2011 Back in the Saddle!

Well it's been over a year since I made any posts. Last year was not a good racing year for me. I never felt good at any race and decided to see a doctor about it. He saw that my cortisol levels were low and told me to stop riding for 3 months. I finished my racing season with issues and actually took the 3 months off and now I'm back to riding again. I ride Tuesday and Thursday nights in my basement with shorter rides consisting of intervals and standing. Sunday is usually my long ride day but haven't been out much due to weather or me being sick. Last Sunday I did 43 miles by myself and had shifting issues and ran out of liquids. Need to order a new cassette this week and hopefully will be back to the long rides in the next week or so. I'm hoping this season will be better and I'm using what I know to be my strength to choose my races this year. I have three 100-mile races planned and I don't care about winning but finishing. Last years Mohican 100 was horrible with the mud. Hopefully this year will be rain free. I still plan on doing the Tailwind Series and will try to win a series award this year. Please comment to keep my posts going!

2010....a big year planned

Well it's been a while since I've blogged...I figured that no one was reading so who cares. Turns out, someone's been looking at my page since I have 900 views. Well I ended 2009 ok. I wasn't happy with any individual race but ended up 3rd in the tailwind series. I was one of those racers who had a lot of points by being at every race, but never was actually in the top 3. This year I'm staying in the sport class and hoping to be in the top 3 as many times as possible. I've got some new races this year planned as well...starting with the Mohican 100. I wanted to do lumberjack but didn't get an entry. I might end up doing Cohutta 100 as well but I don't know if I'll be ready in a month. I've also added swimming and running into my workout routine...and hopefully will do a few triathlons this year...maybe even a 70 mile Ironman in July. My most eager endeavor is riding my bike around Michigan. I plan on using the great lakes scenic tour roads to ride around at least the lower half of our beautiful state. I have no idea how long it'll take...I'm assuming 2 weeks for now. I'll plan better when the summer gets closer. post up if you're actually reading this so I know this isn't all for nothing. later!

First Century Attempt and Team Ride

On Friday, July 4, Mark Olin and I were planning on riding from his house in Rochester to Port Huron and back. I've never done a century (100 miles) before so was a little hesitant about going, especially since he wanted to leave at 6 a.m.. Well I decided to go and we started off on the Macomb Orchard Trail at a moderate pace on the the road bikes until we got to 29 mile and cut east to Gratiot. Our plan was to take Gratiot up to Port Huron. We were cruising around 19-20 which was a good pace for me behind him. Once we got to Gratiot though, Mark got a flat. We tried fixing it using a CO2 cartridge and blew the tube. I tried it again and realized that he had a groove cut into the sidewall of his tire due to some rubbing. We tried inflating the tire but the tube herniated out of the tear. Mark called his wife to come get us while we sat at the gas station for about a half hour. We only ended up with 22 miles.

On Sunday, Will, Jason, Mark, some other guy, and I went for a dirt road ride. We ended up doing 50 miles heading up to Dryden and back. We did some of the Paint Creek and Polly Ann Trails. Once again, Mark and I ran into trouble. He got a stick stuck in his front tire and wiped out into my direction. I didn't have any time to react, so I ran him over and then fell myself. I was ok, but Mark was bleeding a bit from his leg. It was pretty sweet to see that my tire mark was on his jersey. I'll have to remember to stay away from him on rides. Oh yeah, Jason actually did the 50 miles. No one at the store believe that he did that many miles since he hasn't been riding lately and needed as a witness to prove that he did ride the miles. Miles to date: 1105

Stony Marathon and Pre-Ride with my Aunt

Yesterday, My aunt wanted to go for a ride up the Polly-Ann Trail. I told her that it was a nice ride and was 11 miles long. She decided we should ride from her house which is 3 miles from the trailhead. When we got there, I was corrected because it was actually 12 miles, not 11 to Leonard. We were slow and steady and only had to stop once to take a break, but when we got to Leonard, I said we needed to go another mile to the end of the trail in Oakland county. We rode to the Oakland/Lapeer county border just to say we did it and headed back. Obviously it was harder on the way back, especially since the limestone was drying out and was turning into a very sandy trail. We stopped twice on the way back and added in the small nature trail just north of Drahner. We ended up with 32.5 miles which is the farthest she'd ever ridden... YEAH!

Today was the Stony Creek Marathon consisting of 40 miles of mud. I rode hard and strong the whole time and was pretty well spent by the end of the 4th lap. I kept saying to myself "If I could just catch the next guy." It seemed to work because the last two laps I wasn't passed by anyone. That's probably because most people were in front of me. It was quite muddy and I was having issues shifting during every lap. Lap 3 was the worst when something got stuck in my derailleur just as I was passing my aunt and uncle (thanks for coming). I pulled it out and did better but was still slow due to mud. I finished in 5th place out of 9 with a time of 3 hours and 21 minutes. Of course Josh Radi won again ahead of my by 10 minutes. Derek was just behind my by 30 or so seconds. I'm glad that I placed at this race especially since I didn't place due to a small group but actually beat 4 people. Miles to date: 1033!!! Finally over 1K.

TK Lawless

This weekends race seemed to be a bit weird for me. For starters, I was up at 5:15 to meet Brian Crook from Team Sandbag to carpool to the race. We got there roughly 9:40 and I started at 10:48. I was strong in the race. I passed several people and wasn't passed except for 2-3 people the whole 14 miles. Around mile 10, it started to thunder and was shortly followed by rain which was bad for me to see with my glasses practically made unvisible. I pushed it hard the whole time and felt ok... no cramps, no chest pains, no slowing down. I saw Nick at mile 12, and he was a mile ahead of me. Considering he left 2 minutes ahead of me at the start, I figured he couldn't have been far in front of me since I was less than a mile away. As I rounded the last corner I knew I had done ok. I changed my clothes and cleaned off my bike. Shortly after they had the times posted. I was 7th out of 7. I had a time of 1:11. The math didn't make sense to me. If Nick had been ahead by a mile and finished around 5 minutes faster, but started 2-3 minutes earlier, how did he end up 5 minutes faster? should have been 2-3 minutes. Maybe the timing was off. Probably not, I probably just suck, thinking I did good but ended up last. Hopefully I'll do better at the marathon at Stoney next weekend. Miles to date: 927

Hardest race ever

This weekend was the Brighton Stage race. It is three races over two days. The first race was a time-trial on the torn shirt trail which was 6.5 miles. When we got there, the guys at tailwind it should take between 20-30 to do this lap. So I was early and decided to go slow and preride it. It took me 40 minutes and I was worried that I wasn't going to make it back in time. So I was an idiot once again and got myself tired before I raced. During the race, I ended up doing the lap in 38 minutes. It was a pretty cool trail but a little overgrown. I came in 3rd of 3 for this race. Later that day, at 4:00, we did the short track race. This race is just like a criterion except on mountain bikes. We had to do 5 laps and each lap was .8 miles each. This stupid race was all in the grass. I didn't do to well at this one because I don't have speed on my side..especially on grass. I also came in 3rd of 3 for this race. We went home, watched "clash of the titans" and I returned today. When I got there, the experts/elites were just about to leave. They had to do 4/5 laps and it was muddy from the downpouring last night. I was keeping track of lap times and noticed that they were going pretty slow for each lap. By the time my class started, it was unbelievably hot and muggy. I knew that I wasn't going to do as good as guys who were just racing today, so I put myself in the back and was trying to hang on to someones rear. Unfortunately that didn't last too long and I lost my group in a matter of minutes. I kept getting passed by the subsequent groups and by the middle of the first lap, I was suffering pretty bad from the heat. I finished the first lap and was gonna call it quits. Unfortunately if I quit, I would be DNF'd for the whole stage race. So I changed my mind after a few minutes of resting. The other two laps were as slow as growing trees. For most of those laps, there was someone riding my tail the whole time. It made racing a bit enjoyable but was still really tough. I ended up in 5th of 6 for that race. I was pretty surprised that I actually beat someone. Maybe they were thinking the same thing as I and quit earlier. I don't know why this race was so hard for me other than the heat. Everyone had to put up with the heat though and I was one of a few that struggled so much. The course in my opinion was pretty tough for being 8 miles. I'd say it's harder than Pontiac lake if they were the same distance. The climbs aren't as big, but there are more of them, and there weren't too many places to get speed. I still ended up with an award for the stage race for sticking it out. I don't really care if it was last, or 3rd, I won in my mind for not quitting and actually finishing the hardest race I've done. Miles to date: 753

Busy Tiring Week

Well this week was probably the busiest week I've had in a long time. Tuesday was my concert at school. Wednesday was a field trip and then I spent that night getting music for Friday. Thursday was another field trip but this time to Chicago so I was up at 3:30 and home by 12:30... and Friday was field day in which I was the DJ. I rode on Saturday with Dave at Stony. We ended up with 9 miles because the pines section was a bit muddy. Today I rode by myself at Stony and ended up with 15 miles. First I did the Pines, Snakes, Coasters and headed back to the parking lot and did a lap of the race course and bailed just after the Coasters again. I didn't race on Sunday because I was too tired and didn't want to drive 180 miles each way when I'm trying to save every penny I have to get a house. Miles to Date: 702

Catching Up

Saturday Ride with Dennis, Don, and Others- Met at the Stony Creek Parking lot and rode to Addison, and then Bald Mountain North and back to Stony Creek. It was a long ride and now I'm tired but I got to use my new seat. It's pretty comfortable so far and should be since it was so expensive. My incision site didn't bother me the whole ride, but now at 8:00pm it's bothering me. Not sure if it's related or not. ended up with 40 miles
Solo ride Friday- Rode from my house through Bald Mountain South, up Paint Creek Trail to the Singletrack to Orion Road and did Bald Mountain North. While I was there I checked out some sections I have ridden before. Like the left on the extended loop took me all the way to Bunny Run, and there was a single track area that cut from one side of the trail to the other but had 2 trees down. was a 20 mile loop.
Stony Creek Monday- Rode with Jen, Art, and Brandy. We did the Pines, Snakes and Roller-Coaster but I cut out the big climbs in between. Everyone had fun!
Miles to Date: 660

Addison Oaks 6 hour Endurance Race

Well I wasn't sure if I wanted to race the endurance race... Last year I wasn't to excited after I finished the race. Since I was feeling pretty good on wednesday after riding to and from school, I decided to give it a go. Friday, after school, I went to install new rear brake pads and noticed that one of the pistons weren't moving. I squeezed the brakes a few times and only one moved... and it move a lot, enough to leak some oil. I ruined the pressure needed to close the brakes and called the shop. Thanks RBS for fixing my mistakes all the time. The did it at 6:30 that night and stayed there till it was done... which was after closing time. I had my normal pre-race breakfast and went to the course at 8:30, registered and started at 10:00. My goal was 10 laps and the longer I rode, the more I doubted that I could do it. I only stopped a minute or two each time and most was to stretch my back because it was hurting pretty bad. I felt really good on lap 3 and 6 and pushed hard on those two laps. Jen and Art showed up and I saw them in the woods a few times and on my way around I then noticed that Rich and Brandy had showed up. Thanks! For lap 9, I had about 35-40 minutes to make it back to the finish line to get another lap in. I was getting tired and was slowing down, especially in the new section. I made it with 30 seconds to spare and rode my last lap slow... around 45 minutes but made it.. I made my goal of 10 laps coming in 2nd place. Miles to date: 595

First ever Bike to Work!

When I woke up this morning I lost my mind. I decided, in spite of the weather, to bike to work. I wanted to see if I could do it, and hopefully inspire some people to get on a bike. I rode from Lake Orion to Southfield. I started by heading south on Lapeer Road and continued down Opdyke road. I made a right onto Hickory Grove Rd. and then South onto Lahser Rd. all the way down to 9 mile rode to the street that my school is on. It's just about 25 miles and took me an hour and a half. I left at 6 to get there and beat the rain by mere seconds. On the way home, I made it 22 miles back before it started raining. Oh, and some B!tch tried to run me off the road. At the intersection, I yelled at her and when I passed her, she did the same thing again, not even giving me 6 inches of road. She thought it was over, but little did she know that I was faster than her when she's in traffic. At the next light, I passed by her and continued to ride and the other cars kept passing me like normal... when I saw that her car was next, I rode right in the middle of the lane forcing her to go in the other lane to pass me. Instead, she held her horn for a mile or so and stayed behind me until she got tired.... so 25 there and 25 back. Miles to date: 527

Good news for my heart

On Tuesday, my cardiologist that I might have blockage in one of my arteries according to my MRI. So not good news... he recommended I get a femural catherization of the heart.
I just got back from the procedure and the news is NO blockage. I'm a bit nauseas and can't ride until at least Monday but at least I'm not out of riding for good. I'll probably meet with my doctor again and will ride soon.

Fort Custer Stampede

Yesterday Dave and I did 1 lap at Addison Oaks. I recorded it with my camcorder but it was slightly crooked. I'll have to refilm it at another time for my winter trainer DVD I'm gonna make. We were gonna do a second loop but Dave insists there was a leech on his leg.... right!
Fort Custer was better for me that last week at Bloomer. I didn't have any chest pains during the race and none of the other RBS riders passed me. I took some tylenol (doctor recommended) before I rode to help with the chest pains. I rode really hard and still didn't come in any place of worth. 16th out of 20 or so... Brandy and I got a bit too much sun.. our skin is hot now... I'm really tired but will hopefully be out riding again tomorrow. Miles to date: 477

2 news updates

1st: went for a fun ride with Brandy, Jen and Art to Addison Oaks on Tuesday. We had a lot of fun and everyone did really good. The people must have raked the whole trail because there were no leaves on the trail. I brought a video camera, rode ahead and took some action shots of Jen and Brandy... hopefully I'll have some posted soon. Miles to date: 450.

2nd: Went to the cardiologist today. did 3 hours of tests... temporary results are that my Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) is pulling on the side of my heart and that's what's causing the pain, especially during exercise. Though I didn't go above 160bpm on the stress test... like what? I'm usually 180 for exercise, 160 is slow.. I wasn't even running. I'm wearing a monitor now and until tomorrow. And in spite of my doctor telling me not to race sunday... or just to (ride for fun) I'll still be at the Fort to push myself once again.

Bloomer Race Day Results

It was another beautiful day for a race. We got there early to see the expert/elite riders do the switchbacks. My group started at 1, so I started warming up around 12:20. I was feeling good during the warmups and was making sure my new brake pads on my front brakes were working ok. I lined up at the starting line but ended up in the second row. I started off in the long line of riders into the singletrack. First section, someone fell and I was stuck behind them. First climb, someone fell and caused another traffic jam. I knew I was falling behind. By the time I came out of the second switchback, Daves group... which left a minute after me had caught up. I was pushing myself as hard as I could. I began having chest pains and felt dizzy a few times. I knew it wasn't from nutrition because I had a good breakfast this morning: 10 grain cereal. I did well on all the sections and only slipped once not making it an official fall. Problem was I'm just not as fast as the other sport riders. For a while during the ride I said "Maybe it's time to admit my defeat and quit from riding" then I thought "Maybe is actually something I cannot control... like my chest pains and my heart conditions." So I ended up 6th of 8. First lap was 36, second was 37 and third was 37. After I made it through the finish line, I was seeing stars for a while and decided that I'll make an appointment for my doctors soon and see if there are any problems. Next week is Fort Custer so hopefully I can get in before then. Miles to date: 443

Another Bloomer Pre-ride

Went out this time with Art and Matt. It was really muddy this time. Like riding on crisco. Art kept saying how out of shape he was. We checked out the Velodrome and I saw a fat raccoon. Miles to Date: 425

Bloomer race Pre-ride

I went to do Bloomer again on Tuesday to practice for the race. At the parking lot, I saw Dale. He waited for me and we rode together. We did 2 laps, and each were pretty quick in my opinion, but always slow for Dale. We added in the river loops totaling 18 miles. It was good watching him in the singletrack....where I need help the most. Hopefully I'll be ready by Sunday. Miles to date: 418

Ridin Bloomer with the Wife.

Well I planned on riding alone today and warming up before the race sunday. Brandy called and said she wanted to go. We stopped at RBS to drop off the tent and headed to the parking lot. We parked on the CRT and rode to the bottom of the course. not much mud until we started working our way to the top. We made it to the first climb and brandy made it all the way up without stopping. She was dead and we saw Robert from Tailwind so I helped him for a minute setting up a temporary bridge over a muddy stream. We got back to our way and she was doing good till the other side of the soccer field. She had a huge anxiety attack for a 10 strip of mud that you couldn't walk through or around... just had to go through it. She made it through and began to cry... the male side of me still doesn't know why. now the way back down... was good all the way...except for her first fall at the tight tree spot. hard climb back up... couldn't make it but she walked. around the corner overlooking the ledge was good. I had her skip the quick down and up again and met her at the snake section.... that was her nightmare... she hated every snaking inch. She was really tired so I had her skip the second snake section and we went to the last downhill. I told her to walk down since it was too scary and I rode the wall as she waited for me. The last section she did good round the river and out to the parking lot. She fell a few times and was breathing hard most of the time but she did good. It's awesome she even wanted to do bloomer with me. She can't believe that I've got to do 3 laps of this sunday though I don't think its that bad. Will try to get out there again tomorrow. maybe the rest of the family will come..hint, hint. Miles to date: 400

Yankee Springs Time Trial

In the car at 6:15. Picked up Dave at 6:30. Stopped for gas in Flint. Dave had to go to the bathroom stop first gas station off highway. Set up tent. Got registration packet. Start time 11:08. Was informed course was in esrever (reverse). Got clothing on. Got bike ready. Did one lap to say hello. Did adjustments on bike. Did one lap for warmup. Noticed lots and lots of people lined up at the starting line. Who's racing now? "Sport men 19-29" "Thats me but I'm not supposed to go till 11:08." "We're not doing the starting times." "They should have told someone." "WE ANNOUNCED IT OVER THE SPEAKERS!" yeah, the 2: 10 inch speakers pointing in the opposite direction as the starting line. "Well you've gotta get behind him." "I didn't even warm up yet" "Sorry you've gotta go now". What lovely drama before the race. Then mile 1.5, after the first photographer up the first hill.... puke... gross the last of my flu leaving me during a race. Well I felt strong but was lacking the umph to get the speed going. Well at least not till mile 7, but by then 10 or so people passed me and I only had 4 miles left. I finished 25 out of 29...so sad. my time was 1:04. Afterwards, Dave, Dale, Krug and I did a "slow" lap... ended up being faster than my race lap... thanks guys... slow my a$$. Miles to Date: 393

Karma!

Ok, talk about Karma.... I went to Stony today and planned on riding 50 miles. I started off hurting. I don't know why lately but I just don't seem right on my bike. I did two laps in an hour and stopped at the parking lot for a minute before moving on again. About halfway through, there was a guy by the road having bike problems. I pulled over and offered to help. He had a cheap schwinn and the chain was stuck between the cassette and frame. It was stuck really good. Well neither of us had tools to release the tire since schwinns use socket wrenches. I decided to use my pocket tool. I forced the allen wrench under the chain and wiggled it out. He obviously thanked me. I continued to ride and pulled over by the bridge to answer my phone. It was Brandy. As I continued to ride up the hill near the disc golf area, I noticed my tire was feeling weird. I got off to check it and noticed it was a little low. I made it to the top of the hill before it was unrideable. I was walking back to my car when the same guy that I helped earlier pulled up to my car and asked if I wanted a ride. I wouldn't normally accept rides but I figured I had my phone on me and this guy was kinda old, how dangerous could he be? He drove me back to my car and I thanked him for his help. Funny thing is, before he picked me up, and I was walking, there were several road bikers that went past me and didn't even ask if I needed help. How rude.... I obviously needed help... why else would I be walking with my bike on my shoulder. Miles to date: 371

Pontiac Lake Time Trial 3rd Place

Just got up from my recovery nap. This morning was the first tailwind race of the year. It was at Pontiac Lake. When we woke up, it was snowing and raining, and there was a dusting of snow on the ground and it was cold... somewhere around 30. I went online to see if it might have been canceled, laughed about about people saying they would picket and waited for my brother to show up at our house. He wasn't sure if he wanted to race or not due to the weather. We stopped and had MacDonald's for breakfast. I know... MacDonald's is not a good breakfast for race day... but it was the only thing to eat... we had no food in the house. I registered and then hit the portapotty, and again, and again before the race started. I've been fighting a stomach bug this last week. I started at 11:40:30 and at the starting line, my brother told me he was gonna race. I started off strong, and by the first small climb, I knew my legs weren't ready for the course. They felt tight. Some younger kid was at the starting line and we stayed head to head till mile 4 or so. Dale passed me just after the road crossing and I knew I was falling behind because he started 1 minute behind me. I continued to stay a few hundred feet back but was chasing him pretty hard. I was having pretty bad chest pains just before the road crossing and again after the model airplane field. I didn't fall once, or have any problems. Only disappointment was that I had to run up the steep climb after the snaky-downhill. I completed the course in 1:01 which was slower than last year, except last year wasn't muddy. I came in 3rd. Not bad I guess considering I didn't expect to win any awards in sport class. My brother started around 12:40 and it took him 1:32. We went to see him on the last hill and video-taped him. Even though he came in last, it was awesome that he decided to race, and his time is pretty good considering he doesn't train nearly as much as I do. Thanks to the family and the wife for coming out to support us. Miles to date: 341. Yankee Springs next week.