...it may be a bit early but....

I'm thinking about cyclocross....a LOT. The Voodoo is on the hook in my home office, so I gaze at it often. I've got the best fitness base now that I have ever had (about 2k miles so far). The first two big goals for the season have been accomplished (and I rode better than I had thought I would), and I've got one more biggie to start planning for (the 24 Hours of Great Glen in early August). So now that trail riding is going to take on more priority (I want to do one or two MTB races as well), it oooooonly makes sense to get on the cross bike too.

I have to say that one of the coolest aspects of joining MRC is the BIG group of folks that are as into 'cross as I am. I think we'll have upwards of 15 people in the red, white, and blue kits every weekend with lots of strong folks challenging for podium spots. My goal is to snag a few top tens and earn upgrade points.

So I'm going to start adding a 'cross workout per week (probably before work for an hour) so I can get used to the bike again and really work on my skills (which suck).

....and perhaps one of the funnier cartoons of the year-enjoy!!

B2B '08

When I first signed up for the Harpoon B2B ride (146 miles from South Boston to Windsor, VT) I was a bit hesitant as to how effective I would be. The course profile (over 6000 feet of climbing) and the length of the ride had me really concerned. I decided that I would get as many long rides (>70 miles with lots of climbing) in as I possibly could given the constraints of life. Let's face it, with 3 small kids, multiple centuries are difficult to get in.

I think the plan worked out well, as I felt strong throughout the day. Save for the last ten miles of the day when psychologically I was just ready to be done, I rode well. I was able to maintain consistent pace up the looooooooooooooong climbs (I think the "new" one was about 10 miles long) and tuck in behind trains of triathletes on the flats. My max speed on the descents was over 45 mph. I had a slight computer malfunction, so I'm not sure how long my ride time was nor what my average speed was. I seemed to be the strongest (along with Jay) on the overall ride among the UMass guys....I was able to spend some time with Ian and Gary of the MRC crew...not sure how the 22+ mph guys were doing....Cort looked to be having some difficulty when I ran into him at the second rest stop at mile 110, but knowing him he probably rebounded and crushed the last 30+. Vic and Jim looked not the worst for wear when I saw them in Windsor.

I think a big key for me doing well was much more disciplined eating and drinking....I was eating something every hour and hitting the Heed bottle every 15-20 minutes and the Perpetuem bottle every 45 minutes. I had one bit of cramping toward the end (inside the last 10 miles or so) but was able to soft pedal for a bit and get back in a groove. No cramping on a humid and long day with lots of hills was just great and a sign that I was doing something right this time around. On all of the PMCs and other centuries that I have done in the past, cramping has been a problem for me.

I'll be back next year it was a great long distance ride. Penny and I managed to get totally and completely lost trying to find our friends' house in Ludlow, VT (to capsulize, the road had both odd and even numbered houses on the same side of the street, their house had two numbers, 477 and 881, and the numbers were out of sequence-we went past 881 to 1093 only to then pass 439...gotta love Vermont back roads....). The house was built in the late 1700's and doesn't have a flat floor in the entire place! I went down to the dirt floor basement to check out the structure and was amazed to see load carrying beams made of bark clad trees! The property is gorgeous with a little frog pond in the back, a big sweeping deck and wild flower beds all over. Many, many, many thanks to the bartender at the Burger Joint in Ludlow for feeding us a 10:30-we were famished and he hooked us up big time.

Time to start transitioning to the mountain bike with the next big event being the 24 hours of Great Glen. Hoping to have Rich's fork on the hard tail for that event as he is building up a new 29er. I have heard that this course, unlike Pat's Peak, is a bit more suited to hard tails which should be a welcome respite....

Oh, one last thing....was that the greatest clutch putt in the history of pro golf yesterday by Tiger or what?????

Pre B2B

Well, here we go....the week going into the Harpoon B2B-145 miles....without question my longest one day effort. I'm a bit nervous, but shit, it's just a bike ride, so I'm going to try and enjoy the day. The weather forecast looks to be perfect as of now with a high of 79. There's a bunch of MRC'rs heading in for this event, though varying speeds....Kimball is planning to do the 22 mph group (!!!!!!) as is Koch. Not sure what Cort's signed up, likely the same. I'm hoping to go for 18 or 19 average, we'll see how the endurance goes.

Went out to Wachusett with a couple of friends this past Saturday....~70 miles and 4000 ft of climbing....good effort though I started to feel it toward the end. Followed that up with a 50 mile ride on Sunday on the MRC loop-ran into Kyle on Oak Hill and we headed over to the bike course of the Firm 1/2 Iron race going on through Lancaster and Harvard. While the legs feel generally good going into this weekend, my back hasn't been right since Pat's so I'm taking a couple days off of the bike. Going to try and get the chiropractor to straighten me out Friday.

Pat's Peak

Six hours on a mountain bike is a long time to ride. Six hours on a hardtail mountain bike on pretty rough single track makes for an epic ride. Went up for the Pat's Peak MTB Festival and decided to pin on a number for the six hour solo with a few of the MRC crew-Billy D., Art, Bad Brad, and Rich "GFG".

Pretty happy with the end result being 8 laps and 40 miles and 14th place. I rode the last 3 laps on a pretty tricked out Trek Fuel trail bike. It was my first time really having at it on a full suspension bike and I have to admit that it was amazing. I was absolutely a better rider and I could fly on the descents! Had I been on that rig from the start I could have done another lap for sure. I felt better after the third lap on that bike than I did after 5 laps on my old bike. So much for being the old cratchedy soul rider....riding courses like this on a hardtail is simply playing against a stacked deck, it's as simple as that.

Next big objective is the Harpoon ride next weekend. I feel pretty unprepared given that I only have one century under my belt thus far, but several rides of 70+. I'll be in a group and will keep it sensible for the majority of the ride. It's 140 + with the climbing all pretty much at the end so I'm just looking to get to Windsor without wanting to throw my bike in the river!!