Leader blows the race!

Got bit by the race bug!

Yup, I stayed in NC for the weekend to attend a race in Greensboro. I entered the SS class with the 2nd biggest gear, 2.13:1 (32/15). The guy with the biggest was Manny, a new acquaintance who is stationed at Fort Bragg as Army - Special Forces, he ran a 2.29:1 (32/14) and ended up 3rd.

Headline of the race was, Leader blows the race! The starter announced everything he could think to say on the start line…where to find the johns, where to find the medic, that you can eat or drink anywhere, blah, blah, blah, …finish is at yellow tent. Well I caught the last thing and upon gapping the guy on my wheel by about 50 yards approaching the start/finish area I saw the yellow tent and an opening in the fencing. I yelled and pointed, “Finish!?” To which I got no response so I took the exit….WRONG! DOH! There goes the guy around the bend to the correct finish! Oh well, 2nd for me, it was fun though, and the guy who won, Jason who was riding a 2.125:1 (34/16), was very cool about it being that I controlled the race and gapped him at the end only to miss the VERY POORLY marked finish!!! DOH!!! Karma I think, as I’ve never done that but have been guilty of heckling a few buddies about the same thing in the past! hahaha I over heard him telling others that it was a hollow victory and pointed to me while saying I was the best rider of the day. I ended up chatting with him for about an hour along with the others in the group while we waited for almost 2hrs for the results! Brought back a lot of memories of a particular Michigan race promoter in that situation! hahaha

Basically my strategy worked perfect, well obviously almost, in that I made sure to get myself in front to be the 1st in the woods to set the pace. I kept it easy as I had no idea what gear anyone was riding or how good they were or what my fitness comparison was. The 1st pic below was mid-way through lap1, with the 2nd being on the last big climb of lap2. At the transition area of lap 1 I allowed the rider to pass me and followed him around the open grass fields. Then just before entering the woods I easilly jumped back in front to do the pace setting. About 1/2 way through the 2nd lap I slowed a touch with hopes he'd jump in front so I could size him up. He did, but it didn't last as he took a wide detour around a log pile not wanting to go over it. It was just about 2 miles to go and he was back on my wheel. I'm thinking he was testing me at this point as he picked it up a lot and I hung like a monkey on his back. The course then shoots out onto a paved path for about 500yds then into a steep climb back into the woods before getting back on the path again. I gapped him good there then cruised on the path. As I looked back he was spinning like mad to catch me, and just as he did is when I attacked again to exit the path to the "wrong" finish spot...DOH!

So, now I have a $50 gift cert to the promoting bike shop in Greensboro…Anyone want it for $45? Let me know! The next possible race is Sept. 23 at Hobby Park in Winston-Salem. I will ride with these new comrades to check out the course, and maybe bump up my gearing a little to a 14 tooth cog. From what I hear it should be similar to PLRA and should be fun!

Resto update

While at home this past weekend I was able to spend a couple of hours working on the vette. I finally took the time to finish drilling out the rivets holding the front rotors onto the wheel assembly. Back in the day GM rivited the rotors in place to help with the ease of assembly and to control run-out. Some re-rivet them, but I do not plan to unless I discover issues with the brake calipers. So far they seem to work great, for non-power disc brakes. The only part of the brake system left is the parking brake assembly. Being that everything is new the pads and the rotor have interference not allowing the install. I need to sand down the pads a touch to make some clearance. Hopefully we will sell our house soon so we can finally get settled. Then the next step will be to rebuild the suspension.

NC Zoo visit

With the new job I have a benefit of using the company pass for the NC Zoo. So, what better to do the weekend after the 4th but visit the zoo. It only cost us a stroller rental, as Julie brought her bike and Thane's trailer instead, and a toy truck suvenier which was being broken within hours of the visit! haha
Thane kept asking to find some snakes, and of course he wanted to pet/hold everything and take them to show-and-tell at school.

Independance Day fun

Here are some pictures from our week spent at Bart's parent's place on the lake in SC over the 4th holiday. Thane will soon be slalom skiing and wakeboarding!
He also had fun trying to make a huge sand castle! :)

The Cowbell 12hr

As much as I love racing it seems I will need to limit it. As most know, I’ve not raced in over a year, and not seriously since 2005. There was also an issue with my kidneys a couple years ago. That issue was never root-caused or cured. Instead, it just sort-of went away. After a 6hr race in central NY, I returned home that night and noticed I had blood in my urine. It freaked me out! Not only that, but it seemed that my body was reacting to my deodorant and excessive intake of sports drinks resulting in soreness in the nodes of my underarms. I didn’t know what to think. Well, I got in to a so-called specialist who ordered an ultra-sound. They read it and claimed I had stones. They wanted to “explore” and I told them “No-way, I want better than that. I want a Cats-can!” The following day I had the Cat-scan, and following the review of that they said there were no stones. My blood work came back normal, but the urine sample still showed traces of blood 3 days after the event. Well, it seems that the issue is still here!

The race started at 10AM, for me it was some light spinning in the parking lot at 9:30AM to stretch. It was 75 degrees. The start went as planned and I was the first SS into the woods with little effort. My 1st gear was 32/15. I came to the 1st of 2 hills that I had told myself I would walk, Carpet Loop climb, and 2 SS riders behind me passed by. I let them go as I knew I wasn’t in shape and haven’t been “training”, but instead just riding for only 2-1/2 months since I came to NC for my new job. I stayed with my pace and had a blast. It was getting increasingly hot now and upon exiting onto a dirt 2-track climb I decided I would add it to the walk list to save energy and power. I then came to the next walking climb which was the start of the Goat Loop. Just 1 mile prior to returning to the transition area I started to hear a rattle coming from the rear of the bike. I swung into the pit, at 53mins, and hoisted the bike into the stand. I discovered that the rear brake caliper had come loose as I probably didn’t torque it down enough after I changed out the pads and adjusted it. It remained tight for the remainder of the race. I refilled my bottle and grabbed a handful of grapes and hit the trail after just 3mins in the pit. The 2nd lap went pretty much the same, but I added 1 more climb to the walk. This helped me relax and gave me time to take in fluids as it was another 2-track climb. Most of the lap, about 85%, was good single track allowing little to no bottle grabbing opportunities. After the 2nd lap, another 53mins, I switched my wheel to lower my gearing slightly. I had a 2nd wheel with a 16 ready to go. I again grabbed some grapes, refilled my bottle, and ate ½ a PB&J. By the midway point of the 3rd lap the heat was getting unreal! It had jumped to 97 degrees! I felt myself getting overheated and twice felt a little uneasy on a couple of harder efforts. Upon returning to the pit, 1hr lap, I told my parents I was taking a break to cool my temp down. My dad wrapped ice in a towel and I chilled-out for a bit drinking some cold fluids and eating grapes and pasta. I also changed my gear again once more skipping over the planned 17 to the 18 as there really wasn’t much of an advantage using a larger gear. In my mind it would actually be a disadvantage due to the heat and my advantage was clearly still there in the speed that I took to the technical down hills and single-track, as I was still the rider doing the passing, even passing team riders. Hind-sight I should’ve refueled and went back out on the trail as the gravel lot hit 111 degrees!!! Holy $#!@! The trail actually ran up along a river at 1 point, and this is where I should’ve taken a pit and removed my shoes and jersey to submerge myself. That would’ve cooled the body very well and I would’ve been back on the saddle pretty quick. However, all things aside, nothing prepared me for my final lap when I stopped for a nature break on the trail and discovered what appeared to be the recurrence of the “issue”. Upon returning, 1hr3min lap, I rode past the pit to the restroom where I verified it in the white urinal. As I came out my dad was walking over to see what I was doing and I told him it was time that I stop.

I did have fun, but I was bummed about not getting to ride/race in the dark, but as stubborn as most think I am I chose not to push the issue as it is not worth it if it is something serious. I feel I could’ve easily hit my planned 10 laps as the 1hr lap on a 18 gear was more than a slow comfortable pace, along with the walking of some climbs. I felt strong and the bike was running awesome! I can’t wait to get this issue/mystery solved, but until then I probably will not be racing… just riding. Also, I really didn’t expect the heat to be such a factor, as I have been riding 2-3x’s a week after work in weather that has been in the mid-upper 90’s at the start and low 90’s upper 80’s at the finish. However, part is probably due to the increased effort of mountain rather than road, and again, I have only been riding not training. Another lesson for the book…

I'll be looking over my riding data in Polar and posting my year-to-date info as well as the course profiles of the rides down here. There's some good stuff here similar to Michigan's trails, but most are a bit tamer. I'll squeeze it in between races on the PS2 while playing GranTurismo! :)

Excitement...

I can't stop thinking about this weekend's 12hr race! Man am I excited! It's been over a year since my last race, and more than 2 since I was seriously training! This will be all about having fun, but at the same time I hope to compete and of course I'm shooting for a top place if to only get my entry fee back! :)

I will be riding tonight in Greensboro at a pretty easy trail to check out the bike. I re-built my CandySL pedals and made sure everything on the bike was tight. I also placed a lower gear on my 2nd rear wheel for change-over during the race when I start to lose strength.

It looks like my parents will be on-site to lend a hand. That will be nice as it will take a lot off of my mind in-terms of preparations allowing me to focus on riding and having fun.

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Have I mentioned I love Mother Nature...

Hey Everyone!

Well the racing bug is back and it bit me hard! Yesterday morning a new mtnbk friend in Greensboro emailed me about a 12hr (LAF) race in Charlotte at the US Nat'l Whitewater Center. I’ll be doing solo SS on my new SS 1FG which has just 4 rides on it so far. I’ll be tuning it up tonight as with all new bikes things were coming loose. I also need to re-build my CandySL pedals or I’ll have to use the heavier standard EggBeaters. Other than that it looks like it’ll be ready to race!

I almost died at the end of my 1st lap! The initial plan was to ride 1 daylight lap and 1 night lap. However, Mother Nature had different plans...Just as I popped out of the woods approaching the staging area after the 1st lap I felt a huge rush of speed, but it ended-up just being a huge wind gust from behind. As I turned my head I had visions of Something Wicked This Way Comes!!! A huge black rolling cloud as far as I could see was rolling in fast behind me! Just as I reach the trail-head and the gravel parking lot, which was located under high-tension power lines, lightning came crashing down! I was freakin'!!! A bolt struck about every 30secs! It's been a long time since I've seen something this bad! I quickly dis-assembled the bike to get it into the car. As I placed the wheels in the trunk it started to sprinkle and as I was putting the bike in the back seat the trunk blew shut and the down-pour commenced. This I quickly ran around and jumped in, but I didn't feel safe until I was out of the park and away from the power lines....Whew, now that was close!

The course is quite a bit like the trails found back home in MI. The course is 9.4mi with 700ft of climbing, and at an easy pace on my 1st lap took about 54min with 32/15 gearing. I’ll have a second wheel ready with 32/16 just in-case, when, I need to gear down during the race. hahaha The race is from 10AM to 10PM, so unfortunately I will not have much of an advantage having limited night laps. As everyone knows, the night laps have always proven to be a major advantage for me…I love racing at night!

I’ll post updates leading up to the race and following the race! Hopefully I will be able to last the entire 12hrs without running out of gas due to having no “true” training and limited hours of riding. I’ve only been riding an average of about 1-2hrs 2-3days per week since the end of April when I started my new job in Asheboro. I’ll tally it all up on the Polar tonight and post it.

11 years

Well, I'll be heading home taking some time-off from my new job this Friday as it is our 11 year anniversary! I have some plans for us on Friday to enjoy a night. It's been really hard being away from the family. I haven't been sleeping well at all, normally only getting about 5-6hrs of sleep each night. Last Sunday I was finally able to sleep-in and get about 10hrs, but then that really screws up the body too. Just can't win!

Everyday that is nice I keep hittin' the road for some cycling. I keep hoping that it will be a good night's sleep due to the work-out, but so far no chance. I do feel good, just slightly tired, and I've been eating well. It's almost like when I was in training for racing, but I'm in no way trying to get into a training mode.

I finally found someone with a bolt for my single speed! It's been 1 year since I got it from Cannondale when I noticed at the 24hrs of Boyne that I was missing parts! It the resulted in an early end to my race, which I'm positive I could've won, since I ran into mechanical problems with my converted SS bike. Since then I've continued to request the shop to get me the bolt and couple of parts that were missing, as well as searching all the hardware stores I could find with no luck! Until 2 nights ago when I thought, "Why haven't I asked my Corvette Forums buddies if any of them have an idea where I can get it?!" Well, within an hour of my post I had a response and a guy just mailed me 2 bolts free of charge!!! Just AWESOME! Now I'm just waiting for it to arrive to verify that it is the correct bolt and I'll be riding in the dirt again!!! I'll be bringing my SS back with me on Sunday to try the area trails.

Also, we're still waiting for the traffic to start with buyers for our house in Winchester. At the same time we're trying to find a home here or decide if we want to have another new home built. We really need a 3-car garage, otherwise the 2-car garage must have a ceiling tall enough for a lift for the Vette.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

Yes, it's been a long time since I last posted an update on our blog so here is a new update. I wanted to send you all an email about what has been happening in our lives! We've been very busy, and now more than ever!

Biggest news...Thane is potty-trained!!! He went from not wanting anything to do with it to standing up at the toilet! Unfortunately for mom, it all happened as Julz and I went on vacation. He had just started, thus he was peeing all over the toilet and she made him sit down. When we got back it took a couple times to get him to stand again, but all is good. He is growing fast, and is way smart! Not bragging, but we truly cannot believe how smart he is. Of course it creates problems because he is already trying to manipulate us. I'm thinking I'll try to get him to become a space engineer and be an astronaut. Maybe by the time he is our age with a family he will be able to take them to a new planet that isn't decomposing...

Vacation...Julz and I finally took another vacation after a 2yr drought. This time we tried something new and she found a deal at an all-inclusive dive resort in Cozumel, Mexico. The diving was ok. The best part was seeing 4 sharks in 3 days. 3 were nurse sharks, but on the last dive I finally found a black tip reef shark. It was AWESOME! He was at about 130ft, only about 20-30ft below and to the side of me. It was difficult to get too close as it was a strong current. The current was strong everywhere, completely different from what we were used to in Roatan. We were talking numerous times about things we didn't care for, thus we may be going back to visit our good friends, Alvin and Mish who own Native Sons Diving, in Roatan again next year.

Work...well, this is where it gets interesting! Julie, as always, is working her tail-off trying to get her plant organized and up to code by re-creating the HR department from scratch. Me, well I was laid-off from Rubbermaid...no reason was given, but 2 of 4 programs were cancelled and a 3rd was on the edge while the 4th was launched into production. Un-like Lear, where I expected it to eventually happen which had me already interviewing, RCP had just given me a 32% bonus 3wks prior...I was dumb-founded! However, they gave me a nice seperation package and it didn't take long for the job offers to begin. I turned down 3 jobs and accepted my current position. For now, Julie will be staying at the house at her current job until it sells. She is joining me this weekend to see the area for the first time and to start looking at houses we have picked-out. She apparently brought along some cold weather, as it's been in the 90's since I got here. Since she arrived it's been drizzling rain and in the upper 50's low 60's for the highs!

Here is a link to our house listing. Please spread the word in you know anyone looking in the area...it's an awesome deal! 106 SENTRY COURT, WINCHESTER, VA 22603

Extra-curricular activities...Cycling is now in the fore-front as I cannot work on our Vette. I'm currently in an extended-stay hotel until Julz and Thane can move down. So, I ride after work then fix dinner and search the net for homes. I can't wait to get everything moved so I can continue the restoration of the Vette! Although, hopefully on one of the weekends I go home I can hook up with 2 friends, Matt and Scott from RCP, to get some help with tuning the carb and installing the correct radiator support and fan shields that I have waiting! After months of what everyone thought were hot-start issues it came down to faulty NEW parts from Autozone. Both the new battery and the new alternator were bad.

Well, that's about it for now...time to get back to work! We'll let everyone know when we get settled, again! Then you will all be welcome to visit if you plan to be in the area or passing through!!! I'll look to get an update with pics on the blog soon.

Bart, Julz, Thane