Slug

With the wet weather here lately, I'm feeling a bit sluggish. I haven't ridden since this past weekend. The weekend rides were nice, though. I mountain biked 3hrs on Sat. at the GreenBelt. Very sweet section of the belt. Sunday, I went out for 2.5 hrs on the road during the middle of the day. It also was nice. Today, Thursday, I plan on either going to the gym, or running in the rain around Townlake which is usually pretty nice. It's been a while since I've done both. We'll see what happens? BTW: I hope my good friend Rick Jordan reads my blog soon;) Peace!

Change it up..

Decided to take a little rest and change up the schedule. I took off Tuesday nite from the Dirt Derby to gain a little rest and hope for another "good week" in a few weeks. This past week I raced 3 days which has left me a little unsure... I was unable (last week) to ride at my best in all 3 events. Especially in Huntsville. I should (could've, would've) have ridden at least 3 minutes faster overall. But whatchagon'ado? Change it up!

Tonight, I showed up at Cycle Progression for the weekly Wednesday night mountain bike ride with the fellows from Cycle Progression, and no one showed except for Jack. Jack's an older dude in his early 50's that rides like a kid. He has excellent skills and makes a good riding partner. He and I rode moderately and ended up being a excellent ride.

No Thursday night at the Driveway tomorrow for me. I may head to the Gym to change it up there too..

Huntsville

Raced Huntsville Classic this past weekend. Was raining a majority of the time. Good to have the rain, but another wet race I was concerned about. If there's a race to race in the rain, this was one of the better ones. Sand and a well drained trail acted as good compaction for good traction. Very little clay and slick mud. Anyway, raced hard but was hurting on the last lap where I lost a few minutes. Ended up 11th. Out of the money range.

Just a cool video....

Later Camp Eagle...

What a race! I arrived to Camp Eagle Saturday afternoon. Getting there (down a 8 mile dirt road) was mud bog. Friday night they got rain. Saturday afternoon, rain, and Saturday night rain. When I arrived I found a descent place to camp. (what was left) and pitched a tent. I decide to ride the course (one of the reasons for getting there early). It was a creamy mess. The trail was saturated. I rode for an hour and took it back to camp. Thereafter, cracked a beer and started making dinner. I cooked up a chicken breast, frozen veggies, and Roman Noodles. Then went to bed. Seems everyone shut it down around 11pm. During the night I was woken-up by a strange noise near my tent. Not once or twice, but three times. I thought it may have been a hog? I knew once I got back to the office my co-worker Tanner would know what it was. He's from this area and knows the wild life very well out in these areas. He said it most have been a Axis Buck. They're known for this noise I described to him. With that noise, the boy scouts, and rain during the middle of the night I woke every 30 minutes. Anyway, I woke at 7:30am to get breakfast started. Went and registered for the race. Found a pooper to blow up, then back to camp to get ready. My plan was to have the bike ready/everything ready at 9:50am and show up on the starting line @ 10:20am. The race was posted to start at 10:30. Once I left to start my warm up at 9:50am. They started calling my class -Cat 1 40-49 to start first in front of the Cat 2?? This delayed my warm-up. So, I showed up on the line cold. Thereafter, they had us just wait until 10:40 before starting us. It really sucked! I really needed my warm-up!
The race got started with a blast off the start which took us up a 200 foot climb then a hard left onto a , muddy trail. The climb freak'en hurt like no other! I felt like I had muriatic acid pumping thru my veins. The trail was just a messy mud bog. This makes it sooo much harder because your trying keep the bike up-right without a tire slipping or whatever. It's mental game against yourself at this point. These conditions just sap the heck out you. I wreaked once. Slid out a few times and got a seat rammed up my butt. Anyway, I ended up with a 7th Place, respectfully. I've got to be happy with that. I did notice that after the race my rear breaks were rubbing pretty good. And it certainly felt like it all day. Here are the result.

Camp Eagle I'm coming...

From SouthFork Colorado 2009

Today I had off work (Friday, Sept 5) which was nice. Got to sleep in and catch up on some well need rest. Dirt Derby Tuesday allowed me some intensity work followed by Wednesday nite Cycle Progression Mountain bike ride. Tomorrow I leaving for Camp Eagle. I plan on camping, riding Saturday two laps easy, then race Sunday. I feel confident and on form for a good start for the season. I've worked hard all summer to get to this point. Now with a new Mnt. bike (429), I hope to be a new man possessed by a new bike. It happens you know.. I'll be sport'en my new team jersey for Cycle Progression and hope to make an impression. Next week, same thing all over, but in Huntsville. I think I'll change it up some with Tuesday nite Dirt Derby, followed by the Thursday Niter Driveway series. It's been a few week since I've done the Driveway. The Plan is to remain on good form without peaking, remain rested, stay healthy and stay out of trouble. Be safe that is... Things happen you know!

Dirt Derby

This Tuesday nite was the beginning of the Dirt Derby series of which I broke out the new (to me) cyclocross bike that's been hanging in my barn just waiting to be ridden. I haven't ridden this bike, other than up and down my road I live on. I've just been too busy this summer training on the road bike and focusing on getting the my new mountain bike. However, Tuesday nite opened up the opportunity. It's been 6 years now since I've raced a cyclocross event. But it was just like riding a bike. I rode exceptionally well, except for I got off course and ended up losing 65 seconds which took me from 3rd position to 6th. I quickly caught 5th and 4th but was unable to get back to 3rd. So, finished in 4th. I'm very happy with that result. I'll try again next week. Saturday is the big day for me. My first Mountain Bike race of the new Fall 2009 series. With me luck...

2008 Dirt Derby Halloween Party from Pirate Race Productions on Vimeo.