ORAMM practice

Ever have one of those days when you know you'll be dragging ass all day? Today is gonna be one of those days for me. I went out yesterday and rode a big chunk of the ORAMM route. I started out from the Old Fort picnic area. Then climbed up old 70 and Kitsuma, came back down Kitsuma and hit Star Gap and climbed Curtis Creek road. At that point I had to turn around because I had to help my sister finish moving. I screwed up and only ate a clif bar and some mini rice cakes after I rode. it was about 4 hours before I ate a real meal and I'm paying the price today. Oh well..the ride was totally worth it. Hopefully I'll have a few pics up from it in a few days.

Really can't say enough about the Carbo Pro/Gatorade powder mix. That stuff is rocket fuel. Also the Ergon Enduro grips. I'm still not used to my hands not being numb during the ride and then hurting for hours after. They rock.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Later.

Ugh......

...I hate not being able to sleep. I'm normally an early riser but still....waking up at 4 a.m. and not being able to fall asleep on a day off sucks. Aren't people supposed to sleep in on days off?

Anyway, today is going to be some nice riding in Bent Creek. (I hope) They're calling for a chance of thunderstorms. That should make things intresting. Ah well. It'll still be better than being stuck inside all day. Though I won't lie. If I start seeing bad lightning I will delay the ride. I kind of enjoy riding in the rain but I have no desire to be broiled and fused to my bike.

So...hope everybody has a wonderful day and get's some riding in. Later.

P.S.-Oh, I saw yesterday that Lynda W. is now selling a pre-built 12 week training plan for ORAMM.(Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell) That's pretty sweet. Who woulda thought it'd be getting enough attention to get it's own plan. I used one of her plans last year(the basic hundie one) and they work well. I was doing really well at ORAMM last year til I wrecked and broke my frame. Anybody whose never done this race should think seriously about giving it a shot. It's a blast.

New stuff sorta reviewed.

In my last post I mentioned a few new things I'd gotten. Here is my quick review of them.

The glasses work really well. They don't fog up and stay on my oddly shaped nose really well. In fact, I forget they're there which is the best praise I can give them.

The Carbo Pro/Gatorade mixture works really well also. I actually like the taste of it thanks to the gatorade. The carbo pro powder manages to pack 55 grams of carbs and 220 calories into a bottle and since none of it is sugar calories it provides a nice,even, long lasting energy level. Combine that with the gatorades carbs and calories and each bottle is like rocket fuel. Combine that with the fact that the huge tub of gatorade costs $9 at Sams and that I got about 9 pds of carbo pro for $32 including shipping from this place(http://http://www.a1nutritionproducts.com/buy/universal_nutrition/carbo_plus/2lb) and I consider it a bargain. That's about 3 times as much stuff as the large canister of Accelerade for the same price.

This coming Satuday starts the 4 week countdown to Burn. WOOHOO!!!! Can't wait. After that, it's a race a month until at least August.

Hope everybody has a great day. Later folks.

New stuff

Got my new glasses in yesterday. Finally!!!!! It sucked riding w/o eyewear for the past 2.5 weeks. Felt really strange. Not to mention I hated my eyes feeling vulnerable like that. I was going to get Tifosi's but then I found some Optic Nerve Scorches on sale at Nashbar and went with them. They have interchangeable lenses and the lenses have vents so hopefully they work out. Oh yeah, they were also marked down to 19.99. That's always a big help with me. Plus they sponsor one of my heroes(Danielle) or should that be shero?

Now, I'm just waiting for my package of Universal Carbo Pro to come in. I read some stuff on MTBR by Namrita and Eddie O about how they mix it with gatorade and it works for them and doesn't cause them any stomach problems. I've been using Accelerade with no stomach issues but I can get this stuff for about 1/4 of the price so if it works for me as well that's more savings for race fees cuz let's face it..these things aint cheap.

Hope everybody has a great weekend. Later yall.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

Was a great day outside yesterday. I got a good ride in. Managed to complete 3 sets of power intervals. That's a good thing for me since I was never able to do more than 2 sets before. I think I might finally be approaching the outside fringes of this thing called fitness. I need to do a few more really hard rides this week because the way it's looking right now I'm only going to be able to do one "long" ride this week. My sister is closing on her new house Friday so I'll be spending my Saturday off helping her move. Damn family obligations infringing on my play time.

Other than riding and work not much has been going on. Talked Amanda into going to see 300 over the weekend. Excellent flick. If your into that type of movie then definitely go see it. Will be putting new cables and such on the bike next week. Starting the long,slow process of getting it "race ready". Odds are it'll be more ready to go for Burn than me. Ah well.

Hope everybody has a great day. Good luck to everyone doing Cohutta and TT's in Michigan. Also to people doing any other races elsewhere.

Blah!!!!!!

60mph wind gusts+152 pd biker= 1 hell ride!!!! I don't know what got my heart rate up more..the intervals or almost getting blown off the side of the mountain several times. The weather has sucked the last few days. Woke up yesterday to sunny skies. Thinking it was gonna be a great day I headed out. The wind quickly put an end to the good mood. Oh well....a crappy day outside beats a good day inside or at a work.

Hope everybody has a great day. later.

Correction

I read my entry for Thursday and wanted to clarify 1 thing. When I said I just wanted them to "get it overwith" I was referring to USADA. It seems that they have totally ignored the whole "right to a speedy trial" thing. This thing has been drug out for so long that even if Floyd is found innocent his 200z season is lost and that is ridiculous. I admire the goals of USADA and WADA, but the way they go about trying to achieve them makes me think of them as a total joke.

Not a whole lot going on here. Work,ride,eat,sleep. Repeat. Hope everybody is having a great weekend. Later folks.

Just get it over with.

Found this (http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?id=2834353) today. I really,really wish they would get on with this. I really wanted to believe that Floyd is innocent but now I just want them to get it done. One way or the other. USADA has decided they want to test the B samples of Floyd's tests that came back negative at the tour. Of course, Landis and his people are raising hell about it. They say it's against the doping code to test B samples when the A sample has already been tested negative. Some arbitrators in Canada ruled in favor of USADA. So they're going to be tested at the same lab in France that has already been in the center of a shitstorm because they supposedly dont follow the proper protocols. If USADA and WADA are so sure that they will find something in these samples then why the hell don't they have them tested at another lab to remove that particular point of dissension? Landis and his people wanted them tested at a lab on the UCLA campus but the ruling said that the samples are the property of USADA and they can have them tested wherever they want. Anyway, it's all in the article.

In happier news...Amanda's mom is coming over to do a belated Easter dinner today since we both had to work on Easter. Thisis mostly a good thing. I say mostly because last night Amanda made some caramel apple cheesecake that she saw on Paula Deen's Home Cooking show on Food Network. I swear I gained 5 pds just looking at it.

Ah well..hope everybody has a great day. Later folks.

Movie review

I have nothing else to write about today so you lucky people get my opinion on Grindhouse. Amanda and I went to see it yesterday. For those who don't know, it's a sorta double-feature done by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. It even comes with fake movie trailers between the films to make it seem more authentic. The first feature,Planet terror, is done by Robert Rodriguez and is, in my opinion, the better of the two. It's a B movies style horror film about flesh eating zombies. It comes complete with one legged girls who have machine guns/greneade launchers where there leg used to be and all the cheesy dialog you could ever want. In short...it rocks!!!! Granted, this is coming from a person who loves these kinds of films so your opinion may vary. Heck..I liked Snakes on a Plane too. It's also really,really graphic so be warned.

The next feature, done by Quentin Tarantino, is called Death Proof. It's plot revolves around a former stuntman(Kurt Russel) who uses his car to kill women. The first half of the film shows him stalking and killing a group of women in Austin, Tx. The film is ok. Tarantino is known for his dialog and he packs plenty into his portion of the movie. Too much in fact. At some point you will be thinking,Enough already. Do something. When the action gets going later in the movie it's really good. It's one of the better car chase scenes I've seen. I will also never be playing "Ships Mast" either. In the second half of the movie he goes after the wrong group of ladies and gets whats coming to him.

So, there you have it. My worthless 2 cents on Grindhouse. Oh...it's about 3 hours long. If your anything like me that means your going a little stir crazy being stuck in a theatre for that long. 3 hour long movies are why they made dvd's and pause buttons. Hopefully next week i can convince Amanda to go see 300. People fighting for a doomed cause. Sounds sorta like my racing.

Hope everybody has a great day. Later yall.

Has anybody.....

A few years back, before I was even thinking of attempting a 24 Hour solo, I remember reading an article in some magazine that recommended getting up at odd hours and going for rides to train your body to ride a bike at different hours. At the time I kind of thought it was a bunch of crap, but now I'm wondering if maybe I was wrong. I don't have to be at work until 9:30 tomorrow and I'm thinking that maybe I'll wake up at 3 and head out around 4-4:30 and put some miles in on the Parkway before work. I figure that if nothing else it'll at least make my day better at work. So...has anybody ever tried anything like this?



Very late edit: It was 20 degrees at 4 a.m. You can call me a wimp if you like but I chickened out and got back into bed. It'll be my normal commute today. It's supposed to be getting back into the high 60's later this week. WOOHOO!!!!! Watch, it'll be 100 degrees at Burn and I'll be dying, but I'll be loving every minute of it.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter folks. Hope everybody is having a great holiday. It's looking like our little cold snap might slowly be coming to an end here. I hope so anyway. It's April. I'm ready for shorts,short sleeves and funky tan lines.

I went out for a ride yesterday morning when there was still snow on the ground. I had my tires pumped up to about 65 psi. I was maybe a mile into the ride when I came around a corner and hit an icy patch in the road. Next thing I know I was sliding off the road into a ditch. It was a good thing I didn't go sliding out into the middle of the road. There wasn't any traffic but still, I'd prefer not to slide across pavement period. Ended up with just a few scratches and some holes in my leg warmers.

Ah well, not a lot going on today. Wasting time before work. Hope everybody has a good one. Later.

Mother nature Strikes Back

Damn. After a few weeks of very warm, almost hot, weather it looks like Mother Nature has a little trick up her sleeve. Some precints (Kerkove,Danielle, and Brian) are reporting snow and very low temps. This has served two purposes. 1. It reinforces my desire to make sure that NC is as far north as I ever live. 2. I will now stop whining about how it's "freezing" outside here.

Looks like we're going to be having temps in the high 40's during the day and getting into the low 30's and high 20's at night. I had been expecting one more little cold snap this spring but I was lulled to sleep by warm, sunny days for the past few weeks. Ah well..what are you gonna do. Guess I'll break out the cold weather crap again.

Hope everybody has a great day. later.

The Gathering

Put this guy on a mountainbike and it's pretty close to what I looked like Saturday afternoon.



It's been a little bit since I posted here. Oops. The weather has been awesome the past few days and I've been riding. A lot. I've also been working a lot, so there hasn't been much time. Anyway, enough excuses. This past Friday I packed up and headed out to Cove Creek Campground in the PNF for The Pisgah Gathering. A weekend of riding,camping,fire and debauchery. I had read about other gatherings in the MTBR NC forum and they always sounded like a blast. I figured that it'd be a good chance to meet up with some like minded folks,hang out and do some riding. Got there early friday afternoon and set up camp. I met Jody, who was also setting up and we went out on a short ride. Got back to the campsite and ate a PB&J and started mingling. I met Brado,M-U-M,Dave, Darren,The Tomato(who makes a fine fire) and several other people whose names escape me. Woke up the next morning and got ready and headed out for a ride with Peter. He wanted to check out some of the stuff that he was thinking might be on this years PMBAR route. After 3.5 hours of what felt like 95% uphill , I was cooked. My right leg was cramping really bad and I couldn't hold down any food or drink. I told Peter that I was headed back to camp and reallllyyyyy slowly headed back. It ended up being about a 5 hour day. Except for the throwing up and cramping it was a blast. I do need to work on some stuff before Burn though. I DO NOT need to be cramping up there and it'll be way warmer for that.


After I was back in camp for about an hour I managed to get some food and water down and felt a lot better. I had to work the next morning so I decided to go ahead and head home. The weekend was most definitely a blast. The riding out there is awesome and I need to stop being so lazy and do the extra driving to ride out there instead of going to Bent Creek all the time.

So, thanks to Brado and everybody that put this thing on. I will definitely do my best to be at the fall Gathering.

Later yall.