Best time of the year.

My first autumn in North Carolina, and wow it's beautiful. I'm not sure if it's just this year or like this every autumn, but the colors here have been just amazing. I've always thought the mountains in Colorado were the most beautiful, but this autumn.... the color in the North Carolina mountains has just blown the Rockies away.

I've been getting out and doing some riding this autumn, sometimes by myself and other times with a few guys from the Hickory Velo Club. Mostly shorter, less intense rides of 30-40 miles. I've only been riding a couple days a week, this is usually my down time from cycling.... but the weather has been so perfect lately, I just can't pass it up. Last month some cycling buddy's came into town for visits on two separate weekends, Robert Cutts and Will Botens. We had a great time, doing a variety of rides while they were here. I think they both left with pretty favorable opinions of the cycling here and I'm sure they'll both be back for some more riding next year.

I've also been getting out and doing some hikes with Torpedo. Now that the weather has cooled from the summer time heat, we're both enjoying some longer walks. Our favorite hike without a doubt is over at Bakers Mountain, a real nice park with area views of Catawba County from the top.

Well that's it for now, off to Japan this weekend and then back & forth to Amsterdam a few times later in the month. Happy trails. 

Whew, that was close!

8 hours, 58 minutes & 58 seconds, whew.... that was close. On Saturday August 9th, I completed my 7th Leadville Trail 100, the grand daddy of the ultra distance mountain bike race. The significance of this years result marked how close I came to NOT getting my 5th "big belt buckle", I nearly missed it as I crossed the finish line with only 1 minute and 1 second in hand. For those not familiar with the race, a time under 9 hours earns the finisher the coveted gold & silver "big buckle" and for those finishing between 9 and 12 hours... one earns the smaller silver buckle. Both are trophies and a testament to ones tenacity over a 100 miles of racing and 12,000 feet of climbing. Everyone who finishes under 13 hours also receives a beautiful finishers medal. The one pictured above is the big buckle, my 5th & I also own two of the smaller buckles. The time I completed this years race is generally considered excellent, but it wasn't one of my better performances and I was bit disappointed. It was a tough day right from the 1st pedal stroke and I wasn't happy with how I rode most of the event, but it was another completed race with only 3 more to go to the 1000 mile gold & silver dinner plate sized belt buckle prize. Next year I hope to be a bit better prepared and conditioned.

The big hoopla this year was the presence of Lance Armstrong racing in the LT100. It was pretty cool having the 7 time champion of the Tour de France at this years race. If you hadn't heard, he finished 2nd to David Wiens.... a member of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame & former US National Champion. An epic battle for both, with both breaking the previous course record.

All in all, another memorable and awesome trip to Leadville. Next year I'm contemplating doing the race on a cyclo-cross bike, perhaps a highly modified cross bike with disc brakes and a triple chainring.... something fast and strong, we'll see. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and happy trails.

SOLD!

Well if you haven't heard, I sold my house.... again! So far, so good.... everything looks like it should go off without a hitch. My closing is on May 13th, with me hitting the road for North Carolina shortly afterwards. So it looks like it's finally happening, which couldn't make me happier.

Last week I spent 4 days down in Georgia and what a great experience that was. I travelled with friend and teammate Will Botens. We got some great rides in and saw 3 stages of the Tour de Georgia. We saw the Stage 4 Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta, the finish of Stage 5 in Dahlonega and the mountainous Stage 6 up on Hogpen Gap. It was so cool getting close up photos of the best of American cycling. I'll definitely be back next year, and with it only being a few hours away from my new home.... an added bonus.

Last Sunday I raced at the USAC Bloomer Cross Country, which I totally thought I'd have a terrible race at. I ended up finishing a strong 2nd place in the Elite/Expert Single Speed Class. That was all following a 12 hour drive from Georgia on Saturday night and riding and climbing 6,000' on Friday. I felt cooked before the race even started, but I guess I still had something left in the tank. In the end, I'm very pleased of my result.... especially after all the miles I rode so close to race day.

Well, this will be a busy 10 days. Lots of packing and of course.... there's always work, but I'm really looking forward to my move to North Carolina.... now less than 2 weeks. Oh boy.

Happy trails until next time.

This never ending winter!

If a picture could say a thousand words, this one says it all.

As most of you know, the sale of my house fell through less than a week before closing. As you can imagine, extremely disappointing news. It's back on the market, but home sales are slow and I'm not getting many showings. Maybe, perhaps things will pick up soon as I think Spring may be coming... but not really sure after this mornings snowfall.

Earlier in the month I escaped to North Carolina and did some warmer weather training. Rode on the Blue Ridge Parkway one day, over in Hickory a few others, and on my last day over in Asheville with Chris Carmichael (no kidding). Got some great training in, with some nice sustained climbing miles bagged. A great trip all in all. 

The miles are coming this season, but much slower than I'd like... it seems to keep snowing on my days off while home. It even snowed on me in Amsterdam last week, and it rarely snows and accumulates there... maybe it's me? So far my miles are on par with 2007, so I'm a little shorter on fitness than what I'd hoped for. Perhaps April will bring us warmer days.

I've pretty much decided my race schedule for 2008, with season objectives for my better results at the Stony Creek MTB Marathon Race, The Leadville Silver Rush 50 and of course The Leadville Trail 100 (the latter two in Colorado). I'm also planning on racing cyclo-cross in the Fall, at least until it starts getting too cold and wet (snow or rain). I'm becoming a fair weather rider :-)

So please Mr. Weatherman, please bring us some warmer weather. All my bikes and I would appreciate it much. Happy Trails, I hope soon.

Missing in Action, well... non-action

Well, I've been off on my annual month long non cycling sabbatical. This year I extended my season about 7 weeks beyond my norm of late, and with the colder and shorter days.... I threw in the towel about mid November. I needed this time off from the bike, some time to rest, time to enjoy other things and time to get motivated for the next coming season.

I missed my planned December trip to the CX Nationals in Kansas City.... kind of. I ended up making the trip with no intent to race, but after seeing the horrendous conditions there, I didn't miss a thing. Kudos to the racers who competed there, it just wasn't my cup of mud.

So 2008 is here, with some new goals and inching closer to others. The centerpiece of my season will again be the Leadville 100, this will be my 7th LT 100. I've once again decided to make my goal, the task of breaking the 8 hour mark. In 1999 I missed it by 2 minutes, and by 8 minutes in 2005. I'm not getting any younger (47), so I really feel it has to happen this year. In 2007 I rode the LT 100 on a single speed, with a less than stellar time of 9:33.... a time I wish not to repeat. With that being said, my training will totally evolve around peaking and showing my best form on August 9th. So 7:59:59, here I come!

Also this season I'm planning on doing the Leadville Silver Rush 50, which is run in mid July. Although it sounds like a mini LT 100, it's not even run on the same course.... and as I'm told, it's a much harder course than the LT 100.... just not as long. I think this will prove to be a good tune up for the LT 100, as it falls just 3 weeks before it.

The balance of my season will be a mix of mountain, road & cyclo-cross racing, with a schedule that is still largely undecided. What I do know though, is all of my racing and training with be planned with an eye firmly fixed on the LT 100 on August 9th, 6:30am.

Hope everyone is doing well and had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Until next time, happy trails!