TSE Stage 3; the road stage

Day  three down.

Today was the road stage.  I went into it pretty much expecting to hate Mike, Ray, Trans-Sylvania, State College and all humans at the end of the day.  I am admittedly and obviously not the strongest guy and I knew more road would only blow my doors off more.  I figured on getting shelled immediately.  Woke up not psyched and couldn’t eat.  It was set up to be perfect.

We rolled out at nine and I led us up the road.  Rather than getting sprinted past, I slowly was swarmed and we kept a nice pace.  A few miles down the road they picked it up on a rolling hill.  I was shelled.  We entered a small section of downhill singletrack.  After a few risks and sketchy passes, I made the front again.  Rolled with them a while and it was rather calm.  I’d move backwards watching my effort on the hills, then catch a wheel and latch back on.  Thing were looking up.

Eventually the inevitable happened and they picked it up beyond what I would like to keep.  I settled in with a nice little group and we rode for a few hours.  If anything I was (we all were) trying to use as little energy as possible; gotta save that for the rocks at the end of the week.

 

A few hours in we hit the big climb.  It wasn’t bad!  Wide and shady with some steep pitches and good rocks.  I hit it at group ride pace and shelled my group.  A little after the top I was alone, then shelled myself.  The final rollers killed me.

In the end I rolled in for 13^th.  Didn’t lose as much time as I had figured.  Now sitting in 11^th just a few minutes outside of the top-10.  I feel good- not sore, not tired and super motivated for RAYSTOWN!

The road stage was not that bad.  We covered 47 miles, but it went quick.  There was some good singletrack and nice views.  I didn't hate anything, except myself for being slow.

 Lots of time to relax.

 Kettle corn, baby!  That stove rules.

 

Tired, but not pissed about riding on the road.  This is strange...  Oh, hey guy^

I said I’d update daily on the equipment that is rad and keeps every day awesome.  I’ll save that for the end actually so as to not jinx myself and to make sure I still like everything.  I will say though that having the Quarq powermeter has been AWESOME for racing and gauging every climb’s efforts.  That baby is super light and always works.  Have not had any problems with it.  Yet.

TSE Stage 2- Cooper's Gap

Felt much better today.  It was a relief.  Started out conservatively, with a solid gap behind the large front group; they were just going a little too fast for me.  Kept it toned down on the first road section and started picking them off on the first big singletrack climb.  It was slick, rocky and steep.  I dug it.  Rode alone for about 25+ miles in the middle there.  I would have liked some company, if not only for a wheel to hold on the street sections.  I kept looking back expecting someone to be coming up, but it didn’t happen until the last aid station at mile 30-something in the middle of an eight-mile road section.  I suck at going hard on the road.  Felt like I was crawling.  (I was).  Stephan is rad at the road.  The guy caught me going mach 10 with about 3 miles of racing left- towing Cheryl.  I held on as long as I could and threw in the towel within a mile of the finish.

Whew!  Two days down!

TSE Stage 1

Course was tough with a solid climb in the middle; rode as expected. Power was woof, legs were woof. 12th for Solo Fellas and minimized time lost as much as possible. One day in and an hour of racing in the books.

Trans-Sylvania Epic: Day 0, My House

 The eve of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, and I haven't ridden at all this week.  A minor cold or allergy outburst sat me on the sidelines for a few days.  I'd say I feel super stale but we put in a long one at work yesterday, so it's only kinda stale right now.  Tomorrow is day one.  I'm guessing I'll start out feeling like poo, feel great a few days in and end it feeling like poo.  Maybe not the worst way to go into it.  Fitness is there and all the work was put in over the last few months.

We are set to leave here in about an hour.  I'm almost done packing.  I HATE packing, but hate unpacking even more.  Packing is hardly a treat, but I'll take it when comparing the two.  I have my bike set up for the race- Anthem X 29er weighing in at 24 pounds with XX, a powermeter and thick Schwalbe SS tires.  Giant  sent over all the carbon bits they make like seatpost and stem.  I can't wait to try them.

I feel incredibly blessed by all the support all our supporters have given us.  I'm so thankful to all of them and hardly take it for granted.  I'm going to bust my balls for them over the next seven days of bike racing, even if I'm not a real factory pro.

So here we go; my first stage race.  I'll be updating every day, so check back.  I'll also be highlighting a different product each day that I wouldn't want to go without along with the highs and lows of racing a mtb for one week.

Here goes.

it's all relative, i guess

 Well, the weekend was a success.   

 I started out dead last, went into the woods second to last.  Made up time on the climb (850' in 4 miles) and more on the descent- stuck behind some real knuckleheads, nonetheless! After a feed from the parents of Todd Wells, dogged it through the village and gassed it through the one-track.  Thirties at last!

 BOOM.  Freak mechanical at the top of the mountain.  Tried to fix it, nursed it to the bottom and pitted.  Off and away.  Mid pack riders are always fearful of getting pulled, especially with a mechanical.  I was pulled- a lap down and not happy.

Seamus rocked 16th.  Atta way.

We left for home almost immediately.  Drove all day.  I cramped; biceps femoris- both legs, same time.

 

Woke up to the Powell roosters crowing and high-tailed it to Jersey with the morning sun burning my retinas.  Laid down what I had on my ideal course built in an old zoo.  Rocks, twists and minimal climbing.  Came in sixth and starving, but not sore because my bike rules.  Forrest kick my butt and finished 3rd.  He's a good kid.

Bladder filled as the gas tank emptied and we skid in with each on its limit.  Holy guacamole topped off what Quebec was missing and I finally got to hang out with the babe.

Success.

Canada likes it rough

The course up here in Mont Tremblant is rough!  I'd compare it most closely with Bear Creek (yes, US MTB Nationals 2013/14), just a little faster, a lot steeper and with some extra fire roads.  It's 4 miles and perfect.

Game day comes tomorrow, so we checked out the course then spun on the road.  We passed all kinds of awesome singletrack while following the bike path, but apparently there comes a time to be serious, and fun singletrack isn't involved then.  It was all I could do to not rage it.  We have been acting pretty pro lately, which mostly involves sitting around and riding a little.  It's rough for me, and definitely out of the norm. 
Part of me misses the weedwhacker.

I'm realistically optimistic about the race.  I'm feeling good and riding well for me on paper, but the Canadian national pro field is no joke.  Mostly I just want to put myself in the hurt locker real good and finish on the lead lap.  It'll be a good experience racing in another country; that's pretty much what I'm here for.

eh?

 Quick trip up to Canada for some Canada Cup racing.

 First time to Canada ever.  Weird, huh?  Would be ideal to hang out here for a while and learn some French, play some hockey or kill a moose, but I'll be doing plenty of hanging out at TSE for a week. 

 Bolted on this really expensive piece of equipment in my quest for lightweight and reliable power readings- I have gotten rather accustomed to watching and logging it through my research.  It is light.  And reliable.  So far...

This means I was finally able to pop some beads onto the Race Gold 29er wheels that have been staring at me for months.  They are VERY light.  So far I have felt no flex with them and they spin perfect.  The skewers are also very cool.

This is Seamus.  And that is his goat up there. 

We're gonna shred some French-Canadian one-track tomorrow.

Eventually it'll make sense

Sometimes Seamus and I bounce ideas off of each other.  Usually these involve either goats or training.

Because goats are sweet and I have been training.

One of my recent texts of wisdom was "Trust the plan!"  He has a coach and whatnot.  The guy is pretty on it.

His gem was "When in doubt, leave it out."  I don't think he actually added punctuation, so I infer it.

This past weekend I combined these two gems for one gigantic jewel, and I'm happy it worked out.

So after last weekend's MASS race where I turded to a DNF, I pretty much took the week off.  I was worried my plan wasn't working and I sucked more than usual, so I set out to rest er up as per the plan.  Now I know I always race like a turd after a week off, but I really wanted to race MASS.  Then I figured it would be a bad idea since I would not ride well anyway and it would make the good morale plummet.  So I combined the gems, kept the head up and left the race out.
Instead I watched the babe win the U40 in Cat 2.
She totally rules.

Apple Lady is not the babe, but a babe no less.

So today I got out and did the monthly test up a ball-buster of a climb (for eastern PA).  I still felt stale and like a turd, but the fitness was up this time.
I was able to set a personal best.
The plan worked!

some winners from the last few days

 69er!

 We got a new push mower!

 Gettin the dualie back together for some TSE

This is about the extent of my riding this past week.

Frosted tips. 

 Apple lady strikes again!

 Freshies.

 

Alex warms up

 Forrest clearly unorganized.

 Cinco de Jesus.

 New hat!

Best car in the world!

Last chance to train before TSE, so recovered a bit from Michaux and hit it again. Rather blown for the MASS race this weekend so I pulled the plug after a lap.  Same thing happened last time I raced there two years ago and made the right call then.  It all feels right though and now it's just rest and ready for some good racing in Canada and State College

Are you coming to VeloFest?

Please say yes.  I have a lot to sell.  Like a LOT.  I paid my $55 to reserve a 10x10 spot, but honestly, I don't think it will be enough room.  I've taken on the task of being a middle man, of sorts.  Big dollar clothing, flashy road bikes, small parts; everything I am selling is brand new.  None of it is mine.  Well, except my road bike.  She's seen her glory, now it's time to go. 
So swing by and buy something from me.  I really don't want to load it back up.

 This is a nice squat.  Really tucked away there by the STS tire center.  I'd squat that all day.  Jealous, really.  No rain, closed off on 2 1/3 sides and all the free porta-tires you can utilize at add hours of the night.

These dogs bark incessantly.

not worth a read.

Watched The Human Centipede II last night. It was absolutely horrid and I would totally not recommend it. Unless, of course, you are into that thing. It is worse than the first by far. Oddly enough I found a dead centipede on the sidewalk today.  I don't know, maybe it's not even a centipede.  I'm not a bug guy, but don't mind them as long as it's not a caterpillar.

I also had a dream about this guy ^. I dreamed we were squirrels and racing to see who could gather three acorns the fastest. Not sure what it means, but I am more bothered by the fact deJesus is in my dreams.

4th and squat.

Hey haters!

It was a fine weekend out at Michaux this past.  I was psyched to bust out the tent, the bike and a new stove.  The babe and I headed out friday night after I cut grass all friggin day.  It was cold and I slept for almost 12 hours. 
We are crazy, I know.

The next morning we woke up and figured out how this stove situation worked.  That thing cost me a ton of dough for her for Christmas (smart, I know), but it weighs nothing and apparently works great!  Anywho, we got out to preview the Maximus for the next day.  We did 10 miles of the 20/40 course, and I tried to convince Callie to do the 20.  I think after we went up dead woman's hollow she gave up on that idea... 
Eventually it started snowing, so I stuffed some Raw Rev bars in her pocket and told her some directions back to camp.  I went to crush some tarmac hills just to make sure the legs would be good for the morning.

Anyway, I lined up for the 40 with some fast dudes.  I felt good though.  We started pretty easy and I went into the woods in about 5th. 

And that's pretty much how it went.  Flatted once, never bonked.  Oh, and tree-1, shoulder-0.

I kept things under control by way of the watching the power meter on long climbs, and it was great to know how some of the course would go too.  I rode alone for a very long time, then finally caught The Vegan on a long descent back down to the furnace 2/3 way through.  We rode together then with me setting the pace by watching power and him telling me what was coming up according to his game boy positioning system.  I was happy to ride with the guy and not worry about the whole boss/employee realm and just ride bikes fast.

So that's how it went.  Crossed the line in fourth for my best Michaux ever.  I didn't ride with an ounce of agressiveness, so maybe that will change for next time.  Though steady seems to work...

What was a real bummer was the lack of payout.  Ya crush 40 miles and come across as the fourth soul and get squat.  Not complainin', just sayin.

Free t-shirts are still cool.

Thanks for hating!

Why is it every time I ride with Kremer I feel like I am racing. Oh. Wait...

Came back from a good one in Wiss ending my four day block and saw a guy towing my car. $150 for him to drop it. No credit card acceptance and a bail out from The Vegan. 

Best weekend!

Woke up late Saturday and drove out to Nockamixon with the babe.  Those trails rule and with the conditions everything was like concrete.  Fast!  Every time we go there she makes an upgrade.
The first time was on a comfort bike with flat pedals and with no helmet,
last time was on a cheap old 26 in bike and she cried,
this time was on her new XtC 29er and she cleared everything with ease, saving energy for the race the next day.  It was great to see the evolution.
I rode home afterwards, and following about 4 hours of being on the bike I wanted to eat everything in sight.

I went to bed with a food baby after the Snydermeister rolled in about midnight, then woke up with a food baby 5 hours later.  Less than ideal, 5 of us packed into Vegan Rob's truck for H2H#1 in Peekskill, NY.  The trails were so rad.  It was so fun it didn't even feel like a race.  It took a little bit for me to get focused out there, but got faster every lap and put in me contention to sprint for 6th.  Which I did not necessarily sprint for, unless you count being seated.

So after the babe won her first race by ten minutes, I dozed off in the back seat surrounded by two of today's winners and with no leg room while Rob did this:

A little (very) blurry, you can totally see him texting, not looking at the road, talking and driving with his knee.
Surprisingly it did not feel that unsafe.

Cancelhill

It must be hard to cancel a race with 500 people signed up.  Besides not gaining the cash, that's a lot of grumpy people that can't race! 
Me, I'm dealing.  Would have loved to shred at Fairhill, but that's just fine.  Going to get a good long ride in today and see what happens for the rest of the weekend.

Spotted another guy holding a weedwhacker upside down.

why i feel fat

I got our new clothing today.  Nice stuff, I must say.  We switched manufacturers from our tried and true to DNA Cycling: Custom clothing for an active lifestyle.  I was a little hesitant at first as I had never heard of them.  Well, heck, I am still hesitant of them as I have never ridden with them.  Either way, the chamois feels solid.  Like extra dense and like it should hold up.  I've worn my fair share of brands over the years (good and mostly bad), and this stuff reminds me of Castelli.  Maybe even better feeling.  Castelli is good.  My babe is totally addicted to that scorpion logo.

So to save time, we opted out of doing the fit kit thing.  Carl Decker said everything fit like last year, so I ordered XS just like last year.

And now I feel fat.  See?

 Okay, maybe that's a bad picture.  Maybe I should scrub my mirror? 
(Subtle Raw Rev plug, bottom right.)

This is more like it: the leg fat bulge.  While length is fine by tan line standards, the grabby leg grippers squeeze in my legs whilst not in flex mode.  Sorry I did not post a flexing picture.  I thought it would be silly to post that.  Also, the grabbiness is very grabby, and does not feel very good on hairy legs.  I think this is why bike racers shave their legs- to avoid the grab of rubber on high-end shorts.
Ahh... now I get it.

I'm pretty psyched to use this clothing.  There is a small pocket on the small of the back of the bib shorts.  While some may say this is a good spot for a 'race radio', I think it will work rather swell to stuff with ice on those hot days.  I like the way it sits against my skin, too.  Snug but not too tight.  Stick around for the full report once they get run through a bunch.

scary kitty.

 The below photo shows how not to work.

First, you do not hold your phone upside down. Unless, of course, it is broken and on perma-speakerphone... in which case everyone can hear all your conversations.  Secondly, we do not whip dirt, nor should we be holding a whip upside-down like an edger.  They make separate tools for a reason.  And we don't want to cause a dust storm.

 Riding with DeJesus is a real hoot.  Obvi.

Also, I think it is absolutely hilarious in itself that there are little kitties out there that look like this.
On second thought, they actually scare me...

That's fast.

Impressive, indeed.

Just got done with a weekend full of classes and exams.  Pretty much killed it.  Hills yesterday; killed 'em.  Today was a ride with the babe- she's killing it!!  Then I soloed it home for a couple hours and killed a burrito as soon as my feet slipped back into my slippers!

All this killing talk takes me back to my animal-eating and slaying days.  It's funny- someone asked me the other day why I choose to eat vegan.  I hadn't thought about it in a really long time and never talk about it or offer up the subject about myself.  I guess it just feels right, and has for a long time.
Over five years and I haven't died or grown boobies!  Take that Men's Health!!!

Oh, and regarding the video: I think we need a winter eliminator series right here in Nazareth!