old pueblo write up

This past weekend was a first for me, a 24 hour duo. Here’s the low-down on how it all went down.

Race: 24 Hours of Old Pueblo. Quite arguably one of the biggest 24 hour events of the year, it pulls in a ton of riders mostly looking to get in some miles in great weather. This field this year pulled in the names like Harlan Price, Fuzzy John, DJ, Sully from IF, Yuri from Marin, Jeff Kerkove – just to name a few.

Course: Super tight and rolling, no big climbs like back home. Single track was fast, but miss a turn or get cut off by another rider and you’ll go straight into a cactus. And don’t even think about running a tube, you’ll get a flat in a heartbeat. A tad under 16 miles, fast laps will be around an hour, night laps will see another 10 minutes or so added on.

Location: Tucson, Arizona.

Weather: Clear and windy with the temps in the high 60’s to the low 40’s.
Duo Partner: Fellow backed Pivot rider Brian Bennett who is a very fast local that pulled off a solo 12 hour win a few weeks prior and also supplied the pit setup supplies and 3 friends to help crew for us. Brian would start the race off for us.

February 8th, 4pm
I am officially freaking out as my 2pm flight to Tucson is now cancelled for tomorrow due to the crazy snow that was hitting the Cleveland area. By 6pm, I have my flight rescheduled to leave at 6am.

February 9th, 11am
I am in Tucson, with bike and all my gear. Thanks goes out to Billy A from BikeFlights.com for getting my shipped out for me – there would have been no way I could of got my bike out there. All things considered, shipping the bike saves so much time and hassle at the airport. With baggage fees the way they are now, it’s not worth the risk of either getting hit with a massive fee to ship or the chance they will damage it.

My “misfortune” works out great as I get to the venue, get the bike together and sneak in a 3 hour ride before nightfall.

February 10th and 11th
Two 4 hour rides on the race course. Practice makes perfect.

February 12th
Meet up with Brian, setup camp and get in about an hour and half before turning in.

February 13th, noon – the start
Brian starts the run and it is total mass chaos. Dust and riders everywhere, most are walking due to the congestion of riders. Brian rolls a 1:04 lap, I back that up with a 1:05.

We continue to roll out the fast laps and are trailing the Waltworks team – they are just minutes ahead. I crank out another 1:05 on my second lap and pass up their rider to go into the lead.



Lap 6, 5:27pm
In the lead and feeling awesome, I am pushing hard on the pedals and am flying around the course. It’s tight and congested and it is pretty clear that some riders are in way over their heads. When I came upon a rider about half way through the lap and asked to get by, I never thought he would attempt to come back onto the line that he just gave up. Instead of braking to allow me through, he tried to speed up and cut me off – we then locked bars and both went flying into a cactus, with me going head first.

Now covered in about 200 cactus needles and not noticing my bent up front wheel, I roll on. Still don’t know how I managed to not swear or take a punch at the rider in all that fiasco. In hindsight, I was probably taking too many risks and the other rider just panicked. I had a friend who once told me that if you don’t crash at least once in a race, you probably were not going fast enough – guess I just had it.

Med staff help me pull the needles out, and I got changed up and ready for my next lap – all the while, Josh from Pivot trued up my front wheel best he could to get me through to the finish.

Lap 9, 10:17pm
Still rolling it good, but feeling stiff, Brian flats but still comes in with a decent time. By this time we are roughly about 10 minutes up on Waltworks – little did we know, but they had some misfortunes at some point and lap times slowed for them and it looked like they took some time off during the night. Our lead grew.

Lap 14, 4:32am
My last night lap. I love the sight of the sun coming over the horizon during a 24 hour race as it seems to give you a little surge of energy to get you through the event. I wrapped up this lap, took off my lights and had my favorite morning food – eggs. Yummy.



Lap 19, 9:41am
Brian rolls out on his last lap, and we now have a lap and a half up on 2nd. Brian rolls out a super fast lap and sends me on my way.

Lap 20, 10:53am – last lap
Heading out on the last lap, I went hard where I could and didn’t take any major risks. Pulled off a fast lap and was greeted by Brian holding a cold Fat Tire brew.

Overall great event that was well worth the trip. Traffic on the course was a little heavy, but in the end it was something that everybody had to deal with and I think it also provided a little bit of a mental and physical break every once in awhile.

Racing duo was awesome too – one would think it would be easier, but in a way it was more difficult as you could go a lot harder as you had time to rest and fuel up.

And special thanks goes out to Brian, his pit crew buddies and the gang out at Pivot. Once again shows that it takes more than just pedaling to get across the finish line.

sologoat out

victory at 24 hours of old pueblo

pivot_20100215, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

whew, that was a tough race.

sun so hot, i froze to death, saw a cactus flash before my eye (or maybe i tried to tackle it) but managed to pull off a victory with fellow pivot backed rider brian bennett.

long write up tomorrow, just got back in, but thanks go out to brian and his pit crew pals and pivot. special mucho thanks goes out to josh from pivot who "trued" up my front wheel after a rider crashed me into a cactus.

sologoat out.

old pueblo - thursday

IMG_2534, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

late rain showers yesterday left for a cool breeze today with bright and sunny skies today with temps in the mid 50's.

course soaked up all the rain, so no issues at all due to the water.

very odd course compared to an typical east coast course in that you can probably ride in the big ring for about 75% of the course - but you need to really concentrate.

you need to concentrate on that ditch, that cactus, that short steep climb - you need to flow, flow, flow and be one with course. if not, you may find that a cactus is not the best thing in the world to hug. in an odd way, it sort of reminds me of a cross course with all the turns and the importance of setting for the corners.

in town - the ergon guys and gal, dj, fuzzy, yuri and nat. the race hasn't started and i want to come back next year.

with that, i am out - updates coming to ya via facebook starting tomorrow and possibly during race day.

about a dozen or so pics added today - check flickr.

sologoat out

old pueblo - wednesday

IMG_2511, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

well, i made it to tucson despite mother natures attempt to stop me from getting here.

original flights had me leaving around 2pm'ish on Tuesday with a layover in chicago. that flight cancelled on me around 4pm on monday and 2 hours later i had a new flight booked through denver that would jump me over the weather and get me to tucson 12 hours earlier.

and, as luck would have it too, shipped my bike out through bikeflights.com and it was already there waiting for me to pick it up at around 11am tuesday morning.

funny how things are working out this week. don't like all the running around, but getting an extra riding day in tucson is well worth all the hassle considering the weather back home.

now onto the course - (check out FLICKR for all my pics)

course is mostly flattish, no major climbs but not flat by any means. couple of smaller climbs here and there, but nothing really sustained.



when it gets to single track, overshoot a corner and you are bound to hit some sort of cactus - either a flat or pain will hit you, sometimes both.

course is on state land, but leased by local ranchers - so watch out for those free roaming moo cows that everywhere. just kind of odd to be flying around on the trails and then you see a cow standing in the middle of the trail.

it's also on the long side, just under 16 miles. a little long if it were on the east coast, but the flow and lack of any real major climbs will lead to fast laps times.

gotta run - check the rest of the pics up on flickr.

sologoat out

damn thy weather

IMG_2450, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

ah, mother nature is kicking me in the shins again, but luckily i am heading out of dodge for my first race of the year next week.

racing duo, packing for this one is a little different as normally i take 2 of everything and i sweat over the details of possibly forgetting something. it's actually feeling a little more relaxed knowing that i have a little bit more time for everything including just soaking up the atmosphere, which is normally something i have 0 time for.

one more race after old pueblo, then out to the shop for a few days of bike work fun. new forks, brakes, saddles, stems, posts, drivetrain, shifters, tires, pedals, cables, etc. complete overall.

will maybe top off the whole weekend out there with some pumpkin cookies from the bakery that is across the street from speedgoat. those cookies are so good that i have dreams about them for a week before and actually strategize my ride time to end before they close up shop for the day.

with that thought - time to finish up the packing.

sologoat out

chasing legends trailer

24 solo producers ken and jason have created yet another masterpiece in the making called chasing legends.

from the footage, video and music just in the trailer, it's sure to one i'll add to my growing cycling videos.



next up for me schedule wise, old pueblo duo with another pivot rider. should be good times at a race i have always wanted to race. racing duo gives me enough of a rest up between laps that any winter lack of fitness factor shouldn't be too much of a sweat.

with that, gotta roll. stuff to schedule, including a few days at the 'goat to let dan the man work his magic.

sologoat out

pure beauty

sven bunnyhop, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

reasons why this is so badass:

1. he's bunnyhopping. that's badass period. two bunnyhops = 2x as badass

2. it is 3 degrees outside - and he's not wearing gloves.

sologoat out

pivot heading west

pivot heading west, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

trip time - first race of the year coming up in a few weeks as i head out to race duo at the old pueblo. it's a race i have always wanted to hit up but always felt like a 24 hour solo event in february for some dude in ohio that has been freezing his arse off in the snow is probably not a wise choice.

so, 12 doesn't seem so bad.

parts all about in, minus a few things here and there - when i get to the shop and let dan the man work his magic, pics will be up. really looking forward to riding the mugura brakes and wipperman chains this year.

that's it - gotta roll. my bike has a date with fed ex.

sologoat out

pre-race video from cross worlds

hells ya - worlds coming to the US in 2013. i'm predicting tons of racing, big fields and people taking cross a whole lot more seriously.

i'm hoping longer, earlier and later seasons.

i'm also hoping the manufactures will more a ton more way kewl cross stuff for me to test out.

with that - some new video coming out from the other side of the world, at worlds. i've got my fingers crossed for jonathon page - i think his form is on and the weather is on his side.

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

also - don't forget that big tall dude that goes really fast on a cross bike too.

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

ah, now time to rest up - early day tomorrow. 5am wake up call to watch the juniors light it up in tabor.

sologoat out

TRP euroX carbon canti review

let the attack of cross stuff blog entries roll on.

trp euroX canti review is now up at the 'goat.

check it: HERE

blog entry a day until cross x-mas day on sunday (cross worlds) which will wrap up with a review of my focus marres pro.

sologoat out

pauls chain guide review

is now up at the 'goat.

check it: HERE


sologoat out

jp 8th at Hoogerheide

give 'em hell on sunday jp

sologoat out

mucho hours

was the theme the past few days as it warmed up past 25 degrees the first time in what seems like weeks. it was great to get out and get some miles in the legs but i swear for some dumb reason drivers seem to get closer to you in the winter months.

bike gear and setups are getting close to getting all together - i'll be rocking the pivot 429's again this year and they'll be built up with some new XTR drivetrains and nokon cables which i am pretty excited about. i'm going back to a classic light speedgoat setup and running a twist shifter on the front and an XTR pod for the back.



i'll also be sporting the 2010 northwave razers which has all kind of support but most important to me is the carbon sole which helps eliminate the hot spots my feet used to get after about 20 hours in the saddle. never had hot spots? try putting a match under your foot and then holding it there for awhile.

and also new to 2010 is a new event for me next month which i'll be racing DUO - should be a good way to get in some miles and start the year.

see you in tuscon

sologoat out

hideous but warm

Witness the only product I have ever bought from Bass Pro Shops - the ATV Handlebar Mitt.

With about 30 gloves to choose from in my bike stash, my hands always freeze and it seems like I can never grip the bar too good or even attempt to move my fingers all that well.

$25 bucks later, all i wore today while riding was a thin glove liner and my hands were toasty.

oh ya, and if you don't already look like a fruitcake for running these, don't forget the $29 version of the same thing - only in camo.

sologoat out

my best friends name is kreitler

now that the temps have gone into stupid cold wind chill factors, time to hit the rollers. living in the north, it's just something you force yourself to get used to. very odd riding hours and hours with no place to go, but here's a few items to get you through the monotony and to make the time go a little better.

1. world cycling dvd's

2. ipod dock station of some type. every once in awhile, you just need to crank up the tunes and rock out.

3. Nathan Spear full length cross video streams. formatted in FLV, but still pretty good once converted. hope you are bi-lingual.

4. tv's - i actually have two of them hooked up. actually, one tv and one old computer monitor hooked up to an old DVD player. do a search on "V2VPro Video to VGA Converter /Video Switcher" and you can find them pretty cheap - like 30 bucks.

5. have bottles/fuel and coffee, all ready to go and within hands reach.

6. other options are netflicks streaming video and straight up good old tv. only problem with TV is all those danged commercials, so next years "upgrade" to my training room will be TIVO.

any other suggestions from others out there freeze your arse off, post 'em up!

now - a cold to get over and some hours to get in.

sologoat out

saturday ride

IMG_2174, originally uploaded by solo_goat.

not mucho going on these days other then selling off old stuff and getting ready for the 2010 season.

christmas was good, always too short - but i've got a ton of vacation days saved up from skipping cross nats so i have the rest of the year off. nice.

bonus christmas gift from dad from his reserve days - a set of army mittens in official army olive drab. yet another piece of cold weather gear that makes me look like a total nut, but will keep me nice and toasty.

winter training room upgrades will soon be done too - a new 32 inch flat panel tv, kreitler head unit that i had for like 7 years and never used is now setup,new dvd's and a polk center speaker - hope it all drowns out the fact that it's cold outside and i'm spinning away inside.

hammer nutrition sent me some goodies too - will say all of their winter gear is killer. the winter vests and jackets work really well - been using them for years. and their new winter gloves are awesome too - with a thin liner, my hands never got cold today.

anyhoo, off to the never ending house stuff. up today, staining our new doors. it's odd - i look forward to a 4 hour ride in 32 degree temps but despise the half hour of house work like it's the worse thing in the world to do.

with that - sologoat out

winter tropy race #1

was cold and slick, but a good time - and my new gear setup was running awesome.

a few weeks back at the boughton farm monkey on my back cross race, i dropped my chain 3 times. that's 3 times too many.

off with the 42 salsa ring, salsa ring guard and chain watcher.

on with the pauls chain guide and a salsa 40tooth ring. (42 will be kept around for flatter courses - and when i am not pedaling through 2 inches of snow)

fields were small, but the course was fun and flowing - and saw me hit the deck twice. was the second race where i was running my velocity wheels with challenge fango tubulars. after the race i was pretty much convinced i'll be running tubulars all next years cross season as i could rail it through the slippy s turn at the end - the tires gripped super well (only 2 wheel slide it once) and the sidewalls don't give out like a conventional clincher. never could hit that corner with that much speed or i would of been on the deck otherwise.

duked it out with matt most of the race and took the win. great course layout where you had to concentrate the whole time or you would hit the deck.

next up - let the mileage begin. with most of my house work done, i got vacation days to burn and hours to get in.

and now, i even have a kitchen table and no scaffolding in my living room.

sologoat out

conyers 24 win jersey

and other stuff for sale over at ebay as i start to build the fundage for my 2010 race season.

ck it here: ernesto ebay stuff

mostly clothes on there now, but i do have a few cool items...

some 9x2 campagnolo record carbon levers. super light, great condition - would look awesome on any cross rig out there.

and - a little piece of sologoat history. jersey that i won at 24 hours at conyers years back - actually would of been the year that 24 solo was shot at the same race venue.

happy bidding - other stuff up for sale next week, possibly going to put my 2008 salsa mamasita up for sale. any interest, message me.

sologoat out.

not mucho

BACX #9 - Boughton Farm 273
Originally uploaded by Flickr de Julie

going on these past few weeks, the winter trophy series is starting up as i start the 2010 season training, planning, etc.

lots of new sponsors to the mix which as it turns out, has me running pretty much the stock Pivot 429 XTR build up, minus a few parts here and there.

house work is looking like it is coming to an end, which is good. odd as it sounds, racing and work soaks up so much of my time that i have never had the room in my house or time to actually ever have a kitchen table. will be an odd site at my house to finally have a table.

and, i got a ton of parts to sell off to fund my 2010 racing and bike builds. check 'em out!

2009 cross nationals - sorry i couldn't be there. see you in 2010.

sologoat out

boughton farm

last race in the cleveland series, at the start was around 30 degrees.

sun came out, and so did the mud - 8 derailleurs saw their last day in the B race which lead to a slight re-route for our race.

gun went off, matt took off and eventually took the win along with the number one spot in the series. hats off to him - he skooled us all big time this year - today he finished 2 1/2 minutes up on second.

i had a good start, but dropped my chain. so i had to chase.

caught back up to shawn and gerry, dropped it a second time on the second lap.

from there, it was chain tension management - i had to keep constant pressure on the chain or else i felt like it was going to keep popping off.

game plan worked - it stayed on and i tried to reel back in gerry and shawn. got to within 10 seconds, but shawn's attack in the closing laps pushed their gap out just as i...

dropped my chain a 3rd time.

would eventually come in 6th on the day, 4th overall in the series. damn you boughton farm - i am destined to have a good race there, guess it will have to wait until next year.

sologoat out

one to go

09 kent kross 02
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

in the cleveland cross series, last race coming up this weekend and i got a secret weapon. will not confirm this secret weapon until the battle at the farm is over.

right now, sitting in 4th.

winter trophy series is up next for me after that, but i pretty much start 2010 training the day after the farm race.

2009 is just about wrapping up for me, but i would like to give thanks to all the sponsors who helped me get through the year - and for those sticking around into 2010. (more on that later)

in the meantime, mucho stuff in the sologoat garage for sale - check it out, got a little of everything including some cross stuff and a few bikes. if you don't see it, fire me off an email because i probably have two of them.

that's it - gotta roll. vacation days to schedule and miles to ride.

sologoat out

kirtland park cross

one more down, one to go in the cleveland cross series.

the typical twisty and fast course with a long stair run up soon split the field after dan took what appeared to be a horrific crash in the opening moments of the race.

field soon split up and as i caught onto the main chasing pack, matt weeks was already in full flight.

a few spots of shuffling around soon found me with gerry duking it out for 3rd spot only about 10 seconds or less behind paul for most of the race.

as the laps came down, up went our pace as somehow dan made up a lot of ground (since laying on the ground) and was no coming up fast.

up the last run up, gerry got a gap but i closed it back down in the last corner but gerry's quick legs got the best of me. matt won, mr martin in 2nd, gerry 3rd and then i rolled in 4th.

after - i got wobblenaughted my wobblenaught guru jim b. stay tuned. his cross fit is now honed and is guaranteed to get me 15 more watts which i'll need at boughton farm.

sologoat out

11/15/09 - Infermary Mound cross

another day, another race.

cap city infermary mound, stacked field on a fast course.

got a slow start as usual, and somebody stacked it on the hoppable barrier. my skillz got me over the barrier despite the pile up and i somehow came out in the top 10'ish.

a few laps later, i make the lead group only to loose ground after paul and matt take each other down in a slippy corner.

head down, i cracked the whip and bridged up solo style. just as i was about to catch back on, my heel catches my rear brake and the stradle cable comes undone from the brake. i'm forced to stop and fix it - and to loose the gap i fought to get back.

i'm now back with paul and matt - and paul rides through and eventually takes 4th. matt rolls in just a few seconds behind him and i'm literally about 5-10 feet behind him.

great course, super fast and fun - the type where it seemed like you were going to rip your tires right off. and another day where less then 45 seconds was the difference from 1rst to 6th. everything counts this year - make one mistake and that's it.

next up - columbus on saturday, cleveland on sunday.

sologoat out

kent state cross

ah - finally a cross race where when i am done, i don't have to wash my bikes and stuff for 2 hours.

kent state cross, new venue to the cleveland series had lots of twists and turns, gravel and two steep wood sections, one you could ride, the other most times not. it was a technical riders course - you had to be on your toes.

pace went off fast at the gun and matt weeks lite it up only to hit the deck real hard in the first section of gravel.

on the 2nd lap, things split up real quick - dan, steve-o, me, gerry and shawn pulled a gap and it started to grow.

steve-o got a gap, then i jumped gerry and shawn - and almost pulled the gap back to steve-o but i almost blew up doing it. shawn and gerry pulled me back and we rode together.

on the last lap, i had one chance on the step section before the spiral section where i was going to launch my last ditch effort to put a gap on my two race buddies. i ramped it up from behind them, only to have shawn move over on me slightly where i needed to lock it up.

with no other real section to get around them, i rolled in 4th - steve-o won, gerry 2nd and shawn 3rd.

and - my new FOCUS cross bike made her first ride a memorial one - during a race. first time for that one for me.

that's it - time to rest up for tomorrow's cross fun in columbus.

sologoat out

last weeks cross race write ups - finally

solon cross day 1 - clockwise

once again, another stacked cleveland field for the solon cross race. got there early to check out conditions and it was expected - muddy.

field busted open immediately and saw me and paul martin in a two man break. paul sat on my wheel as i tried to gap in the techy sections. i'd pull a gap on him and then he would reel me back in on the the flatter open power sections.

fearing the 3rd place rider would catch up, i continued to pull convinced i'd pull a gap on paul that he couldn't bring back.

on the last lap, he let me have it. i reeled him in close twice, but he got me by less the 3 seconds at the line. 2nd place on the day, good to get my cross legs back.



solon cross day 2 - counter clockwise

same course, but drier and clockwise.

got off the front with paul real quick after a near t-bone into derrick (sorry 'bout that) into the first section of single track. paul ended up on his back side nearing the end of the singletrack and never seemed to kind of recover from it - i nearly ran him right over.

soon, i was caught by shawn, gerry, mike and matt. matt and gerry powered away.

i was right behind shawn and mike, gerry and matt were not far ahead - and then they pulled away.

matt was having some rumored shifting issues and shawn pulled his trump card in the closing laps - a clean bike.

shawn went flying by gerry and then matt, then took the well deserved win. matt was 2nd, and then speedgoat got the last 3 podium spots. gerry in 3rd, mike in 4th and myself coming in 5th.



hats off to brett for a great course topped off by cold brews at the end of both races. nothing is better then feeling like heart is going to burst out of your chest while seeing double and covered in mud - only to get cleaned up to grab a cold brew.

cross season rocks.

sologoat out

update

sorry for lack of posts, house work & work are sucking up major time.

2nd place and a 5th last week.

kent race today, columbus tomorrow.

4 race write up hopefully monday. now - must race.

sologoat out

a tale of two races

MvilleCX_c
Originally uploaded by mahokeyj

murrysville - last saturday

muddy as hell, but way better then the muddy as hell and rainy snow mixed in of last year.

small field and my slow enduro start ensured my last position going into the first turn. twas not what i was planning.

soon, i was making up ground. moab helped my technical and power, so my handling was helping me make up some ground.

soon, i caught a group with gerry in it and i went blowing right by them into third. this was about half way through.

3 minutes later on the backside of the course, i went down in a spectacular muddy crash that would give one of the riders i just passed a gap that he would hold. he finished 3rd.

now gerry and i were fighting it out for 4th.

a series of bobbles and good lines turned muddy bad and gerry had a gap with one to go. gerry makes a mess of one of the last turns and has to back track. i get close enough to gerry to almost nick him at the line.

mike took the win, gerry 4th and ernesto 5th. 3 speedgoat sponsored riders in the top 5.

racoon

i should of made like a racoon and hid from the daylight during this race.

stretched cables made my shifting bad (didn't figure this out until i got home) and had my chain/gears upshifting the entire time i was in the race.

gun went off, i had a decent start, but still was towards the back. as soon as i was catching up to the 2nd group, my chain dropped and i lost contact and about 20-30 seconds.

i catch back up, only to overshoot a corner and to have the howling wind blow the course tape into my bike - it then wrapped around both wheels, my crank and 3 times around my cassette.

at wits end and at least 2 minutes in last place, i pulled the plug. cross takes enough out of you as it is and i wasn't about to pull a miracle. better to save myself and my equipment for another day.

next up - double halloween cleveland cross weekend. no costume, but i hope to passing out treats of pain.

sologoat out

24 hours of moab - long write up

full long write up at the speedgoat blog HERE

and 300'ish pics taken race day by my brother and dad up on flickr. ck it HERE

sorry to my fellow cross freaks for not making it out to the local cross my heart cleveland cross series race this past saturday, but moab took just as much out of me mentally as it did physically. i'll be back in the game this coming weekend, hitting up 2 cross races in PA.

so, game plan is to start organizing 2010 sponsorship and bike builds and finish out the cross season and house projects by mid december. should give me a few weeks to catch my breathe before 2010 starts.

sologoat out

i am a little hazy

june - fractured tibia

5 days later - loosing my mind. sign up for net flicks.

2 weeks later - able to bend my knee

4 weeks later - rehab starts, lost 1 1/4 inch of muscle mass. start to question rest of the racing year.

4 weeks, 1 day - hell with it, train for moab. physical therapy trainers love me, so they give me extra sets.

moab - get the monkey off my back of a dnf a few years ago, defend top of usa cycyling's top 5. sure hope my leg holds up.

moab - 10 hours in. asthma kicks in full force. power and heart rate down, i am dropping places.

moab - 10 hours, 15 minutes. see a shooting star. i honestly believe it's a sign.

moab - about 11 hours. asthma meds, food, coffee and a coke. back to work. it's times like this that i thank my pit crew for giving me a kick in the ass.

moab - 18 hours. i catch 3rd, but i am cooked. eat and defend 4th.

moab - 1 lap to go. hungry and confused, i think a rider is 20 minutes back, only to find out later they are a lap down. i hammer out a 1:30 lap, regain a lap on josh (who wins) and secure 4th overall in the nats race, the non-nats solo race.. and somehow, though now unconfirmed, a 2nd place overall in the USA cycling endurance calendar.

can i take a break now?

sologoat out

thursday course pre-ride

another lap down on the famous moab course today. still not diggin' that whole section of hike a bike where you go down a stupid steep rock, hit the flat of about 5 feet, and then face another short hike a bike up the other side.

think that is the general type of stuff on the course that will break many a rider this weekend. course in general is not technical, but throw in sand that slows you down to a stop, the heat, the vast open areas... what it lacks in technical it triples in having to keep mentally sharp during the whole 24 hour game.

solo nationals field is starting to fill, evan plews and kelly magelky are the latest to add their names to the hat. it's going to punchout for sure.

now - time to rest up and relax while the pit crew take in the sites.

more pics up at flickr - check it out

sologoat out

Ernesto here, out on my way out for my last enduro race of the year, the 24 Hours of Moab which is also doubling up this year as 24 Hour Nationals.

Getting gear to a race is quite a challenge so much so that I actually chose to drive out with my gear and meet up with my pit crew later in the week.

On Sunday, got a chance to ride in Fort Collins Colorado. Weather was cold and raining at the Horsetooth trails, but the climbing and technical riding was great.

Monday AM, the weather was looking the same. It was time to head west, out to the famous trails in Fruita Colorado - the Kokopelli.



Trail system is comprised of loops based mostly off of the Mary Trail and totals up to roughly 35'ish miles.



Fruita also has another set of trails dubbed the 18 road trails - it boosts loops that total well over 100 miles of trails.



And ironically enough, I ran into a friend of friend of Peter from Misfits Cycles riding today - and 3 guys who knew me from the 24 Solo movie.

After today, out to Moab and to start my quest of getting a monkey off my back from a DNF here a few years ago.

Check out all 65 pics from my ride today on my Flickr Account

off to moab

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Originally uploaded by solo_goat

ok, out west and no pics.

ft. collins was cool, but overcast and wet - and it all started about the second i got on the bike.

fruita is much better - got a ride in yesterday and forgot my camera, so i am heading out today again with it in tow.

fruita wake up call at around 9am was at 40 degrees, but dry and sunny. after the AM ride, off to moab - and it looks like the field is getting a little deeper.

gotta run - coffe to drink, ride to get in and a drive to moab. pics up later today on flickr.

sologoat out

a picture says a 1000 words

packing for moab. heading west. nebraska, through toast mans territory (though not too long, don't like october snow) the into utah for the big dance.

big show down comes the weekend after next & pretty much everybody and there brother are going to be there. will for sure will be the toughest field 24 solo field i have seen in awhile. great way to end up the enduro season.

thanks out to all the sponsors of 2009 - couldn't do it without all your support.

and mucho thanks to all the gang out at the 'goat - think i have talked to them everyday this week. tend to slightly freak out around 24 hour race time.

and - 3 sponsors confirmed already for 2010.

that's it - better run. ipod's to synch up. looks like i'll be rocking out to dj tiesto during the night in moab.

to all my cross pain train friends in cleveland - sorry i'll miss my first clev cross race in about 5 years...

sologoat out

CrossVegas pre race interview

interbike pics up..

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Originally uploaded by solo_goat

ok, i am waaaaaaaaay behind on the blog updates, but i got my pics from interbike up.

ck it here.

new king cages, new moots road bike, new salsa bars and kits, trp disc brakes, and 100 other kewl things.

crossvegas was stupid fast. 45 minutes in, got lapped. not bad all things considered.

focus mares expert bike i road at vegas review up at the speedgoat blog, todays cross race uneventful for me today and ended up around 8th'ish or so with dead airplane legs and fatigue.

time to pack up and rest.

next stop - moab.

sologoat out

sswc - race day

IMG_1089
Originally uploaded by solo_goat

way too tired to post the full write up again - check out my last posts up on the speedgoat.blog.

now - time to rest up. tomorrow i meet up with the 'goat clan in vegas for some business called interbike.

sologoat out

single speeed worlds - thursday

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Originally uploaded by solo_goat

got into town yesterday for ssw - not racing, just to spectate, train and heckle.

pre-ride excitement included a flat tire (me) and a spectacular wheel smashing crash by fuzzy into another rider. luckily, nobody got hurt.

post ride activities had us at the meet and greet with ned, fuzzy, dj, decker and a few others - and then also a cool little bike show in town at a local pub that was way too overcrowded.

racing action will be nutty - supposed 1,000 single speed riders in town to race, most of them will be in some sort of nutty custome. some will actually race it.

about 30 pics up on my flickr site - ck it.

sologoat out

whiskeytown cross painfest

sunday was the first installment of cyclocross pain, the clev cross series race #1.

the course is somewhat flat with a few hills, typical twisty turnys and off chambers, a sand pit for fun, a small set of triple barriers at hella speed, three turns you really gotta think about and then into the short finish. it is a thinkers course as you got to be on it physically and mentally all the time.

i got there early, debating on tire selection but already having the setup on that i would run for the course. seemed like i'm always hitting stuff at speed so i went with about 32'ish in the front and about 38'ish in the back.



race started, i made the main pack but it slowly started fading away as matt from lake effect was putting in a hella solo attack from a group that included shawn, gerrry, mike, angry andy, and tony. i slipped back to no mans land.



the main group got the gap, but i held onto my pace trying not to think about the numbers game as i rode by myself. i could see some guys were sitting on and hoped that some would eventually peel off and i could leap frog across. i tried to make up ground on the techy stuff that i knew they couldn't be riding as fast as a solo rider on.



it paid off, just as they were backing off, i put out an all out effort across the paved section on the backside and made the bridge just as a few riders popped off. now it was down to five with two to go.



my plan was to make an attack through the triple barriers, but shawn jumped hard and i put down all i had to stay with the group, another effort by steve from pa put me in the hurt locker.



out of the barriers on the last lap, they gapped me. i would roll in 5th place - great day for putting in a long week.

sologoat out

sm100 - part 2

Photo credit ©Bob Popovich

once with aaron, we started picking up riders here and there. we were taking even pulls and sharing in the work.

we rolled through station 4, got new bottles and kept going. this was going to be the hella climb of 20 miles ahead of us.

up and up and up forever, we caught a few more guys and just kept going - nobody caught our wheel as we went by. i was just looking forward to station 5 where i had fresh bottles and another coca cola.

we rolled into station 5, got fueled up and pedaled on. the helpers at the area where somewhat dumbfounded that i didn't want to load up on pizza and all the other snacks, but that stuff makes my stomach turn at this point in a race.

the climb continues on and has several false peaks, enough to make you think the climb is never going to end. we crest the top and stop descending towards station 6, the last feed of the day until the end.

ripping down the backside of the climb, and just before station 6, i manage to both flat my rear tire and loose a bottle. i try in vain twice to pump it up, but it's loosing air badly - but not bad enough that i can't make it to station 6.

at station 6, the mechanic there helped me (along with about 4 or 5 kids yelling about the stuff coming out of my tires) convert to using a tube -- during this fiasco, i end up loosing 4 or 5 spots.

i catch a few of them back, one other catches me - i roll in 18th place, not bad for having come off an injury that had me sidelined for most of the season and watching too many netflicks.

should leave me with good fitness for my next enduro race.... stay tuned...

sologoat out

sm100 - part 1

ok, ok... i've been draggin' out this write up for several days now as i try to sort out cross bike work, my trip to duragngo/interbike, work and riding... just not enough time in the day to do all this stuff so i am going to post it in to parts.

the day before...
trip out with gerry and andy was a hoot, just a long drive of about 7'ish hours total for me. this would be my first real test of legs since my tibia fracture back in june. i've done these kind of hours before with this injury, but it was hard to tell how things would go with 7'ish hours of race pace and major climbing. my weight, power & endurance are on, but with my type of injury it could take major time to heal up and to feel good.


the first 50...
we rolled out at 6:30am with gerry throwing down on the very first climb. my knees were feeling tight (should of warmed up some) and i decided almost immediately i had to race my own pace. soon the leaders slipped away.

i got caught between a group of about 8 riders and a few stragglers behind me after the first climb and descent out onto the first paved road section. as we rolled by what would be drop #1, i got caught by Chris Strout and we rolled up together to the group ahead of us that included Steve Schwartz.

through some jeep trail and out, chris, steve and myself rolled onto checkpoint #2. chris and i grabbed a bottle, steve stopped to fill his hydration pack - we rolled on.

up another climb or two, i dropped chris and rolled on. hit the fast downhill section rolling good into checkpoint #3. grabbed my drop bag and a coke i had in it and then rolled out with andy applegate and matt ferari in tow. i gave them some of my coke sugar goodness and we rolled on.

we would hit a steep hike a bike and eventually i would drop them both by the end of the climb and when we circled back to ride by checkpoint #3, i could see two riders in the distance. time to hammer.

up the climb, i eventually catch up to the two riders - including Aaron Oakes. we all took pulls and on the next climb we dropped the other rider. aaron and i would now ride the next 40'ish miles together.

2009 season, take two

next up, the shenandoah 100 this coming sunday. hellishly long fire road climbs. dry, dusty, open roads that just go up and up. the kind of stuff i love and the kind of stuff that will test my comeback fitness.

will be making the journey with fellow speedgoat teammates gerry and andy, both of which are having good results in the NUE series this year.

gerry decided the sm100 is a bit too tough and has decided to race with some gears (he's got the NUE single speed series win wrapped up already) and andy should be wrapping up the series in the top 10. overall great season for speedgoat this year and cross hasn't hit yet.

project pink bike is up and raffel tixs are available now at the 'goat website. i've had several good karma things happen to me in the past few weeks so support a good cause and get a chance to win a hella cool bike.

coming up, trp carbon cross brake and lever review thanks to the guys at TRP. hands down, best cross brakes out there. doubt me and it may come to fisticuffs. or maybe just a minor scuffle.

and, off to single speed worlds at durango the week before interbike. will not be out there to race, but mainly to train, catch in some great sights and hang out with justin from princeton tec and dj and fuzzy from niner. i just need to figure out the best way to cheer/heckle them on. any way it turns out, it is going to be epic.

then, off to the full week of interbike. a little bit of fun work, hanging out and catching up with friends, an hour at full out 190 heart rate effort (and loving every second of it), then back home for another cross race on saturday afternoon.

i am so happy and thankful to be back in the game

sologoat out