Friday, February 20, 2009

February is camp month


February has become a month of training camps....and why not? With the race season starting in earnest right at the beginning of March, Feb is the perfect time to get in some specific training and learning.
.
First up was the CCN / Cannondale MTB team mini-camp last weekend. Nothing super organized and we simply gathered here at the house in Black Mountain, but it was a great couple days of off road riding. The team is basically 3 fast young guys (Alex, Travis and Daniel) along with a token old guy (me). On saturday we did a Pisgah semi-epic 4.5 hr ride including horse cove, squirrel gap and some of the Black Mountain trail. Sunday was a long big climbing ride on most of the ORAMM course for just about 6 hours. The guys are riding really well and you can expect to see some really great results from them this season.
.
Next up is the VeloSports MTB camp this weekend. This will be a another 2 day camp in Asheville that is primarily a skills building weekend. It looks like the weather saturday will be cooperative, but we may be a little cold sunday....that is ok, we will still have fun.
.
Next week, wed through sun is the big Kenda Pro Road Team camp. While it will be great to see all the guys and the atmosphere should be electric with it being the first year the team has pro status, for me it is a lot of work. There will be bike fits, bike fits and more bike fits to do .....which entails a lot of crawling around on the floor measuring things. Last year I pulled muscle in my back at camp and hope not to repeat that. This year I am not an official team rider (or am I?) , but more in the role of a staff member......not sure if that will make things easier or harder for me :)
.
After that the race season is REALLY here. Snake Creek Gap #3 is March 7th, then I will do the Dirty Spokes 6 hour race in GA the following weekend.
.
a2

Friday, February 06, 2009

southern cross etc


I have done some decent training and a couple of cool events since my last post. Two weeks ago Cara and I did the Southern Cross race on the MTB tandem. I still can't decide whether this was fun or not...ok I am just kidding, of course it was fun...well maybe with a few exceptions. There was a (no joke) 1 hour and 20 minute long climb (for us) right in the middle of the course. With our nearly 50 lb bike and squishy wet roads this was a bit trying. We rode pretty well on the first 45-50 minutes of the climb, but the last bit was, well, hard. We were fine after that until we started getting really bad chain suck every time we went to the middle or mall chainring over the last 10 miles or so.....frustrating. A great event though and we will certainly be back next year....not sure if it will be on the tandem though :)
.
.
Last weekend I did the Icycle MTB cross country race out at Fontana Village. The course was fast and fun and the field was surprisingly big. We began with a leMans style run start then went straight into the first climb. I had an ok start and was riding in about 6th when I flatted on the first downhill :( . I totally botched the repair and lost about 10 full minutes. Losing 10 minutes in a race that the leaders finish in an hour fifteen does not bode well for results...but I did ride pretty well, had fun and got a killer good workout in which is exactly what the goal for the day was. I even went out and rode an extra lap near race pace before I packed up to head home.
.
Off to Snake Creek Gap #2 tomorrow....weather looks to be good and while my form is nowhere near good right now, I am still hoping to go for my best time on the course. If this happens I know it will be to dramatically improved technical riding skills since last year.
.
a2