nationals write up

well, needless to say, this race did not go as planned.

nutrition - on. no stomach issues at all. ran my hammer mixes lean.

fitness - on. felt super awesome, legs were turning over easy and i felt like i had power to spare and was saving energy to push it in the night hours.



the unknown - mechanicals and injury is not something you can predict.

on the 4th lap, i went into a technical section and flipped over the bars landing on my back and on a rock. that said rock hit my rib.

i pushed on for the next 5 laps, eventually loosing my 3rd place position.

as my back got worse, it became evident i couldn't go on. i was having difficulty breathing and my back was getting tighter and tighter - so i pulled the plug at around 10 hours.

not really how i predicted the end of this race.

revised game plan - rest up, re-coop and mending of a cracked rib.

sologoat out

a crash and a dnf

short post - sitting in 3rd with 4 laps in, 4 minutes down to chris and nat, over 8 mintues over hendershot, eddie and steve.

i took a flight over my bars, landed on my back hitting the ground which had a rock.

heard a crack and it knocked the wind out of me.

road 5 more laps, but my back was killing me - i was tensing up on the bumps as it jarred my back and i was having a hard time breathing.

legs were awesome, i felt great - but to go on was going to be very difficult. i pulled the plug and pulled out. better to save it for another day.

eddie had a mechanical with his rear wheel, nam had some wheel issues, steve broke a frame... surely will be some good stories coming from this race.

gotta run -

sologoat out

pre-ride complete

flight out was pretyy un-eventful. got in late yesterday.



ergon gloves in use - been using them since big bear. very thin padded gloves - worked out awesome. no blister issues at all.



got to the course pretty early - hardly any other riders were out.



course was super dry - won't need mud tires this time. very easy to wash out and overshoot the corners.



course markings in some places were not up yet - they were doign some logging in some sections. rumor is, the course may change due to some of it.



some new sections were in...



but for the most part, it's the same course - in some places re-routed to connect to old sections from last years course.



this section is the same as last year...



ah - the section where i spent standing for about an hour in the middle of the night in the pouring rain last night.



and more single track....



and more single track....



and some pine sections - reminds me a lot of the michigan 100 miler course.



what better way to end the ride?

also got to talk to nat ross and chris - chris will be riding the hard tail 69er and nat got a new 29er hardtail.

that's it - gotta rest up.

sologoat out

leaving on an aeroplane

sorry for the lack of posts recently, been getting hit with some last minute work pretty heavily and putting the final touches on fitness, bikes and rest have soaking up tons of time.

today is the travel day, tomorrow and friday the pre-rides, then the big dance on saturday and sunday.

who's coming, who's not? i'm venturing that the solo field will be more stacked this year as i guessing that a few of the east coast boyz will be hitting up nationals this year.

that's it - gotta catch a flight

sologoat out

another adventure soon to begin

24 hour nationals up on the plate this week - field is going to be stacked.

same course venue as the 2006 race, hopefully with a little less rain this year. i don't feel like i need to re-create that bad train wreck at 4am and torential down pours. by far, the worst weather i ever road in.

justin from princeton tec will be out and i'll be bringing in 4 pit crew members - 3 of which are coming off an a disney vacation.

disney or 24 hour nationals - either way, i'm sure you'll get to see some magic either way.

sologoat out

mamasita pics

pics of the mamasita...

to truely respect this frame, you have to check out the rear stays and how crazy thin they get. this results in the back end of the bike being super light and responsive.

majority of the parts came off my 2006 asylums - one nice little bonus from dan the man was his custom polish job on my old xtr cranks.

that's it - gotta ride.

sologoat out

back from the 'goat

and i got the mamasita... must say that the rear carbon stays are much more dramatic then i remembered, and the white brothers rigid carbon fork looks pretty sweet. going to be super light overall.

moots is awesome, it too will be super sweet - and the ritchey breakaway is just too cool. for now, the ritchey will be kind of a frankenstein bike that will be put together with mostly spare parts and used mostly (if not all) for a travel bike.

that's it, hope to have some pics up today of the build ups - if not, check back tomorrow.

that's it - gotta get up to cleveland.

sologoat out.

say hello to the cx20

the alpha q cx20 will the be the fork of choice on the new moots cross bike build, coming in at 70 grams lighter then the standard cx model.

the cx 20 is noticeably slimmer, but still retains it's stiffness. couldn't believe the ride of the alpha q on the road moots - so when i had to pick a fork for the cross bike, this was a no brainer.

prep for nationals continues - the days are counting down... will be out there wendesday for maximum rest time - it is a relatively short flight that leaves one flying over a farm right before landing. awesome. congratulations - you've just landed in the middle of a corn field.

that's it - gotta get back to the work thing.

sologoat out

end of a nice weekend

here in ohio.

surly k monkey is gone, surly 1x1 still up for grabs.

this week, had some issues with a particular pair of shoes... something didn't seem quite right as my right knee was bothering me. upon inspection - somehow, the cleats were reversed. ah.... they came loose during the conyers race so somehow in the mix-up, something got reveresed.

not mucho going on this past week, just getting in the miles and starting the focus on naitonals coming up at the end of the month. i'll be getting out there a little earlier this year, so i'll maximize the rest and riding time.

this weeks focus is to continue the focus, re-order some hammer nutrition supplies, get some good rides in and a trip to the 'goat to get the asylums and a few other bikes put together.

been using the no-flavor heed this week - good stuff if you haven't tried it yet. sometimes i put some flavor in it by using hammer gel, but i like it straight up un-flavored.

that's it - gotta roll.

oh, how i love your seatstays

well, after praying for several months, thinking about it since september of last year, and talking endlessly about a magical scandium frame with carbon seatstays, it has finally arrived.

the salsa mamasita is the house of speedgoat.

thanks to all the shop who pulled out their magic on this one.

the WHITE BROTHERS SOLID RIGID CARBON FORK will compliment the rear triangle.

stay tuned - for now, back to work.

sologoat out

surly's up for grabs

surly 1x1 frame/fork in pepto pink straight from surly - this was not a custom paint job. selling f/f - and if wanted, pink king headset and paul single speed wheelset. ridden maybe a max of 6 times.



surly k monkey - selling all but wheels and bb/crank.

if any sologoat fan is interested, post a comment to the blog with your email and i'll get back to you. otherwise, these are going up for sale locally later 2 day.

sologoat out

random ernesto updates

and so i am done lamenting hours over the moots sl project.



parts are ordered and frame will be built up next week. it's going to be hella cool.



and somehow, dan the man fought off the masses and scored me a set of SPOOKY CARBON CANTI'S.

a few little tips and tidbits about the spookys: they don't include instructions, pads or cables. and they don't have any type of adjustablility. straight up, if i was building up an everyday cross/commuter type of bike, i probably wouldn't use them. so why do i? super light and simple - comes in a tad over 153 grams which is roughly 20 grams lighter then the avid canti's.

i'll be running a 1x9 system on the bike, utilizing a 42 tooth Salsa ring up front. tip on this setup is to use a 3rd eye in conjunction with some type of outside chain gaurd - this should help to prevent the chain dropping. i've found that most chain drops on cross bikes happens when re-mounting the bike when you go to put the bike down on the ground. with some practice, if you put the bike down more gently, you can eliminate chain drops.


and, the random assortment of bike parts for the ritchey breakaway is near complete. you'll see an assortment of parts that i had stashed away - new parts, old parts, parts off my pink surly, and a few one-off's from speedgoat including a mavic front wheel. it's purely a bike of function.


and - the surly's. i'll have pics up later today, but they are both getting stripped down and parted out. since i've posted the pink surly before, i'll give my blog fans first crack at them. info and pics up later today. post a comment to the blog with your email address if interested.

that's it - back to the jobby job.

sologoat out

you need this on your bike

let the comments begin...

sologoat out

a long hot weekend

was in store in ohio this weekend. it was so hot that...



it melted my spokes.. well, not really - but with two hours left in my ride, a spoke broke. nice.

sounds like a job for geniune george.

i can't breathe

my man harlan has a new post up in regards to marathon nationals. only a few east coast riders showed at the event - hmmm... could the 10,000 plus elevation be a factor?

check it out

sologoat out

randomness

you'll never know what you'll find down the next road. twice this year i found cash money - first was a 5 dollar bill, the next was a major jackpot - 20 bucks. sweet.

friday - well, i found what at first i thought was a serious weapon, only to come back and find out it was a ninja toy.

gotta run - need to get in some miles. and hopefully find some cash instead of odd toys.

sologoat out

tgif

whew, glad it's friday.

work is finally slowing down, which is a good thing as nationals is just a few weeks away. should give me plenty o' time to rest up and get a few minor repairs done on the asylums.

for nationals, i'll be running tubeless on both bikes - first run on the new stan's setup was at the lumberjack. setup actually was not that bad, but i am using stan's rims - which, from what i have heard, is much easier to do than trying to convert a standard rim to tubeless.

in racing news, chris e is ripping it up near the whistler area and harlan just pulled off a top ten at norba marathon nationals. nat was out nationals too, but i guess he dnf'd as i didn't see him listed...

and - congrats to dan the man. he's now the proud father of a home mortage.

not much more happening - some cross bikes to get together and some hours to get in the sadddle.

with that - sologoat out

it's 5am

it's the fourth of july dude - enjoy the holiday.

and for those freaks out in breck - rip it up today.

sologoat out.

a weekend of work

work.. it can always wait until after a ride. unfortunately, after waking and enjoying a good breakfast and 4 good cups of coffeee, and then your ride - you don't really feel like working on a beautiful day.



this weekend, for a special treat, i got moots cross bike #1 converted to road use. i was forced to put on yucky water bottles.



a constant obsession - my weight.



with that, i gotta get back to work - lots of reviews coming up, including a review on the tifosi's above. different type of frame/lens on this particular model, but it worked out great for todays ride.

and congrats to dan the man - he's pretty much an offical home owner as of saturday.

sologoat out