thursday. lazy morning and then out of the house and off on the bike think that the rain was ending... it wasn't, but i managed to convice myself to keep going for 2 hours in steady 40-degree rain. i've got to say, it was a pretty miserable ride, but it's good to know that the first cold & wet ride for the winter is past me now -- it's a lot easier to get out on the cold dry days once you're glad that at least it's not raining. once i got back home it took almost an hour to get my body back up to room temperature. we went up to my parents in the evening for thanksgiving dinner.
friday. woke up to a beautiful clear sky and warmer air but no coffee beans in the house so we took a walk down to one of the local coffee shops (we've got 3 in stumbling distance) to get a cup of joe and something to eat, read the paper, and replenish our bean supply. so much better of a way to start the day after thanksgiving than heading to the mall or standing in line for hours outside a big-box store. not that either of us would be inclined to do that anyway.
after getting coffee i got the road bike out again and what a difference a day makes. i started out planning to ride the same loop as the day before with a slight extension on to the end, but since i was feeling so good i decided to see if i could make it all the way out to travillah rd and back instead of cutting across on seven locks road. my legs felt good, the sun felt good, but once i got to travillah and then turned back down river road i started to realize that i was going to be back later than i'd told heather so i cut a little distance off the ride and kept pushing all the way home.
after a quick lunch we took a trip down to georgetown... a couple of errands and then a trip to pizzeria paradiso. i started with a nimbus "strong pale ale" from atlas in scotland, hand pulled off the beer engine and then stuck with the british isles theme with a conniston bluebird bitter and a old engine oil from harviestoun brewery. they all went really well with the pizza margherita... i keep thinking i should explore the menu a little more, but the margherita is just so good it seems like it' be a shame to put anything else on it.
saturday. another day with the family, this time to hike at sugarloaf mtn, which heather has never done and i haven't in years. the walk was fun, except for when i dropped heather's camera onto the rocks and watched it bounce a few times before sliding to a stop. it's working, sort-of, but i'm guessing that when i take it that there won't be much chance of fixing it. finished the day at crate & barrel to start registering. it seems a little early to me, but who really knows...
sunday. gambrill.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
taccinio
this is going to be a rambly post... there are a bunch of things i've wanted to post but haven't had time and i wasn't quite ready to bump the last post down yet.
raced squadra coppi's taccinio ciclicross on saturday. heather & my parents both came out to watch but i managed only a respectable finish. 14th is my highest placing so far this season, but the field was small (sub-40?) and i should have been top ten.
i had a decent start for for the first time this year and managed to move up 4 or 5 places on the first lap but had constant trouble on a short but very steep climb right after the start/finish. i wound up in the tape off the side of the course at least 3 times in 8 laps and lost at least 4 place because of it. i only salvaged 14th because dave crouse from the bike lane also wound up in the tape on the last lap.
the highlight of the day was when the annoucer, who was calling out names as we came past the start/finish midway through the race, paused when he read my name, then mentioned my blog post from last week and congratulated us both... heather and my parents were out of earshot of the PA at the time, but it was pretty cool. after the race we wandered around leesburg for a while and got some halfway decent fish & chips at a little pub in town.
looks like i'll be doing a couple more cross races this year. other than the capital cross out at reston i'd figured this would be my last racing weekend of the year, but it looks like i'm going to be able to swing a trip to providence for nationals in december. i'll be racing friday in the 30-34 and then hanging out to watch and shoot the national championship races on saturday before heading down to philly to meet up with heather. it'll be interesting to see how far back i end up lining up since the seeding is based on registration order.
i'm going to try and get to the MABRA championship race in taneytown the weekend after thanksgiving as well. should be good motivation to stay active over the holiday weekend and keep me in shape for the capital cross in reston.
i need to get out to some more cross practices... the barriers on saturday were ugly. they were in the middle of a long fast flat section and i just didn't have the chops.
we had a dcmtb/city bikes team meeting last night. sounds like there will be a little structural change but unfortuantely they seem to think i'm doing a decent job and don't want to kick me out as captain. there was talk of getting together a team (or two?) to challenge for the granny gear national point series. we'd hit the 3 east coast races (converys, big bear, killington) and one west coast (temecula?). sounds like fun to me...
raced squadra coppi's taccinio ciclicross on saturday. heather & my parents both came out to watch but i managed only a respectable finish. 14th is my highest placing so far this season, but the field was small (sub-40?) and i should have been top ten.
i had a decent start for for the first time this year and managed to move up 4 or 5 places on the first lap but had constant trouble on a short but very steep climb right after the start/finish. i wound up in the tape off the side of the course at least 3 times in 8 laps and lost at least 4 place because of it. i only salvaged 14th because dave crouse from the bike lane also wound up in the tape on the last lap.
the highlight of the day was when the annoucer, who was calling out names as we came past the start/finish midway through the race, paused when he read my name, then mentioned my blog post from last week and congratulated us both... heather and my parents were out of earshot of the PA at the time, but it was pretty cool. after the race we wandered around leesburg for a while and got some halfway decent fish & chips at a little pub in town.
looks like i'll be doing a couple more cross races this year. other than the capital cross out at reston i'd figured this would be my last racing weekend of the year, but it looks like i'm going to be able to swing a trip to providence for nationals in december. i'll be racing friday in the 30-34 and then hanging out to watch and shoot the national championship races on saturday before heading down to philly to meet up with heather. it'll be interesting to see how far back i end up lining up since the seeding is based on registration order.
i'm going to try and get to the MABRA championship race in taneytown the weekend after thanksgiving as well. should be good motivation to stay active over the holiday weekend and keep me in shape for the capital cross in reston.
i need to get out to some more cross practices... the barriers on saturday were ugly. they were in the middle of a long fast flat section and i just didn't have the chops.
we had a dcmtb/city bikes team meeting last night. sounds like there will be a little structural change but unfortuantely they seem to think i'm doing a decent job and don't want to kick me out as captain. there was talk of getting together a team (or two?) to challenge for the granny gear national point series. we'd hit the 3 east coast races (converys, big bear, killington) and one west coast (temecula?). sounds like fun to me...
Monday, October 30, 2006
10/22/05
on an october saturday last year a girl from philly got up early in the morning to drive to an estate in delaware to go watch some boy she'd met a couple of times do some kind of bike race. the boy was from dc.
she was worried she wouldn't be able to find him; he was worried it would be really muddy and cold and she'd have a miserable time.
they found each other, he won his race, they didn't have a miserable time. they went back to her house and hung out in her kitchen while she made spaghetti for her friends and then they went to a halloween party (she was a cowgirl; he was the black knight).
on the way home he held her hand...
Postscript: i wrote this post last week. on friday night i proposed to heather. she said yes.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
barbeque
good riding this weekend... wakefield on saturday, gambrill on sunday.
saturday was the MORE picnic at wakefield. heather went with a beginner group and i ended up leading a small group (dom, ashmore, junkins, and myself) over to accotink. once we were over there i gave up point to junkins, who did a much better job of picking a fun route than i would have. we had a good ride, in spite of my slowly softening rear tire and dom cramping up a bit. it was good to ride with jason, who i've hardly seen at all this year, again.
once we were done with the ride we headed back over to the picnic and heard the tale of heather's run-in with a tree -- it sounded a lot like mine on thursday -- and then we ate some great bbq and fries (and i had a few too many desserts) and hung out for a while.
saturday was the MORE picnic at wakefield. heather went with a beginner group and i ended up leading a small group (dom, ashmore, junkins, and myself) over to accotink. once we were over there i gave up point to junkins, who did a much better job of picking a fun route than i would have. we had a good ride, in spite of my slowly softening rear tire and dom cramping up a bit. it was good to ride with jason, who i've hardly seen at all this year, again.
once we were done with the ride we headed back over to the picnic and heard the tale of heather's run-in with a tree -- it sounded a lot like mine on thursday -- and then we ate some great bbq and fries (and i had a few too many desserts) and hung out for a while.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
wakefield...
wakefield ride tonight
dark, wet, twisty, slick, slippery
rode with the fast guys, rode fast, rode well, leaning over the bike, feeling it slide around
got off my line in the trees, hit one
a little scraped, a little brusied, otherwise ok
dark, wet, twisty, slick, slippery
rode with the fast guys, rode fast, rode well, leaning over the bike, feeling it slide around
got off my line in the trees, hit one
a little scraped, a little brusied, otherwise ok
Monday, October 16, 2006
douthat...
while the full douthat recap is in the works here's the short version and a couple of pictures...
it was pretty cold in the mornings...
but many people still showed up (even if they were a little slower getting up)
and, as always, the riding at douthat was very, very, good.
more pics on flickr
it was pretty cold in the mornings...
but many people still showed up (even if they were a little slower getting up)
and, as always, the riding at douthat was very, very, good.
more pics on flickr
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Sunday, October 01, 2006
now thats more like it
ed sanders cyclocross today. got a better position at the start line and had a fairly good start, took the first 1/2 lap fairly easy, my legs weren't feeling great, but then started to push a little bit on the B loop. the course was flat, winding around the ponds at lilypons, with a lot of hard 90-degree turns that got pretty muddy as the day wore on.
2nd lap i was riding with mike and we were closing in on The Bike Lane's dave crouse when mike took a corner badly and took a tumble into one of the ponds. we'd been trying to work together to make up some ground, but i decided to go it alone. i was able to keep reeling in a couple of riders a lap, moving up through the field slowly and surely to finish 19th out of 62 starters. on the last lap i was closing in on a snow valley rider and was able to catch him at the top of the downhill into the start finish but just wasn't able to get around him on the last corner before he hit the downhill. he got a little ahead on the downhill and i just couldn't catch him before the finish line.
the mud made it a good course for mountain bikers... being able to hold more speed through the corners and stay on the bike on a couple of short and muddy 50/50 climbs was a big help. i think i rode a good race, attacking where i knew i could make a difference and getting gaps on riders to give myself a chance to recover.
2nd lap i was riding with mike and we were closing in on The Bike Lane's dave crouse when mike took a corner badly and took a tumble into one of the ponds. we'd been trying to work together to make up some ground, but i decided to go it alone. i was able to keep reeling in a couple of riders a lap, moving up through the field slowly and surely to finish 19th out of 62 starters. on the last lap i was closing in on a snow valley rider and was able to catch him at the top of the downhill into the start finish but just wasn't able to get around him on the last corner before he hit the downhill. he got a little ahead on the downhill and i just couldn't catch him before the finish line.
the mud made it a good course for mountain bikers... being able to hold more speed through the corners and stay on the bike on a couple of short and muddy 50/50 climbs was a big help. i think i rode a good race, attacking where i knew i could make a difference and getting gaps on riders to give myself a chance to recover.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
charm city cross
i rolled into this weekend's charm city cross - the first midatlantic race of the season - excited but unsure. i've raced (and ridden) so sporadically this year that i had no idea what kind of shape i was in. i'd been relatively happy with my race results and unlike previous years i'd actually managed to spend a decent amount of time working on my 'cross skills in the prior weeks, but i was lacking any context within which to judge myself.
the forecast was threatening rain and storms but it was still dry as i arrived at druid hill park in baltimore before the first race of the day. i like to get to cross races early so that i can get a nice relaxed look at the course before the racing starts, so i suited up, put my race wheels (to which i'd finally mounted my tufos the night before) on my bike and took a couple of laps.
the course was long with no steep climbs, but there were a couple of hills near the end, a road climb from the start followed by a flat road finish straight that was perfect for sprinting and a couple of long fast grassy drags. a real power course. there were a couple of tight and off-camber corners, but otherwise it wasn't that technical. two sets of planks, both right after turns, one followed by a long shallow climb that would make a quick remount difficult. throw in a wooden retaining wall, followed by 180 around a tree to go back over the wall, and a triple sandpit with a 180-degree turn in the middle and you've got a good idea of the course.
watched the C race, took another couple of laps between that and the masters race, then started my final prep and warm up. there were callups based on registration order, so i took a fast lap of the course before heading to the start to line up. number 133 put me back in the 4th row of a 90+ rider field and i ended up near the middle of the row. as the ref blew the whistle i could feel the rest of the field starting faster than the area that i was. there was some rubbing on the start but we all stayed upright. my start wasn't good, in fact i'd say it was downright bad. being right in the middle of the field i had nowhere to go and then got stuck behind bottlenecks and pileups a couple times once we got off the road and into the grass. once i had the chance i started passing riders, including my city bikes/metrogutter teammate mike scardaville, fort james, and dillard, working my way up through the field.
3 laps down, 4 laps to go we were pretty well sorted out and i started to let off the gas a bit to make sure i'd make it too the end of the race without fading. i had a kelly rider in front of me, and a couple of coppi riders behind me. i passed the kelly rider after he went off course on a road crossing half way around the lap, then he came back around 30 seconds later when i took a turn wide and ended up in the tape. next lap i took a bad line through a tricky off-camber turn up and around a tree and ended up in the dirt. i was back up quickly but realized that 6 inches of my tufo had popped off my rim. i'm not sure if this was the cause of the crash, or a result of it, but i was able to pop it back onto the rim and ride to the pit, which, luckily for me, was pretty close. eric leaver of ncvc gave me a hand getting my pit front wheel on and i got back out onto the course to try and salvage my race.
i'd burnt enough matches in my ride up through the field on the first couple of laps that i didn't have the juice left to take back many places, but i probably managed to pull back 5 or 6 places in the last couple of laps. mike put in a good chase when i came around him, but i was able to build a little gap.
i'm not disappointed with my result (50 of 78 finishers), but i'd have been much happier if i'd not crashed and finished where i think i was before that (around 35th i think). with a better start i think i'd have done a lot better. my remounts aren't great -- they still have a stutter-step -- but they're getting better and i'm getting back in the pedals faster. i'm definately not losing as much time on the barriers as i used to. the 45-minute B race didn't seem as long as it did last year when i made the move from the Cs in the middle of last season.
i liked the tufo rear/michelin mud front setup that i had after my mid-race wheel change, so i think i might keep it. the michelin felt more sure-footed in the corners, but i do like the extra climbing traction in the rear from the lower pressure you can run in a tufo.
B race notes: brewer won the race, beating georgia gould (current womens mtb national champion)... the top 10 had 3 under 18s (nick bax, morgan gerlak, zach adams)... fatmarc took 6th, nystrom 7th...
great course, great park, great people, great time... keep it up guys.
next up... ed sanders cyclocross at lilypons
the forecast was threatening rain and storms but it was still dry as i arrived at druid hill park in baltimore before the first race of the day. i like to get to cross races early so that i can get a nice relaxed look at the course before the racing starts, so i suited up, put my race wheels (to which i'd finally mounted my tufos the night before) on my bike and took a couple of laps.
the course was long with no steep climbs, but there were a couple of hills near the end, a road climb from the start followed by a flat road finish straight that was perfect for sprinting and a couple of long fast grassy drags. a real power course. there were a couple of tight and off-camber corners, but otherwise it wasn't that technical. two sets of planks, both right after turns, one followed by a long shallow climb that would make a quick remount difficult. throw in a wooden retaining wall, followed by 180 around a tree to go back over the wall, and a triple sandpit with a 180-degree turn in the middle and you've got a good idea of the course.
watched the C race, took another couple of laps between that and the masters race, then started my final prep and warm up. there were callups based on registration order, so i took a fast lap of the course before heading to the start to line up. number 133 put me back in the 4th row of a 90+ rider field and i ended up near the middle of the row. as the ref blew the whistle i could feel the rest of the field starting faster than the area that i was. there was some rubbing on the start but we all stayed upright. my start wasn't good, in fact i'd say it was downright bad. being right in the middle of the field i had nowhere to go and then got stuck behind bottlenecks and pileups a couple times once we got off the road and into the grass. once i had the chance i started passing riders, including my city bikes/metrogutter teammate mike scardaville, fort james, and dillard, working my way up through the field.
3 laps down, 4 laps to go we were pretty well sorted out and i started to let off the gas a bit to make sure i'd make it too the end of the race without fading. i had a kelly rider in front of me, and a couple of coppi riders behind me. i passed the kelly rider after he went off course on a road crossing half way around the lap, then he came back around 30 seconds later when i took a turn wide and ended up in the tape. next lap i took a bad line through a tricky off-camber turn up and around a tree and ended up in the dirt. i was back up quickly but realized that 6 inches of my tufo had popped off my rim. i'm not sure if this was the cause of the crash, or a result of it, but i was able to pop it back onto the rim and ride to the pit, which, luckily for me, was pretty close. eric leaver of ncvc gave me a hand getting my pit front wheel on and i got back out onto the course to try and salvage my race.
i'd burnt enough matches in my ride up through the field on the first couple of laps that i didn't have the juice left to take back many places, but i probably managed to pull back 5 or 6 places in the last couple of laps. mike put in a good chase when i came around him, but i was able to build a little gap.
i'm not disappointed with my result (50 of 78 finishers), but i'd have been much happier if i'd not crashed and finished where i think i was before that (around 35th i think). with a better start i think i'd have done a lot better. my remounts aren't great -- they still have a stutter-step -- but they're getting better and i'm getting back in the pedals faster. i'm definately not losing as much time on the barriers as i used to. the 45-minute B race didn't seem as long as it did last year when i made the move from the Cs in the middle of last season.
i liked the tufo rear/michelin mud front setup that i had after my mid-race wheel change, so i think i might keep it. the michelin felt more sure-footed in the corners, but i do like the extra climbing traction in the rear from the lower pressure you can run in a tufo.
B race notes: brewer won the race, beating georgia gould (current womens mtb national champion)... the top 10 had 3 under 18s (nick bax, morgan gerlak, zach adams)... fatmarc took 6th, nystrom 7th...
great course, great park, great people, great time... keep it up guys.
next up... ed sanders cyclocross at lilypons
Monday, September 25, 2006
shifting shifters...
back in the spring i bought a new (used) road bike. it was going to be a bike to leave up in philly to make the logistics of alternate weekend a little easier, but due to injuries and a couple of warranty issues i didn't manage to get the bike set up until my previous road bike was knocked out of commission by my run it with a car a couple of months ago.
one of the big draws that got me to fork out some hard earned money for the bike was the campy carbon record drive train and i've got to say that after a month on it i'm a big fan. it took a little while to retrain my hands to the campy-style shifting (paddle & trigger).
a couple of weeks in i can't think of a single thing that prefer on my old shimano setup. there are a lot of advantages that i could mention (easier downshifts, multiple upshifts at a time, being able to trim the front derailleur) but the one that i sticks out the most is just how good the shifters feel in your hands. the combination of the very flat profile of the top of the hoods and a nice flattened are on the FSA K-Wing handlebar on the bike makes the hoods (where i spend 95% + of my time on a road bike) a lot more comfortable than shimano. these shifters just plain feel good. flipping the paddle for a rear derailleur downshift is a lot easier action than twisting the whole brake lever (a la shimano) and the upshift trigger action is light and allows multiple upshifts.
now that cross season is here and i'm spending time on my shimano equipped cross bike i'm having trouble re-adjusting and i'm thinking about going to a single ring campy setup on my cross bike. i can pick up a couple of american classic conversion cassettes for my cross wheels, but campy shifter and derailleurs can be pretty pricey so i'm not sure if i can swing it right now.
one of the big draws that got me to fork out some hard earned money for the bike was the campy carbon record drive train and i've got to say that after a month on it i'm a big fan. it took a little while to retrain my hands to the campy-style shifting (paddle & trigger).
a couple of weeks in i can't think of a single thing that prefer on my old shimano setup. there are a lot of advantages that i could mention (easier downshifts, multiple upshifts at a time, being able to trim the front derailleur) but the one that i sticks out the most is just how good the shifters feel in your hands. the combination of the very flat profile of the top of the hoods and a nice flattened are on the FSA K-Wing handlebar on the bike makes the hoods (where i spend 95% + of my time on a road bike) a lot more comfortable than shimano. these shifters just plain feel good. flipping the paddle for a rear derailleur downshift is a lot easier action than twisting the whole brake lever (a la shimano) and the upshift trigger action is light and allows multiple upshifts.
now that cross season is here and i'm spending time on my shimano equipped cross bike i'm having trouble re-adjusting and i'm thinking about going to a single ring campy setup on my cross bike. i can pick up a couple of american classic conversion cassettes for my cross wheels, but campy shifter and derailleurs can be pretty pricey so i'm not sure if i can swing it right now.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
The 2006 Shenandoah Mountain 100
View set as a slideshow (recomended)
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