DIRT AND GEARS

2012-02-01T09:25:00.001-05:00

Alrighty-winter base training is in effect full swing. Isn't it tough getting on the trainer? An hour isn't too bad but 2 or more hours is nasty. My recorded tour de france video's keep me rolling though-watching the pro's crank out some serious power is inspiring. The scenery is breathtaking and motivating as well.

One new thing this season is that I'm training with power. I picked a wired power tap pro up on ebay last month for a steal. It's already helping me train better, smarter and more efficient. Already I can tell it will be a major game changer when doing intervals this spring and summer during build period. Overall, a really cool tool and fun to have another way of tracking your work and fitness.

The weather is nice and warm for Ohio (almost 60deg yesterday) and this weekend won't be too bad either so make sure to get in some nice road rides this week.

Our race team (pure 121) is growing with riders and sponsors. Our manager, Chuck George has a knack for collecting sponsors-we get major discounts on:

Velvet Shocks
Honeystinger

2. Uvex

3. Aerotech designs

4. Feedback sports

5. 661

6. Redcloud productions

7. Matchstick media
Sock guy

We are growing to around 20 total team members this year! Pure Dirt also has purpose-our mission and scripture...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)

This is a great scripture because it exhorts us to run the race of life that God has given us with passion and endurance. This applies to racing as well as we will need Gods help and endurance to finish the Mohican 100 in June : )

Mohican Championship Race

2011-10-24T10:27:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a great day for "racin." The weather was great and trail conditions were perfect. From the start I tucked in behind another rider for the first mile. There was some strong wind so I drafted as much as I could until we hit the first climb. At this point I was in 2nd and watched as the guy in front of me slowly pulled away; I knew I was in trouble because he was standing up on his bike on the hills. Eventually he was out of sight but more to come on that. Meanwhile a guy from the 40 plus cat passed me on a climb and slowed way down on the descent which got me in a bind because although I asked him to let me squeeze by on the downhill he ignored me 3 times; he was "that guy". So he bobbled it at the rock garden and finally let me pass, but the whole incident botched up my concentration.

Anywho, at this point I was beginning to cramp a little so I ate a 250 calorie bar, popped some hammer gels and endurolytes. This seemed to energize me and staved off the cramps enough to have a strong 2nd lap in which I found the first place guy sitting on the trail with cramps. I rode by never to see him again so I ended up first place. My time wasn't that fast but it was good enough for first place!

On a side note, my Family came and had a great time around the park! We also pushed a car out of a rut and ate at brown bag burgers on the way home! Yummy!!

Overall It's been a great season and I'm looking forward to not being on the bike for a bit until winter base training time!

Vultures Knob NEO Race

2011-10-17T20:17:00.003-04:00

Well, lots of good times this year for the NEO series wrapped up with a rip roaring 2 laps at the knob Saturday. It was dry and fast and short which was nice. We had 4 of our team guys racing; Tom, Doug, me (Roger) and Ben. Overall it was a great vibe and lots of fun! For getting 2nd place in the series I snagged a pair of Pearl Izumi carbon fiber Mt bike shoes-yeah!!! We came, we saw, we conquered the knob!

Ben

Roger 2nd place Sport 30-39 overall

Roger

Tom

Bushing/Reducers

2011-08-31T15:33:00.001-04:00

Well, I installed a new bushing and reducer for the rear fox rp2 today it took about 10 minutes. Last week I noticed some play whenever I would accelerate, I thought it was the front fork but after some examination I realized by wiggling the rear triangle it was the rear shock bushing. I think this is the 3rd bushing/reducer replacement I've done which equals out to 1x per season. It really gets beat down a lot. Its the rear most bushing that gave out this time. Here are the pics. I got this special tool for $50 a couple years ago to do the job. It presses out the old bushing and presses the new one in. Fun fun! Honestly I enjoy maintaining my bikes almost as much as riding them!

Quail Hollow kids ride

2011-08-30T15:05:00.000-04:00

Took the kids to Quail for one lap. Unbeknown to us it had rained in Hartville so we got really muddy. Aaron and Isaac went and we had a blast. Issac plopped in the mud a few times and Aaron slipped off the trail a bit as well. Overall we had a great time!

Speed racers at Alum creek

2011-08-15T15:20:00.004-04:00

Yep this race lends itself towards a mini road race on the dam portion. So at the start of our category 3 team riders were trading off positions as if we were sprinting for points like in the Tour De France. It didn't look like the tour De France but more like the tour of craziness. It was fun though and raised the intensity. I was able to squeak by the first 4 riders right before the single track and plunge in 1st. Being challenged by the riders behind me many times made me work hard the whole race. I was able to stay in front the whole race and come in first by 1 minute. It was a really fast, flat course with roots and obstacles which suites my strengths. I dropped my 2nd water bottle during the race but not to fear James was able to find it later. Overall it was a fun filled race!

P.S. Next year will be expert class, can you say enjoy this while it lasts?

Race start

Mid race


James-breathing down my neck, saved my water bottle :)


Breathing down my neck as well. Man this guy didn't make it easy!

Cat 2 roadie-fast as ever but had a crash, dnf'd

Suffering at the end


Your veteran leaders of the day

Thorn TT

2011-08-12T12:17:00.000-04:00

Yep, it was time trial heaven last weekend! The course was flat and twisty (my favorite) with little climbing. The course was tacky; conditions couldn't have been better. I was able to cram in some rides the week before so I did get my race legs sharpened up for the race which helped. I started off a little sluggish then hit my groove mid race with a strong finish. I put about 1 minute on the second place guy. Overall the race was super fun with great weather and yeah, I brought the fam and they enjoyed the lake with a small beach!

Legs went missing

2011-07-31T08:52:00.009-04:00

Well, it was one of "those" races Saturday. The kind that make you wonder "why do I do this"? I haven't had any time to train and it sure showed. I had a good 1st and 2nd lap out in front with the 2nd place guy right on my tail the whole way. We traded of the lead a couple times when on the 3rd lap I decided to put the move on and put some distance between us, which worked initially. But my legs kept slowing and cramping up and I lost 2 places and rode easy for awhile to get my legs back. They came back just enough to pass the 3rd and 2nd place guys to get back into 2nd just before the finish line. It took everything I had but made it happen to come in 2nd.

I couldn't reel in the 1st place guy so kudos to him for running a good race.

The kids race was great. It was 1 mile long and Canaan, our 3 year old and all our other kids finished the whole thing! It took him 25 minutes which was really long but nevertheless he did it!

Double down Enduro

2011-07-20T17:05:00.001-04:00

Vultures knob was a heat fest Saturday. Not only that but it was double the laps, about 25 miles of rough, nasty, no flow single track. It was a great vibe though and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves other than the guy who broke his clavicle and other riders like Jeff who wasn't feeling so well after the race from the heat.

My teammate Tom who didn't get any sleep the night before flated and dnf'd. I crashed yet raced alright knowing that I'm not much of a endurance type racer. I was happy to finish strong as the heat tried sapping my strength. I ended up 2nd with a lake effect team rider rolling through in 1st at 2.5 minutes ahead of me.

Special thanks to my teammates Chuck, Adam and Tom for pit stop support and hand ups each lap. Team 121 pure dirt rocks! Don't forget to show up at the knob sat the 23rd for movie night!! S and S coming up next.

Lake hope AKA Mudfest

2011-07-04T18:37:00.000-04:00

Well Lake hope near Athens in southern Ohio proved to be fun and muddy. This was my first OMBC race of the season and I wasn't sure who would be there ans who I was up against. The whole sport class started at the same time so I wasn't sure what place I was in throughout. I do know that 4 guys passed me from the 20-29 category (young whippersnappers). But for my class 30-39 I got 1st. Handling of course was very sketchy as I nearly collided with a tree once as well as going of the trail a few tines, no crashed though. Overall, it was a fun mudfest that was worth it!

Reagan Park Time Trial

2011-06-21T12:03:00.002-04:00

Me rolling through the finish-(minus my head)

Imagine 48 minutes of pushing your body hard as it can possibly go without holding back anything; really, anything, so that when you are done you can hardly move. Then throw in some mud, rocks, and wicked terrain. Put on top of that adrenaline and the constant pressure of feeling like someone is going to pass you. Then throw in a serving of riding beyond your limits knowing that at any moment you may crash, and crash hard, this my friend is a time trial. Reagan park in Medina was awesome, painful yet awesome. 8 miles of lung and leg busting fun; if you want to call it that. I guess you don't know your limits unless you challenge them and every mt biker knows what this means. The day started dry and ended up raining cats and dogs for some the beginner race. The trail turned treacherous and nasty by the end. The experts and sports stayed dry.

Tom and Roger

My new race team Pure 121 did well, Tom got 4th in beginner having to deal with a wet track while others didn't and I ended up 1st in sport age 30-39.

This is a great start for a fun season ahead!! Next week OMBC Lake Hope.

Thanks to our sponsors and Chuck George our fearless team manager!

Sponsors:

Aero Tech Designs' Cycling Clothing

Forgiven energy

Honey Stinger

Winter almost gone

2011-02-19T15:19:00.001-05:00

Well, this winter can be characterized as "inside" and boring. All workouts have been on the trainer unlike last winter where I was able to be outside for 90% of my workouts. It's not all bad since I've had the 2010 tour de France on dvd to watch and keep me company. This Thursday was nice enough to venture on the road so I went for what was supposed to be an easy ride but ended up getting the, "1st ride of the year excitement" and pounded it pretty hard. I gotta be honest, although it felt fun I have a lot of work to do to get in top form. I got a late start this season (on purpose) but will end up peaking in late summer. It should be a great spring! Happy riding!

My wife's knee high Halloween socks since I have no knee warmers!!

Final blowout of the year

2010-10-24T20:23:00.002-04:00

Great racin today at Mohican Wilderness. 18 miles and great climbing proved to be tougher than expected. The 1st lap went well as usual. I was hanging in 2nd place most of the time trading 3rd place with Pete who later crashed and didn't finish. Then low and behold the 2nd lap came with some major leg cramps. Painful as you could imagine they rendered me standing there on the side of the trail stretching while watching my buddies ride by, further deflating my chances of holding onto second place.

After stretching awhile, my legs slowly came to life again and I was able to catch 2 of the guys that passed me to barely pull out a lucky 3rd place. Vince would of beat my butt if he wouldn't of broke his chain. (He ran the final 2 miles of the race with his bike and still got 5th!) Aaron (pictured above) pulled ahead of me while I was cramping and I couldn't catch him; congrats! Good season guys!!

I'm not happy with this finish but then again I haven't done any real training since July. The weather was amazing and the family came along so it really was an awesome day!

Next step is to rest awhile then plan next season out!

Numero uno at vultures

2010-10-17T09:04:00.001-04:00

It was a great day for racing this Sat at the knob! Perfect weather, dry and super fast trail conditions. Also, my faithful friend Matt (AKA VO2 Max :) came out to support. The whole family decided to come since there was a kids race. The only catch is they had to wear a costume to race in. So... we had a princess, flash gordon, ninja and storm trooper! They all got a medal and raced. Isaac crashed several times (whats new) and ended up running with his bike part of the race but not even a scratch on him.

I had a great race. The start of the race went much better than at westbranch when I crashed. I jockeyed into 2nd place and rode with a fellow racer then passing him after halfway through the 1st lap. I kept that pace and was able to hold onto a very fast lap (40min). The second lap I started to fade a bit (as usual) and started to cramp a bit on my left quad but I was able to spin a bit easier until it felt better. I ended up holding my position with no challenges and took 1st place. This was my first time winning at the knob! One more race to go next week at Mohican!!

Crash at Westbranch

2010-09-27T12:30:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's right, I crashed for the first time this year in a race. A fellow racer and I were jockeying for the 1st position going into the single-track and BOOM, I went over the handle bars. It created quite the pileup and broke my cycle computer bracket. It also left me with a big scrape on my arm but as they say "if your not bleeding your not racing". I recovered quickly from the crash and caught back up to take the 2nd place position which I held onto the rest of the race. So other than the crash it was pretty uneventful. Great weather, great workout great fun!!

Cato First Me 2nd Mike 3rd

Aaron and I-we were fighting for first to the single-track

Back at it

2010-09-04T15:10:00.000-04:00

After a solid time off the bike I (and the family) decided to do the Dillon state park race. Rachel really wanted to go so after some arm twisting, not really, we packed up and went south. The weather was hot and the conditions were perfect. I love this race as the trail fits my strengths and weaknesses well. Lots of technical, rock gardens and little climbing. I started off well and was able to work to 2 minutes ahead of the guy behind me, (Vince) He made me work harder than I wanted to which forced some cramps later in the race. His little bell attached to his rig was fun as every time he passed someone he rang it which gave everyone a nice laugh. I never caught Cato as he was 2 minutes ahead of me and blasted off like a rocket ship during the first set of rock gardens. As usual my buddy Mike came up behind me with a few miles left in the race and we rode through the finish together. I ended up 2nd which was a lot better than I thought I would do. My legs were super sore for 3-4 days!! Overall I didn't train at all for the race and went to have fun, thus sticking to my new philosophy on the whole thing. I have been riding but no intervals and only about 2 rides per week!

Break time

2010-08-01T19:29:00.001-04:00

I'm taking a break from racing for awhile. My passion for biking has been slowing sucking away precious time from my family. After a break I may race for fun. Here's a recent post I put up on MTBR regarding the subject.

"The last two years I've been addicted to the "winning" aspect of XC racing. Over the last few months it's become apparent to me that my desire to win and do good and compete started to take up a large portion of time as well as emotional, physical and spiritual energy. I found myself "sold out" to cycling thus staring to neglect my family, business and relationship with God. During this time I found myself getting too crazy and anal about training and winning and somewhere along the line it turned into an obligation rather than doing it to enjoy it. Yeah, my results and fitness felt good but at what price?

It's gone so far that I've given up racing until further notice. I may do a couple more races in the fall for fun but as far as training to win, I'm done.

It's been 2 weeks since my decision and I've missed a lot of riding and an important race. I'll also miss another this weekend. This hurts a bit knowing that all the base miles and hard work will be somewhat for nothing but I I actually feel relieved about my decision. I've had more family time and feel myself wanting to ride to enjoy it rather than like punching a time card. I'm not sure what the future holds for racing but for now I'm "resetting"

Now I've re prioritized my biking and I'm back to enjoying it for the fun of it and not obsessing over winning and adhering to a training schedule that is too much for having a family and business. Did I like training and racing and getting good results? Yes I did. It's awesome being faster than I ever was, however the time, energy and monetary investment was too high.

Like some have suggested, I will enjoy racing for fun now and ride during the week when I feel like it.

Taking a break the last 3 weeks has brought some balance which feels good.

Moral of the story for me: Those of us amateurs that are very competitive and love biking/racing like crazy should allow for proper balance between personal obligations and biking/racing so that way it's a fun addition and outlet in our lives rather than an obligation."

Victory at S and S Trails-

2010-07-05T19:03:00.000-04:00

Winning Trio-

Mike on the left (1st place in Masters)
Me in the middle (1st place Veteran)
Dirk on the left (3rd place Senior)

Hot and humid is an understatement. Sweltering heat and extreme humidity marked the theme of the 4th race of the OMBC. Plenty of people didn't finish because of the heat but most endured the pain to conquer the backyard trail system that proved to be fast, flowing and fun. Despite the heat the trail conditions were dry and fast. This year there was a nice steep hill climb which got old by the 3rd lap. Needless to say I had to walk the last little bit 2 times on lap 2 and 3. About 100 people showed up to race and there were 14 people in my category (Sport Vet age 31-40). It was a good race from the start as we had to do a short run before grabbing our bikes and hitting the trail. I was rolling about 4th place up until 3 minutes or so into it when we approached a shallow creek, just then a guy right in front of me went headfirst over his handle bars. This happens frequently but and we've all done it at least once or twice but never gets old witnessing the spectacle. As everyone passed him we yelled "you ok" and he grunted something back which meant to those of us us flying by that he wasn't dead. Picking off a couple other guys I found myself in first and continued to push myself hard the rest of the race continually imagining another racer right behind trying to pass. This helped motivate me and I was able to hang on to a good pace to roll through the finish line without any challengers. This was my first 1st place as a sport rider and am super stoked about all the hard work paying off! Until nest race.

Roger

Rigid 29er+Vultures Knob=pain

2010-06-14T15:09:00.000-04:00

Vultures race this Saturday; It was muddy (whats new) as was every other race this spring. The race went well although I'll say riding the fully rigid 29er was a bit terrifying at times. I couldn't get a nice flow going and wrecked a couple times as well as dropping the chain. My normal race bike is out of commission until the new shifters arrive so I was kinda forced into using the big wheeler. The front end was hard to control at race pace and pretty bone jarring over the rough vultures terrain. One cool thing about the groovy 29er is that with the custom luv handles that Rody from groovy cycle works makes (as well as the bike) it was easy to stand up on and grind up the hills. Off the gun I was the first into the single-track which is fun but after the first bobble I was put back a bit. I led my age group through the first and half of the 2nd lap until the bike got the best of me. I couldn't maintain my pace and had to surrender 2 guys up and ended up 3rd place. Bone jarring, muddy, a bit out of control yet fun! Rachel and the kids came along and they had a great time doing the kids race and touching a snake they found in the woods!!

60 miles of pain in Mohican county; no regrets.

2010-06-08T08:43:00.002-04:00

Saturday was a one of a kind race. Different from the norm, this 100K (60mile) race was longer than anything I've done before. I did it for the experience and the fitness; both goals were accomplished for sure.

With all the rain, hail, storms and even a tornado hitting Mohican county before hand, the race turned into an unbelievably mud infested quagmire. There were some reprieves as the race course traveled on road sections. The mud and sloshy ground conditions turned this into the most epic ride I have ever experienced, turning a hard course into a torturous one. Between all the mud grinding, water logging, leg burning, stream crossings, downed trees and exhaustion, I managed to roll up to the finish in 8 hours. I was tempted with feelings of quitting but I wouldn't let myself go there. I mentally broke the race up into 3 20 mile sections kind of tricking myself into thinking it was like 3 separate 20 mile rides. This worked as it made the mileage seem less than it really was. The aid stations placed every 20 miles or so were like an oasis providing a place to get refueled and refreshed. My friend Mike and I stuck together most of the race and proved to help keep the morale up.

At the end we were glad to grab some hot food and take the most refreshing shower I can remember. Surprisingly I didn't cramp up during the race and am not sore, just a fatigued feeling for the last couple days.

Overall, it was an experience I will not forget soon that took me to the next level!!

Here is a link to the race report and video:

Mohican 100 report

Mohican 100 video

I was in the 100K mens open category. If you check out the results you'll see how many people DNF'd. I was thankful to finish.

Mud Fest

2010-05-03T13:06:00.001-04:00

Sundays race was was an absolute mud-fest. The day was an interesting one to say the least. Me and a friend got sorta lost while pre-riding some of the course and had to basically ride race pace to get to the starting line in time. Needless to say I was very warmed up for the start of the race; in fact probably to warmed up. I guess it wasn't a problem because the race went well for me as I ended up 2nd place this time. I had a great start and basically pushed hard as possible for the first 10 minutes then recovered a bit until my friend Mike from the 40-49 year old category caught up with our group. I rode with him awhile which helped me gap the guys fighting to catch up with me. At this point I was rolling 2nd place until the end of the last lap. At this point a guy rolled up on me to challenge me for 2nd place. It was a super technical section and I came unclipped and was slopping all over the place. I somehow stayed ahead and pushed the bike up this horrible hill which never ended. Soon as it leveled out I gutted out until the finish putting me about a min ahead of the guy behind me. I rolled through the finish line cramping a bit and completely expended. It was well worth it. With the rain and all, conditions were sloppy and slimy, basically turning the race into a big mudslide on bikes!

What a crazy race; check this out!

2010-04-19T10:09:00.001-04:00

I was nervous about this one!
This weeks race was much anticipated-I definitely had the 1st race jitters and my nerves were all over the place. The reason for this is all the expectations that have built up for this season surfaced on the drive down to the race. Mentally I was questioning everything-was my winter training enough? Would I be fast? Would all the hours in the crappy winter cold weather pay off? Would I really be better this season?

Left to right: Me (3rd place) Steve (1st place) Cato (2nd place)

How the race went:

My race strategy was 3 fold=
#1don't start the race too fast like usual
#2 Take it easy on the hills and don't try to keep up with better climbers
#3 Play to my strengths by bombing the downhills and fly on the flats

I followed my 3 strategies well. I started the race easy and let a handful of guys get ahead at the start. Knowing this race has lots of climbing and lots of mileage bids one to chill at the start! At least that was my plan. As they got ahead I watched them wear themselves out quite a bit on the first set of climbs. As they were slowing and recovering I surged and began passing them one by one. Midway through the first lap I passed all of them but 1 guy. I didn't know this at the time so I thought I was in first. Meanwhile there was a bunch of smack talk going on around me and a guy from a different age group yelled at me telling me to get out of his way which I couldn't because it was a steep technical climb with no room to move over so he got his panties in a knot but I was blissfully unaware as I had everyone tuned out with my I pod cranked just loud enough to block out the jabbering that was getting thrown down.

Feeling confident and with plenty of energy left in the tank I kept a strong but sustainable pace passing some of the expert women and a load of other stragglers from the age group that started just ahead of ours. The last 25% of the 1st lap flew by and I was feeling hopeful at this point that I would come out on top. All I had to do was hold on to my pace and I would be good, or so I thought!

My rival (and friend):

Yeah, that's right, my friend (and race Rival, Cato pronounced "Kate-Oh") came up fast on me a few miles into the second lap. He rode past me with authority which was a bit deflating because I was already riding at my highest sustainable pace. However, I quickened my pace and grabbed his wheel up a steep climb just to see what would happen. By this time I was deep in the pain cave and quickly realized that I couldn't sustain this pace and hang with him. So I backed off in expectation that I would easily catch him during the last part of the course as he slowed and surge ahead for the win as this is what usual works for me. Well, it turned out that although I had a great rest of that 2nd lap I couldn't catch up. I thought for sure that he would be lurking around the next corner for me to pass but he never appeared! So, it was an uneventful finish. Cato ended up about 1 minute ahead of me with a mystery rider ahead of him by a minute or 2. So I ended up 3rd place. Not horrible but not what I wanted either. I'll be using this as fuel for my coming workouts!!!

I've gone to the dark side

2010-04-15T12:36:00.000-04:00

Yep, I got a road bike. No, it's not really the dark side but lots of mountain bikers think it's taboo to ride road bikes in spandex.

I don't care though because it will be a useful tool and I want to try a couple road races this summer. It's improved my pedaling and muscular endurance so I'm enjoying my new road bike a lot.

I'm also sporting my new CAMBA (Cleveland area mountain bike association) kit. I was invited to be part of the CAMBA race team last fall which will prove to be super helpful with races and sponsorship for bike parts and other discounts.

First race is coming up this Sunday-yee haw! Let the races begin!

Spring time rocks

2010-04-09T10:06:00.001-04:00

It's almost race time and I ended up getting a cold this Tuesday which puts a wrench in my training plans. I'll have to miss this Saturdays race and hopefully be able to prepare for Mohican Wilderness next Sunday. Aside from the slight setback training is going well and am looking forward to an awesome season.

The pictures are from a road bike a bought off E bay last month but had to return to the seller because he didn't pack it at the bike shop like he agreed to. It was a bad experience but I ended up with a fuji rubaix which is much nicer-pics soon to come!

Winter is over

2010-03-28T07:40:00.000-04:00

Wow, it's been quite a winter. This is the first winter that I've actually ridden consistently in. The crappy, cold, icy, wet weather has it's own unique feel to it which you tend start getting used to and enjoying. It's way better than the trainer for sure.

As the pics show there were some pretty horrible ridding conditions, turning me and my bike into a big dirt icicle!

I've been putting in the miles and hours of aerobic training which will hopefully pay off this spring and summer! I haven't missed any workouts this winter so the consistency has been a plus.

Winter wonderland

2010-01-07T08:13:00.001-05:00

It's "big chill" season. One must dress right to ride in the frigid outdoors or stay warm by riding the boring trainer inside. Well I've been doing both. I don't have any pics from my recent trail rides at trail hollow, which by the way, were super snowy, really fun and a good workout. Next time I'll bring the camera.

I do have some pics of my indoor trainer setup. I built a stand that hangs from the ceiling so I can watch the 2009 tour de france on my laptop. I also rigged up a fan to keep the sweat levels manageable. Of course there is the $25 dollar Japanese road bike and 20 year old mountain bike that my wife and I swap out for trainer rides.

The white yakota (mine) has the old school bio pace cranks which are shaped in an elliptical pattern to supposedly help to provide more power to the cranks; but who knows if it works. It was more of a fad than anything else.

On a different note training for 2010 is going well and although it's painful the trainer has come in very handy to get my time in on the bike. This in turn will get me ready for the summer of racing coming up!

Anyway, I hope you have a great new year and may God richly bless you.

Rog

Garage?!?! What?!?!

2009-12-14T17:31:00.000-05:00

Your probably wondering why I put up a picture of my garage... well, the truth is I'm really excited about having a nice home for the bikes and being able to work on them. Everything now has a nice home (including tools and what not) not to mention the new workbench I put up awhile back. We moved in about 5 weeks ago and the garage was trashed so it feels good to have it looking nice. I patched huge holes in the walls then put an orange peel texture on then painted it with primer then 2 coats of white. The floor is painted and every bike has it's own home. Now I can work on my bikes in peace.

Our OMBC race series awards were this weekend and it was a cool scene at snow trails ski lodge. They showed a video recap of the season and handed out some cool prizes. My wife drew names out of the hat for a free bike. She ended up picking my friend Andrews name and a fellow racer from my category! As far as the series goes, I ended up 2nd place which I'm really satisfied with. I basically worked off of a measly 4-5 hour training schedule each week so this finish wasn't bad at all considering. Next year I have my sights set a bit higher.

I just read The Time crunched cyclist this weekend by Chris Carmichael which has me all fired up for a new intensity based training plan which I'll start about 8 weeks out from my first race. the books plan forgoes the classic longer miles based programs and focuses on getting you fit in less time. It has a lot of intervals and will be challenging! I've been on the trainer a bunch while watching the 2009 tour De France to pass the time.

Anyway I'll keep updating as the cold weather sets in!

Enjoy your Christmas and God bless.
Peace out
Rog

Winter Time

2009-12-06T07:31:00.000-05:00

Now that winter has set in, mountain biking has taken on a different meaning. Most miles now are spent on the trainer or on the the road. I picked up some winter riding clothes which will help immensely. The other day I went on a 2 hour ride and the temp was in the mid 30's. I wasn't prepared as I should have been so I froze!! As far as training goes this winter I'm planning on doing a much better job of staying in shape. I will keep the hours up and keep some hard intervals sprinkled in throughout. When spring arrives I want to have a respectable level of fitness for the first race I do. Last year I got spanked at the first race so it would be nice to show up ready. Anyway, keeping your mt biking fire alive though the winter may be a challenge but well worth it!

Last race

2009-10-30T16:09:00.000-04:00

Mohican wilderness, last race of the season! It was an great way to end the year; nice weather a good race plus Rachel and the kids came along. The race went well despite a broken spoke flapping around during the 1st lap. I had to stop and unscrew it in order to keep riding as it kept getting tangled in the chain and cassette. This put me back a couple minutes and I had to really work to catch up to Mr. 2nd place. I rode with Mr. 2nd place for awhile and had enough legs to pull away the last mile to end up second. I was stoked and happy to end the season on a good note!

Mohican State Park

2009-10-12T08:40:00.000-04:00

Mohican Sate park was an awesome race! 24 miles of pure singletrack bliss. This trail is one of the best Ohio has to offer if not the best! I've been fighting off a a cold and fever the last couple days so I took a risk doing this race but it turned out well and I feel better as of monday. It was a long steady race with no real surges except on the climbs. I pretty much kept everything under control on the start and didn't blow myself up this time which helped me later on. I had to let the lead pack get away from me at the beginning but slowly reeled some of them back in around mile 16ish. I ended up 3rd place. Me and a fellow racer (Cato) rode a lot of the race together which helped pass the time. The funny part about this course is that I ran it faster earlier this season on my own; go figure. Anywho-race season is almost over and I'm ready to br done! I brought Rachel and the kids (my wife is super mom) and they had a good time except for Isaac (as you can see in the picture) He wasn't feeling on par but kept a good attitude! It's always an adventure!!

Short, steep climbs

2009-09-14T13:34:00.000-04:00

Ever get beat up by a course? Well this is what happened to me saturday at Vultures knob. My short, steep hill climbing ability has eroded a bit and left me a little flat for the race. I had a really great start but couldn't hang as I got passed by a few guys throughout the second lap and ended up 4th. I honestly thought I was going to have a much better race but you'll have those days. My time for this race has been about the same all for all 4 of these races at vultures-so i'm not super happy that I wasn't faster. The bright spot was that my oldest son won first place at the bike limbo contest and my 4 year old boy won his bike race. Also my friends son raced his first kids race and won his category, so I'm pumped because he looks like he will be a strong rider someday! Next week is the 12 hours at mohican so it'll be a long day at mohican for me!! Anyway the season is winding down but plenty of racing left so get out and enjoy!!

Lots o rocks

2009-09-02T08:27:00.000-04:00

Dry, fast and swooping downhills-this explains Sundays race. The course at Dillon state park in central Ohio was perfect conditions for a rip roaring time. All the rocks and roots tore up many a riders bikes. You'd be hard pressed to find a course with as many gnarly rock gardens. My conti race kings with stans held up fine once again-I'm so pleased with the performance of these tires set up tubeless on the dts swiss rims. I have to admit it was an awesome day as my legs had some nice pop in them and I rolled in 3rd place. 3rd place is a bit lonely as the 2 faster guys are always a few minutes ahead and the chase group is always a minute or 2 back, so I'm riding alone most of the time except for a mile or 2. In this case Austin-a guy from a different age group rode with me while I got my legs back. I also brought out my wife and 4 kiddos which was awesome. My oldest boys (4 and 7 years) raced in the kids race and did awesome; they already love it! So...the rest of the season is dwindling down but there are several races left then it will be winter-time to regroup and refocus.

2009-08-14T21:43:00.000-04:00

A few more races have gone by since Ive blogged. I'm happy with my racing this season; some 2nd places and a 3rd place here and there; it's good. My "less is more" training philosophy is working for sure. My race day strategy has been to hammer off the start line then maintain the highest pace possible for the guesstimated race time and not to cramp up. The last 2 races I rode out the last 2 miles with partial cramps and residual pain in my legs for about a week; ouch. I just finished a nice break week and I hope I can get a bit faster for the rest of the season. The picture here is of my new custom built rigid 29er. Rody from groovey cycleworks in Wooster made this for me as I won the frame fork and bars in a raffle at Vultures knob last year! It's the only thing I've ever won before and it was a doosey-Rody helped e put it together and fitted me up the other day and it sure is an incredible ride-really different than a 26; harder in some ways, easier in others. Alright-signing off for now.

Rog

I had to do a road ride

2009-06-22T10:21:00.000-04:00

Sunday I started a new cycle of training gearing up for my next OMBC race, S&S trails. I had to do a road ride because of the local trails being so saturated with water. Our "dry" trail, mohican, was over run with runners (no pun intended) this weekend doing the 100mile trail run-can you imagine running 100 miles? Ouch. How do they do it??

Anywho, I did a 26 mile road ride on my wanna be road bike (see pic) I feel kinda like a hick on this bike but since I don't ride road much I can't justifify getting a new one yet-it does serve the purpose. At this stage in life practicality rules. It was a hard workout and I pushed real hard the last 5 miles. My average speed was 16.7 and I tried real hard to get it to 17, but I didn't quite make it. The kicker is that later on in the day we went to an easy bike trail with our kids and our friends and their kids. We did 15 miles and by the end my legs were done for the day. 40 miles total that day. I know it's not a huge amount but I was pulling my 4 year old on his trail a bike which he didn't pedal that much! SO it made for a good workout. My wife was rolling the gary fish tassahara with slicks-she rolled past us towards the end as she was pulling the trailer with our 2 little guys and they were grumping out. I was happy to know that all our gear fits on the pathy (see pic) Our friends Charlie and Anna locked their keys in the car so we had a good time fishing the keys out with a coathanger tapped to a stick. Awhile later they treated us to ice cream at stricklands!! It was a good way to finish the day.

Later this week=intervals of pain!

2009-06-14T10:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was another fun filled adventurous race at Vultures Knob. The race started off fast again and I found myself and a 40 plus guy in the lead. I passed him and led through the prologue and finally got smoked by John who rides a 29er single speed-he is fast and there was no way I could hold his pace for longer than a few minutes although he helped me ride really fast for the few moments I rode with him. Thanks John! Anywho-I held a 9.8 mph average the first lap with someone in a yellow jersey breathing down my neck the whole time-this made me suffer a little but was good for me. I knew the way my legs felt that the 2nd lap would not be as fast as the first, and sure enough the legs were starting to falter a bit and fall apart halfway through the 2nd lap. There were some guys right behind me at this point and I was really concerned that I was going to get passed very soon but I managed to stay ahead of them for awhile longer. I did good on garbage hill and the other climbing sections and even though I was spent I had to dig really deep to stay ahead of the pack that was closing in. Since the whole sport class started off at the same time I couldn't tell if the ensuing group was in my age group or the older dudes. By this time I knew that there were 2 guys in front of me and I thought I was in third; plus with the pack closing in and looking like I would get overtaken I thought I would end up 5th or so. Finally, the last 2 miles is where the crap hit the fan. I got overtaken by a 40 plus dude (I'm in the 39 under) which was horrible cuz I started cramping. He got me on the furnace climb and following the climb is a little bit of downhill which he slowed me up on bigtime and I couldn't get past him and I got mad and yelled at him (which I apoligised for later) . I stayed with him a bit untill some cruel cramps knocked me off the bike. I stretched for 30 seconds or so while getting passed by a couple guys which I wasn't sure if they were in my category or not. Finnally, I hobbled back on the bike and fought the cramps off the best I could and rode carefully to the finish. Thankfully the guys who passed me weren't in my category and I ended up 2nd in the under 39. So my friends John was first and Dirk was 3rd and I got 2nd-not bad for cramping up! Good job guys.

2009-06-04T15:33:00.000-04:00

Today was another round of intervals-second day in a row. Yesterday was on the trainer for 4X45 100% efforts. Today was 5 intervals at vultures-I hit each hill hard as possible until the burn is unbearable and I spin easy until the next hill. Today the hills felt smaller and easier-go figure. This is the pattern I did before the last race and worked well for me. This season is much different than last as I am doing higher intensity off road efforts and hardly any time on the road. More quality and less quantity. This off season was also great as I mixed it up with speed and agility training and resistance training as well-shout out to James at http://www.bikejames.com/ for his website and helpful training philosophy's.

I've been really making sure I get enough recovery as this allows me to hit each workout with fresh, powerful legs. It seems counter intuitive to train less for me and recover more but there is no doubt it is working wonders. The last race was a great finish and I felt better than ever.

I'm looking so forward to the season and hope it continues well!!

Ride hard-

Roger

Good day

2009-05-31T17:56:00.000-04:00

Alright-today was awesome-I got in a great ride with Andrew at mohican wilderness, had a fun afternoon with the family and ate a huge dinner that involved Amish noodles, home made pizza, breaded chicken and beer.

The training ride was 2 laps with a "lots o climbing" 2500 feet to be exact. I know this because of Andrews garmin-it doesn't lie. It took 2:15 not counting breaks. Legs felt great and I think next time I may shoot for 2.5 laps. We rode strong and the weather and trail conditions were absolutely awesome. Thanks to Andrew for going-it always helps one to go faster when riding with someone else. He's the one who inspired me to blog. Make sure to check his awesome blog out (Akron Cyclist) There is nothing like being out in Gods creation and sucking in large volumes of air while your legs feel like exploding-why do mountain bikers do this? I'm not sure but it's fun and good for a person to do; maybe it builds character or something like that, or maybe its a problem with our genetic makeup :)

Anyway, I had a great prayer time on the drive down. Gods the reason for pretty much everything anyway so thanks be to Him for the good day.

Till next post

Rog

Self inflicted biking pain

2009-05-30T15:47:00.000-04:00

I had 2 nice recovery days in a row-this follows 2 days in a row of some good pain I dished out on myself. After feeling mostly recovered from Saturdays race I did a resistance leg workout with dumb bells which covered quads, glutes, hips and hamstrings. I also threw in some core work as well. The next day I did 4, 45 second hard as humanly possible intervals on the trainer with about 1-3 minute rest periods in between. Since my legs were a bit tired from the previous day it was tough. I really dig deep and make sure that the whole 45 seconds is an actual 100% effort-not 95% not 90% but 100%. I know when I did them suffiently when I feel like puking afterward; this only last for about 10 minutes though and isn't too bad. I did a warm up and cool down with this workout and a good 10 min of stretching afterwords. My legs were toast but I felt great the next day. 2 days later (today) I did a total of 45 minutes of easy riding-I commuted to work and then to my sons baseball game-my wonderfull wife brought the bike rack along so I didn't have to ride from the game home. My legs feel primed for tomorrows big ride-not sure where I'm riding yet, but it will be a long hard workout wherever I decide to go. This block of training will lead me to a nice level of fitness for the next race on June 13th at "the knob". Total training time this week will be about 4-5 hours-I think this is enough to be competitive in category 2 (sport class) but time will have to bear that out-

Here's my wife-ain't she swell?

Blessings-

Rog

Racing

2009-05-29T09:50:00.000-04:00

Last week was an awesome race at Vultures knob. For the first time in sport class I got a second place. I was leading some parts of the race which is new for me and really helped me ride better with less racers in front of me to slow me down on the downhills. Kudos to Andrew, a friend and fellow racer, as he led the pack out of the gate and pulled everyone to go real fast at the beginning and helped me to push my starting pace. My legs never stopped spinning-they just kept cranking with a seemingly endless supply of energy-not sure why but something worked!! Wish every race went this way.

This is encouraging performance really helped me mentally after all the training I've been doing. After a bunch of mediocre performances last year I changed my training drastically which has helped A LOT! I've been hitting it hard over the winter and doing an intensity based program rather than a volume based program. I've only been on one road ride-everything else is off road or on the trainer for intervals. I hope to be able to do well the rest of the season and get some more good finishes.

Next race will be another Vultures knob race in Wooster-then there's a pretty big gap until the next one. I hope to finish well in each race I do this year and be competitive in my class (30-39).

Of course my 7 year old is already loving biking-he can whip out a lap at quail hollow pretty good now and my 4 year old can ride his little 16incher pretty good these days!! My family loves biking and I can't wait until my boys are old enough to race with me.

BTW-I could never do this without the support of my awesome wife, thanks babe!

Until next time adios.

First Blog ever

2009-05-28T22:14:00.000-04:00

Well everyone this is my first blog ever. This is biking specific so I will post my racing and training experiences which hopefully will help others!