Motivation

Check out the new motivation/training tool Liz has found......
Works for me......no really, it works for me........wait for it....wait for it.....nevermind.

Check out this photo taken by MLKimages from the race this past weekend......

...as cool as this shot is, what's the thing I'm most happy with?..........The flat pedal stroke baby......looks like training is paying off for something.

Granogue race report plus.....

As I said yesterday, Wifey and I headed down to the Granogue XC on Saturday.

The race started like most, on a nice flat open gravel road to thin out the field......so with this it was a 300 meter sprint for the hole shot. Halfway up the road two riders came by in a paceline so I jumped on dudes wheel. We made the turn into the woods and more two riders shot by on the inside...."na, I ain't going down like this." I jump on my "rabbits" wheel and somehow within the next ten seconds I'm leading the race.....still not sure where that came from.

The next couple minutes were a blur until I hit the first real single track area.....then came the traffic jam. The SingleSpeeders started right in front of us again, and like French Creek we caught them right at the right/wrong time. Nothing like coming around a corner and having 20 racers walking their bikes up the first hill/climb/technical spot of the course. But that's all part of racing, if you can't pass well....you lose.

After five minutes of passing/working and begging my way thru traffic things settle down to a nice flow for the rest of the first lap. The end of the lap was a half mile gravel/dirt/paved road climb back to the start/finish.....this is where I was past. I knew it, I saw him coming and watched him roll by....I just had nothing to answer, I was tapped.

My second lap was just a blur of happiness....sweet rarely ridden trails on private property with none of the traffic around. A little more passing here and there but nothing major, I was pretty much as happy as a man could be without a female present.....I'm not gonna explain that one. I had a little cramping that I need to look into but everything else was good...besides being in second....and sadly that's how things ended.

Wifey got a shot of me coming across the finish at the speed of slow.......

.....not sure where the sweet cut/blood trail on my knee came from....but don't worry, I'll think of a good story. I'm thinking it was from when I was in Nam.

But second it was...

...even the picture to prove it...joy, joy. The shirtless guy you ask....I have no idea, maybe we can get a fund together to find dude some clothes. If your last name is not Biel or Abba you should not be sporting around topless.....nevermind, on we go.

As always Faticus is a man of the people and treats the bitches well.....sorry Ann....

Marc called Ann out to congratulate her for everything she does as a person/blogger and all around great person. Thanks Ann for everything you do/have done, and not to mention all the enjoyment you've brought me....think PG13 here kids....well....nevermind.

And now onto Marc and friends. I could be here all night saying great things about you and your support group...but to tell you the truth anybody that reads this knows you personally and therefore knows how supportive you are of racing/causes/and the remembrance (of Andrew Mein.)

Thank you.

Granogue Minor

Just a quick throw out.....before I throw up, or cramp up....again.

If anybody happens to see this man......

.....Faticus........weather it's on the Tri state area trails, eating fish tacos, posted on the wall in your local Post Office, or in jail make sure you thank him (after you hide your children.)

He, his crew, friends and family went well above the call of duty once again in putting on the Granogue MTB race this year. The race was/is both a celebration of a fallen rider/racer Andrew Mein and a fundraising opportunity for the HERA Women's Cancer Foundation.

But more on all the above tomorrow, I need sleep, food, water and beer......not in that order thou.

Thanks again Faticus!

I've been pimped....

....and by pimped, I mean PIMPED......lookie what I came home to today...
Any guess on what I'll be sporting at Marc's race tomorrow? Come on....guess...

But to tell you the truth, before getting this stuff I was "less than pumped" about tomorrow....and that's putting it mildly. Not sure why but yesterday I just started getting a bad feeling about this one. Maybe it's the lack of training, or the lack of focus this past week (more then likely it's the extra calories)...but something is not giving me that warm fuzzy feeling. Pulling my glute Wednesday night did not help either.

I don't know.....maybe I just need to have my ass handed to me. I mean the next 6-7 weeks should be the focus of the whole racing year and I'm just kind of walking thru things with no real drive.....or maybe I'm just being a woman (I'm gonna pay for that one.) I always get nervous before a race but this just seams different for some reason.

Either way seeing the package from the Twin Six boys (thanks Ryan and Brent) has brought more then a little sunshine into my day. With that in mind I need to get the 29er ready to rock and get the pre race meal rolling before the real Sunshine comes home from work.

Putting in time...

...and in more then one way.

Today was my first ride since the wife and I did our little tour on Saturday....yeah I know, that was four days ago.....four long rain filled days. But I sunk out this morning and had a great little ride...even thou it was only 35 miles it felt great to be back in the saddle again. The legs felt spunky and strong (they freaking should after three days off) but even thou I felt like a Super hero.....

I wanted to keep it shorter with Granogue only being three days away. So I packed it in early with the hope of saving that spunkyness for the race.

Also on the "putting in time" front, it was nine years ago today that the wife and I first meet. I know it's not a wedding anniversary or anything like that...but to us it's just as important. I'll spare you all the mush.....and with that in mind I need to go make myself beautiful (good luck on that one) for tonight.

Funk and free labor.

Yesterday morning I woke up in a funk.

Plan A was to meet up with Gary at seven for a three hour spin out of Doylestown, plan B was the shop ride at 7:30....again out of D-town. Let's just say that I finally left the house at 9:30 for a ride (after a couple Midol's...and the wife pretty much inserting her foot in my....) well, you get the point. No real reason, I just felt like being a vegetable.

But after ten miles of pushing the pedals and hearing my tunes all was happy in the world. About the same time all the planets aligned I came around a corner to find the wife taking a picture of a deer walking on the side of the road......during her ride......but, yes it was cute.

So with my estrogen levels again peaking I decided just to put in some miles with the better half...which I have to say was pretty cool. Sure I did not get the "workout" I needed...but how often do you get to spin around with your wife for a few hours?

After our 30 mile spin/training/teaching session we hit up Tapora Farms for a little post ride recovery.....aka a coconut donut, then home for the "real" recovery....beer and a Mexican throw down.

Today was a work day for the Team on the Neshaminy course. I'm not saying the Earth moved....

....but we got A LOT of stuff done. Plus it being my first ever trail work day, I was surprised to see the work that goes into some of the "meaningless" obstacles/berms/corners and so on. We turned a 300 meter section of rough washed out trail into a kickass technical downhill.

I'm warning you now boys and girls this trail is not gonna be any joke, be ready for a rough course.

With all that said, the wife and I are off for some Mexican grub.

Neshaminy and Nuun love...

Nuun love, not no love....thank God.

It's been a needed laid back week, the body took a little beating at French Creek. But even a laid back week means saddle time. Tuesday was a easy 35 mile spin with Bikewrench, Pam and myself...just want the body needed.

But yesterday afternoon I met up with Timmy D at Neshaminy (our Teams MTB race course) for a ride/scouting session for the work we're planning on doing Sunday. The course is going to be both technical and fast with a number of climbs that are going to work you. Lots of off camber stuff, some rocky sections, logs, bridges, etc, etc.....but I promise I'll keep the Lions Tigers and Bears in their cages. Be ready to get worked at this one boys ands girls.

Today I wanted to get a good ride in since tomorrow is.....well going to be typical Pennsylvania....CRAPPY. So with that in mind I went out and threw down a quick 40 miles that hit even hill I could find. But what's better then a great ride......finishing a good ride and coming home to find a box of love on the front porch. And in that "box of love?"

Nuun love baby, Nuun love. A couple bottles, lots of stickers and more importantly my samples of Citrus Fruit and Lemon-Lime. I've been using the Tri-Berry and Kona Cola now for a few months and love them both.....so needless to say I'm pretty geeked to try the new favors.....but looks that may have to wait till Saturday.

Tick, tick, tick.....

French Creek

Yesterday was French Creek, the second XC race of the MASS and one of the more difficult race courses (technical ability) in the season. Plus with the rain we've had the previous two days things were set for an interesting event.

While scouting out the start to the course (a half mile long gravel climb) I saw Jason heading out for his second lap, he did the five hour endurance (man up) race. So with the "knowledge" that I learned in my scouting session I lined up for the Sport race.

Our race started fast (and by fast I mean an all out sprint uphill for that half mile) but even with the extra speed I was some how leading the pack of wild animals behind me. But just before we turn into the single track I was passed by the rider that bet me at Greenbrier.... and I still have no idea where he came from. But 100 meter's into the trail there was a set of water bars (stairs) that he tried to ride up......and let's just stay I passed him as he was laying on the ground trying to figure out where he was.

Five to ten minutes went by as I worked my way thru traffic (previous classes) and even thou I was red lined things were going well. That is until I felt a rear tire "problem".......and by problem I mean this......

....yeah, Houston we have a problem. Even thou I was running tubeless tires.......we had a flat tire. So over the next few minutes I try to figure out how bad things are.....is it flat, is it just low, is it still losing air....WTF!!!!!! But after hearing my rim bing on a couple of rocks I know how bad things are....BAD, so I pull over and shoot a CO2 into the dying girl (NASCAR would have been proud...the "pitstop" was less then three seconds.)

So with my "new" rear tire things were fine.......for about ten minutes.....the girl was still losing air, even after pitstop round number two I was still nursing a dying rear tire. But after a few more miles I hear "it's only a half mile till the finish." Low tire, flat tire, no tire I don't freaking care, I'm finishing this....and after leading the last hour plus I'm winning the thing. Things worked out (meaning I did not need to start running) and I won the race by 90 seconds.

In all it was a good day, a win for myself and the wife pulled in a third place in her race (therefore I got my man card back after losing it two weeks ago.) Now it's two weeks off till Granoque. Which again I think is going to be a fight between myself and 3-4 other riders.....and with that in mind, I'm going for a ride.

Nuun for me, Nuun for you...

Not to be confused with my prior Nuun post....this one is just straight up Nuuning it. So what the Hell am I talking about?

I got a sponsorship offer from Nuun yesterday. Feeling the way I do about the product it only took me about ten seconds to agree to it......and it only took that long because I had to deside what hand to put down the donut or the chocolate Silk....the donut won FYI.

Needless to say I'm really pumped about this offer. It's a product I've been using since Jan/Feb and I truely believe it's helped both my riding endurance and my recovery a tremendous (I know...a big word for me) amount in that small amount of time. I'm not a big fan of straight water while riding.....or ever. Any guess on why I've had hydration problems in endrance races?

So in the past I've taken some form of a sport drink on my rides with mixed results. Some gave me stomach problems and some were to sweet (watering down both killed the taste and diluted the electrolyte ratio.) Not to mention I really did not need all the added calories and carbs on a hour to hour and a half training ride. So where did all this searching lead me?

You got it.

I've been using both the Tri-Berry and Kona Cola (Lemon-Lime and Citrus Fruit on the way) and love them. They're perfect for training rides and shorter races where I don't need extra fuel but still need/want the electrolytes...not to mention something that I WANT to drink.

Lots more on Nuun to come.....SWEEEEET!

On the riding front. I met up with Bikewrench and Rockstar last night for a kicka*s ride up and thru Green Lane. We only booked 47 miles but it was a HILLY 47 miles and the legs are little pooped this morning. With French Creek coming in two days this could be a problem, but the rain we have coming in could be a bigger problem.

Need to cross my fingers on the weather....as I go stretch out my legs.

I did it again....

and no I'm not sorry, or dirty feeling......even thou there is a little funk in the air... (is that me?) So what did I do this time you ask....

yes, once again I was drawn over to the dark side.

With nothing on the mountain bike schedule (nothing I felt like doing anyway) I went down and did the Memorial Hall crit in Philly yesterday morning. My whole plan in doing the race was to get in some speed work, and try to help a teammate at the end.......job done. Not being a fan of a pack sprint finish I wanted to start and/or be apart of a breakaway.....job not done.

I went off the front a few different times, the first time being the longest. With a couple teammates blocking I was able to put 200 meters on the peloton. But my two blockers could not hold off the 80 piranha and after three laps they pulled me back in. My second and third trys were pretty much the same.....no joy.

So on to plan B....or maybe even plan C or D by now. Try to string out the group and not have a group sprint at the finish. At the start of the last lap Rolf (a teammate) attacked, everyone went after him. Once he was caught I attacked....again caught....then a third teammate went, and a forth. But some of the sprinters still had their day, our best placing was a 4th.

In all not a bad day for a mountain biker....but Saturday it's back to the dirt for a rocky race in French Creek.

Today as I was "trying" to do an easy spin I keep thinking about something Liz Hatch said in Bicycling Magazine. "My hardest days are my easy days" ....and how true that was today. The plan was to put a couple hours in the saddle and keep my HR under 140. I had to keep making myself down shift and just spin....crap, come on...let's go. It got to the point where I felt like I should just get off and walk instead. Maybe even put some pink tassels and a bell on the bike.....or a banana seat?

Time to go meet the wifey, Rockstar and Bikewrench for some Cinco de Mayo fun.

Training, training

No you're not seeing double and no I'm not drunk, I don't think...ok, maybe I am.

So the training..

I've done the roadie thing all week (sorry Jason) by doing 100 miles over the past three days. Wed and Thursday were solo rides from the casa....pretty much just spinning the legs and getting in some miles. But that was not really the plan....on the Wed ride I felt a little tenderness in my knee, so I shut things down and just spun around......listen to you body kids, listen to your body.

Luckily I was seeing Geoffrey Wednesday afternoon and he worked on a few things that helped (long story short my quads are telephone poles and those little wimpy little ligaments are trying to keep up.....wimps.)

With things all stretched and loose I met up with Pam for a little tour of NJ this afternoon. We did a pretty quick and hilly 40 miles and discussed a couple things (more on that when I can talk about it...I hope.) But after the ride I invited Pam to join wifey and I for our normal Friday night Mexican throw down.

That's where the "training" came in...Monday is Cinco de Mayo kids, are you ready? I've been training for this event for months now...

And before your mind even starts to wonder what that is it's Tequila and it's oh so good.

So with all that useless blabbering I'm off to meet wifey and Pammie Rockstar....for training.