Racin Rick

2012-01-27T06:53:00.002-05:00

I Swore I'd Never Do It

There was a time way back when (I looked for an old post to link to but gave up my search. I'm lazy) that I put in a fair amount of time on the indoor trainer in the winter. That was before I discovered the joys of winter mountain biking. Once I realized how freaking sweet snowmobile trails can be for riding, I swore that I'd never ride an indoor trainer aka "a bike lobotomy". Why waste your time sweating away in your basement watching shitty videos and counting the minutes until your done when there is sooooo much white corduroy outside?

the mukluk after a slushy ride the other night.

bad conditions but at least I was outside.

Well, times change, schedules get tougher, bellies get bigger and you finally make the realization that the trainer is the ONLY WAY TO GET A "RIDE" IN SOME DAYS. As a result, Marcy and I decided to pony up for a newer, less horrific trainer. One that doesn't sound like a toaster making sweet love to a bench grinder.

enter the kurt kinetic

When we built the new house, Marcy told me that I'd never have a bike upstairs again.If you look closely in the pic above, you'll notice that we not one bike upstairs but two. I plan to move my work bench up this weekend...

I wish such drastic measure weren't necessary but I've been struggling to get 2 rides a week in and have been off the back on all group rides I've been to so something had to happen. Now it can and I'll hate every second of it.

2012-01-23T07:56:00.001-05:00

A Bit Belated

This is kinda sorta oldish news at this point since Eric outed me on Facebook (although, I hardly every post to the book and nobody really pays attention anyway) (and I was supposed to unveil over two weeks ago) but I'm officially unveiling 2012's race steed, the Kona King Kahuna. Go ahead, I'll give you a minute to click on the pic and link to marvel at it's purtyness. It is quite fetching don't you think? I especially like that the color scheme is almost identical to my beloved Salsa Selma.

Originally, I planned on swapping out a bunch or parts (or buying a raw frame to build up) but the economics of that just didn't make sense right now. Heck, with the way things are these days, I consider myself damn lucky to even be buying a new bike. So, I'll settle for the mid-range SRAM parts and replace/upgrade as things wear out. The only big change I see making is instead of spending a ton of money to swap out the crank and brakes to shave a few grams and MAYBE see a performance increase, I'll instead spend the money on buying a chi-chi set of wheels for the season. The jury is still out on what those wheels will be but rest assured, I've been burning up the internet looking at options and I'm guessing that if our team manager isn't sick of me e-mailing him yet, he soon will be.

More about the wheels later (tomorrow if I actually remember).

Anybody who has ridden with me for the a while might note that I swore off carbon bikes years ago when I had my fully carbon Trek Fuel. It was a sweet bike and I never actually had any issues with carbon breakage even though I had a massive ding on the downtube when I unceremoniously smashed it into a rather large boulder but I was constantly worrying about smashing it into things. But time passes, technologies get better and I'm not a politician and am allowed to change my mind and soon will be rolling around on 1240 grams of crabon.

2012-01-20T08:55:00.000-05:00

Winter Ride

20 degrees, dark, windy and a snow storm on it's way. Sound like ideal group mountain bike ride conditions? Not necessarily, but it didn't stop 8 guys from showing up to ride in what we hoped would be primo snow/ice conditions. I wish I had my camera with me because I sure would have loved to document everyone waiting around for me to get ready. Seven guys standing around watching as I fumbled to get my stoooooopid bar mitts on the bike. I was saved though when just after I finished up CDog noticed that his tire had gone flat so we ended up waiting for him. Just like we always do.

And then, THEN, we rode our bikes for like 2 hours. Got lost-ish, got less lost-ish, stared at Iphone compasses, figured out where we were and then got back to the cars unscathed and ready for beer.

Great blog post huh?

2012-01-19T09:32:00.001-05:00

Take Your Bike For a Walk Day

With the unseasonably warm temps the last couple of days, I decided to try to lay down a ribbon of rideable snow bike tracks on my home trails. They've recently done it in Bath and it was super fun to ride so I figured I'd give it a shot. I got up at 4:20 this morning and headed out with the Mukluk and pooch in tow. I expected to be doing some hoofing but I wasn't expecting 40 degree temps and super wet snow. I ended up walking a good portion of the loop but I did get to ride some and still managed to lay down a nice track in most areas. It wasn't all that fun but if I'm able to get out one more time before it freezes up again, the work will be repaid in luge like conditions. Fingers crossed!

one more time through and this will be sweet.

and now some random pics from last season's finale that I just found on the intertubes. Happier, warmer times...

and finally, the opening pic? That was a loop that I made from work to home last week. When I uploaded it, I noticed that it kinda looked like a face. I'm easily amused...

2012-01-17T08:13:00.000-05:00

Chuga-chug

Things are still progressing here in Racin Rick land (that would be the most awesome adventure park ever with dirty chamois rides, saddle sore lancing, scab picking; basically all of the classics). I haven't exactly started "training" but I have been able to up my riding a bit. I still die after about 1.5 hours but I have to start somewhere and start I have. All told, according to Endomondo, I had a total of 7.5 hours of active time (riding, running and core work) last week. Not outstanding but a good start and something to build on.

I've also started to look at the 2012 schedule. A tentative EFTA schedule has been posted:

20-May NECS - Weeping Willow - MA
3-Jun NECS - Big Ring Rumpus - NH
17-Jun NECS - Pinnacle - NH
8-Jul NECS - Moody Park - NH
15-Jul NECS - Maine Sport Run-Off - ME
22-Jul NECS - Harding Hill - NH
22-Jul Carrabassett Back Country Challenge - ME
19-Aug Hampshire 100 - NH
26-Aug NECS - Treasure Valley Rally - MA
23-Sep NECS- Rock the Ridge - CT

I plan on doing most of the series though I do expect to miss a couple of races as work and life come along. One race of note this year that I used to love but haven't done in a while is the Hampshire 100. It started out as a 100k cross country race but, for this year, they have been added to the National Ultra Endurance series and have upped the mileage to 100. I'm sure I'll suffer like a dog as there will surely be some seriously heavy hitters from around the country there but it should be fun and with the 50-60 mile carrabassett 50 a month prior, I'll have a good primer for the event.

http://www.hampshire100.com/

More obsessing to come.

Speaking of obsessing, I've finally started to re-build Marcy's wheels to make them tubeless. She's been running my old Hope P2's with salsa rims. I love the hubs but those first generation rims are noodly and refuse to be set up tubeless so I've decided to switch them out for some Stan's Crest rims. Lighter, stiffer and tubeless, she should be happy. Plus (and this is a big plus) it gives me a chance to practice my wheel building skills before I build up my new wheels for 2012. The wheels that will be going on my here-to-fore unmentioned purchase. A sexy new bit of carbon goodness is being added to the Nelson stable but you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out what it is.

2012-01-10T09:36:00.001-05:00

Making Ground

Not wanting to let a good thing go to waste, we made sure that B got out again this past weekend to continue her bike riding practice (and to make sure she didn't forget how to do it come spring). Like a champ, she got on and was riding in no time and me being the blogging genius that I am (obviously), I thought to put my new camera on her handle bars to capture her expressions. To say that she seems happy to be riding would be a massive understatement. Even I don't smile that much while riding and Ricky just L-O-V-E-S riding.

Speaking of making ground, last week I made it out for a ride with the Bathers and just like my recent ride with CDog, I was not too impressed with my performance. Like, next to last in a pack of ten performance. Sad. Just as sad as my on the bike performance was the performance of the groups bikes. I can't remember the exact details but within the first two miles we had three broken chains, one broken derailleur and a flat tire. Two miles of riding in 40 minutes! Yikes.

two bikes being worked on at once

well lookey here, yet another broken chain later in the ride...

The good news is that I made it out for three whole rides last week, commuted this morning, am mountain biking home tonight so things should turn around.

2012-01-09T07:48:00.001-05:00

Some Pointers

To be a successful mountain bike racer, one needs to develop certain skills. Endurance, power, coordination and if you watch the video below, humility.

It also pays to have some mechanical aptitude. For example, it's always a good idea to know how to install handle bars:

BTW, that's the new Park headset cap. It makes on the fly headset adjustment and lung perforation a snap.

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Starting 2012 off Right

The tail end of 2011 sucked mass quantities of monkey ballz in every ride department. As a result, I'm trying to get a good start in 2012. The unseasonably warm temps over the weekend meant that a trail ride wasn't a great idea (sunday at least) so, instead, B and I got to work building a bridge for an endo promoting quagmire near the house. A perfect project for a guy and his best girl.

As usual, B had the perfect attire for the occasion.

She makes safety glasses and ear muffs look good.

Part way done and ready to be hauled into the woods. Notice Autumn

being a big help by trying to steal the hammer...

The angle allows for a "huck" from the rock on the right
hand side, a massive 18" drop.

Then on Monday (I had the day off mercifully) I headed out for a road ride to grab the company car where I had stashed it on Thursday (a colossal lack of planning required it to be left in the DEP parking lot in Augusta over the weekend). I knew that I was in bad shape so I decided to take er easy and try to enjoy the 40+ degree day but I wasn't prepared for how badly out of shape I was truly in. The 30-ish mile ride turned into my own little torture chamber with me literally CRAWLING up all of the hills. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come this year otherwise the back side of the elite fields is going to be even lonelier than initially anticipated.

Yeah! The Augusta line, only about a mile to go!

That's Amhigh in the background (the state's old mental institute

and now home of state employees. hmmm, just about the same really)

in the background.

That combined with a few trail runs and a massive mountain bike epic (read: 1/2 hour) to capture some video footage (to be released in a few days) and things are off to a start (not sure how great it is yet) for 2012.

2011-12-28T07:28:00.002-05:00

Like Tosh.O?

Then you might like this totally useless video. But first, watch this (right over here yo) for the inspiration.

I'd like to say that my family is more mature than this but if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know the truth. The ugly, sordid, filthy truth. Did you also notice that my other brother is wearing a lazer tag headset? Yeah, we be wild and crazy.

Operation get the fat out is in full effect. My waistline has been expanding at a rate similar to the national debt the last couple of months so it is high time to get it under control. I think I said this a month ago but this time I mean it. Really. Things would be easier though if I wasn't turning into an old man. Remember last months running race fiasco? No? Well I do. And more importantly, my groin does. After the typical 3-4 days of post race soreness, I noticed that my groin wasn't recovering like I expected it to. Apparently, all of that slipping and sliding to maintain my footing did a number on my most favoritest of places. Now, it's a month later and I'm still hobbling around like an old man. Swinging my leg into the car has never been more painful. Thankfully though, with some stretching and new exercises, I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Enough light that I've begun gingerly "running" again. Why the parenthesis? Well, you can only really consider what I do running if you also consider Atkins to be a diet...

2011-12-27T13:38:00.001-05:00

Looky What I Gotz

Marcy gave me a GoPro Hero2 for x-mas this year which I am super duper psyched about. What I'm not psyched about is figuring out how to edit the videos. Actually, I take that back. I look forward to figuring it out, I just wonder how long it will take. Rest assured, at some point I will figure it out so you don't have to watch movies like this: (at least I didn't post the video where I accidentally videoed myself making wee-wees...)

2011-12-26T10:11:00.001-05:00

She Rides!

For the last couple of summers, we've been helping B learn to ride. She's shown only a moderate amount of interest so we've been careful not to push her too hard. Yesterday, since we all had the day off, we decided to try out the Brunswick bike path just for shits and giggles. About 5 minutes in, we were both sure that it wasn't going to be the day since B was insisting that we hold onto her seat and handle bars.

Little did we know that once she stopped goofing around, she would do this: (ps: try to ignore my goofy voice!)

2011-12-19T07:33:00.000-05:00

Tis Almost the Season

I actually took the above pic a few weeks ago when we had 6" of snow in early November. The conditions weren't great for snow riding (a little too mealy to get going on uphills) but I did do some mad huckin' from the ledges in the background. (translation: I rode gingerly down picking my lines carefully and was still scared the whole way). As we currently stand, we have a whopping inch of white fluffy stuff on the ground. Not enough to make the snow bike necessary but enough that I think I might hang up the selma for the season and bust out the mukluk. Assuming I ever find the time to ride again. If all the stars align, I'm hoping I might be able to hit up a bathers ride on Thursday night and burn some pre-holiday calories. Lord knows that I need it as my weight has slowly crept up somewhere in the 5-7 pound range from race season.

I'm pretty excited for snow bike season to be upon us. New trails are opened up, once impassable routes become viable, longer distances can be had (on the snowmobile trails), appendages can be lost to frost bite and thrilling video like THIS can be had. Looking back at that link I see that I had promised to track my mileage through the season last year. Not sure when I lost track of that but I may attempt that for 2012 as well. One of these days it might work...

2011-12-13T07:18:00.000-05:00

Move Along

Not much to see here. I've managed to squeeze in exactly (ok, not exactly) 3 rides in the last couple of weeks. On top of all of my normal excuses, I came down with a head cold that didn't quite knock me out but it did make me enough of a hacking, runny nose, whiny bitch that both riding and running had to take a back seat. For almost two whole weeks. Egad. Just want you want with the holiday season (and daily trays of treats in the office) approaching. Fat pants here I come!

I did manage to get out and help build a bridge at the Schmid Preserve on Sunday though. It's a group of hiking types doing the majority of the work in the preserve so I figured it was high time I lend a hand lest us mountain biker types become persona non grata. Plus, some of the other bridges they have built have been mtb unfriendly (ie 2" gaps running the length of the bridge) so I figured if I lent a hand I MIGHT be able to change some things. Plus, it's the right thing to do since the Schmid is my home stomping grounds...

tripled 16' 2x12's ready to be hoisted over the stream.

nearly finished bridge. It'll be my duty to make the entry

and exit navigable by bike

This new bridge means that I can start poking around again on the further reaches of the River Link trail now that I don't have to worry about getting my pampered feet wet. Anybody up for some exploratory rides?

And to prove that showing up to help out does good things, Bob, the Preserve's board char (and dude in the helmet in pic above) told me that he had been thinking of making a mountain bike specific trail in the preserve but had never gotten around to doing it. Well sir, you have found your person. I can't wait to get in there with some flags!

2011-12-06T07:14:00.000-05:00

Brynna Day

I've got shyte to write about today. I'm still a bit of a mess from the trail race over a week ago. I can finally walk without a limp but my hip flexors are still f'ed. Eventually all will be good. I did find a short article about the race that I was mentioned in. Read it HERE. Apparently, I'm the least slow person from Lincoln county. Kick ass.

So, anyway, I'll drop some Brynna photos on you today. I haven't done this in a while so it seems appropriate.

Give the kid some window crayons and see how fast she'll

fill up every window in the dining room and living room.

rockin the multiple patterns and cowgirl boots

and her first rejection letter to a boy.

If you can't read 6 year old phonetic spelling, here is a translation:

"Dear Ryan, I can't marry you because I've known Tyler a long time."

Breaking hearts already.

2011-11-30T06:48:00.000-05:00

The Hidden Valley Nature Center

Run Thru The Woods Part Deux

Rich and I ran together for a bit as we pulled a couple of folks back who had passed us earlier. I was still feeling fairly comfortable with my pace so when a dude came screaming by somewhere around the 3 mile mark I decided to see if I could hang on. I could tell the dude was serious because instead of running around the wet areas, he just plowed straight through, on a couple of occasions going in almost to his knees. Yes, this was the guy I should pace off of.

We soon lost Rich and it was now Steve and I picking folks off. Around the four (I think) mile mark, we passed my parents and my other brother who informed us that we were in 16th and 17th place out of 43 which was right about where I expected to be.

Steve and I ran together for several miles. Sometime along the way I realized that I was still feeling a bit too comfortable and had been relentlessly chatting at Steve so sometime around the 6 mile mark I upped the pace on a long gradual climb dropping Steve and bringing a couple of other runners into sight. Yes, the chase!

making the move on Steve

Having a couple of carrots ahead really motivated me to kick it up. I noticed that a lot of folks were walking the steeper hills so I used those areas to really close gaps ignoring the massive amounts of pain that I was in and the fact that I'd stop seeing clearly (maybe I should have brought some gu or at least HEED). The pain and suffering paid off though because when I hit the 2.5 mile to go mark I had moved into 12th place and a small group just up ahead of me, including the three women who had passed me very early on in the race.

the worst hill was right at the 2.5 mile to go mark. ouchie...

By the 9 mile mark I was running on pure determination and feeling very thankful for the long mountain bike races I've done in the past. Another 30 minutes of misery can never compare to the hours of misery involved in a 12 hour race.

As I closed to within 100' of the group in front of me, the eventual woman's winner and one guy pulled away leaving me and two other women (Katie and Lauren) to duke it out til the end. On one of the nasty steep climbs Lauren stopped to rest and take in a GU. She was quickly out of sight so I FIGURED I had 12th place wrapped up which was good because no matter what I did, I couldn't seem to close the 50 foot gap to Katie.

Katie is just ahead.

Eventually, I began to realize that I'd never close the gap and resigned myself to that 12th place. That is, right up until I saw Lauren closing in. Shit! I was literally on fumes at this point but the last thing I wanted was to be passed in the last mile so I mustered whatever strength I had left and amazingly closed the gap to Katie.

on Katie's heels coming into the final stretch.

I ran on her heels for about a 1/2 mile until finally, mercifully, the finish line came into sight and I shamelessly pulled around Katie to kick her butt by a whole second.

my brother rus finishing his race about 2 minutes up

I was so shot that I barely made it out of the finish shoot without falling over. You know you've pushed yourself to the limits when both legs are quivering uncontrollably as you try not to pass out.

Jello legs

final thoughts tomorrow.

2011-11-29T08:20:00.000-05:00

The Hidden Valley Nature Center

Run Thru The Woods

A couple of months ago, I was feeling restless. The mountain bike season was coming to a close, my waistline was opening up and I was looking for some sort of goal to motivate me to get off my sorry ass and get some exercise. My buddy WillC clued me into the first time running event the HVNCRTTW (it's too damn long of a name to keep typing it out) a half marathon trail RUNNING race. Historically, I'm not much of a runner but have had some mild success in the past. The wayyyyyyyy past actually. Like back in high school past. Back then, I started running spring track to stay in shape for football. I started running the 2 mile and mile races but soon found that to be too taxing (and boring) and slowly migrated towards the 400m solos and relays. Basically anything longer than a sprint but short enough to not require running more than a couple of miles in practices. I was moderately good at it and managed to qualify for states by the skin of my teeth on a couple of occasions. But it was not something that I truly enjoyed or seemed to be all that good at.

Over the last few years as I've been forced to walk our dogs, I've taken a bit to trail running as a way to make the most out of the time I was spending outside anyway and before I knew it, I was actually enjoying running. The only problem is, I was only running 2-3 miles a day. Not bad for a non-runner but not very good prep for someone hoping to do a half marathon. So, of course I immediately signed up for the race because if a goal seems reasonable, it hardly seems worth doing.

And then I got worried. It tried a 7 mile trail run and that went well so I was feeling confident. Then I did an 8 mile trail/road run that demoralized me and left me with a gimp right knee that kept me from running at all for two weeks. I did manage two 1 mile runs a couple of days before the race so I HOPED that I'd be able to get through the half marathon.

Thankfully, because of the snow and standing water on the course, the promoters shortened the length a day before the race to 10.5-ish miles. 3 miles less seemed like a great idea to me.

(Holy smokes have I rambled. Lets get to some racing...)

On race day, my brother Rus and I show up a smidge too early (apparently it doesn't take as long to get ready for a running race as it does for a bike race) but that just gave us a crack at the porta potties before the crowds showed up. Sadly, even at 35 degrees, race day porta johns are a stinky place to be.

trail runs draw some kooks

riding converted to running cohorts Trevor and Steven at the start line

it's worth clicking on this pic to see

Steven's facial expression (blue shirt and green shorts)

When the gun went off, a few guys quickly jumped ahead of me including Rus, Trevor and Stephen.

30 seconds in and the last I'd see

the front of the race (yes I did carry a

camera with me. I live for blog fodder)

this opening road section was one of the nicest

and easiest to navigate on the day

I soon found myself with a small group of 4 (as opposed to a large group of 4) that seemed to be running a pace I could manage so I settled in and let the leaders go. As many of you know, I suffer from bouts of grandeur but this was one case that I knew exactly where I stood and that was nowhere near the front. We kept a nice clip for the first couple of miles and I was feeling quite comfortable. A sign that I probably wasn't pushing hard enough. Sure enough, a train of 5-6 runners (including two women) cranked by us.

choo choo train passing me by

By the time that group was a few hundred feet ahead of us, I decided it was time to pick up the pace a bit so I passed the kid I'd been pacing off of and spent some time with a builder friend on my heels as I turned it up a couple of notches.

Hey Rich!

I've run out of time for today. Tune in tomorrow for the thrilling ending.

2011-11-28T08:26:00.000-05:00

V is for valiant effort. Yesterday was the HVNC Run Thru the Woods. I was able to finish the race despite the knee issues leading up to it but I didn't exactly win. Actually, I didn't even kinda sorta win. But I did finish and that is a win in this case. Full race recap tomorrow.

mmmmm, snow and slush

hey look, more snow and slush!

and then wobbly legs.

Tune in tomorrow.

2011-11-24T07:54:00.000-05:00

Let's Play a Game

The first person (who wasn't there) who can correctly identify the object in this photo wins some very special, personalized Racin Rick memorabilia.

Happy Thanksgiving and happy guessing.

2011-11-23T08:10:00.001-05:00

De Ride! De Ride!

Thanks to the marvel of modern combustion engines, last week I was able to leaf blow about 6 miles of trail in under three hours. Enough trail clearage to make a group ride from my place viable.

Who wouldn't want to ride this?

or this?

thank you Mr. Stihl

I successfully lured 6 southern maine folks to make the arduous (apparently since getting them up here is as difficult as wrestling a twinkie from the hands of Ralphie May) 1 hour drive up to my place and we enjoyed near perfect conditions with temps in the 50's, clear skies, clearish trails and only a modest amount of mud.

Fun was had, trails were ridden, mocking was prolific and the endo's were abundant. Everybody except for yours truly spent some time over the bars. Thankfully, after missing the photo-op for one endo, I was set up properly for the next.

DA, welcome to Edgecomb

sadly, the next endo prone spot didn't supply any.

shortly after, while JSA (just standing around) Forrest's tire popped off and we got to witness a tube trying to wrestle free from it's internment while we covered our ears in wait for the impending explosion...

it's pot rock, not to be confused with a pet rock.

It does look cuddly though.

Danzy Pansy Puddin Pie got the worlds largest stick caught between

his wheel and seat stays. Impressive.

and afterwards we stuffed our faces with the world's best guacamole (mine), black bean salsa, lots-o beer and some very over done burgers.

look ma, still no upper cabinets!

See y'all next time.

2011-11-14T07:50:00.000-05:00

I'm Screwed

My right knee is still f'ed up a full week since my last real run. It's been tweaky since a couple days after my run commute. I'm not sure is that is what did it or not. What I do know is that my right knee hurts and feels very unstable. Yesterday, my knee felt good so I tried a run this morning but after 1/4 mile it was obvious that the knee still wasn't happy so I grabbed a rake and did some trail work for this weekend's ride instead. Ride this weekend? Well, if you're reading this and are so inclined, I'm having a group (group of 1 is nobody shows up) ride this coming Sunday at 2 leaving from my place. 2-ish hours of singletrack followed by grilling and bon-firing.

The pot spot

So, be there or don't. Your choice.

2011-11-08T06:54:00.000-05:00

A Raking We Will Go

My right knee has been a bit tweaked after Friday night's run (thank you so much pavement!) so I've been taking it easy for a few days. It actually felt pretty good this morning but I still decided to do some trail work instead of my morning run. We've got a blanket of leaves on the ground 3-ish inches thick right now making it difficult to see the trail when running in the dark and pretty easy to trip and impale yourself on something. You know, like this spring....

Bit by bit, I'm bringing my trails back into being. Going from this:

to this

and this

here's a tip for riding these trails. Don't get off line. you'll go from carving goodness to riding on ball bearings. the landing is soft (usually) though.

There will be a Sunday ride happening from my place in the near future before winter ruins it all. Anybody in? Wait, does anybody read this?

2011-11-07T10:00:00.001-05:00

Success! - ish

In preparation for THE BIG RACE at the end of the month I decided to run home from work on Friday, a good 8 or so miles (unless I was feeling good and decided to tack more on) of road and trail. Enough to gauge my fitness but hopefully not enough to kill me.

I survived the ordeal but the first three miles of road literally made me never want to run again. My trail shoes on pavement lead to massive shin splints. Immediately. They were so painful that I was forced to run in the ditch most of the distance which was a rolled ankle just waiting to happen.

Thankfully, I managed to plod my way through it and actually enjoyed most of the rest of the runs via trail. I wasn't too psyched by my average speed but it is what it is and I still have three more weeks to shape up. My brother just so happened to be doing a similar commute home from Boston to Newton at the same time. Let's just say that Rus' time was a smidge better. I might have to fake an injury so that I don't have to endure the shame of losing to him in three weeks.

After I got back I posted my time and speed on facebook. Hilarity ensued (if hilarity is defined as anything that is even remotely amusing when you are scraping the bottom of the barrel for blog fodder). Here is an early morning edit for folks. I, in no way actually think that what happens below is hilarious. Only mildly amusing at best...

Rick Nelson Good news is I survived. Bad news is I'm slooowwwwwe. 7.95 @5.3. Boo
Friday at 6:39pm ·
Geoff Getz Depends on if that's measured in mph or min/miles. The later is pretty good. Maybe not Rusty Nelson good, but pretty good...
Friday at 10:31pm ·
Rusty Nelson It really shows that he's a mountain bike guy that he reports his runs MPH and not minutes per mile.
Saturday at 8:25am ·
Rick Nelson Only silly runners measure in minute per mile! Men and race cars use mph

After the weekend I still stand by my statement (or, to be more accurate, sit uncomfortably as my legs ache).

2011-11-01T07:23:00.000-04:00

I Do Ride a Bike On Occasion

This blog has seemed less like a cycling blog recently and more like a trail running/whoa is me blog (to be honest, the who is me part has always been there), but I do ride a bike on occasion, just not that often these days. Thankfully, I was finally able to do something today that I haven't done much this year. No, not wash my underwear, commute by bike. My schedule this year has made it tough but it's high time I start getting creative again and sneak in at least one or two commutes a week by bike again. My legs, belly and inner hippy need it.

Hunting season has started here in the vacation state and iffy trail conditions after this weekend's snow/wind had me deciding on the road steed which was just as well since I would be hauling my brand spanking new 17"! (the size and weight of this thing are out of this world!) laptop with me. No need getting my boss all pissed off at me for smashing it on a rock only a couple of weeks into it's possession.

er, I guess that's it...

2011-10-31T07:57:00.002-04:00

Stay of Execution

An angel is looking out for me. Regardless of my bravado, I'm sure that 13.1 miles of running in the beautiful Jefferson woods yesterday would have been beyond painful (at least in the days after the race). Thankfully, I think, a noreaster rolled through town Saturday night and forced the postponement of the race despite the race promoters promise to not cancel for anything just a couple of days prior.

Here is the e-mail I received late Saturday afternoon:

"10/29/11

DUE TO THE IMPENDING NOR'EASTER WE ARE POSTPONING THE RACE TO SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH 9:00 AM

We hate to do this because the race organizers and volunteers were looking forward to the race as much as all the runners, but the conditions on Sunday morning look like they are going to be too treacherous for driving or trail running. While we know that trail runners are a tough bunch, things have gone from "We're Mainers, we can handle it!" to "People are going to die!!"

With all the snow that is expected it will be nearly impossible to follow the trails, and the course marking will likely be obscured. No one wants to get lost in the woods in the middle of a snow storm.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you can all make it out on Sunday, November 27th."

There was no way I was missing the race (unless we were without power at home, which did happen to be the case come sunday morning) but I have to admit, I wasn't super stoked to be running in several inches of snow and slop. That didn't deter me though as I started pulling out my water proof running shoes, gators, SNOWSHOES and other various cold weather gear. Thankfully I got the above e-mail before putting too much mental energy into prepping for the race.

The only bad news now is that with a month before the next race date there are two problems. 1. at the end of November there is a good chance for snow on race day again and 2. with a month to prepare, I'll have no excuses when I suck it and my brother (the one who can run, not the fat load. Hi Darren!) kicks my ass assuming he can get into the capped race.

2011-10-26T05:54:00.000-04:00

Sometimes It's Good To Be Married To A Science Geek

After discovering the interesting bug on my sock the other day, Marcy's scientific mind couldn't let an unfruitful internet and bug book search deter her. Instead, she contacted a state entomologist and this is what she found out:

"This an assassin bug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae); specifically, it is a wheel bug (Arilus cristatus). It is the largest species in this family in the United States, and can deliver quite a painful bite if mishandled. They are voracious predators on other small arthropods, and thus may be considered beneficial. See http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek030901.html for much more information on these fascinating insects. Ed Saugstad, retired entomologist; Sinks Grove, WV."

Let's pretend for a second that I understood all of that mumbo jumbo (I KNEW it was an Arilus cristatus!) and pretend that I'm not relieved that that little bastard didn't sink it's needle nose thingy (got a bit less scientific all of a sudden) into my hand and arm as I handled it. Thankfully, after years and years of dealing with angry women, I never mishandle voracious predators. At least not that often...

Riding, as you probably have guessed, has been slim but that doesn't mean that I haven't been thinking about biking. I've been researching brakes for next year's race steed (which I still can't talk about even though anybody with a bit of googling skill could figure out who our bike sponsor is for next year). Currently, SRAM XO's are the front runner since they are a team sponsor (at least I hope so for 2012). Hopefully, they've dealt with their air bubble issues with the new re-design. I know that I've been very happy with my Juicy Ultimates so, if they've made improvements, I'll be happy.

There are some other options being mule kicked down my throat as well, namely Magura MK8's and Shimano XTR but, for nows, I'm happy with XO but am sitting tight until I see some more online reviews and long term testing.

2011-10-24T07:30:00.000-04:00

Arrrrhhhhh! You Will Respect Me!

But I may bore you anyway. I found this little fella on my sock after a bit of trail work Sunday morning. The best I can tell, it's some sort of juvenile mantis. All I know is that he was a motivated little bastard going this way and that. Getting a decent picture was a challenge to say the least.

Also Sunday, Marcy and I slipped out for a very quick ride on our home trails (only the stuff on our property). It was a good ride other than being completely unable to see the trails because of the INCHES of leaf drop (and I refuse to rake YET AGAIN! until after all of those f'ing leaves are on the ground) and poor Marcy taking three diggers in under an hour of riding. Below is a picture shortly after the final fall, a nice little endo in a v-notch in the trail that ended with Marcy landing chin first and nearly breaking herself in two with her feet on one side of the v and her head on the other. Nothing a little Aleve, some stretching and months of chiropractic care won't take care of.

Still a bit on the fence about this weekend's half marathon. I want to do it and a longer trail run this past saturday proved to me that I could pull it off physically, I just need to figure out if I have the time to do it. A summer's worth of racing has left me a bit behind on the honey-do list. There are still thirteen spots available so I'll watch the pre-reg list carefully and decided a bit later in the week.

2011-10-20T07:21:00.000-04:00

Because I Need Goals

It's hard for me to remember if I've said this before (since I've said sooo much nonsense here) but I'm a goal oriented person. I can kick some ass and take some names (sometimes very few names) if I'm motivated to do something but put no clear goal in front of me and I turn into a steaming pile of suck who drinks a tad too much. Put some idiotic goal in front of me though and viola! I'm motivated focused. This is why I'm thinking of doing this race next weekend. A running race? For reals? That's right ladies and gentlemen, I'm 95.3% sure I'll be doing a 13 mile trail running race next weekend. Let's just pretend to forget that I have never run anywhere close to 13 miles before. Back in the day, when I was a bowl cut wearing high school not quite but almost stud, I ran track. In those days I could do 5-6 miles without too much trouble but I was young and stupid. Now, I'm almost 20 years older and still stupid so I think I can pull it off.

Up til now, my run training regimen has consisted of 2-3 mile trail runs three or so days a week so it shouldn't be too hard to tack on another 10. Of course, my normal trail runs involve a lot of stopping to call the dog back so maybe I should take the mutt so I have an excuse to stop often?

Who really cares though if I stink up the joint and walk half of the race. The important thing is that I now have something to train for. Too bad it was raining this morning. I'm motivated but not MOTIVATED!

2011-10-17T07:46:00.000-04:00

1st Elite

Wait, wait, wait. No, I don't mean I finished first in the elite class. Far from it actually. This was my first time toeing the line in the elite class of a mountain bike race. It's something I threatened to do all season and finally got the courage to do this weekend. Why did I chose now to finally step up? Who knows really since I stopped "training" well over 6 weeks ago, am in my worst shape of the season and have already packed on at least 3-4 lbs of love pudge. I think that there were two primary reasons for the decision. 1. By hitting up this race I finally pop my cherry and won't be so intimidated to do so in the beginning of next season. 2. Since I'm in bad shape, getting my ass kicked in the elite class wouldn't hurt nearly as much as getting my ass kicked in the expert class. (although, looking at results, I would have been tops of the expert class had I registered for it)

There were thirteen elites registered for the race, much more than I expected with some pretty heavy regional hitters including, Mike Broderick, Andrew Freye, Matt Boobar, John Folley and my boys Will and Alby. This was going to be tough!

When the gun went off I was marveled to realize that I was able to stay with the group quite easily. I was sitting 3 people from the back when we hit the first single track section, prime territory to be screwed when someone fell on the VERY FIRST ROOT ON THE COURSE! I couldn't believe it. Two minutes into the race and I was standing around waiting for folks to get up off the ground. Things sorted out quickly though and Alby, Paul Simoes (who would pull off third for the day) and myself had a nice little Bikeman.com train going on for a while. Eventually, Paul blasted by me on a short climb and it was just Alby and I pulling up the rear.

The LONG climb in the first half of the course really strung the field out and it was in this climb that I made a bobble on a technical stream crossing allowing Alby to pass and BOOM! I'm dfl. I managed to cling to Alby's wheel for a bit but it wasn't long before he pulled away and I was all by my lonesome. I wasn't bummed in the least that I was in last place. Far from it since it's exactly what I expected out of the race. What I was bummed about was just how poorly I was riding the TVR's many technical sections. I pride myself on being a strong technical rider but the first lap saw me bouncing off every stinking rock and doing more than my fair share of dabbing and walking.

In one of the long technical slogs, I passed Andrew who had a flat tire. I felt bad for Andrew but was psyched to no longer be in last. Sure, I only passed him because of a mechanical but that's racing and I'll take it. It's all I've got. And then, before I knew it, I was passing John Folley who also had a flat. Man, I'm getting good at this elite thing!

Sadly, the feeling didn't last long as Matt Domnarski passed me putting me back in dfl (I didn't even know he was back there) of people still racing. Shit. Matt would quickly pull out of sight and, in the process, expose my inner demons. I was sort of enjoying the ride but no longer had the desire to really push and looking at my watch I was realizing that I was going to be out here for close to three hours. Joy!

As I lapped through starting lap two, I caught Matt (thank the lord) and passed him early in the lap. Then I passed another rider who was dropping out. Another five or six laps like this and I might be in the money! Then I caught my once arch nemesis in endurance events, Alec Petro, fixing a flat. OK, now this was getting silly.

A few minutes later, Alec caught up to me flying (at least by my standards) and quickly passed me. I decided at that moment to try to hold Alec's wheel for as long as possible and I soon found myself enjoying the race again. For the rest of the second lap, I easily held Alec's wheel and was having one hell of a good time.

Coming through at the end of the second lap, the automated scorer announced that I was now in 7th place (not bad considering I guess) and I was able to put a small gap on Alec when I decided to forgo a bottle as Alec made his bottle change. This "lead" wasn't to last though. Alec soon caught and passed me and I, once again, settled in on his wheel.

We whipped along for a while but, eventually, I bobbled on a couple of tech sections allowing Alec to open a gap. I tried to close the gap, but cramps were settling into both of my quads and I had to let him go. I rode the rest of the lap pretty conservatively trying to not kill myself on all of the ungodly technical shit that the rat bastard race promoter threw at us.

Finally, mercifully, I rolled across the finish line at just shy of three hours in 8th place. Phew. Glad that's over!

2011-10-14T13:01:00.001-04:00

How I Helped Fast Freddie

One of the things that I love about the Dempsey Challenge is the opportunity to get up close and personal with pros cyclists and celebrities alike. Last year I got to ride and chat with Chris Horner who turned out to be a super cool and down to earth dude. Last year was also when Patrick Dempsey put the moves on my woman. He said it was an accident but all I know that that one minute they are riding side by side and the next minute he has his arm around her without first asking permission. Maybe that'll fly in hollywood but not in these parts...

This year the cast of characters was a bit different. No Chris Horner but Dempsey was there, of course, as was Levi Leipheimer and Tom Danielson. I got to chat very briefly with Tommy D. and he seemed nice if not a bit on the shy side and Levi ran over my foot shortly before taking a photo with Marcy and I. But the really cool encounter (at least for a bike geek like myself and maybe some of my readers) happened about 5 miles from the finish when Fast Freddy Rodriguez rode past me while helping a female companion finish the ride by pushing her by the lower back to help her up a small climb. Being a whore for a good story, I took my opportunity to pull up next to Fast Freddie, placed my hand on his lower back and said to him "you looked like you could use some help" and proceeded to "help" him up the hill while he helped the woman. I was so into "helping" that Freddie and I almost pushed the woman directly into a tandem bike in front of us. The whole deal almost ended in disaster but I guess that would have made an even better story...

Freddie, I know you were a bit too shy to ask a person such as myself for an autograph after such a close call but I guarantee you that if you come again next year I'd be more than happy to give you something to hang on the mantle at home. To help you out, I'm attaching a splendid picture of myself that you can print out for me to sign.

2011-10-11T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Dempsey Challenge

This past Sunday was the Dempsey Challenge, a charity ride to support the The Dempsey Center for Hope and Healing. Last year I did the 100 mile version with a couple of buddies. This year we opted to do the 70 since it would get us back early enough to enjoy some of the other festivities. The challenge is super cool for a couple of reasons. First, it always raises over a million smackers for the center and it's a ride where you can literally ride shoulder to shoulder with McDreamy as well as multiple pro-tour riders like Levi Leipheimer, Tom Danielson and Fast Freddie Rodriquez.

Here's Tommy D. right before the start.

most of our crew shortly after the start

We ran into Mr. Freye during the ride and got to enjoy his company for a while.

and by some miracle, we came across Marcy and Tim shortly after the

50 mile mark allowing us to ride together for a bit.

Levi was there as well. I had all I could do to resist

picking him up and tickling his little belly.

2011-10-04T07:28:00.000-04:00

This and That

Gotz nothing today really except for a couple or random snippets. Here is a video I made of B while we were playing in her swing set a couple of weeks back. Lets ignore the fact that she was in her nightie, outside, in the middle of the day and instead focus on her lovely singing and me getting my (getting) fat ass stuck in the tunnel towards the end. YouTube gold right here folks.

And, how about a couple pics of yours truly since you haven't seen my smiling face in a while. Plus, Alby needs some new wallpaper material for his computer... creepy little stalker he is.

and in case I don't do it for you, a pic of Marcy

and in case you're really into weird shit, how about one of the pooch. sorry, nothing for you chicken fuckers today...

2011-10-03T14:24:00.000-04:00

That Time Of Year

Well, it seems official. I had hoped that I'd be able to round up enough motivation for a training push leading up to the Treasure Valley Rally but the desire (and the weather) just isn't there so as of this morning I've decided to officially enter the trail building portion of my season. Looking back, I probably entered this phase weeks ago since I've averaged three mornings of trail work a week for the last five or six weeks but it wasn't yet official in my head. Now it is which is very cool because I receive great pleasure from doing trail work. especially when I'm making what I think is going to be a really fun trail (like right now). I'll still do the TVR, I just won't expect much. Alby will probably lead Will off trail anyway so I still stand a chance of doing well...

Speaking of trail work, I found this sweet rake this weekend at Lowe's. It collapses down so that it will easily (ish) fit (kinda sorta) in my ergon pack, ready to be busted out for trail emergencies. Throw in my folding saw and I'm golden for 90% of my trail work.

Some freshy fresh in the front yahd.

B testing out some of the fresh while waiting for the bus this morning.

2011-09-29T07:25:00.000-04:00

Stupid Yet Upbeat

T-minus three weeks from the final throw down of the season, The Treasure Valley Rally.
Way back when, before the season started I proclaimed that I'd be racing as an elite this season. As you all know, that didn't happen but I didn't want to totally welch on my promise so I've decided to register elite for the TVR. My only hope of doing well is that the race is so late in the season that all of the fast guys will probably be off racing cross somewhere so Alby, Will and I can take the top three. I'm going to need any help that I can get cause I'm in worse shape than earlier in the season when I knew I wasn't quite up to snuff to play with the big boys. All this shit is what good stories are made of.

I've been filling my days with all sorts of good stuff recently. One of those stuffs is Brynna has started taking ballet lessons. That's her in the black because she always has to be different.

I've also been making mad progress on my home trails. I've essentially given up running in the mornings now in favor or 30-40 minutes of trail work each day. I don't get far in each session but it is making a difference and a couple more days will get me pretty close to having a fun new section ready for the next time the Bathers come by (probably next week).

That's all I have time for today. Peace.

2011-09-28T13:29:00.001-04:00

Shoot me. Shoot me now.

2011-09-22T06:56:00.000-04:00

Bradbury Twelve

I've given up hoping to have time to do a full report so I'm gonna huck some shit together. Hopefully, when I get my new laptop tomorrow, it will allow for some home blogging again (blogging from an Ipad blows goats).

For 2011, since I was doing the two man race with Mr. "I've got too much nervous energy" I decided it was time to enjoy the weekend a bit more and take advantage of the onsite camping. Of course, I didn't have time to pack anything so I did some car camping instead and totally free loaded on my buddies who stay there every year. Thanks guys!

The element makes for a nice little camper.

I convinced Alby to take the first leg of the race since he was a bit faster than me this year. The final decision wasn't made until about 15 minutes before the start when I showed up in my civies. Get to work boy.

At the start, we were lined up next to our nemesis, You Got Freyed.

This would be the last bit of civility for the day.

Sadly, while Alby has an abundance of energy, it appears to be a parasite of his intelligence when with 30 seconds to the start, he shifted (purposefully) back from the first row start to about four rows back and then proceeded to let everybody go because he thought he was in the second wave. Let's just pretend he wasn't just chatting with our competitors right at the front.

See alby at the start? Me neither.

Alby did a fine job of making up for it by only losing a couple of minutes to Andrew on the first lap. Then I took over for a lap and dropped 3 minutes (still my fastest lap ever at Bradbury). Throughout the day, my lap times would slowly get longer (only a four minute spread all day so I can't really complain) as well as Andrew's and Chris's times while Alby would be annoyingly upbeat and somehow do faster times in the afternoon.

In the end it was super close with us never more than 11 minutes down to Andrew's team but, sadly, we weren't able to pull it off. We swatted but didn't connect.

2011-09-15T07:06:00.000-04:00

Let's Mail This One In

Time is tight, I've got a big race this weekend. What to blog? What to blog?

The big throwdown at the Bradbury 12 is this weekend. Alby and I (two non-established "elites") will be throwing down with Andrew Freye and Chris Gagnon, two established regional elites. We named our team "The Freye Swatters" as if we will be able to pester Andrew and Chris. The reality is we'll likely be little more than a minor nuisance that they will flit away with the brush of a hand. Andrew is predicting the win for their team and named it accordingly; "You Got Freye'd". We'll see boys, we'll see.

Last night, while doing a preride of the course, I came across Andrew and his new bride, Hattie, out for a newlywed ride. Hattie, if you don't know, has gone from a newby to being one of the fasted expert women in the region in the matter of a couple of years. I hate them both. OK, not really. Who could hate this?

Notice the look of tragic realization on Hattie's face?

That's the "oh shit, I just became a Freye" face.

Andrew, on the other hand, realizes he's married up so he's STOKED!

Only time will tell how this whole thing shakes out. For now, at least, we're getting some love from the race promoter for our name selections. I hope that we at least beat Hattie's team, The Spotted Dicks...

2011-09-12T07:51:00.000-04:00

Back When I Was a Whipper Snapper

Way back when Marcy and I bought the property that we are currently living on, Marcy and I were in negotiations about how many trails I was allowed to make on the property. With 17 acres of mixed hardwoods, no swampy areas and one small stream, I figured I'd be able to get a good 3-4 miles of twisty turnry good time in. Marcy, on the other hand, only wanted a big perimeter loop and MAYBE one trail bisecting the property. I made a maps of what both of our expectations were (sadly, I can't find the post and I'm too lazy to really search).

It's now three-ish years later and I'm well on my way to my vision. How did I get it done without Marcy putting the kibosh on? By doing it in the early mornings (under the cover of darkness this time of year) before she gets up. Hopefully she doesn't read this! :)

16 mile mountain bike loop from the house.

not bad and only about 2 miles of pavement

and the squigglyness that are my home trails 2+ miles

so far and probably room for 1 mile more.

2011-09-07T10:48:00.000-04:00

So Fashionable

I now know where the current argyle cycling sock rage came from. It came from busy (forgetful) people who are always forgetting to throw their riding socks into their riding bag. If you wear socks that are already sort of office worthy its one less thing to think about. Me? I just forget my socks. Thankfully I can pull off blue and black.

and then RAIL some corners proper. note to self. RAILING corners on leaf strewn trails after 1+" of rain is not advisable. Fun trying though.

2011-08-30T07:36:00.000-04:00

The Great Adventure Challenge

Final Wrap Up

I've had a few people ask me recently what the f*ck is up with the blog. I drag my race posts out over a week, post infrequently and generally suck donkey ding dong? Well, my answer is that I am the definition of overextended right now. As I've mentioned before, work has been super busy all year so that's no surprise but my work load has increased AGAIN as I take on more responsibility AND take over some other people's work who can't seem to get it together. To add to that, I'm spearheading opening a new office in Portland more or less on my own so that's eating up a bunch of time AND (and that's a big freaking and) I'm a board member for a local non-profit which has been going through hard times over the last few years and we're in the process of turning things around. Add in family, house and riding and you might understand why things have been slack this summer. Just to be clear, I'm not complaining. All that stuff above is good stuff but at a certain point, something has got to give and it's been maintaining a moderately entertaining blog.

Anyway, back to the previously scheduled lazy ass blog post.

Heidi (Marcy's running teammate) finishing the run and solidifying

"Landing the Pathological Smelts" #1 women's team victory.

Claire finishing the kayak and actually looking like she knows what she's doing (unlike me)

Marcy finishing the bike portion and making

the fourth fasted women's ride of the day.

A congratulatory hug after Marcy's finish

(I finished my run seconds before she came in on the bike)

we're obviously a very sweet couple based on the guy's

smile in the background.

2011-08-29T10:05:00.000-04:00

The Great Adventure Challenge

The Conclusion

(finally)

So, about 1.5 hours after the start of the race, I rolled into the bike to run transition tearing complete ass. I think that I kind of freaked the race volunteers out because I did a near full speed cyclocross style dismount as I came to the tent while a couple of volunteers were furiously waving their arms trying to get me to not ride full speed through the crowd at the transition. Such amateurs... :)

Before the race I had stashed my shoes and my very own camp chair under the tent at the end. It was in the shade as well as at the end of the tent that I'd be coming into. Or so I though. As I rushed into the tent I realized that I had put it all the way at the opposite end and had to dash to my stuff to change. Granted, the added distance was only about 100' total round trip but when you're trying to catch the leader, every second counts.

damn shoe

Once to my chair, I quickly shed my helmet and jersey and go to pull off my shoes when I realize that my right buckle is stuck. I tried frantically to extricate myself and yelled out "help" as if someone was going to rush to my rescue and then managed to tip over in my chair as I scrambled to pull the shoe free. Marcy's running teammate and husband (not marcy's husband, the runners husband) came running over to help just as I was able to wrench my foot from the shoe. Heidi's husband pointed out Mike at the top of the first slope (about 2-3 minutes ahead) and said I could catch him because he was already walking so I hauled ass out of the transition, passed up a water feed from the volunteers (so many and so helpful) and headed up the mountain.

Remembering last year's race, I felt like I left a bit too much energy in the tank on the run so for this year I decided to absolutely kill myself on the climb and run a bunch of it. Right until I hit the first steep slope. About 100 yards in, the grade kicks up and a fast-ish hike ensues. I desperately wanted to run but my labored breathing said otherwise so I settled in and hoped that Mike would falter.

the only flat portion of the course. Right at the beginning.

I had forgotten to grab my from the bike at the transition but I'm sure the grades reach well into the 30's and their were some spots where simply walking was tough. By the 2/3's mark of the climb I had pretty much given up hope of catching Mike since I didn't seem to be reeling him in and then shortly after he came running past heading for the finish. We gave a quick fist bump and went our separate ways.

Shortly after, I was rounding the lift station at the top and heading to the bottom. The run down the mountain is the easiest part of the day as long as you have good traction and you pay attention but it's also where you do the most damage. For days after the race I could barley walk. Read about last year's experiences to give you an idea.

I finally crossed the finish line at 2:02 a solid three minutes behind Mike who set a new course record. Nice job Mike. I'll be gunning for you next year!

Marcy's team kicked some ass finishing mid pack off all of the teams but grabbed the fasted women's team title by a solid 20 minutes. I think they're hooked.

Happy couple.

Marcy picking up her team's hardware.

2011-08-25T07:36:00.000-04:00

The Great Adventure Challenge

Part 2

As I entered the mtb portion of the event I wasn't yet worried. Last year I had a 7 minute deficite to the reigning champ going into the mtb so I knew that I had a chance of erasing the 6+ minute gap this year. The only thing that I didn't know was how fast the dudes were in front of me...

The first few miles of broken pavement and dirt road allowed me to hammer and pass most of the 20-ish folks ahead of me. I pulled most of them back pretty quickly and it gave my ego a little boost every time I blasted by one, but there were a few who were pesky. One of the guys was (I think) the eventual overall 3r place solo finisher and he looked to be in his early 50's. When I passed him, he told me that he was in second up til that point and then he proceeded to hold my wheel for a few miles holding my draft with what seemed like ease. This made me extremely nervous since having a draft on this course in pretty helpful and I was afraid that if he drafted me the whole way he'd be fresher for the "run". I would have liked to have used a draft from him but I was afraid that if I didn't keep it on the rivet I'd never catch first place. Thankfully, once the trails tilted upward, I was able to open a gap and I never saw him again.

The bike section also gave me a chance to dump a bunch of diluted coke down my gullet. I knew that once the "run" started that drinking would be tough (and during the kayak it was impossible) so I decided to get as much fluids in me as possible.

About 2/3's of the way through mtb section, I came to the impossible climb. A long STEEEEEP hill with a series of giant drainage ditches running diagonally across the trail. Last year, Andrew was the only person to ride it. This year I went into the race intending to ride it as well but about 1/3 of the way in I realized how stupid it was to try and bailed. This was the section that I took the solo lead last year so I kept looking ahead hoping to make the catch but it didn't happen. The last couple of miles blazed past without any sight of him so I resolved to catch him on the "run".

The "run" tomorrow.

2011-08-24T07:21:00.000-04:00

The Great Adventure Challenge

Part 1

Time is tighter than ever these days so I'm going to try to bust out this race report before I forget about all of the juicy details. Here goes.

After last year's devastating 7 minute time loss is the opening leg kayak, I vowed to do better this year to give me a shot at the overall victory (including teams). As mentioned on Monday, a friend hooked me up with a sleek sea kayak from EMS that would surely knock minutes off my time. I didn't know anybody in the field (other than Marcy's team of scientists, the Landing the Pathological Smelt team) so I staged myself sort of middle of the line in the first row of kayaks. I didn't expect to be the fastest person out there but I expected to be near the front. I had practiced with this particular kayak for all of 2 minutes and kayaked once so far this summer so why wouldn't I expect to be near the front? (One of these days I'll have to visit a psychologist to see where I get this unfounded confidence...)

When the 20ga gun went off to start the race, I was immediately in trouble. I had taken my hands off the paddle to start my timer and as I fumbled to get going, 1/3 of the field surged past me. Eventually, I got my shit together and started to paddle furiously. Right into a couple of boats in front of me turning one of the kayaks almost 90 degrees before we were able to untangle. Drat. I looked up and the leaders already had a good 30 second gap on me. Sweet. Thankfully, things went shittier from there. Once we were untangled, I proceeded to plinko off of every kayak in my general vicinity as I realized that I HAVE NO FREAKING CLUE HOW TO PADDLE IN A STRAIGHT LINE! How embarrassing. During the first five minutes of the race I probably apologized to 10-15 different individuals for either hitting them with my kayak, cutting them off or smacking them with a paddle. I was a serious menace. To top it all off, the kayak that I was using was much narrower than I'm used to and I actually almost capsized the son of a bitch on two occasions. once with both hands and paddle going off one side of the boat before I was able to right myself. Shoot me, shoot me now.

Eventually, even my inflated ego had to accept that I wasn't going to catch the leaders and I settled into a pace that allowed me to paddle straight-ish and (hopefully) keep me from drowning. Mercifully, the kayak portion is only 2.5 miles so it quickly came to an end after roughly 29 minutes. Two minutes SLOWER than last year with the family barge and almost 6 minutes down on the leaders. This is gonna be fun.

one of the few moments I wasn't embarrassing myself.

As I was pulling into the beach, I managed to fall out of my kayak and almost completely submerge myself just for good measure and to make sure that all of the volunteers (of which there were many) and spectators got to witness just how inept I am.

The transition to the bike went smoother than last year and I was able to hop on and get cranking pretty quickly. I knew that I had somewhere between 20-30 dudes ahead of me. I had no clue who were solos and who were on teams but it didn't really matter because I was pissed from the kayak and NEEDED to pass them all.

The smelt from Marcy's team coming in.

Legs two and three tomorrow.

2011-08-22T07:13:00.000-04:00

The Great Adventure Challenge

Saturday was the Great Adventure Challenge an off road tri consisting of kayaking 2.5 miles, mountain biking roughly 14 miles and a 2-ish mile run up and down pleasant mountain. All sorts of fun. Last year was the first time I contested the race and other than being slower than a shit sandwich on the kayak had a pretty good performance and took first solo. You can read about it here and here. My one regret from last year was showing up in our family 2.5 person kayak. It was no match for the sleek sea kayaks most of the fast folks were using so this year a friends hubby hooked me up with this:

Check back tomorrow to see how it went...