To those that have not received an invite to the ride, there could be one of two reasons why:
1. There are some people I would invite, but seriously doubt they would drive hundreds of miles to do an "off road tour" in my surrounding area.
2. There are some people that I frankly do not know to well or know if they would be interested or know at all.
I did send out invitations to everyone I thought maybe interested or would like to come or would appreciate the unique experience this ride offers.
I have to keep the ride numbers to a certain level, since some of the areas we are going to be riding thru require us to be a little discreet.
That being said, some individuals have not RSVP either way, leaving some open spots.
If anyone who reads this, would enjoy a little off road tour adventure, send me an email and I will send you the information on where to be on May 10Th.
To all that have responded, I hope your looking forward to an interesting ride, I think what you will find most interesting is that I pieced together this entire ride utilizing Google Maps and the satellite option, trial and error, lots of zooming in and an edge 205.
See you soon,
Laters,
LOS
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Long of it.....
What a difference a day makes. I will go back. For the simple fact, that I do have aspirations of doing the GDR and there would be WAY more Gravel Grinding on that ride then on this one(Sandpine your driving). I need to man up.
Goal setting is part of my new skill set in 2008, and I did set some goals for the ride. The important part of goal setting is to write things down. Just as important as writing down your goals is to be specific. For example:
Goal #1: "I will finish the Cohutta 100 in ten hours or less". Its true, I finished in 8.5 hours. What I should have said, was "I will finish the entire Cohutta 100 course as it is laid out for the competitors in ten hours or less."
Goal #2: "I will beat Luis to the end". Almost came true, I had help from a diesel dualie truck. LOL.
Goal #3: "I will beat Ron to the end". This one did come true, again, diesel dualie, I should have said I will complete the course, blah Skippy blah, before Ron.
Goal#4: "I will have fun and enjoy and be safe". That totally came true, although I only rode 67 miles, Its to date the fastest dirt 67 I have done and it was clean not a single crash or dab, my team mates claim to have never seen me crash, but its not true, like once every 6 months I crash.
Takeaways:
My Nutrition was spot on. I don't eat typical cycling foods. I try to stick to whole foods or items that hit low on the glycemic index to avoid insulin spikes and avoid bonking. I took my handlebar bag, which may have looked suspect, but I had all the nutrition in there I would need for 12 hours. I took one dime bag an hour with 2 endurolytes and 2 sportsleggs, and I would eat 2 to 300 calories each hour depending on how I felt. I also made sure to keep drinking. Nutrition was there.
I got to see a bear in the wild during the race, lucky me!
I got to meet some new people and I got to ride some really spectacular terrain, I didn't think I would go back, but I will.
I rode hardest I have ever ridden and really put all my effort, I can honestly say I didn't leave nothing on the table.
The blow by blow:
The morning was drizzling and chilly. I got to use my brand new pearl izumi jacket, in fact I wore it all day and it turned out to be a great cycling Ally. I also, got to wear the new team bikeworks Orlando team kit in a race for the first time. I have never worn bibs and I totally dug them and the jersey pockets were deep enough to hide my entire race number inside of them, I really digg the gear(thanks guys).
I wasn't nervous as the siren went off, I took off riding but the legs were dead. From the start, I had nothing, no power, dead weight. I got chicked, single speeded, geezered, whipper snappered, I mean everyone passed me, I went into the woods, Dead Fu**in Last!
When I hit the single track I went to work. And it didn't take long for me to start passing people. And that's pretty much how it went till the 65 milers came Thru, then the 35 milers. I was riding clean, but not fast enough and I was really looking forward to the Gravel road to see if I could reel Ron back in.
I hit the Gravel road and I hammered. I was riding as fast as I could within my limits, I didn't want to fry myself. And sure enough after ten minutes of solid work I started reeling in riders just as we started hitting the major climbs on the gravel road. I kept saying to myself in my head how the course description clearly said that an expert level rider could do all the climbs on the course in the middle ring. So I avoided granny, but eventually, after miles and miles of climbing I decided I wanted to use it and my bike would not shift into the smallest frontal ring. Bummer, I kept griding away. After what seemed forever I made stop 2 and asked if there was a mechanic, and he fixed my ring, and I took off after some water and lube and kept at it. Eventually, after another eternity of riding I made stop three. At stop three, I ate some of my food, got more lube and water and took off. At this point I had picked up a couple of riders that wanted company, but I had a plan. I wanted to make stop 4 by 4 so I could have a chance of making the 7pm cutoff at stop six. I had one hour to complete 15 or so miles, it was a tall order, but at this point I was up for the challenge, they said there were "ten miles of downhill", so I took off. The two dudes tried to keep up and they did OK, but after 3 miles I was gone and so where they and when I hit the downhill, I took off, It was some good long downs but it had some ups and I was in such a rush that I would big ring hammer standing up the short climbs in an effort to make time. In the end, I made it to stop for at 4:35, it took me way longer then the hour I had hoped.
At that point, the race officials, never encouraged me to stop, but they basically told me I would have no way of making the cutoff. I gave it up and stopped my effort. I did put 30 minutes on one of the dudes and 45 minutes on the other in that short "15 miles" but regardless, that is how the cookie crumbled.
I rode back in the sag truck helped clean up the course markers and lamented my lack of strength to ride faster.
Some questions, to answer from the previous posts. What would I have done different? Turns out a couple of days before the race I got some bad news. I have a condition that needs surgery to fix and I believe its the main reason I had no power in the legs. Because of what is going on, I will not be able to race the PMBAR (sorry Luis) and the rest of my race schedule(i.e. Tsali) is up in the air. What I do know is that I should be healthy and in shape to do the Shenandoah 100 in August and that is what I am looking forward too. There is also the pine log 12 hour in October that I would love to take a crack at for the win.
In other news, turns out I officially broke my first bicycle. No not my Mamasita, she is battered but holding up fine, but the Beast. Raleigh is going to have to warranty my frame due to a cracked head tube.
That's it for now, in the mean time I plan to spend my off/on time doing more riding and more exploring, just enjoying the ride, hope you do too.
Laters,
LOS
Goal setting is part of my new skill set in 2008, and I did set some goals for the ride. The important part of goal setting is to write things down. Just as important as writing down your goals is to be specific. For example:
Goal #1: "I will finish the Cohutta 100 in ten hours or less". Its true, I finished in 8.5 hours. What I should have said, was "I will finish the entire Cohutta 100 course as it is laid out for the competitors in ten hours or less."
Goal #2: "I will beat Luis to the end". Almost came true, I had help from a diesel dualie truck. LOL.
Goal #3: "I will beat Ron to the end". This one did come true, again, diesel dualie, I should have said I will complete the course, blah Skippy blah, before Ron.
Goal#4: "I will have fun and enjoy and be safe". That totally came true, although I only rode 67 miles, Its to date the fastest dirt 67 I have done and it was clean not a single crash or dab, my team mates claim to have never seen me crash, but its not true, like once every 6 months I crash.
Takeaways:
My Nutrition was spot on. I don't eat typical cycling foods. I try to stick to whole foods or items that hit low on the glycemic index to avoid insulin spikes and avoid bonking. I took my handlebar bag, which may have looked suspect, but I had all the nutrition in there I would need for 12 hours. I took one dime bag an hour with 2 endurolytes and 2 sportsleggs, and I would eat 2 to 300 calories each hour depending on how I felt. I also made sure to keep drinking. Nutrition was there.
I got to see a bear in the wild during the race, lucky me!
I got to meet some new people and I got to ride some really spectacular terrain, I didn't think I would go back, but I will.
I rode hardest I have ever ridden and really put all my effort, I can honestly say I didn't leave nothing on the table.
The blow by blow:
The morning was drizzling and chilly. I got to use my brand new pearl izumi jacket, in fact I wore it all day and it turned out to be a great cycling Ally. I also, got to wear the new team bikeworks Orlando team kit in a race for the first time. I have never worn bibs and I totally dug them and the jersey pockets were deep enough to hide my entire race number inside of them, I really digg the gear(thanks guys).
I wasn't nervous as the siren went off, I took off riding but the legs were dead. From the start, I had nothing, no power, dead weight. I got chicked, single speeded, geezered, whipper snappered, I mean everyone passed me, I went into the woods, Dead Fu**in Last!
When I hit the single track I went to work. And it didn't take long for me to start passing people. And that's pretty much how it went till the 65 milers came Thru, then the 35 milers. I was riding clean, but not fast enough and I was really looking forward to the Gravel road to see if I could reel Ron back in.
I hit the Gravel road and I hammered. I was riding as fast as I could within my limits, I didn't want to fry myself. And sure enough after ten minutes of solid work I started reeling in riders just as we started hitting the major climbs on the gravel road. I kept saying to myself in my head how the course description clearly said that an expert level rider could do all the climbs on the course in the middle ring. So I avoided granny, but eventually, after miles and miles of climbing I decided I wanted to use it and my bike would not shift into the smallest frontal ring. Bummer, I kept griding away. After what seemed forever I made stop 2 and asked if there was a mechanic, and he fixed my ring, and I took off after some water and lube and kept at it. Eventually, after another eternity of riding I made stop three. At stop three, I ate some of my food, got more lube and water and took off. At this point I had picked up a couple of riders that wanted company, but I had a plan. I wanted to make stop 4 by 4 so I could have a chance of making the 7pm cutoff at stop six. I had one hour to complete 15 or so miles, it was a tall order, but at this point I was up for the challenge, they said there were "ten miles of downhill", so I took off. The two dudes tried to keep up and they did OK, but after 3 miles I was gone and so where they and when I hit the downhill, I took off, It was some good long downs but it had some ups and I was in such a rush that I would big ring hammer standing up the short climbs in an effort to make time. In the end, I made it to stop for at 4:35, it took me way longer then the hour I had hoped.
At that point, the race officials, never encouraged me to stop, but they basically told me I would have no way of making the cutoff. I gave it up and stopped my effort. I did put 30 minutes on one of the dudes and 45 minutes on the other in that short "15 miles" but regardless, that is how the cookie crumbled.
I rode back in the sag truck helped clean up the course markers and lamented my lack of strength to ride faster.
Some questions, to answer from the previous posts. What would I have done different? Turns out a couple of days before the race I got some bad news. I have a condition that needs surgery to fix and I believe its the main reason I had no power in the legs. Because of what is going on, I will not be able to race the PMBAR (sorry Luis) and the rest of my race schedule(i.e. Tsali) is up in the air. What I do know is that I should be healthy and in shape to do the Shenandoah 100 in August and that is what I am looking forward too. There is also the pine log 12 hour in October that I would love to take a crack at for the win.
In other news, turns out I officially broke my first bicycle. No not my Mamasita, she is battered but holding up fine, but the Beast. Raleigh is going to have to warranty my frame due to a cracked head tube.
That's it for now, in the mean time I plan to spend my off/on time doing more riding and more exploring, just enjoying the ride, hope you do too.
Laters,
LOS
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Short of it....
I got my ASS KICKED at the Cohutta.
I did a Dirty Metric(67Miles) vs. a Dirty Hundy(100 miles).
I suffered and turned myself inside out regardless.
I experienced new levels of physical and spiritual exertion.
I Survived.
I would be hard pressed to ever go to that place to race again.
The long story in a couple of days, I got more riding to do, the pain factory does not stop now.
Laters,
LOS
I did a Dirty Metric(67Miles) vs. a Dirty Hundy(100 miles).
I suffered and turned myself inside out regardless.
I experienced new levels of physical and spiritual exertion.
I Survived.
I would be hard pressed to ever go to that place to race again.
The long story in a couple of days, I got more riding to do, the pain factory does not stop now.
Laters,
LOS
Friday, April 11, 2008
Mr. Murphy.
Him and his laws seem to take stock in my upcoming events.
Like I said in my previous posts the rides have been spectacular lately. Very Poetic; Last night was no exception.
We have been doing Night Sessions at Snowhill on Thursday(all are welcome) and have a great time of it. This time I decided I would park on Barr Street and ride to the other lot, 5 miles away, and meet up, just to get some extra miles. Plus by my calculations it takes a 13 mile ride and makes it into a 21 mile ride.
The ride is going great and I feel good. Jason has two dramatic crashes within miles of each other. I was surprised he was not hurt, but regardless my flow cup was flowing and the trail was melting beneath the shred of my tires.
We came to a section of trail that we can usually blaze thru and was greeted by flooding. Now I thought that there was no way it could be that deep, but upon inspection, my front wheel came close to half way down and I barely dipped it in the water. As Jason was crossing a baby alligator swam under him, he was about 2 feet long with lots of bright green colors. It was pretty awesome to see. Not even a half a mile after that we came across a big 5 foot gator just chillin on the bank 20 feet below.
The night could not have been anymore magical till it happened. Coming around a sharp corner that descended into a rooty chute, mid way I quickly notice that the normal spot we plow thru was filled with water, I grabbed a handful of front brake and was sent airborne, splashing down into the water, hands, knees and face.
Luckily I didn't smash my face into anything or come face to face with any animals. Other then being soaked and a pain in my right calf, I was OK and so was the bike. From then on I took it cautious and when we finally exited the out and back section I decided to cut 3 miles from my ride and head back to the car early. I was getting really cold being all wet and was starting to get concerned about the growing pain in my calf muscle.
On the drive home, all I could think about was how I am one week away from a momentous event in my cycling universe and now I was going to have to go into the event with a pulled calf muscle. And I thought about Okeechobee how I did that ride with a enormous sleep deficit,
and how I did Santos 12 hour with horrible neck pain. It seems to have been my karma to always have something physical or mechanical keep me from entering an event with all pistons firing.
When I got home, I took 2 alleve a nice bath, ate food and went to bed. Could feel the pain all night. Woke up the next morning with the ache fresh in my mind. As I got up and walked around, the pain became tolerable. As a matter of fact I worked all day with it. Up and down the ladder, climbing poles, the whole nine yards. Even took the kids to a loop around the cemetery and challenged all the neighborhood kids to sprint races.
Ten hours of riding this weekend is the goal. Well see how it holds up.
I think I may have Murphy checked this time.
Enjoy,
Laters,
LOS
Like I said in my previous posts the rides have been spectacular lately. Very Poetic; Last night was no exception.
We have been doing Night Sessions at Snowhill on Thursday(all are welcome) and have a great time of it. This time I decided I would park on Barr Street and ride to the other lot, 5 miles away, and meet up, just to get some extra miles. Plus by my calculations it takes a 13 mile ride and makes it into a 21 mile ride.
The ride is going great and I feel good. Jason has two dramatic crashes within miles of each other. I was surprised he was not hurt, but regardless my flow cup was flowing and the trail was melting beneath the shred of my tires.
We came to a section of trail that we can usually blaze thru and was greeted by flooding. Now I thought that there was no way it could be that deep, but upon inspection, my front wheel came close to half way down and I barely dipped it in the water. As Jason was crossing a baby alligator swam under him, he was about 2 feet long with lots of bright green colors. It was pretty awesome to see. Not even a half a mile after that we came across a big 5 foot gator just chillin on the bank 20 feet below.
The night could not have been anymore magical till it happened. Coming around a sharp corner that descended into a rooty chute, mid way I quickly notice that the normal spot we plow thru was filled with water, I grabbed a handful of front brake and was sent airborne, splashing down into the water, hands, knees and face.
Luckily I didn't smash my face into anything or come face to face with any animals. Other then being soaked and a pain in my right calf, I was OK and so was the bike. From then on I took it cautious and when we finally exited the out and back section I decided to cut 3 miles from my ride and head back to the car early. I was getting really cold being all wet and was starting to get concerned about the growing pain in my calf muscle.
On the drive home, all I could think about was how I am one week away from a momentous event in my cycling universe and now I was going to have to go into the event with a pulled calf muscle. And I thought about Okeechobee how I did that ride with a enormous sleep deficit,
and how I did Santos 12 hour with horrible neck pain. It seems to have been my karma to always have something physical or mechanical keep me from entering an event with all pistons firing.
When I got home, I took 2 alleve a nice bath, ate food and went to bed. Could feel the pain all night. Woke up the next morning with the ache fresh in my mind. As I got up and walked around, the pain became tolerable. As a matter of fact I worked all day with it. Up and down the ladder, climbing poles, the whole nine yards. Even took the kids to a loop around the cemetery and challenged all the neighborhood kids to sprint races.
Ten hours of riding this weekend is the goal. Well see how it holds up.
I think I may have Murphy checked this time.
Enjoy,
Laters,
LOS
Monday, April 07, 2008
It HaS a NaMe...ItS cAlleD RoCkY TrAiNiNg
Well, I know the posts have been infrequent, but I have been busy cramming like a procrastinating teenager the day before the social studies project is due, preparing for the Cohutta 100. Riding as many miles as possible as often as possible has been the meal of the moment, and I got to say I have been having a good time and I feel great.
I must say my ambitions to lose weight in preparation for the races that are coming up has paid off. I started at 205 and currently weigh 183lbs. Its been interesting, the battle of going thru such a physical change does not go unnoticed. I would have to continually readjust to my new self and truth be told, I am just getting tuned to my new size.
I cant say that I rode as much as I would like. I would hope to not have to work and just spend the better time of everyday I possibly could, pedaling my bike for a couple of hours here and there. But I am going to take my lemons and make lemonade.
I have done at least three pouring down rain rides, not by choice either, just the way the cooking crumbled. On one I got caught out there and it was cold, all I had on was a simple Team bike works Orlando jersey. In order to be able to hammer and not shiver, I copped a free copy of the pennysaver periodical and stuffed it inside my shirt tour de france style, and it kept me warm and toasty all the way home.
I envy these out of towners with their miles of service roads and gravel roads to go out and do senseless off road miles. They have Gravel Grinder sessions I have Sand Slugging sessions. One dirt road in particular that I was exploring on, was so muddy that every pedal stroke took effort. In my mind I resolved to treat it like the long climbs I will be doing in the mountains soon and just grinded it out. Even though the conditions were less than favorable, I still saw some goats, and got to ride with four dogs who came up and playfully ran with me till their owner called them to their side. I even found a Lil baby bird that fell out of a nest. After holding it briefly in my hand and not immediately seeing any nests to place him in, I put him back down and prayed for the birds life.
I have been riding in the dark alot. Despite the fact that it gets darker later, later seems to be the time I start and my rides tend to run past the sun's reach. Regardless of the rain and the dark, the riding has been spectacular and I have been really feeling the difference of the new wheelset and the new body. We will just have to see what plays out in Cohutta.
Although it will not make a bit of difference for the upcoming race, I am still going to continue to ride my Mamasita as much as possible before the race. My plan is to ride right thru the next couple of weeks. Everyone talks about recovery, but I think its a myth and I will be on a mission to prove it.
The cohutta is coming, but more important is the PMBAR.
Ok, lets make fight then.
I will be riding this weekend, drop me a line if you want to make bike ride!
Enjoy the pics,
Laters,
LOS
Hard to tell from this angle, but the goat in the middle is taking a piss.
Ya thats me during the Sand Slugging sessions.
We dont got mountains be we still got nice views, exploring!
And another shot of the sea level vistas.
I carry this on my back country rides. I never want to have to use it and never hope too. But after being chased by a pack of pitbulls at mile ninety something down near Okeechobee, I vowed to be ready if I ever came across aggressive animals like that.
The bike, I love it, but It hates me, I ride it hard and put it away wet almost every time.
More Bars in more places. I am amazed by how far I can ride on three bottles, the new physical frame is definetely a treat!
Being a skateboarder means skateboarding dammmit! Barefoot dedication downhill manny in surfer boy swim trunks, with all the smooth stylie I could muster! Live in the Moment Y'all!
I must say my ambitions to lose weight in preparation for the races that are coming up has paid off. I started at 205 and currently weigh 183lbs. Its been interesting, the battle of going thru such a physical change does not go unnoticed. I would have to continually readjust to my new self and truth be told, I am just getting tuned to my new size.
I cant say that I rode as much as I would like. I would hope to not have to work and just spend the better time of everyday I possibly could, pedaling my bike for a couple of hours here and there. But I am going to take my lemons and make lemonade.
I have done at least three pouring down rain rides, not by choice either, just the way the cooking crumbled. On one I got caught out there and it was cold, all I had on was a simple Team bike works Orlando jersey. In order to be able to hammer and not shiver, I copped a free copy of the pennysaver periodical and stuffed it inside my shirt tour de france style, and it kept me warm and toasty all the way home.
I envy these out of towners with their miles of service roads and gravel roads to go out and do senseless off road miles. They have Gravel Grinder sessions I have Sand Slugging sessions. One dirt road in particular that I was exploring on, was so muddy that every pedal stroke took effort. In my mind I resolved to treat it like the long climbs I will be doing in the mountains soon and just grinded it out. Even though the conditions were less than favorable, I still saw some goats, and got to ride with four dogs who came up and playfully ran with me till their owner called them to their side. I even found a Lil baby bird that fell out of a nest. After holding it briefly in my hand and not immediately seeing any nests to place him in, I put him back down and prayed for the birds life.
I have been riding in the dark alot. Despite the fact that it gets darker later, later seems to be the time I start and my rides tend to run past the sun's reach. Regardless of the rain and the dark, the riding has been spectacular and I have been really feeling the difference of the new wheelset and the new body. We will just have to see what plays out in Cohutta.
Although it will not make a bit of difference for the upcoming race, I am still going to continue to ride my Mamasita as much as possible before the race. My plan is to ride right thru the next couple of weeks. Everyone talks about recovery, but I think its a myth and I will be on a mission to prove it.
The cohutta is coming, but more important is the PMBAR.
Ok, lets make fight then.
I will be riding this weekend, drop me a line if you want to make bike ride!
Enjoy the pics,
Laters,
LOS
Hard to tell from this angle, but the goat in the middle is taking a piss. 
Ya thats me during the Sand Slugging sessions.
We dont got mountains be we still got nice views, exploring!
And another shot of the sea level vistas.
I carry this on my back country rides. I never want to have to use it and never hope too. But after being chased by a pack of pitbulls at mile ninety something down near Okeechobee, I vowed to be ready if I ever came across aggressive animals like that.
The bike, I love it, but It hates me, I ride it hard and put it away wet almost every time.
More Bars in more places. I am amazed by how far I can ride on three bottles, the new physical frame is definetely a treat!Being a skateboarder means skateboarding dammmit! Barefoot dedication downhill manny in surfer boy swim trunks, with all the smooth stylie I could muster! Live in the Moment Y'all!
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