hey all - don't know how much more i'll get to post this week as i need to get in a ton and a half of miles and then head out to toronto.
wobblenaught fits are going to be held off until next week as this week is getting too hectic already. juggling work and riding is difficult enough, then throw in a couple of hours for a fit -- just not going to work this week.
sacrifices, sacrifices....
it's going to be a good year though, so i am pretty pumped. 4 24 hour races on the schedule should keep me busy and this year i am doing a ton of enduro's as well. the enduro's seem to be fitting in nicely with my workout schedule. for some reason, to me it is a lot easier getting in a 8 hour race then to go out on a 8 hour ride. guess because my mind doesn't wander off and i am too freaked out about stopping. sometimes races can be the best training - so that is why during the season i don't get hung up on placings in road races or events that i don't consider my main races. have to keep it real, yo. and i can honestly say that racing with that type of attatitude has really kept racing and riding exciting for me. i have seen a ton of guys come and go whom raced every single weekend and all they concentrated on was placing well. ya, doing well is great -- but if you are not having fun, then you will never succeed in the long run. short term goals will overwhelm the longterm goals and you'll quit racing/riding and play playstation all day. seen it a million times.
ah, enough ranting. if you are racing - keep it real. have fun. if that means riding 24 hours or 24 miles or 24 feet, so be it. make it a passion and you will succeed.
man, i think i should be a motivational speaker.
gotta run - have to meet the boss man in a little bit.
sologoat out.
5.24.2005
05.24.05 - long week ahead and past week race update
hey all...
www.heartrateup.com still does not have the results posted from the past weekend, but they are coming....
this weekend - off to the toronto'ish area for one of the chico 8 hour races - they have three of them up there this year. this will be the first year i have done them, so we'll see how the first one goes and then i'll decide i like 'em or not. looks like they have a set up similar to grannygear where you can log into a web site and check out up to the minute lap times. my family digs that.
in speedgoat news, i am heading out for a photo shoot in my new gear with the new bikes in a couple of weeks. lots of women have been asking for more photos of me, so we decided to shoot some for a calander coming out next month.
no - seriously.... they will be taking it for some new bike fit web pages they are coming up with, along with some general web page photos to pimp the asylum frame. should be good press for all - tifosi, fsa, hammergel, xpert, asylum and the goat.
sorry for no parts reviews lately - all i have been concentrating on is getting ready for next month. two big 24 hour races coming up and all i can think about is body weight, fitness, coming into the races well rested and fit as a fiddle.
long day - gotta run.
sologoat out
www.heartrateup.com still does not have the results posted from the past weekend, but they are coming....
this weekend - off to the toronto'ish area for one of the chico 8 hour races - they have three of them up there this year. this will be the first year i have done them, so we'll see how the first one goes and then i'll decide i like 'em or not. looks like they have a set up similar to grannygear where you can log into a web site and check out up to the minute lap times. my family digs that.
in speedgoat news, i am heading out for a photo shoot in my new gear with the new bikes in a couple of weeks. lots of women have been asking for more photos of me, so we decided to shoot some for a calander coming out next month.
no - seriously.... they will be taking it for some new bike fit web pages they are coming up with, along with some general web page photos to pimp the asylum frame. should be good press for all - tifosi, fsa, hammergel, xpert, asylum and the goat.
sorry for no parts reviews lately - all i have been concentrating on is getting ready for next month. two big 24 hour races coming up and all i can think about is body weight, fitness, coming into the races well rested and fit as a fiddle.
long day - gotta run.
sologoat out
5.22.2005
05.22.05 - victory at the highland hex 6 hour
hey all -
quick update on the race this weekend - final results are not posted on their web sight.
race started at 10am saturday. rain in the weeks before the race left the oranizers to make the single track/double track course consist probably of 20% fire roads, 30% single track, and 50% climbing. oh darn....
gun went off, and i was in the top 4 going into the first single track section after the first immediate climb. the plan was to watch the locals on the single track to pick the good lines on the first lap and then slowly up the pace and drop them. about half way through the course on the first lap in the middle a decent climb, i turned around and saw nobody. i was with two others and i thought that they were going too slow - so i didn't really attack them, but i just went at the tempo i wanted.
i immediately opened a gap. the next section was a flat/fast fire road into a semi-decently long technichal section. i flew on the flat and then ripped up the technical (the asylum handled like a dream). the next section was some grassy single track that rolled - but mostly climbed. by this time, they were about 100 feet behind me. since i could see the trail climbing up in three stepped sections ahead of me, i locked out the reba, shifted to my big ring up front, and attacked.
at the top of the third step, i looked back and couldn't see them. and that was the last i saw them.
in fact - nobody caught me the entire race.
so here is the short version of the end race results:
1. i finished the race putting in over 17 minutes on the second place overall solo rider.
2. i finished the race 1rst overall - i beat EVERBODY INCLUDING THE DUO TEAMS. i had over 12 minutes on the best placed team. yep - i was passed by NOBODY!
3. and as an added bonus - i also had the fastest lap
that's the short version - off to sleep and maybe some other race specifics tomorrow, time permitting. overall very happy with the results, just good to see the training is right on and my hammer gel/e-cap nutrition is 150% pinned down. now all i have to do now the rest of the year is pedal.
pedal like a man possessed with hammer gel.
gotta sleep -
sologoat out
quick update on the race this weekend - final results are not posted on their web sight.
race started at 10am saturday. rain in the weeks before the race left the oranizers to make the single track/double track course consist probably of 20% fire roads, 30% single track, and 50% climbing. oh darn....
gun went off, and i was in the top 4 going into the first single track section after the first immediate climb. the plan was to watch the locals on the single track to pick the good lines on the first lap and then slowly up the pace and drop them. about half way through the course on the first lap in the middle a decent climb, i turned around and saw nobody. i was with two others and i thought that they were going too slow - so i didn't really attack them, but i just went at the tempo i wanted.
i immediately opened a gap. the next section was a flat/fast fire road into a semi-decently long technichal section. i flew on the flat and then ripped up the technical (the asylum handled like a dream). the next section was some grassy single track that rolled - but mostly climbed. by this time, they were about 100 feet behind me. since i could see the trail climbing up in three stepped sections ahead of me, i locked out the reba, shifted to my big ring up front, and attacked.
at the top of the third step, i looked back and couldn't see them. and that was the last i saw them.
in fact - nobody caught me the entire race.
so here is the short version of the end race results:
1. i finished the race putting in over 17 minutes on the second place overall solo rider.
2. i finished the race 1rst overall - i beat EVERBODY INCLUDING THE DUO TEAMS. i had over 12 minutes on the best placed team. yep - i was passed by NOBODY!
3. and as an added bonus - i also had the fastest lap
that's the short version - off to sleep and maybe some other race specifics tomorrow, time permitting. overall very happy with the results, just good to see the training is right on and my hammer gel/e-cap nutrition is 150% pinned down. now all i have to do now the rest of the year is pedal.
pedal like a man possessed with hammer gel.
gotta sleep -
sologoat out
5.20.2005
05.20.05 - off to NY
out to the highland hex 6 hour in NY.
results should be posted some time on sunday on one of these two sites:
http://bikeloft.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=246
http://www.heartrateup.com/NYSERS.htm
sorry, don't have time to do the web link thingy....
3 hour last night with asylum teammate ej sigety (cyclocross superstar). had these sweeeeeeeeeeeet zipp 404's with the new dimples on the outside and now have a reinforced carbon section where the spoke connects to the rim. oh ya, and they updated the rim so that the spoke connects up on the raised section of the rim - not on the lower part of the rim. this is cool because now you can run a lot shorter spokes (lighter weight) and they won't pull on the carbon sides like they used to when it connected lower in the rim -- and working on them should be a lot easier too.
anyhoo... he has them built up with wtb's lightest flange disc hub. super light. super cool. mike curiac - you may need to build up some new wheels with the new rims because the new 404's are oh so cool.
that's it - gotta run 'cause i am holding up the show. off to new york, 6 hours of fun, and afterwards, a viewing at niagra falls.
i'll be sure to spit over the side for you and in honor of all my enduro brothern and sistern...
ride to live, live to ride.
sologoat out.
results should be posted some time on sunday on one of these two sites:
http://bikeloft.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=246
http://www.heartrateup.com/NYSERS.htm
sorry, don't have time to do the web link thingy....
3 hour last night with asylum teammate ej sigety (cyclocross superstar). had these sweeeeeeeeeeeet zipp 404's with the new dimples on the outside and now have a reinforced carbon section where the spoke connects to the rim. oh ya, and they updated the rim so that the spoke connects up on the raised section of the rim - not on the lower part of the rim. this is cool because now you can run a lot shorter spokes (lighter weight) and they won't pull on the carbon sides like they used to when it connected lower in the rim -- and working on them should be a lot easier too.
anyhoo... he has them built up with wtb's lightest flange disc hub. super light. super cool. mike curiac - you may need to build up some new wheels with the new rims because the new 404's are oh so cool.
that's it - gotta run 'cause i am holding up the show. off to new york, 6 hours of fun, and afterwards, a viewing at niagra falls.
i'll be sure to spit over the side for you and in honor of all my enduro brothern and sistern...
ride to live, live to ride.
sologoat out.
5.19.2005
05.19.05 - quickie updates
sologoat has had too much coffee today and is short on time. here is some random updates:
1. star wars update:
yep, i was a super geek and caught the flick at 12:01. through an endless 20 minutes of previews (what is up with that??), i was pretty impressed with the movie overall. don't want to say too much more to blow it for those who are still wanting to see it. oh ya, the place was filled with major geeks - at least a dozen people dressed up in various outfits, there was two light sword battles in the crowd before the movie started, and then we had to sit across from possibly the most annoying teenagers in the world.
2. asylum updates:
wobblenaught fit MAY be happening today, depending on fellow speedgoat racer ej. he's in town and we may head out on a road ride. if he bails - i'll get my bikes fitted, if not, it will have to wait to next week.
3. races:
last week michigan, this week new york, next week.... stay tuned. already scheduled this race, looks pretty cool. payout is nill, but it's for a good cause. setup is really nice though, and is supposed to be on some sweet trails.
4. asylum secret update:
hard tail. scandium. chris working on specs? hmmmmmmmmmmm..... more on this later.
5. hammergel/e-caps
last week was the first race i have ever done 100% on hammer products. very pleased with the results - no upset stomach and the much dreaded bloating/gas. yep, gas is not much fun to talk about, but it's the result of having to drink some type of protein (usually) during my races. had problems before when i didn't use hammer. looks like the problem is solved. sweeeeeeeeet....
that's it - gotta run. possibly no updates until monday.
sologoat out.
1. star wars update:
yep, i was a super geek and caught the flick at 12:01. through an endless 20 minutes of previews (what is up with that??), i was pretty impressed with the movie overall. don't want to say too much more to blow it for those who are still wanting to see it. oh ya, the place was filled with major geeks - at least a dozen people dressed up in various outfits, there was two light sword battles in the crowd before the movie started, and then we had to sit across from possibly the most annoying teenagers in the world.
2. asylum updates:
wobblenaught fit MAY be happening today, depending on fellow speedgoat racer ej. he's in town and we may head out on a road ride. if he bails - i'll get my bikes fitted, if not, it will have to wait to next week.
3. races:
last week michigan, this week new york, next week.... stay tuned. already scheduled this race, looks pretty cool. payout is nill, but it's for a good cause. setup is really nice though, and is supposed to be on some sweet trails.
4. asylum secret update:
hard tail. scandium. chris working on specs? hmmmmmmmmmmm..... more on this later.
5. hammergel/e-caps
last week was the first race i have ever done 100% on hammer products. very pleased with the results - no upset stomach and the much dreaded bloating/gas. yep, gas is not much fun to talk about, but it's the result of having to drink some type of protein (usually) during my races. had problems before when i didn't use hammer. looks like the problem is solved. sweeeeeeeeet....
that's it - gotta run. possibly no updates until monday.
sologoat out.
5.17.2005
05.17.05 - preparing for the next enduro race
coming this weekend just out of syracuse new york. part of the 6 hour series up in new york - this will be the first of 3 races. should be some fast locals, with some possible pro/semi-pro riders coming from indy fab. these guys always show up to the races up there - with fresh legs.
races i have done against them have always been with a 24 hour race in my legs less then 14 days previous - always wondered what i could do without having put myself through some major hurt so close to their events. the pando 8 hour didn't cook me at all, so it should be a good test for me.
bikes held up fine at pando - rode both the rp3 and the 5th element rear shocks. think i am going to go with the rp3 - just seems a little more compliant. the 5th is lighter and is actually the shock i rode last year, but it just seems too stiff on the asylum. i'm going to tweek the settings on it a little more and give it another week before i 100% decide.
other than that, riding is going good - weather is supposed to be nice all week. YAHOO! but when will it finally stay over a high of 70 all week?!?! grrrrrrrr.....
in other news:
billy corgan/smashing pumpkins freaks, let it be known -- with his new album coming out next month, there is a tour. a very small tour. if you are fellow corgan nutcase like myself, pre-sale for the tickets is tomorrow at 10am. if there is two shows that i would absolutely 150% love to go to, would be the chicago shows. it's his hometown, yo.
i caught his last little tour for his book -- very, very super cool. got his autograph and then caught his show at a very small venue in cleveland. maybe 200 people at it, max. he played a ton of his new stuff and read some of his poetry. if you ever get a chance to see one of his shows - check it out. simply amazing.
corgan rules.
and so do my asylums.
sologoat out
races i have done against them have always been with a 24 hour race in my legs less then 14 days previous - always wondered what i could do without having put myself through some major hurt so close to their events. the pando 8 hour didn't cook me at all, so it should be a good test for me.
bikes held up fine at pando - rode both the rp3 and the 5th element rear shocks. think i am going to go with the rp3 - just seems a little more compliant. the 5th is lighter and is actually the shock i rode last year, but it just seems too stiff on the asylum. i'm going to tweek the settings on it a little more and give it another week before i 100% decide.
other than that, riding is going good - weather is supposed to be nice all week. YAHOO! but when will it finally stay over a high of 70 all week?!?! grrrrrrrr.....
in other news:
billy corgan/smashing pumpkins freaks, let it be known -- with his new album coming out next month, there is a tour. a very small tour. if you are fellow corgan nutcase like myself, pre-sale for the tickets is tomorrow at 10am. if there is two shows that i would absolutely 150% love to go to, would be the chicago shows. it's his hometown, yo.
i caught his last little tour for his book -- very, very super cool. got his autograph and then caught his show at a very small venue in cleveland. maybe 200 people at it, max. he played a ton of his new stuff and read some of his poetry. if you ever get a chance to see one of his shows - check it out. simply amazing.
corgan rules.
and so do my asylums.
sologoat out
5.16.2005
05.16.05 - 2nd at 8 hour pando
here is the quickie update: day before, rain. and more rain.
morning of the race, more rain that would not stop until about an hour before race time. during breakfast at the local diner, the rain outside was more annoying then the old coot/genius that was talking loud enough so that everbody could hear him how that star wars was not science fiction and that it was a cartoon to him (even though he never really saw one of the movies). anyhoo, the sandy soil of michigan would prove to be the thickness of peanut butter in the opening laps.
gun goes off, mark hendershot (7th at worlds last year - 3rd a few years back when they had a freak snow storm), myself and 3 local yocals soon drop the entire solo field of approximately 30 guys. the locals and mark all knew each other and were talking most of the time - which was annoying me because i thought they were going a little too slow. so on one of the climbs at about an hour into the race, i jumped and immediately dropped mark and one of the locals. i would drag these two guys around for 3 laps (one guy was on a single speed). i would slow down, and when the wouldn't pull through, i would attack them. i must of done this about 8 times.
at around a little over 2 hours, i attacked, they chased back on, then the non-single speed local attacked me. i stuck with him a little bit, but he dropped me. the single speed guy was dropped. right about this time the soil starts to firm up a little as the temperture was rising and the rain stopped.
an hour passes, and the local yocal dies. i catch him on a climb and noticed that his head was hanging and his shoulders were rolling to keep the bike going so i backed off a little to get a drink, then waited for some rollers and then attacked him. i immediately opened a gap.
about an hour later, hendershot caught me on the climb at the begining of the lap. i stayed relatively close to him (approx 2 minutes for about an hour) and then his margin grew, but never got over roughly 8 minutes -- which is a lot better then the 15 minutes he had on me last year at the same race.
i took 2nd overall, 1rst in my age group.
bikes - worked perfect. disc brakes worked so well that when sometimes i would forget that i had disc brakes (with my v's i had to squeeze my levers with all the strength i could muster in my hands) that one several occasions i came to a complete stop on a downhill...
that's it - pretty happy overall with my fitness. looks like i am on track for the rest of the year. got home early enough yesterday that i was actually able to fit in a 3 hour recovery ride which almost seemed short compared to the 8 hour epic i raced in the day before.
gotta run - pics up in a few days, though i only have a few. i will post them when i get 'em.
sologoat out.
morning of the race, more rain that would not stop until about an hour before race time. during breakfast at the local diner, the rain outside was more annoying then the old coot/genius that was talking loud enough so that everbody could hear him how that star wars was not science fiction and that it was a cartoon to him (even though he never really saw one of the movies). anyhoo, the sandy soil of michigan would prove to be the thickness of peanut butter in the opening laps.
gun goes off, mark hendershot (7th at worlds last year - 3rd a few years back when they had a freak snow storm), myself and 3 local yocals soon drop the entire solo field of approximately 30 guys. the locals and mark all knew each other and were talking most of the time - which was annoying me because i thought they were going a little too slow. so on one of the climbs at about an hour into the race, i jumped and immediately dropped mark and one of the locals. i would drag these two guys around for 3 laps (one guy was on a single speed). i would slow down, and when the wouldn't pull through, i would attack them. i must of done this about 8 times.
at around a little over 2 hours, i attacked, they chased back on, then the non-single speed local attacked me. i stuck with him a little bit, but he dropped me. the single speed guy was dropped. right about this time the soil starts to firm up a little as the temperture was rising and the rain stopped.
an hour passes, and the local yocal dies. i catch him on a climb and noticed that his head was hanging and his shoulders were rolling to keep the bike going so i backed off a little to get a drink, then waited for some rollers and then attacked him. i immediately opened a gap.
about an hour later, hendershot caught me on the climb at the begining of the lap. i stayed relatively close to him (approx 2 minutes for about an hour) and then his margin grew, but never got over roughly 8 minutes -- which is a lot better then the 15 minutes he had on me last year at the same race.
i took 2nd overall, 1rst in my age group.
bikes - worked perfect. disc brakes worked so well that when sometimes i would forget that i had disc brakes (with my v's i had to squeeze my levers with all the strength i could muster in my hands) that one several occasions i came to a complete stop on a downhill...
that's it - pretty happy overall with my fitness. looks like i am on track for the rest of the year. got home early enough yesterday that i was actually able to fit in a 3 hour recovery ride which almost seemed short compared to the 8 hour epic i raced in the day before.
gotta run - pics up in a few days, though i only have a few. i will post them when i get 'em.
sologoat out.
5.13.2005
05.13.05 - lucky number 13
lucky - as in, lucky i am getting asylum #2 today with my pretty pink hubs. oh yes...
bike is en route to the ernesto casa, then me and dan the mechanic man are heading out to enjoy an 8 hour solo jaunt outside of grand rapids. should be a good test for the new equipment.
preliminary on the bikes are that they have an overall nice ride to them - very impressed with the geometry, riding, etc. guys at the shop have been raving about how it descends (which i haven't fully tested yet - tomorrow has a good downhill so i can judge it then) but i can say undoubtedly that it flies over small rocky/rooty stuff a lot better than conventional 26 inch wheels. and the acceleration - honestly, can't tell the difference between my old santacruz superlight and this bike. must be the lower bottom bracket...
anyhoo...
got the fork/rear shock all adjusted up - running the reba race up front and the fox rp3 in the rear. right now, the front is at 70 on the negative, 110 on the positive with the blowoff set pretty stiff. rear shock is set at 110 pounds with the dapening set at the mid-level adjustment. seems to be working good, but i haven't had good full on off road testing for it. oh, and my weight - coming in at 142 pounds this morning. so - base your air pressure on that, yo. and - just to note - i like the ride a little more stiff. i like plushy rides when i am riding, but hate it when i am racing.
8 hour tomorrow - little course. technical, short little climbs. i have race here before... oh, and sandy in some spots. not much of that in ohio...
better run - update either sunday or monday. with pics of the new ride.
may their be good weather in your future...
sologoat out.
bike is en route to the ernesto casa, then me and dan the mechanic man are heading out to enjoy an 8 hour solo jaunt outside of grand rapids. should be a good test for the new equipment.
preliminary on the bikes are that they have an overall nice ride to them - very impressed with the geometry, riding, etc. guys at the shop have been raving about how it descends (which i haven't fully tested yet - tomorrow has a good downhill so i can judge it then) but i can say undoubtedly that it flies over small rocky/rooty stuff a lot better than conventional 26 inch wheels. and the acceleration - honestly, can't tell the difference between my old santacruz superlight and this bike. must be the lower bottom bracket...
anyhoo...
got the fork/rear shock all adjusted up - running the reba race up front and the fox rp3 in the rear. right now, the front is at 70 on the negative, 110 on the positive with the blowoff set pretty stiff. rear shock is set at 110 pounds with the dapening set at the mid-level adjustment. seems to be working good, but i haven't had good full on off road testing for it. oh, and my weight - coming in at 142 pounds this morning. so - base your air pressure on that, yo. and - just to note - i like the ride a little more stiff. i like plushy rides when i am riding, but hate it when i am racing.
8 hour tomorrow - little course. technical, short little climbs. i have race here before... oh, and sandy in some spots. not much of that in ohio...
better run - update either sunday or monday. with pics of the new ride.
may their be good weather in your future...
sologoat out.
5.11.2005
05.11.05 - miscellaneous rambling
asylum misc parts ramblings:
1. Easton EC90 Zero Carbon Seatpost
2a. SRAM® X.0 SRS Shorty Shifters - front shifter
2b. SRAM® X.9 Trigger Shifters (2005) - rear shifter
post was updated from the ec70 to the ec90 and the right shifter was switched to a twist type to save on weight.
asylum quick review rambling:
initial short two rides have me rating this bike fantastic. quick in the corners, very responsive. weight seems to be about the same as last years bikes, but with the bigger 29r wheels. initial climbing tests were super duper - i have a very short/steep/rocky section that i like to test my climbing skillz on. i have actually only cleared it a total of 3 times - 2 times were on my santacruz superlight at a pretty high speed and holding on for dear life. my third time that i cleared it was this morning - and it was almost effortless. the fox RP3 soaked up the hit and kept the rear end down. i rode up and almost couldn't believe i made it... very, very impressed with the geometry and the overall feel of the bike. chris at speedgoat gets an "A+++" on this one.
further reviews will come in a few weeks - 3 enduro race weekends in a row.
this week - pando. an 8 hour on a course that i raced a 12 hour on last year to qualify for worlds. very short 20/25 minute loop that makes one go dizzy, unless they changed it around. local yocal mark hendershot from the santacruz syndicate team won the last event i was at and i am not sure if he is racing this event or not. either way, it will be tough.
oh, and if you ever see mr. hendershot - ask to see his ink. way cool.
sologoat out.
1. Easton EC90 Zero Carbon Seatpost
2a. SRAM® X.0 SRS Shorty Shifters - front shifter
2b. SRAM® X.9 Trigger Shifters (2005) - rear shifter
post was updated from the ec70 to the ec90 and the right shifter was switched to a twist type to save on weight.
asylum quick review rambling:
initial short two rides have me rating this bike fantastic. quick in the corners, very responsive. weight seems to be about the same as last years bikes, but with the bigger 29r wheels. initial climbing tests were super duper - i have a very short/steep/rocky section that i like to test my climbing skillz on. i have actually only cleared it a total of 3 times - 2 times were on my santacruz superlight at a pretty high speed and holding on for dear life. my third time that i cleared it was this morning - and it was almost effortless. the fox RP3 soaked up the hit and kept the rear end down. i rode up and almost couldn't believe i made it... very, very impressed with the geometry and the overall feel of the bike. chris at speedgoat gets an "A+++" on this one.
further reviews will come in a few weeks - 3 enduro race weekends in a row.
this week - pando. an 8 hour on a course that i raced a 12 hour on last year to qualify for worlds. very short 20/25 minute loop that makes one go dizzy, unless they changed it around. local yocal mark hendershot from the santacruz syndicate team won the last event i was at and i am not sure if he is racing this event or not. either way, it will be tough.
oh, and if you ever see mr. hendershot - ask to see his ink. way cool.
sologoat out.
5.10.2005
05.10.05 - few tidbits
got asylum #1 this past weekend, and will get #2 this friday as dan the man is coming out to the ohio region so we can head out to michigan and an 8 hour enduro going on out there.
bike rides really nice - very similar to my superlight of last year, but with the 29'r wheels. very quick through the corners, very quick accelerations, very quick with the handling -- all something my k monkey was not. oh, and it is about 10 pounds lighter than that bike too. that could have something to do with it.
quickie on the bike:
sram all around, trigger on the rear and twisty on the front. xtr wheels with ceramic bearings are superfast. fox shock on the rear is nice, and the new pop lock rock shox has going on the reba will work pretty cool. liked the lever they had last year which was similar to a thumbie, but didn't like it when i crashed bad at worlds and snapped the thing off -- and didn't have a tool to disconnect the cable from the fork because my allen wrench set didn't have a size that small... dah...
gotta run - have to drink up some hot nectar from the coffee gods and then off to do the work thang'.
sologoat out
bike rides really nice - very similar to my superlight of last year, but with the 29'r wheels. very quick through the corners, very quick accelerations, very quick with the handling -- all something my k monkey was not. oh, and it is about 10 pounds lighter than that bike too. that could have something to do with it.
quickie on the bike:
sram all around, trigger on the rear and twisty on the front. xtr wheels with ceramic bearings are superfast. fox shock on the rear is nice, and the new pop lock rock shox has going on the reba will work pretty cool. liked the lever they had last year which was similar to a thumbie, but didn't like it when i crashed bad at worlds and snapped the thing off -- and didn't have a tool to disconnect the cable from the fork because my allen wrench set didn't have a size that small... dah...
gotta run - have to drink up some hot nectar from the coffee gods and then off to do the work thang'.
sologoat out
5.05.2005
05.05.05 - ASYLUM large link
SPEEDGOAT.COM BLOG
check out the asylum in the extra large - only 4 left! these are also the first production run of this frame for the shop (as was the medium).
and if you look carefully - you may note that this bike has several of the same components on it as my race bikes. hmmmmmmmm.....
could this possibly be dan the man's bike? yep.
dan is so obsessed with working on my bikes that he had to build one up himself so that he could practice wrenching in PA while i am out riding in OH.
or maybe he just liked the bike.
sologoat out.
check out the asylum in the extra large - only 4 left! these are also the first production run of this frame for the shop (as was the medium).
and if you look carefully - you may note that this bike has several of the same components on it as my race bikes. hmmmmmmmm.....
could this possibly be dan the man's bike? yep.
dan is so obsessed with working on my bikes that he had to build one up himself so that he could practice wrenching in PA while i am out riding in OH.
or maybe he just liked the bike.
sologoat out.
05.05.05 - cinco de mayo en the casa
hola - mi nombre es ernesto. mi casa es su casa.
translation:
TRANSLATION THINGY HERE!
ah, nothing like celebrating the 5th of may with some frozen burritos. yummy.
not much going on lately - will be getting the new asylum this saturday, then the other one in about a week or so. the bike is actually complete and i am dying to ride it, but the work thang' has me not getting out to the shop until saturday.
:( (insert tears of sadness here too....)
another crit this weekend coming up - hopefully the rain will hold off. and with any luck, hopefully the riders who can't hold a straight line will stay away as well. last week was a little too nutty for me. love those crit's, but man... some of those guys just don't know how to ride in a pack.
looks like i'll be passing on the double up of races as well - not that i don't think i couldn't hang in the second race, but time constraints would make getting to the shop an impossibility. definetely would need work if i were still racing the road bike more, but seeing as there is not too many road sections in enduro racing, i think i am OK.
a few races coming up - should be fun. all the enduro type - 6 or 8 hours. should be good enough to sharpen up the skillz and get the asylums dialed in. dan the man will be in attendance - he needs to sharpen his skillz too. seriously - a good mechanic and pit crew are pretty essential to racing well. quick pits just give you extra time over others that have to screw around with water bottles, bikes, etc. gots to plan the race out yo.
and - time to plan the vegas bike show already. pretty much the same layout as always - bike demo on monday and tuesday then the show on wednesday through friday. definetley something to see. i sometimes help out at the shop and they were super awesome and took me along with them last year, so i will be out there again this year. i'll skip the demo days and just check out the products.
i work mostly with construction/fabrication companies, so to see the bike industry side of things was cool (last year was my first time out). booths are everywhere - sort of like a huge fair, and each one is bigger then the next, trying to get you to stop by their booth. how do they get you to stop? cool free stuff, free expresso or beautiful women in scantly clad clothing whom probably never ridden a bike in their life (but who cares?). what was cool is that any of the big companies that were there that supplies the shop with product had a meeting setup with the shop and they personally showed us their new products and gave us the low-down on pricing, fabrication, supplies and shipments. all the stuff that goes into bringing the bikes into the shop and to the consumer. was there to talk to moots, tifosi, shimano, a bunch of others. oh, and don't forget the stars - marla streb, bob roll, phil leggit, hincapie, landis... last year there was even a booth that was made 100% of titanium tubing. very cool. if you can get there, you gotta go.
bikes and babes. ah... they are both so beautiful.
sologoat out
translation:
TRANSLATION THINGY HERE!
ah, nothing like celebrating the 5th of may with some frozen burritos. yummy.
not much going on lately - will be getting the new asylum this saturday, then the other one in about a week or so. the bike is actually complete and i am dying to ride it, but the work thang' has me not getting out to the shop until saturday.
:( (insert tears of sadness here too....)
another crit this weekend coming up - hopefully the rain will hold off. and with any luck, hopefully the riders who can't hold a straight line will stay away as well. last week was a little too nutty for me. love those crit's, but man... some of those guys just don't know how to ride in a pack.
looks like i'll be passing on the double up of races as well - not that i don't think i couldn't hang in the second race, but time constraints would make getting to the shop an impossibility. definetely would need work if i were still racing the road bike more, but seeing as there is not too many road sections in enduro racing, i think i am OK.
a few races coming up - should be fun. all the enduro type - 6 or 8 hours. should be good enough to sharpen up the skillz and get the asylums dialed in. dan the man will be in attendance - he needs to sharpen his skillz too. seriously - a good mechanic and pit crew are pretty essential to racing well. quick pits just give you extra time over others that have to screw around with water bottles, bikes, etc. gots to plan the race out yo.
and - time to plan the vegas bike show already. pretty much the same layout as always - bike demo on monday and tuesday then the show on wednesday through friday. definetley something to see. i sometimes help out at the shop and they were super awesome and took me along with them last year, so i will be out there again this year. i'll skip the demo days and just check out the products.
i work mostly with construction/fabrication companies, so to see the bike industry side of things was cool (last year was my first time out). booths are everywhere - sort of like a huge fair, and each one is bigger then the next, trying to get you to stop by their booth. how do they get you to stop? cool free stuff, free expresso or beautiful women in scantly clad clothing whom probably never ridden a bike in their life (but who cares?). what was cool is that any of the big companies that were there that supplies the shop with product had a meeting setup with the shop and they personally showed us their new products and gave us the low-down on pricing, fabrication, supplies and shipments. all the stuff that goes into bringing the bikes into the shop and to the consumer. was there to talk to moots, tifosi, shimano, a bunch of others. oh, and don't forget the stars - marla streb, bob roll, phil leggit, hincapie, landis... last year there was even a booth that was made 100% of titanium tubing. very cool. if you can get there, you gotta go.
bikes and babes. ah... they are both so beautiful.
sologoat out
5.03.2005
05.03.05 - asylum update
ah, the bikes finally arrived....
dan the man at speedgoat is hard at work building up bike #1 and he just sent me a secret spy photo.
couple of things i left off of the parts list from a couple of days ago:
1. xtr disc brakes
2. xt levers
xt levers are a little lighter than the xt, so we opted for the xt. i also originally was going to run a twist shifter on the left and a trigger on the right, but for simplicity sake, i think the shop went with both trigggers.
and the stem - not sure what length we are going to run, but by the end of the month, i will have the FSA's on both. have a salsa on the bike now. however, don't knock the salsa's - they work awesome, they are light, and yep - el cheapo too.
and, looks like the ASYLUM decals are not on yet - they will be black, just like the SPEEDGOAT decals on the chain stay. and, rumor has it, that the 'goat has an actual head badge in the works.
added bonus - this is technically the first medium ASYLUM ever built up. the originals were only made up in the large size, the next were i believe the XL's and then spurred on by my results last year and a fasination of 29r's (both chris the shop owner and myself have seen the light of bigger wheels), the medium ASYLUM was born during a meal at the vegas bike show last year with the titus guys.
and, just to top the meal off, when we were walking out floyd landis was walking out as well. i think he was trying to listen in on our secret discussions....
anyhoo, gotta run...
oh, and what the hell is up with this weather? 45 and light rain? what the heck? and what is nuttier - i saw somebody running today in those silly light running shorts. WITH NO FRIGGIN' SHIRT! i had on my hammer wind vest, leg warmers, two layers on top, a winter cap under my helmet and winter gloves. then i see this schmuck standing in a parking lot, just hanging out, looking cool.
see, just when you think you seen the biggest idiot in the world, there comes another person that tops the last person.
questions on the bike? give me a shout out, yo.
sologoat out.
dan the man at speedgoat is hard at work building up bike #1 and he just sent me a secret spy photo.
couple of things i left off of the parts list from a couple of days ago:
1. xtr disc brakes
2. xt levers
xt levers are a little lighter than the xt, so we opted for the xt. i also originally was going to run a twist shifter on the left and a trigger on the right, but for simplicity sake, i think the shop went with both trigggers.
and the stem - not sure what length we are going to run, but by the end of the month, i will have the FSA's on both. have a salsa on the bike now. however, don't knock the salsa's - they work awesome, they are light, and yep - el cheapo too.
and, looks like the ASYLUM decals are not on yet - they will be black, just like the SPEEDGOAT decals on the chain stay. and, rumor has it, that the 'goat has an actual head badge in the works.
added bonus - this is technically the first medium ASYLUM ever built up. the originals were only made up in the large size, the next were i believe the XL's and then spurred on by my results last year and a fasination of 29r's (both chris the shop owner and myself have seen the light of bigger wheels), the medium ASYLUM was born during a meal at the vegas bike show last year with the titus guys.
and, just to top the meal off, when we were walking out floyd landis was walking out as well. i think he was trying to listen in on our secret discussions....
anyhoo, gotta run...
oh, and what the hell is up with this weather? 45 and light rain? what the heck? and what is nuttier - i saw somebody running today in those silly light running shorts. WITH NO FRIGGIN' SHIRT! i had on my hammer wind vest, leg warmers, two layers on top, a winter cap under my helmet and winter gloves. then i see this schmuck standing in a parking lot, just hanging out, looking cool.
see, just when you think you seen the biggest idiot in the world, there comes another person that tops the last person.
questions on the bike? give me a shout out, yo.
sologoat out.
5.01.2005
05.01.05 - asylum parts list
hey all, quick update on the asylums. i'll add links tomorrow for the parts!
were originally going to get black frames, but decided on the polished aluminums because that is what came in. titus builds the bikes for us, they have to send them off to get buffed out, they get them back. they send them to ano, they get them back. titus puts them together, presses in the bearings, and they ship to the shop. so, with that in mind, i decided to go polished.
here is the parts list:
1. frame - aslyum with i believe the top-line fox rear shock
2. wheelset - bike 1, dan the man xtr hubs with bontrager rims. bike 2, kings with salsa rims.
3. tires - schwable
4. forks - rockshox reba with remote lockout
5. stem - fsa
6. bar - fsa
7. shifters - sram thumbies
8. deraillers - sram
9. seat post - easton
10. seat - san marco concor with titanium rails
11. crank - fsa
12. pedals - crank brothers single ti
13. cables - complete nokon sealed system
14. chain - sram
15. rear cassette - xt
16. skewers - ti salsa's
hmm... thinking that is it. we are approximating about 23 pounds for a full race ready bike -- which for a full suspended bike technically qualifies as stupid light.
dan the man started creating these beauties on friday. POSSIBLY may get bike #1 this upcoming weekend.
sweet.
now, gotta get some food in me. hope you alll got some good mileage in this weekend.
sologoat out.
were originally going to get black frames, but decided on the polished aluminums because that is what came in. titus builds the bikes for us, they have to send them off to get buffed out, they get them back. they send them to ano, they get them back. titus puts them together, presses in the bearings, and they ship to the shop. so, with that in mind, i decided to go polished.
here is the parts list:
1. frame - aslyum with i believe the top-line fox rear shock
2. wheelset - bike 1, dan the man xtr hubs with bontrager rims. bike 2, kings with salsa rims.
3. tires - schwable
4. forks - rockshox reba with remote lockout
5. stem - fsa
6. bar - fsa
7. shifters - sram thumbies
8. deraillers - sram
9. seat post - easton
10. seat - san marco concor with titanium rails
11. crank - fsa
12. pedals - crank brothers single ti
13. cables - complete nokon sealed system
14. chain - sram
15. rear cassette - xt
16. skewers - ti salsa's
hmm... thinking that is it. we are approximating about 23 pounds for a full race ready bike -- which for a full suspended bike technically qualifies as stupid light.
dan the man started creating these beauties on friday. POSSIBLY may get bike #1 this upcoming weekend.
sweet.
now, gotta get some food in me. hope you alll got some good mileage in this weekend.
sologoat out.
05.01.05 - weekend update
saturday races:
category 3 RATL (race at the lake)
45 degrees and raining. yuck-o. left the house and road to the race in a rain cape and 2 layers, booties and cap under the helmet. mounted the rear fender for fun.
race went off - 19 laps around a loop with a couple of decent corners, one decent short little climb that hurts. rain made me tentative - i hate the rain, or should i say, i hate hitting the ground in rain.
about 7 laps in going into one of the corners, i felt a nudge on my inside shoulder and i hear "keep it straight man" and about 2 seconds later i hear carnage behind me as two riders stack it up and roll into a bed of rocks. ouchy. that was ambulance #1 of the day.
5 laps to go, i unleash my attack up the climb. the whole pack must of been waiting for it as i had a decent jump and ramped up the speed to almost 30mph uphill. i turn around and i have 5 riders on my tail, i pull over so they can take a pull and they all look at me like i am crazy. i hate road riding, it's so negative sometimes.
we start heading down the backside of the climb - and crash! big carnage behind us. ambulance #2 had us riding nuetral laps for over a half hour. race starts back up, i wait until the last corner, muster up all my nerve to take a corner at speed in the rain, come out of the corner in fourth and sprint past one guy for 3rd.
race #2 of the day: 1/2/3 crit.
started about 15 minutes after the previous race, and was just enough time for me to start chivering in rain soaked clothes. normally, i can hang and even attack in this group, but the dude that was in front of me kept letting gaps go in the corners. i snapped about 7 laps in.
winning enough money to cover my expenses for the day, i put on some dry layers and finished up the day with 5 hours.
sunday: 1/2/3 road race - 40 miles.
windy, negative day. on the second lap of a 5 mile loop, an attack went. the field watched. i missed the break.
2 laps later, another group goes. since they were only paying 5 deep in this race, i looked at the pack. they looked at me. i looked at the 2nd break group. they were gone.
i don't understand this - seriously. you have a pack of 20 guys and they don't want to chase the group of 8 up the road because they don't want to ruin their chances for 9th place. DUDE - if they are only paying 5 places, pick it up!
i pretty much gave up helping them pretty quick when it was apparant they were not going to chase anybody, so i saved it for the final sprint. i waited until the last little riser before the start/finish and jumped. i held off the pack for a half mile and came in tenth.
bonus rides put me in the house with a 6 hour day and a wind burned face. oh joy...
sologoat out
category 3 RATL (race at the lake)
45 degrees and raining. yuck-o. left the house and road to the race in a rain cape and 2 layers, booties and cap under the helmet. mounted the rear fender for fun.
race went off - 19 laps around a loop with a couple of decent corners, one decent short little climb that hurts. rain made me tentative - i hate the rain, or should i say, i hate hitting the ground in rain.
about 7 laps in going into one of the corners, i felt a nudge on my inside shoulder and i hear "keep it straight man" and about 2 seconds later i hear carnage behind me as two riders stack it up and roll into a bed of rocks. ouchy. that was ambulance #1 of the day.
5 laps to go, i unleash my attack up the climb. the whole pack must of been waiting for it as i had a decent jump and ramped up the speed to almost 30mph uphill. i turn around and i have 5 riders on my tail, i pull over so they can take a pull and they all look at me like i am crazy. i hate road riding, it's so negative sometimes.
we start heading down the backside of the climb - and crash! big carnage behind us. ambulance #2 had us riding nuetral laps for over a half hour. race starts back up, i wait until the last corner, muster up all my nerve to take a corner at speed in the rain, come out of the corner in fourth and sprint past one guy for 3rd.
race #2 of the day: 1/2/3 crit.
started about 15 minutes after the previous race, and was just enough time for me to start chivering in rain soaked clothes. normally, i can hang and even attack in this group, but the dude that was in front of me kept letting gaps go in the corners. i snapped about 7 laps in.
winning enough money to cover my expenses for the day, i put on some dry layers and finished up the day with 5 hours.
sunday: 1/2/3 road race - 40 miles.
windy, negative day. on the second lap of a 5 mile loop, an attack went. the field watched. i missed the break.
2 laps later, another group goes. since they were only paying 5 deep in this race, i looked at the pack. they looked at me. i looked at the 2nd break group. they were gone.
i don't understand this - seriously. you have a pack of 20 guys and they don't want to chase the group of 8 up the road because they don't want to ruin their chances for 9th place. DUDE - if they are only paying 5 places, pick it up!
i pretty much gave up helping them pretty quick when it was apparant they were not going to chase anybody, so i saved it for the final sprint. i waited until the last little riser before the start/finish and jumped. i held off the pack for a half mile and came in tenth.
bonus rides put me in the house with a 6 hour day and a wind burned face. oh joy...
sologoat out
4.29.2005
04.29.05 - BREAKING NEWS!
WAHOO! ASYLUM's are in!
yep, they arrived at the shop today and as i type, they are being created into works of mountain bike art by my head wrench dan the man over at the 'goat.
ah.... all is well. it's friday, it's almost 5, and it's the end of the world as we know it. and i feel fine. (little R.E.M. at ya)
i'll update the blog later with the parts list...
gotta roll...
sologoat out.
yep, they arrived at the shop today and as i type, they are being created into works of mountain bike art by my head wrench dan the man over at the 'goat.
ah.... all is well. it's friday, it's almost 5, and it's the end of the world as we know it. and i feel fine. (little R.E.M. at ya)
i'll update the blog later with the parts list...
gotta roll...
sologoat out.
4.28.2005
04.28.05 - 3 hour jaunt
hola goat fan.
just back from a moderate tempo 3 hour ride, nothing fancy.
on the ipod list tonight:
1. dj dangermouse - grey album
2. paul oakenfold - transport full
3. dj tiesto - summerbreeze
finally made some updates on the k-monkey:
1. mavic speedcity wheels. 29r wheels with disc hub and conventional rim. heavy, but functional.
2. avid mecahnical brakes. disc brakes for somebody who doesn't want to deal with hyrdolics yet (though, they will be on my race bikes - dan the man can work on anything!).
3. cheap-o serfas grips.
not too much going on, pretty much fully recovered from iowa. putting that behind me, just planning out the next two months is getty nutty with my schedule, so i am meeting with jim b for a top secret mission on saturday. goal - train as hard as i can and not totally cook myself.
so this weekend, couple of back/back crits on saturday and then a road race on sunday. nothing like an enduro freak chasing around a bunch of cat 1's and former pro's all day. but, saturday AM the first race of the day is 3/4 race so i may have a little bit of a chance there.
asylums - apparantly, they are off at ano. not too worked up about them yet, got the hardtail asylum and a slew of other bikes to choose from.
that's it -
sologoat out
just back from a moderate tempo 3 hour ride, nothing fancy.
on the ipod list tonight:
1. dj dangermouse - grey album
2. paul oakenfold - transport full
3. dj tiesto - summerbreeze
finally made some updates on the k-monkey:
1. mavic speedcity wheels. 29r wheels with disc hub and conventional rim. heavy, but functional.
2. avid mecahnical brakes. disc brakes for somebody who doesn't want to deal with hyrdolics yet (though, they will be on my race bikes - dan the man can work on anything!).
3. cheap-o serfas grips.
not too much going on, pretty much fully recovered from iowa. putting that behind me, just planning out the next two months is getty nutty with my schedule, so i am meeting with jim b for a top secret mission on saturday. goal - train as hard as i can and not totally cook myself.
so this weekend, couple of back/back crits on saturday and then a road race on sunday. nothing like an enduro freak chasing around a bunch of cat 1's and former pro's all day. but, saturday AM the first race of the day is 3/4 race so i may have a little bit of a chance there.
asylums - apparantly, they are off at ano. not too worked up about them yet, got the hardtail asylum and a slew of other bikes to choose from.
that's it -
sologoat out
4.25.2005
04.25.05 - goat in iowa two
goat in iowa two
Originally uploaded by solo_goat.
now i am one the bike, headed back to the hotel after a one hour ride.
it is only 5:30pm when this shot was taken.
50 degrees and windy in iowa. little did i know, i would come back to 30 degrees and snow in ohio.
as an old song from they might be giants goes...
and now i know, that when it rains it snows...
sologoat out.
04.25.05 - goat in iowa one
goat in iowa one
Originally uploaded by solo_goat.
here is a pic of my pre-race warm up ride on friday.
note my smile - laughing at the fact that i stood on one side of the road and spit.
with the slight help of a 38mph wind, it cleared the road and the landed in the grass some 30 feet away.
oh joy.
4.24.2005
04.24.05 - TRANS(WIND)IOWA update
hey all - just got back from iowa.
check out the site: JEFF KERKOVE BLOG
or: TRANSIOWA BLOG
well, i didn't finish. neither did the race organizer jeff kerkove and neither did hailed moots man curiac.
wind was the culprit of our demise - it was blowing straight north to south with a sustained 22mph crosswind, gusting up to 35mph.
friday i went out for a one hour ride. huge storms were blowing out of the state bringing in a cold front with cold temps and sustained winds at 15mph, gusting to 38mph. i rode some of the roads that we were going to race on just to make sure i had made the right tire selection. the kenda mutano raptors in the 35 version were a good selection, but the winds were horrific. blowing straight north to south.
so i went back after an hour of riding and checked out the weather, wishing for the winds to die down and blow in a more west to east direction.
well, saturday came and i only got one of my wishes - the winds died down to gusts of 35mph. woopie.
raced started fast as some cyclocrosser's set the pace with their skinny tires. this pace soon had the group of 51 splintered. the first group had 4 guys on cross bikes, the next group (which i was in) had about 8 of us.
cross winds caused splits in our group. the road was so gravel covered that there was only about a 2-3 foot section of road you could really ride on so there was no hiding from the wind. sometimes, when i was actually seated on the bike, the wind would blow so hard that it would literally push me across the road 3-4 inches.
so, our group splintered, regrouped, splintered. this must of happened at least a dozen times. then at about 70 or so miles, i found myself alone on the road in iowa. for the next 55 miles, i rode and fought the wind. legs were feeling good, but i was getting demoralized with the constant unrelenting wind.
the first and only check point was at 128 miles. the next "unofficial" check point was a park 50 miles away (at the 180 mile mark) which you had to get to by 10pm because it was at a state park and they would not open the gate to let you in as it closes at that point.
curiac and the only other ohio'ian in the race caught me about 120 miles. i road with them for about 5 miles, and right before the check point they dropped me. they probably came in about 3-5 minutes ahead of me.
the check point was 128 miles. i came in at 11.25 hours. hmmmm.... let's do the math:
128miles/11.25hours = 11.377777777777777 miles per hour
11.377777777777777 miles per hour = slow as molasses
i was honestly expecting to be at this check point in 8.5 hours, roughly. with slight tail winds, a 15mph average would be very realistic. i was expecting curiac, kerkove and myself to be running a very tight race.
that was not to be - i decided to bag it. with my average speed at under 12mph, the constant wind and the fact that i have some races coming up next month, i packed it in. i am pretty upset, but am hoping that this decision will help me in the upcoming month.
good news is that my hands are in great shape (first race i did with disc brakes!) and my legs are feeling pretty good despite a hard 11 hours in them.
next week - 1 road race on sunday and two criteriums on saturday. a few more crit's, and then 3 solo events in may.
humbled by the wind, weary from my travels, but now more determined then ever...
sologoat out.
check out the site: JEFF KERKOVE BLOG
or: TRANSIOWA BLOG
well, i didn't finish. neither did the race organizer jeff kerkove and neither did hailed moots man curiac.
wind was the culprit of our demise - it was blowing straight north to south with a sustained 22mph crosswind, gusting up to 35mph.
friday i went out for a one hour ride. huge storms were blowing out of the state bringing in a cold front with cold temps and sustained winds at 15mph, gusting to 38mph. i rode some of the roads that we were going to race on just to make sure i had made the right tire selection. the kenda mutano raptors in the 35 version were a good selection, but the winds were horrific. blowing straight north to south.
so i went back after an hour of riding and checked out the weather, wishing for the winds to die down and blow in a more west to east direction.
well, saturday came and i only got one of my wishes - the winds died down to gusts of 35mph. woopie.
raced started fast as some cyclocrosser's set the pace with their skinny tires. this pace soon had the group of 51 splintered. the first group had 4 guys on cross bikes, the next group (which i was in) had about 8 of us.
cross winds caused splits in our group. the road was so gravel covered that there was only about a 2-3 foot section of road you could really ride on so there was no hiding from the wind. sometimes, when i was actually seated on the bike, the wind would blow so hard that it would literally push me across the road 3-4 inches.
so, our group splintered, regrouped, splintered. this must of happened at least a dozen times. then at about 70 or so miles, i found myself alone on the road in iowa. for the next 55 miles, i rode and fought the wind. legs were feeling good, but i was getting demoralized with the constant unrelenting wind.
the first and only check point was at 128 miles. the next "unofficial" check point was a park 50 miles away (at the 180 mile mark) which you had to get to by 10pm because it was at a state park and they would not open the gate to let you in as it closes at that point.
curiac and the only other ohio'ian in the race caught me about 120 miles. i road with them for about 5 miles, and right before the check point they dropped me. they probably came in about 3-5 minutes ahead of me.
the check point was 128 miles. i came in at 11.25 hours. hmmmm.... let's do the math:
128miles/11.25hours = 11.377777777777777 miles per hour
11.377777777777777 miles per hour = slow as molasses
i was honestly expecting to be at this check point in 8.5 hours, roughly. with slight tail winds, a 15mph average would be very realistic. i was expecting curiac, kerkove and myself to be running a very tight race.
that was not to be - i decided to bag it. with my average speed at under 12mph, the constant wind and the fact that i have some races coming up next month, i packed it in. i am pretty upset, but am hoping that this decision will help me in the upcoming month.
good news is that my hands are in great shape (first race i did with disc brakes!) and my legs are feeling pretty good despite a hard 11 hours in them.
next week - 1 road race on sunday and two criteriums on saturday. a few more crit's, and then 3 solo events in may.
humbled by the wind, weary from my travels, but now more determined then ever...
sologoat out.
4.20.2005
04.19.05 - visions of iowa are dancing in my head
or should i say, visions of a DRY IOWA are dancing in my head. looks like it is clearing out for transiowa, but i will take a wild venture to say it could be muddy.
nothing can be as bad as my first 24 hours. literrally 6-8 inches of mud in some sections. yes, it sucked.
anyhoo, check out the transiowa blogspot here:
TRANSIOWA BLOGSPOT HERE!
and, check out the jeff kerkove's spot here:
JEFF KERKOVE BLOGSPOT HERE!
just for yo' info, jeff is the organizer of the enduro dream of a race TRANSIOWA. check it out - have to see his "hey, your shirt is too small" photo gallery.
and as i pack for iowa, here is the hammer/e-cap stuff i'll be using:
1. hammer gel
2. enduroltye caps
3. race caps
4. hammer heed
5. sustained energy
6. anti fatigue caps
everything i use can be found here:
HAMMER GEL/E-CAPS HERE!
AND - for those wanting a little discount on their first order (15% discount!) go here:
note: if the page does not apply your discount, please type in the note section and/or call and give them the referral number of 69187 for your discount.
now:
gotta run - have to pack up some stuff, get lights charged, yada, yada, yada, and do a little race across the state of iowa. oh joy.
next update - iowa results.
sologoat out.
nothing can be as bad as my first 24 hours. literrally 6-8 inches of mud in some sections. yes, it sucked.
anyhoo, check out the transiowa blogspot here:
TRANSIOWA BLOGSPOT HERE!
and, check out the jeff kerkove's spot here:
JEFF KERKOVE BLOGSPOT HERE!
just for yo' info, jeff is the organizer of the enduro dream of a race TRANSIOWA. check it out - have to see his "hey, your shirt is too small" photo gallery.
and as i pack for iowa, here is the hammer/e-cap stuff i'll be using:
1. hammer gel
2. enduroltye caps
3. race caps
4. hammer heed
5. sustained energy
6. anti fatigue caps
everything i use can be found here:
HAMMER GEL/E-CAPS HERE!
AND - for those wanting a little discount on their first order (15% discount!) go here:
note: if the page does not apply your discount, please type in the note section and/or call and give them the referral number of 69187 for your discount.
now:
gotta run - have to pack up some stuff, get lights charged, yada, yada, yada, and do a little race across the state of iowa. oh joy.
next update - iowa results.
sologoat out.
4.18.2005
04.18.05 - where have i been?
freaking out about the start of the race season, that is where i have been.
prep time for all the races encompases many an enduro riders life, so when we aren't putting in the hours (or possibly tapering for an event), we tend to go nuts. or at least i do. when you put in 30 hours on a bike in a week, then you cut it to half of that, you have more energy than drinking 100 expressos on an empty stomach.
hence, that is why you should rest.
hmm....
news on the homefront:
1. asylums - back from being polished, off to ano. think i am going to run all black bikes. was supposed to get them both at same time, but due to time constraints, i may end up getting one about two weeks later. oh well.... definetely got the hook up this year with bikes/parts/help in general, so i can wait a few weeks more for cool stuff.
2. heart rate monitors - got my sigma pc-14's to start working. i had a brainiac moment and decided to put a new battery in the strap. dah. works perfect.
3. cateye - running the same little light mr. kerkove is running for his helmet "map reading" light. i have used these before - take three AAA. believe it is the EL200 - because it was the version before the new EL300 which he is running on a slick mount on the fork. anyhoo - cateye makes some pretty cool lights for commuters/racers alike. and - they have some pretty neat-o tail lights as well.
4. lights in motion - doing my last little check of the vega systems. got two of them running downstairs in my basement at the max 4 watt setting to verify the claimed two hour burn time. the lowest setting claims to be an 8 hour burn time, which seemed pretty close to me, but my curiousity was killing me so i had to verify their claims. stay tuned for the results.
5. getting a fit on my IOWA bike tomorrow - better late than never, eh? well, lets just say that a certain somebody you know got one of these wobblenaught fit a week before winning at snowshoe 24 hours last year.
6. just got my mechanical avids for the k-monkey. she will be so happy.
that's it - gotta run. dad is driving with me out to the west side of chicago on thursday, then off to iowa early on friday. should be interesting. hope to get there early, maybe register and get some grub and meet the other riders.
IOWA should be fun - curious to get another look at mike c's 29r (saw it at vegas last year), meet some of the other guys.
gotta go - one more post before IOWA.
sologoat out
prep time for all the races encompases many an enduro riders life, so when we aren't putting in the hours (or possibly tapering for an event), we tend to go nuts. or at least i do. when you put in 30 hours on a bike in a week, then you cut it to half of that, you have more energy than drinking 100 expressos on an empty stomach.
hence, that is why you should rest.
hmm....
news on the homefront:
1. asylums - back from being polished, off to ano. think i am going to run all black bikes. was supposed to get them both at same time, but due to time constraints, i may end up getting one about two weeks later. oh well.... definetely got the hook up this year with bikes/parts/help in general, so i can wait a few weeks more for cool stuff.
2. heart rate monitors - got my sigma pc-14's to start working. i had a brainiac moment and decided to put a new battery in the strap. dah. works perfect.
3. cateye - running the same little light mr. kerkove is running for his helmet "map reading" light. i have used these before - take three AAA. believe it is the EL200 - because it was the version before the new EL300 which he is running on a slick mount on the fork. anyhoo - cateye makes some pretty cool lights for commuters/racers alike. and - they have some pretty neat-o tail lights as well.
4. lights in motion - doing my last little check of the vega systems. got two of them running downstairs in my basement at the max 4 watt setting to verify the claimed two hour burn time. the lowest setting claims to be an 8 hour burn time, which seemed pretty close to me, but my curiousity was killing me so i had to verify their claims. stay tuned for the results.
5. getting a fit on my IOWA bike tomorrow - better late than never, eh? well, lets just say that a certain somebody you know got one of these wobblenaught fit a week before winning at snowshoe 24 hours last year.
6. just got my mechanical avids for the k-monkey. she will be so happy.
that's it - gotta run. dad is driving with me out to the west side of chicago on thursday, then off to iowa early on friday. should be interesting. hope to get there early, maybe register and get some grub and meet the other riders.
IOWA should be fun - curious to get another look at mike c's 29r (saw it at vegas last year), meet some of the other guys.
gotta go - one more post before IOWA.
sologoat out
4.13.2005
04.13.05 - sologoat "grrr-ing"
04.13.05 - double fun day
got a double in today, one in the AM, in the PM. ah, gotta love those early morning rides. i've been brewing up some java before i ride so the minute i get back i got some hot goodness to warm me be up. this morning was 40 degrees! what the?
grrr.... at least it's not raining.
ordered up a ton o' hammer gel/e-caps stuff last night. plenty to get me through the next couple of months. my shopping list will be posted tomorrow.
FSA stuff just got in, northwaves are shipping next week and the spare to my spare lights in motion li-ion arc battery is on the way out. those guys are so cool. don't know if it's the west coast or what, but when i call out there i end up talking to those guys for 15 minutes. the last two times the topic of conversation was 29r's and TRANSIOWA.
SPEEDGOAT is hiring some people - 2 full time, one seasonal. beth and chris are getting hammered out there, the mechanics too. they always have time to give a hand to me though... hmmm... i wonder if they need product testers for the moots 29r's or that indy fab road bike in my size...
road race again coming up this sunday, should be fun. they are extending the distance by 12 miles i believe. and saturday is an "all business" ride finished off with a bike fit from jim b from WOBBLENAUGHT. looking forward to it as i truely belive the fits give me more efficiency all over - more power with less fatigue and effort. that seems so horrible...
hmmmmm......
that's it - gotta eat!
rock on - sologoat out
grrr.... at least it's not raining.
ordered up a ton o' hammer gel/e-caps stuff last night. plenty to get me through the next couple of months. my shopping list will be posted tomorrow.
FSA stuff just got in, northwaves are shipping next week and the spare to my spare lights in motion li-ion arc battery is on the way out. those guys are so cool. don't know if it's the west coast or what, but when i call out there i end up talking to those guys for 15 minutes. the last two times the topic of conversation was 29r's and TRANSIOWA.
SPEEDGOAT is hiring some people - 2 full time, one seasonal. beth and chris are getting hammered out there, the mechanics too. they always have time to give a hand to me though... hmmm... i wonder if they need product testers for the moots 29r's or that indy fab road bike in my size...
road race again coming up this sunday, should be fun. they are extending the distance by 12 miles i believe. and saturday is an "all business" ride finished off with a bike fit from jim b from WOBBLENAUGHT. looking forward to it as i truely belive the fits give me more efficiency all over - more power with less fatigue and effort. that seems so horrible...
hmmmmm......
that's it - gotta eat!
rock on - sologoat out
4.10.2005
04.10.05 - end of week update
whew - been a long week.
update on the shorts - tried to get it out two days ago and blogger was going nutty. went to post and the site went down. bummer.
quick on the shorts - garneau wrap around shorts, ergotex pad and their best short. enough said. couldn't skimp on these, as i hate a bad pad and short. gotta be comfy.
saturday ride was with an old teammate ej down in my old neck of the woods in pittsburgh. just south of the 79/76 interchange is a decent sized park called north park (no affiliation to the tv show south park). to work on my skillz, i took the k monkey and tried to stay on his wheel as we rode through the trails at north park and he floated across everything on his asylum. he's been tinkering around with the large version of the frame which i believe is now in it's 4 generation. the bikes i will be receiving shortly are mediums. ej is basically our "test dummy" for how light we can get the bikes and to see what will work and what won't. well, ej is king of bling and he now has his full suspended asylum 29r down to 23 pounds. sick-o. i do belive this qualifies as stupid light.
so, i chased him around for 4 hours. skills started coming back pretty quick, but i need to hone them razor sharp....
sunday - a silly road race in ohio. wasn't expecting much as i knew coming into it that i was going to be feeling a little flat if my training was going as planned. well, i felt like i had good stuff, but i was flat.
it was a circuit race, 7 laps of an approximate 6 mile loop. approximately 40 riders or so, inlcuding no less than about 7 category one riders, of which 3 of them were full time pro's at one time. with the temps at around 50'ish and everybody feeling frisky under clear skies, we set off.
rough roads lead me to loose my only water bottle of the day on the begining of the second lap, leaving only a hammer gel flask for me to gulp down when there was two to go. there was a few attacks early on, but my goal was to wait for the big guns to go. they made their attack on the third lap and had a gap - i immediately jumped over to the gap with another guy. the major contenders sat their looking at each other, and two miles later the main group caught, but dropped about 20 riders or so.
2 riders escaped on the last lap and noboday chased. two cat ones got up the road and it stayed that way. into the last corner where there is still about a mile to go to the finish, somebody attacked and had a little gap. not known for my spriting ability, i jumped about 20 seconds after him hoping to catch him, get his draft for a few seconds, and then sprint away.
well, i just about caught him and saw that former national champ and navigators rider paul martin was on my wheel. he rode behind me for a second, then jumped and road away for third. pack was soon on my heels, and i rode in on their coat tails to finish around 12'ish.
oh well, it's a road race. bigger fish in a few weeks.
sunburned and thirsty,
sologoat out
update on the shorts - tried to get it out two days ago and blogger was going nutty. went to post and the site went down. bummer.
quick on the shorts - garneau wrap around shorts, ergotex pad and their best short. enough said. couldn't skimp on these, as i hate a bad pad and short. gotta be comfy.
saturday ride was with an old teammate ej down in my old neck of the woods in pittsburgh. just south of the 79/76 interchange is a decent sized park called north park (no affiliation to the tv show south park). to work on my skillz, i took the k monkey and tried to stay on his wheel as we rode through the trails at north park and he floated across everything on his asylum. he's been tinkering around with the large version of the frame which i believe is now in it's 4 generation. the bikes i will be receiving shortly are mediums. ej is basically our "test dummy" for how light we can get the bikes and to see what will work and what won't. well, ej is king of bling and he now has his full suspended asylum 29r down to 23 pounds. sick-o. i do belive this qualifies as stupid light.
so, i chased him around for 4 hours. skills started coming back pretty quick, but i need to hone them razor sharp....
sunday - a silly road race in ohio. wasn't expecting much as i knew coming into it that i was going to be feeling a little flat if my training was going as planned. well, i felt like i had good stuff, but i was flat.
it was a circuit race, 7 laps of an approximate 6 mile loop. approximately 40 riders or so, inlcuding no less than about 7 category one riders, of which 3 of them were full time pro's at one time. with the temps at around 50'ish and everybody feeling frisky under clear skies, we set off.
rough roads lead me to loose my only water bottle of the day on the begining of the second lap, leaving only a hammer gel flask for me to gulp down when there was two to go. there was a few attacks early on, but my goal was to wait for the big guns to go. they made their attack on the third lap and had a gap - i immediately jumped over to the gap with another guy. the major contenders sat their looking at each other, and two miles later the main group caught, but dropped about 20 riders or so.
2 riders escaped on the last lap and noboday chased. two cat ones got up the road and it stayed that way. into the last corner where there is still about a mile to go to the finish, somebody attacked and had a little gap. not known for my spriting ability, i jumped about 20 seconds after him hoping to catch him, get his draft for a few seconds, and then sprint away.
well, i just about caught him and saw that former national champ and navigators rider paul martin was on my wheel. he rode behind me for a second, then jumped and road away for third. pack was soon on my heels, and i rode in on their coat tails to finish around 12'ish.
oh well, it's a road race. bigger fish in a few weeks.
sunburned and thirsty,
sologoat out
4.07.2005
04.07.05 - the low down on the new shorts
just came in today. here's the details.
3 logos - work for me (XPERT), work for a buddy of mine (MS Jacobs) and our other sponsor (ASYLUM).
My buddy ej and myself will be the only ones sporting these during the 2005 season. kept them basic to keep the price down, speed up the time of delivery and to put the extra money into a better short/pad. went mostly black - everything goes with black.
short is garneau's best sublimated type of short, the ergotex with the largest area for sublimation. garneau's best pad, the erogtex, was used.
that's it - nothing fancy, just give me a nice pair of shorts dawg.
and - also got some new eggbeaters in today as well - more on those later....
and - as long as cleveland doesn't get a surprise snowstorm again, this week will be my first race. hmm.... maybe mother nature knew my new shorts were coming and wanted my first race to be in them....
gotta run - gotta sleep.
sologoat out
3 logos - work for me (XPERT), work for a buddy of mine (MS Jacobs) and our other sponsor (ASYLUM).
My buddy ej and myself will be the only ones sporting these during the 2005 season. kept them basic to keep the price down, speed up the time of delivery and to put the extra money into a better short/pad. went mostly black - everything goes with black.
short is garneau's best sublimated type of short, the ergotex with the largest area for sublimation. garneau's best pad, the erogtex, was used.
that's it - nothing fancy, just give me a nice pair of shorts dawg.
and - also got some new eggbeaters in today as well - more on those later....
and - as long as cleveland doesn't get a surprise snowstorm again, this week will be my first race. hmm.... maybe mother nature knew my new shorts were coming and wanted my first race to be in them....
gotta run - gotta sleep.
sologoat out
04.07.05 - Garneau Asylum Short Front/Side
Asylum on the sides - MS Jacobs at the bottoms of the legs.
Asylum (otherwsie known as Speedgoat) and a buddy's company out of pittsburgh, MS Jacobs.
04.07.05 - Garneau Asylum Short Back
XPERT logo on the back panel. gotta like when work supports what you love to do.
04.07.05 - a good day to sleep in
was super tired last night, so i went to bed early at 11pm. i'm sort of a night owl, so to go to bed earlier than 11 is very unusual for me.
yesterday was a double work out day for me. been mostly riding the IOWA vicious 29'r. i have been dying to post pictrues of the bike, but you will have to be at IOWA to see the first glimpses of this beauty. it was actually the owner's bike at speedgoat, but it didn't quite fit him. so it was sitting at the shop, went to mechanic to mechanic as they rode it and decided it didn't fit them.
too bad it fits me.
all i can say is disks, 29r, steel and a paint job to die for. everybody that sees it is amazed - the vicious guys really did this one up. yesterday it was actually "checked out" at least 3 times -- and they were not even bike geeks.
i can't define bling bling, but we know bling bling when we see it.
other randomness - bike swag shipped from FSA, 2 weeks on the asylums, quality order from the shop coming in for TRANSIOWA goodies, hammer gel stuff about to be ordered, still changing my race schedule, i've had 3 huge cups of breakfast blend from starbucks and i am wired.
gotta run - sologoat out
yesterday was a double work out day for me. been mostly riding the IOWA vicious 29'r. i have been dying to post pictrues of the bike, but you will have to be at IOWA to see the first glimpses of this beauty. it was actually the owner's bike at speedgoat, but it didn't quite fit him. so it was sitting at the shop, went to mechanic to mechanic as they rode it and decided it didn't fit them.
too bad it fits me.
all i can say is disks, 29r, steel and a paint job to die for. everybody that sees it is amazed - the vicious guys really did this one up. yesterday it was actually "checked out" at least 3 times -- and they were not even bike geeks.
i can't define bling bling, but we know bling bling when we see it.
other randomness - bike swag shipped from FSA, 2 weeks on the asylums, quality order from the shop coming in for TRANSIOWA goodies, hammer gel stuff about to be ordered, still changing my race schedule, i've had 3 huge cups of breakfast blend from starbucks and i am wired.
gotta run - sologoat out
4.05.2005
04.05.05 - a miracle happened on irma street
yes, it was a miracle. sunday i left my house wearing a light winter kit. temps in the AM was around 35.
two days later - as i left my house today, i was wearing shorts and a regular jersey over a light base layer. hence - a miracle.
starting a next phase of my training schedule for IOWA, concentrating on rest. as you build up hours, you beat yourself down. to come back stronger, you have to rest just as hard. as a guy, we all know we cannot back down from a challenger even if we are riding a 35 pound k monkey and he is on a stupid light road bike -- but you got to. there is bigger fish to fry....
parts update: FSA has sent out my swag, and here is what coming some things changed!
FSA K-FORCE RISER BAR
oversized at 31.8, carbon/kevlar composite, 170 grams with a 3/4" rise.
FSA K-FORCE MEGAEXO CRANK
Monocoque carbon 2 piece oversized crank coming in at hefty 770 grams. shimano is 29 grams heavier with their xtr. darn. i have a lighter crank.
FSA OS-115 STEM
aluminum body, titanium bolts, carbon faceplate. comes in at around 138 grams. dang, another light part.
all the specs for FSA are here: FULLSPEEDAHEAD
and, if you want the true, down to earth reviews and confirmed weights, go here:
SPEEDGOAT.COM
orignal part list was incorrectly linked to the wrong bar - and the post, well. the offset is a little too much.
i'll be running the Easton EC70 Carbon Seatpost
with the saddle of armstrong's choice: SAN MARCO Concor Light
the one linked above is the cro-mo version -- i'll be running the ti version.
and - asylums are two weeks out. i can't wait! the are going to sweet...
and - garneau stuff should be on at my door thursday.
whew.... now all i have to do is race this stuff....
that's it - enjoy the nice weather brotha's.
sologoat out.
two days later - as i left my house today, i was wearing shorts and a regular jersey over a light base layer. hence - a miracle.
starting a next phase of my training schedule for IOWA, concentrating on rest. as you build up hours, you beat yourself down. to come back stronger, you have to rest just as hard. as a guy, we all know we cannot back down from a challenger even if we are riding a 35 pound k monkey and he is on a stupid light road bike -- but you got to. there is bigger fish to fry....
parts update: FSA has sent out my swag, and here is what coming some things changed!
FSA K-FORCE RISER BAR
oversized at 31.8, carbon/kevlar composite, 170 grams with a 3/4" rise.
FSA K-FORCE MEGAEXO CRANK
Monocoque carbon 2 piece oversized crank coming in at hefty 770 grams. shimano is 29 grams heavier with their xtr. darn. i have a lighter crank.
FSA OS-115 STEM
aluminum body, titanium bolts, carbon faceplate. comes in at around 138 grams. dang, another light part.
all the specs for FSA are here: FULLSPEEDAHEAD
and, if you want the true, down to earth reviews and confirmed weights, go here:
SPEEDGOAT.COM
orignal part list was incorrectly linked to the wrong bar - and the post, well. the offset is a little too much.
i'll be running the Easton EC70 Carbon Seatpost
with the saddle of armstrong's choice: SAN MARCO Concor Light
the one linked above is the cro-mo version -- i'll be running the ti version.
and - asylums are two weeks out. i can't wait! the are going to sweet...
and - garneau stuff should be on at my door thursday.
whew.... now all i have to do is race this stuff....
that's it - enjoy the nice weather brotha's.
sologoat out.
4.03.2005
04.03.05 - cleveland set a record last night
record snowfall for the year - smashed it by 4 inches.
whoopy.
so, instead of the first race of the year, i woke up to literally 4 inches of wet snow and winds gusting to 40mph. needless to say, i didn't have nice things to say this morning.
so, i bundled up and headed out the door for a 2.5 hour hike contemplating puting in my miles tomorrow and flipping my easy monday workout for today. 45 minutes into it, i noticed something very odd. the wind seemed to be dying out, snow was melting. and could it be - yes, blue skies out yonder. so i headed back to get the k monkey.
didn't get the hours i really wanted, but got in a good 5 hour solo ride and what i swear is a 35 pound karate monkey. legs felt awesome today - maybe because i had to ride rollers due to the rain/snow mix of yesterday, but considering how i felt and how many hours i had in this week, i was pleasantly surprised how my legs were turning over.
this week i had some major miles/hours as i am building up to my first major event of the year at TRANSIOWA. should be an interesting event. needless to say, training schedules are pretty important for events like this -- after a few years of tinkering with it, i finally have a pretty good workout schedule down. believe me, it is well worth the time and effort. otherwise, your riding is just too inconsistant. you'll find yourself peaking for a group ride and then when the event comes up you really want to do well at, you die.
been there, done that. i think i died a few times during my first 24 solo. and when things were getting really bad, when i was deep in the woods at snowshoe at midnight sick to my stomach and completly out of my mind, there was a fireworks show going on over my head. very surreal moment that i don't care to relive.
anyhoo - think the bikes should be hear in about a week or two. no rush on them for me, as i have another bike ligned up for TRANSIOWA and i really don't need the asylums until after that....
gotta run -
sologoat out.
whoopy.
so, instead of the first race of the year, i woke up to literally 4 inches of wet snow and winds gusting to 40mph. needless to say, i didn't have nice things to say this morning.
so, i bundled up and headed out the door for a 2.5 hour hike contemplating puting in my miles tomorrow and flipping my easy monday workout for today. 45 minutes into it, i noticed something very odd. the wind seemed to be dying out, snow was melting. and could it be - yes, blue skies out yonder. so i headed back to get the k monkey.
didn't get the hours i really wanted, but got in a good 5 hour solo ride and what i swear is a 35 pound karate monkey. legs felt awesome today - maybe because i had to ride rollers due to the rain/snow mix of yesterday, but considering how i felt and how many hours i had in this week, i was pleasantly surprised how my legs were turning over.
this week i had some major miles/hours as i am building up to my first major event of the year at TRANSIOWA. should be an interesting event. needless to say, training schedules are pretty important for events like this -- after a few years of tinkering with it, i finally have a pretty good workout schedule down. believe me, it is well worth the time and effort. otherwise, your riding is just too inconsistant. you'll find yourself peaking for a group ride and then when the event comes up you really want to do well at, you die.
been there, done that. i think i died a few times during my first 24 solo. and when things were getting really bad, when i was deep in the woods at snowshoe at midnight sick to my stomach and completly out of my mind, there was a fireworks show going on over my head. very surreal moment that i don't care to relive.
anyhoo - think the bikes should be hear in about a week or two. no rush on them for me, as i have another bike ligned up for TRANSIOWA and i really don't need the asylums until after that....
gotta run -
sologoat out.
4.01.2005
04.01.05 - the real post of the day....
hey all - been a pretty nutty week both riding and working. things are a' changing at work. long story, but it's all good.
gettting in a ton of miles this week, right on schedule as planned. weather looks iffy for tomorrow, so i may have to change some things up.
my secret prayer to mother nature:
please, oh please let me get in my hours tomorrow. i promise i will not swear at you anymore, but me and my riding buddies are in dire need of mileage and hours. we fear whistler and need as much training in as humanly possible. thank you.
enough silliness....
great news - the guys over at FSA hooked me up. dan the man (my main mechanic at the 'goat) got me: two sets of SLK Carbon MegaExo cranksets, two K-Force Lite carbon seatposts, and two K-Force XC Riser handlebars. sweet.
vega light has been working good - though, when the battery starts to go, it switches from the 4 watt to the 2 watt automatically. how much battery life is left when it does that, i don't know. think i am going to charge her up fully one night and just for giggles, turn it on and start my heart rate monitor stop watch. i'll post results next week. and, dan the man also says that the vega should be able to be hooked up to the helmet, but you may need to play around with the mounts.
and - don't know how many of you out there are using HR monitors. been using the SIGMAS for years and i just can't get any consistancy out of them. thinking of the cateye, the polars or the ciclosport. siding on the ciclosport because it has some really cool features, but it is a little pricey.... was wondering what y'all have been using out there....
and finally - think i am going to see SIN CITY tonight. flick looks friggin' awesome. if you haven't seen the trailers, check them out. WIRED MAGAZINE just did a nice write up on it too. just speaking on purely cinematic terms - it looks awesome.
probably not as awesome looking as carbon FSA cranks, but still awesome....
i'm pumped - it is friday, i have some good rides in this week, and i just drank some starbucks expresso and i am completely wired.
rock on.
sologoat out.
gettting in a ton of miles this week, right on schedule as planned. weather looks iffy for tomorrow, so i may have to change some things up.
my secret prayer to mother nature:
please, oh please let me get in my hours tomorrow. i promise i will not swear at you anymore, but me and my riding buddies are in dire need of mileage and hours. we fear whistler and need as much training in as humanly possible. thank you.
enough silliness....
great news - the guys over at FSA hooked me up. dan the man (my main mechanic at the 'goat) got me: two sets of SLK Carbon MegaExo cranksets, two K-Force Lite carbon seatposts, and two K-Force XC Riser handlebars. sweet.
vega light has been working good - though, when the battery starts to go, it switches from the 4 watt to the 2 watt automatically. how much battery life is left when it does that, i don't know. think i am going to charge her up fully one night and just for giggles, turn it on and start my heart rate monitor stop watch. i'll post results next week. and, dan the man also says that the vega should be able to be hooked up to the helmet, but you may need to play around with the mounts.
and - don't know how many of you out there are using HR monitors. been using the SIGMAS for years and i just can't get any consistancy out of them. thinking of the cateye, the polars or the ciclosport. siding on the ciclosport because it has some really cool features, but it is a little pricey.... was wondering what y'all have been using out there....
and finally - think i am going to see SIN CITY tonight. flick looks friggin' awesome. if you haven't seen the trailers, check them out. WIRED MAGAZINE just did a nice write up on it too. just speaking on purely cinematic terms - it looks awesome.
probably not as awesome looking as carbon FSA cranks, but still awesome....
i'm pumped - it is friday, i have some good rides in this week, and i just drank some starbucks expresso and i am completely wired.
rock on.
sologoat out.
04.01.05 - i just signed a million dollar a year contract with speegoat!
they will retain the right to use my image and race results until midnight 12.31.05.
i just have to ride my bike, drink good coffee, ride sweet single track and rock out with my ipod.
wow, i finally made it...
april fools!
ha ha from sologoat
i just have to ride my bike, drink good coffee, ride sweet single track and rock out with my ipod.
wow, i finally made it...
april fools!
ha ha from sologoat
3.31.2005
03.31.05 - busy as hell
whew - been a long week already.
things are changing for me at work (for the better) but i am running around like a madman getting things set up for the next phase of my work career. it is slightly chaotic considering i work 40-50 hours a week and still need to train.
but - i think i couldn't have it any other way. i have found that i do better in life in general when i have a thousand things going on at once. tell me i can't do it and it is suddenly my goal in life to proove you wrong.
so....
training - my super secret training schedule has me doing a TON of hours this week. workouts/rides are pretty much scheduled all the way to october for me. when work gets hectic, i already know my workout plan weeks ahead of time and can plan accordingly and adjust for it. otherwise, if you wait until last minute, it is too easy to skip one or two.
well enduro freak - you can't skip a lap or two during a race. no options - gotta train.
big excitement of the week will be this sunday as it is the first race for me of the year. it's a road race (yucky), but it is so close that i can ride to it, race and then ride some more. i often call my rides before and after as "bonus" rides - have to trick yourself sometimes. akron is great for these type of races - there will be about 5-6 of these types of days before any of my major races which is way cool. i go into these races with no expectations. if i do well, that is cool. if i don't, that is cool too. if you train for enduro's, then you have to live with the fact that your training schedule rules the world and often times you will have to train through a race. sacrifice the little races and reap the benefits of placing well at the big races.
gotta have goals. lemond once wrote down in a training diary when he was in high school that he wanted to win worlds. you and i are are no different than lemond, armstrong. diffferent goals, different people.
funny how life works out sometimes.
now go ride - it's above 50 degrees! yeah!
sologoat out
things are changing for me at work (for the better) but i am running around like a madman getting things set up for the next phase of my work career. it is slightly chaotic considering i work 40-50 hours a week and still need to train.
but - i think i couldn't have it any other way. i have found that i do better in life in general when i have a thousand things going on at once. tell me i can't do it and it is suddenly my goal in life to proove you wrong.
so....
training - my super secret training schedule has me doing a TON of hours this week. workouts/rides are pretty much scheduled all the way to october for me. when work gets hectic, i already know my workout plan weeks ahead of time and can plan accordingly and adjust for it. otherwise, if you wait until last minute, it is too easy to skip one or two.
well enduro freak - you can't skip a lap or two during a race. no options - gotta train.
big excitement of the week will be this sunday as it is the first race for me of the year. it's a road race (yucky), but it is so close that i can ride to it, race and then ride some more. i often call my rides before and after as "bonus" rides - have to trick yourself sometimes. akron is great for these type of races - there will be about 5-6 of these types of days before any of my major races which is way cool. i go into these races with no expectations. if i do well, that is cool. if i don't, that is cool too. if you train for enduro's, then you have to live with the fact that your training schedule rules the world and often times you will have to train through a race. sacrifice the little races and reap the benefits of placing well at the big races.
gotta have goals. lemond once wrote down in a training diary when he was in high school that he wanted to win worlds. you and i are are no different than lemond, armstrong. diffferent goals, different people.
funny how life works out sometimes.
now go ride - it's above 50 degrees! yeah!
sologoat out
3.27.2005
03.27.05 - 2005 Light in Motion Vega
2005 Light in Motion Vega
Originally uploaded by solo_goat.
Newest to the Light and Motion light selection comes the Vega. Here is the review.
SPECS:
1. 219 grams/256 with mount
2. LED (NOT HID!)
3. 4 watt burn time - 2 hours
4. 2 watt burn time - 4 hours
5. 1 watt burn time - 8 hours
6. Recharge at 1.75 hours
7. Breakaway mounts
Here is a breakdown of the watt settings:
4 WATT
Full on race light with this wattage, though it may not have quite the beam width/length of some the higher end systems.
2 WATT
At this setting, the light output is a little too low to run for riding anything technical. Would be great for a long climb where you need to see your line, but you don't have to worry about something technical coming up on you.
1 WATT
I call this setting "just get me home" as this setting is just enough to light what is about 30-40 feet in front of your front tire. Great for paved bike trail riding, probably not the best for anything technical.
BLINKING
This setting is actually pretty bright - not bad to use when the battery is just about to go, but it is pretty hard on the eyes to ride at length with.
OVERALL
Very impressed with this lighting system. Finally, a LED light that provides a bright enough light where one could realistically use this as their main lighting system.
Basically, there is not a whole lot to this system as the entire setup contents consisted of the light itself, the mount and the charger. And when they say that this light is as simple as plugging in your cell phone, they speak the truth. The charger is actually within the lighting unit itself and the charge unit resembles your typical cell phone charger. Simply plug in the charger to the back of the unit and when it is no longer blinking, it is fully charged. And don’t worry about forgetting to unplug it after the charge is complete - it WILL NOT cause any harm to leave it plugged in overnight.
Charge time took about 1.5 hours (a little faster than what the specs say) and burn times seem to be pretty close. Only detriment to this lighting system that I see is that it only contains a bar mount.
Overall, this is a great light and will be used as a backup to my main lighting system as I race enduro's and need longer burn times (I also prefer head mounted units). With that being said, I would SERIOUSLY consider this my main lighting system if I were racing team 24 hour events as the quick charge times (would not have to take them to the charging stations) and light weight are a huge bonus with this system - but I would try to rig up a head mount to run the Vega on my helmet, and possibly run another on the bar.
Additionally, this is a great lighting system where one only needs an hour of two of light or are just getting into the night riding scene and don't want to break the bank. As added bonuses, it is small and easy to pack up and mount. Basically a no-brainer overall setup.
Cheap price, super light and reliable are all the things I like in a lighting system. In my mind, Light in Motion pulled off a stage win with the Vega.
03.27.05 - sologoat went solo
solo ride today - no passengers were in tow for a 6+ hour ride today. got in some good mileage during the week, so my legs were a little tight this morning as i dragged my carcass out of bed.
got a late start - didn't start until almost 10:30am. legs felt tight when getting ready but as soon as i got them turning over on the k monkey, the loosened up pretty quick to the extent that they actually felt better today then the did yesterday.
pretty much rode steady, no efforts like i was doing yesterday, just trying to get in the hours today. rain hit at about 5 hours, so i picked it up a little as i was getting a little cold. walked in the door feeling i finally got a good solid week of training in.
rode the hike/bike trails today and i was surprised they were so dry this time of year. i can actually ride these trails from kent ohio all the way up to cleveland and only ride about 15-20 minutes of road. it's lame - it is a path, but one thing about a path -- no cars and the ego's that go along with them. earlier this week, a car was beeping at me like crazy when i was pretty much on the berm, and passed me on this little road with a tight corner -- the car was actually sliding all four wheels through the corner. i thought "crazy kids." i caught up to the car and it was two adults, probably in their early 50's.
guess my point here - people are stupid. be careful out there because people are not paying attention to a silly cyclist.
and now - i'll attempt a review of the vega....
gotta run - sologoat out.
got a late start - didn't start until almost 10:30am. legs felt tight when getting ready but as soon as i got them turning over on the k monkey, the loosened up pretty quick to the extent that they actually felt better today then the did yesterday.
pretty much rode steady, no efforts like i was doing yesterday, just trying to get in the hours today. rain hit at about 5 hours, so i picked it up a little as i was getting a little cold. walked in the door feeling i finally got a good solid week of training in.
rode the hike/bike trails today and i was surprised they were so dry this time of year. i can actually ride these trails from kent ohio all the way up to cleveland and only ride about 15-20 minutes of road. it's lame - it is a path, but one thing about a path -- no cars and the ego's that go along with them. earlier this week, a car was beeping at me like crazy when i was pretty much on the berm, and passed me on this little road with a tight corner -- the car was actually sliding all four wheels through the corner. i thought "crazy kids." i caught up to the car and it was two adults, probably in their early 50's.
guess my point here - people are stupid. be careful out there because people are not paying attention to a silly cyclist.
and now - i'll attempt a review of the vega....
gotta run - sologoat out.
03.27.05 - another enduro freak and some links
ENDURO FREAK OF ANOTHER KIND
found this on the cnn website this morning - an enduro freak with shoes. article states he "seeks happiness through pain." i think we can relate to this one...
SMASHING PUMPKINS FAN COLLABORTIVE
as a huge pumpkins fan, check it out. all things pumpkins - related split off bands, tour dates, lyrics to every single song billy corgan and his associates have ever written down.
DOPERS_SUCK
blog related to doping in many 'o sport, but tends to be more cycling specific. gotta see the sight to see the whole concept of why he started it up. check it out.
JEFF KERKOVE BLOGSPOT
blogspot for transiowa founder jeff kerkove. he rides a giant, reviews a ton of products and is a fellow enduro nut.
DJ DANGERMOUSE
dj famous for mixing up the grey album - a dj mix of the beatles white album and jay'z's the black album. though, to be honest, i didn't know he sometimes actually wears a mouse get-up. i find that wierd and hope he doesn't turn up on some late night hbo special on real sex.
found this on the cnn website this morning - an enduro freak with shoes. article states he "seeks happiness through pain." i think we can relate to this one...
SMASHING PUMPKINS FAN COLLABORTIVE
as a huge pumpkins fan, check it out. all things pumpkins - related split off bands, tour dates, lyrics to every single song billy corgan and his associates have ever written down.
DOPERS_SUCK
blog related to doping in many 'o sport, but tends to be more cycling specific. gotta see the sight to see the whole concept of why he started it up. check it out.
JEFF KERKOVE BLOGSPOT
blogspot for transiowa founder jeff kerkove. he rides a giant, reviews a ton of products and is a fellow enduro nut.
DJ DANGERMOUSE
dj famous for mixing up the grey album - a dj mix of the beatles white album and jay'z's the black album. though, to be honest, i didn't know he sometimes actually wears a mouse get-up. i find that wierd and hope he doesn't turn up on some late night hbo special on real sex.
3.26.2005
03.26.05 - double up
two rides in today - little over 6 hours.
first one was with jim b and he must of been frisky because we set steady tempo for the entire day. rollers hit us immediately and overcast skies cleared later and i actually saw the sun. thank heaven for my tifosi's, or i may have had to squint my eyes. food was right on today, so i think i have my race food down pretty good.
ride two was about an hour after getting back from ride one - tried out the hardtail asylum. about 4 adjustments to bars/seat height and position later, i was on my way. kind of bummed though, went tubeless with this bike and the front keeps loosing air. dang. won't run tubeless for the race bikes, don't like the hassle and i have issues taking the tires off when my hands have taken a beating, along with the body. for some odd reason, sometimes one does not think clearly after riding for extended periods of time.... (i once thought i saw a kangaroo in the woods during the race at snowshoe....) haulicinations are cool....
looks like i am going solo tomorrow. not too many enduro freaks in my neck of the woods - a ton of roadies though - but i actually prefer riding alone sometimes, especially during the week. work thing makes it difficult to meet up with other riders.
other news and random comments:
1. reviews up tomorrow (i promise!)
2. have a happy bunny day tomorrow
3. my cat mootsy says hello
4. starbucks expresso roast rules
5. post ride weight at 143
6. riding outside is sooooooooooo much better than riding indoors
7. ride rigid - forces you to pick good lines. then switch back to suspension - you'll be fast.
8. indy films rule (more on this later)
rock on with your bad 'self...
sologoat out
first one was with jim b and he must of been frisky because we set steady tempo for the entire day. rollers hit us immediately and overcast skies cleared later and i actually saw the sun. thank heaven for my tifosi's, or i may have had to squint my eyes. food was right on today, so i think i have my race food down pretty good.
ride two was about an hour after getting back from ride one - tried out the hardtail asylum. about 4 adjustments to bars/seat height and position later, i was on my way. kind of bummed though, went tubeless with this bike and the front keeps loosing air. dang. won't run tubeless for the race bikes, don't like the hassle and i have issues taking the tires off when my hands have taken a beating, along with the body. for some odd reason, sometimes one does not think clearly after riding for extended periods of time.... (i once thought i saw a kangaroo in the woods during the race at snowshoe....) haulicinations are cool....
looks like i am going solo tomorrow. not too many enduro freaks in my neck of the woods - a ton of roadies though - but i actually prefer riding alone sometimes, especially during the week. work thing makes it difficult to meet up with other riders.
other news and random comments:
1. reviews up tomorrow (i promise!)
2. have a happy bunny day tomorrow
3. my cat mootsy says hello
4. starbucks expresso roast rules
5. post ride weight at 143
6. riding outside is sooooooooooo much better than riding indoors
7. ride rigid - forces you to pick good lines. then switch back to suspension - you'll be fast.
8. indy films rule (more on this later)
rock on with your bad 'self...
sologoat out
3.25.2005
03.25.05 - active recovery
was the plan of tonight - with radiohead playing on the ipod, i did a steady easy ride for 3 hours. active recovery....
hmmmm... hard to do sometimes, as most times i am doing these rides some dork on a huffy whom hasn't lube his chain in 100 years and is riding in street shoes rides inches away from me on a paved bike path that is 10 feet wide and then 5 seconds he looks back to see how much he is putting the hurt on me.
it's usually about then when i unleash my furry and re-estabish the pecking order.
or, if i am hanging out and slowly riding with a pretty girl -- i grit my teeth and try to look away.
riding has been going good this week - rode every day so far except monday. feeling good, but the back is a little tight. think my k monkey is not setup perfect and i am a little too stretched out.
been testing the vega out - should have a post up tomorrow, hopefully along with the moots tailgator review. think i may do another review as things happen in 3's.
game plan for the weekend is two 6+ hour rides - sunday will have to start a little early because of the weather. companion for the ride is jim b. no set routes, just steady tempo work. and just for fun, when we get at about 5 hours -- it is full on race pace. no attacks, just ramp up the speed, take pulls as hard as you can, and hang on for your life.
we did one of these rides a few years back, with 3 other guys. except this tempo started around 5 mintues into the ride. 4 hours later, we had 100 miles in. hence, we declared that ride to this day "the all business ride."
now, the only business i have is warming up some burrito's...
hope it is rideable where you are at - thanks for checking my blog dawg.
sologoat out
hmmmm... hard to do sometimes, as most times i am doing these rides some dork on a huffy whom hasn't lube his chain in 100 years and is riding in street shoes rides inches away from me on a paved bike path that is 10 feet wide and then 5 seconds he looks back to see how much he is putting the hurt on me.
it's usually about then when i unleash my furry and re-estabish the pecking order.
or, if i am hanging out and slowly riding with a pretty girl -- i grit my teeth and try to look away.
riding has been going good this week - rode every day so far except monday. feeling good, but the back is a little tight. think my k monkey is not setup perfect and i am a little too stretched out.
been testing the vega out - should have a post up tomorrow, hopefully along with the moots tailgator review. think i may do another review as things happen in 3's.
game plan for the weekend is two 6+ hour rides - sunday will have to start a little early because of the weather. companion for the ride is jim b. no set routes, just steady tempo work. and just for fun, when we get at about 5 hours -- it is full on race pace. no attacks, just ramp up the speed, take pulls as hard as you can, and hang on for your life.
we did one of these rides a few years back, with 3 other guys. except this tempo started around 5 mintues into the ride. 4 hours later, we had 100 miles in. hence, we declared that ride to this day "the all business ride."
now, the only business i have is warming up some burrito's...
hope it is rideable where you are at - thanks for checking my blog dawg.
sologoat out
3.24.2005
03.24.05 - gotta go...
ride soon...
not much happening lately - but, training is going really well. 3+ hours the last couple of days, 4 more tonight. sweet.
prelimary on the vegas is good - should be an excellent backup unit. more on this later.
asylum bikes - possible i may be riding a polished frame and one black. big debate is either is to run either two EXACT bikes or to have one polished and one black at the shop.
gotta run - hope to have the vega light and moot tailgator review up this week.
sologoat out
not much happening lately - but, training is going really well. 3+ hours the last couple of days, 4 more tonight. sweet.
prelimary on the vegas is good - should be an excellent backup unit. more on this later.
asylum bikes - possible i may be riding a polished frame and one black. big debate is either is to run either two EXACT bikes or to have one polished and one black at the shop.
gotta run - hope to have the vega light and moot tailgator review up this week.
sologoat out
3.20.2005
03.20.05 - 2005 lights in motion vega
just in - lights in motion vega lighting system.
preliminary assesment - wow, this thing is tiny. actual charger unit is within the light itself, making charging a snap. Charging is as simple as charging your cell phone. i am going to love this, as i used to run a niterider. hmmm... niterider runs a microbrute charger, then the charger that plugs into the wall -- and when they go bad, you have two things to buy.
out with old, in with the new - simple, HED, and no-fuss should make this the light to use. have not tested yet, but when i checked it out in the backyard, it seemed plenty to light up the trail. 2/4/8 hours use, depending on setting. BONUS - charges in less than 2 HOURS. oh yes...
can't wait to take her out on the trail.
oh - and roughly 200grams. weight geeks are gonna love this.
complete review in a couple weeks.
sologoat out
preliminary assesment - wow, this thing is tiny. actual charger unit is within the light itself, making charging a snap. Charging is as simple as charging your cell phone. i am going to love this, as i used to run a niterider. hmmm... niterider runs a microbrute charger, then the charger that plugs into the wall -- and when they go bad, you have two things to buy.
out with old, in with the new - simple, HED, and no-fuss should make this the light to use. have not tested yet, but when i checked it out in the backyard, it seemed plenty to light up the trail. 2/4/8 hours use, depending on setting. BONUS - charges in less than 2 HOURS. oh yes...
can't wait to take her out on the trail.
oh - and roughly 200grams. weight geeks are gonna love this.
complete review in a couple weeks.
sologoat out
03.20.05 - rain, rain. go the hell away.
what the?
it is sunday, the first day of spring - and it is raining. what the heck.... debating on what to do as i type - thinking i may hit up the rain cape and brave the elements as it looks as if the rain is on the way out.
here is my riding recap from the past few days:
friday:
managed 4 hours, in two workouts. i get a lot of these in later in the season, as my work forces me to do this in order to get my hours in. not bad because it keeps your metabolism going all day, but it can be detrimental to sleep. some people call lack of rest as sleep deprivation/exahaustion, i call it cross-training.
saturday:
legs were feeling a little heavy at the start of a 5 hour ride with jim b. rode mostly moderate tempo most of the day. got a little dehydrated later in the ride despite drinking 4 bottles, and when jim started pushing the pace at 4.5 hours, we were both feeling the effects of a good week of training.
other stuff:
vega lights - i'll have the pics posted tonight. check 'em out. they are way cool.
race schedule - looking like at least 4 24 hour races this year, with a ton o' enduro events of the 6/12 hour variety, and including some mega mile mountain bike races. will be racing all the way out to october and i will have a slight lap of disciplines, as i finish up the rest of the season with cross. should be fun.
vega and limar pics uploaded tonight.
sologoat out.
it is sunday, the first day of spring - and it is raining. what the heck.... debating on what to do as i type - thinking i may hit up the rain cape and brave the elements as it looks as if the rain is on the way out.
here is my riding recap from the past few days:
friday:
managed 4 hours, in two workouts. i get a lot of these in later in the season, as my work forces me to do this in order to get my hours in. not bad because it keeps your metabolism going all day, but it can be detrimental to sleep. some people call lack of rest as sleep deprivation/exahaustion, i call it cross-training.
saturday:
legs were feeling a little heavy at the start of a 5 hour ride with jim b. rode mostly moderate tempo most of the day. got a little dehydrated later in the ride despite drinking 4 bottles, and when jim started pushing the pace at 4.5 hours, we were both feeling the effects of a good week of training.
other stuff:
vega lights - i'll have the pics posted tonight. check 'em out. they are way cool.
race schedule - looking like at least 4 24 hour races this year, with a ton o' enduro events of the 6/12 hour variety, and including some mega mile mountain bike races. will be racing all the way out to october and i will have a slight lap of disciplines, as i finish up the rest of the season with cross. should be fun.
vega and limar pics uploaded tonight.
sologoat out.
3.18.2005
03.18.05 - it's christmas in march
here is why:
1. vega lights - are in. they look super cool. they look really small. i'm stoked.
2. limar 909 helmets - two yellow helmets in a bright yellow. they seem light and i predict that i will be able to turn my head .025% faster because of it, allowing me take better lines and to scope out babes on the race course. cool.
3. it's friday, it is about 45 degrees, there is no snow on the trails, and i am going for a ride. sweet.
4. asylum bikes - bikes are off to get polished and the first one will be in my grubby hands in approx 4 weeks. awesome.
5. got to ride yesterday - and i get to ride today. mmmmmmm.....
6. i'm getting some good sushi tonight --- yummy.
gotta go - pics of the vegas and the helmets up this weekend. but now - i gotta get my fix in before daylight runs out. should be able to sqeeze in a 3 hour ride....
ride on!
sologoat out
1. vega lights - are in. they look super cool. they look really small. i'm stoked.
2. limar 909 helmets - two yellow helmets in a bright yellow. they seem light and i predict that i will be able to turn my head .025% faster because of it, allowing me take better lines and to scope out babes on the race course. cool.
3. it's friday, it is about 45 degrees, there is no snow on the trails, and i am going for a ride. sweet.
4. asylum bikes - bikes are off to get polished and the first one will be in my grubby hands in approx 4 weeks. awesome.
5. got to ride yesterday - and i get to ride today. mmmmmmm.....
6. i'm getting some good sushi tonight --- yummy.
gotta go - pics of the vegas and the helmets up this weekend. but now - i gotta get my fix in before daylight runs out. should be able to sqeeze in a 3 hour ride....
ride on!
sologoat out
3.16.2005
03.16.05 - what's a goat to do?
out of town for work and in desperate need for a workout?
1. check out DIRTWORLD as they have a ton of listings of trail maps. i've found trails all over - columbus ohio, bend oregon, austin texas. you name, somebody has rated it.
2. when in doubt - go single geared. one thing i have always said in regards to a single speed - you are always bustin' your butt to get that gear turned over. i am especially fond of my spinning intervals where i find a slight downhill (right next to my favorite hotel in columbus ohio). start at the top and start spinning (it's about a mile long). i look like a nut, but it's a great workout.
3. rollers - i am almost despising the whole idea of these right now, but i am constantly finding ways to make it more interesting. watch tour dvds, watch a movie on hbo, listen to my ipod and watch cartoons. oh, and check out the indy movie channel. one thing about rollers, if it is cruddy outside, and you don't know the area -- at least you are getting a ride in.
not too much going on today - easy roller ride in the hotel. work thang' has me out of town and the locals here in dayton are freaking me out so i decided not to ride them. though, do note - columbus ohio has a very short but techinical trail system just north of town. DIRTWORLD listed it as an hour long - though, if you are a tough guy, you can do the trail three times at 2 hours. great technical stuff - and for some reason, this trail likes to throw me off the trail in spectactular form at least once per ride.
JEFF KERKOVE has a review of the cateye HL-EL500 light system. 30 hour burn time, LED, light, adjustable. seems like it would be a horrible light to use (not). check it out.
RIDE424 - this is the web site i wish i had 4 years ago. listing of the majority of enduro's for the year. training for these events are a year long process, training through races and peaking at specific points are very critical. you must plan your schedule accordingly, and all the races are here.
SPEEDGOAT BLOG has my tifosi quam 1.5 review up, along with a pic of one handsome fellow wearing them. as an added bonus, if you scroll down the list of blog entries, you may just get lucky and see the Tifosi Q2 review. lucky you if you find it.
that's it tonight - resting up for a big night ride tomorrow. gotta get my fix....
sologoat out
1. check out DIRTWORLD as they have a ton of listings of trail maps. i've found trails all over - columbus ohio, bend oregon, austin texas. you name, somebody has rated it.
2. when in doubt - go single geared. one thing i have always said in regards to a single speed - you are always bustin' your butt to get that gear turned over. i am especially fond of my spinning intervals where i find a slight downhill (right next to my favorite hotel in columbus ohio). start at the top and start spinning (it's about a mile long). i look like a nut, but it's a great workout.
3. rollers - i am almost despising the whole idea of these right now, but i am constantly finding ways to make it more interesting. watch tour dvds, watch a movie on hbo, listen to my ipod and watch cartoons. oh, and check out the indy movie channel. one thing about rollers, if it is cruddy outside, and you don't know the area -- at least you are getting a ride in.
not too much going on today - easy roller ride in the hotel. work thang' has me out of town and the locals here in dayton are freaking me out so i decided not to ride them. though, do note - columbus ohio has a very short but techinical trail system just north of town. DIRTWORLD listed it as an hour long - though, if you are a tough guy, you can do the trail three times at 2 hours. great technical stuff - and for some reason, this trail likes to throw me off the trail in spectactular form at least once per ride.
JEFF KERKOVE has a review of the cateye HL-EL500 light system. 30 hour burn time, LED, light, adjustable. seems like it would be a horrible light to use (not). check it out.
RIDE424 - this is the web site i wish i had 4 years ago. listing of the majority of enduro's for the year. training for these events are a year long process, training through races and peaking at specific points are very critical. you must plan your schedule accordingly, and all the races are here.
SPEEDGOAT BLOG has my tifosi quam 1.5 review up, along with a pic of one handsome fellow wearing them. as an added bonus, if you scroll down the list of blog entries, you may just get lucky and see the Tifosi Q2 review. lucky you if you find it.
that's it tonight - resting up for a big night ride tomorrow. gotta get my fix....
sologoat out
3.14.2005
03.14.05 - a little bit of the pumpkins at ya
when i ride
with you tonight
we can move
at the speed of light
forever young
forever blind
into the stars
we rock tonight
smashing pumpkins - speed kills
with you tonight
we can move
at the speed of light
forever young
forever blind
into the stars
we rock tonight
smashing pumpkins - speed kills
03.14.05 - monday night nightride
got out at 5pm, back at 7pm and then the bonus hour on the rollers to warm back up and rock out with the ipod.
today was pretty warm - a toasty 34 degrees was pure heaven to me and was pretty nice to ride in.
in other news:
1. tifosi quam review - finally done.
2. helmets/lights - should arrive in the next day or two
3. i've got some planning to do for may - texas, ohio and michigan enduros! rock on!
4. in warmer climate tomorrow - could this possibly mean more than one mid-week ride and not totally freezing me arse off?
5. body weight is looking good - really close to race weight. about 4 years ago when i started endurance riding, my body weight during the winter got up to 167 at one point. oh, the taste of beer is heavenly - and i consumed way too much. this year, diet is going to be a key factor in my "splitting hairs" theory i had a few posts back.
that's it - may your day be filled with dry single track and warm temps.
rock on - sologoat out.
today was pretty warm - a toasty 34 degrees was pure heaven to me and was pretty nice to ride in.
in other news:
1. tifosi quam review - finally done.
2. helmets/lights - should arrive in the next day or two
3. i've got some planning to do for may - texas, ohio and michigan enduros! rock on!
4. in warmer climate tomorrow - could this possibly mean more than one mid-week ride and not totally freezing me arse off?
5. body weight is looking good - really close to race weight. about 4 years ago when i started endurance riding, my body weight during the winter got up to 167 at one point. oh, the taste of beer is heavenly - and i consumed way too much. this year, diet is going to be a key factor in my "splitting hairs" theory i had a few posts back.
that's it - may your day be filled with dry single track and warm temps.
rock on - sologoat out.
03.14.05 - cool new stuff at the goat
hey all - my pals/sponsors at SPEEDGOAT.COM has got some new bling bling for ya to check out. here goes:
HOPE STEM
this cool new machined stem brings me back to the days when ano was cool. word to ya - ano was always cool. this stem was actually shown at the vegas show last year with a removable face plate that had a pre-mounted light system on it (battery was under the stem).
MOOTS CINCO
5 inch rear travel titanium frame from the masterminds at moots. i'm not a big fan of "jump bikes" but this bike is cool.
LIGHTS IN MOTION VEGA LIGHT SYSTEM
Backup light of yours truely. i have not tested this puppy yet (got two in the mail!) but these are getting rave reviews from the techs at the 'goat shop. super duper light, reliable, neato charger... full specs at the link above -- and hurry, the supply is limited! (remember - no shipping charges at the goat!) hurry you enduro freaks!
sologoat out
HOPE STEM
this cool new machined stem brings me back to the days when ano was cool. word to ya - ano was always cool. this stem was actually shown at the vegas show last year with a removable face plate that had a pre-mounted light system on it (battery was under the stem).
MOOTS CINCO
5 inch rear travel titanium frame from the masterminds at moots. i'm not a big fan of "jump bikes" but this bike is cool.
LIGHTS IN MOTION VEGA LIGHT SYSTEM
Backup light of yours truely. i have not tested this puppy yet (got two in the mail!) but these are getting rave reviews from the techs at the 'goat shop. super duper light, reliable, neato charger... full specs at the link above -- and hurry, the supply is limited! (remember - no shipping charges at the goat!) hurry you enduro freaks!
sologoat out
3.13.2005
03.13.05 - i think my face is frozen
was what i was thinking today after about 4 hours of a 5.25 hour ride.
late start today, as i was feeling super lazy and was waiting for it to warm up a little. started off the ride with some trail riding as i thought the powdery snow wouldn't be too bad. wrong.
4-5 inches of snow in some spots, so after an hour, i hit the road. nothing crazy, steady medium tempo work on the hills around the akron area. up, down, flat, repeat. first two hours i had to deal with a head wind, the last 3.25 hours i was blessed with a tail cross wind. somebody must of had mercy on me today.
came home, ate some leftovers and drank some heavenly starbucks house blend. yummy.
BREAKING NEWS FOR SPEEDGOAT:
upon immediate arrival of two very special boxes, a phone call was placed immediately to my cell phone.
special box #1 - LIMAR HELMETS
picked up two 909 yellow helmets. review to come after arrival.
special box #2 - LIGHTS IN MOTION
i am suuuuuuuuuuuuuper excited about this one - picked up two of the VEGA lights, which is the latest greatest light out from lights in motion. about the size of a small egg, weighing in at just a hair over 200 grams, and lasting 2 hours on full beam (up to 8 hours depening on your settings) these babies are going to be sweet backup lights. oh, and extra bonus - charge time on these little gems are only an hour and a half. this system is LED - and the rumor circulating around is that HID is on the way out. yep - eventually, the LED will be to the point that HID's will be no more. according to my dad, the bulbs do not burn as hot as the HID lights, allowing for a much smaller battery.
that's it for now - sologoat out
late start today, as i was feeling super lazy and was waiting for it to warm up a little. started off the ride with some trail riding as i thought the powdery snow wouldn't be too bad. wrong.
4-5 inches of snow in some spots, so after an hour, i hit the road. nothing crazy, steady medium tempo work on the hills around the akron area. up, down, flat, repeat. first two hours i had to deal with a head wind, the last 3.25 hours i was blessed with a tail cross wind. somebody must of had mercy on me today.
came home, ate some leftovers and drank some heavenly starbucks house blend. yummy.
BREAKING NEWS FOR SPEEDGOAT:
upon immediate arrival of two very special boxes, a phone call was placed immediately to my cell phone.
special box #1 - LIMAR HELMETS
picked up two 909 yellow helmets. review to come after arrival.
special box #2 - LIGHTS IN MOTION
i am suuuuuuuuuuuuuper excited about this one - picked up two of the VEGA lights, which is the latest greatest light out from lights in motion. about the size of a small egg, weighing in at just a hair over 200 grams, and lasting 2 hours on full beam (up to 8 hours depening on your settings) these babies are going to be sweet backup lights. oh, and extra bonus - charge time on these little gems are only an hour and a half. this system is LED - and the rumor circulating around is that HID is on the way out. yep - eventually, the LED will be to the point that HID's will be no more. according to my dad, the bulbs do not burn as hot as the HID lights, allowing for a much smaller battery.
that's it for now - sologoat out
3.12.2005
03.12.05 - mother nature strikes a blow to my midsection
by hitting me with 4 inches of wet snow and 33 degrees. grrrr.... (that is the sound i make when i am angry). but - i did get a chance to get some tifosi pics taken - check back late tomorrow for my reviews.
so.... what is an enduro freak to do for a workout?
2.5 hours hiking
.5 hours power shoveling my driveway (do note: i have now set my personal best record for shoveling)
and, to top it off:
2 hours on the rollers
tour dvd of the day:
1998 tour - disk two. pantani is down by two minutes, i wonder if he wins? regardless of what he went through, i really think it is unfortunate to see the outcome. he truely was a one of kind, his climbing abilities was astonishing, and to see him "dancing on the pedals" when he was on form looked effortless. he truely was an angel of the mountain.
godspeed marco.
sologoat out
so.... what is an enduro freak to do for a workout?
2.5 hours hiking
.5 hours power shoveling my driveway (do note: i have now set my personal best record for shoveling)
and, to top it off:
2 hours on the rollers
tour dvd of the day:
1998 tour - disk two. pantani is down by two minutes, i wonder if he wins? regardless of what he went through, i really think it is unfortunate to see the outcome. he truely was a one of kind, his climbing abilities was astonishing, and to see him "dancing on the pedals" when he was on form looked effortless. he truely was an angel of the mountain.
godspeed marco.
sologoat out
03.12.05 - 2005 tifosi quam 1.5
Here are the details:
1. 3 colors to choose from (Crystal Clear, Crystal Black and Tortoise)
2. Glare Guard
3. De-centered Lens
4. 3 Lenses Included
5. 22 grams in weight
6. Vented Lens
Here is the review:
As I reviewed the Q2 not long ago (where I gave a huge thumbs up to the new De-Centered lens to prevent peripheral distortion), I am pleased to see that the same lens technology is incorporated into this model from Tifosi. And as an added bonus, this model is available for a “Direct Fit” which allows one to run a Direct Fit Prescription Lens. (At the Vegas show last year, the Tifosi reps said that the turn around is around 10 days or less for them to turn your prescription into one cool looking pair of shades).
The frame itself has undergone some changes from last years Quam 1.0 model. Most notably, the vented lens and the adjustable nose piece. The vented lens never fogged up during my 3 weeks of trying out the glasses and after only one adjustment of the nose piece, the glasses fit perfect and never moved - even during heavy perspiration.
3 lenses come standard, along with a nice carry case to hold your glasses and lenses both.
I raced with last years model all of the 2004 season and will attest to their durability and their function – the lenses and the frame stood the test at Whistler, Snowshoe and countless other enduro races.
I will also attest that their pricing is fantastic – a great company putting out a great product at an awesome price. AND – replacement lenses don’t cost an arm and a leg. Enough said.
Or is it?
This particular model is a proven babe magnet. Yep, yours truly on his very first day of wearing these glasses in a “non-riding” environment, experienced the power. Within a total span of 5 minutes, I was told I looked cute, the door was held open for me by a female (and she actually ran back to open the door for me) and the girl behind the counter at Starbucks gave me a big smile and huge chocolate chip cookie for free.
Either my mojo was strong or my Tifosi’s were working magic on the ladies.
Check them out at Tifosioptics.com for the details, and look for them at Speedgoat soon!
3.09.2005
03.09.05 - 5 hours
temps were ridiculous today, so i opted out of riding outdoors. the low temps are driving me bonkers, but...
i did get up early in the AM today, spun for an hour and then waited until after work to get in a 2 hour hike, followed up with a two hour roller ride. needed to get in some hours today as friday i may take off.
i try to plan ahead of time my days off - and i try to enjoy them. it is a luxury i can afford now, but in the upcoming summer months, i usually only take 1 day off the bike in an 8 week period. i see it this way - NOT riding is NOT an option. flip/flop workout days, split them into double rides, do what you got to do -- and hope your family and friends don't disown you or forget your first name.
haven't heard about the bikes yet - the shop has been super busy and i bug them too much as it is. though -- i do have some limar helmets coming. i ran a limar last year, so it was a no brainer. tried to go with the lazer helmets, but sizing was an issue as i was right between two sizes.
was hoping to get the tifosi reviews done this week, but probably the best i can do is get some pics up maybe on saturday. work has been super busy this week.
and - did get a chance to watch most of the extended 99 tour DVD from world cycling. great mountain stages - as with all of their tapes. highly recomend them to all roller riders out there as they are great for a two hour ride. we all know that at 10 minutes after we jump on the trainer that we look at the clock expecting to see an hour gone by.
if you are like me, hide all the clocks, put in a DVD and spin away.
sologoat out
i did get up early in the AM today, spun for an hour and then waited until after work to get in a 2 hour hike, followed up with a two hour roller ride. needed to get in some hours today as friday i may take off.
i try to plan ahead of time my days off - and i try to enjoy them. it is a luxury i can afford now, but in the upcoming summer months, i usually only take 1 day off the bike in an 8 week period. i see it this way - NOT riding is NOT an option. flip/flop workout days, split them into double rides, do what you got to do -- and hope your family and friends don't disown you or forget your first name.
haven't heard about the bikes yet - the shop has been super busy and i bug them too much as it is. though -- i do have some limar helmets coming. i ran a limar last year, so it was a no brainer. tried to go with the lazer helmets, but sizing was an issue as i was right between two sizes.
was hoping to get the tifosi reviews done this week, but probably the best i can do is get some pics up maybe on saturday. work has been super busy this week.
and - did get a chance to watch most of the extended 99 tour DVD from world cycling. great mountain stages - as with all of their tapes. highly recomend them to all roller riders out there as they are great for a two hour ride. we all know that at 10 minutes after we jump on the trainer that we look at the clock expecting to see an hour gone by.
if you are like me, hide all the clocks, put in a DVD and spin away.
sologoat out
3.08.2005
03.08.05 - splitting hairs
wow my legs were tight on monday, so rollers it was - 2 hours on monday and repeated today because it was a long day o' work for me.
i work for XPERT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS as accounting software consultant/trainer/guru specializing in timberline software (and double as my travel sponsor for the year!). works out well most times for me, as i can set my own schedule, but it sometimes means late rides. some people may think of this as cruddy, i see it as a change to my workout schedule and an opportunity to train at night. i think that if you train at the same time/intensity day in, day out, your body gets used to that very specific workout. throw in an extra hill, decreased temperture and riding at 10pm, your body reacts very differently. got to train the body, yo.
anyhoo - the subject of splitting hairs came up this weekend as i was talking to my coach/buddy/confidant Jim Baldesare an x-pro and current cat 1 (did i mention previous crit national champ?) and we were talking about the difference between riding well and riding the best you possibly can.
he termed it "splitting hairs"
other "terms" - keeping your weight down, riding the best equipment you can, training both mind and body. and throw in about 3 dozen more.
let me metion one more - bike fit.
jim does bike fits for WOBBLENAUGHT. the fit works. lazers, measurements, rider feeback, and 100 different adjustments later, you have more power at a lesser effort than you were putting out before, and your body is more relax.
i love efficiency.
check out this entry i found on their website: WOBBLENAUGHT ERNESTO UPDATE
check it out - the proof is in the results. all you have to do is pedal.
go pedal.
sologoat out
i work for XPERT BUSINESS SOLUTIONS as accounting software consultant/trainer/guru specializing in timberline software (and double as my travel sponsor for the year!). works out well most times for me, as i can set my own schedule, but it sometimes means late rides. some people may think of this as cruddy, i see it as a change to my workout schedule and an opportunity to train at night. i think that if you train at the same time/intensity day in, day out, your body gets used to that very specific workout. throw in an extra hill, decreased temperture and riding at 10pm, your body reacts very differently. got to train the body, yo.
anyhoo - the subject of splitting hairs came up this weekend as i was talking to my coach/buddy/confidant Jim Baldesare an x-pro and current cat 1 (did i mention previous crit national champ?) and we were talking about the difference between riding well and riding the best you possibly can.
he termed it "splitting hairs"
other "terms" - keeping your weight down, riding the best equipment you can, training both mind and body. and throw in about 3 dozen more.
let me metion one more - bike fit.
jim does bike fits for WOBBLENAUGHT. the fit works. lazers, measurements, rider feeback, and 100 different adjustments later, you have more power at a lesser effort than you were putting out before, and your body is more relax.
i love efficiency.
check out this entry i found on their website: WOBBLENAUGHT ERNESTO UPDATE
check it out - the proof is in the results. all you have to do is pedal.
go pedal.
sologoat out
3.06.2005
03.06.05 - some links at ya
GEEKS WITH INK
body ink - some people are into it, some not. but, please give some thought before you ink yourself with something silly like pacman or barcodes. top honors has to go the brainiac that got the "windows logo" tatoo.
ASYLUM OCD FS29
specs/details of the bike i will be riding this year. both bikes will be black ano, and i think can have a carbon link (if i so choose). upgrade options on this frame include one for a TI bolt kit. this bike has the big 29'r wheels, but chris over at the goat worked the specs to give it a ride more like a 26 inch bike.
jeff kerkove blogspot
solo rider, transiowa founder -- and the reviewer of a billion things bike related. check it out.
SPEEDGOAT BLOG
see our reviews of the vegas show and the ramblings of the 'goats best. don't forget their shipping policy - NO SHIPPING CHARGES. this means extra goodies for you.
sologoat out.
body ink - some people are into it, some not. but, please give some thought before you ink yourself with something silly like pacman or barcodes. top honors has to go the brainiac that got the "windows logo" tatoo.
ASYLUM OCD FS29
specs/details of the bike i will be riding this year. both bikes will be black ano, and i think can have a carbon link (if i so choose). upgrade options on this frame include one for a TI bolt kit. this bike has the big 29'r wheels, but chris over at the goat worked the specs to give it a ride more like a 26 inch bike.
jeff kerkove blogspot
solo rider, transiowa founder -- and the reviewer of a billion things bike related. check it out.
SPEEDGOAT BLOG
see our reviews of the vegas show and the ramblings of the 'goats best. don't forget their shipping policy - NO SHIPPING CHARGES. this means extra goodies for you.
sologoat out.
03.06.05 - your life is going to completely change
when you turn 33.
if you ever listen to the smashing pumpkins (my FAVORITE band IN THE ENTIRE WORLD) and happen to listen the storytellers discs, the above line i am referring to was partially the story of the song "33" where he had a friend tell him his fortune. and she said, "when you turn 33, your life will completely change."
welp, sologoat turned 33 on saturday and he celebrated with some hours.
somehow it ends up i ride another 13 hour friday/saturday/sunday thing, but this one was pretty epic.
friday-
decide to ride through 4 inches of wet snow for about 2.5 hours. after falling down about a half dozen times, i headed home frozen so i hit the rollers to finish out 3 hours.
saturday-
5 hours. rode with my ipod (listened to - radiohead, outkast, dj tiesto) and made what seemed to be 100 glove changes. my new moots bag allows me to almost carry TOO much stuff, so i kept chaning gloves as my hands get cold. seem to have issues with my hands all the time, getting cold n' stuff.
sunday-
5 hours on my road bike (yucky). it's a scandium salsa with ultegra/dura ace with a nice set of king hubs that are super loud. roadies don't know what the sound is, but to the mountain bikers, the sound of king hubs is the sweetest music to our ears. mmmmmmmmm.... anyhoo, headed out with my coach/friend/compadre jim b and fought the head wind all darned day. i kept telling myself that 45 and windy is a lot better than 25 and snowing. legs felt OK, but i am tired. probably the biggest week of hours for me since the new year.
asylum news-
the person in charge of tracking my frame down was sick last week, so no update yet. i'll post the link later this week.
reviews coming up:
tifosi quams, moots bag, miscellaneous 29'r tires. lights in motion (lights - go figure). probably get some massive hammer gel/e-cap review going as well.
bands/artists i think you should check out:
smashing pumpkins, dj tiesto, dj dangermouse (especially the grey album), white stripes, dandy warhols, old school johnny cash, beastie boys, and old REM.
hope you got your riding fix in this weekend.
sologoat out
if you ever listen to the smashing pumpkins (my FAVORITE band IN THE ENTIRE WORLD) and happen to listen the storytellers discs, the above line i am referring to was partially the story of the song "33" where he had a friend tell him his fortune. and she said, "when you turn 33, your life will completely change."
welp, sologoat turned 33 on saturday and he celebrated with some hours.
somehow it ends up i ride another 13 hour friday/saturday/sunday thing, but this one was pretty epic.
friday-
decide to ride through 4 inches of wet snow for about 2.5 hours. after falling down about a half dozen times, i headed home frozen so i hit the rollers to finish out 3 hours.
saturday-
5 hours. rode with my ipod (listened to - radiohead, outkast, dj tiesto) and made what seemed to be 100 glove changes. my new moots bag allows me to almost carry TOO much stuff, so i kept chaning gloves as my hands get cold. seem to have issues with my hands all the time, getting cold n' stuff.
sunday-
5 hours on my road bike (yucky). it's a scandium salsa with ultegra/dura ace with a nice set of king hubs that are super loud. roadies don't know what the sound is, but to the mountain bikers, the sound of king hubs is the sweetest music to our ears. mmmmmmmmm.... anyhoo, headed out with my coach/friend/compadre jim b and fought the head wind all darned day. i kept telling myself that 45 and windy is a lot better than 25 and snowing. legs felt OK, but i am tired. probably the biggest week of hours for me since the new year.
asylum news-
the person in charge of tracking my frame down was sick last week, so no update yet. i'll post the link later this week.
reviews coming up:
tifosi quams, moots bag, miscellaneous 29'r tires. lights in motion (lights - go figure). probably get some massive hammer gel/e-cap review going as well.
bands/artists i think you should check out:
smashing pumpkins, dj tiesto, dj dangermouse (especially the grey album), white stripes, dandy warhols, old school johnny cash, beastie boys, and old REM.
hope you got your riding fix in this weekend.
sologoat out
3.04.2005
03.04.05 - friday night ride
was a cold and dreary ride - much suffering in this short ride.
for some odd reason, 4 inches of wet snow did not deter me from riding the trails, but after 2.25 hours of fighting just to keep upright and riding in middle ring, i had enough.
got home, squirted some lube on my surly k-monkey and hit the rollers.
1 hour later, starbucks and hammergel in me -- i am good as new.
it is rides like today that makes 2am at whistler just a little bit easier.
here is a couple of rules to live/ride by:
1. if it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger
2. to run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch
3. you must teach your body to suffer
4. never doubt yourself
i heard a story today on the radio - it was from NPR. the iditarod is about to start. 1100 miles. it's cold. it's long. without even knowing the details about it, enduro freaks can kind of relate. you are on your own, one on one -- you against the world.
and one of the competitors is BLIND. yep, read that again. BLIND.
go back up to rule number 4 up above. read it again. and again. and again.
now you know what i am thinking about 14 hours into a 24 hour event.
sologoat out
for some odd reason, 4 inches of wet snow did not deter me from riding the trails, but after 2.25 hours of fighting just to keep upright and riding in middle ring, i had enough.
got home, squirted some lube on my surly k-monkey and hit the rollers.
1 hour later, starbucks and hammergel in me -- i am good as new.
it is rides like today that makes 2am at whistler just a little bit easier.
here is a couple of rules to live/ride by:
1. if it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger
2. to run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch
3. you must teach your body to suffer
4. never doubt yourself
i heard a story today on the radio - it was from NPR. the iditarod is about to start. 1100 miles. it's cold. it's long. without even knowing the details about it, enduro freaks can kind of relate. you are on your own, one on one -- you against the world.
and one of the competitors is BLIND. yep, read that again. BLIND.
go back up to rule number 4 up above. read it again. and again. and again.
now you know what i am thinking about 14 hours into a 24 hour event.
sologoat out
03.04.05 - tgif
4 hours training yesterday - 2 hike, 2 bike. hike was in 4 inches of snow/ice.... fun, fun, fun.
now - off to bike. it's friday and it is going to be above freezing temp's this weekend... yeah!
and--
it's my b-day tomorrow -- and i'll ride if i want to.
and this enduro freak will get his groove on and ride o' ton o' miles.
sologoat out.
now - off to bike. it's friday and it is going to be above freezing temp's this weekend... yeah!
and--
it's my b-day tomorrow -- and i'll ride if i want to.
and this enduro freak will get his groove on and ride o' ton o' miles.
sologoat out.
3.02.2005
03.02.05 - i now offically hate winter
let it be on the records - damn thy winter.
today, lake effect snow and bone chilling weather hit the cleveland area damning me to yet another 2 hour roller session.
rollers are actually going pretty decent this year - the extended tour tapes seem to get me through them pretty good.
no news on the aylum's yet - manufacture has not gotten back to us yet, but i have seen my offical "parts"..
here is the low down:
1. raceface stuff everywhere
2. easton carbon post/bars
3. sram stuff all around (pods rear/twist on the front)
4. secret xtr/botrager wheelset
5. probably run a skinny TI saddle
6. tires - lightest/latest/greatest of what the 'goat can find
a lot of stuff i can switch out, so it makes it really nice riding for the shop as i don't have to ride something i don't want to. if it's heavy or doesn't work great, then it won't be on the bike.
speedgoat is the coolest. thanks chris and beth!
oh - and up on the helmet plate - LIMAR 909 in Yellow. orange/white were all out - darn!
gotta run - sologoat out.
today, lake effect snow and bone chilling weather hit the cleveland area damning me to yet another 2 hour roller session.
rollers are actually going pretty decent this year - the extended tour tapes seem to get me through them pretty good.
no news on the aylum's yet - manufacture has not gotten back to us yet, but i have seen my offical "parts"..
here is the low down:
1. raceface stuff everywhere
2. easton carbon post/bars
3. sram stuff all around (pods rear/twist on the front)
4. secret xtr/botrager wheelset
5. probably run a skinny TI saddle
6. tires - lightest/latest/greatest of what the 'goat can find
a lot of stuff i can switch out, so it makes it really nice riding for the shop as i don't have to ride something i don't want to. if it's heavy or doesn't work great, then it won't be on the bike.
speedgoat is the coolest. thanks chris and beth!
oh - and up on the helmet plate - LIMAR 909 in Yellow. orange/white were all out - darn!
gotta run - sologoat out.
03.02.05 - moots bag
ah, one of my vast secret weapons for transiowa. the moots tailgator.
only had this a week now, so i haven't had the full time to check it out, but the preliminary review is that this thing rocks.
nice things about my tailgator:
1. moots logo etched on the frame of the bag holder...
2. TONS of space
3. tie downs, and sealed zippers
tested last week with 3 tubes, an extra set of gloves, food, tools, co2's, and plenty o' room to spare. should be nice for luggin' tons of stuff.
more detailed review in a few weeks.
for now - sologoat out
only had this a week now, so i haven't had the full time to check it out, but the preliminary review is that this thing rocks.
nice things about my tailgator:
1. moots logo etched on the frame of the bag holder...
2. TONS of space
3. tie downs, and sealed zippers
tested last week with 3 tubes, an extra set of gloves, food, tools, co2's, and plenty o' room to spare. should be nice for luggin' tons of stuff.
more detailed review in a few weeks.
for now - sologoat out
03.02.05 - asylum head tube
here's a good shot of the asylum logo, sketched by chris at the goat. this guy appears on the headtube and seatube.
his expression is meant to symbolize the craziness of post modern enduro riding and it's effect it has had on the western beliefs of the mountain bike world.
or...
it just looks cool.
sologoat out
his expression is meant to symbolize the craziness of post modern enduro riding and it's effect it has had on the western beliefs of the mountain bike world.
or...
it just looks cool.
sologoat out
03.02.05 - asylum hard tail
ah, she is complete! this is my first offical bike with both tubeless AND disk. i'm going crazy...
pretty much an extra part bike, with a few noteables:
1. nokon cables (see next pic!)
2. king headset (need i say more?)
3. sram drivechain, with xt crank/bb/cassette...
4. surly fork
since this is a basic backup bike my parents front yard has more rocks then 90% of the trails i ride, the surly fork should suffice.
additionally, the surly fork will never need to be rebuilt and the rigid fork teaches one to take better lines -- because if you don't, watch out! you're in the air, on the ground, and loosin' time... yo..
sologoat out
pretty much an extra part bike, with a few noteables:
1. nokon cables (see next pic!)
2. king headset (need i say more?)
3. sram drivechain, with xt crank/bb/cassette...
4. surly fork
since this is a basic backup bike my parents front yard has more rocks then 90% of the trails i ride, the surly fork should suffice.
additionally, the surly fork will never need to be rebuilt and the rigid fork teaches one to take better lines -- because if you don't, watch out! you're in the air, on the ground, and loosin' time... yo..
sologoat out
03.02.05 - my first asylum is born
after a 2 hour roller ride (wathed some indy film on IFC and then switched to the 2003 tour -- of course, had to watch a mountain stage) i pieced my asylum together.
she is a hardtail hand-me-down from an "x" speedgoat racer, not the full suspended's which should be soon to arrive at speedgoat's door.
parts were stolen off my old santa cruz.. sob.... :(
BUT - i have gone nutty and made the switch to disc brakes. avid mechanicals were choosen as the price was right and i wanted to make sure i liked them before i switch everything over to disks.
last year, i broke my hand. then to top it off, my hands were giving me issues - why? hmmmmm. could it be the huge hours i ride? maybe?
anyhoo, thought that the disks would save my hands a little, especially since whistler and the east coast enduro's are so darned rocky.
it's late - pics/details of her will be up tomorrow. nokon's, chris king and thompson... mmmm... bikes are so cool.
later...
sologoat out.
she is a hardtail hand-me-down from an "x" speedgoat racer, not the full suspended's which should be soon to arrive at speedgoat's door.
parts were stolen off my old santa cruz.. sob.... :(
BUT - i have gone nutty and made the switch to disc brakes. avid mechanicals were choosen as the price was right and i wanted to make sure i liked them before i switch everything over to disks.
last year, i broke my hand. then to top it off, my hands were giving me issues - why? hmmmmm. could it be the huge hours i ride? maybe?
anyhoo, thought that the disks would save my hands a little, especially since whistler and the east coast enduro's are so darned rocky.
it's late - pics/details of her will be up tomorrow. nokon's, chris king and thompson... mmmm... bikes are so cool.
later...
sologoat out.
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