cyclocross practice in takoma park and my legs felt like they were still up at avalon. note to self... no 3 hour rides the day before 'cross races (or practices). back to drajem's place for bagels and OJ and coffee afterwards... dinner at macaroni grill with my parents and grandmother...
it's strange how much more i find i can give during a race... my legs were flat today, but on top of that, todays practice "race" just didn't have that extra something that can make you suffer more, hurt more, give more...
6 days to the lilypons, 7 to reston... rest tommorow, then wakefield 'cross practice on tuesday and one last chance to get my remounts under control...
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Saturday, November 27, 2004
the collapse
in the last few years as a hokie i've become acustomed to the collapse, the end of the season loses that seem to be inevitable, after a promising start to the year. after tuning out the season early in the year, thinking it was going to be a normal lackluster year, i'm back in the fold... the team is surging, the defense is holding, and the offense is driving.
the virginia game is the biggest of the year and after a scoreless first half and a virginia opening the scoring, the team stepped up and racked up a 24-10 win against a good UVA team.
not bad for a team picked to finish 6th in the ACC and who now will be playing for the outright championship (they clinched a share of it today) against fellow big east transplant miami next weekend...
the virginia game is the biggest of the year and after a scoreless first half and a virginia opening the scoring, the team stepped up and racked up a 24-10 win against a good UVA team.
not bad for a team picked to finish 6th in the ACC and who now will be playing for the outright championship (they clinched a share of it today) against fellow big east transplant miami next weekend...
avalon
great mini-epic up at avalon with tom and bill this morning... rode some great trails, some old, some new, all over the park, winding around glen artney and hilton, then down and across the swinging bridge and up along the other ridge... definately challenged my technical abilities all day and i rode well, up and down...
back home now in a great post-ride haze and tech is leading uva by 7 and driving with 5 minutes left...
back home now in a great post-ride haze and tech is leading uva by 7 and driving with 5 minutes left...
Friday, November 26, 2004
thanksgiving
started yesterday with a road ride with jason around the roads of northern MoCo... a little less than 30 miles of rolling back roads in just under 2 hours. the wind was blowing fiercely but my new windstopper jacket took care of that, and it turned out to be a great way to start the day.
dinner was great, as usual... food and family, then some board games... somehow we avoided the usual "what are you thankful for" discussion/interogation at dinner, which i've never enjoyed, in spite of bring thankful for so many things...
back at work today... someone's got to be here in case things stop working and this year it's me...
dinner was great, as usual... food and family, then some board games... somehow we avoided the usual "what are you thankful for" discussion/interogation at dinner, which i've never enjoyed, in spite of bring thankful for so many things...
back at work today... someone's got to be here in case things stop working and this year it's me...
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
review: the collective
a different kind of mountain bike video? after seeing a couple of reviews saying that this movie was a break from the usual loud-music, gratutitous gap-jumping freeride videos i decided to order a copy and i'm gald i did... if you know ski/snowboard movies, i'd compare this to movies from teton gravity research - really well shot and edited with a great soundtrack and a slight documentary feel...
sure, there's some freeride sillyness, but there are also really great segments of riders ripping beautiful buff singletrack and some northshore squences that are almost beyond belief... the movie was made a co-operative effort of the cinematographers, photographers, and riders, hence the name "the collective." i'm not much of a reviewer, but i'd say the only real drawback is that it's not long enough, only 45 minutes, but there is extra footage in the bonus materials, plus a behind the scenes video, and optional filmmaker commentary and music only soundtracks.
one of the collective members is mountain bike photographer-god sterling lorence, and the influence shows in throughout the film, especially in the black and white north shore segments.
http://www.thecollectivefilm.com/
sure, there's some freeride sillyness, but there are also really great segments of riders ripping beautiful buff singletrack and some northshore squences that are almost beyond belief... the movie was made a co-operative effort of the cinematographers, photographers, and riders, hence the name "the collective." i'm not much of a reviewer, but i'd say the only real drawback is that it's not long enough, only 45 minutes, but there is extra footage in the bonus materials, plus a behind the scenes video, and optional filmmaker commentary and music only soundtracks.
one of the collective members is mountain bike photographer-god sterling lorence, and the influence shows in throughout the film, especially in the black and white north shore segments.
http://www.thecollectivefilm.com/
Monday, November 22, 2004
more thoughts on the tacchino race...
always feels, good to finish strong, inspite of being completely wasted a the end... this one was no exception... there was some grumbling about the course... it was a hard course, but shouldn't it be... good handling and technical skills were rewarded, but you still needed to be able to grind out the climbs... i know which parts of the course played to my strengths, and exposed my weaknesses... just need to work on those weaknesses for next time...
Tacchino Ciclicross
with lingering aches from wednesdays gambrill ride (and fall) still around on friday I decided to not bother with saturdays U.S. Grand Prix of Cyclocross race in new jersey... it would have been fun to see the big boys duke it out in the A race up there, but i'd rather take it easy and make sure i can do the local race where there will be people i know, plus a friend and co-worker had a party saturday night for her birthday and it would be a lot easier to stop by there for a bit if i wasn't sandwiching it between 2 races...
the drive down the race on sunday morning wasn't bad, and the entrance to the farm was marked with a yellow and black flandrian lion flag... got registered and then took a couple of quick warmup laps around the course... most of the course ran on farm tracks through the fields, a mix of grassy and double track... the double track sections of the course where slick and muddy, but most had pretty good lines through them... a couple of grassy downhills, mostly though the middle of the fields, wet, with off-camber turns... about a quarter of the way around was the first technical section, a short dirt downhill, followed by a run-up back to the fields... thanks to the rain the dirt was 2 inch deep thick mud. i chose to run this whole section, figuring that i'd be just as slow if i rode the downhill and then dismounted for the run-up... this was pretty common in the C race, but it seemed to harden up a bit later in the day... the run up on the other side was challenging, since there was almost no footing on the slope...
back through the fields to my favorite section, 3 log steps in place of barriers... i rode them on both warmup laps but figured they wouldn't be much of an advantage in the race, since most people would be able to ride them... more fields, then a couple of fast downhill corners and very off-camber right turn... i was able to find a line and get through cleanly, but a lot of people had trouble here... back down into the woods through a gully... easy to ride, just point your bike at the other side and let go of the brakes, but it seemed to scare a lot of riders. up a short dirt climb, then onto the grass and a very soft climb... i ended up running it, but some riders were able to grind it out, so i probably should have tried it on my warmup laps... one last trip though the woods, including a very cool banked turn and a quick climb and then a climb to the finishing straight... the final run into the finish line was flat, with a couple of good lines...
lined up in the third row and waited for the for the whistle... not having ridden since wednesday i ended up losing a few places on the start... the first lap was chaotic... i got stuck behind a rideron the first pass through the logs and had to dismount... after the chaos of the first lap i started pulling back a few riders including a lanterne rouge rider just before the first runup, but the remounts were my undoing... at the top of the 2 run-ups i was so exhausted that my remounts were awful... including one that went so badly i ended up on the ground. i probably lost a couple of minutes just from the runups and remounts...
after 2 laps, the signal was up for 2 more, so i dug in and tried to pull riders back on the climbs and technical sections... i passed a couple who decided to run parts the 2 rideable singletrack sections and by the last lap i was closing on a Team Fuji rider. I made up some time on the logs, which he ran and by the climb to finishing straight i was only a couple of bike lengths back... I held back a little, sticking as close to his wheel as possible - if i'm going to sprint i'd rather be sprinting from behind, since it give you something to chase... once we hit the finishing straight i start pulling closer, and about half way there i hit the gas and come around, beating him by about a bike length at the line... i think there was a bit of a reaction from the crowd and i sat up and coasted to the next break in the tape...
no one i knew had seen the sprint, so i wasn't if they'd give me the place and i had to wait untill the results were up... 18th place in the end, and i did win the sprint... don't know how many were in the class... they've only published results up to 20, but i think there were 25-30.
stuck around for the rest of the races and took pictures, i'll post some later...
the drive down the race on sunday morning wasn't bad, and the entrance to the farm was marked with a yellow and black flandrian lion flag... got registered and then took a couple of quick warmup laps around the course... most of the course ran on farm tracks through the fields, a mix of grassy and double track... the double track sections of the course where slick and muddy, but most had pretty good lines through them... a couple of grassy downhills, mostly though the middle of the fields, wet, with off-camber turns... about a quarter of the way around was the first technical section, a short dirt downhill, followed by a run-up back to the fields... thanks to the rain the dirt was 2 inch deep thick mud. i chose to run this whole section, figuring that i'd be just as slow if i rode the downhill and then dismounted for the run-up... this was pretty common in the C race, but it seemed to harden up a bit later in the day... the run up on the other side was challenging, since there was almost no footing on the slope...
back through the fields to my favorite section, 3 log steps in place of barriers... i rode them on both warmup laps but figured they wouldn't be much of an advantage in the race, since most people would be able to ride them... more fields, then a couple of fast downhill corners and very off-camber right turn... i was able to find a line and get through cleanly, but a lot of people had trouble here... back down into the woods through a gully... easy to ride, just point your bike at the other side and let go of the brakes, but it seemed to scare a lot of riders. up a short dirt climb, then onto the grass and a very soft climb... i ended up running it, but some riders were able to grind it out, so i probably should have tried it on my warmup laps... one last trip though the woods, including a very cool banked turn and a quick climb and then a climb to the finishing straight... the final run into the finish line was flat, with a couple of good lines...
lined up in the third row and waited for the for the whistle... not having ridden since wednesday i ended up losing a few places on the start... the first lap was chaotic... i got stuck behind a rideron the first pass through the logs and had to dismount... after the chaos of the first lap i started pulling back a few riders including a lanterne rouge rider just before the first runup, but the remounts were my undoing... at the top of the 2 run-ups i was so exhausted that my remounts were awful... including one that went so badly i ended up on the ground. i probably lost a couple of minutes just from the runups and remounts...
after 2 laps, the signal was up for 2 more, so i dug in and tried to pull riders back on the climbs and technical sections... i passed a couple who decided to run parts the 2 rideable singletrack sections and by the last lap i was closing on a Team Fuji rider. I made up some time on the logs, which he ran and by the climb to finishing straight i was only a couple of bike lengths back... I held back a little, sticking as close to his wheel as possible - if i'm going to sprint i'd rather be sprinting from behind, since it give you something to chase... once we hit the finishing straight i start pulling closer, and about half way there i hit the gas and come around, beating him by about a bike length at the line... i think there was a bit of a reaction from the crowd and i sat up and coasted to the next break in the tape...
no one i knew had seen the sprint, so i wasn't if they'd give me the place and i had to wait untill the results were up... 18th place in the end, and i did win the sprint... don't know how many were in the class... they've only published results up to 20, but i think there were 25-30.
stuck around for the rest of the races and took pictures, i'll post some later...
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
frustration
normally riding is a release, a chance to blow the stress and frustrations of life away and just enjoy myself for a whille... after a good cross workout at wakefield tuesday night i headed up to gambrill for the night ride tonight...
it started with the drive, an hour and half through georgia avenue, then beltway, then 270 stop and go traffic... only a few minutes to get things togther without holding up the group, but that all went smoothly and we were rolling up the first climb - the worst on the ride, or at least it seems that way since its right out of the parking lot and you have no warm-up beforehand... started strong, but the hard cross practice session left my legs empty and i dropped from the front of the group to the back...
ride the road for a while and then hop onto trail, riding the rocks pretty well... cross over the road at the overlook and drop onto the singletrack... starting to get warmed up and i'm back near the front of the group... looks like i'm going to clean the first technical section, but i'm following another rider and following a line thats a bit different than usual, nearer the outside of the trail and with the trail covered with leaves i ended up going over the bars... hit the ground with my left arm locked and landed on the bars leaving myself with a sore shoulder and what i'm sure will become a pretty nice bruise on my left side... shaken, spooked, back on the bike but somethings not right... my light isn't right, it's there, it's on, but not right... stop, reach up, it's loose... another stop, spend a couple of minutes messing around with the mount (the only thing i don't like about my Lume HID)... catch back up to the group, pissed of, frustrated, and with a rip in my brand new - delivered this afternoon - shorts...
a bit of climbing, stop to wait for another rider who's having a mechanical, more climbing and some nice twisty singletrack... decide to walk the next downhill, it's a tricky one when you can see it, and between my awful riding so far and the lack of light and the leaves covering up a lot of the trails i figure it's better off walked this time... twist and ankle walking down, the same one i twisted this weekend... up a short climb and we split up, considering how my night is going to this point, i pick the slower group... we choose to do the extended loop backwards from th direction that i normally ride it, making a long downhill into a long climb, but giving us a nice twisty downhill at the end...
after a nice downhill we hit the climb, and discover one of the problems with technical climbs in a group... when the person in front of you stops, you stop, on and off the bike all the time up here, some because i get stuck, more because i get stuck behind people... at this point the ride has had no flow, no rythym, it's been on and off the whole ride... too many breaks, too many stops...
actually surprised myself a couple of times on this section, cleaning rocks that i didn't expect... as the climb ended we had a nice twisty ride through the woods, just slightly downhill... across the road to the big rocks and heading back along the ridge to the cars... feeling better now, get to the front and finally get some rythym going... by the end of the ride, fresh of the last downhill, i'm in pain from the crash, but feeling good, riding better...
a final word of advice... if you're riding in a group, and you get stuck, please get off the trail as soon as possible, thanks...
it started with the drive, an hour and half through georgia avenue, then beltway, then 270 stop and go traffic... only a few minutes to get things togther without holding up the group, but that all went smoothly and we were rolling up the first climb - the worst on the ride, or at least it seems that way since its right out of the parking lot and you have no warm-up beforehand... started strong, but the hard cross practice session left my legs empty and i dropped from the front of the group to the back...
ride the road for a while and then hop onto trail, riding the rocks pretty well... cross over the road at the overlook and drop onto the singletrack... starting to get warmed up and i'm back near the front of the group... looks like i'm going to clean the first technical section, but i'm following another rider and following a line thats a bit different than usual, nearer the outside of the trail and with the trail covered with leaves i ended up going over the bars... hit the ground with my left arm locked and landed on the bars leaving myself with a sore shoulder and what i'm sure will become a pretty nice bruise on my left side... shaken, spooked, back on the bike but somethings not right... my light isn't right, it's there, it's on, but not right... stop, reach up, it's loose... another stop, spend a couple of minutes messing around with the mount (the only thing i don't like about my Lume HID)... catch back up to the group, pissed of, frustrated, and with a rip in my brand new - delivered this afternoon - shorts...
a bit of climbing, stop to wait for another rider who's having a mechanical, more climbing and some nice twisty singletrack... decide to walk the next downhill, it's a tricky one when you can see it, and between my awful riding so far and the lack of light and the leaves covering up a lot of the trails i figure it's better off walked this time... twist and ankle walking down, the same one i twisted this weekend... up a short climb and we split up, considering how my night is going to this point, i pick the slower group... we choose to do the extended loop backwards from th direction that i normally ride it, making a long downhill into a long climb, but giving us a nice twisty downhill at the end...
after a nice downhill we hit the climb, and discover one of the problems with technical climbs in a group... when the person in front of you stops, you stop, on and off the bike all the time up here, some because i get stuck, more because i get stuck behind people... at this point the ride has had no flow, no rythym, it's been on and off the whole ride... too many breaks, too many stops...
actually surprised myself a couple of times on this section, cleaning rocks that i didn't expect... as the climb ended we had a nice twisty ride through the woods, just slightly downhill... across the road to the big rocks and heading back along the ridge to the cars... feeling better now, get to the front and finally get some rythym going... by the end of the ride, fresh of the last downhill, i'm in pain from the crash, but feeling good, riding better...
a final word of advice... if you're riding in a group, and you get stuck, please get off the trail as soon as possible, thanks...
Sunday, November 14, 2004
ups and downs
thanks to work, i couldn't get the the thursday night ride... but friday i got to see my grandmother who's visiting from england
saturday i decided to take a break from riding and go for a long run, heading from home down into the park and up towards the park police station... plan was for about an hour, twice as long as i've ever done before... 20 minutes into the run, and about as far as i'd get from home, i had a bad footfall on a small rock and twisted my left ankle... this is the third time this year that i've twisted an ankle while running, and it turned my rest of my run into a miserable and cold 40 minute walk home...
prospects for riding sunday didn't look good, i had to go into work early since census was coming in to do a security scan on the network and i'd need to be there, at least for a while to make sure that everything went smoothly. packed up my riding gear anyway and left my 'cross bike in the car where its been since the tuesday night cross ride at wakefield - in case i was able to get out of the office early enough to hit schaeffer...
as it turned out the scan was a lot faster than i expected and i was on the road to germantown faster than expected... stopped by my parents to change, then hit the trails... two nice loops, sunny and chilly, but not too cold... took a break in the middle, back in the parking lot, to chat with a couple of the regulars up there... trails were pretty dry, a couple of new mudholes, and the fields are probably a write-off from now untill late spring, unless there is a good freeze...
dc united is up 3-1 near the end of the first half of the mls cup...
saturday i decided to take a break from riding and go for a long run, heading from home down into the park and up towards the park police station... plan was for about an hour, twice as long as i've ever done before... 20 minutes into the run, and about as far as i'd get from home, i had a bad footfall on a small rock and twisted my left ankle... this is the third time this year that i've twisted an ankle while running, and it turned my rest of my run into a miserable and cold 40 minute walk home...
prospects for riding sunday didn't look good, i had to go into work early since census was coming in to do a security scan on the network and i'd need to be there, at least for a while to make sure that everything went smoothly. packed up my riding gear anyway and left my 'cross bike in the car where its been since the tuesday night cross ride at wakefield - in case i was able to get out of the office early enough to hit schaeffer...
as it turned out the scan was a lot faster than i expected and i was on the road to germantown faster than expected... stopped by my parents to change, then hit the trails... two nice loops, sunny and chilly, but not too cold... took a break in the middle, back in the parking lot, to chat with a couple of the regulars up there... trails were pretty dry, a couple of new mudholes, and the fields are probably a write-off from now untill late spring, unless there is a good freeze...
dc united is up 3-1 near the end of the first half of the mls cup...
Friday, November 12, 2004
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
go alma mater...
ok, the rebuilt and even faster than before system X has dropped from the 3rd to 7th on the top 500 supercomputer list, but at 12.25 teraflops, virginia tech still has the fastest supercomputer at an academic institution... it's also the cheapest machine in the top 10 at $6 million, while number 6 is only about 10% faster and cost $200 million...
the top500 list
yeah, i'm a geek and i know it...
the top500 list
yeah, i'm a geek and i know it...
another cyclocross practice
cyclocross practice out at wakefield last night... good crowd, a bunch of fast guys (and girls) and some novices... learning the "proper" dismount technique last week has set my dismounts (and confidence in them) back about a year... it's definately a faster way to get through the barriers, but it's going to take some more practice to get the timing down... had a nice fall on one of the barriers when my left foot didn't unclip... slid straight into the barrier and almost got run over by sami and melanie... still can't get the remount down without the stutter-step/hop... anyway, i've got a couple more weeks to practice before my next race... the tuesday night cyclocross practice/clinics are sponsored by MORE and The Bike Lane and run through the end of the month... details here
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Thomas Jefferson, 1798...
"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their
government to it's true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long
oppressions of enormous public debt. If the game runs sometimes against us at
home we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an
opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game
where principles are at stake."
Monday, November 08, 2004
Sunday, November 07, 2004
indian summer sky
my brother was back from school for the weekend, so i went up to my parents early saturday to pick him and one of his friends up to head up to gambrill for a ride... the day was great... cool and sunny, and the trails were great. rode the IF and was reminded of why i normally ride my dual suspension up there, those rocks beat you up on a hardtail...
caught the last part of the dc united game on saturday night... they won on penalty kicks after a tie in regulation and a scoreless overtime and are back in the MLS championship after and extended absence...
up to schaeffer on sunday under another beautiful blue sky... a bit warmer than saturday and not surprisingly the parking lot was full, cars parked all the way up the access road... surprising that with so may people there you don't see too many people on the trails... i passed a few kids riding, some with their dads... it's always cool to see kids out riding... the trails were hard and fast... i hit just about all of the trails, some sections a couple of times... since i was riding by myself i rode hard and my legs were worked by the end of the ride...
saw the incredibles on friday night... it's an amazing movie...
caught the last part of the dc united game on saturday night... they won on penalty kicks after a tie in regulation and a scoreless overtime and are back in the MLS championship after and extended absence...
up to schaeffer on sunday under another beautiful blue sky... a bit warmer than saturday and not surprisingly the parking lot was full, cars parked all the way up the access road... surprising that with so may people there you don't see too many people on the trails... i passed a few kids riding, some with their dads... it's always cool to see kids out riding... the trails were hard and fast... i hit just about all of the trails, some sections a couple of times... since i was riding by myself i rode hard and my legs were worked by the end of the ride...
saw the incredibles on friday night... it's an amazing movie...
Friday, November 05, 2004
back to the gym...
between the dark and rain last night i had no desire to run when i got home last night, so i went to the gym to lift weights for the first time since the spring... light weights/high reps for now to get back into the swing of things... tried to remember the program from last year, but i really need to check the book...
riding tommorow, gambrill probably, with my brother, who's back from school in florida for the weekend...
riding tommorow, gambrill probably, with my brother, who's back from school in florida for the weekend...
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
the day after
what can you say... four more years of smirky and snarly creating their own reality and one diminished opinion of the american electorate...
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
got home after the team meeting at tryst last night only to realize that things weren't right at work... after a couple of harried phone calls i ended up heading into the office to help move some machines to a working part of the network... got home again at about 3am...
'cross clinic/practice out at wakefield tonight under the lights on the ballfields... then home to get the next MORE newsletter put together...
'cross clinic/practice out at wakefield tonight under the lights on the ballfields... then home to get the next MORE newsletter put together...
Monday, November 01, 2004
coblestone cyclocross #1
up on time, thanks to the promoters scheduling the C race for 10 instead of 9 and the clocks falling back sunday morning, and into the car with plenty of time... 2 hour drive down to richmond and an hour to register/warm up... there's no need to leave extra time for traffic, it's a sunday morning...
2 minutes into my drive and i hit a police barricade trying to get onto beach drive... strange... plan b... head down connecticut ave to pick up rock creek parkway further south... another barricade blocking the ramp to the parkway, this one with a couple of marines alongside the cops... damn, is it the marine corps marathon today? keep going down conn. ave and try to make it over to independance and get to 395 that way... no luck, get onto constitution heading west; no way across the mall, but i can get to 66... i'm a bit behind schedule now and it'll be the long way round, but it'll work...
as soon as i get over the bridge the signboards start reading "accident at spout run parkway - exit closed" but that won't be a problem for me, i don't need that exit... a minute later and there's traffic heading towards me in the shoulders, then i hit the backup... everyone is out of their cars wandering around the interstate, not a good sign... turn the radio to the news/traffic/weather station... the whole road is closed so they can bring in a medevac heli... think about turning around, but i don't know where to go in on the virginia side and heading back into DC doesn't seem like a good idea... 45 minutes parked on 66 before we start moving... too late to make a 10am race in richmond...
went for an easy road ride in the afternoon... would have rather been racing...
2 minutes into my drive and i hit a police barricade trying to get onto beach drive... strange... plan b... head down connecticut ave to pick up rock creek parkway further south... another barricade blocking the ramp to the parkway, this one with a couple of marines alongside the cops... damn, is it the marine corps marathon today? keep going down conn. ave and try to make it over to independance and get to 395 that way... no luck, get onto constitution heading west; no way across the mall, but i can get to 66... i'm a bit behind schedule now and it'll be the long way round, but it'll work...
as soon as i get over the bridge the signboards start reading "accident at spout run parkway - exit closed" but that won't be a problem for me, i don't need that exit... a minute later and there's traffic heading towards me in the shoulders, then i hit the backup... everyone is out of their cars wandering around the interstate, not a good sign... turn the radio to the news/traffic/weather station... the whole road is closed so they can bring in a medevac heli... think about turning around, but i don't know where to go in on the virginia side and heading back into DC doesn't seem like a good idea... 45 minutes parked on 66 before we start moving... too late to make a 10am race in richmond...
went for an easy road ride in the afternoon... would have rather been racing...
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