Pink Bikes IS FAST! Trek Rig first impressions

Dont look for this color at your Trek dealer

Ok, I have to admit Trek Rig just doesnt sound right. It doesnt roll off the tongue like Fisher Rig. So I will call it the Treker Rig. Actually, this first review is more on the frame and its ride characteristics rather than the components, but I will touch on them as to take up more space and look as if I had a lot to say.
So, the frame is 6061 butted hydroformed aluminum with sliding dropouts. Past Rigs had the eccentric bb, which added weight and adjustments made to the chainline also changed saddle height and placement. It has the Fisher G2 geometry-which for those not familiar is a custom 51mm offset fork to address the sluggish handling on past 29ers. It also has cable stops to run it geared, but you wont do that, will you? The frame weighs in at 3lbs. 14 oz in 19″, very nice. What makes my Rig special? Pink makes your bike faster! It is true. Yes, I stripped it down and painted it “ballet slipper pink”, it looks more like silly putty to me. Rustoleum is the best paint for do it your selfers. Lots of wet sanding and you have a factory paint job look.

A solid spec, ugly paint

The original spec includes: Fox f32 series 100mm travel fork, Firex crank, Bontrager SS hub laced to Mustang tubeless ready rims and the very stiff FCC front hub, Avid Juicy 3 brakes and Bontrager glue factory items everywhere else. Mine of course is built up with only the best offerings from Mr. Bontrager-Race X Lite wheels, bar, stem, post, Evoke 3 Ti saddle, Juicy carbon brakes, Stylo OCT crank. All told 20lbs. 9oz. great weight for this very pleasing to the eye shade of pink.

Pink is Fast!

I have put 103 miles on it since may 12th, so this isnt meant to be a long term review, just my initial thoughts. I was never a big fan of aluminum framed bikes, just because of the inherent stiff nature of the material. This is a very smooth riding frame-as aluminum frames go. I didnt feel “beat up” as other frames I have been on. Even with the rigid fork, I felt comfortable. It accelerates with the best, again this is the rigid aluminum frame at work here. It has a nice long feel to it, which is what you want because of the out of the saddle climbing, it allows one to get over the bars more and rock it, baby. It has a nice neutral bias, which, again is great for SSing.Too far forward, you spin out, Too far back your front end works against you. This a great climbing bike. No flex from the bb or rear end. The headset is integrated so the front is a bit stiffer as well.
There is nothing I have found yet that is a negative, although the rear did develop a severe creaking issue at the last race. The culprit-the sliders. A little drop of oil remedied the annoyance. The original 29.2 and 29.3 tires are wire bead, a bit of a surprise on a $1,400.00 bike. The original finish on the bike was not what I usually expect from Trek. Some minor bubbling in the paint and crooked decals, again nothing major but worth noting. The factory spec is a good mix of parts out of the box and should keep you going for a while.


This a good offering from Trek. Go tubeless and get yourself an Evoke saddle and you will have a great ride. Remember-PINK IS FAST! Enjoy.

Updates on recent training

Knees have been a little sore lately from alot of roadie stuff, yeah I know-eeeek! It does help with the training, though. Have been on the SS a bit more too.

Had a good ride at Patapsco today, but still felt a little off. Iron Hill Challenge coming up 6/5, so I will have to be careful not to do anything stupid. That will be a tough one. Rode the Pinky today I am still amazed how comfortable that aluminum beauty really is. Not as harsh as one would expect from an aluminum frame. Have to get back to my regular training routine. Anyway, just some boring stats.

It's may and I have hit 2k miles already

Nothing fancy here, just my training since the 1st of the year. I had 1400 miles all of last year, so this is a huge improvement. It has really paid off so for. I feel amazing right now. Hanging tough with the expert geared crowd is a hoot! My HR rarely gets in the mid 180's anymore, which is great considering my max is 200-so my missed match plan is working!

Trek Sawyer-First Impressions

Ok, I could keep this review short and simple words-Really excited, excited, what the #@%!, hmmm, and excited again, but that wouldnt be much of a review, huh. First off, the skinny on the frame and it's highlights. It platinum steel, which is not the OX II version. It of course has a striking profile that is a harkening to the klunker days. The first thing you notice, or at least I did, is the split top tube runs the entire length of the rig, not the usual method. I will get to more on this later. It has a plain jane look, which is great. No hideous decals, just a satin grey finish-very industrial looking. Sliding dropouts are a huge improvement as well, which are split for running a belt drive. Cable routing is neatly tucked away under the split tubes and has guides for you gear heads as well.

So on with the show. I took a mild spill on my Superlfy Elite HT-should have known not to get a geared bike- and needs some repair work, I will leave it at that. Getting a crash replacement was not in the cards right now, so I opted for the feel of steel... again-The Sawyer. I was really excited to get this a give it a go at last weeks 12 hours of Lodi, but due to the forks being on back order, it had to "weight." To be honest, once I pulled it out of the box and put it on the scale-mistake on my part, I had to recalibrate the scale a few times just to be sure that the reading was accurate. Much to my dismay, it was. This frame is not for the consumate weight weenie. It comes in at...ready....set...7lbs! That would explain the pain in my lower back when I pulled it from its moorings. Wow, what on earth am I going to do with this thing. I started to 2nd guess my decision on this one.

Alas, I through on some parts, nothing too special or light I might add. Stylo crank, Bontrager Race SS hub, Fisher FCC front hub, Race X Lite stem, Elixer Brakes and some other stuff. All told it is at 25lbs 8 oz. right now. Once the Reba is gone and the rigid is on and some other lighter goodies, it will be 23.9 lbs, not to bad. 

Today was the maiden voyage. There was a slight mist and overcast, so not ideal, but perfect for trying the beast. I rode Gunpowder, which is riddled with rock gardens and some steep climbs. Perfect venue. But, even as I took it off the rack and was getting ready to ride, I just didnt have that uuumph in me to ride it. So I headed off anyway. Ok, ready? Amazing! I had to get off of the bike a few times to check if the frame was cracked or something had come loose on the caboose. I have NEVER ridden a more plush HT. I used to have a Tomac MT700 technium frame from 1995 that had the aluminum front and steel rear, and that bike was amazing. This bike reminds of that, but one step higher. The weight was not an issue at all. It was slightly noticeable on longer, out of the saddle efforts, but honestly, I have a Superfly SS and Rig and 2 Ferrous, so I am used to riding sub 20lb rigs. Over rocks and roots, this bike felt like a softail. Really, I could swear I had an inch of travel in the rear. Downhills was a blast, just sit back and enjoy your flight. Remember the split top tubes? I think that is where this baby gets its plush feel from. This beauty has more curves than the Venus De Milo.

The FCC front hub? Super stiff. I never ride with a suspension fork other than for this ride, so for those of you sissies that cant hack the rigid feel, this hub is amazing. Grab this sucka and try to move it back and forth. It halped the tracking of that stupid suspension fork, bit on my rigids, it is lazer accurate and light. 

So, in closing to this 1st ride review, I really still cant believe how this rode. If you live in a particularly rocky area, this could be your bike. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a super comfy, SS or geared ride. I am re-excited to be riding this piece of rolling artwork. Will this be my choice for every race, no, but it will certainly find its way on the race course this year, and who knows-My descision may change and this could be my everyday race sled by the end of this race season. Over and Out!

Trek Sawyer and needing a diet

A modern-day warrior Mean mean stride, Today's Tom Sawyer Mean mean pride. Coming soon!

Taking it easy this week with some mountain rides and road rides.

12 Hours of Lodi and the Big Pink Rig

Ok, here is a little project for you. 1) Get a piece of string about 4 feet long. 2) Ball it up and throw it up in the air. 3) However it lands will give you a good idea of how the course map is. This course is the most technical I have ridden as of yet. It is very similar to Fountainhead, Va. There isnt a straight line anywhere. There are sections that looked like someone was right on your tail, but they were probably a mile or so back; pretty weird. The course is a owned by a 80 something woman. Very cool and loves having the race on her property. It has been held there for 14 years. I also got a chance to meet fellow crewetter, Denelle Grant. Very, very cool indeed. That’s the best thing about this whole deal, just meeting some of the cool folks on the team as well as other shop employees, too.

Pink Bikes is Fast!

Anyway, like I said, this course is riddled with roots and steep, loose rock climbs. Oh yeah, if you have wider than 630mm bars, you are in for some peroets with the local foliage. I had to remove my 750mm rhythm bars for this reason. I was doing a duo male with my friend Chris on this one. I brought along my Ferrous SS , Superfly SS and Rig SS. I was running my usual 32/18 setup. The Superfly was the best choice for this course, though. For those of you not in the know, my 2011 Rig underwent a transformation last week. I will admit up front; the paint is on the Rig this year is a baaaaaad. So I had no reservations about removing the diseased skin and replacing it with my own flavor…SILLY PUTTY! View the previous blog to see the hideous monster this pink beauty once was. All told, it weighs 20 lbs. 11 oz. Very nice with the steel fork.

It drew quite a bit of attention, and all positive I might add. It handled very well, although it developed a severe case of the creaks a mile in. Couldnt figure it out, but I think it was the dropouts. I will get to this at some point. Back to the race. We were in 3rd for all of the race, but decided to call it after my night lap. My buddy Chris was feeling the effects of a saddle meets Mr. Bottom. We ended up 4th, which is ok by me. It was really uneventful, just cranking out the miles and trying not to fall victim to the wheel grabbing roots, which reminded me of Snowshoe. I have the Evoke ti and carbon saddles and these are simply the best. Even over the roots, it was very comfy and had just enough flex to boot. I will give a more detailed review later.

I put in very consistent lap times (all low 50's) and my training is really in full affect now. No cramps and no fade, just consistent. I felt as strong as I could feel. Even my night lap, which was my first in a few years, was very nice. The Magicshine is awesome. I ran one light and it was all that was needed. All in all it was a good event and a fun time. Oh and a big shout out to the fellow SSer that I passed on the trail. Thanks for reading my garbled mess. Rock on man!

Trek Rig-Like I needed another bike

Well, as if I needed another bike. Yes, I added a Rig to my collection. Of course I built it from the ground up-is there another way? I have never had an aluminum SS, and one with that crazy new fangled shock absorber! It comes with new FCC hub. For those of you not in the know, that is the Fisher Control Column. Simply put, it has wider flanges to reduce flex in the front wheel. I havent ridden it as of yet, but the bearings are super smooth. I do have to say, though-the paint is as bad as it looks. I dont know what Trek was thinking on this one, but someone fell asleep at the design table, for sure. Mine is getting stripped down and painted Ballet Slipper Pink! Yes pink. I will give more info later, but as of now it weighs 23.3 lbs. Not sure about the whole shock thing, but I will give it a try.

My Quest to become the greatest monocogger ever...eh maybe not

So, right now I am in phase 2 of my training. Yes, that's right; intervals. For those of you not well versed in the interval arts, these are what we call %#@! and bleep bleep and bleeping nescessary evils of cycling. Let's put it this way, I would rather ride the Tilt-a-Whirl 15 times in a row than spending an hour doing these-although, there are no real benefits from riding the Tilt-a-Hurl other than losing a few pounds at your feet after exiting the stupid ride. 

These are the painful intervals. 3 minutes of all out, watching the clock seem to slow down after every minute efforts. I just like the way my HR graph bears an uncanny resemblance to Jughead's hat.

Anyway, these are painful, but intervals are THE best way to increase speed and lactate tolerance.

Trek Fisher Collection Superfly Elite HT

Well, its finally together and something is definitely wrong with this bike. First off; it is way too heavy, 20.2 lbs in a large carbon frame! This is unacceptable. Who every heard of a 29er HT weighing in at 20 lbs. 20 lbs...hmmmm. What can I do to make it even heavier? I will have to work on that. Secondly: it has all of these, these dangly gear changer thingies and all of these round things on the wheel with teeth-I guess they help with easier pedaling-dont know. I must have not have followed the directions correctly or something. I thought this thing was supposed to be a single speed, but it sure doesnt look like one. I will have to go back and re-read to see if I missed something. Thirdly...what on earth will I do with a geared bike? How will this effect my social life? Will people view me differently? What kind of names will they call me? Maybe like " Hey look, isnt that the geared moron who used to be the singlespeed moron?" or "He really is a moron, he doesnt know the difference between a SS and a geared rig-moron." 

The stuff: FSA 2x9 Crank (44/29), Bontrager RXL Wheels, Stem, Post, Grips, Bar, Bontrager Evoke 3 Ti saddle, Avid Juicy Ultimate Brakes, Sram XO Shifters and Rear Derailleur, Sram Hollow pin chain, Shimano Dura Ace 11-25 Ti cassette, Shimano XT front derailleur, Fox F32 Fork, Bontrager XDX Tires, Egg beater pedals .

Bakers Dozen and Frustration!

I love rocks

Well, it was time yet again for another 13 hour race; Bakers Dozen. I was asked by my friend Auggie to do a duo this time around. To be honest, at first, I was not real excited about this one. It was cold, very muddy and damp.

It's fun to play in the mud, isnt it?

They added another mile of technical portions to the lap this year which brought the laps to 9 miles. The course is is riddled with large rocks and very claustrophobic rock pillars; good time to put those 750mm bars on! Anyway, I was SSing all the way again. 


Auggie went geared. I was feeling really good all day-with the exception of the $5 tuna that was finger food at best for a child. That lap I was getting some cramping, but went away about 7 miles in. My times were consistent and pretty quick. I got faster as the day went on, which was a great sign…for me anyway. 


My laps where a 50:21, 49:08, 48:47, 48:38, 46:52 and 47:58. There was a timing chip discrepancy early on which saw us go from 8th to 15th. It was fixed, but after that our individual times where way off-they just pick some random times to equal the time discrepancy. It is a team effort, but on paper, it is good to compare times against the teams you are going up against to see how much time you either lost or gained on a particular rider. Good thing for Mr. Garmin. I rode the Ferrous and Superfly this year with 32/18 gearing. The Superfly was the bike to have in the mud. It was quick and stuck every line.

Racing on the Velcro

Things were looking pretty good. We moved up from 13th to 8th. I turned in a double lap to help Auggie get some rest. We were 3 minutes from 7th and 11 minutes from 6th. The top 3 teams were a mix of elite riders and top experts, so our placement was a bit skewed. I came in from my 6th lap and I was greeted with Auggie slumped in the chair. “Come on man, get up and ride!”. He said he couldnt turn the pedals anymore. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH, so freikin’ close! I badgered him for a good 10 minutes to go out, but no go. So we had to call it quits at 7:30. I was pretty bummed. We could have moved into 6th with some output and you never know in these races what could happen. We did end up in 15th out of 40 teams, with 10:27:31 of riding. 

So personally, I did really well. My training has been a success and hopefully will continue as such. None of that matter, thoughs if the team overall isnt. Next race is 12 hours of Lodi Farms in may.

Wide Load-Bontrager Rhythm Pro 750mm Bar

For those of you new to monocogging or those of us that are the old folk, there are some things you most know in order to be a strong SSer. Sure, legs are the main dish and without a strong set of gams, you aint goin nowheres. Strong upper body is also a big plus. You are spending more time out of the saddle and we dont have the luxury that our geared comrades have with sitting and spinning.

Wide Load Indeed

What is often overlooked is breathing. Yeah, I know-duh! Seriously, any veteran SSer will tell you how important it is, and how to control it. What alot of virgin SSers dont know is that the secret in helping this is a wider bar. I find it a little puzzling to see that the “specperts” are still putting 620 and 640mm bars on SS bikes. Most people leave them just because they are there-glue factory items. Simple lesson here. Now I am not a scientist or a guru in body kinematics or anything like that, but I have been doing this for quite some time and have made all of the same mistakes that newbies make. When the trail goes vert, you need to get out of the saddle-no getting around it. Your legs can only take you so far before you start struggling. With the shorter bar, you can only extend your arms so far to get that bike a rockin. The wider bar allows you to do two things; 1) get much more leverage to power that steed up those climbs and really apply some serious torque and 2) it opens up your chest to allow more air into the lungs. Quite simple; air+controlled power=shorter times going anaerobic which leads to a faster, more efficient rider.

I was riding 630′s for some time and moved up to 700mm Stylo WC bars, but thanks to my rep-Jon Rogers, I was able to get a couple of Bontrager Rhythm Pro 750mm wide bars. Yeah, these are w–i–d–e! The other big benefit to these bars are the fact they are meant for all mountain riding, which means they are stiff, strong and flex free-all things a SSer looks for in a bar. These bars come in at 325 grams, no light weight, but not bad for a bar made for taking a beating. I took a quick ride today and noticed immediately the difference on the climbs. The 700′s were good, but these are gooder! I felt as if I had more control on descents. Now a bar this wide can be a little sketchy through the tight stuff, but unless you are riding in the Amazon, probably wont be an issue. Plus they are Bontrager, and I am a Bontrager Harlot. These are flex free and a minimal 25mm rise, which I dont like, but they dont make 750mm wide flat bar and the rise isminimal.

Now these may be 2 wide for some, but you can trim as needed, but I wouldnt trim too much. I usually dont give a review on something so soon, but these warrant it. If you are new, or old to SSing-give these wider bars a go and you to will be sucking…uh more air.

I feel Good-Thank you James Brown

Today showed me how well my training program is going thus far-You liked “thus far”, didnt you?-I knew it. My training in the past has been haphazard at best. Sure, I had good success last year, but most of that was attributed to my overall fitness level, too. 3 children, full time job, laundry, cooking-eh sorry. December I decided, if I am going to keep up with the youngins’ in the expert SS field at my age, I had better figure something out-and quick. So I put in 1200 base miles and started intervals in march. Last year, being the moron that I am, I did intervals in January and February with 0 base miles-BRILLIANT! Way to snatch defeat out of the hands of victory, idiot!

Anyway…Had a pretty good finish last week at Patapsco with a 3rd in the expert SS class. Didnt feel great at the end which had me a little worried about my plan. Wasnt sure if all of this was working or not. Well, I think todays ride confirmed that it is working; and well. How do I know this? My max HR is 200. During most of my races last year, I was in the high 190′s most of the time. Last weeks race saw a 191. Todays ride, doing much of the same course with more climbing saw a high of…188! That was reached only once on the first climb. The second time through ridge, which if you have ridden Patapsco, you know that ridge is a SSers nightmare reached 183. My average was 155. Now I know most of are reading this thinking who gives a crap…I do and if you are new to racing and/or training, you should too.

Training is not a instant gratification mind set, which is very difficult for me to grasp. Just stick with it and you will get there. Oh, almost forgot. Jon Rogers delivered to me the new Bontrager Evoke3 Ti saddle and had my first MB ride on it today-WOW! Initial thoughts: very comfy for a racing saddle and light. I was really impressed. Saddle arent the thing that thrill me, because you have your old stand by and thats what works. I have a new old standby. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/75173328

Just Stoopid Pics

2009 Fisher Ferrous

32/18 gearing. 22.7 lbs. This is my favorite by far. Just feels right. Like the third bowl of porridge. Not as light as my Superfly, but makes up for it on the rougher stuff. Just upgraded to Bontrager Rhythm Pro 750mm wide bars. All my rides will soon have these as well.

2008 Fisher Ferrous

32/19 gearing. 22.9 lbs. This was my first Fisher 29er. I repainted it with the original devo blue (Krylon Rustoleum) and updated 2009 decals. Got a few paint requests when others saw how a spray paint can could look better than the original. Just takes time. Made in the USA, 2009 was not.

 

2009 Fisher Superfly SS

32/18 gearing. 18.8 lbs. This is just plain great. Full carbon, light, fast. By far the best Fisher graphics ever. Also has the 29er Crew "XXIX" branding on the down tube. First race resulted in 1st place, need I say more? Have raced this bike 6 times, 6 podiums.

Not feeling to great

 Eh, tonight was one of those nights that just wasnt up to par. Doing my steady power intervals was not something I was looking forward to either, but they are done and other than the last interval, it wasnt to bad. The last one, my cadence dropped from 105 to 103. Not horrible, but not great.

Tomorrow is a rest day-thank God. Taking the kids swimming at college. I also start working at my old bike shop again-Bicycle Connection Express. Little bit of a pay cut, but one can only take so much corporate gray and artificial people.

Doing a nice long mtb ride with some friends-for whatever reason-are using me for training advice on the SS. I hope they realize by my title what they are getting themselves into! I did get to try my new Evoke saddle tonight and I am liking it so far. I will have a nicer write up in about a month.

Next race is Bakers Dozen and the great thing and bad thing about this course is that it has about 200 ft of elevation per lap. Not a very nice number for monocogging. Oh well, I will have my Superfly HT by then and I just might ride it!

Back in the Saddle Again

I decided to take 3 days off since the Patapsco race. My legs needed some down time anyway. Did some tempos last night just to mix it up a bit. 2 x 20's with warm up and cool downs came out to 1:10. Legs felt about 95%, so pretty good. Tonight I will get back with my Steady Power Intervals. I feel pretty good right now. One of the tougher races of the year is out of the way. The next really big one is Bakers Dozen. I have decided to do a duo this year. I completed 11 laps and 91.5 miles last year and had 1st place, but had to bow out due to some stiffening of the neck, thats the way it goes sometimes. So some redemption is in order this year. My rep, Jon just delivered some goodies from Trek today. 29.2 team tires, 29.3 team tires, Evoke Ti saddle, socks, gloves, shirts, hats and Rhythm Pro handle bars in 750mm length and all of the goodies needed to complete my Superfly Elite HT frame! Yes, I am building it up as geared bike. I guess I will have to change the blog to "Tales of a Singlespeed Moron who bought a Geared Frame because he is a Moron."

Singlespeed Specific Workouts

Ok, I have had a few of you ask about SS specific workouts. Now I am certainly no guru about such matters, but I know what works for me, and hopefully you as well. Hills are what make or break your ride or race. You might think that it is impossible to climb some of the hills your buddies do on their whimpy granny gear, but you will in time. How? Intervals are still the primary exercise for your needs, but more leg power is needed, as well as stamina.

I really only do (1) SSSWO per week, and I mix it in with my others. Hill repeats, hill repeats and more hill repeats. This is what you will be doing -like it or not. I have one set of intervals that I do which are pretty rough, but get results. You do 2 (3x3) intervals. So basically you do 1 set with 3 repetitions @ 3 minutes each (yeah, 3 minutes is a long time brother!) and 3 minutes rest in between each rep and 8 minutes between sets. After 2 weeks, add another set or reduce the rest time. Use a gear that allows around 100 rpm's seated and 65-75 when standing, and stick with it, these are tough. Alternate sitting and standing. The kicker-go full out for the 3 minute duration. If you are doing these on a trainer, gear down so you can stand without spinning out. The key here is good, even power throughout. You dont want to do 2 intervals at a good power level and then drop off significantly on the third. Your HR will escalate as you do each interval, but again, you are concerned with POWER. You want to maintain the same power output for all 6 intervals! SEE THE BLOG ON GEARING UP FOR AFC SUGAR HILL 

You can also do the 1 x 1's; I minute full on, 1 minute easy. Do these 10-12 times and on a medium sized slope, not to steep or you wont be able to turn the pedals. Do them on the road with a road bike and 53/17-19 or some equivalent gearing. Try and keep the cadence at 50-60. These are tough, but do get results, once a week is plenty. Increase reps by one each week for 3 weeks than take a break. BIG NOTE SECTION!!! MAKE SURE YOU WARM UP PROPERLY FOR THESE OR YOU WILL DO MORE DAMAGE THAN GOOD! AT LEAST 15-20 MINUTES. ALSO GET SOME NUTRITION IN YOUR BODY WHEN COMPLETE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS ASWELL, ESPECIALLY ON THE TRAINER; WHERE YOU TEND TO SWEAT A BIT MORE.

I dont use a power meter, but I find that cadence is a pretty good indicator for consistent power output. These will work your quads and thighs and this is where your power comes from on those steep climbs. These alone arent going to make you superman, but mix them in with your workouts and core strength routine and you will see results. I'm 43, and I have made some significant gains doing these. Enjoy the pain.

AFC Sugar Hill and a tough 3rd

Well...as some of you (I'm sure I can count the number on one finger) know, I have implemented a new weapon to my arsenal this year. No, not a new ride nor is it any type of gear at all. No, my new weapon is...A DISCIPLINED TRAINING PROGRAM! So what you say? I agree. I have logged 1200 miles since the first of the year. Now for some (Roger-still amazes me how much he put in last month) that's not a whole lot, for me that constituted well over half of what I rode last year.

I have had a week of intervals to get me ready for 4000 ft of climbing on the SS.  I chose to ride my Ferrous with a 32/18 set up, probably should have gone with a 19 or even a 20, but whatever. I think the Superfly would have been a better choice and 5 pounds less weight, but I like my Ferrous, so that's what I rode. We went off at 1:00 and as usual fast and furious-AARRRGHH! A water bar climb awaits you right from the start. The course is full of undulating hills and quite a few of really steep, rock riddled climbs. I settled in around 4th for a bit and moved into 1st about 4 miles in. I was feeling good, but not great. I knew this was going to be tough. I started off way to quick and was starting to pay during the 2nd lap. Doug Pepelko, who is a very strong rider was on my wheel  the whole time. I knew it was a matter of time before I had to give up the spot. We must have really tore the field apart, because there was no one, I mean no one, well except Jonathan Houghton, who is another really strong rider passed me.

To be honest, I had limited supplies going into the 3rd lap. Weird thing was my lung capacity was great, like I was just cruising-but my thighs were like lead weights. More core work is needed I believe. Plus 2 "real" mountain bike rides since the beginning of the year was not helpful either. I had 1400 ft of elevation to contend with too. I was riding on pure pride at this point and lucky for me I was strong enough to finish 3rd with quite a big gap from the number 4 guy, who happened to be Dave Kelnberger from last years Crew. Last year I finished 7th in the SS class, but had a much stronger finish than this year. My Garmin crapped out half way through, so no accurate data to speak, but I finished with a 2:10, so 43:33 lap times were still pretty quick.

I didnt finish as strong as I would have liked, but was strong enough to finish 3rd in the SS class and podium for the Crew! Garmin data-borrowed my friend Chris'-who was also racing SS and just substituted my info since my Garmin crapped out after a lap and a half.http://connect.garmin.com/activity/74179015

Gearin' Up for Sugar Hill

Since the rains delayed my first "real"race of the season last week, this saturday is looking great. Temps to get to 70° (awesome considering the SS guys kick off at noon, so we will get the full force of the warmth!) Mt new Trek 29er Crew kit arrived today and looks fab-a-lisssssssss with a Z SNAP! Also got word that the new Superfly fframes are in for the Crew as well. Will be getting that within a few weeks. As of today, there are 24 in the SS expert class. 23.5 miles with 6000 ft total elevation. WHO RAHHH!

Training has been going very well. I feel pretty good right now. Sometimes it's really hard to tell how you "really" feel, though. I have been hitting the intervals pretty hard as of late. Last night was my first long interval session and it was pretty brutal. 3 minutes @ 176+ HR and 3 off. 2 sets of 3 x 3's. HR got to 190. A little dissapointed it didnt get higher, but I was able to maintain a pretty steady power output throughout.

Intervals are brutal, but pay off

My routine this time of year starts progressing into more intensity work and less volume. I will still get 120+ miles per week, though.

No Go

This saturdays race at Patapsco has been postponed until next saturday-aarrrgh! Oh well; gives me a little more time to sneek some interval in. Superfly won't be here until mid april now. Bummed about that; was hoping to have it by Bakers Dozen.

Uno Grande!

That's about the extent of my knowledge of the Spanish language. I reached the 1,000 mile mark for the year today. Thats over half the amount for all of last year (1,489 total.) This year looks to be a Grande Uno + Uno! I know that's not correct- It's Uno x Uno Grande.

I am starting to reduce the volume and increasing intensity now. Just finished up steady states. These are the more difficult intervals for me. Maintaining 162-165ish Hr for 3 sets of 12 minutes with 6 minutes rest. Just staying focused is tough for me. Also did some core strengthening today at lunch-about 30 minutes worth.