Belgium Day

Belgium Ride. That is what my brother and I use to call rides done in terrible weather. Kind of like Belgium classics when it is cold, rainy, sleet, cloudy and/or foggy. For anyone who got on the bike yesterday, probably had themselves a Belgium ride. As for me, I called my teammate Tim and asked if he was up for a bad weather fixed gear ride...he was not. So my back up was a Belgium run with my brother James.

To set this up, keep in mind I have not run since sometime in July or August. So I met James and his friend Mark at Noland Park in Newport News. For those that have never been there, this is an excellent running route. It is off road, but very nice maintained trails (sorry, no bikes allowed). It is a five mile loop with rolling hills (just big enough to hurt.) I think there is something like 18 bridges to cross.

So, cold weather, no running in a while, running with two guys who do run regularly, and on an off road rolling hills course. Needless to say I hurt a little. We went what would normally be an easy pace for me (8 minute mile), but I hurt, especially the final 2 miles.

Doesn't matter how much I hurt during the Belgium Run, I felt good the rest of the day. I always do. When you can get out and train on days that most people don't want to even look out the windows, it adds a little edge to your mental toughness. And for those that don't care about Belgium Rides or Runs, I will be posting another Tour De Garage soon.

Happy New Years.

American Flyers

Last night I rode a hill workout on the trainer while watching American Flyers. It has been a long time since I have seen this movie. I remembered why I liked it so much. My brother and I have raced since we were kids. My dad's bike commuting life got us hooked on the sport. For the first year we were on the same team, but raced a different category. After that we were always on different teams. I don't know why that was, but it always worked out that way. After he joined the Air Force and moved away, we stopped racing and riding together. Last year he moved back to Hampton Roads and took up the sport. Only this time he joined the Virginia Beach Wheelmen. Last year was the first year we have ridden together in the same uniform since I was 13 and he was 15.

Watching that movie last night reminding me of this. Especially the part where Marcus was asking David to race the Hell of the West with him. That they were brothers and may never get a chance to race together again. I am glad we both got back into the sport and the time has finally come for us to race as teammates and brothers. This is why I like this picture so much. Its a long time coming.
By the way. For those that don't know James, watch out for him. Last year was his coming back year but its not what he focused on. 2008 is a year that he is using the first half of the season to get in the best shape of his life for an Ironman competition in September. Back in the day he was a very powerful racer...watch for that form to return.

The Christmas Poo.

Anyone a fan of Southpark? For those that have seen Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo make his appearance on Southpark, you were probably just as confused as me as to what a poo has to do with Christmas. I am no longer confused. Let me explain.

Christmas Eve. 4 pm Church service, nice, short and kid orientated. After church we went over to my in-laws house for a big dinner. Crackers, cheese log, white chili, chicken pasta, and truffle cake.
Christmas Morning. My house, the whole family came over for breakfast. Eggs, sausage, potatoes, fruit, cookies, cake and other stuff.
Christmas Evening. My parents house, big Christmas dinner. Turkey, potatoes, veggies, bread and pumpkin pie.

The point is this. Mr. Hanky the Christmas poo does not come around every December 25th, he comes around every December 26th. Now I got to go...the coffee is working.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I hope everyone gained as much weight as I did in a two day period. Time to get on the bike.

Merry Christmas

What did you get this year? Any cycling stuff? My Christmas is broken into three distinct parts. The first part is the family (wife and kids) Christmas first thing in the morning. Kids (5 and 3) were excited and had a blast this year. My wife got me golf lessons and driving range time from Lynnhaven Golf Park I don't play golf, but I have always wanted to be just good enough to go out and play with friends. So I'm excited about starting that. I won't let myself get too involved, all I need is another hobby/sport to take away more of my spare time.

Part 2 of Christmas is about to happen. My wifes family comes over to my house and we have breakfast and another round of presents opening.

Part 3 of Christmas starts at about 2:30. We leave the family at my house and travel to Smithfield for my half of the family. There we have another round of presents and end with dinner. It is a long day, but we have a good time. And the girls get a lot of presents.

I'll keep everyone posted if I get any bike parts. Just remember I accept regifting of any bike stuff you don't want.

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2007, Here we come!

The Virginia Beach Wheelmen will be out on a FUN, easy, cross ride on Christmas Eve. We are leaving from my house at 9 am. I think a ride down Damn Neck, trails, General Booth, Oceanfront, to Seashore. Should be a good time. We will be done by noon for family time.

Everyone ready for Santa? I have to get on my roof tomorrow to put Reindeer food up there. My five year old daughter asked "how will the reindeer get the food if we put it in the yard and they land on the roof?" So, I'll be making a trip up my ladder. Other than that I am ready.

Enjoy the holiday.

Track Racing Anyone?

I don't like to watch other racers crash, but this is an amazing crash. Its amazing because no one was seriously hurt. These are junior racers.

I got back on the bike today. I had ridden once this week to work on my fixed gear, but today was my first workout on the bike since my Disney trip. It was windy and I wasn't feeling great. I ate something last night at the Cheesecake Factory that didn't agree with me. My stomach was messed up during the ride.

I'm actually really looking forward to logging some good miles in the next couple of weeks. See you out there.

Fire SUV

This is funny. Especially since Fire SUVs are driven by chiefs.

Congrats to Cross Nationals racers

I have read the emails and the blogs of those who have gone to Kansas to race in the cross nationals. This was my first year cross racing and every race this year was done in shorts and short sleeve. So the conditions at Nationals sounds terrible. The local racers represented well I think.

Mike Hosang (AKA Crazy) wrote this about his race:

My race...I had a 2nd row start, the gun goes off, I'm hitting the first corner around 5th or 6th spot, and had a great warm up. A few in the front go down and so begins the pileup, putting be back in a matter of seconds to 30th or 40th......back on the bike to try to make up spots, and after 2 laps, I was inching back toward the top 20 with 2 laps to go, and a piece of ripped caution tape that was hanging on to a stake got blown into my cassette. It got all wrapped up in it before I had a clue it was even there. Since I can't run as most of you know, and I did not have a pit bike anyway, I had to spend the next 2 minutes spinning the wheel this way and that to get the tape out. Back on the bike to muster out a 32nd place finish. Quite disappointed, but that's cross.

Kevin Horvath post his adventures on his blog.

Although neither one of those guys seemed happy about their performance, they did well just going and braving the conditions. And both of them did a hell of lot better than I would have done. I thought I also heard Sean Yeager did well in the B race.

Mike and Kevin got back to town just as it was time for Velocity training. Needless to say they skipped this week. Here's what they missed (this was at the end of the workout, the last 15 minutes after some leg speed, ladder work and hip motion drills.)

25 pull ups
50 Deadlifts
50 Wipers
50 Clean and press
50 push ups
50 box jumps
25 pull ups

My body feels worked after that workout.

Tour De Garage-Hill climb

This workout is designed to increase our power, especially while going uphill. We don't have the luxury here in Virginia Beach to train on actual hills, so we have to get creative. I use to be a pretty good climber, but that was when I lived in Hawaii and weight only 150 lbs (as opposed to my 185 racing weight now). Mt. Haleakala, located on Maui climbed 10,023 feet in 38 miles. The race up it was a time trial called Cycle to the Sun. I did it once, that was enough.

We will start with my typical warm up. Or you can chose a warm up that you are comfortable with. Actually, I give a second warm up that I use often here.

Warm up
Pedal 5:00 (small ring/15) with cadence around 90 rpm.
(small ring/15) one legged pedal for one minute switch legs (repeat 3 times per leg)
After 2:00 soft pedal shift to Big ring/15.
20 seconds standing followed by 20 seconds seated. Repeat for 3 cycles.
2:00 soft pedal

Workout
This first set will have you accelerate up the hill.
(Big ring/13) 3:00 interval. Accelerate every minute (example: first minute is at 60 rpm, second is 70 rpm, and last is 80 rpm). 3:00 easy pedal and repeat.

This second set is increasing slope.
(Big ring/18) 5:00 interval. Shift one gear harder every 1 minute while trying to keep cadence above 70 rpm. 5:00 easy pedal and repeat. On second interval start at least on gear harder.

This last set is responding to a hill attack.
(Big ring/15) 5:00 interval. Start at steady pace (cadence around 70 maybe). After 30 seconds, someone attacks. Stand and accelerate for 30 seconds, sit and keep high pace for 30 seconds. Return to steady pace for 30 seconds. This will repeat for at least 3 cycles (more if you want).

Cool Down
Pedal easy for 5-10 minutes. This is a good time to put it in an easy gear and spin for the first 5 minutes before pedaling easy for the last 5 minutes. This will help put some speed in you legs after a low cadence workout.

Enjoy. Let me know how you like it.

Christmas Wish List

I am back from Disney. We had a blast. It was hard to be away from my computer and blog for 6 days. Maybe I need to invest in a Mac Book so I could always have access during these trips. Regardless the family had a blast. The girls were good and didn't want to leave. Unfortunately for us, we were all still sick or just getting sick. So we had a lot of runny noses and sinus headaches.
Now that I'm back, I have to start thinking about Christmas. Since a trip like this is not cheap, our Christmas is going to be cut back a little this year. My wife and I have set a limit as to what we can spend on each other. That means, probably no bike parts for me this year. So I figure I will give my Christmas wish list out to all my readers, potential sponsors and maybe even Santa himself.

Dear Santa (friends, readers, sponsors, people with too much money),

I have been good this year. I have a list of bike parts that I would love to find under my tree this year. This list is not complete. I will take (and write about) nearly anything. I am not greedy, however I do like bike parts, accessories and swag. Here is my list of things that I have been really wanting:

1. Wheelset. I bought a set of the FlashPoints FP60 last year. I love them (especially for the price) I have always wanted to tryout FSA's three flange hub, and I really like the Fulcrum wheels. My wheels I use for training are getting old, plus I would like to also get a set of wheels to race on in next years cross season.
2. Power Meter. Everyone is using one and I feel left out. I am sure it is a great training tool. I even like the idea of the iBike, because I could use it with any wheels.
3. Lights. I could use a kick as light set to do some serious night riding this winter.
4. Sunglasses. I like glasses and am always excited to receive a pair.
5. Gloves. My hands get pretty cold during the winter. Gloves would get me out the door a lot more.
6. Bootie covers. Again, keeping my toes warm will get me out in cold weather a lot more.
7. Helmet. I'm not crazy about the way my helmet fits. I don't know what kind I want, but I do want to get a good helmet this year.
8. Saddle. I am always willing to try out new saddles. I think I definitely want a time trial saddle this year.
9. Cranks. I am using compact on my road bike and standard on my TT bike. I could replace either one. I have had carbon before and would like to go back to it.
10. Handlebars. On my road bike I had carbon handlebars, but I crashed and broke them, not cool. I would like carbon wing bars. Also carbon aero bars for the TT bike.

I think that is good for now. I could make this list longer, but I don't want to sound greedy. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Joshua Goyet.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Pre Vacation Horror

It all started Wednesday morning when my wife and I walked into the guest room and discovered a broken window. Cause: BB. Although I am sure I piss a lot of people off, I believe this was just kids being careless. Nonetheless, I was a little pissed and filed a police report anyway, just in case we found out who it was, we could get them to pay for it. Not that big of deal. It only went through the storm window. It could wait for after vacation. (That being said, does anyone know if a window company sponsors any local cycling teams? I usually try to use supporters of the sport first.)
Then of course the few days leading up to D-day (Disney day), the whole family gets sick. But today everyone is pretty good and most of it is out of our systems. Good.

James, my brother, was coming from Suffolk to Virginia Beach to meet us for Brunch today. He was going to lend us a video camera and a spare card for our digital camera. At about 11 o'clock he told us he was running late, was going to wait for his wife to get off work. We still had some errands to run so we headed north on Independence. 4 cars in front of us some guy was carrying pallets on his roof and they came off. You can image the squealing of brakes and skidding this caused. We stopped in time, the car behind us did not. My wife was pissed. We have only had this car for 5 months.
A little rear end damage. He attempted to avoid us by changing lanes but didn't quite make it. Not bad right?

I don't think that wheel is supposed to be that close to the fender. Looks like bent axle. Man did it make a terrible noise driving it home. By the way, the other guy only had is car since Saturday.

So I called my brother and told him to take his time. We went home, changed cars, called the insurance company. We were starving by this time. James called, he was on his way. We left. James and his wife Amanda were having a conversation about our wreck. She asked, "How do you even make an insurance claim? I've never had to do it before" Just as he got off of 264...crash. They were about to find out how to make an insurance claim. So we got the call from him and drove to his accident. It was about a half mile from my accident. His 2007 Honda had a few scratches and dents. Not too bad right?
Air bags deployed and seat belts locked. The car is not drivable.

So we finally made it to Silver Diner and then went home and put away the car keys. I am know writing this while drinking a Yuengling.

Enjoy.

No ride for me :(

This week was supposed to be a hard week of training. I thought I had time, and knowing I would spend the next week in Disney, I wanted to get some miles in this week. It started good with a good Velocity training, good Tour De Garage session, and gym workout at Gold's. But then it happened. The whole family started to get sick, along with me. I have been popping those Airborne stuff to try and fight this off. I think it has worked, but the last thing I thought I needed was a cold morning ride. Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to ride this morning, and yesterday, but I just don't want to spend the next week feeling crappy. When I get back, its time for base mile training.

I just wanted to say good luck to my teammates and friends who are racing cross tomorrow in C'ville. Good luck to Tripower on taking the team standings lead. I think it will be cool to have a 757 team win the cross series. Of course I'm still rooting for the Virginia Beach Wheelmen to knock you out of a couple of top spots.

Let me leave you with this:

You know how important teamwork is to the being successful in cycling. Tripower, show up in force and give it everything you have. If you fail, at least you failed as a team.

Good Luck guys.

Vacation Time is Here!!!

I am packing up the family and flying to Disney World on Sunday. I started my vacation a little early because I knew I would be useless at work today. Its probably a good thing, I feel like I'm getting a cold. Everyone at work has been sick, Jenni has been sick, and now me. I think I can fight this quickly, thanks to Airborne. One week at Disney with the family, it doesn't matter if I am sick or not, I am going to enjoy this.

I don't know how many of you tried my one legged interval training session, but it was hard. It was the first one legged workout I had done this winter and I could tell I needed the work. On the second set in the aero position, my circles felt more like squares. What did you guys think? Those of you who did it that is. K-dogg says he can't get himself to ride a trainer...doesn't he know he is less likely to crash? Sorry man I couldn't help it.

The Redskins won last night. I am not a Skins fan, and I picked Chicago in my football pool. Oh well. I am doing the FM99 football pool. There are a couple thousand people in it and I am currently in 44th place. I am only 6 wins off of first. The last couple of weeks I picked the Skins and they lost. So for you Skins fans, I'll let you know when I pick them to lose (their probably win then).

Who's your Santa?

I know what I want for Christmas.

Tour de Garage- one legged drills

Here is another workout from my Tour de Garage series. I want to explain the background of this workout first. I am sorry if I lose you but I will try to keep it simple. Why do we do one legged drills? To improve our pedal stroke, right? Well if we don't know what makes up our pedal stroke, we can't improve it. Think about this for a minute. When you do one legged drills, is it easier for your the more you sit up, or can you do them just as well on your tops as you can in the aero position?

The pedal stroke can be broken into four phases. TDC is the top dead center, 90 degrees is the 3 o'clock position, 180 at 6 0'clock, 270 at 9 o'clock, back to TDC. Here is the list of muscles (or groups) working during each phase.

From TDC to 90 degrees: Quadriceps and gluteus maximus (butt).
From 90 degrees to 180 degrees: Gastrocnemius (calve), and hamstrings
From 180 degrees to 270 degrees: hamstrings, dorsiflexors (raises your toes up), and gastrocnemius (calve)
From 270 degrees to TDC: Rectus Femoris (front of the thigh) and tibialis anterior (shin)

That being said, think about the last time you did one legged intervals. What part hurt? Can you concentrate on contracting your quads and butt, then your calves and hamstring, then the front of your thigh and shin? When we bring our leg up from 270 degrees to TDC we want to use our hip flexors. However, the further bent down we are, the less they have the ability to work. The Rectus Femoris is a hip flexor, although not the primary one. So we have to get good and using all the muscles possible and not count on just momentum to bring our leg up. That is why this drill will have you in different positions on the bike. We are going to force our muscles to work how they should. If this workout is hard, you probably need it. So here we go.

Warm up
(small ring/15) Start cadence at 80 rpm. Increase by 10 rpm every minute for a total of 5 minutes (120 rpm)

Rest 1 minute

(big ring/15) 30 seconds at a 90% effort, 30 seconds recovery for 3 sets

Rest 2 minutes

One legged drill module
(big ring/18) Start with your left leg clipped in and your right leg behind your trainer. Pedal in a fluid pedal stoke with your left leg for one minute. Your hands should be on the tops of the bars.

Easy pedal for 1 minute both legs, then do it for your right leg. Easy pedal again for 1 minute. Change to your left leg again for 1 minute but move your hands to your hoods. Keep repeating the cycle of:
left leg 1 minute
both legs 1 minute
right leg 1 minute
both legs 1 minute.

For each cycle you will move you hand and body position:
tops of bars
hoods
drops
aero position
aero position
drops
hoods
tops of bars

Cool down:
(small ring/15) Start cadence at 120 rpm. Decrease by 10 rpm every 1 minute for 5 minutes.
Continue to soft pedal for another 2-5 minutes.
Stretch.

Remember to concentrate on getting those muscle to work. If they burn, you need this workout. If you are having particular problems with a segment of the pedal stroke (and this drill will tell you where you are weak), work on that segment. Start your stroke at the beginning of the segment and quickly contract those muscles needed to get through the rest of the stroke. Stop and repeat.

Hope you like the workout. Hope it wasn't too much tech talk, just wanted to make sure you had the background. Comment me if you have questions.

Bring on the cold!

Last year I had a good pair of tights but the zipper on the leg broke. So like an idiot I threw them away instead of getting them fixed. That left me with just a very thin pair. So I made a trip to All About Bikes yesterday and picked up a pair of these.

They have the wind barrier even on the bib section. I still need to get a better pair of gloves and some better bootie covers (all I have are toe covers). But this will be a big help to get me outside when the temperature drops.

On a side note. The burn training at work is over for now. After 2 months of burning 4 days a week, we are done...What am I going to do now?...."I'm going to Disney World!"
I leave 1 week from today. December 9-15. Jenni won't let me bring my bike.

Tour de Garage

The days are shorter and the temperatures are getting colder. That means it is time to move inside for a lot of our rides. Like most of you I use videos that tell me exactly what to do and keep my motivation up. Also like most of you, I have limited number of those videos. Over the last few years I have done a lot of indoor workouts. At the fire station I would set up my bike or run on the treadmill for my workouts. Sometimes I had a TV/video access and sometimes not. Also our team regularly met for indoor group rides in which I would lead them through a workout. I have kept track of all these workouts, with the hope one day of maybe putting them in a book. I have 12 credits to complete for my degree in Exercise Science at ODU. I figured the degree might add credibility to a book. Its just something I have thought of over the years. Regardless, I thought I would share some of my workouts with everyone. You can try them and let me know what you think.

A lot of my trainer workouts are in modules. Meaning a warm up, then 2 or 3 modules that you can put together to form the full workout. So once a week I will post my warm up, a module then the cool down.

Here's the first one:

Warm up
(small ring/15) Start cadence at 80 rpm. Increase by 10 rpm every minute for a total of 5 minutes (120 rpm)

Rest 1 minute

(big ring/15) 30 seconds at a 90% effort, 30 seconds recovery for 3 sets

Rest 2 minutes

Crit finish module
(big ring/15) 40 seconds with cadence 100+ rpm with 20 seconds rest. Repeat 4 times. Rest 5 minutes. Repeat for another 4 reps.

Tip: This workout should burn your legs. If not move to a harder gear or increase your trainer setting.

Cool down:
(small ring/15) Start cadence at 120 rpm. Decrease by 10 rpm every 1 minute for 5 minutes.
Continue to soft pedal for another 2-5 minutes.
Stretch.

Hope you like the workout.

The right tool for the right job.

How did you spend your Thanksgiving weekend? I spent very little time on my bike, which was bad, but I did get a lot of work done. As you know from past post, we hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house (21 people), then two days later through my wife's parents a surprise anniversary party (45 people). We also managed to get the house decorated for the Christmas season, and I trimmed the hedges in my back yard. Those are the things I want to talk about.

On Friday I decided I needed to trim the hedges in my back yard. I consistently trimmed them through the summer to keep them from creeping into the yard to much, but I ignored the height. These things were like 20 feet tall and they should have been 8 feet max. So I got out my plug in hedger and went to town. That didn't last long when I realized I had the wrong tool. It just wasn't cutting it (literally). So I did what anyone would do, I gave up.

In place of cutting the hedges I decided to put up Christmas lights. This year I was going to run them all along the roof line. Which meant I needed to pull out my tall ladder. This ladder was one that came with the house and I had never used it. So I pulled it out and realized it didn't even have a haylard. I am so use to fire service ladders that these little commercial ones make me a little nervous. So I extended it by hand and laid it place. About half way up it was flexing so bad that I thought I was going through the window. So I climb down and through the ladder away. Wrong tool.

I finally used my little giant ladder, that although it wasn't quite tall enough, I felt better on that then I did off that other one. So my lights got put up, and I only had to exchange one strand after I had put them up because they suddenly stopped working.


I then called my friend and teammate Tim to get advice about landscaping. He works with Jon at Outdoor Impressions, a fine landscaping service (yes that was a cheap plug, I'll give you their phone number if you want it). He offered to lend me his hedger and razor saw to get the job done. I came home from church today and they were on my porch. A Stihl hedger, it doesn't get any better than that.


So I took this kick ass Stihl (another cheap plug) hedger out and trimmed through those hedges like nothing. I used the razor saw for those branches that were really thick. The hardest part was cleaning the debris afterwards.

Well by the end of the weekend I rode 3 fewer days than I had hoped to but I got a lot of much needed work done. Sorry for missing the ride Kevin. I was trimming bush when I lost track of time and decided to just keep going.

Now its back to work. See some of you at Velocity. Time to work off those turkeys.

Saturday Morning Stage Race

35 Degrees!!!! That's what my thermometer said when I woke up for the Saturday morning ride. Yikes, that is cold. But I am motivated to ride and I have time. This will be the first Saturday in like 4 weeks I wasn't busy with something else.

By the time the ride started it had warmed up to like 40 something. Still cold, pace pretty fast. I felt a little tired and uncomfortable, but John Grey and Kevin smack talked me into doing stage 2 of the ride.

I was glad I did, even though that was fast also. But I needed the speed training. When I got home, I was busy. We were throwing my in-laws a surprise 30th anniversary party. Everything went well with that....except the fact they showed up about an hour apart from each other.

For Sunday, all I want to do is chill around the house and watch football. This hosting large events (Thanksgiving and party) at my house is tiring.

New Sink

I'm thinking of putting in a new sink. What do think?

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

This is the day for food, family and friends. What are you doing on this holiday. As for me, my family and my wife's family will all be at my house starting around noon. Jenni has been very busy the last few days preparing. As for me, I have been working and am attempting to find something to do Thanksgiving morning to get me out of the house...just kidding honey.

Normally for me Thanksgiving is a running morning. I have done the Turkey Trot in the past, but last year we did the Turkey Derby sponsored by Gold's Gym in Virginia Beach. I would love to do the ride with Kevin and the gang, but 60 miles on the bike is a little too long when I should be home helping the misses.

So regardless what I decide, the day should go like this. Workout in the morning. Drink beer upon arrival at home (in preparation of the full house). Eat turkey. Fall asleep while watching the football games. Wake up for more beer and pie. Say good bye to the guest, turn to my wife and hear her say, "you get to clean up".

Happy Thanksgiving. Everyone be careful of kitchen mishaps. Did you see that Plaxico Burress of the Giants gave everyone in Twin Canal a free turkey and ham? I wish I was back at Station 18 this Thanksgiving, someone is burning down an apartment.

Who is that guy?

I was at work today at the Virginia Beach Fire Department Training Center and the fire recruits from Chesapeake came to learn about flashovers. Those that have read my blog know how much I love the flashover prop. Its hot, the fire is real and there is no other way to get that close to a flashover without dying.

Well as the day went on I thought one of the CFD recruits looked familiar. I just couldn't think of who he looked like. At the end of their visit, I had them line up to ask if anyone had any questions. That's when I heard someone say "hurry up Deaton, we're always waiting on you."

Deaton, huh? Jimmy Deaton's brother. Bingo. The dude looks just like him.

Now I leave you with this. Confused on who should be our next president. Chuck Norris knows who he will vote for.

Ride through the CX

Barrier, run ups, CX ride through, hills...this race had it all. Pictured here is Jon Nisbet flying through the barriers. Picture was taken by Brian from StormyWorld.net.
Good job to the folks at Tripower for putting on an awesome cyclocross race at Mt. Trashmore today. We were told to expect something special in place of the spiral. Riding through the giant CX was not only challenging but it was also very creative and interesting.

I think my cross season is done. I will be going to Disney World during the final race in the Virginia Series. I won't be giving up on the CX bike though. The burning daily at work will end soon (in about two weeks) and I will be able to put in some good training. I didn't realize how much being in that burn building at 300 degrees every day for two months was going to wear me out. It has sort of deconditioned me because I am just too tired when I get home to put in any real training. But no excuses. Those guys I have been racing with are fast and cross racing in hard...very hard.

Good job to all my teammates. Thank you to John Gray for relieving me of my medic duties so I could race. Thanks to the All About Bike guys for inviting us to the tent. Sorry I couldn't make it, in-laws were expecting me for dinner. Hope you had a good time.

OUCH!!

Monday was a kick-ass workout at Velocity. I'm sore again. Not as bad as the first two weeks, but worse then last week for sure. The Dirty Thirty really pushed my entire body. Then I did a hard trainer ride yesterday. Now its off to the burn building for the next three days.

Anyone else sore who did Velocity?

Those of you that haven't joined us yet, its not too late. Velocity will let you get in on a prorated price (I think). We've been having a good time and good training (at least that's my opinion.)

Veteran's Day Cross Ride

As the sun rises three guys from the Virginia Beach Wheelmen Cyclocross team take off on what was supposed to be a three hour tour of Virginia Beach. Leaving from Red Mill area, Jon, Tim and myself head down the newly expanded Nimmo Pkwy to some undiscovered trails.

After those trails we headed to Dam Neck to hit those trails. On the way there we discovered a potential place for a cross race next year...the area of Corporate Landing near the big fountain.
After Dam Neck we headed down General Booth to the boardwalk. Is it too early for Holiday Lights at the Beach?
Just fooling around with the camera.
Off to 64th street and onto Seashore State Park toward the boat landing. Almost all the way to the end and snap!...broken chain. Tim's power was no match for his chain and no one had a chain tool. What would we do?
Quick Jon, flag down that helicopter before it takes off. Too late, I can't believe it left without us. Well a phone call to my wife, Jenni, saved the day. She was not busy and would meet us at 64th street. Now how do we get Tim out of the woods. Dam that helicopter for leaving.

But who needs air transportation when you have teammates. Tim, just hold on while Jon pushes you out. A little bike handling training. Jon having to ride through the sand with one hand. And so do I. I had to get pictures of this.
For those of you ever in this situation, it is far easier to pull than to push. Now its, Tim's turn to ride with one hand.We made it out quickly and waited for Jenni. Nearly two hours. Not quite the ride we were looking for but it was good. And we have Velocity training tonight. Well now its time to meet everyone at Olive Garden for some soup, salad and breadsticks, and talk about who is going to buy a chain tool.

Bending Crank Arms

Today was one of the first days of the winter that I have done a trainer workout. I have gotten on the trainer on my fixed gear to spin but not a true workout yet. I didn't get to do the cross ride last night and felt I needed a hard workout. I bought a couple of videos before Bike Zone closed and decided to give it a shot.
Bending Crank Arms was the name of the Spinerval tape. Anyone do that one? A lot of the training was off the bike squats. Example: as many squats as you can do in 45 seconds, then hold the isometric squat in the down position for 1 minute. Rest and repeat. They hurt. All bike work was done in the Big Ring/11. My thighs were burning. But it felt real good. Gave me an excuse to go to Red Robins with the family and tear into a cheeseburger.
One thing I like about doing these trainer workouts is my kick ass trainer. Last year Kurt Kinetic gave our team a sponsorship Pro deal pricing. This trainer normally sells for like $700. Its worth it. Its called the Rock n Roll. You can stand and move your bike side to side. Even when seated you bike moves more like you were on the road. It also comes with an additional 12 lb flywheel you can put on for endurance trainer rides. I love it. I was thinking of starting a regular group trainer ride. Different people can host it each week and make up their own workouts or use a video. I have a small garage but I think I can squeeze at least 6-8 people. Anyone interested? Maybe Tuesday nights.

In case your wondering, the fridge in my garage is a beer fridge. Now who's interested?

Chuck talks, you listen

Have you ever heard those Chuck Norris quotes? I find them very funny for some reason. I have found the Chuck Norris Widget on my Mac. So the Motivational quote will change to the Motivational Chuck Norris Quote for a little while. Keep checking back, there funny. Here's one to leave you with.

If Chuck Norris had his own calendar every month would be named Chucktober and every day he would kick your ass.

Its time to PUMP you up!!

I have two gift certificates for 3 month memberships to Gold's Gym. They need to be redeemed by the end of December. I hate to see them go to waste. Does anyone want them? Post request to comments.

They were supposed to be prizes for our race we hosted last year, but most of the races didn't happen because of the storm that came through. I know a lot of us train in the gym during this time of year. If you know of anyone who wants them let me know please. They are good for any of the Gold's Gyms in the Tidewater area.

Leesburg Turkey Cross

One way to describe this race....awesome. This was the furthest north I had traveled. I got to the race just in time to watch the start of the CAT 4 men. 92 starters...wow, that was cool to watch. There was a very good and exciting emcee who kept everyone up to date on who was leading and who was chasing.

There were definitely fewer starters for the CAT 3/4 race, but it was still the largest field I had raced in. K-dawg and I represented the 757. Advice given to me by Kevin at the start "ride light". So I did. No mechanical problems, no crashes, no excuses. I didn't do well, but it was a fitness issue, that is fixable. My riding technique is improving. So I was very excited and happy at my outcome.

Then I sat around and drank a little beer out of a Bike Zone water bottle and watch the elite women race and then the elite men. Crazy had his work cut out for him. Although he didn't seem too happy about his results, he really picked up the pace in the second half and caught a number of places. Bishop tore that race apart, and I was exciting to watch those guys and how smooth they were over the transitions.

So bottom line, I suffered, had fun hanging around with friends, and finished without any issues..it was a great race. See you at Trashmore.

Cool Team Picture

To bad Bike Zone isn't around anymore. I thought this was a cool picture. Thanks JB for capturing these memories for everyone.

F*@K!!!!

Another flat today at the Bryan Park cross race. That's all I have to say about that.

I am going to replace my tires, any advice?

Carving up the trail, Carving up a pumpkin!

Chimborazo cross in Richmond. Driving up I thought we would have cross weather, we did not. Another 80 degrees and sunny. At least there was some mud. Since this cross thing is new to me and I don't have that much time to train, I am very low stressed with racing. My expectations are just to have fun, and so far I have. Today's course looked challenging. I made it about 1 minute into the race when a little inattentiveness caused me to hit a curb and flat. No spare wheels. My race was over just as fast as it began. Then came Albe offering me the wheel off his bike. Although I was already a lap and a half behind, at least I got to ride the course and have fun. Thanks man, your my hero.

Picture by Albe. Thanks for wheel.

It is very good to see all my friends from the 757 at these races. Last year this stuff happened and I was in the dark. Its a whole different type of racing and I sense my skills are improving every week. I think its time to take it up a notch. Top ten in the B race is my goal by the end of the season. Now the pressure is on.

After I got home we decided to skip the planned Halloween party and stick around the house and carve some pumpkins. I got mad pumpkin carving skills. Caitlyn, my 5 year old, wanted the spider. Jenni, my wife wanted the ghost. I carved the spider and Jenni did the ghost. Who wins the contest?


Tomorrow, Bryan Park.

Isn't she cute!

Madelyn with a booboo on her finger...or she just wants to be left alone.

The rest is over!

Five day rest break. My body needed it. Busy hard work at the FTC and then training on the bike. No workout from Monday to Friday. So Saturday came around I was ready to ride hard. Two flat tires prevented that. Time to replace those tires.

Then came Sunday. Cobblestone Cross. Great time. I got 17th in the B race. I know its out of the points, but I'm still learning at this stuff. Probably should have pushed a bigger gear through most of the course. But it was a lot of fun.


Thanks to Marc and Shawn for staying right on my ass the whole race to keep me going. And Chris for keeping me thinking I could catch you for the first 6 laps before you took off.

Then Monday night...Velocity training. Three teams represented...Jimmy where were you? Form night, not too hard but wait till next week.
Guys, did you get anything out of the training?Tickets to gun show available every Monday night. Still not too late to join us.

I now I leave you with this thought. Picture it...Hunt Club Pumpkin patch. American Red Cross Blood Mobile parked there taking blood donations. On the back the words "Give Life", on the side (not visible in the picture) are the words "for your health, for your life". Leaning against the side are two obese nurses smoking waiting for to take peoples blood donations. Is this a joke???

Also the bridge is out ahead

Some signs are just funny to me.

Soulja Boy

I present to you my nephew. Yes, the boy is confused.

Corkscrew Cross and Other Adventures

Did my first cross race this weekend on a cross bike. It was interesting. The course was not hard, or at least not compared with the Trashmore practices. Very bumpy and very dusty. As soon as the race started we hit an area of dirt that kicked into a huge cloud. I could hardly see the person right in front of me. It was pretty cool. I didn't start off too fast. Figured I would get comfortable and hope to start picking riders off one by one. Didn't quit work that way. It started to, but then all of sudden I hit a huge hole and both my brakes locked up. I kept the bike upright but I could not figure out way they were locked up and how the hell was I going to fix them. I figured it out. I was riding on my hoods when I hit the hole. The force caused my hoods to slide down on my bars. Because the cable splits at the top mounted levers, moving the hoods moves the brakes. So I forced the hoods back up, but I was unable to use them the rest of the race. As I fixed it and was ready to start back up again, I saw the group of people I was with coming over the barriers. I was now a full lap behind. So I took the rest of the race as just fun and experience.

Today I took the mountain bike out to New Quarter with my brother James. It was my first trip there. Nice trail, I had a good time.

Tomorrow starts my five day rest period. I have been tired lately from work and training. We aren't burning all next week so it seemed like a good week for me to rest. Looking forward to the cross race next weekend. I think I am doing the one on Sunday.

Hopefully I can get some pictures. I left my camera at home, but Tim let my wife use his. So as soon as I get some pics from the race I'll post them. JB was there taking a lot of pictures so I'm sure will see some good shots. Hope everyone else is having a blast at Ironcross.

Switch to Mulch

Tim and I met up at Ipswich this morning for an easy cross ride. After about 45 minutes he asked me if I had ever ridden the mulch trail. I had not. So we jumped in the vehicles and headed over there. That is a nice trail. Good job who ever made it. It was a good ride. Humid out. I'm kind of looking forward to some cross riding when its cold out...when will that happen.

On another note, who is going to do Velocity with us. If you need info let me know. Email me and I will send you the information. We are looking to start the week of October 15, so we need to start making the final plans. Let me know.

Trashmore TT

I think everyone was a little tired on Thursday night. I know I was. We are doing our company in-service burns (fire companies come to the training center and show the chiefs they are proficient at firefighting). We will be doing it through November. This was day 2 and I am already beat. I'm hoping I'll just get use to being in the burn building everyday for 2 months and hopefully it won't effect my training too much.

Well it was a low turnout at Trashmore and JB thought it would be good to do TT intervals. He picked the course and we each did 2 intervals. That was enough for me. Jimmy D. won them, good job.

Most of my time was spent just riding in circles at the top of the hill. At least the view is nice.
All pictures were taken by Kevin Horvath. Some things that occurred that was not captured on film.

1. Me making a grand entrance to the parking lot. A cop was on Edwin looking for speeders. Everyone said that he almost nabbed them, but he did get me. 43 in a 25. In my defense, I didn't know it was only 25, I thought it was at least 35. I pulled into the parking lot with blue lights behind me. By the time Kevin was getting his camera, the cop had already given me my quick "slow down" and was on his way.
   
2. Crazy crashing on his own barriers. He was late and was the last to do the time trial. He looked like he was going fast, but missed the jump. His hand had missed his bike and it threw him off. It was funny, but only because he wasn't hurt.

Punishment on the Pavement Part II

Good race this week. Easier than last week, but I also rode hard yesterday. I felt good overall and even won a prime. Its exciting to see that we will have a venue like this next year. Weekly fast races, the guys from Tidewater will dominate next year.

Does anyone have any pics from the race? I saw a lot of cameras out there.

Thanks to everyone who put these races on this late in the season. And thanks for everyone who showed up so it wasn't a waste of their efforts. See everyone in the next road race in February. I had a blast this year.

Saturday Morning Ride

I got up this morning and was excited to ride. I was planning on doing all three rides, something I rarely do. I felt good. I was glad that the first ride was a nice, easy pace for most of it. The wind was something else...wow. It was a good ride and good times.

Met another fellow blogger today. FiremanJohn, good to meet you. It has amazed me how this blogging has gotten me to know more and more people. We meet all the time during rides and races, but it seems I have really gotten to know people and made more friends with those same people after I started this blog.

Hopefully I see everyone at the race tomorrow.

Why do you ride?

The new edition of Road Bike Action gives the answer Why We Ride. Here are some of my favorite responses:

• Blurred lines of pleasure and pain.
• Because its the only sport that let's you sit down most of the time.
• I ride so I can live longer and then I can ride longer so I can live longer...
• Because it gives me another excuse to wear tights.

So why do you ride? I ride for a number of reasons. Health, fitness and the love of the sport are all the obvious reasons. But also because I like doing things that most of my friends at work don't know anything about. When I am riding my cross bike through the woods or my time trial bike through rural back roads, I think to myself, this is part of America that is not seen. And those that drive those roads may see them, but they don't experience them.

Its kind of like being a firefighter. When you see fire, and see how it reacts up close. And you feel that heat and hear the sounds, you are experiencing something that most people will not.

Cycling is a great sport. It is sponsored at the amateur level. Large companies give you money to ride your bike...that should make anyone feel good.

I have also made many new friends through cycling. Most of those friends have come to be closer because of this blog.

So I ride because it is part of who I am.

Why do you ride?

Punishment on the Pavement

Photo taken by Bob Devich and sent to me by K-Dawg. Thanks guys.

The first ever training crit at the Sports Plex was everything I thought it would be...FAST!!!

Very tough race, people showed up wanting to race and that was good. Plus I got to work on my tan lines. It was a little warm outside. A couple of people complain of cramping but not me. I complained of a heart that was beating too fast and lungs that wouldn't fill up with air fast enough.

It was good to see everyone out there. Gene, when you went I was right there on your wheel and my mind told me to go with you but my legs said "bullshit!". Good race guys. Kevin, I wish I had the remotivation that you did. I was on empty man, wish I could have gone with you.

See you next weekend.

Thank you Virginia Beach for providing this facility for us. And special thanks to everyone who had anything to do with this course. This should be very good for cycling in Tidewater. It should be an awesome training course for next year. Can't wait.

Alternative Plan

Trashmore Cyclocross practice was canceled due to rain. We don't mess up the park just to have a little fun...we would probably be banned if that happened. So alternatively we went to Seashore. I really didn't know what to expect, especially since I had never ridden all of trail. Well I got a taste of the Seashore Supercross Invitational.
Now that is what you are suppose to look like after a cross ride. I think I have sand in my eyes.

Thanks Mark and Kevin for pushing the pace, especially during the final leg. I was hurting. That was a fast ride. Kevin, help me out. I have forgotten the names of the other two riders. I know what they are but I'm having a brain fart. All About Bikes and Coastal guy. Well whatever your names are thanks for pushing the pace also, that was a fun ride.
Looks like I have a lot of cleaning to do.

Training helps prevent puking during racing

I am almost convinced that I will puke at least once during this year's cross races. Initially I was only going to be able to attend Tuesday's cross practice, but now I think I will be able to make both days. If the weather is nice my family will also come on Thursdays and cheer us on and hopefully get some pictures. My hope is this extra practice will get me used to the pain a little and reduce the chance of puking in October.

Also I think I will be riding my cross bike on some of the Saturday morning rides. Chris, I won't be showing up with a 48t, but I will be there with knobbies. So look for me...off the back probably. Once again, hopefully the pain will be worth it later. We'll see.

Are you drinking enough water?

Water has been linked to many health benefits. Some of them are more fun than others.


Are you hydrated enough?

Blue Steel

Do you think I have a chance at being a ridiculously good looking male model? Check out my best blue steel face, and I wasn't even trying. Zoolander has nothing on me.

Fire in the can!

The flashover simulator at the VBFD training center is a box in which a fire is lit in the high part and firefighters sit in the lower section. The fire is allowed to progress through free burning. The heat builds up, by products are released. The smoke takes on a different characteristic. It changes from a lazy white smoke (white is caused from a lot of moisture), to a dark, yellow quickly moving smoke. The carbon monoxide reaches its ignition temperature at 1128 degrees. At this point the smoke ignites and everything in the room is on fire. This is a flashover. For the last three days the Chesapeake Fire Department brought some crews here to put in the flashover can. So for three days I got to sit up front in the hottest part of the box. This is a great job. Tamayo, can't wait till I get to put you through it, you'll have a blast.


The simulator shortly after lighting. Free burning is going on.








Check out the change in smoke. A lot more fuel ready to burn in that smoke. Flashover is occurring inside the can. Temperatures are over 1000 degrees in places.

That's me after day three. I have to be careful not to touch anything on me. Gloves come off last or I'll burn my hands.






I got a little burn on my back. During the first day part of the fuel fell from the ceiling and landed on my shoulder. Because I was already hot and burning up, I didn't notice that the board was burning on my shoulder. I left a few blisters, but not too bad.

Overall it was great training. It has been a couple months since I was in it last. Love the heat.