Soggy Britches

Saturday was the Gorc workday at Greensfelder. It was going to be a wet one for sure, but I forged on. I dropped my car off at the shop, which is at the bottom of the hill on Allenton, pretty convenient. I brought the bike along to get me to the top of the hill. Secretly, I was hoping that someone (Scott) would roll along and pick me up. Exactly on time, Scott P. rolled up and let me hitch a ride to the top of the hill. At this point, the wind was terrible, but no rain had come around. We got to work right away on a re-route section, about 20 vertical feet above an old section from last year. The new design will contour more of the hillside. The rain began to fall as we were benching. We got about an hour of work in before Bryan shut it down. I wasn't going to say anything while working, but I was glad he made the decision. Scooter gave me a ride back down to my car, sparing me the decent in a raging down pour. I was pretty soaked at this point. Good news on the car, nothing wrong with the transmission. So I quickly headed back up the hill to the Muckerman shelter for some good times and free beer. I also got a look at the sweet new carbon epic. Nice.

I bailed on the Rim Wrecker race. After getting wet on Sat, I was a little less motivated to go through the motions on Sunday. It kind of sucks to miss out on an Epic, but there is plenty of time left for that. Also, not this really makes a difference, my priority race has been move up a month to April 19th. LBL Canal loop race was originally in May. This is a race I wanted to be prime for. On the up side, now there is a great race to go to in April, that is only 3 hours away.





Follow up Pic from the LV race.

It felt really good to lay down some power in yesterdays competition. I have not raced since CX state Champ race in December, so I was felling a little rusty at the start line. I was with the pack on the flat start(nice right?) but got scared as we neared the drop in. I backed off and was pretty much last coming down the hill. I gained a few spots on the climb. By the time we came over the top of the first climb, the group had separated a bit. At that point, my heart rate was cosmic, and the grip on my legs was so bad I though I would get a bruise. I tried to hang on but was struggling to even hold a wheel. The new section of singletrack was pretty sweet in my opinion. Once it is worked in, it will be smoking fast like the roller coaster at Cwood. On the back side of the course, I worked in with some master classs expert riders I think. We had a train going until the second section of singletrack. At that point, I blew up sky high, and it took me about five minutes to recover. I was able to catch MJ's wheel at the top of the gravel climb on the second lap. I knew for sure he had an allen tool, so I bummed it and made a quick adjustment to my seat post that had slipped slightly. I was afraid to over tighten it that morning, and paid the price for that one. I rode most of the second lap with Christopher, but that train ended abruptly with a sidewall cut on the switchback before the creek. No big woop, this race was still fun as hell!!

The stumpjumper rides like a dream. I pretty much have no way of describing it, only the feeling of pleasure. I am happy with how I performed, and cant wait for more!! Bring it on, cause I bringing everything I got.

steps in the right direction

Rode two burning laps at CB on Sunday with Christopher. This ride really sparked the MTB fire inside. The trail was beat down and in good shape. The pace was casual, and we stopped to talk to some other people on the trail from time to time. I havent done three laps this year. Sunday was the day that had me feeling the best out of all the trips down there this year. Tuesday night I tested the legs a little out at LV, and it hurt. It has taken me a few days to recover from the effort, but the fire is still there for Sunday. It is nice to look at the training log and see almost 3 full months of consistancy. The biggest thing I am looking forward to is getting back into the MTB scene. Warm weather, cold beers, and riding hard. See yall on Sunday.

Git er done

Sunday, with the wind wipping a solid crew of five rode out to CC lake. The wind was brutal, but the company made it great. The trip home was even better with the wind to our backs and the spirits high. It almost makes you for get about the two hours of wind you just rode in.

Also this week, I got some riding in at lost valley. First was Thursday night. I ran into Twister at the mound, and we rode some gravel roades together. He showed me a secret path that adds some variety to the area. Mj and I put in a solit 3 hours on Friday, and actually got to ride the single track. A little muddy to start out with, I definatly was surfing in some spots, but as the day moved on, the trail got drier.

Paris Nice has been a great race to follow this week. It is turning into a slug fest, with Schleck and Voiet moving up into the GC. Contador slipped back behind Chavenal, with one more day to go.

C- Bluff

Recently made it down to C-bluff for some Laps. I did the trail in the Clockwise direction to get ready for the Rim Wrecker race at the end of March. I think that this direction of the trail is much more difficult than the CCW direction. The trail was in pretty good shape, with some leaf cover and a stretch of shit bog that really took it out of the legs by the second lap. I was able to lay into it a little bit for about a quarter lap. It felt really great to be carring momentum, carving, and connecting moves. I was a little rusty on the bike handling skills, but it is starting to come back. I was pretty happy with the results so far, and it has fired me up to continue training. In my eyes the post ride Mexican is the way to go. It is a toss up on the quality of Dos Primos vs. Los Portales. I know that I am riding the fence on this one, but I am just a huge fan of Mexican food. Just put it in my mouth! So far this year, I have gotten about 70 miles of off road riding in. So far so good.

Yesterday was Cold. I suffered more on this ride than any other this year. We rode down to the covered bridge through ceder hill, and back up on Old Lemay to 4 ridge. The wind was coming hard out of the north, and the Temps were low 30's. The last 10 miles back I sucked wheel the whole time, and still managed to finish in high spirits. The riding is Jeff co is awesome. There are endless opportunities for mid and long rides, and the rodes are pretty good. There is alot more exploring to be done though.

Hopefully today will be less windy, and I can get some gravel riding in out at lost valley. I need to get some MTB miles in.