cohutta bound

2008 cohutta 100 - 11, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

soon to be heading southward for the first stop on the NUE series, Cohutta.

lots of fire roads, some sneaky single track to break things up - and watch out for that last section after the last feed area.

bike is all setup, new magura's just arrived yesterday so no chance for them this race.

time to race cohutta seems short in comparison to the time it seems like i spent on packing... anyhoo, stay tuned for updates, race reports and also reports of how awesome a cold fat tire ale is going to taste after 100 miles.

sologoat out

ratl #1

DSC_0164, originally uploaded by Robert Sroka.

saturday brought up the first race at the lake local yocal race which was going to be a great way to top off the training before cohutta.

heart rate was not that awesome and it looked like it was going to be a not that great of a day for me as my early ride heart rate was not looking good.

attacks went early, i went with one that looked like it was going to stick - heart rate hit about 192'ish went i made the split. group caught us and the big break that got away rolled off the front immediately after. damn.

few laps later, i jumped hard and got a little group going with 3 others - we would eventually gain 2 more riders (one from behind us, one dropped from the break).

most of us worked, we got within 30'ish seconds of a small two man break that was caught between us and the lead group and that was it.

once again, slow mountain bike legs did not work out too good in the sprint for 12th'ish place, but it was to see i could hold my heart rate at 175+ for over an hour at speed.

that's it - time to enjoy the holiday and get the bike prepped for next weekend.

sologoat out

friday night fun time

moots_road_bb, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

some people go out on a friday night, i replace bottom brackets and think about riding 5 hours the next day.

and racing a local yocal crit tomorrow and launching what i almost obligated to do as a first lap attack. it is destined to work one of these days.

ah, the things i do for excitement.

5+ hours in the saddle tomorrow, dreaming of the pain of cohutta next weekend. going to be good times.

sologoat out

4 hours and a new gutter

4 hours and a new gutter, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

so, my laziness cost me some damage to my sweet gutters - huge storm came and blew them down and tore away my temporary fix. damn.

somehow still managed to get in 4 hours of riding time and a bunch of work.

sweet stuff coming out of summer interbike - oops - i mean sea otter. xt goes to 2x10 with a 38 front big ring and sram also makes some gearing additions as well up front and also adds a 38 tooth option as well. i am guessing that like me, a lot of riders out there have a stash of 9 speed stuff but wanted a lower q-factor crank. with 34 tooth cassettes, it makes it a little more difficult to run the 2x10 and run it in the big ring as much as possible - which is the recommended way to run 2x10. with a 38 up front, the 34 in the back makes this option a good one, especially for a bike geek with 5 9 speed rear derailleurs and cassettes just sitting around.

and for all you riders out there that think a 38 tooth is too small for a front ring, i will give you some words of advice from my father: pedal faster.

sologoat out

valley road race recap

JulieLewis_20110417_ValleyRR, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

9am start times are a little nutty if you ask me, but for the second week in a row, hit up the local covered bridge road race.

temps were in mid 40's, field was smaller this week due to a big cash crit going in the 'burgh and a mountain bike race going on down south.

off the gun, two guys got a way and had a pretty sizeable gap. a few chasers went a few times, nothing stuck.

on the little rutty rocky gravelly rise after the start/finish, i started hitting it pretty fast and would carry it out until the tight corner - more as a measure to keep the break in sight as a few people were attempting to keep it close, so i decided to join in the effort.

3rd time hitting the climb super hard, i was just nearing the corner and eric from panther went flying by - i jumped his wheel and the break was formed with rudy, bob and dave.

pull, pull, pull - and we got away. a lap and a half to go and we caught them. guess i shouldn't of pulled so hard at the end as when we caught them, the 6 of us just kind of looked at each other until the finish.

dave led it out, everybody sprinted and i ended up 5th on the day. sprinting is not my specialty, that's for sure.

next up - rest and maybe something local, then heading down south to the Cohutta 100.

and - major thanks goes out to my facebook friends who somehow got me an entry to Syllamo's 100. now i just need to figure out my travel plans..

sologoat out

randomness

04142011_ride, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

things have been hectic as of late, so just a few tidbits of randomness.

randomness #01
last sunday's local training race had good weather, a long breakaway that got caught with two laps to go and a fast elbow filled finish. somehow i managed 7th'ish and ended up with 5 hours on the day.

randomness #02
got into syllamo's revenge today. stoked about that, looking forward to racing in arkansas again.

randomness #03
when a hawk dives at your head while clutching a bloody snake, you have to duck.

randomness #04
to the teenagers i saw in the park yesterday sitting and "minding their own business", yes i can smell weed from 30 feet away.

randomness #05
thanks to jim getting me setup with fizik again, and thanks goes out to ergon, continental, crankbrothers and jagwire for getting me supplies to me in the past few weeks for this year.

that's it - gotta roll. half way through a long training week, feel like i have to sleep, but the urge to ride is a little stronger.

sologoat out

0409 update

04082011_ride, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

training continues on with the season coming up fast - first local road racing going down this coming sunday. assuming no horrid weather conditions, i will start. NOT into the whole 9am start thing.

thanks goes out this week to continental and jagwire for sending me out some bike goodies.

next weekend will have me hitting up mohican where i will actually race a short cross country race - something i have not done in years, so it should be interesting to see how the legs turn over at high effort.

SRAM 2x10 upgrade saga has now come to an end - when in doubt, RTFM. threw out the picture install guide, referred to the actual huge mechanic guide and saw that i had the b adjustment on the rear derailleur way out of whack. after that, the stuff actually shifts. imagine that...

with that, gotta roll - long day in the saddle about to commence.

sologoat out

michaux mash DNS

040111_combo, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

well, got to the venue last friday, did a lap and it was just not for me.

very early on had a stream crossing, something i was not feeling to great about in 25 degree temps. considering the overall layout, i decided to bag it before it even began and went out on a ride with gerry instead. ended up having a pretty cruddy day on the bike, so in the end it didn't seem like too bad of a decision not to race. maybe i should concentrate on getting more then 5 hours sleep a night, would probably do some wonders for the legs.

so, rest and easy rides it was for me this week, along with some pretty "exciting" CPA courses in the 'burgh.

this weekend, bike work and some reading on how to dial in the SRAM 2x10. still being a slight pain to me.

that's it -
sologoat out