allot of going thru sanky stinky deep water bogs. While I was deciding what to do over the weekend I got a text from Jason said he was heading up to his cabin in Kennerdale. He had what sounded to be good plan Saturday a big ride at Kennerdale. Saturday night ride down to Emlenton for River Fest and fireworks. Then Sunday ride up to the Blue Canoe Brewery in Titusville for lunch round trip was a 104 he said.

Friday night we packed up and hit the road I was glad because it was a short drive only 90 minutes. We got to the cabin pretty late on Friday and I stayed up way to late and had way to much beer. Then Saturday morning got up had breakfast and headed out. The weather was prefect and trails were even better. I love riding Kennerdale with Jason and company because he makes some good loops. But the weather and trails only held up for about 90 minutes that's when the lighting and thunder started. We found a ledge that had some big rocks and was like tiny cave to hide under until the storm finally past. It went through pretty fast only about 30 minutes. We rode for about another 90 minutes or so then headed back to the cabin.

Everyone was just hanging out and waiting until it was time to head to Emlenton. I think it was about 7:00 when we left for our 8 mile trip to Emlenton. Ruth and me took the tandem which was pretty fun. The 8 miles turned out to be like 16 miles but it was no big deal. Emlenton is really no big either except on River Fest night. I've never been there before but tonight the streets were full and everyone seemed to have a beer in hand. After looking for a while we finally found a spot that we were hoping would give us a good view of the fireworks. Finally they started and our spot was OK too. I'm really not into fireworks and don't understand why some people get so excited about them either. But after about 5 minutes I had enough and was hoping that they would end soon. Finally the end came and we pedaled back to the cabin.

Sunday morning came and we ate and got ready to head out for the today's big adventure. I think we had 10 people and 9 bikes that sounds pretty cool. We only started 15 minutes later than planned and that's pretty good for such a big group. About 20 in we suffered our first mechanical Parker got a flat. It happened just as we were starting down a big hill going about 35. He had a sign of relief that nothing else happened. Once we got to the rail trail and were close to Franklin everyone jams on there brakes and someone said watch out for the kitten. After a better look the kitten turned out to be a baby Bobcat. It was cool but I really didn't want to stick around incase Mommy decided to show herself. After that it nothing else worth mentioning happened until we got to Titusville. That's when everyone's day was ruined the Blue Canoe was closed for electric repairs. What to do now? After riding around town for a little bit everyone decided that the buffet a Pizza Hut was our best opinion. So after a lunch of pizza and salad it was time to head back. Or so I thought we had to make one more stop on the edge of town to the DQ for Tim to get his milkshake.

On the way back we stopped at the BMX track which was pretty cool. I managed to get a few laps in on the tandem too. I did a warm up lap with Ian and then tried to clear the table tops with Ruth on the next lap but was unsuccessful. Then before long we almost back to Kennerdale and got to go through a long ass tunnel on the rail trail I think it's about a 1/4 long. It seemed that we were riding for a while with out seeing any light for either side. Then we finally were out and just had the last uphill grunt back to the cabin. After 90 some miles it became pretty clear to me and Ruth that tandems don't climb very well.

Also if anyone reads this I have a couple of favors that I must ask of you. First if you've ever been to the Blue Canoe Brewery in Titusville tell me is it worth the trip? Second if you see Tim Heck ask him why the heck was he carrying a huge scented candle around all day in his pannier bag?

Justin

RVR

2009-07-22T11:07:00.004-07:00

Every time something happens to me I hear it way to much "WHEN WILL YOU EVER LEARN?" It's really not about learning to me. Because sometimes it seems like I learn something new almost everyday. To me it's more about balance and Risk Verse Reward. I think this can be applied to almost anything in life. So to put it simple no matter what your doing there's rewards to be had and risks to taken. My problem always seems to be finding the balance point of the two.

Last Thursday while riding at Hartwood with Echo and the Mogwhy I was presented with a RVR decision. Nearing the end of our ride we happened to see a nice log that someone built a ramp onto. The Mogwhy gave it a few attempts and was able to clear it and made it look easy. Echo tried a few times with no such luck, so while waiting and watching I did the math in my head. Make it and it will really good and if you fail no big deal. After I few attempts I keep getting to the highest point and would always stop. Then I built up some confidence and decided the reward would out weigh the risks. But even before I made it to the highest point it seemed like someone pushed my front tire off of the log. After I got up and started to go back to the start is when I noticed the huge gash in my shin. So I never got to the reward but found out about the risk. I'm happy because it could have been worse. Everyone said that it needed a few stiches, I agreed but hate the hospital. So after a quick stop to pick up some supplies we doctored it up and hoped for the best.

Justin

RVR #1

2009-07-22T11:07:00.002-07:00

(See attached file: RVR #1.jpg)

RVR #2

2009-07-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: RVR #2.jpg)

these guys are good

2009-07-22T11:05:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: these guys are good.jpg)

No Dr needed

2009-07-22T11:03:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: No Dr needed.jpg)

After

2009-07-22T09:47:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: after.jpg)

Before

2009-07-22T09:46:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: before.jpg)
Look closely how happy and full of energy Ruth looks before Stage 2 of Tour De Burg. Look again after being lost for about 3 hours how everything changes.

J

"Cheaper Than Living"

2009-07-20T08:40:00.001-07:00

(See attached file: tour.jpg)
What's Cheaper than living you ask The Tour De Burg of course. What's The Tour De Burg you ask? It's a blast to put it simply but I'm going to bore you with some details. The Tour takes place in Harrisonburg VA which has some of the best riding I've ever ridden both road and off road. I've done a few stages before but this year I was planning on doing the entire tour. This year there was 7 stages in the tour 2 road, 2 time trials and 3 mountain stages in 6 days. Not sure how it started 13 years ago but it's has allot of crazy behavior and even more awesome riding. Just like all Great Tours it has some covenanted jerseys. The Yellow Leaders Jersey, the Red KOM jersey, the Blue Sprinters jersey, the Super D jersey, the White DFL Jersey and it also has some people sporting some awesome haircuts. The way it works is everyday the group meets up in the morning anywhere between 30 and 60 people showed up each day. Then we parade which is just group riding until we get to a timed section. At the timed section you get your list of instructions a then your off and racing. At the end of the timed sections we regroup and parade. Everyday seemed to have two timed sections.

The Tour started off with Prologue which was a 6 mile Mountain bike TT at Massanutten. If you ever did the HOO HA it's uses the same trails just a little bit shorter. It's about a 4 mile uphill that finishes with a 2 mile down hill that's blast. I did OK on the way up but not so good on the way down. The two sidenotes first "Ralph the Mouth" left with a broken arm and a bear sighting. Afterwards we stopped at the Little Grille Collective for some great food. Then it was off to Thomas's yard or tent village as it later became known as. Totals 6 miles 38 minutes

Stage 1 started in the George Washington Forest at Braley's Pond. After a short parade it was time for the first timed section. It started off with a long climb a fast downhill then another long climb and a fast but not as technical downhill. Kelly from Georgia got some major style points for the stage with his 6 foot drop sidewalk clearing finish. Then we did a long parade section before the next timed section. It was going good until started raining hard before the downhill. The rain was OK but after finishing and waiting of everyone else it got cold fast. Then is was time to parade until we got to the Deerfield sprint. This is when I learned it's very important to know where the sprint finish is. Totals for the day 55 miles and about 5 hours of riding .

Stage 2 was the first road stage which was cool because no driving was involved. There were some KOM points up for grabs early but I wasn't able to get any. But the first section was short but very fast which finished with some sprint points again I didn't get anything. After a quick regrouping and a short parade it was time to go again. It started off up a steep long gravel road climb, everything was going great but that changed quickly. That's when we started going down steep long gravel hills. I seen lots of people flatting and just flying down these hills and it didn't take long before the lead group was out of sight. It wasn't long before a I was riding in a small group of 4 people. This is when my luck changed for the better. I'm sure what happened next happens in all the big tours too. Carp said the route would be marked with orange paint on the road at each turn. But Carp was on the Motorcycle and was planning on marking the course and sent the White Whale on a shortcut to the next check point. There was only one little detail the Carp forgot about he left the paint in the whale. Why was I lucky? Because I was with a couple of Locals that listened and knew the correct route. To my big surprise my group which now only had three people in it got to the check point first. Then about 10 minutes later the lead group the I fell off of came in from a different direction. After waiting for a long time not many people were coming in because lots of people got lost. I decided to head back to town with some people that knew the way. I was worried because Ruth was on of the many that never made it to the stop. Carp reassured me that it was OK to go the he would find her. I went back got cleaned up and finally got a call that Ruth was spotted and on her way back. What's a tour with out a little controversy? After a long process the Tour Committee decided to throw the section. Totals 72 miles 4-1/2 hours

Stage 3 Rocktown TT at Hillendale park this was a fast fun little section that had some tight and rocky single track. I didn't have to good of a time because the rocks were a little to much for me. Total 3 miles and 20 minutes

Stage 4 we headed out to Stokesville near the start of the Shenandoah 100. Did a long parade up to Todd lake before the first timed section. It started up a long uphill then along a ridge for a while the it went down fast. At the bottom there was about to more miles to go that had several stream crossings. like all the other stages I did a little better on the uphills than on the downhills. At the end is when I see something new Jimmy had a nice set of alloy brake rotors and had melted one down on the final downhill. Then it was parade time again before the final section of the day. It started up a long hill and we rode along another ridge and then down a super steep descent and finished on the about a 3 mile road section. Total 40 miles 5 hours

Stage 5 was the longest of any stages and also another road stage. We road out of town to the GW Forest then started racing up through the forest. It was going OK until the assault turned into gravel and that's when I fell off the lead group. After a small group of us worked hard on the flat sections it was time to climb. Then a down a twisty descent up another climb then down to the check point. After a long parade it was time again it started up a long climb gravel road climb. Some Locals said this was a hard section and one said "this is where you to Hop to die" It also was the only section that had an uphill finish. I finally made it to the end and hope might not die there but it's going to be hurting. Then it was down a long hill and back to town. But I got an added bonus I waited up a the bottom of the hill for Ruth so we could ride back to town together. But as I started riding back up the hill she was already in the Whale. So I asked Carp to give me a little help to catch back up to the group. What happened next was fun, very cool, super hard and a little bit scary. I never had the chance to draft behind a car with the driver knowing it or for any length of time. But it was cool going around 40 for like five miles or so and dodging the dead squirrel that the whale kicked up was cool too. Finally after I caught back up to the group is time to relax and ride back to town. Total 101 miles 6-1/2 hours

Stage 6 finally the end was in sight back in the GW forest for another day of fun. At the beginning I was struggling to find some motivation because it was raining, foggy and a little chilly for July. But after things got going it wasn't to bad we paraded up the big hill we came down yesterday all 8 miles of it. After we regrouped it was off to the races. Nothing of interest happened just up another hill along a ridge then down the other side. After a long parade back to the top it was all down hill to the end, and time for the award ceremony. I finished 11th in the GC and had some KOM points and that was it. Time to pack up and get back to reality. Total 36 miles 5 hours
After thinking about it defiantly was "Cheaper than Living" 313 miles, 27 hours, lunch and snacks and diner everyday all for $150. www.svbcoalition.org

Justin

2009-07-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: mass-solo.bmp)

Fw: Suprize

2009-07-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

on 07/07/2009 08:17 AM -----

Justin Pokrivka <racerrat666@yahoo.com>

07/07/2009 08:09 AM

To	"" <>
cc
Subject	Suprize

Wow what surprise I have over the weekend. It was super cool because it was the good kind too. I haven't been riding my mtn bike much because it used wasn't much fun lately. I told myself that I'm not riding it until I can do a push up or two. Finally I was able too. It hurts and the form was pretty bad but it will work for now. Ruth was heading out to the MASS weekend festival to meet JR. I decided to go at the last minute. The weekend had three races scheduled. Friday was a night time TT, Saturday was a 9hr solo race or a 12hr team race and Sunday was a short track race. We got to the farm on Friday around 7:00. It was on private property and they had an amazing trail network built. We got our tent setup and then got ready for the TT. Before I knew it I was off I thought I was doing OK but it was hard to tell. Then I had a little problem chain into the spokes. After fixing that problem I did it again shortly afterwards. After that is when things were looking bad. The trail was super tight and had lots of log crossings and I decided not to shift anymore in the rear. I finished but was near the bottom. On Saturday morning I made a little adjustment and fixed the problem. But after riding some of the trails on Friday I was very nervous before the start on Saturday. For lots of reasons first my log crossing skills suck and bike handling are pretty bad now. There was over 30 people in the solo race. It was 9:00 and time to go. It was going to have a LeMans start. I lined up near the back which turned out to be the front. We started the run and got on to the bike in good position. Then I just started riding at my own pace and tried to stay out of everyone's way. On the first lap I got off and walked most of the log crossings. Then on the second lap I decided that I was going to try and ride them. Because it was a slow getting off and walking them. I managed to get almost all of them some but it wasn't pretty. After about hour 3 is when it hit me that I still have 6 hours of racing still to go. This was also about the time when my poor pit planning came to my attention. In the morning I figured 4 water bottles plus the 2 on the bike would be plenty and one PB sand and some gel. But after I went though that supply if was time to get more. So I did the best I could and refilled and ate whatever I could make fast.

I it seemed like I was doing OK. But is was hard to tell because there was so many people out on the course and I didn't know who was solo and who was part of a team. At hour 6 is when I started doing the math I'm my head on how may more laps. It keep changing from 7 to maybe 9. Then at hour 8 is when did the math correct and 10 was the magic number. When I finished and looked at the standings I seen that I was second. I was very suprized because I never seen the standings during the race. Ruth had a good race to and finished 5th in the women's solo. Justin
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Tape it up

2009-06-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: tape it up.bmp)
June 1st got my cast off finally and what a relief. Of course I've been thinking the entire time that it's been on that as soon as it comes off, I can start racing and doing whatever I want just like before. Wow was I wrong about that. I figured I've been riding so it won't be a big deal riding now that the cast is off. I can't even describe the lack of mobility and just how weak it is. But I figured what the hell and decided to do the Tour of Tucker County race. So I taped it up and went out, for not racing in like 8 weeks or so I felt OK. I managed to hang on to the field for the first lap but fell of on the second lap and still finished. I was happy that I finished and wasn't to disappointed by were I finished.

I should have did the smart thing and quit while the going was good. Ruth did the race too and wanted to do the Massanutten HOO HA XXC the next day. So instead of listening to everyone that said don't race. I figured what the hell I'm tough I'll just ride slow and take it easy. Plus I figured to was better than just sitting around and I love riding in this area. I was surprised at the start how many people were it looked like fifty plus. So at the start I followed my plan and just rode easy and that lasted for maybe about a mile or so. That's when I decided that the pace I was going was to slow and picked up the pace and worked my way towards the front of the pack. Then everything seemed better and much more like the normal. That feeling only lasted for maybe like 15 minutes or so that's when we hit the first bit of single track that had some rocks and logs. I was OK this it's alright and thought I was going pretty fast, but in reality I was going very slow. I figured it was best just to pull and get out of the way. Not sure how people went past me but it seemed like allot. Then the course started to go up and it wasn't to rocky so I past a few of the racers that had just past me. I was feeling OK and started thinking this is going to be OK no problem. That was before we got onto the ridge trail, I've ridden this trail before and knew it was rocky. But it seemed to have more rocks and up hills than I remembered. It seemed almost impossible to ride some sections. But after seeing lots of people riding them I figured it was just me that couldn't ride it. I would ride a little then walk allot, and try to stay out of everyone's way but it was hard because the is very narrow for long sections. After about 2 hours of being out there is when I realized just how much it sucked to walk your bike down every downhill because I couldn't ride them. So at about 3-1/2 hours and 21 miles I came back though the start and found out how much more there was to go .With about 12 more miles to go that's when I made the smarter decision and quit. I really don't like not finishing a race but I just figured it was for the better.

Ruth finished 5th out a pretty big group that had some fast girls in it like Betsy Shogren and Sue Haywood. Hopefully next race will a little better.

Justin

Waiting

2009-06-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: arm 052.jpg)

Waiting sucks and especially when your not very patient like me. But first thing is if you've been following along and thought that the dates don't seem correct. Guess what your right the reason behind this is up until about a month ago I didn't have a good way of updating regularly. So at the rate I'm going I hope to be up the present and not the past in a few more weeks. Now back to the waiting crap if you've ever been stuck in traffic this is how my life feels right now. I get hurt and go to the hospital and wait, come home and wait to go see a different Doctor, then go see him to wait, then wait and see how it's healing, then go back for a recheck and wait, then wait until I get a short cast, then wait until I get it off, when will it stop? I'm not sure but I'm very happy that I don't really have to rely on the health care system. Because from what I've seen of it is that it sucks.
One question I been hearing allot is "When did the Dr tell you that you can start riding again?" My answer is don't know because I never asked. I figured why ask because he's going to tell me something that I don't want to hear and plus I'm going to do what I want to anyhow. Something that seems easier said than done is riding with your arm in a cast. At first I thought no problem but after doing it sucks. It's amazing how much it affects your balance and several other things. Oh well I'm just going to continue waiting and see what happens.

Justin

2009-06-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

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2009-06-19T07:33:00.001-07:00

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2009-06-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

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2009-06-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

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Outlaw

2009-06-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

I'm counting two things the days until my cast comes off and the number of races that I'm missing because of it. Either way it just sucks there's really no getting around it. Over the Memorial day weekend we decided to go camping we wanted to go to Ohiopyle. But due to waiting so long the nearest camp site we could find was the River's Edge in Connellsville. Which was OK because I wanted to ride the Rail Trail and do some hiking. Saturday we rode towards Ohiopyle and did some hill repeats on and long rocky climb. We also found a really cool waterfall it was tempting to jump in but it was a bit to chilly for me.

Sunday was fun we took the tandem or "the sled" as I like to call it out on the Rail Trail to McKeesport and back. It was pretty fun a little over 80 miles, but the thing is with riding on the rail trail is it seems like allot more work than it should be. It's flat but it's allot like riding a trainer as soon as you stop pedaling you stop and the constant sitting makes it just a bit unpleasant too. But I was happy to be riding and the weather was good.

Monday we heading in to Connellsville to get some breakfast. We did a little bit of exploring across an old rail road bridge. I thought it was pretty cool and just a bit scary, but someone else found it to be terrifying experience and was worried about getting arrested. After we got across we did a little more exploring on some quad trail but nothing else as cools as the bridge.

Here's Ruth

2009-06-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: Ruth-GB.jpg)
Here's one of the two pictures I got of Ruth for some reason I could only upload one at a time.

Justin

Turtles and Racing

2009-06-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: turtles.jpg)
OK what do turtles and bike racing have in common? Not very much other than location. We heading down Saturday to MD for the Greenbrier race. Ruth and I both planned on doing the marathon race in the morning. I was defiantly out because I had my accident on Thursday. But figured I'd go and hang out and take some pictures. So I got up early Sunday and rode my trainer for a few hours and helped Ruth get ready.

So I went I found what I thought would be a good spot to watch the race from. On the first lap Ruth was the first girl though so I knew she was leading it wasn't much of a lead maybe 20 seconds. Then on the second lap her lead seemed to be gowning and she was still leading on lap five. But then disaster stuck she had a flat and managed to get it changed but had trouble with the CO2 inflator and went from 1st to 5th.

I found out a couple of things first it's allot harder taking pictures of people racing than I thought it was, and second I'm not very good at it. So what about the turtles? When Ruth was looking though all the pictures from the race she wondered why there was about 10 pictures of the turtles and only two of her? It's easy I told her the turtles are slow and she's fast.

Justin

OUCH

2009-06-12T06:55:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: ouch.jpg)
Dateline April 23rd Moraine Mountain Bike trail. On the regular Thursday training ride a Moraine I went over a small log and did an endo. I got up and got back on my bike when I noticed a slight problem. My hand felt funny and I seen that my arm had a strange looking bend in it. Upon further review I came to the conclusion that it was broken. When Joe caught up to me he looked at it and agreed. So I walked and rode what I could to get back the car. I figured that I should go home first take a shower and head to the Hospital. I hate going to the Hospital because it always takes forever and it's filled with a bunch of that I try to avoid at all costs.

So after my long wait the Doctor confirmed what I already knew, that my arm is broken. Something I hate hearing and heard several times before is the Doctor saying "That looks really bad" Finally the Orthopedic Surgeon that was on call made it in. He said that he was going to try and set it. So after some pain numbing shots it was time. Wow that's a very strange sensation you get when they're trying to reposition your bones. After setting it, putting it in a splint and a few more x-rays it was time to leave. Wow and it only took 8 hours.

OK I don't even have any idea where to go from here. All I can say is what a huge disappointment, and keep replaying it over in my head and wonder how the fuck did I do it. I didn't think I was going to fast or landed that hard but I guess I did. As for how fast I was going looking at my Garmin it looks like it was around 18 MPH. So after 4 races my season got put on hold.

J

Mohican Wilderness

2009-06-10T12:34:00.000-07:00

(See attached file: New Bitmap Image.bmp)
OK it's finally here my first race of the year turned out to be OMBC Mohican Wilderness. Finally I get to see if my training plan will pay off. Ruth decided not to go so I rode out to the race with Joe. I decided to race my single speed for to reasons first I thought it was going to be muddy and second and more importantly this is the only mountain bike I have for now. When we finally got there I was suprized by the number people that were there looked to be well over a 100. I was debating on whether to race Expert or Vet open. I decided to race the Vet open because I figured I was on a SS and it was the first race of the year.

After getting dressed and a short warm up it was time to go. At the start there was a little drizzel coming down and the temp was around 50 I think not really sure. When the whistle went I got a nice hole shot and managed to be first into the woods. Just like I figured it was muddy and wet, but I just tired to have fun with it and not get furstated. I knew that I was in the lead of the group I started with but just kept going at it. The conditions for the first lap weren't to bad but got worse with each lap. This was one of the few races that had a little bit of everything wheather wise. It was raining hard at times, sunny, windy and was even hailing at one point. But finally 2:46 after I started it was over I won the Vet open and came in second overall.
I was very happy with how it turned out, for a couple of reasons. First was that I felt good so I guess some of my training paid off, second I was happy with how I held up to the conditions. Hope the conditions are a little better for next race.

Justin

Season

2009-06-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Something that I've relizied about bike racing is that there's never really an "off season". There's two seasons one is the racing season and the other is the not racing season. For me I've always made my biggest improvements in preformance during not racing season. But it's not from taking time off I actully seem to train better and harder during the non racing season. I think there's several reasons why no wasted time traveling, don't have to save your legs for tomorrow's race, you can work on your weakness just to name a few. So far my none racing season has been going to great can't wait until March to test it out.

Justin

Colors

2009-06-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Everyone has there favorite colors but mine recently changed. Well really it wasn't my favorite colors that changes but colors that I enjoyed and have some fond memories have changed. After 3 plus years of wearing the Dirty Harrys yellow and purple jersey my colors are changing to the Pro Bike colors of Yellow and Black. I first would like to say thanks to Barry and everyone at Dirty Harrys for everything they've done for me. I'm nervous about the change but also very excited. So far Todd, Craig and everyone else at Pro Bikes have been great in every way. So enough said about that, but I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

J

2008 Season

2009-05-22T05:32:00.000-07:00

Ok I know you been waiting for this so here it is 2008's in review. 61 races 1321 miles raced 41 top 5's and only 2 DNF's. It was fairly easy to get that number so high because I raced at the oval once a week. Next year I'm going to try and keep track of miles and time spent going to races. When my season finally ended I was happy-sad. Some of the happy things included not spending the weekends driving, no entry fees, and some more free time on the weekends. Sad because no more racing and winter is finally here.

I made some of my goals but also fell short on a few. Here's the one's I made upgrade to a CAT 3 and PRO mtn. The biggest one I came up short on was not winning the National Champioship race at VT. Really want one of those star and strips jersey. That about all I got to say for now.

Finally

2009-05-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

I know that I keep promising to update my blog more often. But finally I think it's going to happen. What makes this attempt different. than the others? The reason for lack of updates was simple we're call it a lack of technology. My PC at home sucks and is very slow, so the little bit of free time I have I hated wasting it on a slow PC. But I finally did it and got a iPhone. So I should be able to update more often when I have some free time.

Finally

2009-01-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since I've made any updates. Finally the holidays are over and done which make me very happy. I can back to regular routine which seems to be best for me. I'm working on writing my summary for 2008. I'm sure everyone can't wait to see it. And here's some pictures of me being very naughty.

What to do?

2008-11-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

Did you ever do something and then wonder why did I do that? I do it allot but that latest one was deciding to go out to NJ for the USGP race. I thought about going to the Cross Race in Cleveland on Sunday but got Steeler tickets. The decision to go to the game was actually a hard one. I race almost every weekend but now that there's not many races left they all seem so precious, and I only get the chance to go to one game year. I chose the game but after talking to Gerry I decided to race one of the USGP races.

Everything was great then I meet Sam for some CX practice and felt like crap. I came home and started packing wondering how much to pack? In the back of my mind I know that I'm forgettng something, just hope it's something cheap and easy to get. Then I started wondering did I make the right choice? I figured there's only one way to find out go and see what happens. I'm sure I'll know by 2:00 Saturday.

Justin

Cross Update

2008-11-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update on my cyclocross season so far this season. My first CX race was in Hagerstown, MD on Oct 5. It's a allot different from the racing I'm used too. As with most racing you suffer but this is a different kind of suffering. I've done about six more race since then, I'm having fun and still learning. I've been placing pretty consistently in the middle of the field. Last weekend was a bit of a surprise to me I placed in both races.
Saturday I went with Sam Morrison to Morgantown, WV for the Carrera De Los Muertos (race of the dead). This was pretty fun course and it had a good turnout with some really fast guys. I had a good start and Wes, Gerry, Steevo, Gunnar all pulled from Sam and me. Sam and I were battling for quit a while then, after about lap 4 I rolled my front tire and had to stop in the pit for a tire change. I caught back up to Sam and he too had a flat because he was on his pit bike. He was having some trouble with his chain coming off and I manage to pass him. Then with 2 laps left I flatted in the rear. I just keep riding and Wes and Steevo both lapped me. But still managed to finish 5th. Here's some pictures and more race info http://www.spiralspark.com/philmeaux/thrilla/

Sunday Gerry, Sam and me went to Cleveland for Bike Authority Team Lake Effect Cyclocross race at Kirtland Park. This was one of my favorite courses so far. It had a switchback section the led down to a ampithearter. First course this year that didn't have any barriers but it had three dismounts per lap that were all stairs. One was a short set the other two had about 25 feet. One thing I've learned is that a good start is very important in cross racing. I had a great one today and was first into the turns and up the first flight of stairs. It didn't last long until I was past by Gerry, Paul Martin, Ernesto Marenchin, Shawn Adams followed closley by Sam and myself. Early on I was right behind Shawn and seen him flat. I stayed with 10-15 seconds of that group for about 20-25 minutes. Then I made a few mistakes and they pulled away from me. I hung on and was able to finish 4th OAL. I was very happy with how I rode today I hope it contuines. Here's some more race info http://teamlakeeffect.net/default.aspx

Justin

Update

2008-10-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

It's been along time since any updates but not much has changed. The biggest change is that I'm racing Cyclocross instead of road or MTN bikes. The only other thing of interest is last weekend I decided not race anywhere.

It's was really nice not spending half of the weekend on my bike instead of in a car. But it will back in normal this weekend with a cross race in Morgantown on Saturday and another in Cleveland on Sunday. I've done about 5 cross races so far and the only thing that seems to change is where the races are. I seem to be finishing in the middle of the field at all of the races I've been too. I've been practicing and training so I can't wait to find out if it's working this weekend.

Justin

MOM Bavington

2008-09-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Bavington MOM It's finally here the Annual Month of Mud the series. This is great local series the only bad thing about it is that it usually marks the end of the racing season and with that winter is just around the corner. This year there's only going to be 4 races in the series. The first one was the MTB time trial at Bavington. This is the only MTB time trial that I know of.

On Saturday I made the trip to Smethport PA for the Wheel around the hub race. I really wanted to go because I planned on this being my last road race of the year. Plus I thought it was pretty cool that this race started in 1890 which was ten years before the first Tour De France. After about a 3-1/2 hour drive and a nice warm up it was time to go. It was a 53 mile 7 lap circuit race with about 60 starters. It was a pretty flat and fast course and our avg speed was about 25 mph after the first lap. Not much happened and before I knew it, we were on the last lap. I wasn't able it get in the small breakaway of 5 riders and finished 9th in the field sprint and 14th overall. wwwrunhigh.com

Now biggest concern was to get home and try and relax and get ready for the Month of Mud race the next day.I decided the night before that I was going to race it on my single speed for a couple of reasons. The first is that there's no big climbs at Bavington. Second is that Bavington's more about carrying momentum than hammering. Not sure how the order was picked but I was going to be 4th. But I was glad not to be going first. I started out and it seemed like I had a nice pace going and was riding pretty smooth. I managed to catch everyone that went out in front of me, and was first to finish. But in the end it wasn't enough I finish 2nd and was happy that rode as well considering I raced the day before . Here's the full list of results http://www.westlibertycycles.com/mom/results_sep21.htm . Next week it off to Brady's Run for round number 2.Justin

Peanut Butter Festival

2008-09-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

As fall approached it was time for the annual pilgrimage to New Bethlehem PA for the Peanut Butter Festival Mountain Bike Race. This is a pretty small event but it's fun and it was one of the first races I ever did and so I always try to go back. It's called the Peanut Butter race because New Bethlehem is the location of the Smucker's plant that makes their awesome peanut butter. Some people think it's called that because when it rains the mud is like peanut butter.

The weather the day of the race was almost perfect. But the weather a few days prior to the race was another story. It rained a lot on Thursday and Friday but even with that there was over a hundred racers... a new record!! Knowing that it gets muddy I decided to race my Single Speed hoping that it would be better in the mud.

The start is about a half mile on a blacktop road before you hit some trails. I did everything I could to get a good start and was about 5th going into the woods. Then about 10 minutes into the race Sam Morrison, Shane Gouldthread, and I managed to get a small gap of the rest of the field. The three of us stayed together for quite a while. After about 45 minutes Sam and I pulled away from Shane. To my surprise, the course really didn't seem muddy at all like in the past, just wet and slippery. So the Single Speed was more of a disadvantage than an advantage. With about 3 miles to go Sam passed me on a short road section and I never caught back up to him. I managed to hold Shane off and finished second.

Ruth really likes this race a lot because it was her very first mountain bike race. She's won it in the past and had a good race today but finished third. I'd like to say thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors for the great time. You can check out the http://www.smileymiles.com/for all the results.

Justin

Roaring Run

2008-09-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

This was a great weekend for some racing for a couple of reasons. The biggest being that the races were nearby over the weekend and the weather was great plus there were races both days. Saturday started off with the 20th Annual Tour De Strongland offroad races at the Roaring Run trail in Apollo. Entry this year was up a lot from previous years with 123 racers total between the three races.

The expert race started off at 10:00 and had about 30 plus racers. It started off fast with about a mile and a half on the rail trail before hitting the singletrack. I had a great start and was first into the singletrack. Then after only a small section of singletrack we crossed the stream twice. That's when we started back into the singletrack. Everyone was pretty close at this point with Gerry Pflug being the closest and the Sprengs not too far behind. Near the end of the first lap I thought that I had built up a nice lead. But as I looked back I was wrong. Henry Spreng was right on my tail. I tried to drop him on the second lap but he stayed close.

The course was pretty spectator friendly but to my surprise I saw Ruth cheering me on. It was nice to see her but wondered what happened. After finishing the singletrack all that was left was the rail trail back to the finish. I looked back and didn't see Henry anywhere. I crossed the finish line first and was waiting to see Henry come in. But the next person was Jared Babek, then Steve Cummings, Rob Spreng, and Gerry Pflug but no Henry.

Finally I saw Henry, but he was running and not riding. What happened was near the end his rear derailleur had a confrontation with a rock and lost. Ruth suffered from the dreaded double flat and wasn't able to finish.
Here's a small story from the Valley News Dispatch about the race.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_586949.htmlI want to thank everyone for the great event.

Justin

Ace Adventure

2008-08-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Rob and I made the trip to Minden, WV for the ACE Adventure Bike Fest. We did this race last year and thought the course was awesome and were excited to go again this year. We got on the road early around 5:30 am. This is way too early for me to get up but figured Rob was driving, and I could catch some Z's on the way down.

The trip took about 4-1/2 hours and we were pretty happy when we finally got there. After I got registered I looked around and it seemed like there was a good turnout of about 100 racers. After a short warm up it was 11:00 and time to get started. The start was fast and the lead changed several times. About 25 minutes into the race there was a group of 5 of us that had a nice gap on the rest of the field.

Then Nick Waite and Gunnar got away from Rob and me. Rob caught up to Gunnar and left me behind. Andy Weidrich was close to me the entire time. When we were getting close to the end of the first lap I caught a glimpse of Rob. I was able to catch up and pass him before the first lap ended. I was by myself for what seemed like a long time. Then I saw Gunnar up ahead on a short road section. After working hard I finally bridged up to him and road his wheel for a little bit. Then Andy caught both of us and the three of us rode together for a bit. I fell back from them when we got back into some single track and never caught back up.

We had a great time and the trails were awesome... lots of rocks and some technical downhills. I wish we had more time after the race because all the racers got free passes for the water park at the ACE Adventure Center. It looked like a good time but we wanted to get on the road.

Thanks to Jeff ( the guy works on the trails) and everyone from ACE Adventure for the great race.
Check out http://www.iplayoutside.som/ and http://www.aceraft.com/ for more details
Here's the men's top five list
#1 Nick Waite
#2 Andy Weidrich
#3 Gunnar Shogren
#4 Justin Pokrivka
#5 Rob Spreng

Don't forget this weekend is the Subaru 24-Hour Champion Challenge at 7 Springs. See you there!
Justin

2008-08-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

I didn't do any races last weekend and it felt strange not making plans to race. This was the first time in 8 weeks that I didn't race on the weekend. But the break was nice and it gave me a chance to catch up on a few things and do some longer rides. I actually got a chance to ride with Ruth for a change. She always likes to go do some practice on the rocks so we went up to Moraine on Saturday for a few hours. It was a blast and the trails were in great shape and the new trail is getting ridden in pretty well.

Ruth doesn't agree with my advice for riding in the rocks. It's simple: go faster because the faster you go the less time you'll spend on the rocks. So the less time you spend on the rocks the smaller the chance of wrecking on the rocks. Maybe someday she'll see it my way.

Sunday I was finally able to hook up with Scott Root and we made the trip to Kennerdell. I've ridden several times before but this was going to be Scott's first time. I know the way around up there OK but have trouble putting it all together. We were out for about 2 hours when we ran into some friends and I was glad that we did. They took us on some new trails and I think that the next time I go there I'll be able to put great loop together.

We did some sections twice but Scott and me rode for about 4 hours and got over 35 miles in. There was even some stuff that we didn't get a chance to ride. But it was a great day for a long ride. Something else that made this weekend even better was I managed to stay upright the entire time. I plan on heading down to the Ace Adventure Center for WVMBA race on Sunday.

Justin

Kinzua Classic

2008-08-11T16:29:00.000-07:00

I decided to go up to Warren, PA for the Kinzua Classic. Jake and Scott Root made the trip, the race started at 9:00 on Sunday so we figured it would be best to get a Hotel in Warren. We left my house around 7:30 on Saturday and started out. The ride was pretty boring until we got to Tionesta when a deer ran out in front of us. The truck and everyone except the deer was OK, just a small dent in the bumper.

We checked in to the motel around 10:30 and watched some of the Olympics. Then we found out how much Scott knows about swimming. Everyone already knows how fast Scott is on a bike but Scott used to be fast in the water and still holds records at his high school. Figured that 6:30 would be a good time to get up so we would have time for breakfast. Then it was off to the race.

It seems no matter how early you plan to get a race you're always pressed for time. The three of us decided to do the long race-two laps, about 60 miles. After a short warm up it was time to go. I always like to know who the fast guys are. But of the forty people here the only two I knew for sure were fast was Steve Cummings and Jared Babik. The race started up a long climb about 2-1/2 miles but it wasn't too steep. I'm not sure what Jake was thinking but he was up in the front taking long pulls. I found out later that he regretted this poor decision. The pace was fast but not super hard then about 20 minutes in I started feeling the urge that I had to pee. I hoped that it would go away but it didn't. I was scared to pull over because it hard to catch back up to the pelaton. But at about 45 minutes in I couldn't stand it any longer. So I pulled over and went then worked very hard for the 5 minutes to bridge but finally caught on. It seems every race has a point at which the pace picks up.

So I knew it was going to happen just didn't know when and where. It finally came at about a hour into the race when we hit a steep climb. I somehow manged to stay in a group of about 15 riders. Then a few minutes later we were at the end of the first lap. Only 30 more miles to go, the pace stayed about the same and I figured the race would be won on the steep climb. I knew it was getting close and there were two groups of two riders that had a little gap on the field. Then someone attacked and I figured why not go with them. We started up the climb before the big one and he fell off. I decided to try and bridge up to the next group and finally did. Then a group of 3 caught us and they were flying and I manged to go with them. There was 5 of us and I knew the end was close. But it was then when I found out that there another climb and it was going to be an up hill finish. I stayed on for as long as I could then with about a ¼ mile to go there was one more attack and I didn't have anything left. But finished 5th overall and about 30 seconds back. Scott finished 6th in his age group and Jake had a rough day but still finished. It was a long race and after 2:40 of racing I was glad to be done. I want to thank all of the volunteers and organizers for the great event which benefits Warren County Family Services.

Here's the top 5 for the 60 miler:

#1 Steve Cummings

#2 Jared Bakek

#3 James Doan

#4 John Rowley

#5 Justin Pokrivka

You can find the full results at http://www.kinzuaclassic.com/ or at http://www.runhigh.com/

Justin

Trek XO1

2008-08-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

Just got a Trek XO1 cross bike. I chose this bike for a couple of reasons. It seemed to be a great value with all Shimano 105, and I needed one with rim brakes because I bought it primarily to race it. The only things I swapped out were the seat and seat post for now. Had it out for a little spin and my first impression is good.

After I get some miles on it I'll give a lot more detailed review. Not sure what's up for the weekend, nobody will commit. There's the Black Bear race in Charleston, WV and the Kinzua Classic. The only person that gave me a definite answer was Ruth. She's heading up to 7-Springs to get ready for the 24 hour race and going to Roaring Run on the other day. No matter where I go there'll be plenty of fun to be had.

Justin

Mountaineer Stage Race

2008-08-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

I went to Philippi WV for the Mountaineer Stage race over the weekend. I was trying to find someone to ride share with but couldn't get anyone to commit for both days. But on Friday night I got a hold of Ben Stephens and we decided to drive down both days together.

I was really excited about this event, it was going to be my first stage race. Saturday morning was the TT and it was my first TT race. When we got to the start I got to check out some really impressive TT bikes first hand. These are some pretty amazing bikes when you look at them up close. After a good warm up it was my time to go. I felt good and tried to ride aero and was happy with how I rode. But after seeing the results I finished in 7th place and Ben was 4th. But we both were more concerned about the time gap of 4 plus minutes. I'll need to invest in some aero bars, and do a little more practicing for the next TT.

We figured that with some of the free time that we had between the TT and the crit we would use it to drive Sunday's road race course. It's seemed like there would be a lot of climbing but looked to be fun and fast. When we were done we headed up to the college where the crit was going to take place. We just tried to relax and stay out of the sun. Then at about 3:30 we started to get ready for the crit. There was going to be 3 prems and they were going 3 deep for the time bonuses on the prems. There were also some time bonuses for the top five finishers. I wanted to at least get a few seconds if possible. I figured that the finishing time bonuses would be hard to get because a lot of people showed up that weren't at the TT.

I went a little to early for the first one and ended up 4th . But got a second and first on the other two. The last one came at a heavy price because it came with only 2 laps left and I ended up 6th in the end and just missed the last time bonus. On the ride home Ben and me figured that if we wanted to to well in the overall standing that we would have to attack early during the road race on Sunday. Just before I went to bed the overall standings were up and Ben was in 4th, 4 minutes back and I was in 6th, 5 minutes back.

I met Ben and Jake at 7:00 in Greentree and we were on our way. We were pretty happy to have Jake with us because he's a strong rider and we would need his help for our early attack. We got started up a nice long climb and there was a group of about 8 people that got away from the field. The three of us tried to break away but didn't have much luck. Finally we got a good gap but it didn't last too long. Somewhere near mile 11 we had a little encounter with a dog but luckily the motorcycle that was leading us out was able to hold it off until we got around it. Then we hit one of the bigger climbs and about halfway up I attacked and nobody came with me. So I had a decision to make go for it on my own or fall back into the pack?

I went for it on my own knowing that this would be my only chance to move up in the overall standings. I kept the group out of site until mile 25 then Jacob T, the overall leader, was starting to bridge the gap. I wasn't too glad to see him because he was one of the people I was trying to make some time on. But I was happy to have someone to work with because the climbing was over and it was going to be harder to stay away from the attacking pack. They got close once but we were able to work together and hold them off. Even though I drove the course yesterday, I didn't know how much further we had to go. I was glad that Jacob had a better memory than me because we could see a small hill coming up and he said that's the last one. And then it was about 1.5 miles down hill though the covered bridge on to the finish on Main street. We came out of the bridge together and I was able to beat him in the sprint for the victory.

The next thing was to see how soon the pack would finish. It seemed like about a minute so I knew it was going to be just a matter of seconds that would decide the over all standing. The next person to cross the finish line was Ben. After cooling down and waiting to see the overall standing, I was very happy to see that I moved up to 3rd in the overall standings. I was hoping for a top 5 in the overall standings. It was disappointing when Jake rolled in because he suffered from a flat.

Thanks to West Virginia University Cycling and Thad Kelly for a well organized event. Check out http://www.wvucycling.com/ for complete results.

This weekend we might make the trip to Charleston WV for the the Black Bear race. This a really fun course and was once called “The Scariest Mountain Bike Race in the World”. I've done this race in the past and it's a tough race but wasn't too scary.

Justin

It's that time of year

2008-08-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

It seems like it's far away but it's really not. What am I talking about? Cyclocross season......it starts in late September and early October but now is the time to start getting ready. I've got a lot to do between now and then. First, I need to get a crossbike then start working on dismounts and some bike handling skills. I decided that after having such a blast racing at the crits, I want to try to extend my season by doing cross racing this year.

I've done it in the past and but had gotten out of it and want to give it another go. The bad thing is that I sold my crossbike. But the good news is that I'm getting a new one (thank you Geo Bush for the stimulus check) it's always fun getting something new. One of the problems I'm facing is which one? Thanks to being financially handicapped it narrows the choices down some and availability makes the field even smaller.

I thought of buying a frame and building one up with some old and some new parts, but after doing the math there's not much of a savings. I have it narrowed down to three the Redline Pro, Trek X02, and the Specialized Comp double. I liked the Lemond Poprad but none are available in my size. I'm sure that I'll be happy with whatever I decide because their all great bikes.

Next thing I'm working on is trying find someone to share a ride with down to the Mountaineer Stage race this weekend. Seems like there's a lot of other stuff going on but I'm sure I'll be able to find someone.

Justin

Wilderness 101

2008-08-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

Wilderness 101

Just wanted to say hi and start telling you about some of my adventures and what I've been up this year. I'll start with last weekend and work in some of the older stuff from the spring later. This weekend we made the trip out to Colburn PA near State College for the Wilderness 101.
There was four of us that set out Friday afternoon that included Ruth, Jake, and Steevo. The trip out was pretty uneventful except for finding out how fast a Ford F350 diesel can go.
We got to Colburn park around 6:00 got our compound set up, talked to some familiar faces and headed out to do a short ride. After the ride we made some dinner and started talking about tomorrow. This is when I found out that is was going to be Jake's first MTB ever. I met Jake last fall on one of Barry's Friday night rides and then ran into him at some road races earlier this spring. I felt kind of bad because I was the one who talked him into doing this race, I know Jakes a really strong rider but it's had to prepare someone for what there're going to encounter in a 100 mile MTB race.
Saturday morning came fast with wake up call at 5:15 after struggling to get out of my sleeping bag I finally made it out of the tent around 6:00. Headed over to get breakfast and some coffee. Then came back and started to get ready for today's adventure. I made it up to the start line by 7:00 and seen allot of famliar fast faces the group of 250 plus racers. Like Chris Eatough, Jeff Schalk, Harlan Price, Brandon Draugelis, Gerry Pflug, Gunner Shogren and some of the WVMBA racers just to name a few. This was going to be my third time and this race and my biggest goal was to finish in under 8 hours and finish feeling strong. I was really excited about doing the race this year because I felt pretty confident that I could achieve my goals.
Because I've done this race before I thought I new what to expect but that turned out to be wrong. In the past the race starts off fast but not crazy fast like in shorter XC races. But this year about 8 of the big guns just took off up the first climb and just put a big gap and never look back. I managed to get in a group of 10 people and we got away for the field but had no chance of catching the leaders. After about 55 minutes we came to the first aid station and this where the pace always picks up a little bit because it's the first bit of off road trails. The only thing that really changed between aid station one and two was sometimes you were in group with 3 and other times there would be 7 people but they were all the same faces.
I rolled in to aid station 2 with Gerry, and Wes Schempf. I made a quick stop just to get some liquids and headed out first. I seen Gerry asking for a pump and figured he was having some trouble. I knew there was a big climb coming and my plan was to get started up it before they did and when they caught up to me I could stick to there wheels. But after I got going I was surprised that the person that caught up with me first was Andy Gorski. So we took turns pulling up the hill and finally got to some sweet down hill single track. Then it was back to climbing again this is were everything changed for me. About 2/3 of the way up the climb I cracked and started to cramp a little and fell back from Andy's wheel. Then Steevo caught me and we finally reached the top and of the climb together. I was able to put some time on Steevo on the down hill but it didn't really help much because he past me few miles later.
I finally got to aid station 3 and was feeling pretty bad but was happy because I was well ahead of schedule to finish in under 8 hours. After having several glasses of Coke and filling up on water I grabbed a PBJ sandwich and headed out. I knew that there was a long single track climb coming up and felt a little better. So just geared down and started spinning up the climb. I was feeling better maybe it was the Coke or getting out of the sun a little bit. I felt like I had a nice pace going but I found out soon that wasn't the case, because I heard someone behind me and it turned out to be Gerry Pflug. This is how I found out that my pace was allot slower than I thought it was. It was also about the point that I realized the huge mistake I made. Thursday I decided to put bar ends on my handle bars. I have a love hate relationship with bar ends. I love them for climbing and they help with fatigue because of the different positioning. The hate I have is I feel confined on the bars and lose a little bit of confidence in the technical sections and always worry about snagging them on a tree. But the biggest problem with them today was after I put them on I didn't ride my bike. When I wrapped my thumbs around the bars my thumbs would hit the shift levers and constantly change gears on the long descents. I figured that I had two choices one stop and adjust it or two deal with it I went with number two.
When I got to number four I was very excited because couldn't wait to get some more Cokes. But to my disappointment there was none there but was promised that #5 had some. I also knew there was only 25 miles left and from what I could remember I only had 3 big climbs left and some sweet singletrack. Plus I still thought I could reach my goal of under 8 hours. I made it up the climb feeling OK and figured that the long rocky descent would pose no problems but I was wrong again. This is when I realized my second mistake that I should have stopped and adjusted my shiftiers. But after the descent when I was in the rolling singletrack and I had another surprise. I ran into some friends of my Gunner, Benji and Chris McGill I like these guys but wasn't to happy to them right now. This was the lowest point of the day not because they caught and past me like I was standing still. But because I felt really bad both mentally and physically.
I made it to #5 and was happy to get there and as promised they had Coke. I knew that there's was only 12 more miles that included some rail trail a big climb the fisherman trail and one last stretch of rail trail. After about 15 small cups of Coke I thought I was ready but that quickly changed. I was happy to get to the first rail trail section but my ass wasn't as happy as the rest of me. Then after the rail trail I started up the last and final climb I was glad to know that is was only 3 mikes long. After about 5 minutes of climbing is when I was wishing I was back on the rail trail.This was when it finally hit me that I wasn't going to make more than my goal of 8 hours. But finally I made it to the top and was treated to a long gravel descent. Then on to the fisherman's which is just short piece of very technical singletrack. I think it all ridable but after 8 hours and 96 miles of riding I wasn't too interested in trying it today. So I hiked though and made it to the final section of rail trail crossed the bridge went through the tunnel and onto the last mile of road. After eight hours and eighteen minutes it was finally over. I finished 16th in the men's open and there was 5 really fast SS that got in before me so that made me 21st in the overall standings. It always feels good to finish but today it felt really good. I headed down to the stream to cool down and relax for a bit. Then off to get some of the great food and too hear about some the crazy things that happened out there.
Here's how our group ended up Steevo had a great race and finished 11th, the ever fast and reliable Scotty Root got another 1st place in the master class. Jake finished in just under 9-1/2 hours not to bad for your first MTB I'm glad too that he still talking to me. Ruth finished in about 13 hours a little off her pace from last year. Next time you see her besure to ask her about her first rattlesnake encounter.
I would also like to say thanks to Chris Scott and staff for the awsome job they did of organiizing this great event also for keeping everyone safe and keeping our bellies full.
Men's top five list Jeff Schalk, Chris Eatough, Harlan Price, Christian Tanguy, Chris Beck
Women's top five Cheryl Sornson, Michelle Stopper, Carey Lowery, Karen Potter,Betsy Shogren
Be sure to check out http://www.mntouring.com/ for more coverage and to see some of the other great events Chris puts on.
Justin
Posted by Justin at 6:29 PM 0 comments