MoM 2005

here to stay?

Yeah... so Winter has definitely set in. No relief in sight! Thanks Dave, for letting me borrow your rollers.

more TTx

I finally took the TTx out for a real ride. That bike is fast! The frame is stiff! It was pretty dag-on windy out; but I enjoyed it nevertheless. I guess all I need now is a supercharger for the engine! Tomorrow looks to be a nice day in the upper 50's... but alas, it'll be in the 30's when I'm out before work. Hopefully tomorrow night's rain will wash the salt off the roads. ($1.87 now)

$1.88!!!

Alright.... gas is well below $2/gallon here; all the flatlanders have no more excuses... get out here and ride!

Todd... I've got plenty of hilly routes for you here (although, I'm not sure if I'd wish that much punishment upon myself!).

stolen from Danbo...

frrrrreezing rain!

It was sleeting when I left the house yesterday morning... and then it turned to freezing rain. It's hard to stay warm when a shell of ice encases your arms and shoecovers! Doh! In the end, I did cut the ride short... while the roads were only wet; I did not want to ride 4 hours with an exoskeleton of ice! Woohoo! The rain bike is alive an kickin' again with some big ol' fenders and weighs about 27 pounds!

homecoming.

Got to cruise the "flatlands" this weekend with many of my friends and teammates. It was definitely a huge treat! Katie and I departed eastward early Saturday morning with the intention of arriving at my parents' house with enough time for me to squeeze in a solid 2.5 hours before an officers meeting at Shackleford's that evening. Plus, it allowed my family to see all 300+ pictures of Italy we printed.

Saturday afternoon, I was able to squeeze in the BikeBeat @ Kiln Creek shop ride (minus the Wormley Creek Tour Rd. Section) to get just a hair over two hours in. The weather was perfect, 70 degrees with only a light wind (very rare for Yorktown!)... plus no real hills (other than coming up the bluff in Yorktown). For dinner, Katie went with my parents and the Wallace's to Andrea's, our favorite Italian restaurant... while I headed up to meet KJ, Jen, Roger, Eli, Chad, Tim, Steve-O, and (eventually) Big Daddy DW at Shackleford's for a delicious dinner meeting. Got home. Went to bed. Tossed and turned all night.

Big Daddy DW's email calling for the resurrection of the Sunday morning Waller Mill ride resulted in a huge turnout! I think when everybody grouped up, we had at least 30 show up... almost entirely of JRVS, which is extremely exciting. To get time on the bike, and get a steady aerobic workout beforehand, I rode up from the house. The ride from Grafton to Waller Mill is almost a perfectly flat 25 miles or so that only has a few shallow rises on Rt. 143.

Leaving the parking lot, the normal casual warmup pace ensued with plenty of conversation. The normal cast of heavy hitters were there (sans ToddXXX), so suffering was definitely in store. Right around the autographed Roubaix sign things began heating up. The pace ebbed and flowed, until finally the knob was turned to attrition. I knew I was tired from the week's workouts... but I wanted to be a survivor, and kept the poker face on as long as possible. We hit the ascent of Col' de Stonehouse hard... which is usually the beginning of the end for me. I arrived at the top welin good position and feeling pretty good. I think it was Mt. Laurel Rd. when the cramps showed up; which is strange because I hardly ever cramp!

After meandering back to the parking lot, it was time to head over to my aunt and uncle's to grab a ride back to the parents' place. It was a great ride! The training stress score was pretty high; but I at least had fun ridin' hard. "Angel Wings" Simet was out rippin' it on his new Bontrager Aeolus 6.5 clinchers. I want some too.

"Are you a pro biker?"

That was the question asked while buzzing into the local Starbucks (which is inside the nearest Kroger) by one of the bag boys. While very flattered, I hope he wasn't disappointed by my answer. The other day, a cyclist from the William & Mary cycling team noticed the JRVS kit and promptly asked if I ride for JRVS...

"Yup."
"What are you doing out here????"
"I live here!"

I can't remember his name; but I remember riding with him a couple years ago during their "team training camp"... he did just pick up a sweet Cannondale System Six bike.

I'm steadily progressing in the gym these days... beginning to move into higher weight/lower reps. I'm not sure if I'll be surpassing some of the numbers I put up last year; but my hamstrings are definitely much much stronger than last year!

Recently, one of the local gyms has closed... which has led to a completely new composition of 6am regulars at the Y; entertaining to say the least.

That's all for now... might see some of you at the Waller Mill ride Sunday.

Updated weather forecast...

Looks like I'll be puttin' the fenders on the steel clunker tonight! Riding in the snow can be sublime... I may run an extra blinky.

new weather forecast:

Winter is back.

Winter is back! It was feezing cold this morning... with a windchill down into the 20's. Parts of Bradshaw Rd. were completely covered in a sheet of ice; and it snowed today! It was just a flurry, but some of the higher elevations nearby had a short-lived dusting. Tomorrow morning is going to be COLD! It's definitely going to be an abrupt adjustment.

Tomorrow's morning ride weather:
















(courtesy weather.com)

beginning to feel like myself again

I'm finally readjusting to Eastern Standard Time! I rode Bradshaw before dawn this morning and felt great... everything feels like it's beginning to gel again, so confidence is on the rebound.

Shortly after daybreak, a farmer transporting his two horses (by attaching them to the trailer hitch of his truck while driving 3 mph) asked me to hold one horse while he put his other away. I tried to get a picture with the camera phone... but it didn't turn out too well. I didn't see that one coming when I left this morning! Nevertheless, I had a good laugh.

another...

it's here.

back in the USA

Just got back from Italia... had a brilliant 5 days and nights, but boy was it exhausting! Too tired to write anything at the moment... pics and a short synopsis are coming.

it's coming...

Potts Mountain

I decided yesterday I was going to try and ride to West Virginia and back... as a challenge of sorts. What would be my reward? A big ol' Hamburger of course! (I LOVE hamburgers, and have been depriving myself of one for several weeks now) Needless to say, I fell short of my goal.. but did meet the goal of burning 3500+ kilo joules of energy.

Back to my ride.

Hilly would be an understatement, so too was the weather forecast of "light and variable" winds. I'll buy the "variable" part... but the light... nope. The cross/headwinds made most of the way feel as if I were riding uphill the entire time. Was I? Unfortunately not... borrowing a GPS did give me a elevation profile of the ride. There were three mountain passes, but a lot of rolling grinders made the trip suitably tough.

The summit Potts Mountain was the turnaround point for this ride. West Virginia was only a few miles away... but staring down the backside. I decided I had reached my turning point. I was satisfied with my ride so far, but knew time-wise, it would not be wise to ride farther (for fear of ruining Katie's plans for the day!). While climbing Potts Mountain my iPod playlist came to an end. The final 15 minutes of the climb were zen like. For much of it, there was no wind at all. I don't think I've ever climbed in such a quiet and serene environment... the bike was even quiet! (no surprise there.. haha..)

Potts Mountain seems out of place in Southwest Virginia. It's pretty big (3500') and is one of the steadiest grades of found out here (2000' in 5 miles at a very consistent grade). Near the top the groves of trees look like they belong in Colorado. The views from the top were exceptional, I could see everything.. including the Peaks of Otter (really far away). The road has been freshly paved since the Summer, and there was even snow is the shaded areas of the ditch (as well as a nice coating of salt on the road).

I hate to admit, I rode the descent conservatively. A freshly paved rode with little debris and smooth turns begs for a Red Bull Rampage-esque attempt; but for the sake of self-preservation I decide to keep it smooth and steady. Catawba mountain features another thrilling downhill.

Anyways, the Training Stress score for this ride was pretty high. Go figure, wind + false flats/hills + big climbs meant the effort was a little tougher than I had planned. Fortunately I managed to stay in zone 2 most of the time, and kept my average power for the ride in the 211 neighborhood.

While it's definitely not the most climbing I've ever done for any given distance (feel free to come out and ride the Three Peaks with me sometime), I definitely want to ride Potts Mountain again. The Allegheny Range really is a lot different from the Blue Ridge Mountains.

That's all for now...

double take...

So I really did see a guy riding down Apperson with a full on carbon disc wheel today. Full on tri-bike decked to the halls. His buddy up the road of him was rollin' a pair Hed 3's. It was a well deserved chuckle after a super tough 3 hours.

Nifty iPod Trick

Now that it's winter time, my iPod is usually sandwiched in between my jersey and a vest or jacket. I've found that this tends to create condensation on the iPod. While I haven't found this to be a problem... I don't want it to become one. Here's my solution: You know those old bike socks with holes in the toes? Yeah... just put the iPod (or anything other mp3 player) in the sock. Simple enough. So far it's worked well...

It's gettin' cold outside!