The beast is back.

A couple weeks ago, I ordered a Neuvation wheel to replace the one I trashed. Well the wheel came in a couple days ago, and today, I got it mounted up. The wheel looks great and I'm definitely going to buy the matching front when I get the money.



Sorry for the poor lighting.

First time on the bike in 4 weeks!

The title says it all. My road bike is still trashed, but that doesn't stop me from going on grouprides. Every year, the club meets at Wes's house for night mountain bike rides. My mountain bike is a total piece of garbage and needs to be thrown in a ditch, but hey, it's all I have right now. I spent a little over an hour fixing it up, tuning the derailers, putting my road pedals on it and all that stuff.

Despite being crippled for a few weeks, I didn't do half bad tonight. The group did a usual 26 mile route, and I remembered most of it. There were a couple climbs but they weren't too bad compared to last year. I was riding at a CAT 4 level before my wreck, and now I'm lacking a bit. I'm pretty sore from the ride, mostly because the seat post on my mountain bike is an inch short, and I'm already half an inch over the max on the post.

Chad Payne, a rider in the group has set his mountain bike up so the bike's dimensions are almost identical to his road bike. I'd really like to do that too, but honestly I feel that it would be a waste of money on the bike I have now. I'm sure the parts going into the bike would cost more than what the rest of the bike is worth. Speaking if which, I was planning on buying a new mountain bike before I wrecked. Sure would have been nice /sigh :(

Oh yeah, if anyone reads this and feels nice enough to give me a 700c shimano 10speed compatible wheel it would really help me out a lot. It's basically all I need to resurrect the beast :P

So much for the training going well...

I haven't felt like posting about it, but two days after my last post on September 23rd, I had a really bad wreck and broke my collar bone. I was scraped all over and I'm pretty sure I bruised a few ribs because it still hurts taking deep breaths. The figure-eight brace came off last Tuesday after wearing it for two weeks. The bone has fused back and I've got 80% of my movement back, but it's going to be a while before it stops hurting and I can really move my arm around. Also, the deep gash on my left side still isn't healed. I think it's going to take a full four weeks for that stupid thing to close up.

My bike did fairly well considering it flipped down a road at 40 Mph. The new saddle I bought is torn up, but it's still usable. The bar tape is a little messed up but overall fine. I lost my tail light somewhere...and my rear wheel is pretty warped. I'm not sure if the wheel can be straitened out or not. I'm thinking it would be possible, but on the other hand, I think the wheel is going to have to be replaced. I want to be on the trainer NOW! I've been going crazy sitting at home the last few weeks being unable to ride a bike. I pulled my mountain bike out of the garage and put it on my trainer. The tire doesn't make contact with the drum so it's just sitting there right now.

I guess it's nice to have some time off. I just wish it was an optional time off because I'm seriously ready to get back on the bike now before it gets later in the year. I'll be able to actually ride my mountain bike outside in a few days. If not, pushing it back to the full four weeks wouldn't hurt.

Wrecks are stupid.

Training training training

Quick update: the training is going well. My body shutdown mileage has been extended about 20 miles since this spring. I got a new crank for my bike. It's amazing.

Bit of a scare yesterday.

I'm not sure of the cause but yesterday while climbing Gaither at a fast pace, I suddenly got light headed, dizzy, and I was having trouble breathing. I had to get off the bike to keep myself from falling over. I also felt weak and lightheaded for the rest of the ride. I'm attributing it to riding once every two weeks and being out of shape. I think being out of shape and hitting the mountain that hard caused me to reach my max heart rate for too long of a time and nearly caused me to pass out.

My calorie intake and hydration are both fine. I just gotta hop back on the bike and put more miles in. Although the days are growing shorter and the weather is going to start cooling down, I'm going to be hitting the training hard. School will be starting up next week and I'll be using my bike as transportation everyday. I'm aiming for CAT3 next season so it's balls to walls for the next 8 months.

Queen City Twilight Criterium and Springfield Criterium (CAT 4/5)

I just got back from Springfield and boy am I tired. I performed about like I thought I was going to. The Saturday race was really fast and the temperature was right at 100F. I knew the cram sessions I put in weren't going to be enough to whip me into shape for the races, but I still held my own. Although I got lapped on the last lap, I still managed to finish in the top half somewhere. There were over 50 riders that rode in the combined CAT 4/5 Race.

The second race is a different story altogether. I hadn't realized in time that there was an actual CAT 5 race on Sunday morning. I continued to register for the combined CAT 4/5 race like I had planned, so it wasn't a problem. It would have been nice to have pulled in another win however. Sunday wasn't as hot as Saturday, but it was still blistering. Although I didn't finish the Sunday race, I did feel stable the bit I raced.

My poor cousin Britney got ran over by a few CAT 3 racers that crashed on the final turn of their race. She had been sitting in her lawn chair on the outside of the turn and she suffered some minor bumps and scrapes from the guy that tackled her, but she seemed to be in good shape despite the pain in her neck.

I didn't really perform up to standards this weekend, but it's not something that I could have really helped with how busy my life has been lately. It's not my goals to do well this season anyhow. The real racing starts next season when I get serious about what I'm doing with my life on the bike. This weekend is probably the end of my 2008 season, but I'll be hitting it hard the rest of this summer and fall, crossing it up this winter, and hitting the roads hard again in the spring in 2009.

As far as my ability right now; I know how far I have come and how far I need to go. I've got a few training ideas in mind that should ensure my graduation from CAT 5. As I stand right now, I feel that I am about 85% of my way to being a CAT 4 in a race situation. Hopefully with my training, I'll be riding on par with 3s next spring.

Fun day.

It seems odd thinking back on it now, but I just did my first solo Jasper ride. It seems odd to me that I never got around to doing it solo earlier. I mean WHAT WAS I THINKING?

At any rate, the ride was very hot but very fulfilling. I didn't push myself to race pace or anything like that; I just rode at an adventurous pace. Considering the terrain, and that I was by myself, the 18.5MPH average speed on the way to Jasper isn't bad at all. Overall, the trip was 41 miles at a 17MPH average, at a total time of 2 hours 25 minutes.

My body held up much better than I expected it to, and even with my severely limited seat time I still think that I am in better shape than I was in early March. I'm nowhere close to peak, but I feel it will come in months to come(when it doesn't matter yay). My legs started to feel iffy about the 32-33 mile mark. I'm very pleased with myself that I got out today. I had almost forgotten what a deep burn felt like.

While my overall riding level is hirer than the beginning of the season, I feel that my staying power has dipped slightly in the last month. This can definitely be improved upon by next month. I'll be riding to work tomorrow, and hitting Jasper again on Monday. I'll be sore for the group ride on Tuesday, and I'm assuming that they will push for a Jasper ride themselves. I'll pedal around on Wednesday or sit on the trainer, and then hopefully get an easy group ride in on Thursday. Of course I'll be taking Friday off completely. That is unless I spin for a few minutes on the trainer.

I'm really looking forward to my first race in four months. I know I'll be racing with CAT5 and CAT4 racers, but I still feel that my chances are good. Maybe not a victory, but possibly a placing.