Not Gravel

Well I did get out and ride yesterday and today but I just did road rides, I need to get some more gravel but it's a bit sloppy right now. Yesterday my road ride was pretty sloppy too, I rode to Chula and back and it was misting and foggy in areas. I was wearing my Hammer team kit and it is mostly white so probably not the best choice on a foggy day but I did have my blinkie on my pocket to help keep me more visible. Today I didn't have a lot of time but was able to get the loop in, I really felt like I was flying but my computer said otherwise. But I really don't care what it said today because it was a good workout either way and I will take it.

Not sure if I will be able to ride outside tomorrow or if I will go to spin class, last Thursday was an awesome and very painful speed workout at spin class. Of course we started out with risers but I really like risers. Today on the rollers coming back on Hwy A I found myself doing risers as I came over the top of the hills. I don't do risers a lot on road rides but I use them on the trail a fair amount, especially in technical climbs.

I'm Committed

It's all in the title although some say I should be committed. February 1st was the start of registration for the 2011 Lumberjack 100, registration was set to open at 7:00 p.m. Last year the the race sold out in just over 12 hours and this year the race limit was extended from 300 racers to 350 racers. I was sure the race would sell out again and I was pretty confident that it would sell out faster than last year but I had no idea what was in store.

I feel very lucky to get a spot in the race because the night of registration was the night of the big blizzard and I had my truck parked on the street. A police officer informed me I needed to move my truck due to city ordinance/snowfall amount but it was stuck. Molly and I went out and with the help of a neighbor we were able to shovel the truck out and get it into the driveway. We made it back into the house at 6:58, I was a little stressed just because I wanted to be set already although I was sure I had a few hours to get signed up. I logged on and was ready to register right at 7:00, the process took me 2 minutes and I was in. In fact right after I registered I clicked on the registered riders list and there was 111 signed up in the first 2 minutes. Mark was signed up as well and he called me and asked me if I was watching the number climb, it was amazing to watch the riders list climb and climb and climb. The race actually sold out in 14 minutes, that is AMAZING to me.

Below is a picture of me from Lumberjack last year, this year I will be racing my single speed (Mark says I should be committed!!!). In fact I will be racing all rigid, there is only one spot I can remember for sure on the course that I am not looking forward to riding all rigid but it is a pretty short section. It is an eroded out downhill section that really shook me pretty good on my full suspension bike so no shocks should be a real treat!!!



The Lumberjack 100 is Michigan's Ultra Single Speed Championship, I have to say I am a bit worried about racing my single speed because there are so many fast riders on one gear. I am not concerned with how I place in this race because I am out of my league with many of these riders (I also want to represent Hammer Nutrition well). Below is last years single speed winner, Gerry Plug of Salsa Cycles, and he is returning again this year.



I will have to get back to you with a goal for this race, I have a lot of work to do and it's tough when I haven't done a race like this on this particualr bike.

Map My A$$

Okay today was the first time that my gravel road map turned out to be just a piece of paper with lines on it. The times I have used it when riding to the North and East of town it is correct but today I headed South and when I took the first gravel road the map indicated that I would have 2 roads to choose from to head further South....wrong, dead end. I took the road across the highway and the map indicated that there was one road that I could take South to another road, wrong it was another dead end. I took a paved section South and jumped on another gravel road to the East, the map showed I would have another road heading South, guess what it was there....sort of. The road had huge rock on it and was mostly mud and then it turned into the picture below.



I'm not saying it wasn't fun to ride but I was expecting roads not something a tractor might get stuck on. I finally got to the end of the road but not before I got to the water pictured below.



When I got to the next road I headed East again because the map showed that I could hit another road South. Well guess what? It wasn't there...again. There was another road that went further East so I attempted to ride it, I should have known not to since the gravel only went about 30 yards. Beyond that point it was pure mud and my bike got nasty quick. I had to carry my bike back out of there because the wheels would not turn due to the amount of mud, not a lot of fun. I ended up looking for more familiar gravel and then continued my ride.

I did have some deer run across the road in front of me, I grabbed my camera as they were approaching the road and I didn't realize I missed hitting the on button and tried to take a picture when they were very close (about 15 yds away). I had to brake or I might have hit the back deer, I realized I didn't take the picture so I got the camera on and captured the picture below. It was a pretty cool thing, I just wish I could have got the first picture.



I sure am digging the base miles that I am getting but man do I feel weak right now, 52+ miles today (and it wasn't very hilly) and I was feeling trashed. It seemed especially odd since I was riding by myself and I couldn't seem to push the pace. I know my nutrition is not key right now, garbage in garbage out.

I Like Pie

Well the gravel road ride was canceled for today so a group of us decided there was still an opportunity for pain so we met up and rode to Jamesport for a pie ride. All I heard was pie, I was so excited I almost forgot my bike. Doug, Denny, James, Tim, Jan, and myself headed out of town and the wind was out of the South East and of course was blowing North West...guess which direction we started out heading, of course it was North West. You know, it is almost difficult to enjoy a tailwind on the first part of a ride because you know how much of a headwind you are going to have on the way home. Well Mother Nature didn't let us down, if fact I think she was down right nasty to us in a couple spots.

Okay I am getting a little ahead of myself, the ride there was great. We had a constant moving pace line and it was a good time. I have to be honest that it was much better when we got there because it was time to eat some pie...did I mention pie earlier??? If not then we rode there to eat some pie. Being Amish myself I think makes the pie taste even better in Jamesport!!! When my Coconut Meringue slice showed up I'm not exactly sure what happened, the memory of it is a blur. It was hard to see my plate with my eyes rolled up in the back of my head, I did use The Force to keep Doug away from my pie (I'm not sure but I think he likes pie too). When my eyes rolled back out of my head I had to ask "What happened? Where am I?". Then the group informed me that it was time to ride back to Chillicothe, I asked them "Did I bring my bike???". They of course rolled their eyes and I heard one mumble to another one "Why did we bring him?" and he answered "I don't know, he just shows up". Okay not all of this is true, but I tell you there was pie!!!

The trip home wasn't as much fun as the ride there but I know the reward of such efforts will be realized in the months to come. Continuing to get in base miles I hope will pay big dividends in June and July. I brought my camera with me today, I guess I took it for extra weight since I didn't use it.

Age Of Innocence

This is probably a no brainer for some people but I just stumbled onto it the other day. The 1.2 people that read this blog probably know that we don't have cable at our house but we do have Netflix and it is a pretty good fit for our house. One of the "watch it now" items was the Cosby show, I used to love to watch this show when I was younger. It's kinda funny how the same feelings you had at that age resurface when watching it years later. It was almost like I didn't have any worries at all, of course at that age what was a worry is a popcorn fart now. I might have been worried if my parents our my teacher would realize that I was wearing the same pants for the 4th straight day...oh I still do that!!!

It was very refreshing to watch a show where there were no cell phones. I remember when my Dad got his first cell phone, he had to carry it around in a bag. Might as well carried the kitchen phone with you!!!

Tough Ride

I got out for a road ride today and I have to say that it was very tough, not my best effort. I was actually shocked at how quickly I faded and at how much it hurt. I know that my fueling practices are not anywhere close to where they need to be, but I don't think that was a huge factor today. I will say that the first 30+ miles was into the wind but I was actually carrying a decent speed, it wasn't blazing fast but not bad. I could really feel my legs fatigue about mile 25 and I knew that I would get a tailwind a little over 30 miles. The tailwind felt good but my legs were pretty shot by this point. I will say that I rode a very hilly route which was a big factor in my leg fatigue but still...come on. There were a couple times I was wondering if I was going to make the whole distance, I knew I was on the verge of bonking (maybe straddling that line). I was a bit discouraged with the ride but I am confident that this ride will make me stronger in the future.

It was a beautiful day to be riding, I dressed in my mind a little heavy so I could take layers off but actually it was just about perfect. I also tried some of my new Hammer products today, I used Endurolyte Fizz and Perpetuem Solids. The Fizz is an effervescent and the taste at first was a bit strong for me but after it "settled down" (my own phrasing) it had a very subtle flavor and was pretty good. I used Mango today but I also have Lemon Lime and Grapefruit to try also. I have all 3 flavors of the Solids and used the Orange Vanilla today, it smells just like the powder. I was going to use 3 pieces at a time but only took 2 at a time...and there is a reason. It's hard to describe the taste and constancy of this product. The taste is subtle and I found it appealing, which was a very good thing. When chewing the Solids the pieces I was chewing seemed to stick together it was almost like chewing gum for a minute, some of the smaller pieces were sticking to my teeth a little (maybe I should brush them). I don't think I could chew 3 pieces at a time, maybe I need to chew one most of the way and then add the second and chew most of it gone and then add the third. The only problem with that is if it is a mtb race it will be tough to access the solids 3 different times and try to carry speed while chewing (having to breath through your nose). I guess I have some organizing work to do!!!

8.....And Change!!!

I was thinking back to last year at Lumberjack, after I had finished the race Mark and I were standing at the end of the trail watching and cheering on riders that were finishing the race. The race was (3) 33 mile laps and as these riders were finishing their 3rd leg we would cheer and then Mark would say "Only one more lap to go", man did that get their attention. While standing there another racer who had finished the race came over and joined us, he was from Wisconsin and we talked about the days efforts. He said he was primarily a road racer but did do some mountain biking and decided to do this race. He had several buddies that are also road racers and they kept contacting him (not sure if it was texts or calls) to see how he did. He had a great race, he finished in 8 hr and 50ish minutes. So when he told his buddies how he did, he said he acted like it was no big deal "I finished in 8 and change!!!". Of course he just started busting up laughing when he told us this and of course we got a huge kick out of it too.

Maybe you had to be there.....maybe you should be there!!!

What's Wrong With Some People?

I, like most people, like to find good deals. I am constantly looking for sales or particular items on ebay at a great price, it doesn't happen very often but there are items that seem to slip through the cracks. Some people don't know the best way to list an item on ebay so when doing a search I will use words that are close to the item but not the most popular terminology. I have gotten some real steals before but it is amazing what some people are willing to pay for an item.

Here recently I have been watching gift cards sell on ebay, many of them go for just under the face value of the card so the buyer saves a couple bucks. I figure if I can find a card to a retailer that I was going to shop already and can save roughly 10% by purchasing a gift card then I would probably do it. As with any ebay item you have to really watch the shipping costs. I saw a card on there that had a face value of $135 and the auction was about to end and the bid was at $51.01 so it peaked my interest. I clicked on that item and checked the shipping, it was an impressive $124.99.....what the heck??? Of course it doesn't take a genius to see that the card that is worth $135 is being sold for $176, the buyer just lost $41 on this purchase. I just don't understand people sometimes. Another person was selling a Shell gas card that had a value of $100 and had a "Buy It Now" of $122. Who in their right mind would waste $22 on this purchase? I'm guessing they have it on there because someone will fall for it.

Anyway that's all I have to say right now, well it really isn't but some things are better left unsaid.

Sorry Chuck

Well this is the first time that I have missed Chucky's Challenge but sometimes life is a challenge. I haven't been to a single basketball game of Brady's yet due to work and this was a great opportunity to see him play. I think he was a little nervous about me being there but if he knew I don't know much about basketball he would probably feel better. I could have found another game to get to (and hopefully will be able to get to another one) but with only half a day of school this week it has made our house chaotic. Our house functions on routine and this was not a week of routine but instead a week of rearranging schedules, much like everyone else in this town. Jonas was feeling under the weather the past couple days and anyone who has been around kids knows that a 3 yr old that isn't feeling great can be a chore to care for.



When I told Molly that I wasn't going to ride she was really shocked, she urged me all night Friday and early Saturday morning to go. I told her I would still ride today but it would just be by myself. I did get in a 35 mile road ride today and it was pretty good. I was amused on part of the ride, there were dozens of robins along the road. You could just see it in their eyes, they had to be thinking "Why did we come here in February?".

White Stuff

Wow that was a lot of snow yesterday, I am not a big fan of snow anymore but since there is nothing I can do about it I will just deal with it and move on. Now when I was a kid I loved the snow, I grew up in Lowe's Acres and we had a lot of places to play in the snow. My brother and I would work together to make a track, usually I would sit on a flat bottom sled and he would pull me down the hill to pack down the snow and begin a track. We would do this a couple times until the track was packed down really nice. There were a few times that we would get out a hose and spray water onto the track and get a super fast ice covered track. Then usually he would lay down on the sled and I would put my hands on his upper back and take off running/pushing him down the track. Once we got some speed built up I would launch myself into the air and land on his back and off we went down the hill, man that was a lot of fun. One year one of our neighbors, Randy Hapes, made a sled out of bed rails and topped it with a sheet of plywood (it held about 6 of us neighborhood kids). He strapped it to his 4 wheeler and took us flying around the neighborhood, that thing could really fly. I remember one turn in particular that we took too fast and that thing rolled with us tumbling in it's path, we might have gotten a little banged up but it was still a lot of fun. I remember my parents were not too thrilled that we had ridden on that contraption and I couldn't understand why, now that I am a parent I totally see what their concerns were. Plus if anybody knows Randy then they know he can have a bit of a wild streak in him.



Yesterday when I got home from work I parked my truck on the street like I normally do, not even thinking about the snow ordinance. About 6:15 Molly noticed some flashing lights outside our house, it was a police officer cleaning the snow off of my license plate. Molly stepped outside and he asked if it was our truck, then told us we needed to move it due to the ordinance (he was really nice about it though). Molly and I got suited up and started shoveling a place to put the truck and then had to shovel the truck out of the street. It took a little extra effort to get the truck out, a neighbor came out and helped me bounce up and down on the rear bumper and the truck moved sideways out into the street. Finally I was able to get it into the driveway, man that really sucked for a little bit. I was worried that I was going to have it stuck in the middle of the street. Plus the extra time of getting it out got me eerily close to missing something that I did not want to miss out on (this topic will come up later).



Since I didn't ride today (actually today wouldn't have been too bad to ride) I used the art of snow shoveling as my workout. It was mostly a legs and abs workout, not great but I did burn some calories. I kept pealing off layers of clothes because I was sweating quite a bit. By the time I got done my t-shirt was soaked through and so was my underwear (I finally remembered to put some on). It reminded me of what it felt like after wrestling practice (if I didn't have fresh tighty whiteys to put on), I was usually cutting weight and my clothes would be soaked and would get dressed back into my street clothes with wet underwear to wear home (now that is sexy).

After shoveling today Molly, Emma, and Selma played in the snow for awhile. Really it was a pretty relaxing day even though there was a lot of work outside.