saturday ride

IMG_2174, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

not mucho going on these days other then selling off old stuff and getting ready for the 2010 season.

christmas was good, always too short - but i've got a ton of vacation days saved up from skipping cross nats so i have the rest of the year off. nice.

bonus christmas gift from dad from his reserve days - a set of army mittens in official army olive drab. yet another piece of cold weather gear that makes me look like a total nut, but will keep me nice and toasty.

winter training room upgrades will soon be done too - a new 32 inch flat panel tv, kreitler head unit that i had for like 7 years and never used is now setup,new dvd's and a polk center speaker - hope it all drowns out the fact that it's cold outside and i'm spinning away inside.

hammer nutrition sent me some goodies too - will say all of their winter gear is killer. the winter vests and jackets work really well - been using them for years. and their new winter gloves are awesome too - with a thin liner, my hands never got cold today.

anyhoo, off to the never ending house stuff. up today, staining our new doors. it's odd - i look forward to a 4 hour ride in 32 degree temps but despise the half hour of house work like it's the worse thing in the world to do.

with that - sologoat out

winter tropy race #1

was cold and slick, but a good time - and my new gear setup was running awesome.

a few weeks back at the boughton farm monkey on my back cross race, i dropped my chain 3 times. that's 3 times too many.

off with the 42 salsa ring, salsa ring guard and chain watcher.

on with the pauls chain guide and a salsa 40tooth ring. (42 will be kept around for flatter courses - and when i am not pedaling through 2 inches of snow)

fields were small, but the course was fun and flowing - and saw me hit the deck twice. was the second race where i was running my velocity wheels with challenge fango tubulars. after the race i was pretty much convinced i'll be running tubulars all next years cross season as i could rail it through the slippy s turn at the end - the tires gripped super well (only 2 wheel slide it once) and the sidewalls don't give out like a conventional clincher. never could hit that corner with that much speed or i would of been on the deck otherwise.

duked it out with matt most of the race and took the win. great course layout where you had to concentrate the whole time or you would hit the deck.

next up - let the mileage begin. with most of my house work done, i got vacation days to burn and hours to get in.

and now, i even have a kitchen table and no scaffolding in my living room.

sologoat out

conyers 24 win jersey

and other stuff for sale over at ebay as i start to build the fundage for my 2010 race season.

ck it here: ernesto ebay stuff

mostly clothes on there now, but i do have a few cool items...

some 9x2 campagnolo record carbon levers. super light, great condition - would look awesome on any cross rig out there.

and - a little piece of sologoat history. jersey that i won at 24 hours at conyers years back - actually would of been the year that 24 solo was shot at the same race venue.

happy bidding - other stuff up for sale next week, possibly going to put my 2008 salsa mamasita up for sale. any interest, message me.

sologoat out.

not mucho

BACX #9 - Boughton Farm 273
Originally uploaded by Flickr de Julie

going on these past few weeks, the winter trophy series is starting up as i start the 2010 season training, planning, etc.

lots of new sponsors to the mix which as it turns out, has me running pretty much the stock Pivot 429 XTR build up, minus a few parts here and there.

house work is looking like it is coming to an end, which is good. odd as it sounds, racing and work soaks up so much of my time that i have never had the room in my house or time to actually ever have a kitchen table. will be an odd site at my house to finally have a table.

and, i got a ton of parts to sell off to fund my 2010 racing and bike builds. check 'em out!

2009 cross nationals - sorry i couldn't be there. see you in 2010.

sologoat out

boughton farm

last race in the cleveland series, at the start was around 30 degrees.

sun came out, and so did the mud - 8 derailleurs saw their last day in the B race which lead to a slight re-route for our race.

gun went off, matt took off and eventually took the win along with the number one spot in the series. hats off to him - he skooled us all big time this year - today he finished 2 1/2 minutes up on second.

i had a good start, but dropped my chain. so i had to chase.

caught back up to shawn and gerry, dropped it a second time on the second lap.

from there, it was chain tension management - i had to keep constant pressure on the chain or else i felt like it was going to keep popping off.

game plan worked - it stayed on and i tried to reel back in gerry and shawn. got to within 10 seconds, but shawn's attack in the closing laps pushed their gap out just as i...

dropped my chain a 3rd time.

would eventually come in 6th on the day, 4th overall in the series. damn you boughton farm - i am destined to have a good race there, guess it will have to wait until next year.

sologoat out

one to go

09 kent kross 02
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

in the cleveland cross series, last race coming up this weekend and i got a secret weapon. will not confirm this secret weapon until the battle at the farm is over.

right now, sitting in 4th.

winter trophy series is up next for me after that, but i pretty much start 2010 training the day after the farm race.

2009 is just about wrapping up for me, but i would like to give thanks to all the sponsors who helped me get through the year - and for those sticking around into 2010. (more on that later)

in the meantime, mucho stuff in the sologoat garage for sale - check it out, got a little of everything including some cross stuff and a few bikes. if you don't see it, fire me off an email because i probably have two of them.

that's it - gotta roll. vacation days to schedule and miles to ride.

sologoat out