Evening Ride

Living in DC makes real trail mountain biking a little more difficult than being away from the city. There are some legit trails nearby and I hate to say it but I have not touched my tire to their soil. It's ok, I'm still getting some pedal time in but it seems the only trail time I get is the Delaware singletrack I hit up with brother when I visit family.

My latest bike "training" regimen (just something to get my butt used to the saddle again and get my legs prepped) is riding from my apartment in Old Town Alexandria to Mount Vernon. I think it's about 10 miles or somewhere around there, I forgot to check my bike computer but either way, its a nice paved "trail" through the woods and along the Potomac and it doesn't really seem to get too boring because theres always something to look at.

Something I really find great enjoyment in is hunting down roadies while I'm on my mountain bike. Sneaking up and blowing past always feel really good, especially if their in spandex too. Let me point out that I wear spandex as well though, but if they are all geared up and on a road bike, shouldn't they be fast?

Anyway, I just started my ride and I was still on the road, waiting to go under the Woodrow Wilson Bridge then up a steepish hill alongside of it and really get onto the Mount Vernon Trail. I saw this roadie ahead of me and I thought I would make it my goal to catch him.

I like to do that when I run or bike... making little games really helps to not feel tired or get bored. Most athletes have a little game they play or something they think about to not focus on pain or what not.

So, here I am tracking this guy down, he beats me to the underpass so I figure I'll try and catch him on the uphill. I just started my ride so I'm feeling fairly strong and he may not be. As I turn the corner to start the hill, I see him and another roadie. That other guy is struggling so I add him to my list. I get to the top just a few bike lenghts behind them and instead of sitting, I gear up and mash to take over the new roadie.

I flew by him as the first little downhill section started and now had my crosshairs right on my original target. Moving in for the kill, I have to wait because of a narrow bridge and some runners. But I store some adrenaline for times like this, don't give it all, just a teeny tiny bit. I get up on his rear wheel and then shoot around, slingshot style, careful to demotivate him enough to keep from trying to draft and re-slingshot. I look down, we're both going around 18 mph (mostly because of the downhill, on my MTB I can usually only sustain 16 in normal conditions but spurts higher aren't unusual).

After a few second, I look back, hes not close. I won! That's how I see it anyway, but I now he may want revenge. I get cocky and even though my goal was an easy trip to Mount Vernon, I'll race this guy till I run out gas. I'm not ready to give up the yellow jersey just yet.

I look back again, hes gotten real close, within a bike length, so I'm kinda spooked and push it again, trying to put some distance between us. Well, whatever I did, it worked, he was back where was before. But we did this cat and mouse for a while until all of a sudden he was drafting me and and starting to pass on my left.

Now, this is what I think happened. At the end of my run/ride I like to pick a person or an object ahead and just sprint to it as fast as I possibly can and treat it as the last seconds of a race. I think that's what he was doing because after he tried to pass I never saw him again and we came up on a parking lot so I bet he was finishing up.

Ok, hes starting to pass. How did I not even see him get closer?! Oh well, no time to think about it. I wasn't going to pull away sitting down and even though you lose efficiency standing, I had to. I was just about out of fuel from racing and my max was being pushed so that if he challenged me one more time I would probably have to concede but he doesn't know that! Poker face right?! So I stand up and gear up and just pump. Pulling on the handlebars feeling like I was ripping the bike apart I finally gained some real distance.

He's got nothing on me. And that was the last I saw of him. He got beat by a dude on an mountain bike with a full camelbak (3 liters of water, tube, patch kit, tire levers, 2 sets of tools, a gerber multi tool, my gerber lmf knife, wallet, and jacket).

The rest of the ride to Mount Vernon was very uneventful, just cruising, nodding to runners/walkers/cyclists and even a pair of windsurfers enjoying the relatively warm weather. It was downright oppressive the day before but the weather for this ride was great.

At the very end of the ride, there is a small hill and then a steep hill to the parking lot atop Mount Vernon. I was just going to keep a steady pace and stay in my saddle until I head a clickety clack behind me. Another roadie was passing me. I was too out of it to put up a fight and let him pass. Then I stayed on his tail best I could but then I saw the top of the lot, I had to beat him! Just another gear up and standup and I was gone! Left him in the dust! Ok, maybe just a few inches, but thats only because I had to pass him in such little time.

Then I just tooled around the lot for a sec, trying to get my breath back and drink some water. Turning my wheel back towards where I just came, I knew there were some killer downhills waiting for me as well as a hot meal my wife was taking care of to have ready for me when I got home.

A great day.

Too much broken stuff.

Stuff seems to break in groups for me. iPhone, bike, laptop, Xbox... That might be all, luckily. Also, luckily is the fact that almost all of them will be fixed for free! All but the bike really.

Two paths diverge in a yellow wood... one is the anti glare coating and the other is the original iPhone glass screen. On my current and soon to be replaced iPhone I have the anti glare plastic shield. I really really like it but the more I use a friends iPhone that is the pure beauty with no barrier I find myself really liking that one as well. What to do?!

Ok, so that's one gadget, the next is my work laptop. Somehow I broke the "y" key off. I have it but it won't stay on. The little plastic tab is broken on one side. This happened before and they fixed it no problem so I get that fixed at the Apple store at the same time.

The Xbox? Yeah, finally red ringed for good. I was red ringed 4 or 5 times during power outages and stuff but it came back on just fine. But in the middle of a pretty decent game of Call of Duty Modern Warfare it died. Screeching and freezing the video. I was about to call in an air strike! 3 rings mean 3 yr warranty so its getting fixed for free, they even comped the shipping. Which they should! Because 2 in 3 xbox owners I know have had to send theirs back! Jeez...

The bike? Nothing real real major just need new chain rings because I wore out the middle one (won't hold the chain under any pressure) and the big ones gonna go soon too (mostly due to logs and rocks I bet).

That's all for now though, once I get those fixed we'll be ok I guess. And only the bike is costing me money! But I'll go to the Apple store today or tomorrow and get that iPhone squared away and hopefully I'll get a whole new one!

Middle o'week

Yep, it's that time again! Middle of the week! Awesome!

zzzz.... Oh! Sorry, I dozed off...
I went to bed late last night. Not a good idea.

I just need some coffee...

Oh, I've been working on my project bike, my old Specialized Hardrock. It's up and running! It's a single speed. It's pretty cool! I'm going to make it a commuter bike. I wish my work had showers... I don't want to get a YMCA subscription so I'm waiting unitl the weather gets cooler out.
































It's single speed, has mountian bike slicks, SPD/flat pedals, and only one brake (rear). Yeah, I need the other one, but I can't remember where I put it...

I just need to find some cheap panniers so I can load my stuff on the bike instead of on my back!

Also, I want to paint it glossy white. I think that would look pretty cool. And I want a rigid fork. I'm waiting for my LBS (local bike shop) to get one that they are throwing away so I can take it off their hands.

Does anyone know of a good coffee house in downtown Tulsa? I'm thinking about ducking out for some...

Ok, gotta go, talk to you later!

Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your girlfriend!

Just kidding! It's just an Avril song.
Don't tell anyone I listen to Avril...

Well, I'm tired of the Tour. The Tour de French for those non cyclists. Too much scandal for me. I tell you what, you don't see that in mountain bike racing. Or at least I don't know about it...

Just ridiculous stuff.
I can't say it any better than a fellow blogger. Check out his blog: http://barkernews.blogspot.com/

"

The Tour is Dead

Now it's Rasmussen.

With just four days to go in the Tour de France, the favorite to win the race has been fired by his own team and the yellow jersey is tainted once again. Team Rabobank today announced that Michael Rasmussen had been kicked out of the world's biggest cycling race because he lied about his whereabouts when he missed a series of drug tests this year.

This is the one time of year I turn on my TV. I love watching the Tour. Completing the race is an amazing feat.

But this is too much.

If the UCI doesn't sort this out, I don't know if even I'll be watching next year."

I couldn't say it any better! But I do have to say that I didn't even watch barely any of it. I don't have cable and I'm not too into road cycling, but it's cycling none the less.

I was supposed to go mountain biking yesterday, but I had a staff meeting at the end of the day that went too long. Gosh I miss the trail.

It's also just so darn hot! You have to really exert yourself to go. It doesn't bother me when I'm out there, but it's just before hand...

But this Saturday morning, Jenni and I and at least Bob (from COTM) are going to meet at Turkey for a ride. I really enjoy the Church On The Move crew. Great guys (and gals now!).

I think I need to do more video blogging...

I can use my little Minolta X50 to shoot some decent video and I'll upload it. Yeah, I think I can do that. In fact, I'll do that right now!

Stay tuned for a video post!

A normal Tuesday.

Yup, it was just a normal Tuesday. Although it was pretty good. I got up early than usual so that meant that I got to have a more leisurely breakfast. I also got to work a little early so I was able to get some stuff done before everyone else came in.

But then I got home I got dinner, Jenni and I watched some TV, I washed my bike while Jenni went to Walmart to print some pictures. Then when she came back we went swimming. It's been great! The water is really warm and there is never anyone at the pool! We went swimming the other day too.

Also, last night, Bob let me borrow some tapes. He taped almost every televised cross country mountain bike race for years! I only took two for now, but I'm watching them right now. Intense!

Well, I'm going to go so I'll hopefully post again soon. See ya!

So sore...

Yesterday, the COTM MTB crew got together for some ride time at Keystone State Park. My first time there. I really, really like it! It's got some technical sections, some nice long downhill, some twisty singletrack... a little bit of everything.

I've always heard that Keystone is nice, but I found my new favorite trail! I can't wait to take Jenni there. She didn't come yesterday because she wasn't feeling 100%. But without here there, Bob and I were able to do the expert loop.

The whole crew did the beginner loop, then everyone decided what loop we would do next. The rest decided to do the beginner loop again and Bob and I did the expert.

Since I haven't ridden in a while, because of the rain, I didn't know how my body would like the expert loop, but man did it feel good. I took off following Bob, an excellent rider, as we carved through some soggy singletrack.

As soon as I found a "hole" I sprinted by and took the lead and held it for most the ride. I really just pretended I was racing. It felt so good! I was just gliding over those rocks and roots and as soon as I hit some hardpack, I would just motor and really gain some ground.

I forgot my water though, and by the end of the ride, I was a little more tired that I usually would have been. T-Town, my lbs (local bike shop) gave me some sort of energy chews or something, but I forgot those too.

On the ride home, Bob and I talked a lot about racing. He gave me some tips and tricks that will really help me out and I also asked him to keep training me as we ride together.

I can't wait to get out riding again, but I better go for now, let me leave you with some stats from the computer...

Date: July 9
Mileage: 6.22
June mileage: 31.04
Max speed: 18 mph
Ride time: 57:22 (nonstop)
Average: 6.4 mph

Oh, also, on Saturday, Jenni and I went riding at Turkey Mountain, but just the red loop. She is starting to do really well, she' clipped in too and that can be tricky but it's not a big problem for her I guess. She also can get up hills really well.

But when we were done, I raced her home, her in the van and me on the bike. Long story short, I got home about 60-90 seconds after her. She was just getting out of the van when I pulled up. I was flying, probably averaging around 16 mph.

Well, that's it for now. I'll have to post some pictures soon because this blog gets boring without pictures!

But do check out my Fickr account... it's has a lot of pics, mostly wedding right now. http://www.flickr.com/photos/scrappapervlog/

First mountain bike race.

Like I said in a previous post, I'm going to start racing. I get butterflies just thinking about it though. But in a good way. I used to run cross country in high school and before every race I would get nervous. But as soon as the race would start, I would be alright. So I know kind of what to expect.

Anyway, the first race is coming up on September 9th. It's in Arkansas City, Kansas. In races there are three different classes. Beginner, Sport, and Expert. After reading some stuff online, I came to a realization. I thought that Beginner is for people who are like "What's a presta valve?" and Expert was like really expert. So I would have started racing in the Sport class.

But from what I read online, Beginner really means beginner racer. They say that Sport is just super fast and expert is out of this world. So either I can get my butt kicked in Sport, or I can see where I stand and do a beginner race.

I have decided to do the beginner race because I have never raced before. So, if I turn out to be really good at it, then I'll move to sport, but we'll see.

Anyway, more about this first race. It's called the Tour de Lizard. The beginners do just one lap while sport does two and expert does 3. I'm actually not sure about the distance... I thought I just saw it but I must be mistaken... oh well. I'll race in Beginner Senior Men (age 19-29).

I'm really excited because the race is on a Sunday but on Saturday they have a free first time racers clinic. They teach you everything about racing and make it very understandable with a no drop practice ride at well below race pace.

So it's about 2 hours away. I don't want to drive to and from on Saturday, then to and from on Sunday, and they have a special pasta dinner on Saturday night... so that means... we're going camping! It will be our first camping trip together! And Templeton's coming too!

It's going to be so much fun! So a quick second race update... the next one is the following weekend. It's a first annual 50 mile endurance race. It's just a bunch of laps but I really want to do it. It's called the Broken Nose 50 at Roman Nose State Park.

Well, I have to go so I'll leave you with some pictures, but I don't have any of me racing yet so I'll just take some from various bike blogs (courtesy of bikeblogs.com)

MTB racer? You have to see this!

I feel as if I've had an affair...

Ok, now wait just a minute. Let me explain. While out running errands today, I swung by the Trek store. Yes, I know that I ride Specialized, but I wanted to see if my friend was there.

He was. But that's not the case.

Something caught my eye. It was something that I saw in a catalog before.

It was the Trek 69er.
Single speed.
Hardtail.
Inverted double crown 100mm fork.
Root Beer colored.
And best of all... 29 in front and 26 in back.
Wow.

I fell in love with a Trek! Trust me, that's the only Trek, besides Nick's that I have ever ridden. Oh, and that one time the Royal Rangers rented a carbon Trek Fuel 98.

But this thing was pure freak. It was a monster. A Frankenstein bike. But so beautiful.

I am speechless. I am without speech.

It's too wet to ride and I'm too tired anyway.

It's raining outside. That means no riding today. There's also rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. At this rate, the trails will never be dry! I don't mind riding on the road but I really want to ride on some dry singletrack.

It's rainy. We just ate dinner. Templeton is sleepy. We're sleepy. But I'm out of deodorant. I really should go get some. Also, Jenni got ice cream yesterday so maybe I'll have some of that so I can muster up enough strength to leave our apartment.

Oh, this is a great looking mountain bike film. You have to check it out if you enjoy cross country riding. The thing I hate is that most mountain bike videos are about downhill riding. And while it's cool, I'm a cross country rider.

So check out this video: 24hrs of Pain

Bikin at Greenleaf

Yesterday I went mountain biking with the Church On The Move Cycling Club. We went to Greenleaf Lake. I've never been there before and a lot of people say that it's a really good trail.

It was almost perfect weather, but the ground was a little muddy at times. I totally had my tires inflated too high and I was sliding around on rocks and corners. I finally deflated like 5-10 psi and I was much better off.

Oh, I also started off really suckin' wind! I mean, I was stinking things up! I think it was just that I didn't get breakfast and I was still a little tired. But after about mile 5 or 6 I felt a ton better! I was climbing better... I was navigating over rocks better... It was a 180 degree turn around!

Anyway, here is a link to the trail on MTBR.com. Check it out! I liked it, but I like the Womble more. This was pretty rocky, very technical. I like a more hardpack singletrack myself.

But it was great! Nice weather, great company... you can't ask for much more!

I did go riding.

I actually was able to go riding for a little bit today. Not at Turkey, but just around town a little. I got a quick pic of the bike.

It's amazing, I did an easy 4.5 miles. Road riding can be real easy sometimes! 5 miles at Turkey would have taken a lot longer.

Oh well, here are the pics.


































Notice the new tires?

A little bit of everything.

I don't have any real topic for this so I'll just dive right in. I had a decent fall on the Womble this year. Just bumped and bruised really but I guess I got a black eye. No one, including me, noticed it until my RA saw it 2 days later.
















Oh, here is a picture of Nick as I was driving back to school after a ride. He wanted to ride down Riverside but I had to run back to school. He actually looks kind of cool. Not!
















Here are some pics of my new tires. I love them! Thanks again Bob! I was going to try them out today, but I was too upset about ORU losing to Washington. Oh well.




















































This is what I'm working on in my Lightwave 3D class. It is a 3D rendering of a bedroom. Don't worry, it's still in pre-vis. I'm just getting an idea for everything.
















































Well, tomorrow I fly home for Spring Break. I am going to miss Tulsa. No, not going to "Miss Tulsa" going to miss TULSA. The weather has been really pretty decent and I just got new tires... starting to ride more... There are some cool trips planned on the COTM cycling calendar too. I guess I'll have plenty of time this summer when Jenni and I are here.

Jenni really wants to get into mountain biking too, which is great! What we would love to do is to both get new bikes. Mine is ok, but the crank arm is falling apart, the rear dropouts are stripped or something and its overall a little old. It not worth to replace everything either.

I also want to do a few races. Not to win, but that's the goal obviously, but I know it will make me a better rider overall.

I want to get the Specialized Epic and turn my Specialized Hardrock into a single speed. Then we would get Jenni either a ladies Epic or something similar.

You know how cool my van will be when I get it!? Remember that post a few posts ago...

I was just looking over my stickers... good ones! I heart NY... Estes Park (CO)... CHSP... RB... WOMBLE... maybe IMBA... I can't wait!

Well, I better go, but I may add more to this later. See ya!

Biking de Mountain 2

-Bob & I

Hey my peoples. I had a great day today. No morning class. An ok chapel. Great progress done in my 3D class. Perfect weather for biking. Bob showed me a ton of new trails. A great day.

Today I did about 5.5-6 miles at Turkey Mountain. Bob and I met up to ride. Too bad no one else from the Church On The Move club could make it. It was a blasty blast!

We primarily did the west side. Well, we did the Ho-Chi then did the west side. So many trails over there! And parts of it are nice and flat with intense switchbacks and other parts have insane rocks and roots. Great variety.

Anyway, as Bob and I stopped for a minute, I asked him if I could get a picture because I don't see any pictures of the mountain bike club on the COTM site.

Oh! Bob gave some tires! Yeah, he saw eying some Maxxis tires he had for sale and he gave them to me! I really appreciate him giving them to me. I actually have been looking for some good Maxxis tires. I hear a lot of good stuff about them.

They are the Maxxis Larsen MiMo. They got rated a 3.7 out of 5 on MTBR.com. My old tires were pretty decent. My front one was the Specialized Fast Trak Pro, which got rated 3.3 out of 5 on MTBR.com and the rear was a Bontrager Jones, which wasn't the greatest, but did the job.

Well, that's it for now. I may ride tomorrow, but I don't know yet. I really want to try out these new tires, but I should probably start packing for Spring Break.

When I get back from Spring Break, that Saturday, the COTM Cycling club is riding up at Greenleaf State Park. It's supposed to be a nice long, technical and pretty demanding ride.

Can't wait! Till then!

Biking de Mountain

I started mountain biking a little more, which has been great! The weather is pretty warm here. Great biking weather, but not good weather to be locked in your dorm room with no a/c and the window only opens 4 inches (no lie).

I went biking today with Matt. He got a new Specialized Hardrock and I got him on some real trails to show him what his bike could do. I think he got a little banged up, but that boys got heart. He did really well too. Turkey Mountain can be pretty rough to first timers. It's pretty technical stuff.

Anyway, as you also read in my post yesterday, I joined the Church On The Move Cycling Club. Me and the mountain bike ride leader are going riding tomorrow. Hopefully some other guys can make it too.

Oh, since the Womble (which I still need to tell you about), my jersey and my socks have been sitting in a walmart bag. Wet. Ask Nick how bad it smelled. So I did laundry tonight and got it washed and it smells like a bed of roses. Or as good as jerseys can smell.

I wanted to wear my usual biking garb again, because of all the times since the Womble that I have ridden, I had to wear a t-shirt and regular shorts. I looked like a total noob. But tomorrow, I'll look like a pro! How bout them apples.

Ok, gotta go, Casino Royale is on. Peace.

COTM Cycling

I just joined the Church On The Move Cycling Club. They had a meet and greet with tons of food, drinks, and bikes. Lotsa fun!

It is mostly road riders, but they started a new mountain bike division. That's what I'm interested in. Really great guys (and gals)! I got to meet a lot of people and they were all very nice.

After spring break, I'm going with the mountain bike group to Greenleaf Lake. It's supposed to be a pretty tough, but fun trail. About an 18 mile ride. I'm looking forward to it!

That's it for now! See ya!