SoloGoat Blog

Friday

2012-01-14T10:20:00.001-05:00

Friday Mohawk day at the Ernesto casa, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

Ahhh.... Busy, busy, busy.

Update from the Ernesto casa is that I have been super busy with work, riding, bike and computer repair. Wish I could sleep some more.

Up first on the plate this year will be a trip out west to warmer temps to the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo where I will be teaming up again with fellow Pivot backed rider Brian Bennet and racing duo.

Course is off the path from town a bit where on course you will have to dodge slow moving free range cows, faster moving (and sometimes unpredictable) riders, and the non-moving cacti which hurt like hell if you have an encounter with them.

Overall terrain is mostly single track'ish with a few spots to pass - but be careful as the single track pass areas are short in length and painful if you screw up.

Throw in the bitches section which is a wide open jeep trail road with a 3 or 4 little rises that seem to really hurt after about 8 hours of riding them. And through in a typical headwind on that section and hence the name.

Fast rolling section after that, another short jeep road section, more fast single track past the tree where riders like to have free and open to the public stash of hard liquor.

Over the road, single/double track section moderate climb where you can pass a lot of riders if you got good legs.

Then, down towards the venue. Fast twisty turns and that big rock section right before the start/finish where everybody likes to take pictures and see if you fall.

Overall, great early season rolling course with no big sustained pain efforts, very minimal rocks and nothing sketchy -- which makes it great for this time of the year for the geared riders and would also be a great one to ride either full rigid or single speed style.

With that coming up and with 20 degree temps, time for a long roller session to ensue.

Ernesto out

MIA, 2011 and 2012

2011-12-31T10:50:00.001-05:00

MIA, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

OK, back from an extended leave of absence from blog posting and updates. Bike and non-bike work has kept me busy since after Turkey day and I am now somewhat getting caught up with life in general, but somehow I do wish I had another 2 weeks off after this.

2012 will see somethings changing for me on the road side, as I switch over to the dark side that I stepped away from years ago.

In the past, I typically used early road racing to supplement my huge mileage base that I need for endurance racing. I would train, train, train and race here and there. Road racing just gave me endurance base and the fields were not too stacked. In a typical year, I was racing 3-5 24 hour events and a handful of 100 miler'ish type of events.

Speed up to the past few years. 100 milers (6/8/12 hours too) now dominate the endurance scene and the economy has change quite dramatically making the shorter endurance events more popular and making the fields quite stacked with competition. Instead of just rolling up the first climb, I am sprinting for dear life to hold on.

Hence my game plan change last year which was to hit up more the Cleveland Tuesday night crit worlds in Westlake to help with my fitness and speed and it payed off. Enough to have me up my efforts on the road side with Carbon Racing and to concentrate mostly on criterium and long road races.

On the mountain side, my schedule will mostly remain the same as it has in years and I will be concentrating on the 100 miler type of endurance events. On the 24 hour side, I will be racing Old Pueblo again as a duo and I am contemplating a few other duo and solo events as well.

On the cross side of the world, I will be making a full out effort in 2012 as I have promised myself a full season of racing for the past few years and the 24 Hours of Moab usually threw a monkey wrench in all of it. Rough plans is to start my season off with the Nittany cross race in September if it doesn't coincide with either Shenandoah or Fools Gold. If so, see you at Cross Vegas.

For those sponsors who helped me during the 2011 season - thanks for your support.

And for those continuing on for 2012, thanks in advance.

See you on the Ernesto Pain Train 2012 Tour soon.

Ernesto out

4th at Kirtland Park

2011-11-21T20:45:00.005-05:00

Last battle in Cleveland for the cross season would be a classic battle again with Paul, John and Steve. Course was the typical layout for the venue, with a few new twists added by incorporating a jungle gym and a different set of stairs. Classic.

Gun goes off and I somehow manage the lead position going into the first corner. Through a few more twists and turns, I was still at the front but I wanted to get out of the front as I could see things had immediately got strung out.

On the straight, up the stairs and up to the sketchy section of stairs I was making the majority of time up in practice and I run into the tape trying to see who was still on my wheel. Dah. I loose three spots and I am immediately go from leading to chasing.

Steve would take the lead. Paul and John would sit in front of me for a bit, and I chased.

4 to go and I was closing after we had gapped off most of the field. Seeing me coming, John and Paul up the pace a bit.

Going onto the sketchy steps, Paul dabs and John takes off. We are now 4 riders alone.

The gap to Paul shortens, but going up the stairs with 2 laps to go, I make a pretty serious dab and have to dismount after nearly whipping out falling backwards.

I would hold on for 4th for the day, about a minute separating the top 4 again.

Would end up 6th in the series despite having only race 6 races. Bummed out I could not have raced more, but pretty happy with how things went this year and was glad to see some good hard racing go late into the year.

For now, I'll take a bit of a break and then plan out the rest of the cross year. Will be hitting up Nationals and possibly Masters Worlds, but I also have to think about a duo 24 hour race in February.

Ernesto out

3rd at Willoughby

2011-11-16T07:00:00.005-05:00

Past Sunday was the next to last race of the NEO CX series - here's how it went down.

Got there early to pre-ride = aweosome.

Got there early to take a spill on the first warm up lap and break my brand new Sram Red front shifter = Not awesome.

Course was a tough one, the wind was bad and the run up was going to be hellish. Other then that, a few turns and a dismount and a lot of wind.

Gun goes off. I get punched in the gut and elbowed in the face to in the fight to win the first sprint up the climb to take the Oakley sunglass prize at the top to the first one to round the corner.

John takes the shades at the top. (It was a clean battle all the way to the top - but there may have been some elbows in there somewhere)

Things spread out fast as Steve and Paul put the hammer down. I get pinched a bit as I try to make my way back up to John as I battle the wind.

I push on, and soon I am by myself about 50 feet'ish behind John when I start to see we are pulling back Steve.

Just as I near John and Steve, John speeds off and I catch Steve. Steve is immediately on my wheel as John continues to sit just in front of me. I figure Steve is not going to chase so I try to bridge the gap.

John is holding the gap as I am battling back and fourth with Steve. I sit back a bit and let a gap get in between Steve and myself, hoping that he would try to get to John - with a plan that I would a big jump on the last climb of the day.

I would close the gap back down with 2 to go and Steve would take himself out in the same corner I bashed my lever up on in warmup.

I would take home 3rd on the day - Paul took a hard fought win in the wind and John would take 2nd. Guessing maybe a max of 30-40 seconds separating the 3 of us at the end.

1 more NEO race to go, bummed I am not going to be in the overall as I missed too many races. Will be the first time in a long while where I haven't done enough Cleveland cross races to get in the overall.

Ernesto out

3 days in Cinci

2011-11-10T14:58:00.005-05:00

Here it is - better late then never, still trying to finish up some bike work and figure out if I want to glue up some tubulars or not.

Day 1
As usual, I was running late getting over to Shawn's place. Running an hour late, we made our way south towards Cincinnati. Soon we would run into traffic several times, putting us even later the expected.

The course was soft and muddy, lots of climbing and throw in a couple sets of barriers. One lap of warmup, some hill sprints to warm up and to the start line.

First muddy corner, everybody going for the win right there, and a huge crash. One guys gets up to see a frame broken in half. I get around it, but loose time in the process.

Immediately, the burn starts coming into my lungs and it is pretty obvious I did not warm up enough. Soon, the leaders would catch up to me and I would get yanked.

Very disappointing day for both Shawn and I which was a bummer as it was mostly caused because of me running late - but I would wind up with some cash for the day, so it was not a total loss.

Day 2

Day 2 brought the Java Johnny's course, a course which I did decently on a few years back so I was looking forward to racing the mostly flat and fast course.

Gun goes off and I have a decent start, sitting mid pack.

Soon, we are going by the pit. Another rider in front of me suddenly slows and swings far right and looks right and starts waving and yelling "hi" to his buddy in the pits - totally looking away from the upcoming left corner.

I continue on with the gas, pass him and go into the corner and then wham - the idiot looking the other way hits into my rear derailleur super hard as he didn't see me. Nice. He says something to me, I pedal away not noticing he bent the rear hanger.

3 corners later, I take a corner wide and sweep in tight - just like i did every time in practice as it was the fastest and safest way to get around it. but - the same idiot that hit me before, hit me again. this time, intentionally. it sent me flying, i tried to counter steer and partially rolled the tubular. Great, 2 minutes into a race and this jack ass takes me out.

I climb back on, try to catch on after pulling the tubular on and pedal on.

20'ish minutes later, I am nearly catching the back of Shawn's group and my front tire washes out and the tubular completely rolls off. it also snaps the shifter clamp band.

Game over.

Great. So much of these races are the first 4-5 minutes and needless to say it is very frustrating to get behind an idiot. And when you finally get around them, they intentionally take you out. I don't understand that logic at all.

But - hats off to Sram Neutral support. Free upgrade from a Sram Apex front shifter to a Sram Red so I could use the bike the next day.

Day 3

The last day of racing would be a tough one, the course was all soft and muddy and had a decent little climb in it. Lot's of power would be required.

We get to the venue about 3 1/2 hours early. The organizer was running late on time, so he cut ALL pre-riding of the course. I was NEVER able to ride a full complete lap during warm up as the officials would start yelling and blowing there whistles. Was a total FAIL in all of the riders minds to not let us ride all of it - especially considering they were cutting us off from riding the last 1/2 mile'ish of the course when the next race had not even started - even with lap times running over 7-8 minutes. Unreal.

Gun would go off, and I took off from the last row. Super awesome. Not.

The first few corners I get pinched, pinched again, and then I am at the back with the majority of the guys faltering on the twisty section by the road that I had cleared every time in warmup.

I play catch up, picking off a few riders here and there. I feel like I am riding the best of the 3 days so far, but soon the leaders are catching up.

I get yanked again, but end up with some cash for the day.

All in all, good eye opener for me to get my attitude adjusted before nationals, but I wish things had turned out a bit better.

Time to glue up some tubulars.

Ernesto out

Photo credit - Julie Lewis

Two 2's and OH states mention in CX mag

2011-10-31T20:15:00.006-04:00

This past weekend was the latest of NEO cross race series, a double weekend hosted by Brett Davis.

Saturday:
This was the "mandatory" Halloween costume day - show up without a costume and you get a 30 minute penalty. Needless to say, everybody came in some sort of costume. I opted for the Green Lantern.

Got there early and decided to take a spin around the course and check it out - like I have done every year for the past 5 years.

Alas, according the official who apparently knows a lot of rules, I was not allowed to pre-ride when a race was going on. Must of been friends with the guy at the Cincy 3 day cross weekend a few years back that I saw going around checking pit bikes for bar end plugs because he was getting ready to not allow the bike in the pit if he found one missing.

So I continued to warm on the parts that he couldn't see - I mean the road - and I prepared for a muddy and slick'ish cross race.

Gun went off and we all went a blazing through a short lap loop.

At the garage door stream crossing, Phatty and Steve went down.

I slowed and made it, others did not.

Gaps went out immediately. I got around Phatty and joined up with John P.

I was able to ride the barriers which was good as I didn't want to deal with possible mud issues with remounting.

I soon parted ways with John and then tried to get back time on Steve. Things were slick and muddy, but I had some pretty awesome lines and I started to grab back seconds from him.

With the laps closing, I was running out of time. With about a lap and a half to go, I bobbled and lost about 10 seconds. I lost the chase to catch Steve, but rode in steady for the next 10 minutes to hold on for second.

Sunday:
The course was the same only reversed this day and the sun had come out somewhat and had dried things up a bit. Brett added a bridge to save us from the mud and with things tacky it was going make some corners slippy but most of them grippy.

With a smaller field the gun went off and I somehow got the hole shot for once in my life. Immediately I was off with John and Ross.

I pulled for most of the first lap, John got around me and pulled on the second and Ross was hanging in with us riding a 29er.

Pace was hot as we went back and fourth with strong pulls, then Ross slowed a bit and dropped from our group of two.

John and I would go back and fourth, pulling and sprinting as hard as we could out of the corners and on the straights trying to drop each other. John ended whacking his head off a tree in the pine section (which I think was the same one I hit really hard last year) and got cut a bit, but it was merely a flesh wound and we continued on.

Gaps were holding, but Dan creeped up on us a bit, then we upped the pace a bit as we tried to drop each other some more. I was saving a move for the last lap as the person going into the single track on the last lap would be hard to pass at the finish.

John lead in the field heading into the triple barrier that we had been jumping the whole day. Right before it, I got in front of him and ran over the barriers and remounted - and nailed it. I had a gap, but then ended up loosing it in the left hand turn by the garage. John got around me.

Through the twisty stuff, I got right back on him. Over the garage door bridge he slowed a bit thinking that the line was closer - we sprinted and he got the win by about a wheel'ish length or so. Good hard racing, congrats to John as I took home 2nd for the 2nd day.

Ohio State cross coverage:
And, in case you missed it - the Ohio State cross race got some coverage in CX magazine which has a nice article and some great pics.

You can check it out HERE

Ernesto out

Ohio State Cyclocross Championships

2011-10-25T07:43:00.008-04:00

This past weekend was the Ohio State Cross championships, and here's how things went down.

Saturday - Single Speed:

I signed up for both the Single Speed and Masters age group, but things were going to be tight between the races as the Masters race was right after the Single Speed race. It sounded good in theory thinking about it earlier in the week.

Field was about 20'ish or so riders, some of whom I know, most of the others I did not.

Course was flat and twisty and the rains from the previous days had left the course soft and muddy in some spots. Things were drying out a bit from the little bit of sun peeking out from the clouds, but not much.

Gun went off and I started spinning out the 39x18 I had on my old Indy Fab single speed cross bike. Soon, I found myself with Nate Z and another rider off the front of the race with one lap down.

On the second lap, I put the pressure on and got a little bit of a gap but I was pushing the heart rate limits hard so I eased it back a bit to see what was going on with the rest of the field.

Nate and the other rider come back and I let them take some pulls for the next few laps. The other rider is strong, but keeps taking consistent foot dabs and bad lines so I bide my time.

Two laps later on the back straight with no wind protection and a head wind, I let the rider take a nice long pull. Right before the 3 soft corners before the 3 tight corners before the straight, I jump around him and nail all the corners as fast as I could go. I got out of the last corner and onto the finish straight with a good 7-10 second gap.

I pushed on.

Now clear of my mini lead pack, I start riding my good lines that I was hiding in the first few laps and I slowly start building a gap.

I was feeling good and the gap grew. I stayed steady with the effort and took home the Single Speed Title for 2011.

Afterwards, thinking about the effort, my trashed and dirty bike and coughing from my asthma, I decided to bag the Masters race to save all efforts for the Elite race on Sunday. In hind site, it was a great decision.

Sunday - Elite Men:

Can to the start line on the first row, with a field of about 30'ish riders. Most notable riders were John Proppy, Steve T, Paul M and Shawn A. Not doing much of the OVCX series, I did not know the majority of the others, but the Cleveland contingent was mucho strongo and a serious amount of pain was about to go down.

Gun went, all guns were a blazing and I think I either got chopped off, cut off, or bumped by at least a half dozen or so of my closest friends going for the first corner.

Through the first corners, and over the barriers, I moved into the top 4-6 riders with the pace still a little hot.

Over the small barrier, into the sand, onto the straight. Paul comes flying by and comes straight to the front to show his presence. The pace goes up even faster.

Second lap and we are stringing things out. Gaps start to grow, and I try to concentrate on my lines, the barriers and in staying on the front. That back straight will hurt big time if I didn't stay with the front group.

3 laps in things have dwindled down and I am in all out pace group containing myself, Paul and Bike Authority teammates Steve and John.

I immediately thinking that John and Steve are going to try to one-two us as for a few laps, one would up the pace and the other would sit back a bit and let a small go. The gaps would close as I don't think any of us wanted to miss out on the win.

Bad luck would happen for John first as he slipped out and then immediately dropped his chain. The pace was hot and immediately we got a gap.

Now a group of 3, we all had digs at each other.

Paul and Steve both took good strong pulls on the straights as I hung tight to their wheels on the tight sections.

Paul took a small spill at one point, and then came right back to us - even with Steve taking some pretty clean lines and good pulls.

The course was technical, lots of good hard turns for me and Steve to show our stuff, and with a long straight for Paul to show his hella power. It seemed like we were even and it was going to come down to the last few corners as the straight was to short for a real sprint.

So, we started watching each other after attacking each other for the past 55 or so minutes. Going through the start/finish, I knew it would come down to the long back straight and I had to stay close to them.

Over the barrier, into the sand and Paul and Steve lite it up and got a gap on me immediately, but I closed in on them right before the first soft left hand corner after the straight.

Paul narrowly got ahead of Steve, but Steve didn't give up and going into the tight corners before the straight, Steve tried to take to inside line.

I was directly behind them, but I thought for a second they would both crash each other out. Paul held his line and disaster struck for Steve as he rolled his front tubular off and fell down.

I got by, still going pretty hot myself. I closed the gap to Paul as he fought to stay upright. Going out of the last corner he jumped hard and had a good 10-15 gap on me coming onto the straight.

Paul would take the win, I would finish second and Steve would run in and place 3rd.

Great day of racing and rubbing elbows, happy with my finish and overall weekend and pretty stoked to see 3 Cleveland area riders take all 3 top spots at the State Championships.

Ernesto Out

photo credits:
Julie Lewis, Lisa Martin, Blair Fraley, Kurtis Fraley

10.20.11 update

2011-10-20T06:07:00.002-04:00

After two weeks out west, I am finally getting somewhat settled, but not really.

Bikes and gear to sort out from the trip, work has piled up and projects are coming due, and sponsorship proposals to get out. I think I need another vacation.

But, the end of the madness is coming closer to an end and I am getting pumped up for this weekend's Ohio State Cross Championships. It will be a good battle, and it may end up being a battle of Cleveland Cross racers for the state title in the 1/2/3 class.

Sponsorship proposals going out the door, hope to have most of my stuff done by this weekend. Good to see some of them confirm already for 2012 as I have already laid out some of my races for the upcoming year already and I want to thank them for their support.

With that, better run - busy day today getting the bikes tuned up and ready for the trip down south for the weekend.

Hmmm.... What gear to run Saturday?

Ernesto out

2nd at the 24 Hours of Moab

2011-10-13T00:14:00.006-04:00

Field was about 30 or so deep, the weather the week before was rained filled and patted down the typically dusty conditions. After not sleeping much the night before the race and waking up to misty rain conditions, I made my way out to the venue.

As race time neared, the conditions bettered. The clouds cleared the dust gun and the field lined up on the start line for the Le Mans style running start. ¼ mile round trip around the sage brush and to your bike, down the road aways and onto the course.

Gun goes off, everybody starts running and I have my typical horrible run but quickly make up some ground once on my bike.

I am in the top 15-20 riders going into the first section of single track. Not many riders are near me and I pick off a few here and there along the miles and a few catch me. I log in my first lap and am somewhat surprised to find out I am sitting in 3rd after having what I thought was a decent lap.

I make a quick stop for refueling and made my way out for my second lap.

Chasing and chasing, I was staying steady but not gaining much. As I came through on my 2nd lap I overheard the announcer saying that the two solo leaders were together. It was going to be tough to pull back one rider, let alone two working as one.

I chase and chase, and finally I catch one of the riders as he bobbled on one of the rock sections on the 4th or 5th lap. He’s looking a little fatigued from the pace and I push on but the lead rider still eludes me. He would eventually finish 3rd on the day.

Temperature was cooler all during the raced hitting maybe in the mid 60’s during the day, but the night was setting in and temperature would start dropping. Little did I know it would go as low as it did.

Lights came on and the gap to the lead rider was going in the wrong direction as he was putting time into me on each lap. The remaining pack of riders were in our wake and by about 8pm’ish or so, we had lapped most of the field – only 4 rider remained on the same lap as us.

The laps ticked off, we made battery changes and put on extra clothing, but at about 2am and 30 degrees I was freezing my arse, hands and feet off. Duct tape on my shoes, neoprene on my hands, thicker hat on my head and a windstopper vest went on.

On the next lap, I find out the lead rider stopped. I later find out his light burned out and he was going hypothermic and stopped.

I continue on, now in the lead.

I push on, riding at the same effort but my back is hurting me and my wrists are in bad shape all from some earlier falls as I stuff some heater packs into my back pocket for warmth and to loosen up my tightening back muscles.

Two laps later, the rider I was chasing previously now catches me and regains the lead from me. After warming up and getting some new batteries, he rides past me at a fast pace that I cannot match.

Only a lap two later and the lights came off – which feels like a huge lift off my back. By this time I had lapped the entire field except the lead rider and had locked up 2nd.

I pushed on in chase of 1st, but the gap was staying steady. I was starting to count down the laps.

As the laps rolled on and the finish time neared, the gap to first was nearing 11am and the gap back to 3rd was nearing the lap and ½ mark. As I came in at near 11am after 23 hours, I called it a day and would finish out 2nd on the day.

Not the result I had hoped, but my nutrition was dead on and the asthma meds were awesome as I had no breathing issues at all for the first time in 4 years at Moab.

Huge thanks goes out to my support crew for getting me through the event and for my 2011 sponsors – could not have done it without you!

Ernesto out

14 hours to 24

2011-10-07T22:44:00.004-04:00

Last post before the start of the 24 Hours of Moab.

Rain has been hitting town all week, pushing down the dust and the temperature. Last night saw some frost on the cars in the AM, so I am sure it's going to be a little chilly at night and my pit crew will have their double burners propane heater going on high.

Sand is not so bad this year, areas have been brushed away by the course helpers but the rain has padded the sand down a ton. And, unbelievably, the sport trucks that roam most of the course we ride on has helped packed it down even more.

A lot of teams and riders have rolled in today, solo men field is up to about 30'ish riders. Men's sport and expert classes are getting some decent sized fields, along with the just for fun class.

That's it, time to rest up. I'll try to get a post up on Sunday.

Ernesto out

Moab update

2011-10-06T12:31:00.002-04:00

Thursday here in Moab, and the weather has been a little on the cold side with some doses of rain. Tuesday saw me split town early from Fruita as the temps got cold and the rain rolled in, so I opted to stay dry and head 2 hours to Moab.

First day in Moab saw me hitting up the roads as the skies were overcast and it looked like it was going to rain. Opting not to clean the bike for an hour, I went out and got blown around on the road.

Hit up a couple of laps on the Moab course yesterday and as was expected, the course is pretty much the same layout as all the years past. It's pretty packed down from the recent rains, but the sand and wind is still there in sections to rob you of speed and mess with your head. Think of it as riding in powder snow in the winter with all the wind but no totally freezing weather. Put it like that, it seems like heaven compared to a cold February Ohio ride.

Does not seem to be as many riders rolling in this year, not sure if 24 Hour Nationals had an effect on the turnout - but the solo men field is nearing around 30'ish riders, so we are looking at a decent sized field. A possibility of no Moab 24 hour race next year will add a little bonus dynamic to the event.

AM rain and high temps of only 60 degrees for Saturday will play well for me to keep down the dust which seems to inflame my asthma. Let's hope the wind dies down a bit so it does not blow me or my pit tent off course.

That's it for now - one last post tomorrow before the race, and hopefully an update on Sunday assuming I can feel my fingers.

Ernesto out

I am seeing a therapist

2011-10-02T22:29:00.002-04:00

And her name is Fruita Colorado.

Sorry for the minimal blog postings, but work has been nutty as of late and the Pivots needed some TLC before I headed west again to Moab - but not before stopping at one of my favorite little towns in Colorado, Fruita.

Next up on the schedule for me is 24 Hours of Moab, my last endurance race of the year. After Moab I will "taper down" and race a full cross season. Ohio State championships is two weeks after I get back, so that should be interesting.

Today saw my first day of riding here in Fruita, and I am happy to say that the trails still kick arse and that there has been some trail work here and there on some sketchy sections.

More on that later - time to grab some food and hit the sack.

Ernesto out.

2 race update

2011-09-21T13:49:00.002-04:00

First race update: Whiskey Island, this past Sunday

First cross race of the year, and it was a tough one at that. Hella winds on the cement backside, a small sand pit, twist and turns and a few logs. It was going to hurt.

Gun went off, bumping of elbows quickly ensued and a few twist of fates and bad lines from other riders got me up towards the top 6'ish within the first few corners.

Soon we would have things stringed out with a high pace that had most of the field behind and chasing. Paul, myself, Matt and Steve were all in the lead group.

The pace was high, then somewhat slowed down which brought a vicious attack from Paul and he quickly got a gap with about 4'ish laps to go. I tried to chase, but was quickly countered. Hmm....

Matt attacked, I chased for a bit, then sat back. Steve immediately jumped and got across, but it was on the cement section and the wind was at my back. I caught back on quickly.

Back and fourth, then finally Steve attacked and I decided not to chase. Game over unless I could out tactic Matt at the end.

Matt would gap me, but I caught back up to him in the sandpits near the finish. Coming over the logs, I pinched through the barriers and the course markings and got around him. I would take 3rd but get relegated to 4th as I was "out of bounds" for going over the tape in the last corner. Hmmm...

Second race update: Westlake worlds, yesterday
Last race of the Tuesday nighters for me as I got a work thing going on next week so I thought I would go out with a little bit of a bang and try to get as many points as I could.

Every lap was sprint lap, snagged a couple right of the bat, Dave came by me on one other, then I went into stealth mode and snaked out 3 more sprints going from a long way out.

Wasn't the easiest thing to do and it left me a little sapped for the last sprint. Had decent position, but Bob lit up the lead out sprint from waaaaaaaaaaaay out having us making up ground with the line coming up fast - too fast in fact. Shawn would be 5th, I would be 6th.

So, looks like I will wrap up the season in 7th at Westlake Worlds for the year. Had a great time hitting up more races this year compared to last, and I hope to make it out to the majority of them next year.

And - congrats to Dave as it looks like he has wrapped up the overall win for the year.

Ernesto out

IB2011 - TRP

2011-09-18T18:50:00.003-04:00

TRP introduces an update from their RRL Alloy called the RRL SR. The same basic features of their older lever (push button quick release is very nice) but saving a whooping 5 grams compared to the standard levels, but definitely has a "wow" factor look to it.

And the talk of show for cross season is the introduction of now allowing disc brake use on cyclocross bikes. So, one has to figure out a way to run standard road levers running standard cables and have them operate hydraulic lines.

Hence, the TRP Parabox which is run below your stem. Have to admit, from photo's I saw before the show, it looked a lot bulkier then what it really is. Weight is around 450 grams for the setup seen above which includes the hose's and the brakes. Caliper up front is slightly bigger then the rear caliper and the pistons inside the converter are also different sizes as well. Setup is intended to give some modulation to the braking instead of locking it up when you panic and grab the levers.

All in all, weight doesn't seem that bad just for this setup, but I not sold on this yet as to run the who setup requires rotors and a bigger hub in the back... And don't forget a spare wheelset too. 135 wheelsets with a road style rim are not that common, especially if you want to run something higher end. Guess if weight is not a concern, this is a good setup - but I won't be running it any time soon.

Ernesto out.

IB2011 - Pivot and BH

2011-09-17T20:32:00.005-04:00

First ride of my 2011 Interbike adventure was the BH RX1 cross bike. Sporting a full carbon frame and a BB30 bottom bracket, the bike was quick, fast and very responsive. The bike felt solid and the geometry was dead on.

The bike was sporting the older glossy Ultegra 10 speed shifting group, with a 36/46 front ring and a 11x25 in the back with a FSA Gossamer crank. Personal preferences would have me switch the rear cassette to an 11x28 for a wider range when in the big 46 ring (the rear derailleur is long caged and can handle it) and maybe a slightly lower weight crank. Otherwise, I have a fondness of the glossy Ultegra as it is lightweight and I feel it shifts just as well as Dura Ace at a much lower price.

And don't forget the full carbon tapered fork up front, which helps to stiffen up the front end and to eliminate fork chatter under high speed braking. Tapered forks are just an absolute must on any high end cross frame anymore, and it's nice to see it on this bike.

Great riding bike, nice overall setup. Pull it out of the box, slap on some pedals and get ready for an hour of pain (or fun?) at your next cross race.

Next up - the new designed 429 from Pivot.

This new design saves about a half pound from last years model. (ya!)

And is also sporting a half inch tapered fork. (Stiffens up the front end - awesome!)

And, a 12mm through axle. (Stiffens up the bike side to side, especially when standing.)

And finally, the new Fox Adaptive Logic RP23 Kashima shock with custom tuned rebound and Propedal settings. This new configuration allows quick access to the full maximum Propedal setting while still being able to select the other settings based on the course or riding conditions.

Very excited to see these updates on the 429 and the changes are awesome updates to an already great frame. These changes will make my 2012 race bikes even better handling and more responsive then the previous model and will put my race bike weight at under 23 pounds.

Ernesto

Interbike brief

2011-09-17T12:34:00.004-04:00

Interbike2011 (38), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

OK, finally have caught up some sleep after crashing out for 11 hours after a redeye flight on Thursday night. Thanks to the little chick who decided that her huge boyfriend should sit in the middle seat on the flight back home so that all 3 of us would be completely uncomfortable. Awesome. Not.

Went into the show with some mixed feelings but went out feeling great about the upcoming year and having the chance to meet up with old friends and contacts and to meet with new ones.

It's ying and yang, white and black, all is equal. Things just have an odd way of working out.

So, heading out for a ride and will be hitting up some Interbike posts when I am back. For now, check out my flickr Interbike set and check back at the blog for some updates.

Ernesto out.

Interbike Flickr Set HERE!

Interbike day 3

2011-09-15T11:36:00.001-04:00

Interbike2011 (0), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

OK, a few days late in the Interbike posting. Here's what has been going down so far...

Day 1 saw a beutiful day of riding at Bootleg Canyon which is just miles away from the Hoover Dam. Trails were sandy and fast as usual, with a lot of rocks and flat tires to go with it.

Had rides on the new Mamasita and Horsetheif from Salsa and a short ride on the BH cross bike. Pretty low key day of hanging out with the Pivot gang and walking around.

Day 2 saw us back at Bootleg Canyon. Heading out for the early 8am ride heading out to Lake Mead, the shower storms were looming in the distance. I snaked the early start as the ride started on the bike path which also doubled for water drainage and was littered with small rocks and wierd corners. Did not want to deal with that in a pack of riders.

Right before the turn to head towards the lake, I stopped to put on my Gore rain cape and it was just then that I saw the main group coming full on, race mode. Hmm..

A mile or so of people rubbing elbows with me on the wet bike path, we were on the road. Full blown attacks. Stupid.

So I backed off of the pace at the turn around point, but only after I had made the "lead group" and dropped almost all of the pack in the pouring rain.

And, oh ya, I was on the BH cross bike running a 46/36 front rings.

End of day saw me on the new Pivot 429. Rad - write up coming later.

Day 3 saw the first day of the indoor show, and a few new twists as they opened up more floor space on a lower level. Bike vendors were eagerly waiting, willing you to their booth. Ya, it's odd seeig a product that you immediately look at and know that it will never make it in the industry and having somebody trying to sell you opn it.

Affirmed some of my sponsors from this year, hopefully got some new ones for 2012.

With that, better run. Interbike day 4 and a late flight to catch.

Ernesto out.

10:15 on a saturday night

2011-09-10T22:06:00.001-04:00

10:15 on a saturday night, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

And it's on the verge of yet another Interbike and the start of the cross season for me, even when the endurance season is not done.

Should be an interesting show, lots of new product out there.

Pivot has the new Mach 5 Carbon and the new designed 429 which shaves about a 1/2 pound off from the previous version.

Moots has a new 29er full suspension out.

Foundry is new to the market with 4 new carbon frames which includes one road frame and is teaming up with Whiskey which is offering up some very nice carbon forks, stems, bars and other great carbon stuff. The flat matte carbon looks extra kewl.

Redline has their new lineup of cross bikes out, this time carbon, bb30, tapered full carbon forks, internal cable routing for all cables, ability to run full cable housing for the rear brake and a special built bb housing with a hole for water drainage. Did I miss anything? Oh ya. You can run disc brakes.

New cross disc brake stuff is out out too, though I am not a big fan. Still too heavy in my books. And, since disc brakes are on cross bikes and all disc hubs run 135mm rear spacing, the cool new thing is to run 135mm rear spacing on the "new" cross bikes.

Hmmm. When did Ernesto start running 135 as his preferred rear wheel spacing? About 7 years ago. Jeez, the industry is finally catching up with me.

That's it, gotta roll. Going to be an odd Interbike, I just have a feeling. Here's to catching up with good friends who share a common interest - an obsession with a common interest of riding.

Keep the rubber side down friends - see you in Vegas. (And keep the brews cold!)

Ernesto out

Gore Bike Wear Product Review - Part 3 of 3

2011-09-08T23:16:00.025-04:00

Gore Bike Wear Oxygen SO Arm Warmer

Designed with Windstopper soft shell fabric, these arm warmers are a thicker material designed to keep you warm and dry. Same gripper elastic is used on these arm warmers that is used on many of the Gore Bike Wear products, which is great as they are very grippy and help keep to keep the arm warmer stay in place - which will make them my arm warmer of choice this cross season.

Would typically run these when the temperature starts running below 55 degrees or so. Otherwise, I would run with the thinner designed Gore Ozon arm warmer.

Gore Bike Wear Ozon Leg Warmer

Fleece lined, but not overly bulky to stop one from packing it on a potentially cool late fall evening ride, the Ozon leg warmer is a nice option to add your cycling accessories.

Sporting flatlock seems to prevent skin irritation and pressure points, reflective materials near the ankle zippers and an anatomical fit, they are a great option for cool weather riding.

(PRO TIP: I actually prefer to run this type of leg warmer with a fleece lined bib during the winter as I feel that I get a more customized clothing fit as I have found it hard to find a proper fitting winter full length bib tight. As an added bonus, I like that my knees effectively have a double protection from the elements.)

Gore Bike Wear Product Review - Part 2 of 3

2011-09-08T23:16:00.023-04:00

Next up in my Gore Bike Wear product review is....

Gore Bike Wear Xenon AS Jacket

Designed specifically for your posture, the Xenon is a tight race style jacket that is not designed for those who love to pack a ton of stuff in their back pockets. This jacket will keep you dry and is cut tight to prevent the extra fabric from acting like a wind sail and slowing you down.

It has 1 small back pocket, is designed with Windstopper material to keep you dry, has no hood and has an extra long back to prevent your backside from the elements.

One other nice touch is the velcro cuffs - which is a nice touch to keep the rain out and also to help regulate your body heat as well.

Gore Bike Wear Oxygen AS Jacket

The Oxygen has got to be one of my all time favorite wind and waterproof cycling jackets. No hood or pockets, slim cut fit and made of Gore-Tex Paclite material, the jacket is designed to keep you warm and dry when space is tight.

Jacket has a tight fit, with no excess material to slow you down and has an anatomical fit to prevent bunching in critical areas. It is designed to keep you dry when it's wet and to breathe to prevent sweating when it's not.

Oh, and did I mention that they even sealed up the zippers to prevent the elements from getting to you? Which is more then I can say for my "weather proof" backpack. Just a few weeks ago, I was caught in a severe rain and thunderstorm, so out came the Oxygen from my trusty backpack that also held my digital camera. A complete torrential downpour later, my upper body was still dry - but my camera was fried.

Enough said. I heart my Gore Bike Wear Oxygen jacket.

Gore Bike Wear Product Review - Part 1 of 3

2011-09-08T22:39:00.010-04:00

This is the first of 3 Gore Bike Wear specific reviews - stay tuned for 2 more.

Gore Bike Wear Power Glove

Say hello to the Power Glove that is designed with foam and gel pad to provide cushion where you need it the most, along with a mesh top for ventilation and a terry insert on the thumb to whip off the sweat before you cross the finish line.

I like them a lot as they fit snug and are really help me grip well on the hoods/grips when they get wet. Also, the Power Glove has a great cut to them that does not dig into my boney wrists - very simple thing to overlook but one that makes a huge difference between getting through the extra miles on the bike or dealing with the abrasions on your wrists due to the constant rubbing from your gloves.

Gore Bike Wear Ozon Arm Warmer

Next up is the Ozon Arm Warmer designed with flatlock seams and elastic cuffs. I have been testing them all summer long in temperatures ranging from 55 (to protect from the chill) to 90 degrees (to protect from the sun) with absolutely no issues at all.

Awesome fit, cut and length are perfect, they never fall down and can be worn in a wide range of weather conditions. Great overall arm warmer.

Tech info: Gore-Tex Material, elastic gripper cuff.

Gore Countdown Socks

Nice, thin and tight sock with great support and ventilation. High length helps with ankle protection and protective layer for toes provides impact protection and helps reduce wear and tear - can't tell you how many "nice" pairs of riding socks I have that have holes in the toes. Not an issue with these socks.

Socks are left and right foot specific - and are marked as such (see photo above).

So far, so good with these socks as they have seen their share of 100 mile and endurance events this year. Holding up great and the ventilation helps to reduce hot spots I seem to get during long events.

Shenandoah 100 write up

2011-09-05T19:15:00.004-04:00

shenandoah_100_results, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

6:30am Sunday start was the last NUE of 2011 season, and a decisive one for me as I had to place 9th or better and be ahead of Robert Marion at the finish to move me up to 5th overall in the NUE series.

Also at stake was the first place overall for Jeff Schalk and Christian Tanguy so the pace was going to be hot off the start.

And so it was.

On the first climbs, things starting breaking up pretty good and I settled into my pace. I seemed to be having some pretty heavy legs at the start and I was creeping further and further back, but with the humidity in the air and 95 miles to go it was going to be a long race.

So I pedal on and my legs start coming back to me and I am picking off riders here and there. When I was catching them, I wasted no time and rode right by not asking for any help in the effort.

I would catch Robert about 25'ish miles in or so and we would ride together for a bit, but shortly after aid station 2, I would ride away from him and another rider.

Soon after, I would get caught by singlespeed winner Gerry Pflug and we would ride together for a bit up to the short hike a bike.

I would then set off to venture on my own for awhile and also took a pretty good over the bars spill but somehow managed to not get busted up.

I would soon catch back up to Garth and a few others and then got my way back up to Zack. We took turns pulling, but he slowly inched his way away from me around the 5th feed station.

Right before the 6th feed, I see Mike Simonson on the side of the trail right after a sketchy downhill bleeding all over, mostly from his chin. The medic was with him already and told me to go on, but medics were rushing up the hill. Bradon's dad was heading up the trail too and for some reason seeing somebody I knew in the middle of nowhere kind of threw me mentally off and I was not watching the trail and hit a rock full on at full speed, making a small cut in the tire.

Off immediately, I put in a tube and continued on - guesstimating a 3-4 minute loss of time.

Climbing, climbing, climbing and nearing the end, I decided to look back. All I could see was a black jersey and I didn't know if he had caught site of me (I later found out it was Gerry and Garth) so I took off with about 7 miles to go.

With this effort brought cramps, but it also brought into sight another rider in front of me.

Nearing the top, I catch him, but I softpedal so he doesn't hear my freewheel - and 15 feet from catching him, I jump on the pedals.

Two small rises after, the downhill starts into the camping area. I carry a lot of speed and try to focus on not wrecking stupidly. I would wind end up 10th on the day - 1 spot short of taking 5th overall in the series.

Still happy with how the series turned out for me - I had a lot of fun racing "shorter" endurance events this year and I am already looking forward to next years NUE series.

solgoat out

09.02 update

2011-09-02T15:30:00.001-04:00

100_3058, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

so, i have been slacking a bit on the posts as of late, but here goes.

past few weeks at westlake worlds have been tough ones to say the least. two weeks back, it was the first race in 2 or 3 weeks and the speed has definitely jumped up a bit.

things came back together at the end, my head was in the sprint, but my legs weren't. the only thing i think i was successful at was blocking bob from a good sprinting line. my legs were just feeling a bit heavy and didn't turn over.

this week, looked like we were about to catch paul, bob and shawn at the end. i sat back and watched them go, thought about making the jump but then thought of the shennandoah 100 this weekend and thought the better of it. i made a little dig at the end, but nobody came with me so i was a sitting duck just 40-50 behind the 3 man group. sprint would just miss catching them...

so i have been catching up on odds and ends, planning next years sponsorship, planning interbike and a new blog site... it's been a busy few weeks.

now - i am heading out to shenandoah, the last of NUE 100 milers this weekend. i am currently sitting in 6th overall. things go well, i stand a chance of 5th which would be super hella cool. if not, 6th place in the series is pretty awesome considering the depth of the field in these 100 milers.

better run - stuff to pack.

sologoat out

4th at the Fools Gold 100

2011-08-21T20:57:00.011-04:00

Next up on the NUE series was the Fools Gold 100 in Georgia.

Heading down, we had chances of showers here and there - and during pre-ride, we got hit with some heavy sprinkles and thoughts of pyrite and mud mixing in with my brake pads and eating them slowly away like they did at last years event flashed before me.

Shortly before heading to sleep and a 4AM wake up to eat, I watched a cyclist's most "favorite" of past times when not riding - watching the weather channel and obsessing about the next days venture. Somehow, right before 10pm, a storm that was headed right for us died out and just missed us. Went to bed hoping the same would happen thing would happen again for the mid-day showers that were supposed to hit race day.

Race day comes, a small but stacked field was in place for the 100 mile event. It was surely going to be painful and the temperature was going to be hot.

Race starts off with a neutral start for a bit, then Eddie pulls off and the pace is slowly lifted up. 6 miles to the big climb and all the fast dudes are all there in place...

Up the first climb and immediately the pace is hot and the lead group starts pulling away. I stick with them a bit, but with temps already hitting 80 degrees, the pace blistering and with 94 more miles to go, common sense takes over and I settle in to a nice hard tempo that I can hold.

Up and over the hella long climb, into the single track. I am with a few others for a bit, then I am off on my own in no mans land for a long while, and then I start reeling riders back in.

Up the climb the second time, I reel more riders in but I am not feeling too swell. I switch to just drinking water and backing off on my pace a bit until I start feeling better. Heart rate is good, legs feel awesome - better yet, no asthma issues due to my new meds. Ah, it is so nice to breathe....

Into the last stop on aid 2/3 on my last lap, I get inspired by learning I am sitting in 3rd spot. My stomach is starting to feel a lot better, I am getting nutrition in and I feel great - the temperature is cooling off a bit too, so I up the pace and hope that the darkening skies do not unleash any rain.

Miles are ticking off, pace is going up and I am passing up a lot of 50 mile riders. With about 12 miles to go, all rain hell breaks loose and things start to get sloppy.

I am making a mess of the mud riding, can't see to good and I felt like I was riding too slow - just about then I slid out pretty hard. Hoping that the single track would end around the next corner, I press on.

About 2 miles from the end of the single track, the 4th place rider catches me and flies on by. He's riding the single track well when I am not.

I am soon out of the woods, onto the road back to the finish. I use the last of my water in my bottles to clean off my drive train and pedal on. I look back about 30 times in the last 6 miles to make sure nobody is sneaking up on me.

Would finish up the day 4th with one more 100 miler to go in the NUE series, the Shenandoah.

Sologoat out

(PHOTO CREDITS: Dean Thorton, Ryan O'Dell and OutdoorEventPhotos.com)

2011 Fools Gold - short post

2011-08-21T08:19:00.001-04:00

2011_NUE_FoolsGold, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

tough day, sitting in a hotel just about ready to head back north and i feel like i was in a fist fight last night and had a couple of kidney shots.

ended up the day in 4th, just loosing 3rd place in the last few miles of single track after the late race rain made a mess of the trails.

stay tuned for the longer write up, hopefully tonight.

sologoat out

pierre hole 100 part 2, 24 hour nats pre-ride and ernesto update

2011-08-15T22:00:00.004-04:00

Saturday was the start, freaking early start at 6am, but at least that meant an early finish to soak up the atmosphere.

Gun went off, and the pace went up immediately. I settled into a pace I could hold for the next 8'ish hours and by the first downhill, I was catching riders already who had flatted on the very first descent.

about half way through the first lap and i picked off a few more here and there. i was moving up and felt good.

2nd lap, all is still going good and i am settling in and picking off riders. seems like i am riding alone a lot at this point, but the heart rate is still holding strong.

somewhere in lap 3'ish, i start to come unglued. heart rate is dropping and i am having difficulty breathing. asthma is starting to kick in slowly but surely and i try not to panic, but i am dropping places and speed. eddie o catches me on the long climb and is out of sight pretty quickly. i try to take in some caffeine to fight off the asthma, but it's too late.

lap 4 become hellacious at this point and i have slowed way down right along with the heart rate. i come through the pit area with 7 miles to go and have to sit down to catch my breathe, but continue to push on. the last miles seemed like an eternity as i had to push my way some little pitches i was flying up just 3 hours before.

i make it in under the time limit to get the belt buckle and somehow still manage a 12th on the day when i was sitting top 5'ish. very disappointing, but happy i pulled it out.

would suck down a few puffs from troy's inhaler along with a few brews before we called it a night.

the next day we would drive straight back as i think the race hit us all pretty hard and hella big breakfast we had in grand junction was enough food to feed us for an entire day, so we rolled on in back into golden colorado the next day....

and then hit up the 24 hours nationals course the day before the rough course layout came out.

behind jon's arm is the pit area, which will be a different spot then compared to other venues out there as you can literally run across the street for brews in case you run out during the night.

otherwise, the course is going to have very little climbing and what rocks they do have on it are going to be very techy and ouchy if you happen to decide to inadvertently eject yourself off of your bike. hope you find a sandy spot if you do.

after that, rolled out, had some awesome Chinese food compliments of Jon - which i have to say mucho thanks to for his and his families hospitality for my week long adventure out west.

and up this week -

reassemble bike 1, bike 2 and 3 repairs and new treads - done

interbike registration and flight - done

asthma doc and new (hopefully) "working" meds - tomorrow

another 100 - this weekend

sologoat out

My Pierre Hole 100 adventure - Part 1

2011-08-10T21:06:00.005-04:00

Sorry for the lack of bloggage lately, been out of state and internet access for the past week or so, just getting back from the Pierre Hole 100 race which was the latest stop on the NUE 100 miler circuit.

Flew out solo to meet up with Jonathan Davis from Colorado, along with some of his pals, Kurt and Brandon to head up in his RV to roll up to Wyoming for the 10'ish hour trip.

First day would see me put together my bike which arrived safely from FedEx sent through my pal Billy A and BikeFlights.com. Shortly after we got the bike together, I shot up to Jon's home at 9000 feet and immediately began sucking air as the altitude hit me pretty hard. Felt like breathing through a straw.

Would sleep the night there, then go out for one more cruise around Golden Colorado before heading north to Alma Wyoming.

Driving and resting and eating was the plan for the next 10'ish hours or so and we would make it almost to Jackson Hole before we would crash out along the only spot to stop along some random back road we were on.

Woke up and found a beautiful landscape of mountains and a roaring stream next to us. Surely was not in Ohio anymore.

Huge breakfast in Jackson Hole, a few stops at grocery stores for some supplies, then up to the Grand Targee resort near the Grand Tetons. We would be around 7200 feet, race course would max out around 8200'ish.

We would ride the last 7 miles of the course. The near the basic figure 8'ish layout of the course would allow us to have our RV right on course and easy for us to grab our feeds.

The last 7 miles was rolly, going up and up, down somewhat, then back up and then back down. And don't forget lots of rocks along the way and a fun downhill to the finish.

The first 25 miles would have to wait, but we hear from others - a fast descent, and lots of climbing after.

It was going to be a tough 100 miles.

wilderness 101

2011-08-01T17:18:00.003-04:00

or should i say, mechanical 101?

race day saw a pretty stacked field for the 2011 version of the wilderness 101, which saw a couple of ex-pro roadies along with the normal super fast riders.

going up the first climb it was all out, we were flying and there was not many with us, but by the top i was maxing out. not really knowing how much further it was until the end of the climb, i backed off and got into a little group.

we were about 8 strong, and were in a pace line - somewhat. i don't think the majority of them had ever ridden a pace line and it was breaking up with every rotation, but somehow we were closing the pack on the main pack that had slowed. as we neared them, some of the guys surged and then 4 of them popped off the back. 4 or 5 of us made it to the main pack around mile 20'ish and then they decided to up the pace again. damn. popped off again.

a few miles later and into the first real single track and some hellacious rock sections. i hit the section pretty hard, i think the chain jumped off a little and then i cranked down hard. not good. the chain had twisted around somehow and when i pedaled down, it bent the chain.

it was skipping bad, no way would i make it another 70'ish miles like this. so i jumped off, looked at it and the bent link was right before the master link. sweet - out with the chain tool, a quick fix and back on the bike.

10 feet later - snap! don't know what happened, but it snapped for good this time, and bent the master link too. somehow, i got it to bend back - but i had lost considerable time fixing it and damn near lost my cool a few times.

back on, i made it to the next station and had the mechanics bend the master link as best they could. more lost time.

now, the chain was cut short and i was not able to make it into the biggest two cogs when in my big ring. i would have to remember this or i would probably damage the rear derailleur. something very hard to do when your heart rate is averaging about 150 and you have 60+ miles to go.

up and down, up a climb and then down, and then - a sliced front tire and stans all over me. cut was so bad, there was no way sealant would fix it. and chris beck was right next to me, having the same issue.

so i gave him one tube that i had, i used the other. and off we went.

he would drop me on a climb, i continued on and flatted 3 more times on the same tire. at one point, i would walk for over 20 minutes waiting for somebody to pass with a tube. oh the futility.

finally, got a tube from a passing rider. at this point, i was sort of in a bewildered state from the mechanical mess of a race i was having. i ended up catching up with robert who rides for tomac and we would ride together the last 10-15 miles of the race. he was not having a great day either, so it was good to ride in together, bs along the way and forget about the issues that lay on the trail behind us.

their will be other days, and besides, got to ride on some nice trails and enjoy the day with 300+ plus mountain bike enduro freaks.

see you in wyoming.

sologoat out

3, west and 101

2011-07-29T15:39:00.002-04:00

been a hectic week of sorts, so the lack of free time has cut dramatically into bloggage time.

here's the past week wrapped up -

3
- or should i say, the westlake disaster.

ok, got to admit, prior to this year, maintenance on my road bike has been somewhat non-existent. my stuff is just beat down in general to the point i am going to the point i will be needing a new road bike next year.

1 - anyhoo, got to the crit. 120 pounds of pressure in a tire does not fare well in 95 degree car. so boom goes the dynamite and my first tube of the day.

2 - new tube, pumped it up and the pressure seemed a little high. got distracted talking bike stuff, tire slipped off the bead as it wasn't seated, boom goes the dynamite again. damn.

3 - new tube from marshall. warmed up, did about 45 minutes of racing and hit one of the various ruts on the course super hard with my front and rear wheel. front wheel with the new conti wide clincher came through fine. rear wheel didn't and flatted by the first corner.

out of tubes, ticked off and i have always had a notion in my head that when you get your third flat of the day that it is divine intervention telling you not to ride any more. so i bagged it....

WEST
....and went home and packed up one of my pivot 429's to head west. i'll meet up with her in golden colorado with jonathan davis where we will head north to the pierre's hole 100. it is a new edition to the NUE 100 miler series.

25 miles loops, at high (but not stupid high) elevation, and has a lot of climbing. so, on paper, should be a good course for me - and i have always wanted to race in wyoming, so why not?

got the bike to fedex, rested and rode a few days and now....

101
headed 4 hours east to hang out with the stans gang for a bit before our early AM wake up call tomorrow for the start of the wilderness 101.

it's been a few years since i have done the 101, and i am excited to get back here to my home state and to check out the new course design that chris scott came up with. it will be to catch up with old friends and to say farewell to billy a as he heads west with bikeflights.com.

oh - and if you think i am nutty for riding 100 mile mountain bike event...

how about the burning river 100, a 100 miler RUNNING event in akron ohio. winning time last year was 15 1/2 hours. ouch. saw this event a few years back and caught up with runners at 70 miles. they were looking "slightly" rough.

and just to note - they will have 309 runners tomorrow.

either way, good luck to them and everybody else doing a 100 miler tomorrow. see you on the trails.

sologoat out

two crits

2011-07-22T14:57:00.005-04:00

crit one - tuesday night worlds at westlake

was bound to be a fast one as panther duo andy and paul came out to dish out some pain. usual early attacks went down and i stayed back watching...

as laps dwindled down a little, i was sitting behind paul and noticed he looked twitchy just as we were about to catch a small break group. i stuck on his wheel, he ramped it up 30mph+ and immediately we had a small group of about 10'ish riders.

some were working, some were not, gap grew, gap got smaller. and then we were caught again.

so it would be a sprint. i was originally in bad position, getting boxed out early, but found my way around and wound up dead center of the pack and sprinting all out. i would get the rgf sandwhich - dave got first, i ended up second and bob wound up third.

chapel hill - thursday worlds
crazy corner course with crazy high temps. race start saw the temperature well above 90 and made the pavement seemingly slippy. i have always adjust pressure down in the tires for better grip, but never thought of doing that for a crit. got to think these things out.

45 minutes plus 5 laps.

one neutral lap, then through the start finish and i had a brilliant idea to up the pace. that was immediately countered and then it seemed like a series of fast bursts and attacks came.

i got caught out, but was in small group with two riders chasing the main pack. a lap or two chase, the gap was close but the others cracked. head down, i powered to the main group and decided i would hang out for the rest of the race. just didn't feel great and it seemed like it was a little hard to breathe.

more surges, more gaps, one grew out a little far on the last corner. bob and i almost made it, then a surge came from the main group and they were off.

goal at this point was not to get lapped, just ride steady - and so we did. most of the riders in the main group got popped off leaving jeremy, phatty and shawn up front where they would eventually finish 1/2/3.

our group got a little bigger, then some riders got popped or pulled out. i seriously thought about dropping out myself about 1/2 way through.

dan got back in after a mechanical, pulled us around for a bit and then i snuck around him just before the corner after the start/finish to get a good gap which i held onto to the end for 4th. tough day in the sun.

sologoat out

6 hours of power

2011-07-19T16:08:00.006-04:00

last sunday brought the 6 Hours of Power in ellicottville new york. loop starts off with a climb and then is ridled with single track, short little climbs and drops and then concludes with decent on hard packed and rocky and rutty trails.

gun went off, and i made the lead 4 man break with two team riders and fellow solo competitor steevo cummings. we pegged it several times before the little turn at the climb, then they pegged it again right before the single track. with about 5 hours and 55 minutes left in the race and my heart rate at 185, i backed off and figured steevo would chase and eventually burn out with the pace and the heat.

lap 1 would have me hot on the heels of steevo and i could still see him for most of lap 2.

on lap 3, steeve kept the pace up as the temps went up and his gap grew.

on lap 4, a team rider finally caught up to me and i was passing more and more lapped traffic which was a nice break as it seemed like i had been riding by myself for a long time.

on lap 5, coming down the decent on the backside, i hit my front wheel sidewall and sealant starts squirting out. hoping that it would seal up and hold pressure, i continue on and near bite it about a minute later. i hit with some CO2 to get me through the start finish and then switch out my front wheel. steevo now has a pretty solid lead at this point.

lap 6 i decide to hold a steady pace and stay safe. all is good and i roll through the start finish with about 45-50 minutes to finish up my last lap. 3rd overall is close behind, but i hear from my pit crew that he is cramping up.

so i roll out on my 7th lap with little chance of catching steevo so i stayed safe and rolled through the techncial sections not taking any risks figuring i would up the pace if i caught site of my chaser and force him to do another lap.

with my garmin pretty much dead on tracking my overall time, by the time i reached the start of the last decent, my time was almost at 6 hours - and i would roll through the finish line a few minutes past 6 hours for 2nd overall.

sologoat out

a little late - tuesday worlds

2011-07-15T07:14:00.002-04:00

tuesday was yet another installment of pain train fun at westlake and it was my debut of my new setup - a standard dura ace crank with new 53 tooth big ring. Crank came from one of my older Moots cross bikes running a standard crank with a single ring as the inner ring would hit the stays. In a moment of bike work geniousness, I finally figured out that most of the newer style cross bikes run compact cranks. So oddly enough, the swap of cranks between the cross and road bike worked out well - now i can run a double setup on my cross frame and then "upgrade" the road bike to a 53 to help me out a little more in the sprints and higher end speed.

first few laps went down as usual, i pulled a little after the first corner and could definitely see a difference in how the pedals were turning over and it was a lot easier to get up to speed. pulling back the gaps seemed a lot easier.

roughly half way through, i put down some efforts, some others joined in the fun and the pack was split in half. i was now in a break with about 15'ish or so riders, maybe more. it was good to shed the field, but it was too many riders.

spin and carbon seemed to be throwing a lot of attacks together, so i chased the first ones down from our pack group. after about 5 or 6 of them i decided that chasing each one down was a little ambitious, so i waited a bit.

dave and brian went, so did cameron. then i jumped. we got a gap pretty quick, we were going at pretty good speed until the closing laps. as the speed went down, so did the gap. i put down some longer pulls at higher speed, cameron returned the favor. a few turns with the guys and the gap went back up for the last lap sprint.

going into the stop sign right turn, had a little gap and i faked a seated attack - they jumped on my wheel.

we got into the straight and it spread out. i was to the left, cameron to the right - dave was behind cameron and brian behind me. at 150 meters, i jumped hard, but cameron was a little quicker - he would take the win, i would grab second, brian would grab 3rd and dave 4th.

next up - a little enduro. stay tuned.

sologoat out

chapel hill and stuff...

2011-07-12T11:52:00.001-04:00

2011ChapelHillRace1 (4), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

this past thursday brought up the start of the 4 race chapel hill series which brought a small field in the A race as tour of the valley was starting the next day...

jeremy was there, so was bob, pete and shawn, so the pack was small but pain level was going to be surely high.

45 minutes and 5 laps, we shed a few guys here and there. twist and turns and speed were all good, everybody seemed to take a turn on dishing out some pain.

i dove into the last corners on the last lap and lead out the sprint after getting a good jump on the field. jeremy would take the win, pete took second and i came in 3rd.

another great training race topped off with a little bit of cash and free subs and cookies from subway. sweet!

saturday and sunday brought up 4+ hour hard tempo days along with a new addition...

yes, a 53 chainring is now on my bike and is officially NOT skipping.

up next, a few more training crits, an upcoming enduro and a trip out west for another 100 miler on my Pivot 429 build up.

with that, time to depart - it's tuesday worlds.

sologoat out

tuesday worlds and such..

2011-07-07T16:10:00.002-04:00

0707_2011ride, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

another tuesday and another pain therapy session.

this time, early break went and got a good gap. worked with paul and bob to pull things back, held back a little at the end to try to reserve some pop for the inevitable 35mph paul attack but alas, didn't have the snap when he went with aussie rob.

several strong efforts were put down, and i know i took the more aggressive approach to those trying to slow the speed at the front,and a few others got up the road. sorry for any bumped elbows.

bob decided to help out a brotha' at the end and gave me a lead out, but had to battle pete in the end for his wheel - which was my "good-bye" gift to him as he departs for the west coast. (somehow things always seem better on the west coast)

bob jump at warp speed, i duked it out with pete and he would win the battle for 5th.

also - mucho thanks goes out to mr brink for allowing me to borrow that sweet Zipp front wheel.

next up, thursday night chapel race training crit - and a search for a weekend race.

sologoat out

All aboard the Tuesday night pain train

2011-06-29T14:31:00.003-04:00

Another tuesday, another night of pain at westlake ohio.

yesterday's event started off a little slower then usual which i didn't mind as my legs were feeling a little beat up as of late. several times i saw the pace go down into the low 20's and then it would pop back up again.

i decided i would continue my tactics of racing smart and not taking any hella long pulls or do anything that would put me in the hurt locker for too long until the time was right.

usually the pick up in pace was from paul, and he was looking exceptionally twitchy and fast. he was pulling back a ton of breaks in no time at all.

laps were counting down and i was thinking that paul was going to unleash a late furious attack. and so it was written in the history of westlake worlds my prediction....

he attacked with about 8 to go and i went with jp to try to chase him down. it hurt like hell - and according to my garmin, we hit around 35mph+ chasing him and my heart rate hit around 185. ouchy.

with a 3 man break established, we were taking pulls, but clearly paul was the strong man. we would all take pulls and i was just starring at my garmin counting laps, looking at my heart and for the field behind us.

gap grew, legs started cramping.

2 laps to go, right before the 2nd corner, paul jumped us, cramps twinged and he got a good gap. we would hold him steady to about 100-150 feet, but we were both pretty cooked from our efforts.

we did not sprint and would finish side by side, i was scored second on the day.

sologoat out

Monday's Topeak 4 pack

2011-06-27T21:55:00.005-04:00

Four pack of Topeak products coming at you on a Monday evening...

JoeBlow Mountain Floor Pump

Mountain bike specific floor pump designed to deliver high volume and is built to last. Note the max 75psi capacity and twin head. And don't forget my favorite feature - a nice built in air release button.

Overall great pump that inflates tires quickly and has some features not found on most other brands.

RaceRocket MT

Compact aluminum pump weighing in at only 85 grams and can inflate tires up to 90psi. It's small enough to stick in your back jersey pocket, but I actually prefer to run mine with included side bottle cage mount.

Pump has some really nice features like an integrated dust cap to keep dirt from getting into pump head and an extendable hose that hides inside the pump. I have found that the hose actually makes it a little easier and safter to pump up tires as you don't have to put so much force into pumping and you are also not having to brace the valve stem with your other hand to avoid ripping it off. And - don't forget that SmartHead allows for either Presta and Shrader valves.

Also, with a max pressure of up to 90psi, it would also give you enough pressure in a road tire to get you home in a pinch.

Light, with a cage mount, presta or schrader and works really well - now you don't have an excuse not to carry a pump.

SmartGauge D2

The 2nd generation digital gauge that reads both presta and schrader valves and runs off of one CR2032 battery.

LCD display reads in psi, Bar or kg/cm.

Reads very quickly and I have found it especially useful when using my older road pumps with pressure gauges that have seen better days. Was quite suprised to see my old pump's gauge was about 10psi low.

Would be a nice accessory to take with you on race day where you may not room to take floor pumps with you - at least you know you will have consistent air pressure if you are as finiky about tire psi as I am.

Pocket Shock DXG

Shock and fork pump that delivers up to 300 psi.

Well built and very sturdy, features include a rotating hose, engage/disengage valve knob with an anti-air loss knob and an air release button. Pretty much all the features you need in shock pump.

Preliminary results are good - pump action is very good and I have seen only minute air loss when removing the pump.

Sologoat out

westlake worlds - 6.21

2011-06-22T13:17:00.005-04:00

another tuesday, another westlake training crit.

race started out casual as usual, then picked up after the start/finish on the first lap. nothing of note went down, until a few laps later when i got into an early break.

the group was a little bit bigger and eventually the pack would catch back up. figured at some point a break was going to go, and it would probably involve jim b, so i focused my efforts to staying up front and near jim.

another small break goes and i sit back and eventually i would take some harder pulls to keep their gap in check. about 100 feet from catching them, i back off and wait for the attack.

a few laps later, i roll through the front and am sitting towards the front - then it goes down. rob rolls off the front seated and hitting the pedals hard, jim makes quick work up to close the gap. i hesitate for a moment, nobody chases - and i decide to go. heart rate hits about 185 as rob kicks again and makes my life painful... we hit the first corner and i on their tail, i look back and matt is about to catch us. robert would also eventually come up as well.

with the group established, we are all pulling through pretty good, but then a car comes on course and causes us to slow down. at the front again, i pull after the first corner all the way to the 2nd corner at around 31mph. gap goes up again.

robert cracks, matt is not feeling well, and it looks like the field is attempting to chase. i decide that hard fast pulls between corner 1 and 2 were going down every lap until the field decides to stop chasing or the gap goes up. with 2 to go, the gap is good.

rob leads it out from waaaay out, jim sitting 2nd, me in 3rd, matt in 4th. jim comes around and takes the win, i close the gap on rob but he beats me to the line - he takes 2nd, i grab 3rd and matt is close behind in 4th.

nice way to wrap up a tuesday night before the rain hit.

and i did officially get new 53/39 rings a week or two ago, but at this point i am not going to jinx myself with new road gears.

next up - this weekend, hmmm... deciding on a potential first for me in a long time. i see a potential real deal non-training race criterium in my future....

sologoat out

2011 Lumberjack 100 - 10th place

2011-06-20T22:56:00.002-04:00

2011 Lumberjack 100 - 01, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

10th place at the Lumberjack 100. Here's the down-low on how things went down...

1rst lap started on the road, hella speed into the parking lot bumping elbows into the first section of single track.

Soon, a group of about 20'ish or so of us would form off the front of the field, putting in some serious gaps on the others.

Ripping through the first 33 miles was surreal, we would drop a few, but for the most part we were all riding about 5 feet apart for the first lap.

Through the start/finish, pace shot up as riders got quick feeds. I tried to keep up the pace, but the leaders had a gap I could not close. Time to settle in with another rider who I raced against in Arkansas, Kip.

We ripped up most of the lap together and parted ways up the steep hike a bike section, I would roll into the end of my 2nd lap alone after slowing down a little and going through a little bit of a rough patch as the heat set in. About 4 riders caught me in the start finish... Damn.

Caught them all pretty quick, but Kip got by me and was rolling fast and would eventually finish 9th on the day.

I rolled by myself for the most part, looking forward to the cold Coke and water at the mid-way point at mile 17 on the loop.

Refreshed, I pedaled on, but felt some slight twinges of cramps in arms and legs. Luckily, they stayed away - for the most part.

Closing miles had one rider in front of me that looked like he was a little cooked. I got around him, just in time for the last climb and decided I would jump on the pedals one last time around the switchback starting the last climb.

Out of the corner, stomping on the pedals, and I catch sight of Eddie and another rider in hot pursuit - but I don't think they saw me. Time to stomp a little harder on the pedals. Immediately my legs and arms start to cramp and my lungs scream from the little bit of asthma that hit me around mile 70. Time to suck it up and get over the climb.

At the top, around the last bend of the climb,I glance back - I got a good gap on my chasers that are nowhere in sight.

Would finish up 10th on the day with a time around 7:15. And just to note, that my time would of got me 5th'ish about 3 years ago... you've got to earn your finishes these days enduro freaks. Fields are bigger and faster, and I think the racing is a lot more fun these days with the big fields and top notch racers.

Sologoat out

tuesday night worlds and coming up...

2011-06-16T17:57:00.001-04:00

2011_0616, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

as, tuesday night worlds at westlake.

got in an early break that was brought back and then rolled off the front after andy went down hard and then rolled off again with a small group later in the race.

gap went out quick, looked good, but one thing was missing - paul.

with field gasping for air, paul muscled his way up to our break with about 1/2 lap to go. somehow i managed to keep my position and tucked in nicely to come up with a half way decent sprint for 5th. good way to wrap up the day.

next up, the lumberjack 100. 3 laps at 33 1/3 miles. mostly sandy, small rollers with no real climbs. excellent single speed course that will be cool this year as opposed to the hella hot of all the years past.

will be searching for a good result and to get the monkey off my back from last years dnf at this event after smashing my knee into the ground - which did not feel to good as i had recently just came back from a broken leg.

with that, time to get in a short spin and get packed up. see you in michigan.

sologoat out

big bear 2x12

2011-06-13T10:19:00.001-04:00

2011_BigBear2x12_(103), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

big bear was setting up to be an epic battle, nick waite teamed up with jeff schalk - and a few other teams joined up fast guy forces to make the top 3 spots hotly contested. it was not going to be a race to hold back on.

pre-ride on friday was great and course conditions could not be better - was the best conditions i have seen the course in years, guessing that the mini dry spell we had the week before really helped. it was going to make it a fast race.

rain came in after the pre-ride and more rain came early the morning of the race, but nothing to really change the conditions.

dave would start off first. gun went off, dave was at the front with the leaders. awesome. i went back to start gearing up.

not 10-15 minutes later, dave is running back. not awesome. looked like the chain jumped off, landed on the outer plate of the derailleur and when he pedaled, it basically torqued the upper derailleur bolt so much that it actually snapped inside the derailleur.

not thinking straight, we yanked a derailleur off a bike, got it going and sent him on his way. in hindsight, i should of either given him my spare bike or i should of went out.

so, dave went off in speed. on the downhill about 1/2 way through the course, he cut a tire. not awesome either. he would have to run about 6 miles.

far back at this point, my mind was determined to do some fast laps. my race at this point was to try to better my lap times.

first lap was fast, but my garmin decided to turn off - later i would change the "auto turn off" "feature" on my garmin.

dave's next lap was 1:04.

my next lap would be 1:03, dave's was somewhere around 1:08'ish - no doubt due to a ton of running.

i would wrap up the day with a last lap at 1:02.

not the day either of us planned and from the lap times we were turning, we would of been mixing it up with 1rst and 2nd - as odd fate would have it, nick also cut a tire and lost major time.

at the end of the day, stuff like this happens - it's racing and it's going to happen. better to get past it, enjoy the event, get some great fast laps in to hone up for the next event, eat an awesome bbq sandwich and drink a few good pints of brew.

i'll be back in 2012 to get the mechanical monkey off my back. also, need to get the word out to race organizer mark that he needs to get a solo class in this event.

sologoat out

big bear pre-ride

2011-06-10T21:09:00.001-04:00

2011_BigBear2x12_09, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

course for the big bear 2x12 is running that same as last years event, only this time it is a lot drier.

ran hit yesterday and today, with some being expected to hit tomorrow. either way, the course is holding up great and it looks to be an epic weekend.

nick waite has teamed up with jeff schalk so the pace and speed of the race is going to be blazing.

i will be teamed up with fellow ohio rider dave walker who's sure to turn out some super fast laps.

time to rest - tomorrow time to race and enjoy some post race brews.

sologoat out

tuesday night worlds and update

2011-06-09T06:10:00.002-04:00

tuesday night, another westlake worlds event went down. heat was high and so was the speed.

paul got a gap with about 15'ish or so other riders - jayson and i tried to close the gap, got real close and the efforts from mohican was just too much to close the gap at 20 feet. jayson got to within about 10 feet and popped as well.

back in the pack, heart rate went down and the gap went up until bob and i decided to pull the entire field back to the break. consistent steady pulls got us to within 5 seconds and then the field decided to finally work with us and pull back the remainder of the gap.

but - as soon as we closed the gap, a few riders snuck away from us.

laps would tick off, we couldn't close. a gap formed on the last lap in the s bend section with shawn pulling hard. i jumped the gap, pulled with him and we distanced ourselves from the main pack and would work with each other to just hold off the main pack at the line for 6th'ish and 7th'ish. nice work at the end to pull something off, but i still think i need to get some new cranks and rings as the 50 tooth big ring is not cutting it at westlake.

next up - big bear 2x12 where i will be teaming up with hella fast ohioian dave walker under the team name of "team liger" as it is pretty much my favorite animal.

and - good luck to all my two wheeled road friends this weekend as well - ohio master road champs and a hella long road race up in michigan this weekend at 128 miles. now, if that was on dirt roads, it would be real fun.

sologoat out

1rst at the Mohican 100 - ah, wait - make that 12th

2011-06-06T17:11:00.004-04:00

Next stop on the NUE circuit, the Mohican 100. Conditions in Ohio cleared way for a dry and fast course.

Straight shot out of town, up the $200 prime hill where two riders went for it. They both sat up after the sprint and the lead group reformed. I looked back before the last few rollers before the first single track section and the group of 15'ish or so I was in already had a gap on the rest of the field.

Into the first section of single track, things started to thin out and by the time I got out onto the first short road section, my Garmin 500 turned off. Awesome. Guess I left it on all night, so the next 90 or so miles would be without no heart rate, distance, temperature, etc. Maybe that was for the better.

Into the first hella hike section and out of the park and into the fun roller section of single track with nobody behind me in sight. I started picking off riders and making good time.

Caught a group of 4 or 5 riders on top of the roller section and proceeded to pull away from most of them, taking one rider with me. Through aid 1 and through aid 2 we would roll along.

Right before aid station 3, I gap the rider with me and come up hot on a turn - not initially seeing a sign or marking, I stop about 30 past it in confusion. Mike catches up to me, we decide to go "this way" after some initial standing around and proceed to start riding again. Some 5-7 minutes later, we are right back where we were previously. I am guessing I lost somewhere around at least 10 places and 10 minutes. Frustrating to say the least, but my head was down and I wasn't fully paying attention. My bad.

I roll on, catching a few riders here and there, and catching back up to riders I had previously dropped.

Onto the long rails to trail section, I am in a small group and we start rolling through pretty easy. Half ticked off at myself and half giving up, I roll easy after pulling through with decent power a few times with nobody putting fourth any effort. 15 or so minutes of this, more riders roll up and sit in. Finally, rider rolls off the front easily and I do the same, eventually getting a gap with another rider. 3 of us would roll into aid station 4 together.

In and out of station 4, the three of us continue on and we would eventually split apart on the rollers heading into station 5. I grab a quick coke and roll on.

Through the little rollers and the hella steep climb where I flatted last year, and then into the final sections of single track. The heat was kicking in pretty good at this point, so it was good to get into the single track shade.

Would eventually roll in first on the day.

Yep, I totally crushed the women's field by about an hour. Unfortunately, they "disqualified" me from first place after noticing my side burns and instead placed me in the men's field in 12th place. I filed an official protest, but was still relegated. Bummer. But the consolation prize was free post race pints, so it kind of worked out.

Time to forget about the missed turn and concentrate on the Big Bear 2x12 and the Lumberjack 100 - but not before Tuesday Night worlds tomorrow night.

Sologoat out

next pain train stop, mohican

2011-06-02T20:07:00.003-04:00

last tuesday night worlds was interesting as i didn't have to chase down so many guys as i managed to get into a closing lap break with jason and brian and a few others.

good gap with a few laps to go, then shawn a few fast guys powered up to make a solid 10 man'ish group.

power was thrown down, i put down some efforts then was countered, regrouped, re-thunk and then sat back until the last lap.

andy took the first corner at speed, i stuck on his wheel and we had a HUGE gap. that's what she said...

at the next corner it was all but gone, even after pulling at 28mph.

guys popped off, i managed last in the break again - about 7th'ish. still convinced it's my gearing, so watch out when i actually get a 53 ring on....

in other news, mohican is up next, and so is a mention at cycling news HERE!

last year i had a slight mechanical with a broken spoke early in the race which eventually lead to a flat tire right after aid station 5 which eventually lost me probably at least 5-7 spots. they are monkeys i plan to get off my back this year and for some odd reason i am feeling an extra obligation going to go hella hard.

it's ohio, it's a 100 miler, free ohio beer to all finishers. looking forward to the pain.

sologoat out

cast your vote

2011-05-31T22:32:00.002-04:00

ok facebooker pals and gals out there, mr montana miller is in need of some desperate help in the form of vote to get him into the pisgah mountain race for free. rumor is, his cat is very upset at the closeness of the race - and he has personally promised me a couple of worn out chains and an old saddle if he wins.

both those last facts may not actually be facts, but he does ride a single speed pretty fast, so get yer vote in for a single speed freak. you can get your vote in at facebook HERE!

sologoat out

new jagwire site and quick update

2011-05-27T08:30:00.003-04:00

Thanks again for their support for my 2011 season, but you need to check out the new revamped Jagwire USA website.

and - also need to check out the updated sponsored rider section HERE!.

this weekend, laying low and resting up for the mohican 100. my guess for the course... mud. wetness. soft muddy trails. more mud. a lot pain. eating/drinking something that has mud on it. and 100 miles.

sologoat out

recap of the past days...

2011-05-25T18:08:00.001-04:00

IMG_5414, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

sorry for the lack of posts the last week or so, been pretty hectic at work and life.

got into a little fender bender with my awesome vibe - i am OK, but the car is no more. i am still bummed out a week later - was an a great car. anyhoo, things could of been a lot worse.

dirt fest has come and gone, the riding was awesome and so was catching up with a ton of friends at princeton tec, pivot, dirt rag, stans and niner. beer drinking festivities ran late into the night and fun was had by all.

tuesday night worlds westlake training crit was hectic as ever. think the good weather (finally) made everybody a little jumpy and feeling fast - and the cross winds made the gaps to close a little tougher. i missed a major split 8'ish laps to go and cursed myself for missing it. a few of us starting pulling to chase them back and after one rider pulled through twice at around 5 mph's slower then the rest of us, it gave me the anger to take longer and harder pulls until we caught them back with about 3 to go.

i chased a few others, went for it in the sprint, but somebody went wide in the last corner and washed me off of paul's wheel. dang. but i am still convinced i need to get some standard cranks (as opposed to my compacts) as i am going nowhere fast in the sprints. love the compacts, but i don't think they are doing me any favors in crits.

that's it for now - tonight's race is against the storm headed this way.

sologoat out

6th place at Syllamo Revenge

2011-05-15T00:11:00.001-04:00

2011_SyllamoRevenge_ (12), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

whew, another NUE race completed, this time syllamo's revenge in mountain view arkansas.

course was 125km, roughly 95% single track, no sustained climbs and mostly fast'ish rolly types of power climbs. rain left sections a little muddy and the rocks super slippy.

gun went off, christian, jeff and brandon took off. not being able to hold the pace, heart rate screaming, i backed off. with that pace it would surely backfire for those who tried to stay with them, the course was just too demanding.

i snaked into the single track ahead of a single speed rider and kept to my own pace. i boobled once on the first odd sections of rocks and he gave me some crap about me wanting to be in front of him. now, with the energy of being pissed off and the jack tail behind me, i took off.

i then would the next 70 miles by myself.

i pedaled on, riders came back. about 10'ish or so miles in, i caught gerry and andy and eddy. gerry stuck with me for a little while, then i took off.

sitting is 6th position, i started catching site of eventual 4th place rider kip. i damn near caught him, then he took off.

rocks were slippy, i took it easy. on the flatter sections, i locked out the front fork so i could punch it up the short uphills. half the time i forgot it was locked out.

on the 2nd half of the 125km course, we strated catching some of the 50 mile riders - all of whom were very cool and allowed me to pass without mishap.

at this point, forearms were started to cramp up from me trying to crush the little climbs. i stretched them out a bit and the cramps went away.

was also glad the hella section of rocks on the lap 2 section was taken out - just wanted to roll out the last 20 miles fast and that's how it was layed out.

fast, fun, twisty and always kept you on your toes - very tough course, but i loved every mile of it. i think it's a great addition to the NUE series.

would end up 6th on the day.

next up on the my fun filled month o' may -

dirt rag dirt fest and mohican 100.

sologoat out

preliminary results - syllamo ravenge

2011-05-14T19:01:00.000-04:00

This is preliminary - took off before results posted.

1 Christian t
2 jeff s
3 Brandon
4 kip ? From Colorado
5 tomac rider - he got 10th at cohutta
6 Ernesto
7 John Davis
8 Eddie o

Gerry won SS, Amanda won womens race.

Jeff was with Christian at end and broke chain. Brandon was with them earlier but flatted.

Kip snagged 4th in the last 5 miles or so. I rode about 70 of the 75'Ish miles solo.

Sologoat out

race at the lake #3

2011-05-10T11:05:00.001-04:00

DSC_0055, originally uploaded by Robert Sroka.

better late then never, busy work week...

saturday brought race #3 of the RATL series and things picked up pretty quickly.

eventually, a small 3 man break would head up the road, gap got out to about 30 seconds.

13'ish or so laps to go, a rider over lapped a wheel and went down, taking a few others with him. one off to the hospital, the rest a little banged up. hope all is well.

race stopped, and then restarted - and i think the pace was upped by about 2.

gap stretched out to 50 seconds, and the major pulls and surges came - a few from paul, a few from jeremy and i threw in a few too going up the climb. we caught them with 2 to go.

flyers on the left, flyers on the right, some goof trying to go on the inside on the sharp lefty in the parking lot and a high speed sprint brought me 7th for the day.

next up, syllamo's revenge - 125km of offroad fun.

sologoat out

new pivot 429

2011-05-04T21:21:00.001-04:00

2011_ernesto_429, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

say hello to my new best friend. pivot cycles 429 - sized small with custom extra fastness built in.

thanks out chris, cindy, daniel and the rest of the gang out in sunny arizona for their continued support into the 2011 season.

sologoat out

9th at the Cohutta 100 - long version

2011-05-03T17:25:00.004-04:00

(Photo Credit to Sara Kristen Photography)

The Cohutta 100 is the first stop on the NUE endurance series for 2011 and with it brings 100 miles of fun starting out with a fast road climb into some fast non-technical single track followed up with lots of climbing and fire road climbs in between and then some more single track thrown in at the end.

I made it to the start line just in time to snake my way up to the front, say hello and then 2 minutes later, the gun goes off. Pace is hot, but I manage to stay in the main group towards the front before the first turn. Into the woods, I am about the 15'ish or so rider in.

In the single track, I am with the main group, but a rider 3 ahead of me is slowing down just a bit here and there - next thing a big gap is opened up. I manage to get around all 3 riders as they dab their feet, but I don't get past until the damage is done and the first section of single track is over.

I set off in hot pursuit on the double track before the creek crossing, passing a few more riders.

Over the bridge, up the climb and I pedal on - I catch a few more riders, and then set off for the next gravel road section. I am by myself at this point.

Two riders eventually catch up - they immediately try to drop me, I catch them pretty quickly. This goes back and fourth about 3 times before one of them drops off the pace and the other sets off on his own. With 70 miles to go, I was not about to burn all my matches - especially with a major climb coming up in about 10 miles. I proceed to race the last 70 miles riding by myself.

About 1/2 way the climb, I catch the rider I was with previously - and then ride right by.

Up one climb and up another, I down a bunch of endurolytes and hope cramps don't set in. My legs are feeling good, my heart rate is not maxed out too bad and nobody is in sight.

At mile 75 or so, I find out I am sitting in 9th place. That (and a little bit of Coca Cola) gave me the energy to push over the little climbs here and there. Loose gravel at the end nearly had me crashing my brains out, so I took the corners a little easy and pushed it when the trail was pointing up.

Wound up coming a little over 7 hours in 9th place - besting my best place and overall time for this race.

SoloGoat out

9th at the cohutta 100

2011-05-01T19:04:00.001-04:00

2011_Cohutta100_ (08), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

long day in the saddle, 9th place overall.

that's the super short version - longer version up tomorrow.

now it is time to unpack.

sologoat out

cohutta bound

2011-04-28T08:28:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-24T15:08:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-22T21:32:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-21T15:19:00.003-04:00

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

2011-04-17T18:57:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-14T16:56:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-09T10:35:00.001-04:00

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

2011-04-01T21:18:00.001-04:00

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

next up...

2011-03-24T21:15:00.001-04:00

stans_wheelset_01, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

the Michaux Mash 4 hour in my home state of beautiful PA.

field is huge and stacked, lap is short at 6 miles and going to be hectic.

temps are going to be at a high of 42.

at 4 hours, i think there should of been a "1" or "2" in front of the "4", but that's just me.

either way, looking forward to racing in my home state and bumping elbows with some friends.

it's racing season - pedal hard.

sologoat out

anglers ridge

2011-03-22T16:40:00.001-04:00

2011_Anglers_Ridge_ (606), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

ah, it's about time i get to this.

race went off great, got to the front immediately and things were going good. gerry was flying running a single gear and i was in a group with two others chasing.

laps were short, roughly 45 minutes'ish and we were flying on the wet in some spots but mostly tacky and fast all over everywhere else.

at the beginning of the 2nd lap, we immediately ran into a cluster of riders... i looked in bewilderment at what seemed like a 100 riders snaked all through the little valley in front of us as we got into the first section of single track.

battling for position was tough, heart rate was screaming but holding and somehow 2-3 laps later things were finally clearing out well.

the laps ticked by, the top 4 stuck together pretty close. one of the guys we were with snuck away, but we caught him back. and the temp's started going up.

going from cold temps up north to my first real hard ride in warm temp spelled doomsday for my asthma, but i pushed on and got within a stones throw of gerry with two to go.

then my asthma hit on the first section of single track right after the pits and then my front shifter decided not to go into the big ring. heart rate went way down and so did the power.

i managed to roll it in, got some over the counter meds in me along with a couple cups of luke warm strong coffee and rolled back out, but the time damage was done. would wind up 4th on the day, not bad all things considered, but disappointing in a sense because i knew i had good legs.

next up - 4 hour at michaux this weekend with the one geared destroyer gerry.

after that - trip to the doc as i am done with this asthma sh*t.

sologoat out

friday ride

2011-03-18T19:54:00.001-04:00

haro master, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

spin on my old haro master with redline cranks and peregrine 48 rims.

now time for some food and a cold brew...

sologoat out

4th place at anglers ridge

2011-03-16T22:40:00.001-04:00

2011_Anglers_Ridge_ (77), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

short version - 20 seconds away from catching lead rider with 2 laps to go, mechanical sets in along with a pretty bad asthma attack.

4th place when 1rst place was within a stones throw away.

longer version write up later in the week, for now i am happy that i have the front derailleur issue resolved - and also that the rear shifting is tons better with a new set of jagwire cables.

and - new pics up on flickr. Check It...

sologoat out.

anglers ridge pre-ride

2011-03-11T21:37:00.001-05:00

2011_Anglers_Ridge_ (01), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

next race up, sorry for the lack of posts. as usual, been hammered at work and with bike work. love how the new SRAM install guides show a lot of pictures with not a lot of words. why do i need any details? ah, why sweat the details on how to put on a uber-expensive parts.

i digress..

anyhoo, after getting through some bike work and the work week, i am down in virginia for the anglers ridge 6 hour (sunday) and also got into town early for the saturday mountain time trial.

pre-rode the course today, it's a twisty turny 8 mile'ish course on a sandy course with lot's of roots, turns, fast sections and short tough little climbs.

tomorrow's course for the time trial will be run on the same course, only shortened a tad - and will be limited to 75 riders. should be good times...

off to bed, check out flickr for a picture set...

sologoat out

weekend update

2011-02-27T19:24:00.001-05:00

2011_0227_ride, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

weather turned above 50 for the first in forever here in ohio, nice to get out and get some hours in without having to wear winter mittens.

bike is back from tucson, bottom bracket and pedals need cleaned up and re-lubed, and my rear derailleur pulleys are shot once more. can't figure out how i can go through 3 xtr shimano pulleys in a season and a half when my sram x9 has been running the same pulleys for the same period of time and i have a ton more hours on them. oh, wait - maybe it's because they sell $60 retail replacements? ah.. genius...

next race coming up soon, hoping to have at least one bike with my new SRAM 2x10 setup done. resting up this coming weekend, then it's off to the races again. looking forward to riding some trails again.

time for bike work -

sologoat out

Race Report: 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo

2011-02-22T22:16:00.003-05:00

2011_OldPueblo_(96), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

is now posted up at the Speedgoat.com blog.

check it out here

and - just to clarify, i did the second lap. the timers scored it incorrectly to brian.

sologoat out

duo victory at old pueblo

2011-02-21T18:48:00.001-05:00

2011_OldPueblo_(94), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

repeat victory for myself and fellow pivot sponsored rider brian bennett.

full write up coming (hopefully) later tonight, at the latest by tomorrow.

stay tuned!

sologoat out

last post before race day

2011-02-18T22:24:00.002-05:00

Last write up before the race, full race report write up next write up early next week.

One last lap on the course today after duo teammate Brian Bennett rolled into the race venue. Mucho thanks goes out to Brian for bringing a ton of supplies out. Most important is a tent, a coffee maker and 3 different propane based heaters.

Brian is a fellow Pivot sponsored rider and he'll be rocking out on a new Mach 5 with XTR brakes and 2x10 cranks but has SRAM shifting all around. Very nice and light setup topped out with some very nice Easton Monkey Light bars and EA90 seatpost.

I'll be sporting one of my 429's with Continental Race Kings and a new complete Stan's Wheelset running their 3.30 hubs. Magura brakes and Jagwire pads will be doing the stopping, Jaqwire cables doing the shifting.

Lap times are coming down every lap for me, today I turned out my fastest lap ever on the course. With Brian being fit from some early season races, things are looking good for this weekend.

Rain going to hit on Saturday, but blow out fast. Here's to hoping it goes out as quick as it comes in and it leaves the course super tacky and fast.

That's it - wish us good legs and fast laps.

sologoat out

thursday from old pueblo

2011-02-17T21:29:00.002-05:00

Thursday started in somewhat of an overcast day in the mid 60's, by the time I finished up the day it was around 75 degrees as tons of riders were coming in. Compared to last year, seems like camping spots are filling up fast.

Not sure of how the field of duo's (or the rest of the classes) are looking as most of the riders are west coast riders that I do not see that often but I would take a guess that local yocal DJ from Niner will be here along with a few of the Stan's No Tubes riders as well.

Some tidbits of info on the course. It's roughly 16.1 miles (16.3 miles if you take the cutoff for the "hilly" section known as the "Bitches"), starts at about 3200 feet of elevation and has no major sustained climbs. Probably the most single speed friendly 24 hour course I have ever raced on.

It's a good mix of fire roads, single and double track with some rollers and a nice little longer climb at the end. It's mostly all hard packed sand with some loose grit around the edges. Miscalculate a corner at speed and without doubt you will some kind of cactus. And belive me, they freaking hurt. Last year I was run into 3 different types of cacti by a rider that panicked and crashed us both. The medical unit back at the venue must of pulled about 200+ needles out of me. In the morning light after the race, they pulled out about another 30 or so. And in the weeks afterward, about 20 more came to surface as little reminders of my encounter.

Looking like some chances of rain over the weekend, so I beg of all you in the blogosphere out there to cross their fingers for me. One more post before the race - stay tuned!

sologoat out

post from old pueblo

2011-02-16T23:11:00.001-05:00

2011_OldPueblo_(23), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

ok, sorry for the lack of posts lately - you see, i have a 24 hour race to train for...

next up, 24 hours of old pueblo. racing duo again with brian bennett, should be good times.

got into town a few days ago, course is dry as can be and is the same course as last year with one exception...

there's an escape route that lets you pass the famous "the bitches" section. the route is tons flatter in comparison and is just a tad longer. specifics on which route is faster will be held close to my heart until after race day.

45 pics up my flickr account, check it out if you have a second:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/solo_goat/sets/72157626071665112/

more up tomorrow, time to rest.

sologoat out

weekend update

2011-02-05T17:23:00.001-05:00

2011_0205_ride, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

well suffice to say, whatever type of salt that ohio uses on their roads really brings a burning sensation to the skin. 4+ hours today on the bike, headed north, turned south and ran into a snowstorm. epic day, but i was able to keep the tempo up and body core warm. felt like i am rolling good and i'll need it in a few weeks.

racing duo again at old peublo with Brian Bennett.

the pivot guys will be out too so it will be good times and warmer weather, something i am looking forward too. hell, duo 24 hours is going to seem like heaven compared to my 4 hour weekend roller sessions.

so, time to clean up and eat and start getting a bike ready for the trip out west. looking forward to the start of the season.

sologoat out

custom headset/bb press

2011-01-28T18:46:00.001-05:00

custom headset/bb press 01, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

cheapness is the mother of ingenuity.

well, it's still freaking cold in ohio so i don't have much exciting riding stories to go on about other then i have found some really good cycling video's on the net and i have only crashed on my rollers at high speed about a dozen times so far this year.

first races are coming up soon, pretty awesome to see the number of enduro events on the rise, especially the marathon type 6 hour'ish races. think these smaller events and venues just seem to make the most sense overall. throw in beer and free camping along with a great course and any race is sure to be a success.

will be making the switch over to sram 2x10 in the next few weeks, my few rides on it during dealer camp has me totally convinced that it's the right setup for me. just love the smaller q factor, something my small hips should like.

may opt on one of the bikes to run a mixed setup of 2x9 running the sram up front and 9 speed in the back. will be running XX 26/39 rings so if running 9 speed i will run a 34 max in the back or if on the 10 speed, i will run the 36. only thing you have to do when running the 2x9 is to make sure you run a 10 speed chain. or so i have heard.

that's it, time for the rollers.

sologoat out

house work and trainer rides

2011-01-22T10:16:00.003-05:00

not mucho going on as of recent, weather has turned to hell freezing over weather in ohio as wind chills hit a -8 this morning. hmmm. think i'll drink some more coffee and hit the trainer.

parts are slowly rolling in for the build ups this year. excited to be making the switch over to sram 10 speed as the shifting seemed be dead on when i rode it last summer out west at the dealer demo. i still like xt/xtr, but for some reason new stuff always seems a lot better. funny how that is.

thanks to the Stan's No Tubes for helping me out this year, will be getting some wheels sent over to me just in time for the old pueblo 24 hour race in a few weeks time. racing duo again, should be good times. somehow riding and racing for 24 hours seems a lot less painful then two 4 hour days on my trainer. not only will i be outside, i will also have a chance to dodge some cacti, cows and people on the course. this time though, if i go to pass somebody, i hope they don't run me into about a dozen cacti again - was pulling out needles 2 months later. no joke.

sologoat out

riding bling

2011-01-14T20:53:00.003-05:00

connex, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

thanks goes out to Cantitoe Road supplying me with Connex 10sG chain for my 2011 bike build ups.

i have been running the chains since last year and they have working and shifting awesome so i am glad to have them back. in fact, my original chain i had on one of my race bike was put on my main training bike last june. working perfectly to this day after mucho miles.

check them out HERE

next up - where ernesto race next?

hmm.... my guess someplace where there is no snow. in february.

sologoat out

coming to a hammer nutrition page near you

2011-01-07T14:04:00.003-05:00

thanks goes out to julie lewis for the photo credit on the ernesto pic up on the rotating banner pic up on hammer nutrition as well as for hammer's continued support for the 2011 season.

thanks!

sologoat out

2011 sponsor updates

2011-01-01T09:40:00.003-05:00

just a shout out and thanks to all the 2010 sponsors, thanks for your help during the past year, and a few updates on 2011.

i will continue on riding pivot 429 frames into 2011, the frames have been working fantastic the past few seasons and i am happy to be able ride them again this year.

i consolidated a few sponsors and will running Stan's wheels and sealant for both mountain and cross. super pumped to check out their new road/cross tubeless setup and of course, their rims are pretty much the standard in the industry.

and tools and small parts will be supplied by topeak.

race schedule is still pretty open at this point as some race dates are not set yet, but will include 24 hour nationals and the NUE series. personally, just happy that 24 hour nationals is NOT at moab.

with that, happy new year and keep the rubber side down.

sologoat out

long time, no post

2010-12-20T20:33:00.002-05:00

2010_1210, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

sorry for the long lapse of posting, took an extended break from it as i was taking some wind down time from the end of the year cross season and i just needed a little mental break of sorts.

cross season has wrapped up, sorry to have bailed on the last two pittsburgh area races but i was not feeling too swell and the weather here has been keeping me kind of cooped up.

new man cave trainer area is almost to a completion as it has been a work in progress for several weeks. seems that my obsessiveness for training went into ways to configure my trainer room as i thought and re-thought ways to make your trainer room set up perfectly. i usually hit up some hella long trainer rides during the winter as i am not a fan of wind chills below 20 degrees. at some point cold weather riding becomes just too dangerous with wind chills and cars really not looking for you.

first races of 2010 scheduled already, looking forward to them already - and the NUE 100 miler series is looking pretty awesome with some new additions.

some new sponsor updates will be upcoming in the next week or so, but my main sponsors of Speedgoat.com and Pivot Cycles will continue into the 2011 season.

with that, stay tuned for a few year end wrap up posts coming later this week and next.

sologoat out

3rd at Ohio Elite Cyclcross Championships

2010-11-29T16:39:00.003-05:00

Having just wrapped up a long season of endurance mountain bike racing and a 5th place overall in the North East Ohio (NEO) cross series, I travelled south to Yellow Springs Ohio for the Ohio State cyclocross championships.

It was your typical cross course with lots of corners, one double barrier, two single barriers that were low and far enough apart to bunnyhop and one sand section. Rain earlier in the week made the course slower and softer then had been in previous days, but it also made some of the single track sections a little slick.

Gun went off and I was sitting in the top 8 riders going full out and within one lap we pretty much gapped the rest of the field.

Things stayed tight for awhile, and then gaps opened up as the pace went up at the front. I dropped from the main group, but kept them within site.

A few laps later, a few more riders got by me, but I kept the pressure on by concentrating on the corners and jumping the single barriers on the backside of the course. I would catch and drop a few riders.

With 4 laps to go, I was sitting in 8th spot overall, 3rd Ohio rider. This is usually the point where the race hurts the most and riders start making mistakes.

2 laps to go, I close the gap to the next two riders and one of them goes down in a tight 180 degree corner. I hammer out of it in search of the next rider and drop him immediately.

1 lap to go, over the double barriers. The rider in front of me does not remount as fast as he had before and I press hard on the pedals to get in front of him before the single track section. I ride the section as fast as I could, jump the barriers and hit the 180 degree with enough speed to ride it in my big ring. Coming out of the next corner, I had at least a 5-10 second gap and I was closing in on 5th place overall.

I would cross the line 6th overall with 5th place not much more then 50 feet ahead of me - but I would finish up as the 3rd Ohio rider on the day which was a great way to wrap up the 2010 racing season.

sologoat out

3rd at kirtland park

2010-11-21T20:57:00.001-05:00

DSC_0072, originally uploaded by Robert Sroka.

3rd today at the NEO cross race at kirtland park - another tough battle the week before the state cross race. offhand, i have a gut feeling that a cleveland rider is going to win states.

that wraps up the series for cleveland and put me in 4th overall after 10 races.

long write up tomorrow/tuesday.

ernesto

2nd at blue sky or not - long version

2010-11-15T12:03:00.006-05:00

the next to the last race of the NEO cross series went down yesterday and with all the rain the night before,i was expecting some mud.

course was mostly all grass with a few sections of sand and one steep run up - so the course was not too muddy at all.

no really long flat sections and a lot of slippy corners meant that roadie strength was not going to be a huge factor.

gun went off, cameron got the hole shot, i sat in about 5th'ish spot.

up the run up, through the sand and twisty's and two laps later, i was in small 3 man pack with paul and matt - jason was not far behind.

matt and paul were powering it good while i was concentrating on good cornering and dismounts/remounts. all of us, at some point, would good down in the slippy corners.

matt goes down and i take the lead for a few laps and it was about this time that i decided to run the small little section of two tight turns after the hill run-up as running was way faster.

matt catches back up, but a small gap back to paul has opened up and the laps were counting down.

matt gaps me and powers some of the corners and he has a very small gap over me with 2 to go, paul is charging from behind and he looks like he is building up steam. i concentrate on catching matt.

through the tight turns on the first section of twisty turns and into and over the double barries, and into the small climb before the hill run, i see paul catch his bike on the barriers and it almost flies over his head. chain off and who else knows what, paul has to stop to fix it. the gap back to paul grows.

i pedal on, concentrating on catching matt. i make up the gap in the conrners, he powers away.

1 lap to go and the gap to matt is holding steady, right around 5 seconds. paul is chasing, but the gap is too big to close with only a lap left.

i get within 5 seconds of matt, but he takes the win. i finish up 2nd on the day, paul rolls in 3rd.

yet another great day of duking it out cross style.

one more NEO race for the year this coming weekend, then training for 2011 starts up.

sologoat out

2nd at blue sky or not

2010-11-14T21:11:00.006-05:00

full write up tomorrow - tough battle with paul and matt, 2nd at blue sky or not.

sologoat out

4th at Willoughby - longer version

2010-11-11T11:55:00.003-05:00

next up in the NEO cross series, willoughby. course is the typical twisty turny stuff, with a huge log cross, some sand, a double barrier and one hell of a hike a bike followed up with a high speed decent.

throw a ton of mud and temps in the 40's and you have an awesome cross race.

i get a decent start, settling right in behind steve, matt and paul.

paul and matt take off in full flight on the first lap and battle it out first.

i would settle in for a long battle for 3rd with steve, but he would gap me in early and i was in a mad panic using all my cross corner tricks and lines (and a hell of a lot of hard pedaling) to bridge the gap.

with 3 laps to go, i finally catch him and attack him immediately on hella steep run up climb. down the backside, through the flats and then i realize he's right on my tail.

he counters my attack and opens up a small gap, but i keep him close.

on the last lap, he holds the gap, but lets up right at the very end. all out sprint to catch him in the last sand section, i hit the corner perfect and i don't have to scrub any speed allowing me to get up to his back wheel just in time for the last barriers.

over the barriers, mud in my shoes prevented the perfect clip in remount that i would needed to get past him - he beats me out for 3rd by about 2 feet.

another great race - 4th at the end of the day, but an awesome battle which was repeated for several places on the day.

sologoat out

4th at Willoughby

2010-11-08T16:24:00.006-05:00

4th at Willoughby, full write up coming later today.

sologoat out

chagrin river cross - day 1 and 2

2010-11-03T11:54:00.003-04:00

saturday - halloween costume day
with a possible 30 second penalty for not dressing for the occasion, everybody joined in on the holiday madness.

gun went off, elbows were flying. john got the hole shot, paul and steve were chasing.

steve would eventually flat, and get second - paul would take the win.

i settled into a battle with john for 3rd as he maintained about a 8 second gap for most of the race. didn't register until late into the race that my camo pants were digging into my gut and were causing me some major cramping that started about 15 minutes into the race.

would end up 4th on the day.

sunday
gun went off and i had to snake around cameron coming in pretty hot into the first tunnel turn. i jumped in behind john and soon after steve and matt tangled up leaving me and john at the front.

steve would soon sneak by and so would paul - then late in the race, matt. they would finish 1, 2, 3.

so, john and i duked it out for the entire race.

i pulled at the start, the john pulled awhile. once matt was coming up, john slowed a little and i charged forward again.

matt would catch us and pull away, and i chased him.

in the closing laps, through the pine trees i was thinking that my arms were getting beat up by the constant jarring. and then i whack my head off a tree. ouch. john then pulls through.

hard efforts out of the corners, i stay on his wheel. in the grass field, john jumps, but slips. i wasn't ready for my attack yet, so i waited until the last little straight before the twisty's near the stream, then i jumped.

hit the corner into the pines so hard the rear end jumped up what felt like 2 feet. through the turns, into the grass, jumped on the pedals as hard as i could and got a small gap.

i would hold it to take 4th - not a win, but great racin'.

sologoat out

two 4th's

2010-11-01T11:58:00.001-04:00

DSC_0222, originally uploaded by Flickr de Julie.

two cross races this weekend, two fourths. full write up's coming tonight.

sologoat out

NEO Cross Series - Cascade Cross

2010-10-26T13:35:00.004-04:00

Next stop in the Northeast Ohio cross series was a new venue, the Cascade Cross in Elyria Ohio.

Upon arrival, one thing was obvious – there was going to be a lot of pain as the wall of climb right in that you would start on was hella steep. The A’s would climb all the way to the top, the last 20 feet being the steepest.

The course was typical, a double barrier, some wide twisty turns, then up the hella climb, a screaming downhill into some more fast turns, onto the road, up short climb to dismount over a log, some more twisty’s, more road, a few more turns, dismount for the double barriers and then through the start/finish.

Start would cut the first lap in half and shoot you straight through a field and right up the hella climb.

Gun went off, Cameron got the hole shot and all the rest followed. I was sitting in 6th on the screamer of a downhill. A few others got around me on the road section, and a few laps and hella climbs later, I was sitting in 4th, chasing down Jason.

Chase and chase, my gaps got closer to 3rd, as the gap to 5th place rider behind me grew.

Gearing was becoming increasing important on the hella climb and my compact gearing allowed me to carry my speed a little better up the climb. Eventually, I caught 4th with about 5 laps to go.

Jason and I duked it out. He would try to pull away, and then I would return the favor.

With 2 ½ laps to go, I ride beside him and tell him that we call a short term truce and take even pulls until the last lap.

On the last lap, Jason leads the beginning portions and onto the start of the hella climb. I put down an all out effort and open a gap. Down the climb, through some corners and a few minutes later, I pull off 3rd place.

Great new venue – hope it sticks around for the 2011 series.

sologoat out

dead legs and a twisty one

2010-10-22T20:21:00.003-04:00

10/16/10 - physco cross in chicago

ah, just a mere 6 days after moab, i am racing again. not a good idea on paper or in my mind, but my heart was telling me to go. so i headed out towards the new home of speedgoat, chicago, on a late friday.

venue was great, the man-made run over and through obstacle was awesome, but the wind was nutty and my legs felt like rocks. had it my mind to go faster, but the legs were not there.

thanks for brendan carting me around for the day and hosting me for the night.

10/17/10 - NE ohio series - cross creek
with a small venue brings tight corners, no wind and no power straights. my legs were still feeling like rocks, but with so many corners, maybe i could fake it for a little bit.

this was a first ever for me, and brought same flashes of horror.

what the hell? a le mans style start in a cross race? somehow, i manage a good start, but john and matt sneak in front. paul is nowhere in sight.

i charge on, chasing and concentrating on the corners.

for two laps, i wonder what is going on behind me, things are still tight. eventually gaps creep out, but not in these starting laps.

my rear wheel gets tapped a few times.

ah, paul comes ripping around me and charges off towards the lead.

gaps grow, i chase. i stay close to the top 3, my power is there, but my legs are not feeling too snappy. i overshoot a corner and tape gets wrapped up on the back of my bike and somehow i don't break my hand as i reach back and grab the tape off and for a second, i stick my hand in my rear spokes. ouch.

laps come down, only a few more to go and gaps stretch out. i finish out the day in 4th, 7 days after moab.

next up - double cross weekend.

sologoat out

24 Hour Nationals

2010-10-13T11:52:00.011-04:00

Race Course and Condition:
Moab, Utah. The land of rocks and sand. Rain early in the week before the race had left the typical dusty conditions padded down and perfect to ride, but the sun came out late on Thursday to dry up the course again by Saturday.

The course is a roughly 14.5 mile loop on mostly desert jeep trails that is packed with short little climbs, littered with rock sections with very little flat sections.

With a course this long, and in the desert, one has more to take into consideration as far as fuel and emergency trail side repairs go. Most 24 hour race courses take about 50 minutes to an hour, this lap easily takes over an hour and fifteen minutes late in the race.

The Start:
Saturday, noon. Seconds before the start, I realize I didn’t take my asthma medication and that I didn’t have anything covering my mouth to protect me from the dust I was getting ready to inhale during the Le Mans style running start.

The gun goes off, and a guy wearing a full gorilla suit takes the lead in the run, I get to my bike and make fast work up to the top 40 or so guys. Josh Tostado and Kelly Magelky are already in full flight.

Things soon clear out and I am making my way through traffic slowly but surely. Game plan was to ride steady, not max things out too early in the game.

Lap Two
I soon catch up to solo riders both wearing the same white kits. I pass them, they pass me. This goes on and on for several hours and laps. I decide to back off just a bit, let them go and save my full out effort for later.

7pm – 10pm
Things are going south for me real fast at this point. My legs and body feel great, but my asthma has kicked in full force and my stomach is not feeling that great and it is throwing my fuel plan way off. I stop in the pits, contemplate what is going on, take my asthma medication and have some coffee.

At around 8:30pm, I pit and contemplate stopping. I was about 2 minutes away from pulling the plug when everybody around me was telling me to go on despite me looking cross eyed. (They later tell me that they have seen me look a lot worse).

I pedal on through the lap, not feeling super duper great, but my condition is not getting worse, which seemed like a good thing at the time.

10pm
I stop in the pit again, put on some warm clothing, eat some food, drink some strong coffee and take some Pepto to settle my stomach.

Pushing on through the lap, I start feeling a lot better. I am concentrating more on my lines and thinking about the sunrise then I am about my stomach. Things seem to be getting better.

Night Laps
I focus on being fueled, not crashing my brains out on the rocks and making an effort in the early morning. Strong coffee and the thought of daylight and closure to the endurance season was my motivation to finish out the race.

I was now sitting in 11th spot, far back from the 5th spot I was battling for early in the race. I was thinking more about getting to the finish line then I was at a podium spot at this point.

Day Light:
I always love seeing the sun come up in the morning during a 24 hour race as it seems like the end is so near and it gives me an extra kick in my pedal stroke.

Passing through the pits I grab some food and a warmer vest. As I am leaving, I hear a random person in the pit say something to the effect of “he is really slowing down and loosing positions.” I was sitting in 9th at the time and to be honest, I don’t know if he was talking about me or not, but it sent a spark of rage through me. I was going to go all out for this. My lungs felt clear of the asthma and I felt good.

I am soon catching riders here and there, their plate numbers are low, so I know I am making up spots. I don’t make chit chat, I pedal as hard as I can past them and don't look back.

Last lap:
Going out for what I thought was my next to last lap, I was now up to 7th place, only 5 minutes behind 5th spot. I strip off my warm clothing, shout instructions to my pit crew and I am out of my tent and soon in a full sprint towards the first rocky climb of the day.

Just before I hit the climb, I catch 6th spot which happened to be one of the riders I was dooking it out with 22 hours earlier. With an all out effort, I sprint as far as I could all the way up the climb not allowing myself to look back until I got over the short climb. When I turned around, he was not in sight.

Continuing the same pace, I pedal on and soon catch his teammate for 5th. I waited for a section of little roller climbs and a clear section of trail. I jumped hard, pedaled through the short climbs and looked back 10 minutes later. Not in sight.

Full out effort at this point, I wanted my 5th spot to stick. Thinking I still had another lap to go, I was somewhat confused by all the happy screaming faces coming down pit row as I came near the start finish.

When I swiped my card for the last time they said “great job!” and I had to ask them twice if it was over as I was somewhat confused by fact that it was over.

Tough day on the bike. Would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed with my asthma situation hitting me so early putting a damper on a chance at a top 3, but happy at how things worked out at the end. 5th at 24 Hour Nationals.

5th at 24 nationals

2010-10-10T20:57:00.001-04:00

100_4896, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

had to fight off asthma and the field to take 5th at 24 nationals at moab.

more later - legs are cramping like crazy and i need to go eat a house. and some brews.

long post up tomorrow night.

sologoat out

last post before 24 nats

2010-10-08T18:51:00.001-04:00

IMG_4859, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

rain is out, dryness is back along with some of the sand and dust. rain has been keeping most of it down, so i am hoping the moisture holds some of it down and the locals are not out there ripping the hell out of the course as i type.

more riders are rolling in today and the skies have cleared and the wind has died down. looking to be a fast course with good weather, which is always a good thing during a 24 hour.

bikes prepped, pit setup, and all rested up. just got to race.

check my flickr pics for some more Moab pics i put up, next post up (hopefully) sunday.

sologoat out

arrived in moab

2010-10-06T21:03:00.001-04:00

IMG_4835, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

and pre-ride complete. won't go too much into details as too many race day enemies are scoping out the blog for hints of course conditions, but check out the moab weather and you'll get the basic idea.

not too many riders in town yet, think i was the first solo to setup camp, with a few teams coming into town a little later in the day.

course is the same as years past, think it's roughly 16 miles if i am not mistaken.

pivot will also be around since outerbike in moab just finished up last weekend, so more help is always needed at 24 hour events. cool thing too is that 2 other pivot sponsored riders will be racing.

for now, time to relax after a short drive through arches national park. check out my flickr account for the latest and greatest pics, will also try to get out 2 more blog posts before saturday.

sologoat out

fruita, day 3

2010-10-04T21:23:00.001-04:00

IMG_4737, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

when in colorado, carry a rain jacket.

todays ride was cut a little short due to the hella short and fierce storm that brought in rain, lighting and some hail for fun.

tomorrow, one more fruita ride then off to the land of moab.

weather looks hit or miss depending on the rain this week, but to be honest, i don't care so much as the dust gives my asthma a little extra boost. more rain, less the chance of asthma - so i tend to cheerish the crappy weather should it so happen.

looking like rain will hit this week, so dust should not be an issue - and then the rain goes away for saturday and sunday.

field at this point is looking pretty slim in the championship division, but the talent is there. toastman and kelly are back, so it's going to be a battle to the end.

after 24 nats, a double cross weekend. going to be some fun going down in the next few weeks.

check out flickr for all my pic updates - 3 sets of fruita pics up already.

with that - some rest and movies in store tonight.

sologoat out

fruita pics...

2010-10-03T23:12:00.001-04:00

IMG_4717, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

now up on flickr - check them out.

hanging out here a few days, then out to 24 nats at moab. got to ride a few more trails today that i didn't get a chance to ride last time i was out here.

trails have been packed over the weekend, nice and hot.

trails hit up - marys, steve's, horsethief, lions, kokopelli.

sologoat out

5th at kent state, moab on my mind

2010-09-30T22:05:00.001-04:00

DSC_0180, originally uploaded by mehul_gala.

welp, 5th at kent state cross last weekend. not the race i planned, but with my mind on heading out to 24 nats i forgot about the loose seatbolt clamp on my focus carbon cross bike.

so, with matt and paul going like hell, i was in a chase in group behind, hit a bump at speed and wham, the seat was pointing at a sharp angle. my bad.

with that, i had to switch bikes and i lost contact with my two chase buddies - i was now sitting in 5th.

now on my aluminum focus, it somehow seemed to jar me twice as hard as the carbon frame until i got my grove back. that is, until i noticed that i didn't get around to switching the brakes out to my new TRP's. damn.

so, with me having a drama over my bike setup, i slipped back to sixth.

i battled it out, found my lines, caught him back for 5th just quick enough to tell him that the next guy is 8 seconds back, we have 2 laps to go and one of us is taking 5th.

he ends up wrapped up in tape on a bad line, i get 5th, he gets pimped at the line and takes 7th. damn. had the legs, but my mind was elsewhere.

moab.

it's been on my mind for a long time, now it's down to less then 10 days away. will be a tough battle with the toastman and kelly and all the other enduro freaks.

just want to say thanks for the sponsors that have backed me through the years. still can't believe some of the places i have been. i still dream of racing in texas at the mas o menos again.

that's it - gotta roll. get your miles in - we still got races to race.

sologoat out

interbike pics now up

2010-09-24T08:26:00.001-04:00

2010_Interbike (149), originally uploaded by solo_goat.

pics now up for Interbike.

check it

sologoat out

whiskey island cross

2010-09-14T14:42:00.004-04:00

Whiskey Town cross, was the second stop in the Northeast Ohio Cyclocross Series held this past sunday -- where i was hoping for some redemption of last weeks double mechanicals with a rolled tubular and a loose canti brake stud on my spare. the race was over for me in two laps last week, i was not looking for a repeat dnf.

i opted for the newly wobblenaught fitted focus marres for the day, rolling clinchers. normally i am ok on clinchers, but a quick few pre-race laps of the course had some concerns for me with all the glass and the tight corners. tight corners cause a clinchers sidewalls to give out every once in awhile if you are coming in hot - the lower the pressure, the higher the probability. i was running pressure pretty low, but i decided to put a few more pounds in the rear to avoid the clincher sidewall issue as well as the likelyhood of a pinch flat.

gun goes off and i get my customary cruddy start and am at least 15 guys back from the front. into the first sand section, guys flail in front of me - and the gap grows to the front. shortly thereafter in the long sand section i don't even try to ride and dismount immediately to avoid some confusion. i pass a few guys riding while i am in a sprint.

now my chase is on.

the lead group has a gap and i am in the second group. i try to to use every mountain bike skill i have to keep up speed, and i slowly break away from the second group with john p.

half way through, coming off of the pier in full speed, some fisherman decide to walk accross the course. One is walking extremely slow, the other at a standstill about 20 feet away. with me yelling, his speed does not increase but instead scares the other teenage fisherman wearing a hoodie that capped his eyes, into full flight nearly right into me. it's yet another great example of why people who are a couple apples short of a picnic shouldn't be wearing ipods or try to do two things at once in public.

soon after, i am by myself with the laps cards counting down. i catch two more riders and am now sitting in 4th with 3 laps to go.

2 laps to go and i can see steve twingey on his mountain bike, i push hard to catch him and the gap is closing, but i think he feels me coming so the gap sticks at around 10 seconds.

on the pier for the last lap, there was no hopes of catching him, i make a few more efforts up the last two little climbs, but the gap is too big. 4th place it is. matt rolls in first, mr martin in second, steve in 3rd. great race, great venue.

4th at whiskey park

2010-09-12T21:38:00.001-04:00

DSC_8656, originally uploaded by bstephens83.

great photo with my race face on - write up tomorrow.

sologoat out

jumping logs

2010-09-03T08:49:00.001-04:00

last nights cross bike bunny hop practice.

sologoat out