pics from landahl

running le mans style start at landahl.



pretty cool picture of the run. this is about the first 100 yards or so.



on the bike with nat in hot pursuit. single track came up soon, so a good start was important. with the start being on a slight uphill, you had an advantage if you could run up it, then jump on cyclocross style.



coming in on my last lap. i was glad i was done eating mud for the day.



5 minutes after the end of the race. i felt beat up and was wishing i had a hamburger to eat.



mud, mud, everywhere. first half of the course was really bad, the second section was rideable - except the rocks.



podium shot with nat, ernesto and steve.

long version - landahl write up

here's the long version...

day started off nicely with clear skies and nice temps. during the course of the next 24 hours, it would soon change.

gun went off, and the run started. i had a good run, came in about 10th'ish or so, but with some mad cyclocross skillz, i was in 3rd place by the time we were all on our bikes, and then soon leading after a few hundered yards. nat passed me just before the first single track section, and cameron was on my tail. cameron would soon pass me when i bobbled on an uphill. nat and cameron took off.

with my heart rate hitting 187, i backed it off. way too early to run the heart that high. at about 6 miles in on my first lap, i flatted. i reached for my spare in my back pocket and i must of lost it during the run. fumbling for my tube under my saddle bag, i made the change. then, the bead didn't sit well on rim and then i almost popped the tube. had to deflate, get another co2 catridge and start all over again. i must of lost at least 5 minutes during that mess.

steve passed me, along with a few other riders. i chased hard and caught up to steve, and we duked it out for several laps back and fourth, most times coming in within 30 seconds of each other on our opening laps. the heat was coming down on us too - 92 plus degrees it hit during those opening hours.

at around 5 hours in, i started using a camelback with water in addition to my bottle on the bike. water on back, Hammer Heed or Sustained Energy on the bike. I felt a lot better now and passed steve on a single track rocky section while nat slowly built a lead with super fast laps. shortly before nightfall, nat passed me while i put time into steve.

after that, my gaps on steve grew and came down, nat seemed to be going steady and i didn't seem to be making up any time on him.

got the report shortly before 2am that they were going to stop the race. bad rain was coming and they were going to stop the race for 4 hours and adjust times. so, they stopped the race at 2am then added 4 hours to your time. that would be your start time. (for instance, steve got in at 2:06, so his start time was 2:06. i got in a lap ahead of him and got in at 3:10, so i went out at 7:10)

bonus for me here was that i got an extra lap in when it was dry. so with the skies looking bad and thoughts of this years national 24 hour race and the mess of a restart that was, i took off and went as hard as i could.

i came in at 3:10am, so my restart was 7:10 and within 5 minutes, i knew the last 5 hours was going to be tough. the first half of the trail was really bad - i would maybe go 100 yards, then would have to clear the mud off my bike so i could ride/push the next 100 yards. very tough riding - the type i like to say "builds character"... because it didn't rain enough to thin the mud out, it was more like a clay consistancy. literally, mud would stick to my tires an inch thick on the sidewalls.

so, with the race coming down to the final hours of a super muddy course, i was thinking it was going to be a battle of who could clean their bike the fastest for 2nd place.

i turned in three more laps and so does nat. steve ended up snapping a derailler hanger and had to walk back to the pit area for another bike.

at the end, nat won, i got second and steve came in third.

tough day, great course - when it is not muddy.

sologoat out

short write up - landahl

here's the short...

nat and cameron took off. steve and i chased. nat slowly built a lead with super fast laps, then lapped me shortly before nightfall.

steve and i were locked in battle in the approxiamte 92 degree heat. we went back and fourth several laps. shortly before nightfall, i passed him for the last time.

bad rain came in, they stopped the race at 2am, then added 4 hours to your time. that would be your start time. (for instance, steve got in at 2:06, so his start time was 2:06. i got in a lap ahead of him and got in at 3:10, so i went out at 7:10)

bonus for me here was that i got an extra lap in when it was dry - which was pretty crucial because conditions on the trail went from bad to worse. i would maybe go 100 yards, then would have to clear the mud off my bike so i could ride/push the next 100 yards. very tough riding - the type i like to say "builds character"...

when dry, the course was great - but muddy, jeez. i wish it would of just downpoured to thin the mud out.

with that, gotta catch a flight. pics up in the next day or two.

sologoat out.

pics up from Landahl & the cat is out

well, the cat is out of the bag - yep, i'll be at 24 hour worlds and not moab. i have been debating it all year and my thoughts are mixed between worlds and moab and i'll leave it at that.



soil is super dry here which is great for now, but can be slick if the rain hits this weekend. the words stupid fast come to mind.



"xxx" danger spots are all over the course - some bad, some not. while others, are simply not really marked. they assume by you seeing the huge rock and then a drop off, that you know it dangerous.



ouchy - watch out for those pointy, sharp rocky things. these guys are all over the course. gription on the tires is good, but just dont hit them.


e
this is around the 7 mile mark, where the trail opens a little bit before the last single/double track sections. the next single track section follows a ridge line and has a ton of turns in it with a ton of rocks with little ditches inbetween. fun, fun.



last little open section before the finish. overall, very flowing course. not bad at speed, but if you ride it slow, it is hard to stay upright. better to go fast and float over some of the rocks then to go slow and hit every one of the darn things.

that's it for today - next post will be on sunday/monday with complete recaps and pics.

wish me good legs, huge lungs and clear skies.

sologoat out.

out of ohio

and at the race venue.

wow - fast course, with lots of rocks and crazy squirrels running all over. course is super fast and flowing, with switchbacks and covered with rocks. it is one of those courses where you are flying on one section and cursing/slamming on your brakes on another.

all i can say is to keep that speed up to float over those rocks..

and the doomed wet stuff may come in - the fast concrete like soil could likely become slick as heck if it rains (or even thinks about raining). chances are likely the storms are going to come in later in the day in saturday, not until later at night. lets hope mother nature is nice to us.

solo field looks like it is going to be a battle for the series - nat ross and steve schwartz will be here bringing the field up to about 9 solo riders. going to be a great race.

cameron is coming as well - but he'll be racing on a team. he has another event later in the year that he is keying on. i'll keep you in suspense and just say that it is either worlds or moab.

with that - gotta run. pics will be up tomorrow AM, for now i have to get some rest.

sologoat out

next up - landahl

yep, the next venue on the ernesto world tour will be landahl. which leaves only question as far as my schedule goes....

worlds or moab?

decision has been made - but i'll leave you guessing for now.

check for updates - last one will be friday sometime mid-afternoon.

with that - gotta catch a plane.

sologoat out

weather

for the weekend is looking pretty awesome. nice cool temps and the rain is staying away from the venue - which is always a good thing.

pit crew for the next event is mean and lean - dan the man and my dad will be heading out and will have a massively huge new pit tent coming in at a whopping 10 foot by 15 foot - condo style.

bikes are runnning great - maybe swap some stuff out, but otherwise they will be pretty much left alone for the last two events of the year if you don't count the new schwalbe little alberts.

and - just a little fyi for you cross nutz out there - schwalbe will be offering cross tubulars in the upcoming future. now you got options other then TUFO if you run tubulars for cross tires.

and - preliminary on the cateye heart rate monitors are that they are working really well - except when mounted next to a light & motion vega light. i think the new types of transmiters are having "issues" when ran next to lighting systems, but don't quote me on that.

with that - gotta run. posse coming to pick up the bikes.

sologoat out

weekend update

not mucho going on these days - just training for the last season ending enduro races and getting the bikes setup for cross season.

last time i looked, hendershot was winning the kona 24 hour race that was going on, didn't get a chance to look at how it ended up. looked like 2nd place was just a few minutes behind him, but i couldn't tell.

so, it's looking like roughly a few more enduro races and then about a dozen cross races to finish out the year. switching from the long distance sustained effort to the hour long all out effort usually takes me a few races, but luckily, usually my endurance kicks in later in the cross races. i've found that cross is all about the last twenty mintues - if you can hold your own during those last few minutes, you can usually make up a few spots.

with that gotta roll - starting early to pack up this time for the next race.

stay tuned this week as i head out for my next adventure.

sologoat out

pics from shenandoah - part 2 of 2

line up for the start of the race - this was about 6:30am



chris scott at this point is shouting out instructions to us at this point. one good thing he premotes is no trash on the trail - this is easily accomplished through one of the race sponsors Hammer Gel who supplies both flasks and Gel to all the riders. Sweet.



the gun goes off for the start of the race and 400 racers shoot for a jeep trail - i end up about 30 riders back in all the confusion.



rouding the last corner at around 8 1/2 hours'ish. overall, felt pretty good during the day and felt like my climbing legs finally have come back to me as i have lost a little weight in the last few weeks.



just about to cross the finish line. showers, a hot meal and some cold brews were awaiting me.

shenandoah pics - round 1 of 2

more pics are going to be up tomorrow... for now - these are pics of the first climb on my pre-ride on saturday afternoon.



this is heading up to the first climb on a paved section. there were a few paved sections throughout the course which usually came after very hard sections - which served as nice little "breaks" to get to the next section.



this is still on the first climb - pavement turned to gravel, all while going upwards.



this is near the top of the first climb, right before the left hand that started the steeper, rougher area of the climb. thought the trees in front of me looked like palm trees, so i snapped off a picture.



the last 50 feet of the climb was pretty steep and seemed like you would drop off the end of a mountain at the top.



alas - no drop off. just another 90 miles to go.

round 1 of 2 pics done - pic post #2 up tomorrow.

sologoat out

shenandoah 100 report

09.01.06
Friday evening, headed out to the race venue with my parents in a SUV over packed with supplies for the weekend. Hurricane Ernesto fears were dancing in my head as the further east we got, the colder and wetter it became.

09.02.06
Awoke to cold and rain in Pennsylvania. Soon headed south and the weather cleared and temperatures were rising and drying out the ground.

Pre-rode the first 10 miles of the course which got me to the top of the first climb. In the first miles, it was real gradual and started out on the road. Then, it got a little steeper as it turned to unpaved jeep trails and towards the top you took a left hand turn and it got to be loose rocky stone that was decently steep at the very end. I could tell from the lack of good lines and how loose the stones was in the last mile of that climb that it would be the first real place the group would start to split up.

After some discussions about the course with other riders, I got back from the ride and switched out tires for some brand new treads and pumped the air pressure up to 55 pounds – hoping that my wheels would be flying on the tons of jeep trails that this course is known for.

09.03.06
4am wake up time was in order to get some grub and get to the venue. The local Waffle House is open 24 hours, so getting breakfast would be no problem. Get to the Waffle House, eat breakfast all the time being entertained by some drunken lady who was yelling at the top of her lungs across the diner to another patron. The story was something about a person she knew had her husband die when he was 34 because he was working 80 hour weeks to get a house. How did I know she was drunk? She must have repeated the same story 4 times in a matter of 15 minutes to the same person.

Got to the venue and got ready just in time for the 6:45’ish start. The pack was 400 riders and is was stacked with a lot of good riders – Chris Eatough, Jeremiah Bishop, Nick Waite, Harlan Price – just to name a few. It was going to be a fast race and word was out that Jerimah was there to break the course record.

Gun went off and there was a mad dash to the front for the next half mile. Things didn’t really didn’t thin out until the left hand turn on the first climb where it started getting steeper. Temperatures were cool at the start, but things were starting to heat up.

Soon after the top of the climb was the first section of single track. This section was rocky and rough – and was the first of many to come. By the time this section was through, the pack was split and little groups of riders were formed.

My group contained Garth Prosser, Justin Pokrivka, Dave Duvall and one other rider. We would split and regroup several times over the next 20 miles, until the second check point.

At check point two, I grabbed a quick bottle of Heed and started my way up the next climb. I dropped the group I was with and for the next 70 miles, I would only ride with two other racers – I was basically alone for the next 5 hours.

I was climbing well, but being cautious on the rocky descents. Most of the climbs were long and gradual and I was able to make up time and keep a high pace for long periods of time.

Shortly after the fourth check point started a gradual 20 mile climb – check point 5 was about 15 miles into the climb and then the last 4-5 miles continued upwards. On that climb, I met up and climbed with Visit PA rider Ray Adams who would finish 9th on the day. We rode together for awhile, but he was having chain suck/shifting issues and about 10 miles into the climb I ended up dropping him.

From check point 5, there was roughly only twenty miles left. A few more miles of the climb I was on, a long descent, another climb, and then about 4-5 mile mainly flat section. I just had to roll it in and keep upright to hold my 8th place.

The next 5 miles of climb seem to last an eternity – the altitude was around 4000 feet and because of the cloud coverage, it did not dry out completely. The trails were soft, rocky and in some sections steep and overgrown with weeds. This was probably the only section I really didn’t feel too good on the entire day and I was glad when the trail started heading down instead of up.

Right before the last check station, I recreated a scene from Superman during a stream crossing when my bike when right and I went left. Luckily, I somehow did not go down, but my bike was now dirt free as it lay in the stream I was trying to cross at 20 miles an hour.

I dropped off my hydration pack at station 6, got a fresh bottle of Heed and rolled up and over the last climb of the day – the last few miles were pretty scenic as you got a good view of the area on your way back to the start/finish.

At the end, I finished 8th place – roughly 60 minutes down on the flying Jerimah and 50 minutes down on Chris Eatough. Tough day in the saddle and it was a pretty good result considering the competition and that the course was new to me.

Hats off to race promoter Chris Scott – the course was marked out really well, trails were awesome and the venue/free beer/atmosphere were second to none. Definitely a race to include on the schedule for next year.

Sologoat out.

quick update from virginia

check the pic for results - the trek boyz were flying today and the field was maxed out at 400 riders.

weather was amazing - a cool approximate 60'ish degrees for the start, about 75'ish by the end. nice breeze blowing for most of the day.

course was damp in some areas, soft mud at one point around the 90-95 mile mark that made that section last forever.

more race pics and updates tomorrow.

sologoat out.

scheduling and riding

are about the only things i am doing right now.

enduro races wrapping up - one this weekend and a few more to go. scheduling conflicts have been the story for me this year as i seemed to have missed out on some of the smaller races i have hit up in years past. with a lot going on this year in my personal life, turning pro, etc - i tried to concentrate on the bigger races. the debate with going to smaller races is that you chance getting hurt and a big effort that is not properly scheduled can hurt your efforts for your major events. rest plays an important factor during all of this, so you have to take that into consideration too. hopefully, the enduro calander next year will not have so many conflicts.

so - i am heading out this weekend for the last of the ultra series races - the shenandoah 100. rumor is around town that all the trek boyz will be there, and of course, harlan price will be there to collect his series win. and - gripped films will also be out there shooting footage for the eatough documentary as they are local to the area. so wear your best riding clothes and smile nice for the camera.

local series info has been posted for most of the ohio cyclocross season, with details on nationals not yet posted. scheduling conflicts most times are not an issue as it looks like i am going to hit up quite a few races this year (at least a dozen cross races) including a few UCI events, Ohio state champs and Cross Nationals in Rhode Island in mid December.

i'll have links up for the races along with my cross schedule (i'm not so secretive about that schedule!) by next week.

in the meantime, the weather for the shenandoah 100 seems to be a toss up right now. will ernesto (the hurricane) and ernesto (myself) have to face each other this weekend? needless to say, the weather will sure be an intersting opponent this weekend.

with that - gotta eat and figure out a cross wheelset for this year... decisions, decisions...

sologoat out

hurricane ernesto has arrived

i took some time off this week to head south for some training on the beach. the locals saw me and came up with a nickname for me, calling me "hurricane ernesto" because i was kicking up so much sand from my rear wheel from my mad power.

in other news...

next enduro race coming up soon. stay tuned.

sologoat out.

the goat speaks out

had some questions/comments the last few days that i thought was worth mentioning....

regarding wattage:
looks like for us off road disc users, there are not too many options. there is an option for the ergometer system, but the issue with that is their system uses an isis bb to measure wattage. and i guess the bottom brackets are not the best of quality and if they need to be sent back, they are going overseas to get fixed.

and as far as the powertap goes, there are no disc specific hubs, only hubs that are 135mm. the only option i could possibly think of here is running only a front brake and maybe putting a shim on the rear brake so you don't accidentally squeeze your hydrolic brake. and, i probably would only do this during training rides on the local yocal bike path - and i wouldn't be bombing down some crazy downhill.

otherwise, you would need to go super high end with something like the SRM power meters - which, with two bikes, is not really an option.

offhand, though i did not check, sometimes the guys at problem solvers make some products that could be useful - maybe this is one area where they should start looking.

regarding cross crank setup:
the crank i pictured the other day will have both the ring and the gaurd on the outer ring - the gaurd will be spaced out.

this setup is required as my frame runs 135mm rear spacing (normally, moots cross frames run 130mm - this was custom for me) and because of such, the bottom tubes on the rear triangle flare out a little bit more then usual and i could not run the ring in the middle and the gaurd on the outside.

i have two moots cross frames - both have 135mm rear spacing. my original bike can run the ring on the middle and the gaurd on the outside when i run a 135. but - i ran a old ti race face bb and just moved out the bb a little on the drive train side.

other option is to run a little bit bigger bb spindle length to space it out a little more. but, options are really dependent upon the frame, what ring you are going to run and also what crank.

also - other thing to watch on the crank. some cranks run one of the ring bolts on the actual arm of the crank. if this be the case (campy and ritchey cranks) then spacing out the gaurd on the big ring may not work.

best bet - ask dan the man at speedgoat or chris - they worked out all the details for me and actually weighed out everything as well.

with that all that talk - now it's time to ride.

sologoat out.

08.24 - you want me

on your cross bike...

here's the newest addition to my main moots cross bike - a 2006 dura ace crank with a 42 ring and a salsa chaingaurd. dan and i ran the numbers pretty much a thousand different ways and this was pretty much the way to go light and strong without going carbon.

i'll run this crank with a third eye catch and no front derailler.

while it is light, i run this setup mainly because i have found that i rarely shift into a bigger ring during cross races and when i did have two rings, it seemed not shift that great because of the mud build up and the fact that you usually have a ton of tension on the chain and that i was loosing time having to ease up to upshift and downshift on the front ring.

also, on those random times when the chain did drop, i seemed to have a difficult time getting the chain back on in the heat of battle.

though, it's mainly preference as to why i do it.

also, out of preference, i had my last moots cross bike made without water bottle mounts as i normally don't run water bottles during a one hour cross race. if you have to really run one to go out on a ride, then there is an option. twofish actually makes a water bottle mount that comes with a velcro mount. not the prettiest thing in the world, but if you hate taking on/off water bottle cages on your cross bike for races, it is an option.

more pics and posts on cross setup later - possibly even a youtube video instructional on dismounts/remounts. exciting stuff.

sologoat out.

08.23 - tifosi review

is now posted at the SPEEDGOAT.COM BLOG. i did a write up on the Q3, quam 1.5 and the backlash. check it out.

also, a work in process has started on my new page ERNESTOMARENCHIN.COM. it's going to be a slow process as a buddy is helping me with it in his spare time. the second set of revisions should be up sometime this week, with hopefully the last update some time next week to finialize everything.

in the meantime, this site will stay up as i like some of the features and it is pretty easy to use.

in other news...

cranks have been ordered for my main moots cross bike. after hours of looking at weights, price, carbon vs. aluminum, etc - what we came down with for the best weight option without going the carbon way was the 2 piece dura ace with a 42 middle ring and salsa chain gaurd on the outside. just didn't want to go the carbon route.

and - looks like no interbike for me this year. vacation days are whittling down to negative and it is basically looking like i could either do a race or go to interbike. so.... this year, i am passing. though, if you have never been there and get the opportunity to go, i think it is defintely worth the trip just to see the spectacle of it all. bikes, bike geeks and pretty girls as far as the eye can see.

with that, gotta run.

sologoat out

08.22.06 - random updates

CYCLING NEWS has updates from criterium championships that were held last week. congrats go out to local A&F team for two in the top ten and paul martin who came in the top 20.

and, WOBBLENAUGHT fit guru Jim Baldasare has a pretty kewl pic up on the cycling news site during the cat 1 race. you can check him out here. he's got the field strung out big time in this pic.

to note, jim has won this race in years past with the GOMART team. the year he won, paul martin led him out at some unbelievable speed and everybody was holding on for dear life. paul led the field out so fast that he actually opened up a gap on a flat section of road. when paul is on, paul is flying.

not mucho going on these days, just laying low trying to stay healthy and rest up for the last enduro races of the year. preliminary on the cateye heart rate monitor is that it seems to be working really well. nice options, nice price, etc. i think it is the next best alternative to sigma in the lower end heart rate monitors. sometimes i think that the higher end monitors just has too many buttons - they are nice to play with during a training ride, but when you are in the heat of the battle in a race and all you want is to see your heart rate and time, it can be a hassle to go through all the buttons just to see what your heart rate is without running into a tree.

that's just my 2 cents.

schwalbe has some nice cross tires called the CX PRO that are avaialable in both foldable and wire bead. tread looks very similar to the TUFO design and comes in at just a tad under 300 grams a tire for the foldables. they'll be on my next order along with a set of STELVIO for the road bike to finish out the season. why the stelvio? dual compound for longer wear pattern, light, puncture resistant.... and they have multiple color options including pink. heck ya.

that's it - gotta ride.

sologoat out

08.19 - fancy shorts

so, last thursday was a local yocal low key 10 mile out and back two man time trail. the locals get their 1000 dollar bikes with their 2500 dollar wheelsets and go like hell for 10 miles.

so, i converted my asylum into time trail mode (pumped the tires up to 65 pounds and locked out the front shock) and headed on down to the race start.

and it was the perfect opportunity to try out some plaid shorts beth at speedgoat gave me awhile back.

race went pretty well - i think the top guys did the 10 miles on the high side of 22 minutes and we came in around 25 minutes. good change of pace.

today - just a long tempo ride in the rain. the moots compact has been riding really well so i have been sticking to that bike a lot as it rides really nice. didn't get it tricked out with the SL tubes as i don't do enough road racing to warrant me getting it. i will say hands down, as far as cross and road frames go, moots has to be my favorite.

well, gotta run - domestic stuff to do today. which, honestly, is hard for me as i pretty much have to write my house projects down in training schedule to make time for it.

later - sologoat out.

08.17 - i can throw a pigskin a quarter mile

well, maybe not. but i can throw a football over that mountain...

ahhhh.... sorry - enough with the movie quotes.

late nighter last night as ernesto had to work super late. makes a long day seem even longer but with the local hike/bike path super busy as of late, it was nice to get on the trail where the only thing i had to deal with was dive bombing bats going in for "bug kills."

heart rate monitors are in - will be testing them out on today's local yocal two man time trail where i will be riding my time trail asylum complete with my super low profile non-aero everything. i'll be racing it with a buddy of mine - which i may be a hinderance since he is riding his mountain bike with 26 inch wheels which everybody knows by now is just silly to be doing.

just joking... still have a few 26 inch wheeled mountain bikes around...

powertap stuff is in - but, there was a slight mix up and i got a regular powertap and not the powertap pro as i ordered. so, no crazy wattage screen shots to look at yet.

local ohio cross events are coming up - stayed tuned as i post the info in a few days or so.

and - that's about it. just trying to stay fit, keep the weight off and get prepped for my last races.

with that... sologoat out.

08.15.06 - gearing up for cross

is what's been going down the last few days or so...

with the end of the enduro season coming up soon, my full cross season pretty much starts about 6 days after with my first races of the year. i'll possibly hit a few up before my last enduro race, but my concentration will be on enduro's until they are over for the year.

so right now, cross freaks around the US are gearing up - what tires to run, what wheelsets to use, so i run a single or a double up front? decisions, decisions...

thankfully, my two bikes are pretty much set with a few exceptions. need to figure out a crank for my main bike as i want to go light, but need to consider that my moots cross bikes have 135 rear spacing - which causes some issues with what chainring i can run up front as the ring may hit the frame.

and the other setup decision is regarding wheelsets. tubular carbon with TUFO cross tubulars are super light and super cool. unfortunately, they are also super expensive.

this year i have plans on hitting up both the Ohio State Cross Championship race and then Cross Nationals as well. both are a week apart about mid-way through december. i have always wanted to do cross nationals, and since it is on the east coast this year, and my motivation for the cross seasonn is at an all time high, it wiil be a nice way to end out the racing season.

so, i gotta get all setup for cross now or it will be too late in october to do any work on the bikes as far as setup goes.

asylums are getting a nice little workover before the end of season as well - new drive trains and fresh schwalbe tires. everything else is working great, so nothing else needs switching out.

hammer gel order about to go down - ordering up my last major order for the year in the next day or so. endurolytes, premium insurance, anti fatigues, race caps, and gels are just a few things on order. i have to give a shout out to these guys - their products are second to none. very helpful staff, user groups. if you haven't checked out their "guide to success" PDF, do so now.

with that - gotta run. tifosi review up in the next couple of days along with some possible write ups on my powertap that is coming from the 'goat!

stayed tuned - same goat time, same goat channel....

sologoat out.

08.11.06 - update on my heart

rate monitor status.

well, it seems like a few others have had issues with the sigma monitors. overall, i would say that they are an OK product but they seem to come with a battery that is just a tiny bit smaller then the standard US battery. this causes the back plate of the watch to sit up a little higher then ususual, thus causing the ever so important seals of the watch to "not" seal.

if i were to use them again, i would recomend getting replacement batteries from sigma direct for the battery for the monitor. the transmitter seems to work OK with the batteries from the local yocal target store.

so, i just ordered the same cateye heart monitors that MR. KERKOVE uses. these will be used on the mountain/cross bikes and sometimes on the road when i am going "old school" low-tech like and not running the newly ordered powertap schtuff.

should be interesting to see the results of the data - work has forced me to be a database kind of tech geek, so i have this mindset now that information is knowledge and the more i can get, the better.

hmm... sounds like i am selling something...

in other news... some interesting reads out there in cyberspace....

NAT ROSS CYLCING NEWS UPDATE
is now posted. read about his write up on 24 hour nationals. and dare i say, his second place is coming off of his RAAM ride, then his race at marathon nationals. nat is riding really well this year...

SPEEGOAT BLOG UPDATE ON SRAM ROAD KIT
click the link to the blog section and check out chris's update on the SRAM kit. latest posts are regarding the front shifter and the kewl carbon crank.

LIGHT & MOTION PRESS RELEASE
is out regarding 24 hour nationals. seems that 4 out of the top 5 riders were running light & motion lighting systems. hmmmm.... would the words lightweight, reliable, and long burn times seem super awesome to you? heck ya - that's why i made the switch over to their lighting systems a few years back.

with that, gotta run - have a good weeekend, keep the rubber side down.

now, time to drink some more coffee...

sologoat out.

08.09.06 - heart rate failure

or should i say, heart rate monitor failure. my heart rate monitor to me has become an everyday indicator of how the body is feeling.

when my heart rate monitor is not working, i become confused, ticked off and tend to become a jerk.

so, i think i am pitching all my sigma monitors and making the switch to another brand. they go through batteries like crazy and the "little" rain storm at nationals fried out my last heart rate monitor.

considering going with the lower end cateye heart rate monitors for everyday use and off road, and then go full bore with a cycle-ops powertap unit and wheel. going from nothing to data overload in about a week.

catch with most of these systems that can also track cadence and wattage is that it relies on some costly part to gauge wattage. the drawback to the powertap unit is the hub - not only because the hub is heavy unless you go super high end, but also the hub does not come with an option for disc.

what up with that?

so, stay tuned. bars and charts to come at ya in the near future.

not mucho going on, other then training and getting prepped for the next race coming up in a few weeks. will be my first time at this venue and it is supposidly a super kewl course.

with that, gotta run. oh - and watch out for a tifosi optic review of the quam and a few other of thier models coming out this week.

sologoat out.

08.05.06 - the ernesto chronicles

GRIPPED FILMS who made the "off road to athens" documentary, is currently in production of their next project. This project will highlight Chris Eatough going for his 7th consectutive 24 Hour Worlds win. Ken Bell (pictured) and Jason Perry will be working on the project which is sponsored by Trek Bicycles.



this was the first interview i have done with them, and there will probably be a few more. other riders that will be interviewed will include Nat Ross, Cameron Chambers and Mark Hendershot - to name a few.



questions ranged from how did i get involved in 24 hour racing, current sponsors and what would it take to beat chris at worlds.

if you haven't heard about either documentary, you should at least check out their site.

the film is going to give the enduro world some good press, so watch for it's release in early 2007.

sologoat out.

08.03.06 - randomness & figuring things out

still trying to recover from last weeks adventure...

and it looks like CYCLING NEWS has updates in the mountian bike world posted. check out the write up on 24 hours nats and the wilderness 101. great ride shout out to harlan who just about sealed up the ultra series by winning the 101. he just needs to finish the virginia race and that's it. great job.

also - WOBBLENAUGHT has a write up on 24 hour nationals posted. is it by chance that 3 out of the top 5 riders at the race were "wobblenaughted"? hmm.. i think not.

also got a shout out about how many 29ers were at nationals - honestly, i would have to say that i notice more of the top guys riding the 29ers percentage wise, but for single speeds - jeez, i would have to say the majority (if not most of them) were riding 29ers. i've said it before and i'll say it again - if you are going single speed, 29ers make so much sense as they carry the speed so much better.

so the ultra series is wrapping up, end of the enduro season is in the headlights and cross season is coming up fast.

time to rethink, schedule, plan.

before i started racing seriously, i never planned anything out. i rode hard this day, even harder the next and went with how i was feeling today and didn't think about tomorrow.

you want to race enduro? gots to plan it all out.

so, i have just spent the last approximate 30 minutes disucssing race plans and training schedules through october with Jim Baldesare who has been my coach since day 1 and who is also a WOBBLENAUGHT fit guru. diet, training, resting, racing were all topics of today. i felt a need to get refocused on the rest of the year, so he's always the first guy i turn to.

so we made some slight adjustments, refocused and i think i am mentally set for the rest of the year. and now, as my father says, "all you have to do is ride the bike"...

speaking of which, watch out for a blog entry of race quotes from my father. i guess he has come up with some good ones when i was out on the race course, so i am coming up with a list... stay tuned to laugh your wheels off.

with that, gots to run.

stay calm, breathe deep, focus, think happy thoughts. and race your brains out.

sologoat out.

08.02.06 - 24 hour nat write ups

here's a list o links regarding 24 hour nats..

TREK BIKES
write up on the trek home page. chris was riding 2007 trek bikes and the 2007 XTR.

CYCLING NEWS
brief write up from steve medcroft, more to come.

24-9
write up from the race organizer. where is the 2007 24 hour nats at? same venue - sharpen up your skillz and do your anti-rain dance.

RIDE WITH NICK MARTIN
Jon "Poz" Posner write up and audio posts.


with that, i am still bummed out by how the race ended because i felt like i was coming on strong, but it was probably the most fair thing for the results.

i just hope that the race organizers take what happened with the weather into consideration for next year.

overall, i would say that the event was very well run and from the standpoint of my pit crew, it had great facilities and everything was freshly stocked and cleaned. which is saying a lot - especially when we can all think of some of the nightmare conditions of other races that we all have been at in the past.

with that, i set my eyes to the rest of the season. a few more enduro's and holy smokes...

cross sesason starts next month?!

with that - gots to run.

sologoat out.

08.01.06 - 24 hour national pictures

start of the race - typical le mans style run out to the bikes. didn't have too awesome of a run as it was somewhat hampered by the way the start/finish was marked up.

had to run through a gate setup that was wide enough for one rider - that bottle necked and i ended up getting on my bike somewhere around 25th place.



fueling up. hammer gel caps were downed with a flask full of coca cola. used to drink red bull. why the switch?

red bull - 4 cans at 8 bucks. coca cola - 24 cans for 8 bucks.



off for another lap. i try to keep pits super short.



kewl night shot before all hell broke loose with the weather.



podium shot. there were about 25'ish guys in our field. congrats to everybody racing and thanks for all the support from all the sologoat fans out there.

07.30.06 - NORBA 24 race update

5th place. tough day that was called short due to tornado warnings. rain/thunder hit around 6am'ish and was a complete downpour, crazy ass winds and lighting.

got to the safety of a water station only to find 60 of my 24 hour friends underneath. we hudled together for warmth, like a bunch of penguins.

JEFF KERKOVE has a more in depth write up - check out the link.

race was a tough one, the heat and humidity and the begining hit me pretty hard. had dehydration head aches pretty early in the day and then decided the night would be my time to make up time.

night came, i was feeling a lot better and i was making up time. i was feeling a lot better then i was durning the day - but i think it was the same for the others as well.

one clothing change brough sloane past me, then i caught him by the end of the lap. little did i know that the check out time on that lap would be the last one that counted.

went out around 5:30'ish and it looked like hell. i could see huge storms and the lighting lite the sky, but we were not getting rain, it was windy as hell and i couldn't hear no thunder.

15 minutes later, all hell broke loose. it was raining so hard i could only see 10 feet in front of me and i went as hard as i could because i feared getting hypotherrmia.

by the time i made it to the second check point, i was relieved. but not really. eddie was there, and eventually, nat, sloane and chris e all came in.

when they started the race back up, they said to go out in the order we came in. ya, right. we took off, i got to the front and eddie quickly passed me. he had a 9 minute gap on me at that time, so i let him go as i figured it was only fair.

that lap finished up, but i wanted to get back out. conditions on the trail were super crappy, sloppy, wet, slick. it was whistler 2005 all over again and i was loving it.

i passed eddie in the pits, and i made it to the end of the lap without him catching me. i had made it into the fourth spot.

then i find out the race orgaizers ended the race and that basically your lap out time at 5:30 was your finish time. not so great, because i felt like i was really coming on and that i race really well when the weather gets cruddy, but it was probably the most fairest thing they could of done at that point.

and hats off to eddie o who had a great race.

top 5 solo -
1. chris e
2. nat ross
3. mark hendershot
4. eddie o
5. ernesto

that's it - about to post some pics.

also, want to thank everybody who said hello or who cheered me on during this event. seemed like i had a lot of fans out there - thanks for the support.

sologoat out.

07.30.06 - pit crew update 3

07.29.06 - pit crew update 2

07.28.06 - last update before 24 hour nats

course still bone dry - possible chance of showers later tomorrow. with the trail as hard packed as it is, looks like the course could get slippy as hell if it gets wet.

hendershot is here, and it looks like both cameron and nat ross are here as the subauru gary fisher cars are both here. eddie o is here and jeff k is around, but i didn't see him at all.

trek and chris are all setup - didn't see him out today but you can't miss that huge trek monster trailer.

gripped films are out here doing a documentary on chris as he goes for his 7th win at worlds this year - both hendershot and i did an interview, nat and cameron were going to be interview later today. (these guys shot the "off road to athens" documentary). the film will be later released at sea otter.

that's it - the last update until after the race.

for my fellow racers this weekend - keep the rubber down and have a safe race.

sologoat out

07.28.06 - pics from nats

some of the single track - course is fast and smooth. twisty, turny, got to watch those corners.



more single track - there is not a single climb on the entire course.



when it's not single track, it's jeep trail.



some of the rocks - sections of rock are here and there, very short that you can get through in about minute or so.

overall, the course is fast with very little if no climbing. lap times are going to be fast, so watch out for some hour/sub hour lap times.

heat looks like it may be a factor, but it wasn't yesterday. was a little warm for those sitting around, but it was actually not too bad in the woods.

with that, gotta run - getting some breakfast, picking up dan the man and doing another lap.

sologoat out.

07.26.06 - pit crew update 1

07.26.06 - ernesto audio update 1

07.26.06 - packing for nationals

is what has been going down. lights charged, pit crew came (dad/drew/my sister) and picked up the majority of my stuff, and now i am getting last minute stuff ready like...

1. new batteries for heart rate monitors
seems my sigma heart rate monitors go through a ton of batteries - as soon as they get a little weak, they stop working. i'm thinking of switching out to polar as it has some options for wattage, which i don't know if the wattage numbers are accurate. anybody that can give me some feedback in this area? ideally, it would need to work with both my road and mountain bike.

2. loading up the ipod
getting some new tunes on the nano - considering riding with it during the night, but we'll see.

3. reading material for the flight
i am now on a mission to read "a scanner darkly" by philip k. dick before i see it in the theatres. if you haven't seen the trailer for it, check it out. very cool filming. and for you NPR freaks, you may want to see if there are any podcasts out there - they had 45 minutes of interviews yesterday regarding the film. incidentally, this same authors writing's can easily be seen to have an influence on films like total recall and the matrix series. and - blade runner is also another movie that was based on his book "do androids dream of electric sheep"... food for thought.

4. setting up audio updates for the pit crew:
now completed and tested. possible text updates as well.


random updates:

1. another ernesto interview
happening this friday. can't let the secret out of the bag yet, but stayed tuned for more details.

2. SRAM is in the 'goat house.
that is, speedgoat. chris at the shop has the new SRAM road stuff in and installed and once again, he has a blog entry with crazy detail.

read the entry at the speedgoat blog called LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP

that's it - gotta run. my offical "freaking out time" before a 24 hour race has now started and is in full effect, so please excuse my randomness of the upcoming week.

stay tuned...

sologoat

07.24.06 - random pre NORBA 24 updates

ah, short ride to spin out the legs tonight. been working on some new pedal technique that i'll go into after i get back from nationals. wobblenaught came up with up it and i have been trying to incorporate it for the past couple of months. very interesting stuff - nat ross has been using it this year, along with the UCI ranked #1 woman.

thanks to celeste out at schwalbe for sending me some of their little alberts - been running these tires for the past two seasons with great results. very good hook up in all conditions. been generally running them around 40-42 pounds, around 35'ish when the conditions get wet. very good either out west in the sand or in the peanut butter mud out here in the east. awesome all around tire.

looking like moderate tempertures for this weeekend, but it looks like it is getting some rain out there.

new helmet for me (see the pic above silly). some super genius (myself) decided that black was a great helmet color as it would look good with my kit and hide the dirt. hmm.....

well, at some time during the first hours of the 24 hours of conyers when the 94 degree heat was beating down on my black helmet, i decided that maybe a lighter colored helmet may be better.

that's it - gots to make some calls and plan my departure for thursday.

sologoat out.

07.23.06 - 6 days to go

until 24 hour nationals. should be a "who's who" of solo 24 hour racing as there seems to be no conflicts with other races.

i'll be heading out to the big show on thursday morning where i'll meet up with 3/4's of my pit crew (dad, sister and brother in law) and then the next day, dan the man comes in.

speedgoat trip was a success on saturday - picked up the soma project bike that has been a work in process for months, and probably will be for another few weeks. too much stuff to do, and it's a winter bike...

extra light came in from lights in motion, schwalbe tires should come tomorrow, hammer gel nutrition stuff is in stock at my casa. all is good.

brother in law has the lap top with the super duper wireless dial up card and i'll hook him up with the login for the blog, so stayed tuned. i promised updates for other races, i'm hoping to get it for this one as it looks like they may not update their site that often for the national race...

and - if anybody knows how the solo race for killington went, please pass it on. was wondering how rob l did...

with that - gots to run....

sologoat out

07.21.06 - hammer gel product review

ah, product reviews. something i have not done a lot of this year, so it is time to play catch up.

first on the plate of reviews - hammer gel.

i have been using hammer gel products for over 4 years now, and it started on a quest to find something that didn't update my stomach during my enduro races. those first races were painful enough, and when i had to deal with digestive issues and not getting enought calories in me, it really made those first races difficult.

i picked up hammer gel last year as a sponsor - not only did they solve my issue of having stomach issues with fuel intake, but they also came to the rescue in providing supplements as well. i saved time not shopping around, as well as money with the shipping.



one of the first changes i made to my supplements this year was with premium insurance caps.

i have been taking multi-vitamins on and off for years, so this seemed like a logical choice. it's a good choice so far, and i have always liked the fact that their products are high quality and doesn't cause conflicts with any of their other products.



and the other addition to my intake has been with race day boost, which is very similar to their race caps supreme, only in powder form.

the powder is a cheaper alternative to the caps (which i use during races and longer training rides) or in addition to the caps, as i have been doing this year. if you haven't used any of the hammer lactic acid buffer products, the caps and the powder is the products to use. who wouldn't like these benefits?

- Prolong endurance
- Increase performance time at anaerobic threshold
- Provide unsurpassed lactic acid buffering

only suggestion on the powder is to make sure the cup you are pouring it into is dry or else the powder may clump on the bottom. and also, i would suggest putting the powder into the cup first, then mixing the powder as you pour your OJ (or whatever else) into the mix.

drink up.

and - two other suggestions on hammer products.

suggestion #1-ATHLETES GUIDE TO SUCCESS
read it. read it again. then read it a third time. why? a lot of the mistakes i made during my first eduro events probably could of been avoided as most of them were mentioned in the guide. if you do any type of enduro event, this would have to be a "must read" guide.

suggestion #2-
after reading the guide, you need to take into consideration that every body is different, and that people are going to react differently to fuel intake and supplements during race day.

test your intake well in advance - don't let your race be your testing ground for what fuel your stomach can take and what it can't. better to find it out during a test ride then at an event where it has cost you a lot of time, money and effort to get to.

with that said - hammer on you enduro freak.

sologoat out.

07.17.06 - post breck update

hey all actionphotographic has pics from the breck up. got some good shots - the pic above is at the top of the first climb. (for those searching, my # was 108).

on the topic of races this weekend, i see that the NORBA marathon national had somewhat of a lame-o course and mr travis brown won. too bad on the course. i really wish the format would somewhat change on the marathons to be at the 6 or 8 hour type of event as i think sometimes the events are too short.

with that, not mucho to update you all on, other than i making a trip out to the goat this weekend to work on the asylums and pick up the soma winter bike project that has been going on for months.

and - i gots some plans to start doing some product reviews, so look out for those. they'll be on the products i use everyday, most from sponsors, some not - so, stay tuned, yo.

sologoat out.

07.16.06 - a crash, 2 flats, and a upset tummy

hey all, update for ya.. don't have a complete list of the top ten, but i'll do my best...

friday's pre-race banquet was pretty good, but slowly turned to confusion as the race organizers tried to explain (in great detail) trails that most people in the room had no idea what he was talking about. at first, what seemed like a normal race suddenly had a lot of people in a panic about the route.

(i will note - that however scarce some of the markings were, they were pretty well done considering the length of the course. i didn't have any major issues with the markings, but you had to be paying attention at all times.)

gun went off at the 6am start, and it was a bit chilly. rough numbers for the 100 miler were about 100. most riders were wearing arm warmers but slowly the temps would creep up to what felt like the high 80's, low 90's.

first climb went up and up and up, and then up some more. the field slowly strung out and i found myself somewhere in the top 15'ish at the end of the first climb which took roughly 1 hour to climb the 12500 foot peak and included a snow crossing.

i started the decent down. it was slippy and filled with deep ruts and big rocks. i made my way down carefully, but not carefully enough. in one of the deep ruts, my rear wheel hit a rock and it threw me off my bike. my head immediately hit the ground knocking me very silly. silly enough i couldn't stand up for a second and had to sit down for a second or two - then i gathered up the yard sale of a crash as i picked up my bike here, my bottle there, and my glasses over here.

i continued on.

i made it down the rest of the way safely, got on the bike path section and started hauling down the trail. got into the next section of trail that had some single track and then...

flat...

dang. so i fixed it as fast as i could. 5 minutes lost.

cool. start pedaling. 20 feet later...

dang...

bad tube. another flat.

fix it. now 10 mintues lost.

i slowly make up the places i lost, and by the time i get back to the spot i was in before i flated, i finish off the first lap.

i go out for my second lap, and i am flying. i climb into the top ten as i pass at least 6 riders. the climbing on this section is very tough, and it seemed like most of it was well over 11000 feet.

then, i start to not feel well. i push on.

about 20 miles into the second lap, i stop - i was about to throw up and felt really light headed. the feeling passes, then i push on again. but i only make it about 15 feet before it comes back again. i go on, but i drink no more liquid/food until the aid station where i get some water in me.

i push on to finish my second lap, but i am not feeling good. my stomach is upset and i am feeling drained from the altitude. with nationals two weeks out, i did not want to put myself in a deep hole that i couldn't get out of before nationals.

i dnf'd - along with about 70 others in the solo class.

from what i heard from most of the east coasters, they all went through something similar to what i felt, sometimes with difficulty breathing.

winner was a local who won it last year (rides for giant), 2nd place was harlan, some local on a single speed was 3rd who was hella fast (updated as of 5pm - "some local guy on a single speed" true name is Tim G!), kip (sorry - don't know last name) was 4th, and i guess garth p was around 5th at the end of the 2nd lap, but ended up around 10th.

(results may be off - look to offical website for results)

that's it - will i be back next year? yep - and i think more time to acclimate is in order....

overall, the course was spectacular - the kind of course that out of the corner of your eye you could see this amazing scenery, but you dared not took your eye off the single track in front of you so you wouldn't go sliding down the hill a quarter mile.

with that, i depart, with visions of nationals in my head. time to rest up, work on the bikes and charge up some batteries.

sologoat out.

07.14.06 - update on the breck

just gots done ridding some of the breck course. looking like it is super dry and the first climb is a tough one. jeep trail with loose rocks. it's a pretty long climb, elevation goes up fast and soon you are passing up snow.

didn't go too far up, but from what i can tell, the course will be really dry.

also, the heat is shooting up - hit around 90 today, so hopefully the possible rain coming in will cool it down. tomorrow will have a chance of scattered showers, so that may cool it down additionally.

town is really cool, but expensive. overall, the scenery is beautiful and the riding (i am sure) will be epic tomorrow.

not sure when i can update again, stay tuned. hope to have updates up by late sunday.



with that, greetings from colorado. wish me big lungs tomorrow when i am 12500 feet.

sologoat out.

07.11.06 - getting ready for the breck

so, i have started the slow process of packing up for another trip out west. this time, out to colorado.

haven't been out there for years - last time was when i was living in boulder when i was right out of college. went out to live the biker lifestyle. riding was awesome and i was making ends meet with temp accounting jobs as i had very little work experience at the time and i didn't want anything permanent.

i was out there for roughly 6 months, then i got a job back home, so i had to leave. my first real accounting job was calling my name.

so, 8 years later, i now return. i left colorado a category 3 road racer and expert mountain biker, and return a cat 1 cross/cat 2 road and pro mountain biker.



funny how life works out sometimes.

with that, gots to pack up and get some riding in before my thursday departure.

sologoat out.

07.10.06 - update from the goat

well, my new webpage is very slowly being developed. super slowly, that is. since i have been super busy, haven't had a whole lot of time to devote to it.

you can check it out here

the blog will stay up as blogger has some nice features, but the above website will have some additional content like photos, additional write-ups, reviews, etc. if anybody has some thoughts as to what to include, i am open ears.

next race - breckenridge 100.

been years since i have been in colorado, so it should be a good trip. 3 loops, each about 30 miles'ish. tons of climbing and lots of green stuff to look at.

few weeks later, then off to 24 hour nationals. don't know how big the field will get, but it's going to be stacked.

with that, gotz to run. stay tuned for breck updates and photos.

sologoat out.

07.09.06 - back in ohio

and back to the joby job tomorrow.

sea food and rest did me some good as i will need it for the upcoming 24 hour nationals and next weeks adventure.

givin' a shout out to those up in NY who did the 6 Hours of Power - is one of my favorite local races to do, but due to the fact i would of have one helluva drive to get up there from where i was at, i bagged it. if anybody knows who the top three was, send it my way.

with that, gotta run. will be heading out thursday this week to the next race and all i will say for now about my next race is... head west young man..

sologoat out.

07.06.06 - testing the new asylum prototype

looks almost like a beach cruiser, eh?

a few more days or r and r, then back to the real world and off to the next race a few days after that.

with that in mind, and time a wastin', gotta run..

sologoat out

07.02.06 - flat

is what i rode today - lots of it at heat. it's a little odd riding down a road and you can see something and you think it is right up the road, but after riding for 45 minutes, you are still not there.

so, got the surly single speed with me - used to ride the single speed a ton years back during the cross season, but once i started doing decent at them, i wanted to try and win a few cross races so i switched to geared bikes.

speaking of which, the soma project is slowly gaining speed - but i can't decide to go geared or single speed. got a sneak peak at the new salsa 29er single speeds at the goat the other day and the got the bug to build it up with one gear. they got it built up with a standard wheelset and a super clean single speed kit. looks super sweet and clean.

well, gots to run - and catch some rays.

sologoat out.