Bianchi!

Oh! I almost forgot... check out my new ride!

IM BACK!

Typical race packing

Its definitely been way way too long since I have written anything on this blog. I figured that I might as well do an update even if nobody reads, I'll at least get to work on my grammar and spelling.
My summer was pretty crazy with all the bike racing and everything else that was going on. I managed to have a pretty good summer of racing, even though I did have more than my fair share of mechanical problems (as most of you know). I completed the first annual WVMBA Ultra series and finished up 5th overall which was pretty exciting. As part of the series I race in both the Wilderness 101 and the Shenandoah 100, both 100 mile off road mtn bike races. I finished both races very respectfully for my first time and really learned a lot about endurance racing. Being on a bike for 9-10 hours at a time is actually a pretty cool experience! Ridding for that long wasn't really as hard as I was thinking it was going to be. It was basically just me and my bike in the woods all day, how awesome is that. I just found out today that the Ultra series will be back next year, bigger and better! Yeehaw!

I have been pretty busy trying to get all my ducks in a row to go back to school this spring. I decided this summer to take the fall semester off to be with my family, which I am really glad I did. My grandfather was extremely sick this past summer and passed away at the end of September. I have never really lost anybody close to my family, so it was a new experience. It isn't one that I ever want to go through again, but hey thats the cycle we call life and it does make you put your life in perspective and realize whats really important.

This past weekend was the annual Jack Frost celebration at White Grass. It was a grand time as always. It looks like our efforts paid off as WG has over 18 inches of fresh pow pow! Looks like I'll be getting my first ski in this weekend! Should be a good time for sure!

Here are a few pics from the summer and fall:


Sierra!


Blackwater!


Mountwood 07


NYC Turkey day


Ahhhhhh. Refreshing.

Ketchup

So it has been forever and a day since i last updated this. More stuff has happened than I could even think to write about, so i'll try to hit on all the highlights and keep you from getting too bored.
I have been doing a lot of bike racing...just about every weekend there is a WVMBA race and on most Wednesdays there is the Wisp race series so that has been keeping me pretty busy. I have been riding from Big Bear to the Wisp, racing and riding home with a few other guys. This is usually about a 50 mile mtn. bike ride, so it is nice mid-week workout. Tuesdays I am often doing the local road ride from the court house, which is basically a 45 mile hammer fest. Most of the cyclists in and around Morgantown show up for this thing, so it is often a fairly fast ride.
Other then all of the racing, I have been doing some pretty gnarly training rides with my friend Jon Martin. We did an overnight cycling trip to Ohio and back a few weeks ago and we have been managing one or two 75+ mile rides each week.
This week I am down in Florida for a nice rest week. It should be a nice break. I am kind of bummed that I missed the Barbour Detour today, but road racing really isn't my thing so it isn't that big of a bummer.
Let's see, I think that is basically a quick summary of the past few weeks. Oh, my brother won $14,000 in a poker tourny....thats pretty exciting! I wonder if the Riddles are ever going to update their site...

OUT OF ORDER

Sorry for not keeping the posts going... I have been moving and still don't have an internet connection for my computer. I should have it sometime this week, so i'll do a good update then. Thanks!

iRock iTunes!

Today was a really hard training day. Not especially long at 2 hours and 15 minutes, but very intense. I did intervals on mile climb (a one mile long up hill road). For those of you that don't know mile climb, its just a road out in the sticks that I use for intervals. I make a 10 mile loop out of it so there is one hill interval and one flat interval for every lap. Today I managed 3 laps with my best time on the uphill today being 4 minutes and 31 seconds. Not too shaby for my first real work out back in the mountian state.
During my warm up I was ridding along at a very nice pace taking in the country side, listening to my i pod, and basically minding my own business. I saw this barking dog standing at the top of a hill on the right side of the road. Being a cyclist and knowing that barking dogs usually turn into biting dogs, I shifted into the big ring and got ready to sprint away incase he came after me. Sure enought he started charging down the hill towards me, barking, growling and just being plain mean. I started sprinting and he lunged off the bank towards me. I was pretty sure he was going to bite me. Well, I ended up biting him in a sense. When he hit the pavement, his front legs went under him and he slide across the pavement...right into my path. I ran his head over with both wheels and nearly flipped over the bars. He got up and stumbled back to where he came from...I didn't see him on any of my other laps, so I think he learned his leason. (I refer to the dog as a 'he', however it maybe very possible that 'he' was actually a 'she'). All dogs aside, it was a good ride and it felt great to start getting in some good hill training.
Well, I think i am going to go find some food for dinner. Im getting pretty hungry. I wonder if Nick has made it out the door yet for his ride? The Riddles haven't updated their site in awhile either...hope they are doing okay.

One down, a bunch to go.

I must say it has been nice to be home, all except for the cold rainy weather. Its been hard adjusting back to this weather, but I think after yesterday I should be good to go.
Sunday was the first WVMBA race at Mountwood park. It was 35 degrees and rainy. Perfect. I got to the race about 2 hours early in time to change, register and get in a good warm up. There was a lot of people in attendence, about 180 or so, and registration took a while, but I still had plenty of time to get ready for the race. Once I had all of my clothes on (literally...every single article of clothing i had), I did my usual warm up. It was really pointless however becasue we had to sit at the start line for about 10 minutes before the race even started. Oh well. When the race started, I sprinted off the line in hopes to warm up quickly. I got the hole shot, which was nice, but it was a high price to pay for the next road like section that I had no idea about. I was thinking that we were sprinting for single track, but no...it was all gravel road...great. Anywho, the race went okay. I froze, only had one slight mechanical that took a few seconds to fix, so not too bad. The course was very muddy and the downhills were pretty gnarly. It felt like my bike was just floating on a layer of ice everywhere I rode. My 1.7 tires may have contributed to this feeling, but I don't think any tires in particular were working very well. I finished 16th, which im not to happy with, but its a start I suppose. It was nice to get to see the Riddles and everyone else. I think it is going to be a good season.
On tap for this week: intervals! This is my favorite part of the season. Yippie!

Another cat in the bag...

Well, my Florida vacation is finally drawing to a close. It seems like only a few days ago that I was making my way down here to spend the winter. Not only has this trip given me a great chance to do some good cycling, but I have had a chance to reflect on many 'everyday life issues' that most people don't even think twice about. It has given me an oppurtunity to slow things down and take a step back to evaluate things that I have done in my life thus far. I have met some really nice people along the way (and some not so nice people) and I have developed friendships that will last for years to come. I have also gained a 'step-up' in a business venture that I will be pursuing when I return home (more details to come). All in all it has been a wonderful trip and hopefully I will get to do it again next spring! I am somewhat sad to be leaving the lifestyle that I have been so accustom to for the past 3.5 months, but very excited to get home and return to the mountains of WV!
Well, im goin to bed. I have a 12 hour drive waiting for me in the morning!