2.28.2005

02.28.05 - goat tat

em tribal
em tribal,
originally uploaded by solo_goat.
and i like tats

02.28.05 - goat with a hat

goat with a hat
goat with a hat,
originally uploaded by solo_goat.
i like hats

2.27.2005

02.27.05 - 3 days o' ridin

just short of 14 hours for 3 days - not too shabby, eh?

two back to back 5 hour plus epics and a short friday night ride for fun. not too much in the means of excitment, just good miles for this time of year.

saw granny gear finally has their on-line registration up for their events. i am somewhat bummed out by these guys as they still don't have things in line for the ozarks race yet - i hope it doesn't turn out like the north cali race last year and they ended up cancelling it.

i have been screwed over in the past with cancelled races, so i am planning on having some backup races should the ozarks does NOT happen. looks like the texas 12 hour as a possible backup.

big thing to take into consideration - my mechanic. i have to not only plan my schedule, but also take my support crew's lives into consideration. because of that, i am trying to stay as east coast as possible, and when i start venturing west, i try to stay with the shorter races where possibly a mehanic is not so critical.

but - good news is my form is super duper. i am about a month ahead of last year, at least, in terms of training. last year, double workouts were not started until april, and my big rides didn't start until almost the same time.

should make the early season fun....

gotta run!

sologoat out.

2.25.2005

02.25.05 - blogs to check out, yo

JEFF KERKOVE BLOG
solo rider and founder of transiowa. what is transiowa you say. short explanation as follows:
1. go to the west part of iowa.
2. start riding.
3. end up in the east part of iowa. approximately 300 miles later.
4. go home and tell your friends how cool you are that you are one of only 50 racers who compteted.


SLOANE ANDERSON BLOG
solo rider and team buddy of jeff's. never met him, but raced against him at world's last year. he just competed in a very epic 24 hour race at Old Pueblo - bad weather, rain and mud -- ah, just like snowshoe.

that's it for now - check back later. same bat channel!

sologoat out

02.25.05 - i got my fix

my fix - 3.25 hours. 2 hours in dark. best night riding is always during a full moon -- bestest is when it is warm, clear and so bright you don't need your light to ride. oh joy.

tonight i felt really good - i can tell when the fitness is coming back to me when i can get in a 3-4 hour ride at tempo and i walk in the house feeling awesome. tonight i felt awesome, and it is wierd - wierd in that i have never felt this good this early in the season.

a warning to all my mortal enemies (fellow racers) - watch out!

not much news to update on y'all - bikes are a comin', so are the bib shorts. need to figure out something with helmets and shoes. probably going with the lazer cannibals in the orange/white for the helmets, and stick with the northwaves for the shoes. northwaves tend to be on the pricey side - but, they work. especially fond of the titanium plates for added stiffness.

on the plate tomorrow morning: a 5-6 hour ride of pure joy.

fuel:
hammer heed
hammer gel
hammer sustained energy

magic pills:
hammer endurolytes
hammer anti fatigue caps

hmmm..... one would think i was sponsored by hammer.

i think you should check out HAMMER GEL/E CAPS - if you know what is good for you.

sologoat out>

2.24.2005

02.23.05 - a chilly night ride

i couldn't take it anymore - i had to get outside last night.

a beautiful 3.5 hours on a moonlight night - i love these kinds of rides. nobody out with me in total heaven.

full moon night rides are the best - try going out either really late (11pm) or really early (4am). on a clear moonlight night, on an open trail, you don't even need your lights on. just note that if you are truckin' down the trail at 20mph, don't expect mr. and mrs. deer to see you.

in other news:
rigid 26 inch asylum getting together slowly - it is a custom 3D frame made a year ago. sweet disc only aluminum hard tail. went old school with it and making it fully rigid - might switch out to front suspension so that i can use it as a backup bike.

that's it - happy training.

sologoat out.

2.20.2005

02.20.05 - another great weekend - sort of

great because - saturday and sunday i managed 5 hours on the bike.

sweet.

saturday-
warmed up to a little over 32, so that meant some of the trails were a little wet, which i am not a huge fan of wet trails. buddies tried to get me on a road ride, but the 20 degree wind chill factor was too hard of a pill for me to swallow. so, opting for the warmth of trails protected by trees/hills, i went out for a nice jaunt on my k-monkey. gotta love the 29r's.

sunday-
i dared mother nature to keep me from going outside and she fought back really hard. 30 degrees, wind chill factor of only 30. hmmm. not bad a temp, and the low winds were great. but - then came the snow. 1 hour in, my ipod battery goes dead and then comes the snow. temp drops about 8 degrees, and i ride through at least 4 wet snow squals which brings about 3 inches of snow.

what got me through today?

the thought of a thermos full of jittery joes coffee back at the abode. mmmm, good.

sologoat out.

02.18.05 - a day of goodies

i love www.speedgoat.com.

took the day off to pick up some supplies and talk the low-down with the crew at the shop. beth, jarrod were in, along with dan the man (my main mechanic). all is well in the house of goats.

got in my lights (lights in motion), pedals (cook brothers), bike and wheel boxes (tri-all), bontrager 29'r tires and a slew of other good stuff including parts for the 26'r hard tail asylum.

check back for the review of the tires - should be sweeeeeeeeeeet.....

sologoat out.

02.17.05 - lucky number 13 (x3)

well, since i got out of work early today i thought i would head out for some super duper winter riding.

checked the weather channel - wind chill factor of 13... hmmmmm.... think i'll ride the rollers.

decide (by chance) to watch stage 13 of the 2004 tour de france on my extended dvd - which means two hours of pure joy watching a really a really cool mountain stage.

at the begining of the stage, thomas voeckler is in yellow - a newbie to the tour that, by chance and good form, found himself with the leaders jersey. went from a nobody to a somebody within a few days. his parents fly in just to see him. all of france is going nuts with a frenchman in yellow.

approximately 7 climbs in this stage - and voeckler gets dropped on every one. then fights his way back and rejoins the main group. the look on his face is one of pure pain as he gets dropped, relief when he rejoins. nobody even expects him to be with the leading group on the last climb - but he has the power of yellow and about a 3 minute lead on lance.

lance makes his jump, basso goes with him and lance wins the stage. voeckler - suffering in the heat, battles on - and stays in yellow for another day by less then 30 seconds. as he comes in, the crowd is going nuts.

my point here - never doubt yourself because that is where the seeds of failure begins.

sologoat out

2.15.2005

02.15.05 - Q2 update on the web

hello all - two more updates on the Q2.

one on the goat website here:
SPEEDGOAT BLOG!

and the jeff kerkove website here:
JEFF KERKOVE BLOG

check out jeff's page - met yet another individual whom enjoys long hours in the saddle. and - is the organizer of TRANS IOWA.

what may be this TRANS IOWA i may be speaking of?

in basic terms, start on the west coast of IOWA and ride your bike across to the east. get there through single track, dirt roads, gravel roads and small towns in the middle of nowhere.

oh, and through in only two check points - one at the middle point, one at the end - and you in are in for some fun.

you can only dream of being there - and i know you are jealous at the pure enjoyment of riding across the state of IOWA.

little did i know years ago that when i started this as a personal challenge to myself to do a 24 hour race solo that it would get to this....

i've to see some cool things - things i could of only seen because of my friend with two wheels.

now quit reading and go ride.

sologoat out

2.14.2005

02.14.05 - TIFOSI Q2 review

TIFOSI UPDATE-

After a weekend of testing the Q2's, I came up with this - Tifosi rocks.

The Q2 is new the line-up of Tifosi – here’s the details:

1. Assortment of colors - go crazy and get the crystal colors. They are super bright and stand out really well.

2. Distortion free lens. Long story short - glass thinner at the sides, so your peripheral version does not distort.

3. This frame does not use their new nosepiece, but is basically similar to the old Quam's of last year. Frame is sturdy and strong.

Lenses tested - clear and green. As expected, clear is pretty much a no brainer and performed as expected. And the green - wow. I was pretty impressed - very similar to the effect of the Tifosi orange lenses of last year, but not quite as bright. Nice option for me - I usually like to go with a non-typical lens color. I have to stand out, yo.

Bottom line, great glass at a great price. Folks, I use what works. I race and ride endless hours and I don’t need a glass that is cheaply made and that doesn’t hold up during endless 24-hour races that I will endure this year.

That’s why I will be using the Q2’s.

check them out -
www.tifosioptics.com

02.14.05 - happy sweetest to my honey bunny

woke up today in stupor - seems my body was a little confused by 3 days of constant riding. a little tight and dehydrated - ah, and waking up tired.

i thrive on being exhausted.

going out to the shop on friday - pickin' up some new goodies. lights, boxes, tires and such. nothing exciting. maybe try to convince the shop one more time that the cool indy fab ti custom rode bike in my size should really be "reviewed" and "tested" by myself for the remaing of the year. it's sooooooooo cool. really nice bike.

asylums should be arriving any day now - but, the good news is my pretty pink kings are ready to roll! weight was decent too - but how will they compare to my secret XTR's? hmmmm....

and for all your romatics out there - don't forget to treat your girls right today on this valentine's day. tell them how much you love them, that they can never be replaced, how you will love and cherish them for all their life. and then don't forget to clean off the chain and relube your sweety before you ride her next.

then, go tell your significant other the same. (leave out the chain part)

;)

hugs to all of you - sologoat out

2.13.2005

02.13.05 - a crash, some good rides and cool glasses

hola compadres!

3.25 hours friday, 5.5 saturday and 5 today. mmmmmmmmmmm. i had my fix for the weekend.

friday was choas - got back from indy the night before, was supposed to pick up new swag on friday, but ended up having to work. oh well, duty calls. but - i did sneak in a ride and within 20 minutes, i was on my backside. seems skinny tires at 60psi do not go so well on 3 inches of ice.

good news is that the hammer gel products seem to be doing well on my tummy - no processed sugars in their goodies, so no belly aches.

more good news this week came - got to see the new shorts layout (prodution starts next week!) and got in the 2005 glasses from tifosi. cool stuff. gotta check out the Q2's and the new Quams - man, they put out a nice glass. distortion free lenses, great colors, new ear/nose pieces, vents on lenses now - that is just the improvements made this year. and they won't set you back a ton. retail is so cheap, you can buy these, get 3 lenses (look cool at the same type, hence "multi tasking") and still have enough money to buy your girl dinner, rent a movie and look like a hero to your lady friend, all at a price waaaaaaaaaaaay under the competitors price for a silly over-priced product.

look like a hero, not a zero - and get some tifosi's.

sologoat out

2.07.2005

02.07.05 - good weekend of training

5 hours on saturday, 4.5 hours on sunday - not too shabby for this time of the year.

status of the body - good today, a little tightness in the legs.

status of the mind - as usual, a couple apples short of a picnic. but then again, you have to be to ride as many hours as i do.

status of:
clothing - coming in mid april, right before the races. cool.
glasses - coming end of this week. fantastic.
races - schedule on my work calander to avoid conflicts. great.
bikes - end of month. YAHOO!
food/lights - got it. yummy.
pedals - waiting to hear back after order. where?

overall status:
can't wait to start the season - shaping up to be a good one already.

thanks for all my sponsors this year - couldn't do it without you.

sologoat out

2.02.2005

02.02.05 - boxes, glasses and wheels, oh my!

hey all... got some news to spread out to my brotha's (and sista's too!)

wheels-
ah, wheels are simply driving me crazy. i have this concept that everything works in circles (everything you do comes back to you in same way/shape/form no matter how significant or non-significant it might be in the overall scheme of your life) but this is driving me looney. thank heavens for dan the man at speedgoat taking charge - xtr hubs, super secret ceramic bearings, black spokes/nips, and some super duper light mustang rims. mmmmm, heavenly.

bike box-
double bike box has arrived from tri-all. two bikes + one case = only 1 bike charged on a flight. this case will pay for itself after 2 trips. and, i got the bonus wheel box too, that is the same size as a large piece of luggage and qualifies to fly for free. and i like free.

tifosi optics -
mr glose over at tifosi has sent me the new product line updates and all i can say is that yours truely is going to look very stylish this year in his new glasses. look to possibly see me on their website when i get the asylum's together.

oh, and clothing - garneau
logos submitted, order placed. the bestest short and chamois ordered. mostly black with asylum down the leg, and two other sponsors on the leg/back as follows:

ms jacobs:
on the bottom of the two legs. mr sigety contributed, therefore his logo and henceforth will be the only other rider in these sweet bibs.

xpert business solutions:
on the back panel - logo done up especially for me and these shorts. my employer has been so kind to help me out, so give them a shout for all your accounting software needs. see my 02.01.05 sponsor posts for updates.

roller ride to be in session...

now..

sologoat out.

2.01.2005

02.01.05 - sponsor list for 2005

SPEEDGOAT.COM

ASYLUM BICYCLES

HAMMER GEL/E CAPS

XPERT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

TIFOSI OPTICS


OTHER NOTEABLES:
CRANK BROTHERS

LIGHTS IN MOTION

02.01.05 - my 2005 racing schedule unveiled!

finally i make a post... well folks here is my tenative race calander - until 5 minutes from now, when i change my mind again...

04.23.05 Trans Iowa. Hawarden, Iowa.
04.30.05 Calvin’s 12 Hour. Springfield, OH.
05.14.05 8 Hours of Pando. Rockford, MI
05.21.05 12 HOURS OF DIRT at Bluff Creek Ranch. Warda,TX
06.18.05 24 Hours of Big Bear Lake. Hazelton, WV.
06.25.05 Holiday Farm. Dalton, MA.
07.10.05 6 Hours of Power. Ellicotville, NY.
07.30.05 WILDERNESS 101. Cobun, PA.
08.13.05 12 Hour Pando. Rockford, MI.
08.19.05 NORBA #7 - Snowshoe Enduro. Snowshoe, WV.
09.03.05 Solo Worlds. Whistler, BC.
09.10.05 Kona 24HR Denver, CO (TENTATIVE)
09.17.05 24 Hours of the Ozarks (TENTATIVE)
09.24.05 24 HOURS OF Rocky Hill Smithville, TX (TENTATIVE)
10.15.05 Georgia International Horse Park, Conyers, GA