here's a few pages worth reading today:
cycling news
has mountain bike updates at ya, including 12 hour razorback short write up with mentions of harlan and ernesto.
Summit Freewheelers
has their RATL races starting up soon if you are in the akron ohio area. also starting up again this year is the road races down in the valley, but i have yet to find the link to that site.
speedogoat.com blog
a post on this site brought up a comment in regards to 29er tubeless systems. and now speedgoat has a new blog entry up from chris in regards this.
i honestly have not ever ridden a tubeless system and after talking to chris at speedgoat, decided against it a long time ago.
check them out.
sologoat out.
3.01.2007
2.26.2007
princeton tec review now served
blog review now up at the SPEEDGOAT BLOG on the Princeton Tec Switchback 3. I've now got about a half dozen rides in with the system and i am very impressed with the overall setup and the coverage area. read the full write up on the link above.
also coming up soon on the speedgoat blog will be the lighting system that i will be running during my 2007 season from Princeton Tec which will have me running their Switchback 2 for my main light and a modified head lamp system for backup.
another entry will include TIFOSI OPTICS with a couple of new frame choices for my 2007 season including their PAVE model.
and, don't forget NORTHWAVE SHOES. i ran their Iguana model from years ago, then to their Shields and now onto their KAMELEON model which includes a slimm carbon fiber sole, a micro adjuster and the ability to adjust the top strap if you have dainty small foot like myself.
and, in other news, my training schedule is now about 95% complete for 2007 - every single day has now been charted out pretty much through mid december which will again come to a glorious end at cyclocross nationals. looking to be a pretty full schedule with a lot of races, enduro's/utras -- with a few cross country races in west virginia thrown in for training purposes.
looking forward to warmer weather, new xtr, dt ceramic hubs, getting back to my roots by hitting up some west virginia cross country races, and to the feeling of pain that i thrive on.
sologoat out.
also coming up soon on the speedgoat blog will be the lighting system that i will be running during my 2007 season from Princeton Tec which will have me running their Switchback 2 for my main light and a modified head lamp system for backup.
another entry will include TIFOSI OPTICS with a couple of new frame choices for my 2007 season including their PAVE model.
and, don't forget NORTHWAVE SHOES. i ran their Iguana model from years ago, then to their Shields and now onto their KAMELEON model which includes a slimm carbon fiber sole, a micro adjuster and the ability to adjust the top strap if you have dainty small foot like myself.
and, in other news, my training schedule is now about 95% complete for 2007 - every single day has now been charted out pretty much through mid december which will again come to a glorious end at cyclocross nationals. looking to be a pretty full schedule with a lot of races, enduro's/utras -- with a few cross country races in west virginia thrown in for training purposes.
looking forward to warmer weather, new xtr, dt ceramic hubs, getting back to my roots by hitting up some west virginia cross country races, and to the feeling of pain that i thrive on.
sologoat out.
2.25.2007
damn thy ice
ah, 30 degrees and dry roads yesterday.
35 degrees and ice covered roads today. the joy of living in ohio.
speaking of joy, HARLAN PRICE has got his write up for the razorback race up. and just to let you know a little race secret of harlan for 12 hour enduro's -- pre-cooked salmon. yep, read that again.
my pit crew has seen riders eat odd things - tinker ate burritos. chris e ate some chicken. cameron ate some pizza and a coke. rob l eats vegan donuts. eddie o ate a mcdonalds breakfast sandwhich.
harlan now takes top honors with pre-cooked salmon. had it stuffed in his jersey pocket and would take little bites every little bit.
also, harlan has a bike raffle going on right now - check it out and support a fellow racer.
in addition, he may be at the 24 hours of big bear snapping off some pictures this year -- which, do note that he was also the one that took the photo on the back of one of hammer gel's promo's featuring yours truely.
and, on the topics of other riders and bike stuff, if you are heaing out to sea otter, the gripped film guys now have tickets for the premier for sale. rumor is, trek is going nuts on this.
that's it for now -
sologoat out
2.22.2007
let the fundage begin
oh razorback, where is ye warm weather? ohio still has winter, but the temps are on the rise. wind chills are above 20 degrees which makes this ohio rider pretty stoked.
with razorback behind me, i can now rest up a little and focus this week on getting bikes setup/organized. looks like my asylums are going to get their re-builds probably next week.
and, the dt 240 hubs have magically turned into dt 190 hubs through the wonders of dan the man at speedgoat and our friends at QBP.
this year, my bikes are getting a bit of a change around. i love single speeds, but since turning to 29ers, my surly 1x1 has not seen much use.
so, the above pink surly is for sale. most parts are brandy new with only a few rides on them, and the bike is sporting a sweet set of orange paul single speed hubs off an old bianchi i had years ago and a pink king headset to boot.
and you single speed and old school freaks will love this - the old skool wtb bars. this piece of bike history is up for sale as well.
any inquiries about the surly/wtb bars can be sent to my gmail account above.
that's it, gotta roll. stay tuned for a princeton tec blog entry at the speedgoat page by the weeks end.
now it's trainer time.
sologoat out
2.21.2007
12 hours of razorback write-up
sorry for the delay on the write-up, work is pretty hectic right now and i am trying to figure out cross bikes for the 2007 season too.
headed out of town to the race with fellow ohio rider brett davis. slight snafu the night before left our support guy out, so this would be the first race in a long time that i went to a race un-supported.
left late on thursday and brett was my hero and drove straight through the night to get to the race course by friday AM.
course is a short one, around 10 miles long with no climbs, but has short little steep climbs that go straight up. and rocks all over. nothing big, but pointy sharp type that say "flat" all over them. and the flats, sometimes they were false, but they were generally swoopy with lots o' turns in them that made you sharpen your skills of dodging trees with your head.
got two laps in, got back and brett lost the keys to his call with all our stuff inside. long story short: brett rode around looking for the keys for over 2 hours and when he got back, he realized he had them with him the entire time. guess sleep deprivation had something to do with it.
friday night we camped out (for me, this was the first time i had camped out in about 7 years) and florida frooze over and got down to 22 degrees. i was quite warm in my nice sleeping bag, but my face got cold several times and i woke up.
prepped all my stuff as best i could for the next 12 hours and got ready to race in the AM. coming down to florida low-key like to get in some early season race hours with no pressure was not working out so swell - harlan, rob l, harvey and a some others all showed up to make this race pretty stacked. (side note - eddie o was there, but was racing the 6 hour)
race took off on what must of been 1/4 to 1/2 mile run. i was running good, got to my bike and made a few critical passes while still in pit row - i was either the first 12 hour solo male to get in the woods, or i was not far back.
things were going good, the trail was super tight so it was critical to get ahead early to avoid traffic. and then it happens.
flat #1 - ten minutes in.
i change the flat only to get behind slower traffic. i loose time to both the flat and getting caught behind riders, but i push on.
3 or 4 laps later, i start catching up to the top 6 - hey, what's wrong with my rear tire?
flat #2
i was near the pits, so i turn around and change it. i have now lost at least 15 minutes at this point due to flats and traffic. i get discouraged, but push on.
i push on, by slowly my back realizes i am probably pushing too big of a gear up the short climbs as it is killing me. i start shifting to easier gears more often, my back starts to feel better but harlan and rob have now passed me.
they are having a good day.
i ride out the remaing laps, coming in at 7th place. disappointed with results and the two flats, but glad i got through my longest ride for the 2007 season so far.
razorback - see you next year.
sologoat out.
headed out of town to the race with fellow ohio rider brett davis. slight snafu the night before left our support guy out, so this would be the first race in a long time that i went to a race un-supported.
left late on thursday and brett was my hero and drove straight through the night to get to the race course by friday AM.
course is a short one, around 10 miles long with no climbs, but has short little steep climbs that go straight up. and rocks all over. nothing big, but pointy sharp type that say "flat" all over them. and the flats, sometimes they were false, but they were generally swoopy with lots o' turns in them that made you sharpen your skills of dodging trees with your head.
got two laps in, got back and brett lost the keys to his call with all our stuff inside. long story short: brett rode around looking for the keys for over 2 hours and when he got back, he realized he had them with him the entire time. guess sleep deprivation had something to do with it.
friday night we camped out (for me, this was the first time i had camped out in about 7 years) and florida frooze over and got down to 22 degrees. i was quite warm in my nice sleeping bag, but my face got cold several times and i woke up.
prepped all my stuff as best i could for the next 12 hours and got ready to race in the AM. coming down to florida low-key like to get in some early season race hours with no pressure was not working out so swell - harlan, rob l, harvey and a some others all showed up to make this race pretty stacked. (side note - eddie o was there, but was racing the 6 hour)
race took off on what must of been 1/4 to 1/2 mile run. i was running good, got to my bike and made a few critical passes while still in pit row - i was either the first 12 hour solo male to get in the woods, or i was not far back.
things were going good, the trail was super tight so it was critical to get ahead early to avoid traffic. and then it happens.
flat #1 - ten minutes in.
i change the flat only to get behind slower traffic. i loose time to both the flat and getting caught behind riders, but i push on.
3 or 4 laps later, i start catching up to the top 6 - hey, what's wrong with my rear tire?
flat #2
i was near the pits, so i turn around and change it. i have now lost at least 15 minutes at this point due to flats and traffic. i get discouraged, but push on.
i push on, by slowly my back realizes i am probably pushing too big of a gear up the short climbs as it is killing me. i start shifting to easier gears more often, my back starts to feel better but harlan and rob have now passed me.
they are having a good day.
i ride out the remaing laps, coming in at 7th place. disappointed with results and the two flats, but glad i got through my longest ride for the 2007 season so far.
razorback - see you next year.
sologoat out.
2.19.2007
12 hours of razorback - short version
results are in:
12 hour of razorback results!
i finished 7th on the day, making it my first race for the 2007 season, along with my first intervals of the year.
flatted in the first 10 minutes of the race, then flatted again on 4th or 5th lap.
hats off to harlan who took us to school and brett on one hell of a good race.
full race write up in the next few days - gots to unpack and get things organized for a possible stop at the shop in the next week or so.
sologoat out
12 hour of razorback results!
i finished 7th on the day, making it my first race for the 2007 season, along with my first intervals of the year.
flatted in the first 10 minutes of the race, then flatted again on 4th or 5th lap.
hats off to harlan who took us to school and brett on one hell of a good race.
full race write up in the next few days - gots to unpack and get things organized for a possible stop at the shop in the next week or so.
sologoat out
2.15.2007
off to... a race weekend.
will the sologoat hit up either a 12 hour or 24 hour?
hmmm..... stay tuned for the updates as i don't know what kind of internet access i am going to have access to for the next few days.
in other news...
sologoat dad and part of pit crew #1, is offically retiring this friday from "work" and starts his first day of full time asylum pit crew service on saturday.
the pay is a lot less, but the rewards are a plenty.
sologoat out
hmmm..... stay tuned for the updates as i don't know what kind of internet access i am going to have access to for the next few days.
in other news...
sologoat dad and part of pit crew #1, is offically retiring this friday from "work" and starts his first day of full time asylum pit crew service on saturday.
the pay is a lot less, but the rewards are a plenty.
sologoat out
2.14.2007
the mystery of love
is greater then the mystery of death
- oscar wilde
and now i bring you the greatest love song of all time, stand inside your love by the smashing pumpkins.
happy valentines day to all
sologoat out
- oscar wilde
and now i bring you the greatest love song of all time, stand inside your love by the smashing pumpkins.
happy valentines day to all
sologoat out
2.11.2007
battling mother nature
is the name of the game this weekend, no major snow hitting ohio, but the temps will hit highs today of the mid twentys with wind chills in the teens. almost heavenly compared to earlier in the week.
roller riding was the workout for me for the first part of the week - until i got my new "secret" cold weather riding weapon, my super ugly atv bar mitten contraption. they look hideous, but they are keeping my hands very toasty. no issues at all the past few days - and friday was around 15 degrees, with wind chills down to 4.
and, i have also been testing out the princeton tec switchback 2 and 3. (above shot is the 2 - the 3 uses the two main beams as well, and puts a frosted beam in the center, thus providing a wider beam).
watch out for a full review on the speedgoat blog within the next week.
sologoat out
roller riding was the workout for me for the first part of the week - until i got my new "secret" cold weather riding weapon, my super ugly atv bar mitten contraption. they look hideous, but they are keeping my hands very toasty. no issues at all the past few days - and friday was around 15 degrees, with wind chills down to 4.
and, i have also been testing out the princeton tec switchback 2 and 3. (above shot is the 2 - the 3 uses the two main beams as well, and puts a frosted beam in the center, thus providing a wider beam).
watch out for a full review on the speedgoat blog within the next week.
sologoat out
2.07.2007
new sponsor to the mix
along with JEFF KERKOVE and HARLAN PRICE, ernesto will be sporting some ergon stuff for 2007. stay tuned for more details.
parts are rolling in, got some changes coming for the bikes in 2007.
post will be updated to a thompson elite - about the same weight as the easton e90 carbon, but the price is a lot cheaper.
bars updated to a straight easton ec90 straight bar, coming in at tad under 100 grams. going with 25.4 diameter as the bigger diameter bars are usually stiffer, meaning more shock coming up to my shoulders. no thanks.
and, running a new lighter version of a ritchey stem, the WCS 4AXIS Stem coming in at around 120'ish grams.
and, good news on the wheel build ups, as we went with dt 240's, stan rims and the ever so kewl sapium spokes i have been dreaming about.
part update over, sologoat out
2.04.2007
negative 15
is the windchill today, and the weather advisories are out because of it. damn this weather.
nothing new to update on, other then the new product i have recently picked up from northwave, tifosi and princeton tec are all being setup and tested.
the tifosi's are awesome as usual, got a few new types of frames to select from this year, along with my standard favorites, the q3's.
princeton tec lights are great - currently testing out the switchback 2 and 3. very nice setup overall. mounts for bars are good and cords are short and come with extensions (nice if you like to run the light as a bar setup). probably going to run the switchback 2 for my main light - comes in right around 500 grams. sweet.
and the northwaves - pretty hella cool. nice and light, carbon all around - ah, those italians sure do make great shoes. i've been running their shoes for about 7 seasons now and the one thing that is awesome about northwave is that their top line shoe always gets improved year to year.
xtr stuff for the aslyums are trickling in - still waiting for a few things here and there. and i need to make a decision on some bars - decided to go with a straight bar this year to save on my quest to lighten the bikes up.
that's it for today - superbowl watching to do soon.
go steelers!
sologoat out.
nothing new to update on, other then the new product i have recently picked up from northwave, tifosi and princeton tec are all being setup and tested.
the tifosi's are awesome as usual, got a few new types of frames to select from this year, along with my standard favorites, the q3's.
princeton tec lights are great - currently testing out the switchback 2 and 3. very nice setup overall. mounts for bars are good and cords are short and come with extensions (nice if you like to run the light as a bar setup). probably going to run the switchback 2 for my main light - comes in right around 500 grams. sweet.
and the northwaves - pretty hella cool. nice and light, carbon all around - ah, those italians sure do make great shoes. i've been running their shoes for about 7 seasons now and the one thing that is awesome about northwave is that their top line shoe always gets improved year to year.
xtr stuff for the aslyums are trickling in - still waiting for a few things here and there. and i need to make a decision on some bars - decided to go with a straight bar this year to save on my quest to lighten the bikes up.
that's it for today - superbowl watching to do soon.
go steelers!
sologoat out.
2.02.2007
mucho updato
lots of updates today.
it is in the early works, but CAMBA, the producers from gripped films are trying to get cleveland on the list of film showings for their upcoming release 24 Solo.
the initial release of the film will be hosted by TREK and will be held the friday during Sea Otter. rumor is, the premiere is going to be a hella sweet party. yours truely will be attendance.
stay tuned for updates on both my blog and the CAMBA site as we are hoping for two showings in the cleveland area. we may also hold a "movie debriefing" during one of the CAMBA meetings as the dates get set in stone.
princeton tec lights have arrived, and not only have some of their systems survived the climb to the top of everest, it also survived a 3 hour 15 degree ride last night. check the speedgoat.com blog in a week or so as i'll have a full write up on them, but my first impression is that the overall setup of the system is very nice and the lighting is very good. stay tuned for updates.
asylum updates - jerseys will be updated with the new sponsors in the next week or so. last call for sponsors to get on the jersey, yo!
and - the Salsa El Mariachi Complete Bike
is now available at the 'goat, confirmed by my man steve. very nice setup, very nice price. i need one.
and - reading up on several websites, a UCI World Cup Cross race is looking like it is going to happen the first week of October in 2007. very cool.
that's it - gotta run. lights to test, work to do.
sologoat out
it is in the early works, but CAMBA, the producers from gripped films are trying to get cleveland on the list of film showings for their upcoming release 24 Solo.
the initial release of the film will be hosted by TREK and will be held the friday during Sea Otter. rumor is, the premiere is going to be a hella sweet party. yours truely will be attendance.
stay tuned for updates on both my blog and the CAMBA site as we are hoping for two showings in the cleveland area. we may also hold a "movie debriefing" during one of the CAMBA meetings as the dates get set in stone.
princeton tec lights have arrived, and not only have some of their systems survived the climb to the top of everest, it also survived a 3 hour 15 degree ride last night. check the speedgoat.com blog in a week or so as i'll have a full write up on them, but my first impression is that the overall setup of the system is very nice and the lighting is very good. stay tuned for updates.
asylum updates - jerseys will be updated with the new sponsors in the next week or so. last call for sponsors to get on the jersey, yo!
and - the Salsa El Mariachi Complete Bike
is now available at the 'goat, confirmed by my man steve. very nice setup, very nice price. i need one.
and - reading up on several websites, a UCI World Cup Cross race is looking like it is going to happen the first week of October in 2007. very cool.
that's it - gotta run. lights to test, work to do.
sologoat out
1.31.2007
damn thy coldness
global warming has now exited ohio and hell has offically frozen over. should make for lots of fun over the course of the week for riding as the temps are set to highs during the week of around 29 degrees.
ah, it is times like this that we must teach ourselves to suffer.
speaking of suffering, congrats out to the US cross riders who took 3 silver medals as cross world championships. most noteably, jonathan page took 2nd which makes the best ever placing for a US rider.
i am predicting a huge infulx of popularity and events during the 2007 cross season as a result - espcially with rumors of cyclocross world cup event coming to rhode island the first week of october 2007.
time to plan out your cross UCI points boys and girls.
sologout out
1.27.2007
the salsa's are coming
looks like the SALSA El Mariachi complete bike is now available. check with the guys and girls at speedgoat for availability, but this bike is pretty hot with the eccentric bottom bracket, mechanical disks and the super kewl 1x9 setup.
i'll be swapping out parts (or should i say, dan the man will be?) and moving old parts over to a salsa 29er for training soon. all the new xtr groupo stuff is going on the 2007 bikes - they've trimmed down the weights and finally got a pod shifting system as i don't dig the whole integrated shifter/lever thing. so, with the salsa coming soon, i need to sell off the surly k monkey. anybody interested in the cleveland area, drop me an email as i'll offer it up locals first.
races, races, races. seems to be a lot of them out there this year in the form of series events and the prize money seems like it is going up, so it is going to be interesting to see what riders show up at what races.
for those going out to sea otter, the 24 solo movie by gripped films will make it's premier on friday of that week. i won't have too much face time in the movie, but i am trying to get out there to check it out and support the 24 hour scene. it's come a long way since i first started.
looking like the temps are going to be above 30 today in ohio, so we damn near got a heat wave. looking to get in a good ride this weekend and start dialing in the new equipment and laying down the plans for the race schedule.
with that in mind, gotta run.
sologoat out.
i'll be swapping out parts (or should i say, dan the man will be?) and moving old parts over to a salsa 29er for training soon. all the new xtr groupo stuff is going on the 2007 bikes - they've trimmed down the weights and finally got a pod shifting system as i don't dig the whole integrated shifter/lever thing. so, with the salsa coming soon, i need to sell off the surly k monkey. anybody interested in the cleveland area, drop me an email as i'll offer it up locals first.
races, races, races. seems to be a lot of them out there this year in the form of series events and the prize money seems like it is going up, so it is going to be interesting to see what riders show up at what races.
for those going out to sea otter, the 24 solo movie by gripped films will make it's premier on friday of that week. i won't have too much face time in the movie, but i am trying to get out there to check it out and support the 24 hour scene. it's come a long way since i first started.
looking like the temps are going to be above 30 today in ohio, so we damn near got a heat wave. looking to get in a good ride this weekend and start dialing in the new equipment and laying down the plans for the race schedule.
with that in mind, gotta run.
sologoat out.
1.25.2007
2007 Tire Sponsor - MAXXIS TIRES
an offical "no" the guess attempts of:
lazer helmets, squirrels taped to both sides of their faces
an offical "yes" to the guess of:
MAXXIS
MAXXIS will be the tire of choice for me during my 2007 season as i wil more then likely running their 29er Ignitor.
sologoat out
1.21.2007
it's 25 degrees and i feel cold
the temps have now lowered into the mid 20's, low 30's here in ohio, but the snow is still not packed up too much. rides that used to take two hours round trip are now taking 3 hours due to the ice build up and temps.
starting to sneak in my first longer rides of the year, jumping off the bike only for drink and when the feets gets cold.
in bike news, dan the man and chris has come up with two magic tricks to lighten up the stans/dt wheel builds - sapium spokes and ceramic cartride bearings. guess dt actually makes a "190" hub, but it is basically the 240 with the ceramic berarings. with the sapiums and new bearings, we are guesstimating another 50-100 grams of rotatinal weight savings.
Princeton Tec has come on for 2007 as my lighting sponsor with their new SWITCHBACK SERIES of lighting systems. 3 different systems in this line up with long run times. I'll be testing the switchback 2 and 3 in the upcoming days and deciding on which one to run for the season.
then, on the bar, we may be running their YUKON series light. running on 3 double a batteries, this system also sports long run times and comes in at around 220 grams.
that's it, gotta run. actually have some Yukon blend starbucks coffee just brewed up.
sologoat out.
starting to sneak in my first longer rides of the year, jumping off the bike only for drink and when the feets gets cold.
in bike news, dan the man and chris has come up with two magic tricks to lighten up the stans/dt wheel builds - sapium spokes and ceramic cartride bearings. guess dt actually makes a "190" hub, but it is basically the 240 with the ceramic berarings. with the sapiums and new bearings, we are guesstimating another 50-100 grams of rotatinal weight savings.
Princeton Tec has come on for 2007 as my lighting sponsor with their new SWITCHBACK SERIES of lighting systems. 3 different systems in this line up with long run times. I'll be testing the switchback 2 and 3 in the upcoming days and deciding on which one to run for the season.
then, on the bar, we may be running their YUKON series light. running on 3 double a batteries, this system also sports long run times and comes in at around 220 grams.
that's it, gotta run. actually have some Yukon blend starbucks coffee just brewed up.
sologoat out.
1.16.2007
random things on a random kind of day
working out of town a few days has left my mind wandering as i wrapped up another two hour roller ride. as a rider who loves to ride and ride and ride some more, when i am not on my bike, i am in a panic. that's why i had to lug a bike and rollers with me.
weather has been kind of fruity, but at least us east coast guys have had some decent weather.
on the sponsorship news side, firming up some things tomorrow and still waiting to hear back the details on a few more.
and, for you 29 fans out there, SALSA CYCLES has their hot new 29er frame coming out soon, the Mamasita. scandium and carbon, oh my. due out sometime around march'ish is the word on the street.
that's it - gotta grab some grub.
sologoat out
1.14.2007
your lack of faith disturbes me
been a star wars kind of day as temps are in the mid 30's and a light steady rain has been hitting the ground since 9am. it's enough to make me go bonkers.
race schedules are up, and now that i have studyed the race schedules, it looks like the NORBA enduro series is kind of nutty. they have a 24 hour and a 12 hour back to back.
and - gotta watch the formats too, as some of the NMBS marathon's are NOT listed on the ultra enduro schedule.
decisions, decisions.
speaking of bad weather and thinking of inside roller rides, check out this
NUT.
over 80 hours on a stationary bike. he was allowed 5 minutes off the bike for every hour ridden.
and you thought 24 hours was a long time.
sologoat out
race schedules are up, and now that i have studyed the race schedules, it looks like the NORBA enduro series is kind of nutty. they have a 24 hour and a 12 hour back to back.
and - gotta watch the formats too, as some of the NMBS marathon's are NOT listed on the ultra enduro schedule.
decisions, decisions.
speaking of bad weather and thinking of inside roller rides, check out this
NUT.
over 80 hours on a stationary bike. he was allowed 5 minutes off the bike for every hour ridden.
and you thought 24 hours was a long time.
sologoat out
1.13.2007
norba endruo series schedule announced
the schedule announced HERE
interesting, 9 UCI races in the states for 2007 and a seperate cross country and enduro champ.
looks like NORBA is finally taking the enduro scene a little bit differently in years past - i'm just glad to see that the distances of the races are long enough to be truely considered enduro events.
sologoat out
interesting, 9 UCI races in the states for 2007 and a seperate cross country and enduro champ.
looks like NORBA is finally taking the enduro scene a little bit differently in years past - i'm just glad to see that the distances of the races are long enough to be truely considered enduro events.
sologoat out
1.11.2007
bike setup changes for '07
after a very short discsussion, xtr groupo is on the 07 build up's. i am opting for the pods because i am a pod kind of guy - really liked the sram, but the availability to get shimano at any random race location is much greater then sram.
forks will stay the same.
wheels will be built up again by george at the goat - dt 240's with stan's stupid light rims and double butted spokes with alloy nips. hells ya.
rest of the components... waiting to hear back on a few things, but all i can say is that it will be different and lighter then last year.
that's it - gotta run. big ride tonight in the 40 degree balmy weather of ohio has left me very tired at the end of a long week.
sologoat out
1.08.2007
hammer nutrition renews sponsorship for 2007
the electronic ink will be drying soon on ernesto's 2007 sponsorship agreement for the upcoming season. i'm pretty pumped to renew it as they have made my nutritional needs of enduro racing (and cross as well) a heck of a lot easier.
in racing news, still debating the enduro race schedule - lots of 24's out there, bummed out that the vail ultra 100 race is not happening, and trying to figure out how i can sprout wings to get out to all the west coast races.
and NORBA hasn't really put out a lot of info on their enduro events - can we get some east coast races?
other then that, it is training as usual.
sologoat out
in racing news, still debating the enduro race schedule - lots of 24's out there, bummed out that the vail ultra 100 race is not happening, and trying to figure out how i can sprout wings to get out to all the west coast races.
and NORBA hasn't really put out a lot of info on their enduro events - can we get some east coast races?
other then that, it is training as usual.
sologoat out
1.07.2007
1.05.2007
i am on the juice
the soma juice, that is.
the juice is the newest addition to my bike family and built up with some new old parts and parts off of my old winter/training bike, the surly k monkey.
i've got around 3-4 weeks of riding on it and the initial thoughts on the bike are pretty good - most noteably in the handling and weight areas as compared to the k monkey.
don't have the exact specs on it, but it feels noticeably lighter probably due to the tubeset (651 reynolds compared to chromoly) and the IRD fork (probably saving me about 50 pounds over the hefty surly fork).
handling wise, the frame seems to be a little snappier/quicker then the surly and the crazy slopped top tube is actually pretty nice as i like to throw the bike around quite a bit and don't like to whack my knees on the top tube when climbing and at full speed around tight corners.
full specs can be seen at the speedgoat.com website, but it gets my vote of approval for an excellent bike at a lighter option then a surly to get your foot into the world of 29ers without breaking your bank.
sologoat out
1.03.2007
2007 Solo World Date/Venue Announced
per the email sent out today from adrenaline:
World 24 Hours of Adrenalin Championships – 2007
Building on last year’s epic solo races in Conyers, Georgia, we are happy to announce a new location and added benefits for all past solo Adrenalin athletes.
We hope you will join us in a celebration of what is possible. Since 1994 we have watched solo athletes participate in one of many locations throughout North America. In fact over 1,500 solo athletes have taken on there own personal challenge at an Adrenalin event.
From the very first solo 24 racer ‘Eddy Hunt’ (1994) to all that have inspired us throughout the years we are focused on making the 2007 the most memorable to date. Our goal in 2007 is simply to have the top international racers and the greatest numbers of age group athletes participate and returning home with memories of a life experience.
The 2007 Championships will take part on September 1st & 2nd 2007. The location will be the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
Nice to see that there is no other major conflicts with other 24 hour races, but for us east coast guys, there is the conflict with the epic and beautiful Shenandoah 100 on September 3rd.
hmmmm.... worlds on the 1rst and 2nd, Shenandoah on the third. almost sounds like a dare to me.
sologoat out
World 24 Hours of Adrenalin Championships – 2007
Building on last year’s epic solo races in Conyers, Georgia, we are happy to announce a new location and added benefits for all past solo Adrenalin athletes.
We hope you will join us in a celebration of what is possible. Since 1994 we have watched solo athletes participate in one of many locations throughout North America. In fact over 1,500 solo athletes have taken on there own personal challenge at an Adrenalin event.
From the very first solo 24 racer ‘Eddy Hunt’ (1994) to all that have inspired us throughout the years we are focused on making the 2007 the most memorable to date. Our goal in 2007 is simply to have the top international racers and the greatest numbers of age group athletes participate and returning home with memories of a life experience.
The 2007 Championships will take part on September 1st & 2nd 2007. The location will be the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California.
Nice to see that there is no other major conflicts with other 24 hour races, but for us east coast guys, there is the conflict with the epic and beautiful Shenandoah 100 on September 3rd.
hmmmm.... worlds on the 1rst and 2nd, Shenandoah on the third. almost sounds like a dare to me.
sologoat out
1.01.2007
531 posts later
today marks the first day of the 2007 season and is my 532 post on the blog.
just wanted to give a shout out to all those who helped me during the 2006 season:
Speedgoat.com and Asylum Cycles
Supplied my bikes and support and will continue to do so for the 2007 season, with dan the man again wrenching with him secretly hoping my schedule includes moab. Thanks to Beth and Chris and the whole gang.
Hammer Nutrition
Supplied me with all my nutritional, gel and cap needs. I've been using their products for over 5 years now as their products are easy on my stomach, and their guides takes a lot of the guessing out during your workouts and races.
Tifosi Optics
Supplied my optics for the past few years and will continue on in into 2007. Great optics at a price that won't break the bank.
Schwalbe Tires
Supplied my little albert's 29er tires. These were my personal choice for their light weight and their tuff sidewall. Ran these the past two years.
Light & Motion
Helped me with lighting with their Vega and Arc Li-Ion that I have been running the past 3 years without issue. Very reliable and lightweight.
Crank Brothers
Helped with some egg beater pedals. Have ran these pedals since they first came out - have run the ti, chormo and stainless in training and racing.
Wobblenaught
Have been fitting me up for the past 5 seasons. Riding hours upon hours on your bike is hard enough - Tom at wobblenaught seems to make it a little easier.
M&P
My "silent partner" in my 24 hour adventures, Marenchin and Pierce Partnership. helped with every aspect of my 24 hour races from holding up a tent in torential rain with tornados nearby, giving me a cup of eggs at 6am in the morning, to helping me getting my shoes off because my hands aren't working too swell -- and everything inbetween.
thanks for all those that helped me during my 2006 season!
sologoat out
just wanted to give a shout out to all those who helped me during the 2006 season:
Speedgoat.com and Asylum Cycles
Supplied my bikes and support and will continue to do so for the 2007 season, with dan the man again wrenching with him secretly hoping my schedule includes moab. Thanks to Beth and Chris and the whole gang.
Hammer Nutrition
Supplied me with all my nutritional, gel and cap needs. I've been using their products for over 5 years now as their products are easy on my stomach, and their guides takes a lot of the guessing out during your workouts and races.
Tifosi Optics
Supplied my optics for the past few years and will continue on in into 2007. Great optics at a price that won't break the bank.
Schwalbe Tires
Supplied my little albert's 29er tires. These were my personal choice for their light weight and their tuff sidewall. Ran these the past two years.
Light & Motion
Helped me with lighting with their Vega and Arc Li-Ion that I have been running the past 3 years without issue. Very reliable and lightweight.
Crank Brothers
Helped with some egg beater pedals. Have ran these pedals since they first came out - have run the ti, chormo and stainless in training and racing.
Wobblenaught
Have been fitting me up for the past 5 seasons. Riding hours upon hours on your bike is hard enough - Tom at wobblenaught seems to make it a little easier.
M&P
My "silent partner" in my 24 hour adventures, Marenchin and Pierce Partnership. helped with every aspect of my 24 hour races from holding up a tent in torential rain with tornados nearby, giving me a cup of eggs at 6am in the morning, to helping me getting my shoes off because my hands aren't working too swell -- and everything inbetween.
thanks for all those that helped me during my 2006 season!
sologoat out
12.30.2006
a picture says a thousand words
as i was contemplating life and the upcoming 2007 season on my 55 degree ride in december, a thought came to me as i looked down at my stem...
'nuff said.
sologoat out
12.28.2006
paying my dues
this week as the entire world has taken vacation and i have no days left. and work is stupid busy, so sorry for the lack of updates the past few days.
now is the time for recovery and try to rest up for what is going to be the start of my base miles for the 2007 season.
with that, got a post the other day on what i do for weight lifting as far as workouts go. well....
when i did them, my workouts were very specific building leg strength and endurance. upper body was 100% ignored as lifting always had a tendency for me to put on extra muscle weight and i was not overly concerned with building up my upper body. i typically would work out two days a week and then once on the weekend.
the first few weeks when i got back into lifting, it was lower weights and reps as i was just trying to get the body used to the effort of weight lifting.
everything concentrated the legs - squats, extensions and every combo inbetween for the legs.
then, i picked up the weight just a little, and did very high reps. to the tune of about 4 to 5 sets of between 75-100 reps in each set. that number is not a misprint.
i would do that for 3-4 weeks, then switched to two weeks of strength workouts. i would switch them up with two types:
pyramids - 5 sets. first set was 50, the next 40, the next 30, then 40, then 50. i would adjust the weight accordingly so that when i hit around the max for the set, i was going to the point of "failure" (ie - i physically coudn't do any more)
max outs - 5 sets as heavy as i could go on the weights, with a max of maybe 20 in the set. would do reps in each set to failure.
then, after the last max out week, i would take it easy for a week, then repeat.
and remember, these were all geared toward what i would need in endurance racing.
i personally don't lift anymore and haven't done so in a 3 years, and won't do any lifting this year. with me working full time and odd hours, it is very difficult to fit it in - i try to make up for it with longer then normal trainer rides as i typically ride at least two hours on the rollers when weather does not permit me to ride outside.
and, i think that at a certain point there is a trade of between power gained from lifting to maintaining aerobic fitness from trainer rides. i've heard different numbers as far as that goes (at what point should you concentrate more on the bike then at the gym and vice versa), but it comes down to what works for you and how your body reacts to it.
just my 2 cents.
sologoat out
now is the time for recovery and try to rest up for what is going to be the start of my base miles for the 2007 season.
with that, got a post the other day on what i do for weight lifting as far as workouts go. well....
when i did them, my workouts were very specific building leg strength and endurance. upper body was 100% ignored as lifting always had a tendency for me to put on extra muscle weight and i was not overly concerned with building up my upper body. i typically would work out two days a week and then once on the weekend.
the first few weeks when i got back into lifting, it was lower weights and reps as i was just trying to get the body used to the effort of weight lifting.
everything concentrated the legs - squats, extensions and every combo inbetween for the legs.
then, i picked up the weight just a little, and did very high reps. to the tune of about 4 to 5 sets of between 75-100 reps in each set. that number is not a misprint.
i would do that for 3-4 weeks, then switched to two weeks of strength workouts. i would switch them up with two types:
pyramids - 5 sets. first set was 50, the next 40, the next 30, then 40, then 50. i would adjust the weight accordingly so that when i hit around the max for the set, i was going to the point of "failure" (ie - i physically coudn't do any more)
max outs - 5 sets as heavy as i could go on the weights, with a max of maybe 20 in the set. would do reps in each set to failure.
then, after the last max out week, i would take it easy for a week, then repeat.
and remember, these were all geared toward what i would need in endurance racing.
i personally don't lift anymore and haven't done so in a 3 years, and won't do any lifting this year. with me working full time and odd hours, it is very difficult to fit it in - i try to make up for it with longer then normal trainer rides as i typically ride at least two hours on the rollers when weather does not permit me to ride outside.
and, i think that at a certain point there is a trade of between power gained from lifting to maintaining aerobic fitness from trainer rides. i've heard different numbers as far as that goes (at what point should you concentrate more on the bike then at the gym and vice versa), but it comes down to what works for you and how your body reacts to it.
just my 2 cents.
sologoat out
12.26.2006
2007 schedule
you can only do so many 24 hours in a year. for 2006, the "october choice" basically came down to 2 of the biggest 24's of the year. moab or worlds. you can argue for or against either one a thousand different ways - and you can argue all over again for 2007 as it appears that the dates for both races are set for the same exact weekend.
hmmmm.
now, the schedules do not appear to be 100% accurate at this point, so do not assume that the dates are solid yet.
some of the 100 miler events seemed to be scheduled, though i am not sure how the series will pan out this year as i know there were going to be some proposed changes for more consistant payouts/placings/etc.
should be an interesting 2007 racing season, and it hasn't even started yet.
that's it - gotta run. toooooons of work stuff to catch up on.
will have a year end wrap up post coming this week, so watch out for that.
sologoat out.
hmmmm.
now, the schedules do not appear to be 100% accurate at this point, so do not assume that the dates are solid yet.
some of the 100 miler events seemed to be scheduled, though i am not sure how the series will pan out this year as i know there were going to be some proposed changes for more consistant payouts/placings/etc.
should be an interesting 2007 racing season, and it hasn't even started yet.
that's it - gotta run. toooooons of work stuff to catch up on.
will have a year end wrap up post coming this week, so watch out for that.
sologoat out.
12.21.2006
dan the man
DAN THE MAN blog entry is now up at the goat.
dan has been my one and only bike mechanic for the past 4 or so years, and if you ever bought a bike from speedgoat, it was probably built by dan himself.
mucho thanks and respect goes out to dan who one time fixed one of my bikes during a race with a shim for my rear cassette created from a milk carton.
without guys like him and a shop like speedgoat, a lot of what i do is impossible.
thanks to all those who helped me during all my years of racing - may you all have a very merry bike-mas.
sologoat out
12.18.2006
the goat speaks out...
got a couple of questions the last few weeks, thought i'd do a post on them:
Hey Goat, I see you race a Moots. Those are out of my budget. Any thoughts on cross bikes in the $1500 price range? I'm really looking hard at that cross bike from Felt. Spec'd real nice with Ultegra and 105 parts, plus it is that sweet flat black color scheme.
Checked out the Felt website, looks like a pretty decent bike - very similar to the RedLine Conquest Pro in color, groupo, etc.
Few things that I look at in a cross bike:
1. Rear spacing - make sure it comes with 130mm spacing. I run 135 spacing so I can run my 29er wheels for backups, and the trend was years ago to run 135 to space out the rear triangle so you can run bigger tires. But - you must consider that your backup wheels will probably come off your road bike that runs 130 spacing.
2. Rear triangle width - see what the biggest tire you can run on the frame. I run 32's, but some guys like to run 34's. So what? Try racing on a muddy course and watch the mud build up and slowly make pedaling your bike a hell of a lot harder.
3. Cranks - if it runs a double crank, check the ring options/sizes it comes with and also if it is running standard or compact rings. And check the prices it is to replace them. I run a standard 42 ring with third eye catch and a chain gaurd - I found that I really never used my other ring, and this setup is lot cheaper to run all around.
4. Cable routing - when I see a cross bike with down tube cable routing, it drives me nuts. I would stay a mile away from any frame that ran it as you are going to have a 150% certainty to have an issue with grabing the down tube for dismounts or if you race in muddy/ice conditions, your cables with gunk up and screw up your shifting for certain.
5. Compact vs. Standard Frames - I have had both and would recomend running a standard frame or a compact frame with VERY LITTLE sloping top tube. You need to have space to lug that bike onto your back for dismounts/runs and compact frames just make it a lot more uncomfortable.
Hey Goat, just curious, in the winter where do you ride in Ohio? On the roads? Or on the trails? I know most of the bike paths seem to remain covered and are used by cc skiers. So, do you do mostly road work? I remember last winter you were working a lot down in Cincy so you were able to ride the snow-free bike paths down there, but I know up here in northern Ohio we don't have a lot of snow-free bike paths.
I ride mostly on the metropark trails - some of the trials run through Kent and Stow, so I hook up on them there and take them all over the place. Do it mostly to stay out of traffic/wind and ride them year round, ice covered or not. I don't have a standard bike I ride, but to be honest, I can say that I really don't ride the mountain bikes too much. I've trained probably the most this year on my road bike, but since September, I've been mostly riding my cross bikes. With cross over and bad weather in, I'll be riding my new winter bike, a Soma 29er that I picked up to replace my Karate Monkey. It runs around 400 bucks for the frame, but it is soooo much lighter then the surly. Watch for a review of the Soma in the next few weeks.
Congrats at the Worlds this year! Your a hell of an athlete and it's cool Ohio has someone like you to represent. I have a Fisher Xcaliber 29er that is going to be my race bike this coming season for the OMBC series. The stock wheelset is a bit heavy, and I was looking into the prospect of lightening it up with something else. From your past blogs from last winter, it looks like you are using King hubs, Schwalbe Little Alberts, and some kind of Bontrager rim (Curious as to what rime that is). I think I remember you stating that you are also using tubes. Is what you are using fairly lightweight and are you happy with it and would you change anything about your wheelset setup if your were doing the 2-3 hour OMBC rcaes? Your input is appreciated.
I have been running nothing but Kings for the last few years (did a stint with last years xtr, but didn't like the slow cassette engagement) and ran either the Salsa Delgado rim (500 grams/rim) or the Bontrager Mustang 29er rim (480 grams/rim) with double butted spokes, alloy nips, salsa tubes and Schwalbe tires. Ran the Delgados because at the time, they were one of the lightest out there, and then had a chance to run the Bontragers and decided to give them a try to, but supplies were limited at the time, so Dan the man could only grab one set at the time.
I've been really happy with both the rims/wheels. For a standard no-frills semi-lightweight rim, Salsa has a nice product and you can't beat the price. Bottom line, they make nice stuff. Genuine George built up all my wheels, and my one set of race wheels I've used for two years - I think Dan touched them up maybe twice and I've had a ton of miles on them.
Though they are light, next year, we are gong to more then likely run a lighter setup based off of the guy's at speedgoat (dan the man and chris's) recomendations. We'll probably end up running the DT Swiss 240 hubs (268 grams/rear, 160 grams front) with the Stan ZTR (415 grams/rim), alloy nips and salsa tubes.
The hubs will save about roughly 50 grams of rotational weight, the rims about 80 grams per wheel. Durability? Not a problem - speedgoat has tested this stuff, and it's holding up.
As far as tires go, the lighter the better, but don't sacrifice weight for performance - think rotational weight. Check out the Scwhalble's or some of the new Bontragers.
And, as far as Stan's setup goes for going tubeless, I have stayed far away, but others love the light setup. I personally don't use them as my hands take a beating during my enduro events and I have a hard enough time holding onto the bars, let alone trying to tear off a tire with a super tight bead and then having to deal with all the latex sealant... yuck.
that's it for tonight - sologoat out.
Hey Goat, I see you race a Moots. Those are out of my budget. Any thoughts on cross bikes in the $1500 price range? I'm really looking hard at that cross bike from Felt. Spec'd real nice with Ultegra and 105 parts, plus it is that sweet flat black color scheme.
Checked out the Felt website, looks like a pretty decent bike - very similar to the RedLine Conquest Pro in color, groupo, etc.
Few things that I look at in a cross bike:
1. Rear spacing - make sure it comes with 130mm spacing. I run 135 spacing so I can run my 29er wheels for backups, and the trend was years ago to run 135 to space out the rear triangle so you can run bigger tires. But - you must consider that your backup wheels will probably come off your road bike that runs 130 spacing.
2. Rear triangle width - see what the biggest tire you can run on the frame. I run 32's, but some guys like to run 34's. So what? Try racing on a muddy course and watch the mud build up and slowly make pedaling your bike a hell of a lot harder.
3. Cranks - if it runs a double crank, check the ring options/sizes it comes with and also if it is running standard or compact rings. And check the prices it is to replace them. I run a standard 42 ring with third eye catch and a chain gaurd - I found that I really never used my other ring, and this setup is lot cheaper to run all around.
4. Cable routing - when I see a cross bike with down tube cable routing, it drives me nuts. I would stay a mile away from any frame that ran it as you are going to have a 150% certainty to have an issue with grabing the down tube for dismounts or if you race in muddy/ice conditions, your cables with gunk up and screw up your shifting for certain.
5. Compact vs. Standard Frames - I have had both and would recomend running a standard frame or a compact frame with VERY LITTLE sloping top tube. You need to have space to lug that bike onto your back for dismounts/runs and compact frames just make it a lot more uncomfortable.
Hey Goat, just curious, in the winter where do you ride in Ohio? On the roads? Or on the trails? I know most of the bike paths seem to remain covered and are used by cc skiers. So, do you do mostly road work? I remember last winter you were working a lot down in Cincy so you were able to ride the snow-free bike paths down there, but I know up here in northern Ohio we don't have a lot of snow-free bike paths.
I ride mostly on the metropark trails - some of the trials run through Kent and Stow, so I hook up on them there and take them all over the place. Do it mostly to stay out of traffic/wind and ride them year round, ice covered or not. I don't have a standard bike I ride, but to be honest, I can say that I really don't ride the mountain bikes too much. I've trained probably the most this year on my road bike, but since September, I've been mostly riding my cross bikes. With cross over and bad weather in, I'll be riding my new winter bike, a Soma 29er that I picked up to replace my Karate Monkey. It runs around 400 bucks for the frame, but it is soooo much lighter then the surly. Watch for a review of the Soma in the next few weeks.
Congrats at the Worlds this year! Your a hell of an athlete and it's cool Ohio has someone like you to represent. I have a Fisher Xcaliber 29er that is going to be my race bike this coming season for the OMBC series. The stock wheelset is a bit heavy, and I was looking into the prospect of lightening it up with something else. From your past blogs from last winter, it looks like you are using King hubs, Schwalbe Little Alberts, and some kind of Bontrager rim (Curious as to what rime that is). I think I remember you stating that you are also using tubes. Is what you are using fairly lightweight and are you happy with it and would you change anything about your wheelset setup if your were doing the 2-3 hour OMBC rcaes? Your input is appreciated.
I have been running nothing but Kings for the last few years (did a stint with last years xtr, but didn't like the slow cassette engagement) and ran either the Salsa Delgado rim (500 grams/rim) or the Bontrager Mustang 29er rim (480 grams/rim) with double butted spokes, alloy nips, salsa tubes and Schwalbe tires. Ran the Delgados because at the time, they were one of the lightest out there, and then had a chance to run the Bontragers and decided to give them a try to, but supplies were limited at the time, so Dan the man could only grab one set at the time.
I've been really happy with both the rims/wheels. For a standard no-frills semi-lightweight rim, Salsa has a nice product and you can't beat the price. Bottom line, they make nice stuff. Genuine George built up all my wheels, and my one set of race wheels I've used for two years - I think Dan touched them up maybe twice and I've had a ton of miles on them.
Though they are light, next year, we are gong to more then likely run a lighter setup based off of the guy's at speedgoat (dan the man and chris's) recomendations. We'll probably end up running the DT Swiss 240 hubs (268 grams/rear, 160 grams front) with the Stan ZTR (415 grams/rim), alloy nips and salsa tubes.
The hubs will save about roughly 50 grams of rotational weight, the rims about 80 grams per wheel. Durability? Not a problem - speedgoat has tested this stuff, and it's holding up.
As far as tires go, the lighter the better, but don't sacrifice weight for performance - think rotational weight. Check out the Scwhalble's or some of the new Bontragers.
And, as far as Stan's setup goes for going tubeless, I have stayed far away, but others love the light setup. I personally don't use them as my hands take a beating during my enduro events and I have a hard enough time holding onto the bars, let alone trying to tear off a tire with a super tight bead and then having to deal with all the latex sealant... yuck.
that's it for tonight - sologoat out.
12.17.2006
Cross Nationals Write Up - Day Two
12.16.06 Cross Nationals - Providence, Rhode Island
Temperature today was in the mid 50's with a cold and steady wind. Clear skies and the constant wind dried out the ground today, so the course was fast to say the least.
Juniors were first to go out -
Tony from Lake Effect had a bad start, but soon made up for it. I watched his entire race, and he kept a steady pace and was really smooth in the rough sections. Watch out for this kid - he ended up taking about 15th'ish in his race.
Jimmy's race at 11'ish and he would start on the last row. His situation soon got worse as a spill in front of him took him to the ground, but he soon made up ground. Out of a roughly 60 juniors in his class, he finished 14th - and one thing to remember, this is his first cross season.
The collegiate races were next, with the finale of the day - the men's elite.
Shawn and I started at 2pm: He was in the 8th row, I was in the 10th row. I guess it is the price we paid for not getting any UCI points this year, but this was a race I always wanted to do and if I didn't go another foot, it was still pretty cool to be on the starting line contesting the National Cross Title.
Gun goes off and I actually get a pretty good start, moving up two rows by the first section of grass where I was ahead of both Shawn and Gunnar Shogren - but soon I could feel it. My legs were not going to have a stellar day.
By the time I got to the section they called the Jelly Bowl, I could hear the crowd - it was deafening, accelerating and crazy. People 5 deep screaming, banging on the barriers, ringing cow bells, blowing horns. It was pretty awesome just to ride through a crowd of people like that.
Soon I was dropping back in the field. I was turning my legs over but no power or snappiness were coming out. I was sprinting out of every corner and going harder then I have ever went in a cross race.
With 3 laps to go, I was holding on for dear life as I was trying not to get lapped - in the elite national title cross races, they pull you once you are lapped. Nearing the end of one of my laps, I take a stupid spill and go down on one of my wrists - and as you guessed, yes, it was the one I injured a few weeks back. Pain shot immediately through my hand as I fumbled to get my chain back on and push on.
That spill probably cost me at least 30-40 seconds and a chance to not get lapped - as they pulled me the very next time through. I ended up 71rst on the day, out a roughly 140 man field.
Shawn had a better day today, no spills - but he ended up getting yanked out of the race too, a lap latter. He finished up 68th on the day.
Tough day for us both as we talked about it later - we arguably had our best cross seasons ever, but we are left with the notion that next year we can do better if we train a little harder, hone our training schedule, get some early cross races in, snag up some UCI points and get further up on the start line when it comes to this point next year.
That's it for the 2006 racing season, no more races until march'ish of next year as I need some time to rest up for next year.
I'll take some time off the bike, then hit up some good base miles the last week of December.
Thanks to everybody cheering me on saturday - thanks for pushing me on the little bit further.
Sologoat out.
Temperature today was in the mid 50's with a cold and steady wind. Clear skies and the constant wind dried out the ground today, so the course was fast to say the least.
Juniors were first to go out -
Tony from Lake Effect had a bad start, but soon made up for it. I watched his entire race, and he kept a steady pace and was really smooth in the rough sections. Watch out for this kid - he ended up taking about 15th'ish in his race.
Jimmy's race at 11'ish and he would start on the last row. His situation soon got worse as a spill in front of him took him to the ground, but he soon made up ground. Out of a roughly 60 juniors in his class, he finished 14th - and one thing to remember, this is his first cross season.
The collegiate races were next, with the finale of the day - the men's elite.
Shawn and I started at 2pm: He was in the 8th row, I was in the 10th row. I guess it is the price we paid for not getting any UCI points this year, but this was a race I always wanted to do and if I didn't go another foot, it was still pretty cool to be on the starting line contesting the National Cross Title.
Gun goes off and I actually get a pretty good start, moving up two rows by the first section of grass where I was ahead of both Shawn and Gunnar Shogren - but soon I could feel it. My legs were not going to have a stellar day.
By the time I got to the section they called the Jelly Bowl, I could hear the crowd - it was deafening, accelerating and crazy. People 5 deep screaming, banging on the barriers, ringing cow bells, blowing horns. It was pretty awesome just to ride through a crowd of people like that.
Soon I was dropping back in the field. I was turning my legs over but no power or snappiness were coming out. I was sprinting out of every corner and going harder then I have ever went in a cross race.
With 3 laps to go, I was holding on for dear life as I was trying not to get lapped - in the elite national title cross races, they pull you once you are lapped. Nearing the end of one of my laps, I take a stupid spill and go down on one of my wrists - and as you guessed, yes, it was the one I injured a few weeks back. Pain shot immediately through my hand as I fumbled to get my chain back on and push on.
That spill probably cost me at least 30-40 seconds and a chance to not get lapped - as they pulled me the very next time through. I ended up 71rst on the day, out a roughly 140 man field.
Shawn had a better day today, no spills - but he ended up getting yanked out of the race too, a lap latter. He finished up 68th on the day.
Tough day for us both as we talked about it later - we arguably had our best cross seasons ever, but we are left with the notion that next year we can do better if we train a little harder, hone our training schedule, get some early cross races in, snag up some UCI points and get further up on the start line when it comes to this point next year.
That's it for the 2006 racing season, no more races until march'ish of next year as I need some time to rest up for next year.
I'll take some time off the bike, then hit up some good base miles the last week of December.
Thanks to everybody cheering me on saturday - thanks for pushing me on the little bit further.
Sologoat out.
12.15.2006
paying dues
was the theme for today - as i ligned up and dealt with being 8 rows back and 80 riders were ahead of me at the start line.
i had went done in pre-riding and bashed up my right knee and went down on my hand that i injured a few weeks ago.
my start was horrible, made up a few spots here and there, and didn't really start marking up places until half way through. i started picking off riders and made it up to 32nd spot with 2 laps to go.
i made up one more spot by the end of the race, with a about 10 riders right in front of me. had it been 15 minutes longer, i think i would have had a better race.
definetely got to get uci points next year - your starting place is critical for this race.
if you are from ohio or ride for the ALAN team, i can beat i got a picture of you - we took over 1000 pictures just today.
here's jeff from team lake effect - he had a great race at ohio state championships and took his age group.
today, he placed well - top 15'ish. not sure of his exact placing.
rudy had a start position similar to mine, but i think he finished up a little better. around 25th place'ish.
and shawn - he paid some dues today too. a flat early on and a superman crash into the barriers put him back some places.
but - tomorrow is another day, and even though it is going to be a tougher race with the big guns, we have less riders.
course was fast today, but was a little tacky. not sure what the call is for tomorrow...
jimmy is in the junior race at 11am, shawn and myself are starting at 2pm. posts of the race probably not up until sunday.
if you are from cleveland and want the pics from the race, email/call.
that's it - gotta rest up.
sologoat out.
12.14.2006
here at last
at the race venue - drive out was an adventure. straight accross 80 then turned north. and proceeded to drive at 80mph all the way - and was getting passed. traffic was nutz.
got to the venue. course is super dry and stupid fast, to the point at race speed it is going to be scary fast going into the corners. the transitions from cement to dirt come at very high speed, but the corners are wide.
pics up - probably not until sunday.
the ohio posse of cross racers are here in force - was here for only minutes, and ran into 4 ohio riders. look for a lot of the cleveland cross series racers in the results.
race starting position for ernesto is not too swell - 76th for the elite puts me in the middle of the 9th row. not good. there are 135 riders'ish in the race.
and for the masters tomorrow, i am in the 5th row - there are about 180 in my masters race.
totally nuts - i think if i am going to try and have a good race at cross nationals, i will need to pick up a few uci points for next year to move me up on the start line.
that's it - gotta run. been a long day.
race updates after dinner time tomorrow...
sologoat out
got to the venue. course is super dry and stupid fast, to the point at race speed it is going to be scary fast going into the corners. the transitions from cement to dirt come at very high speed, but the corners are wide.
pics up - probably not until sunday.
the ohio posse of cross racers are here in force - was here for only minutes, and ran into 4 ohio riders. look for a lot of the cleveland cross series racers in the results.
race starting position for ernesto is not too swell - 76th for the elite puts me in the middle of the 9th row. not good. there are 135 riders'ish in the race.
and for the masters tomorrow, i am in the 5th row - there are about 180 in my masters race.
totally nuts - i think if i am going to try and have a good race at cross nationals, i will need to pick up a few uci points for next year to move me up on the start line.
that's it - gotta run. been a long day.
race updates after dinner time tomorrow...
sologoat out
12.13.2006
last post before heading out to nationals...
biowheels got a little write up on their site about state championships:
BIO-WHEELS
going to be short, as i need to get packed el quicko.
will he heading out and staying with ALAN riders tomorrow AM, racing masters on friday and with the big guns on saturday during the elite race.
weather is looking good, and here is the course descriptioin:
The course is fairly wide open and on the longer side to accommodate large fields and to prevent too many riders from being lapped. There is ample space for re-setting sections of the track that might get torn up too much, so the following days/races may have fresh tracks. The ground is mostly hard with very good drainage. It would have to be exceptional conditions to slow the racing down appreciably (heavy snow for instance).
There will be 4 obstacles: one long run with wood and earth stairs at the bottom, one 5-meter set of stone and cement stars, one set of hurdles on flat ground, and one 10 to 12 second run that may have earth and wood stairs mid-hillside if the conditions are dry. The course is 3.2km long, of which about 1 km is paved in 4 sections. There is also about 200 meters of gravel road. The rest is grassy parkland.
that's right off of the pre-race info email from the organizers.
in other news...
northwave shoes arrived today and i got approximately 5 rides in on the soma. early thoughts - rides nice and builds up decently light. nice option for a cheap but nice riding 29er.
that's it, gotta roll. taking the laptop with me, not sure of internet connection ability, but stay tuned as i am going to take as many photo's as i can....
sologoat out.
BIO-WHEELS
going to be short, as i need to get packed el quicko.
will he heading out and staying with ALAN riders tomorrow AM, racing masters on friday and with the big guns on saturday during the elite race.
weather is looking good, and here is the course descriptioin:
The course is fairly wide open and on the longer side to accommodate large fields and to prevent too many riders from being lapped. There is ample space for re-setting sections of the track that might get torn up too much, so the following days/races may have fresh tracks. The ground is mostly hard with very good drainage. It would have to be exceptional conditions to slow the racing down appreciably (heavy snow for instance).
There will be 4 obstacles: one long run with wood and earth stairs at the bottom, one 5-meter set of stone and cement stars, one set of hurdles on flat ground, and one 10 to 12 second run that may have earth and wood stairs mid-hillside if the conditions are dry. The course is 3.2km long, of which about 1 km is paved in 4 sections. There is also about 200 meters of gravel road. The rest is grassy parkland.
that's right off of the pre-race info email from the organizers.
in other news...
northwave shoes arrived today and i got approximately 5 rides in on the soma. early thoughts - rides nice and builds up decently light. nice option for a cheap but nice riding 29er.
that's it, gotta roll. taking the laptop with me, not sure of internet connection ability, but stay tuned as i am going to take as many photo's as i can....
sologoat out.
12.11.2006
Ohio State Cross Write up
12.10.06 Ohio State Cross Championships
LOCATION: Yellow Springs, OH
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear skies, very light wind with temps in the mid 40's.
SOIL CONDITIONS: Freezing temps from earlier in the week left the deep soil frozen - but with the higher temps on Sunday, the top layer of soil softened up. Result - a very rough ride with extremely slippery conditions due to the upper layer of soil thawing out.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Extremely flat traditional cross course with no run-ups, three sets of barriers (two that you bunny hop over), a sand pit, a few short single track sections, and about a thousand 180 degree sharp/off chamber/slippery turns.
STARTERS: Not too familiar with the Ohio Valley Cross series locals, but notables included Paul Martin, Ohio Series leader Phil Noble, John Carr (winner of about every Michigan cross race this year), ALAN boys Shawn Adams and Jimmy, and Nate-O (winner of the Cleveland Cross Series).
BIKE SETUP PARTICULARS: With the course being so flat, I opted for the hella fast Reynolds wheels. With the conditions being as slippy as they were, I reduced the PSI to around 35 pounds to help with traction. Ran my standard 42 up front, with a 12x23 in the back.
CLOTHING: With the temps as warm as they were, I opted for thin layers and I ran a long sleeved Craft base layer. Since the course was rough and my hand is still in pain from a training accident two weeks earlier, I ran three sets of gloves - a trick I "invented" to help reduce pain in my hands from endurance racing. One light winter glove over a short fingered glove over top of a very thin summer full finger glove.
RACE DETAILS:
Got to the start line early to get a good starting position, but was trumped by the "locals" in the Ohio Valley Series who thought they should start ahead of us because of their standings in the series. Total BS, but we didn't have time to fight about it as the start was about to happen in 30 seconds.
Gun goes off and into the slick corners we go, slipping and sliding,and bumping into each other. Very quickly, the lead group is formed and the main split happens within 1 lap. I am the last man in the main group, a group consisting of about 12 riders - but the speeds are somewhat slow and the gaps are short. Go too fast and you'll go down.
So I quickly come up with a game plan - stay upright. Play it safe in the corners and pay attention to my angle coming into them to avoid slipping. And then gun it in the straights - full out sprint out of every corner.
Soon, my plan was paying off and I quickly moved from 12th place up to fourth, behind John Carr, another rider and Shawn Adams. This was now about half way through the race. In one of the sections, the unknown rider and Shawn had some difficulties in a section that I came through clean on so I gunned it and opened up a gap immediately.
The gap to John was at 20 seconds, and I was closing it down fast -- but a slip left me on side and a dropped chain soon brought Shawn back up to me. Time was running short - maybe only 15 minutes left in the race. As soon as he caught me, I told him, "let's not race for 2nd place - let's go for the win."
We chased and at one point, had it down to 15 seconds. We shared in the pulling, and didn't attack each other or race for second - which proved to secure our placing as Paul Martin came within 45 seconds of catching us by the end of the race.
Last lap came, and on the final little log/barrier, I jumped over it to the right with Shawn on the left. An earlier crash had left Shawn's hanger bent and left him with only three gears.
I attacked hard and didn't look back until I was on the road. When I looked forward, I was closing in on John and got within 5 seconds of him, but he sneaked out the win.
Since John is from Michigan, in regards to the state championship, I came in first, Shawn was second, Paul was third and Nate came in at fourth.
Thanks for all those who stayed around and cheered me on - especially Nate's cheering posse and Gary from the 'burgh. Made the race pretty exciting to hear all the cow bells going and the crowd cheering everybody on.
Full results can be seen at the biowheels website HERE
That's it - thousands of hours of riding, hundreds of hours of racing, and now it's down to just two more hours.
sologoat out
LOCATION: Yellow Springs, OH
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear skies, very light wind with temps in the mid 40's.
SOIL CONDITIONS: Freezing temps from earlier in the week left the deep soil frozen - but with the higher temps on Sunday, the top layer of soil softened up. Result - a very rough ride with extremely slippery conditions due to the upper layer of soil thawing out.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Extremely flat traditional cross course with no run-ups, three sets of barriers (two that you bunny hop over), a sand pit, a few short single track sections, and about a thousand 180 degree sharp/off chamber/slippery turns.
STARTERS: Not too familiar with the Ohio Valley Cross series locals, but notables included Paul Martin, Ohio Series leader Phil Noble, John Carr (winner of about every Michigan cross race this year), ALAN boys Shawn Adams and Jimmy, and Nate-O (winner of the Cleveland Cross Series).
BIKE SETUP PARTICULARS: With the course being so flat, I opted for the hella fast Reynolds wheels. With the conditions being as slippy as they were, I reduced the PSI to around 35 pounds to help with traction. Ran my standard 42 up front, with a 12x23 in the back.
CLOTHING: With the temps as warm as they were, I opted for thin layers and I ran a long sleeved Craft base layer. Since the course was rough and my hand is still in pain from a training accident two weeks earlier, I ran three sets of gloves - a trick I "invented" to help reduce pain in my hands from endurance racing. One light winter glove over a short fingered glove over top of a very thin summer full finger glove.
RACE DETAILS:
Got to the start line early to get a good starting position, but was trumped by the "locals" in the Ohio Valley Series who thought they should start ahead of us because of their standings in the series. Total BS, but we didn't have time to fight about it as the start was about to happen in 30 seconds.
Gun goes off and into the slick corners we go, slipping and sliding,and bumping into each other. Very quickly, the lead group is formed and the main split happens within 1 lap. I am the last man in the main group, a group consisting of about 12 riders - but the speeds are somewhat slow and the gaps are short. Go too fast and you'll go down.
So I quickly come up with a game plan - stay upright. Play it safe in the corners and pay attention to my angle coming into them to avoid slipping. And then gun it in the straights - full out sprint out of every corner.
Soon, my plan was paying off and I quickly moved from 12th place up to fourth, behind John Carr, another rider and Shawn Adams. This was now about half way through the race. In one of the sections, the unknown rider and Shawn had some difficulties in a section that I came through clean on so I gunned it and opened up a gap immediately.
The gap to John was at 20 seconds, and I was closing it down fast -- but a slip left me on side and a dropped chain soon brought Shawn back up to me. Time was running short - maybe only 15 minutes left in the race. As soon as he caught me, I told him, "let's not race for 2nd place - let's go for the win."
We chased and at one point, had it down to 15 seconds. We shared in the pulling, and didn't attack each other or race for second - which proved to secure our placing as Paul Martin came within 45 seconds of catching us by the end of the race.
Last lap came, and on the final little log/barrier, I jumped over it to the right with Shawn on the left. An earlier crash had left Shawn's hanger bent and left him with only three gears.
I attacked hard and didn't look back until I was on the road. When I looked forward, I was closing in on John and got within 5 seconds of him, but he sneaked out the win.
Since John is from Michigan, in regards to the state championship, I came in first, Shawn was second, Paul was third and Nate came in at fourth.
Thanks for all those who stayed around and cheered me on - especially Nate's cheering posse and Gary from the 'burgh. Made the race pretty exciting to hear all the cow bells going and the crowd cheering everybody on.
Full results can be seen at the biowheels website HERE
That's it - thousands of hours of riding, hundreds of hours of racing, and now it's down to just two more hours.
sologoat out
12.10.2006
ohio cross championships
short version as i have a TON of work to catch up on tonight. full recap, details and pics up tomorrow.
1. jon card - cane creek - michigan
2. ernesto - asylum cycles - ohio
3. shawn adams - alan - ohio
4. paul martin - roadhouse - ohio
5. Nate Ziccardi - ? - ohio
2nd place overall...
1rst place OHIO rider - State Cross Champ for 2006.
sologoat out
1. jon card - cane creek - michigan
2. ernesto - asylum cycles - ohio
3. shawn adams - alan - ohio
4. paul martin - roadhouse - ohio
5. Nate Ziccardi - ? - ohio
2nd place overall...
1rst place OHIO rider - State Cross Champ for 2006.
sologoat out
12.09.2006
winter bike project
is coming to a close. after mucho slow progress, the soma is nearing completion as my new winter bike. since the white stuff is on the ground, progress is speeding up to the point i hope i am riding it today.
i ended up getting the gun metal gray version of the juice - which is kinda cool because it has no brake mounts other then disk. frame looks super clean. but - i ended up getting a lower end steel fork so i kinda killed the looks with those huge posts sticking out (they look like they cannot be removed).
pics up maybe today of the soma.
ohio state championships this weekend - heading out with jimmy and shawn. should be a good time - not sure on the weather though, think it supposed to warm up so maybe there won't be snow down there.
and - few tidbits coming from the speedgoat guys.
unoffically, just picked up some new sponsors. nothing offical yet, but it looks like it is a go for them. give a hug to jeremy when you are at the shop - he really busted his arse getting this stuff out for me and it is paying off. mucho thanko.
and - jeremy also got in some of the heated SIDI insoles. charge them up, stick them in your shoes. to turn them on, take out this gadget that looks like something to open your car doors with and give it a click -- then magic happens. your feet stay warm in winter.
mucho expenso at around 300 bucks, but you get something like 600 charges out of them. really not that bad if you like riding/hiking etc in the winter.
keep yer eyes on the speedgoat blog for the write up which will be up in the next week or so.
that's it - gotta run. wallpaper to take down and a ride to sneak in.
sologoat out.
i ended up getting the gun metal gray version of the juice - which is kinda cool because it has no brake mounts other then disk. frame looks super clean. but - i ended up getting a lower end steel fork so i kinda killed the looks with those huge posts sticking out (they look like they cannot be removed).
pics up maybe today of the soma.
ohio state championships this weekend - heading out with jimmy and shawn. should be a good time - not sure on the weather though, think it supposed to warm up so maybe there won't be snow down there.
and - few tidbits coming from the speedgoat guys.
unoffically, just picked up some new sponsors. nothing offical yet, but it looks like it is a go for them. give a hug to jeremy when you are at the shop - he really busted his arse getting this stuff out for me and it is paying off. mucho thanko.
and - jeremy also got in some of the heated SIDI insoles. charge them up, stick them in your shoes. to turn them on, take out this gadget that looks like something to open your car doors with and give it a click -- then magic happens. your feet stay warm in winter.
mucho expenso at around 300 bucks, but you get something like 600 charges out of them. really not that bad if you like riding/hiking etc in the winter.
keep yer eyes on the speedgoat blog for the write up which will be up in the next week or so.
that's it - gotta run. wallpaper to take down and a ride to sneak in.
sologoat out.
12.07.2006
it's white in ohio
as the snow starts hitting the ground - 40 degrees yesterday, 25 and snowing today.
ohio state cross race is this sunday, probably heading down there with the ALAN guys shawn and jimmy. i must say, the ALAN frames have come a long way since i first saw them years back when the frames looked like they had tubes made out of aluminum cans and were pieced together with huge lugs.
other then that, not much happening other then a bunch of bike maintenance, sweating out the sponsors and looking at the race calander for 2007.
got some changes out there - the e100 guys have a 7 day race, some of the local 6 hour race dates have changed, and there are a few brand new events that are relatively close to me.
NORBA seems to have the same schedule up, and as was with last year, they are not east coast friendly. they promised some changes last month, so let's hope the winter tempertures are slowing them down and that they get some decent races for us out there. and how about making the marathon events real marathon events, eh?
not sure what is happening to the 100 miler series, but i know a lot of guys didn't like the fact that it didn't pay out to swell - or at all. though, i do have to say, all the races i hit up in the series were epic events. really loved that colorado race even though i didn't cope with the altitude too great.
3 more hours to go of racing, and then i can rest - for a week or two. then starts the long rides in frigid tempertures starting the last week of december.
gotta get to work -
sologoat out
ohio state cross race is this sunday, probably heading down there with the ALAN guys shawn and jimmy. i must say, the ALAN frames have come a long way since i first saw them years back when the frames looked like they had tubes made out of aluminum cans and were pieced together with huge lugs.
other then that, not much happening other then a bunch of bike maintenance, sweating out the sponsors and looking at the race calander for 2007.
got some changes out there - the e100 guys have a 7 day race, some of the local 6 hour race dates have changed, and there are a few brand new events that are relatively close to me.
NORBA seems to have the same schedule up, and as was with last year, they are not east coast friendly. they promised some changes last month, so let's hope the winter tempertures are slowing them down and that they get some decent races for us out there. and how about making the marathon events real marathon events, eh?
not sure what is happening to the 100 miler series, but i know a lot of guys didn't like the fact that it didn't pay out to swell - or at all. though, i do have to say, all the races i hit up in the series were epic events. really loved that colorado race even though i didn't cope with the altitude too great.
3 more hours to go of racing, and then i can rest - for a week or two. then starts the long rides in frigid tempertures starting the last week of december.
gotta get to work -
sologoat out
12.03.2006
cleveland cross series finale
cold temps with no snow was the weather for today - the last of the cleveland cross race series. with three points between nate and myself, it was going to be a battle to the end.
begining of the race went really well - the new wheels were super fast, but my legs were not. and nate was hot on my tail.
by the second lap, i was just turning the legs over. felt good, but just couldn't seem to push the big gears that were needed on this course. additionally, a spill on a training ride earlier this week left my left hand pretty banged up, so braking and holding onto the bars were sometimes an issue.
hmm.... braking and holding onto your handlebars. is that needed in a bike race?
no excuses though - nate was the stronger rider these past few races. hats off to him and congrats on the series win.
by the end, ice was over evrerything. shifting was still ok, though i must of had 5 pounds of ice on the bike.
finished up 6th on the day, which is pretty consistant with my placings there the last few years. seem to have a very difficult time with the course because of it being so flat, coupled with the fact that it comes so late in the year and i feeling pretty beat down.
3 more hours of racing to go - not expecting miracles, but expecting a good time as these last 3 races were events that i have always really wanted to get to, talked about doing, but just never went.
next weekend, ohio state championships. two weeks out - two events. the masters 35-40 on friday (which is rumored to have over 180 guys in it!) and then the elites on saturday.
that's it - sologoat out.
begining of the race went really well - the new wheels were super fast, but my legs were not. and nate was hot on my tail.
by the second lap, i was just turning the legs over. felt good, but just couldn't seem to push the big gears that were needed on this course. additionally, a spill on a training ride earlier this week left my left hand pretty banged up, so braking and holding onto the bars were sometimes an issue.
hmm.... braking and holding onto your handlebars. is that needed in a bike race?
no excuses though - nate was the stronger rider these past few races. hats off to him and congrats on the series win.
by the end, ice was over evrerything. shifting was still ok, though i must of had 5 pounds of ice on the bike.
finished up 6th on the day, which is pretty consistant with my placings there the last few years. seem to have a very difficult time with the course because of it being so flat, coupled with the fact that it comes so late in the year and i feeling pretty beat down.
3 more hours of racing to go - not expecting miracles, but expecting a good time as these last 3 races were events that i have always really wanted to get to, talked about doing, but just never went.
next weekend, ohio state championships. two weeks out - two events. the masters 35-40 on friday (which is rumored to have over 180 guys in it!) and then the elites on saturday.
that's it - sologoat out.
12.01.2006
cross stuff
moots cross got the carbon wheel upgrade yesterday - reynolds status dv tubular cross wheels with tufo tires.
surprisingly, compared to my front king wheel with open pro's - the reynolds felt of relatively the same weight. however, the rear wheel felt a lot lighter.
somewhat of a disappointment on my new adjustable canti brake pad gizmo.
while this looks like a great idea, and gives an option where there is none, the adjuster bolt it is just too big and does not leave any room for the post itself. i could of ran it, but the adjustment would of been so minimal that running them was of very little benefit.
additionally, the mount uses a standard brake pad - and i would of preferred to use the longer pad that is avaialable with the standard swisstop canti pads.
and due note - these are just in the prototype stage. ask the guys at the 'goat for the full details on availability, but i know it is no time soon!
great idea though - would like to see the next version of it make these two "upgrades". just my 2 cents...
that's it - last cleveland cross series race this weekend will decide 1rst place in the a's and it looks like the bad storm that we were expecting is going to miss us, but the temps are going to be "slightly" chilly.
gotta run - sologat out.
11.29.2006
sponsorship news update #1
is starting to come in.... ASYLUM CYCYLES and SPEEDGOAT.COM will continue to provide support into the 2007 season.
TIFOSI OPTICS will continue to their support as well. they have some updates to their line including some new frames and updated lenses. thanks shannon and tifosi!
and, (drumroll please....)
NORTHWAVE will be my shoe sponsor the upcoming year. northwave has recently changed their US distributor, so be sure to ask the guys at the 'goat about their shoes if interested in getting some for yourself. i have been running northwaves now for over 6 years and i love them - to the point i even turned down shoe sponsorship from other companies. i am really looking forward to representing them in 2007 - and the new color scheme on the kameleon is to die for.
in other news..
reynolds wheels now offically have tubulars glued on and offically make both the "hella light" and "hella fast" classifications.
and need a bike? check out the speedgoat.com demo bike sale HERE! sad news though, looks like the moots 29er is now gone.
that's it - back to work.
sologoat out.
TIFOSI OPTICS will continue to their support as well. they have some updates to their line including some new frames and updated lenses. thanks shannon and tifosi!
and, (drumroll please....)
NORTHWAVE will be my shoe sponsor the upcoming year. northwave has recently changed their US distributor, so be sure to ask the guys at the 'goat about their shoes if interested in getting some for yourself. i have been running northwaves now for over 6 years and i love them - to the point i even turned down shoe sponsorship from other companies. i am really looking forward to representing them in 2007 - and the new color scheme on the kameleon is to die for.
in other news..
reynolds wheels now offically have tubulars glued on and offically make both the "hella light" and "hella fast" classifications.
and need a bike? check out the speedgoat.com demo bike sale HERE! sad news though, looks like the moots 29er is now gone.
that's it - back to work.
sologoat out.
11.28.2006
down to the last race
in the cleveland cross series - for both the "a" group and the old man's class..
3 points now seperate Nate and myself which means it is coming down to the last race. since it is double points, one place can make the difference in the series. so, the stratus wheelset will make a debut at the cross race this weekend saving me an approximate 200-300 grams of rotational weight, at least.
rudy and brent also have a tight race on their hands, thought the point spread is a little more. as in the past, the last race of the series is a real deciding factor for your overall standings. it will be tough physically as your body wants to shut down for the season but your mind tries to push you through the last hour of major effort.
for some it will be the end of the race season, for others it will be a warm up for state championships and the fiasco finale of nationals out in rhode island. i am pretty pumped up for the trip out there, should be a good time.
the elite race on saturday will be hectic as i will be towards the back of the back because i have no UCI points. next year, i'll try to hit up a few UCI races when my fitness is super high to try to sneak up a few spots on the line up for cross nationals.
then, after the elite race - i'll finally get some rest - but not before downing some pints out of a frosty mug.
that's it - tubulars to glue.
sologoat out
3 points now seperate Nate and myself which means it is coming down to the last race. since it is double points, one place can make the difference in the series. so, the stratus wheelset will make a debut at the cross race this weekend saving me an approximate 200-300 grams of rotational weight, at least.
rudy and brent also have a tight race on their hands, thought the point spread is a little more. as in the past, the last race of the series is a real deciding factor for your overall standings. it will be tough physically as your body wants to shut down for the season but your mind tries to push you through the last hour of major effort.
for some it will be the end of the race season, for others it will be a warm up for state championships and the fiasco finale of nationals out in rhode island. i am pretty pumped up for the trip out there, should be a good time.
the elite race on saturday will be hectic as i will be towards the back of the back because i have no UCI points. next year, i'll try to hit up a few UCI races when my fitness is super high to try to sneak up a few spots on the line up for cross nationals.
then, after the elite race - i'll finally get some rest - but not before downing some pints out of a frosty mug.
that's it - tubulars to glue.
sologoat out
11.26.2006
cleveland cross write up
boughton farm, copley ohio was the 6th stop in the cleveland cross series and was set to be a fast one with warm temps and dry conditions.
this course is on a very flat farm with wide open sections that is open to the wind - great course for roadies, awesome course for paul martin who never seems to loose here.
relatively small field, but it was going to be fast with paul, nate, and the alan boys at the start line. i have been feeling under the weather so the game plan was to try and stay with the leaders and to stay close to nate (2nd in the series) and jake (3rd in the series).
gun went off, we were flying. on a ditch crossing towards the end of the first lap, i bobble and loose my placing. i am now dropped and not feeling all that great.
in a few laps, i start feeling better, but run into a small tree and loose more time. i soon recover, make up two places and catch up to jake who i start pulling around the course. just as soon as i was about to ask him to start pulling, i really slip up in a corner and go down.
bars turned, i continue on. i make one last ditch effort to try and catch up to jake on the last lap, but it was not to be. 6th place on the day, paul takes the win, nate takes the sprint for 2nd.
i retain the lead in the series with one race to - the double point race again at boughton farm.
3 points seperate nate and i, so one place seperates us both. basically, next week decides it all - one place in front of nate, i win. one place behind, 2nd place.
either way, it has been a great series. courses have been great, and the new venue was awesome.
that's it - sologoat out.
this course is on a very flat farm with wide open sections that is open to the wind - great course for roadies, awesome course for paul martin who never seems to loose here.
relatively small field, but it was going to be fast with paul, nate, and the alan boys at the start line. i have been feeling under the weather so the game plan was to try and stay with the leaders and to stay close to nate (2nd in the series) and jake (3rd in the series).
gun went off, we were flying. on a ditch crossing towards the end of the first lap, i bobble and loose my placing. i am now dropped and not feeling all that great.
in a few laps, i start feeling better, but run into a small tree and loose more time. i soon recover, make up two places and catch up to jake who i start pulling around the course. just as soon as i was about to ask him to start pulling, i really slip up in a corner and go down.
bars turned, i continue on. i make one last ditch effort to try and catch up to jake on the last lap, but it was not to be. 6th place on the day, paul takes the win, nate takes the sprint for 2nd.
i retain the lead in the series with one race to - the double point race again at boughton farm.
3 points seperate nate and i, so one place seperates us both. basically, next week decides it all - one place in front of nate, i win. one place behind, 2nd place.
either way, it has been a great series. courses have been great, and the new venue was awesome.
that's it - sologoat out.
11.22.2006
pimp my moots
yes, once again i have updated the bling level of thy moots.
i bring ye the reynolds stratus dv cross wheelset weighing in at a stupid light weight of 1250 grams. full specs can be seen at SPEEDGOAT.COM
these sweet tubular wheels will have TUFO's glued up and ready to roll by the weekend and just in time for the Ohio state cross championships and Cross Nationals the week after.
in related product reviews, i have a set of brake mounting hardware that allows spooky type canti's to have adjustment of the brake pads. only have enough for one brake, but i'll have pics up this week.
in other speedgoat related news, for all those interested in the new salsa's coming out, looks like they are going to be here around February/March. check with the shop on the exact dates, but i know they are getting a ton of them in because we are on the down-low with the salsa guys.
and - TIFOSOI OPTICS will continue to be a sponsor into my 2007 season. waiting to hear from others, but this is the first confirmed sponsor outside of speedgoat and asylum for next year. this will now make it the 4th year of me riding with Tifosi's and the third year i have been sponsored by them.
and - looks like there is a winter cross series for all those nutz in the ohio area. more details on this later, but it has 3 races that start in january. as if you thought suffering on the trainer was bad enough, try snow and 25 degrees.
things are crazy due to the turkey day holiday, so i may not post all that much this week.
last tidbits-
happy b-day to pit crew members: ernesto sr and nuclear scientist tom
speedgoat and blog pals: have a happy turkey day!
sologoat out
11.19.2006
cross write up
hellishly cold and rainy temps were in store today for the next race in the cleveland cross series. constant rain led to light snow back to rain - for the entire race.
muddy conditions were in effect for the course with no dismounts but two hellishly brutual run ups.
start was fast, nate got his guns firing and never looked back. i slipped back to fifth on the first lap, and chased away. i managed to bridge up to 4th, dropped him and then did the same to get into 3rd. it was one of those days you either have a good day or not.
i had a so-so day, didn't have the goods. great job to nate who looked strong and managed to extended his gap the last few laps. this result now inches him towards my first place in the series with 8 points seperating us.
next stop in the series - Boughton Farm next sunday.
course is mainly flat, and should have at least 2 double barriers. tends to favor the roadies as it has a lot of flat sections and the wind seems to be nasty out there as it is wide open with no cover.
and - with any luck, i may be riding my new reynolds status cross wheels. hella light with tufo tubular cross tires.
that's it - gotta dig the mud out my ears.
sologoat out.
muddy conditions were in effect for the course with no dismounts but two hellishly brutual run ups.
start was fast, nate got his guns firing and never looked back. i slipped back to fifth on the first lap, and chased away. i managed to bridge up to 4th, dropped him and then did the same to get into 3rd. it was one of those days you either have a good day or not.
i had a so-so day, didn't have the goods. great job to nate who looked strong and managed to extended his gap the last few laps. this result now inches him towards my first place in the series with 8 points seperating us.
next stop in the series - Boughton Farm next sunday.
course is mainly flat, and should have at least 2 double barriers. tends to favor the roadies as it has a lot of flat sections and the wind seems to be nasty out there as it is wide open with no cover.
and - with any luck, i may be riding my new reynolds status cross wheels. hella light with tufo tubular cross tires.
that's it - gotta dig the mud out my ears.
sologoat out.
11.14.2006
tifosi optics posts
got two sites that has an update on the tifosi optic product line for 2006:
CROOKED COG PODCAST
has a pod interview with matt conto from tifosi optics.
and...
WORLD CYCLING TV
has video of the new line up on their website. click on the link on the left for the interbike videos, then scroll on the right to the tifosi icon and click.
i've been running tifosi's now for the past 3 seasons now - get a lot without having to pay major cash for nice optics with multiple lenses.
this weekend...
next stop in the cleveland cross series at broadview heights.
sologoat out.
11.13.2006
a 4th, a 3rd and a first
4th on saturday, 3rd on sunday - and a first overall in the cross series in cleveland with 3 races to go.
sunday was a small field, late in the evening at 3:15pm. one barrier/run up and one barrier/stream/run-up combo. longer course, with some single track.
course was slick, field before the first run up was pretty soft.
pace was fast at first - a little too fast for me. there was a group with two ALAN riders (jimmy and shawn) and one other rider who quickly got away from me. they slowed, i chased.
and just when i was about to catch, shawn attacked - classic great move. jimmy sat on the other rider who chased - and the gap to them opened up again.
i slowly caught back up, and sat on for one lap. the non ALAN rider was pulling the entire time, and he was slowing. so through the field we went, with me the third rider.
i unleashed a super hard effort - i attacked with all i had through the field and up the run-up. a lap latter, jimmy was still on my tail. with his teammate ahead of us, it was job to try and pull shawn back - and i knew as soon as i caught him, i would probably get attacked by jimmy.
with 2 to go, i was not getting closer to shawn - and jimmy let me have it at the same spot shawn attacked. he went, and i had nothing to reply with - good move.
overall, legs felt kind of dead, but i am currently still holding the lead in the cleveland series... which will be tough to hold onto, as usual. the last race of the series usually has snow/ice and is cold as hell - and is double points. have a bad race there and it could mean a loss of your placing in the series.
in other news - dan the man (my mechanic) is getting wobblenaughted this weekend. he has seen the light....
that's it - gotta run.
sologoat out
sunday was a small field, late in the evening at 3:15pm. one barrier/run up and one barrier/stream/run-up combo. longer course, with some single track.
course was slick, field before the first run up was pretty soft.
pace was fast at first - a little too fast for me. there was a group with two ALAN riders (jimmy and shawn) and one other rider who quickly got away from me. they slowed, i chased.
and just when i was about to catch, shawn attacked - classic great move. jimmy sat on the other rider who chased - and the gap to them opened up again.
i slowly caught back up, and sat on for one lap. the non ALAN rider was pulling the entire time, and he was slowing. so through the field we went, with me the third rider.
i unleashed a super hard effort - i attacked with all i had through the field and up the run-up. a lap latter, jimmy was still on my tail. with his teammate ahead of us, it was job to try and pull shawn back - and i knew as soon as i caught him, i would probably get attacked by jimmy.
with 2 to go, i was not getting closer to shawn - and jimmy let me have it at the same spot shawn attacked. he went, and i had nothing to reply with - good move.
overall, legs felt kind of dead, but i am currently still holding the lead in the cleveland series... which will be tough to hold onto, as usual. the last race of the series usually has snow/ice and is cold as hell - and is double points. have a bad race there and it could mean a loss of your placing in the series.
in other news - dan the man (my mechanic) is getting wobblenaughted this weekend. he has seen the light....
that's it - gotta run.
sologoat out
11.11.2006
saturday cross wrap up
mud and rain, and lots of it.
this week was the 4th stop in the team lake effect cross series which had me leading the series by 1 point over paul martin.
paul was a no-show this race, but the rest of the top were on the starting line.
conditions were pretty bad from the start, but i got the good start and moved into the lead - which changed pretty quickly as i took a wrong turn. opting to ride my trainer for warm up left me not knowing the course - i have raced here before and i thought it was the same layout. not the case. dah.
the gap was there from my mistake, and the lead 5 took off. i chased and chased, and moved up into 4th place with 3 to go and felt pretty confident i had a good chance at 3rd, if not second - but two more unfortunate events happened.
as i got onto the wheel of the 3rd place rider, i washed out and went down. stupid mistake - looked up to see where he was and forgot where i was in the process.
then, just as i was getting back onto his wheel, the cut the race laps down by a lap - which sucks for me, as the 3rd place rider and 2nd place rider were slowing down.... oh well..
but - i did get a slight consolation prize in that everybody in the top 5 finished behind me (the top 3 riders today have missed at least one race, putting them behind in the series).
next stop - orrville tomorrow at 3:30pm. crazy late start, and with 24 hours of rain and mid 50 temps, we will have crazy mud.
some pics and a post up tomorrow.
sologoat out.
this week was the 4th stop in the team lake effect cross series which had me leading the series by 1 point over paul martin.
paul was a no-show this race, but the rest of the top were on the starting line.
conditions were pretty bad from the start, but i got the good start and moved into the lead - which changed pretty quickly as i took a wrong turn. opting to ride my trainer for warm up left me not knowing the course - i have raced here before and i thought it was the same layout. not the case. dah.
the gap was there from my mistake, and the lead 5 took off. i chased and chased, and moved up into 4th place with 3 to go and felt pretty confident i had a good chance at 3rd, if not second - but two more unfortunate events happened.
as i got onto the wheel of the 3rd place rider, i washed out and went down. stupid mistake - looked up to see where he was and forgot where i was in the process.
then, just as i was getting back onto his wheel, the cut the race laps down by a lap - which sucks for me, as the 3rd place rider and 2nd place rider were slowing down.... oh well..
but - i did get a slight consolation prize in that everybody in the top 5 finished behind me (the top 3 riders today have missed at least one race, putting them behind in the series).
next stop - orrville tomorrow at 3:30pm. crazy late start, and with 24 hours of rain and mid 50 temps, we will have crazy mud.
some pics and a post up tomorrow.
sologoat out.
11.08.2006
nada mucho
going on these days, but good to see the weather warming up this week in ohio.
two local cross races to hit up this weekend - lake effect's series on saturday and then a late race at 3pm'ish on sunday with the orriville guys. haven't hit up any of their races yet, so it should be a nice change to my usual cross schedule.
so, it's looking like roughly about a dozen'ish or so more cross races for the year, a few weeks break, then into training for the 2007 season which is taking shape already.
and - if you are looking for a deal on some higher end stuff - speedgoat is blowing out some of their demo bikes which includes 3 29er's - one of which is a Moots Mooto-X 29er with roloff hub. and, they also got some higher end road bikes too - a moots, a carbon parlee... nice stuff. my first higher end race bikes were actually speedgoat demo bikes at one time.
that's it for today - got to get to work...
sologoat out.
two local cross races to hit up this weekend - lake effect's series on saturday and then a late race at 3pm'ish on sunday with the orriville guys. haven't hit up any of their races yet, so it should be a nice change to my usual cross schedule.
so, it's looking like roughly about a dozen'ish or so more cross races for the year, a few weeks break, then into training for the 2007 season which is taking shape already.
and - if you are looking for a deal on some higher end stuff - speedgoat is blowing out some of their demo bikes which includes 3 29er's - one of which is a Moots Mooto-X 29er with roloff hub. and, they also got some higher end road bikes too - a moots, a carbon parlee... nice stuff. my first higher end race bikes were actually speedgoat demo bikes at one time.
that's it for today - got to get to work...
sologoat out.
11.05.2006
no race weekend
was supposed to hit up the pittsburgh cross race, but ended up getting really sick last night after eating some clams. was sick all night and half the morning.
not mucho happening these days - just getting in some rides and checking out the schedule for next year. looks like there are some changes coming down from the NORBA guys with some new formats for that could make marathons more "enduro" type of events. schedule (as of right now) is really not looking all that great again for us east coast riders, so hopefully this will open up the way for new events.
if you haven't checked out the speedgoat blog lately and you are a 29er freak, got to check it out. have some posts on there about crank lengths - would be interesting to hear what others think about one of the salsa guys comments that he actually runs shorter cranks on his 29er to help with out of corner speed. what he says makes sense, but i think i'll keep my 175's on.
and looks like mr. bishop got hurt pretty bad - broken bones in his jaw and a broken nose to boot at the la Ruta. good luck to our man harlan price down there...
with that, gotta run - proposals and resumes to get out this week.
sologoat out.
not mucho happening these days - just getting in some rides and checking out the schedule for next year. looks like there are some changes coming down from the NORBA guys with some new formats for that could make marathons more "enduro" type of events. schedule (as of right now) is really not looking all that great again for us east coast riders, so hopefully this will open up the way for new events.
if you haven't checked out the speedgoat blog lately and you are a 29er freak, got to check it out. have some posts on there about crank lengths - would be interesting to hear what others think about one of the salsa guys comments that he actually runs shorter cranks on his 29er to help with out of corner speed. what he says makes sense, but i think i'll keep my 175's on.
and looks like mr. bishop got hurt pretty bad - broken bones in his jaw and a broken nose to boot at the la Ruta. good luck to our man harlan price down there...
with that, gotta run - proposals and resumes to get out this week.
sologoat out.
11.02.2006
Racoon Cross Flyer - Nov 5th in the 'burgh
RACOON CROSS FLYER HERE
Race start times are a little different then the Cleveland series, so check it out as they start a little earlier.
Fields run about the same size, last time I was there Gunnar from Fort Cycles showed up, along with some tough guys from Eastern PA.
Depending on the layout, Gary could set it up with some mountain bike single track, but he has been setting them up lately as a classic cross course and doesn't put any of that in.
also - just an fyi - for you local yocals out there, CAMBA moved their next trail buidling/maintenance date. yours truely may make a guest appearance - stay tuned for an update within the next couple of days.
gots to run..
sologoat out.
Race start times are a little different then the Cleveland series, so check it out as they start a little earlier.
Fields run about the same size, last time I was there Gunnar from Fort Cycles showed up, along with some tough guys from Eastern PA.
Depending on the layout, Gary could set it up with some mountain bike single track, but he has been setting them up lately as a classic cross course and doesn't put any of that in.
also - just an fyi - for you local yocals out there, CAMBA moved their next trail buidling/maintenance date. yours truely may make a guest appearance - stay tuned for an update within the next couple of days.
gots to run..
sologoat out.
11.01.2006
speedgoat presents - vegas best in show
The 2007 Salsa Momasita
Salsa's newest addition to the their 29er line up, the Momasita. Scandium up front, carbon fiber rear end. Setup with a light rigid carbon fork and you are looking at around 20 pounds for a fully geared tricked out 29er that will make you not only go fast, but make others drool.
Read Chris's write up on the Speedgoat.com blog - link is above.
sologoat out.
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