Saturday Ride Report......

Rode with Steve, Brownie, and The Beachcomber this past Saturday. We started out doing the 3 man loop but happened to chase the rain down so we diverted onto 217 to Thompson road then back to Indiana. IT turned out to be 34 miles or so and was a bit harder than I actually wanted to ride so I bagged the Sunday Mountain bike ride for this week.No heart problems today and the Beachcomber actually passed up two work gloves thsu missing out on a pair.

I really Do Not Like Politicians.....

So if is is so important that they pass this legislation to bail out all the rich CEO's of these defunct financial institutions, why them are they going home for a couple of days before they reconvene on Thursday to revisit the situation. Meanwhile the stock market is taking a nose dive. And these are the very same people that are going to manage this money as well.......give me a break, all they can manage to do is spend and take days off, or better yet not even show up for work on a regular basis.

Thursday Trounce.......

Well last nights ride turned out to be the usual fair. I figured that since Nicoll was at interbike, that we could have a good recovery ride from Wednesday nights outing....no such luck. Andy, Botsfrord and Steve showed up and Andy suggested the Tanoma loop after I was done pining about how tired I was from Wednesday. So we headed out, me thinking that it was going to be a fairly easy ride.

We had a fairly leisurely ride for the first few miles until we reached the new pavement at the Airport the Steve started to pick up the pace....buckle up. My legs wee feeling a little flat so I migrated to the back til we got onto Hood School Road then it was game on.Everybody seemed to be feeling a little frisky..even Botsford was riding strong. He hasn't been out with us much this year due to some chronic back pain, attributed to a large farm tractor flipping over onto him a few years back. Luckily guy to survive that. He is having surgery sometime this year to try to solve the problem.

Really ended up being a fast ride and I felt pretty good once we got going. Brownie and I are riding on Saturday afternoon....maybe I can talk him into riding easy.


Here is a cool biking story.........

This guy walked into my store a few years back and started to me he wanted to buy a bike and ride across the country. Now this may not seam like and odd statement but you must understand that Joseph, up until this point had only been riding a short time and had done nothing but Rails-to trails. Far be it from me to put the damper on ones dreams, so we talked for a while and I fit him up with a nice Cannondale T2000. He picked up the bike and a few weeks later started on his journey across the Northern part of the country. Long story short he made it with no real issues. He called me a couple times along the way and has doe several trips since. Here is the short version of the latest.....enjoy.

Rich,

Enjoyed your blog. Just thought you might like to know I did a month long tour of central Europe this spring . Did a month in Germany and Switzerland last summer.

Flew to Munich (second year in a row), took train down to Rome to meet up with my little sister, then back to Munich to pick up my bike and head by train to Linz, Austria to rendezvous with a fellow I met 2 years ago in N.Dakota when crossing the USA. We rode down the Danube (Doneau to the Germans) to Vienna, onward downstream to Bratislava, Slovak Republic then headed north east through rural Slovakia along the south side of the small Carpathian Mountains. After Neva Mista (New City I think from Soviet days) we headed north OVER the mountains to the south east corner of the Czech Republic and entered Poland not far from where the Czech/Poland/Hungarian borders come close together.

We were intending to visit the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and rounded a corner and just stumbled upon the Birkenau complex. Took a 3 1/2 hour guided tour of the camps which left me physically and emotionally exhausted. It is an mind blowing experience. If you get the chance it is a must visit. You see things a bit differently after that experience.

We then cycled 45 km to Krakow, Poland which is a wonderful place with reasonable prices like I imagine Prague 15 years ago. After 2 days in Krakow we headed to Cottbus Germany by train (just over the border from Poland) and headed by bike down to Dresden, After Dresden we headed up the Elbe River to Prague. Well the Elbe does not actually go all the way to Prague but branches off so we actually followed a major tributary to Prague. Stayed a couple of days in Prague then headed cross country toward Germany with a destination of Munich. Made it all the way to Regansburg on the Danube where I cut the trip short and headed home due to illness in the family.

Spent a month and did about 1800 km. Beer in Czech Republic is US dollar 1.15 in restaurants and bars. Great stuff at the right price. Germany, Poland and Austria have great beers but the price is much higher. Slovak beer prices were also cheap but the whole country is pretty poor.

Some fair roads in Slovakia and Poland but no problems. One factor that I had not anticipated was the fact that camping is associated with the Communist era and most in Slovak, Czech Republics and Poland have closed down because everyone now has money and fancy cars to go to far off places ans stay in hotels.

No problem with bike. Need to tear down wheels and check bearings. I have never regretted purchase. Thanks for helping me get the right size. I had the bike parked on the street in Linz, Austria in front of a Internet cafe and a Austrian fellow was admiring it when I emerged from cafe. I did not have panniers mounted since I was all set up at a camp ground. He said he really liked the classic touring style. Interesting because Germans and Austrians all tour (lots of them) on very upright bikes with what I would call butterfly handlebars.

Anyway the Cannondale T2000 has not let me down and other than that first go around with the blown tire (x2) I have had excellent success with the Schwable tires. I like wide and tough touring tires.

Rich, If you ever have anybody ask questions about touring Europe have them contact me. I love to share my experiences.

Best regards,

Joe Trudo

This is comforting.........

Maybe you might want to slip your pilot a coffee next time you fly. Unless these guys are you flight crew then maybe you should just get off.

Wenesday Night Quad Buster.....

Road with Hammer, Matt, Monkeyboy, Zwack, Andy and Steve this evening. We did a through together loop which included Fulton Run, Marianne Hill, Cheese Run, Northridge Road and finished up with five points from just before the old mine shaft. 32 miles with over 3000 feet of vertical climbing, the major climbs included Marianne, Cheese Run and Northpoint.

Lots of fresh oil and chips on Ben Franklin form Marianne to 422 after the new pavement ends at the township line. Then Cheese Run turns from pavement to improved surface, if you consider dirt and gravel improved surface, then down the other side which is sort of paved but scattered with rock and dirt from the hill above.Northpoint is a road I have never done before...pretty much one big climb approximately 5 miles long or so...maybe more. then back to five points from there.

The group stayed together until we reached the regular five points loop then after we reached the summit of the climb past the mine shaft the game began. I took of and Monkeyboy, Hammer and Andy responded in kind and grabbed my wheel. Lets just say that for the next 15 miles or so nobody let up and if somebody did there was somebody there to attack.The 4 of us rolled into town pretty spent but ahead of the darkness. Matt and Steve showed up a while later and Rich headed straight for the barn.

All in all a really good ride. It felt really good as hard as I could and I know everybody else in our 4 man group at the end was as well. Monkleyboy is really getting strong on the climbs. He has only been road riding this summer...although he is sporting a triple and I made him work to make it to the top first. Steve fell over on Marianne Hill. and double flatted on Cheese Run Road. My heart flip flopped a couple of times this evening but no real issues.


Make sure your wife wears contraception next time she goes swimming.........

Man these Scientologists have all the luck. It appears that Nicoll Kidman and 7 other women got pregnant from swimming near some waterfall. What a bunch of idiots. Sorry for pointing out the obvious........ and on the other side of the fence.....


Two egomaniacs on one stage....how rich is that.......

Sunday Ride Report

Did the Nolo Hill loop with Matt, Andy and Duane Sunday afternoon. Once I fixed Duane's bike we headed out 6th street to Metts Road. Man I hate that road. It like riding a roller coaster without the thrill or fun. Actually that was pretty much how the whole ride went. Climb after climb with what seamed like little or redemption. The best descent of the ride ended in a T at the bottom so you couldn't even enjoy the role out before the next climb.

All in all a pretty good ride with some pretty good efforts and a descent average for a hill 44 miler. I felt OK today except my legs felt like two anchors. No real heart problems today just a few little jumps but nothing serious.


The Clintonistas Are Supposedly On the Prowl......

So I heard rumors today that Bidon is going to pull out due to some health issues and Clinton is going to step up. How stupid. For her to stand up and be 3rd choice would be both a disgrace and humiliating. Now don't get me wrong, I would not have supported her for president, but....she would have been a much more worthy opponent than NOBAMA.......BTW have you notice that when he gives his speeches he refuses to look straight into the camera at his television audience. its always left or right while diverting his look while changing back and forth.And what if this happens.

Ride Reports and more......

Did the Eastern Shore loop with Rich, Henk, and Fanning. What a wind Whopper. 14 mph Headwinds with gusts up to ??????? I have never ridden across 217 that slow in my life. The other anecdotal note from the ride is the balls of my feet my feet hurt at the end. I have only ever had this happen a couple of times in my riding career. Usually during a century early in the season. I contribute it to the forcible pedaling into the headwind for 34 out of the 40+ mile ride. Oh and about 3 miles out I bonked. Didn't eat lunch before the ride......Stupid.

Wednesday Night Ride report........

Did the reverse Tanoma Loop this evening with Matt, Rich and Steve. This was Steve's first ride with the group. It is always fun when somebody new shows up. What makes it fun is the unknown and trying to see if you can make them crack. Not to be mean or anything like that, it is kind o f a training ride and it helps them see where they are at in their fitness. He is a pretty good rider and if he keeps racing it wont be long before he is hangin and dropping others on the ride. I had a really good ride today. the stress is dissipating in my life and I hope that this will have a positive affect on my heart.

Peanutbutter Racing.........

Sam won the peanut butter festival race this past weekend. The team had a fairly good turn out as well.

• Brownie finished 38th overall which isn't bad for a guy that has been spending way too much time on his TT bike
• Rich Allen finished 42nd overall.
• And Henry forgot his shoes....... which surprises me because he usually starts preparing for these kind of things way in advance.

Other notable mentions are....Jason Blews 24th (SS), Martin Flynn 26tth, Duane "Corkett" Corbett 36th, Liz Martin 55th, Ben Shcerf 62nd (SS). and lets not forget those that competed against SANDBAGGER OF THE YEAR "HANSEL LUCAS",(I hate that stuff) Charles Flynn (Martins dad adn first race), and Rebecca Blews (Jasons Wife).

Congratulations to all for doing such a great job. That course is not easy and to complete it is an accomplishment.

Get Out Your Pooper Scooper.......

So this is the best use we can come up with for DNA testing? I'm sure that Indiana Borough (Sorry their site is still under construction. Maybe the will get caught up to the 21st century before we reach the 30th century. Should change the name to Mayberry) will be all over this. Any way to make a buck and make people not want to come or live here.......Thanks for all you do.

Still Here

Don't worry blogger fans. I am still here. Just been busy. Will have ride reports and other fun stuff for you tomorrow or the next day.

Wednesday-Thursday Ride Report.......

Wednesday nights ride was allot of fun.....Andy, Rich, Bill, Matt and myself did the Bar Slope this evening. Headed out east Pike to Hood school and straight across at the bottom to 286. 286 to Clymer and then to bar slope then home.. It was a pretty good ride with a few reindeer games mixed in.


Thursday Evening.........

Well it was you usual suspects thins evening. Mark , Andy and myself did the Three Man Loop the usual way we do it. steady and fast. My legs were burning before we got to hilltop and once we reached the turn at the Golden Pheasant toward Parkwood we never dropped bellow 21 mph until we were almost to the end..and as we all know that is just a steady annoying climb going across that road. Anyway we had a really good ride and had it lit up for the majority of it...man I'm tired. No heart problems either night to speak of.


Where were you on September, 11 2001??????

Wow it is really hard to believe that that day in history is upon us again.....I am glad to see that it has not become just a passing thing and is always on the minds of people. We will become victims again if we allow ourselves to be complacent which I am afraid has already happened to some extent.

I was actually sitting at my workstation listening to the radio when I heard teh first announcement of the first plane....to this day I cant forget the feelings of anger and disbelief I felt that day.....NEVER FORGET


So I hear that Lance Guy is going to try road racing again.......

Stupid I say.........egoimaniac.........I'm bored so I am going to go race my bike again.......the way I see it it will go one of 3 ways for him.......

1. It will be the best decision of his life and he will be even more of a cycling icon.
2. He will finally get caught doping .
3. He will fail miserably and be know as the guy how tried to make a comeback and made a fool of himself.I doubt this will happen but it would be funny.

I Will never go to a regular movie theater again.......

So my wife and I went to the movies a week ago. We went to see THE DARK NIGHT in IMAX...only $2 more than the crappy theater at our local mall and 10000000 times better.

Sunday-Monday Ride reports

Sundays ride was relatively easy for an outing toward Lusiousborough. Matt, Andy and Myself did the dark side and had a pretty good ride...Not too hard and not too slow. Lots of good conversation and just what I needed. Still not fully recovered and I needed a good recovery ride.

Monday Morning Ride......

Zewack and I did an alternate version of five points this morning. Started out Ben Franklin from his house and out to 422. then back onto five points road. Did the standard Five points loop from there until Creekside. From there we headed across to Fulton Run then took a right onto Marian Hill...OUCH. them n back Ben Franklin to Rich's.

Was nice to get out in the AM for a change adn I felt pretty good for the whole ride.

Just in case you don't know what a Prairie Dog is......

Well...this is what might come to mind......



But......This is a breif story of ones own personal Prairie Dog

Prairie Dog

Saturday morning started a little early about 5:30 AM with a rather immediate need to evacuate my system. OK race day poop, out of the way, that might be a good thing. Always good to know that you’ll be a little lighter for the race;) The Tour De Strongland mountain bike race started at 10AM and being my home course, I wanted to have a good showing. Unfortunately, about ½ way through brushing my teeth an audible rumble starts in my mid section and the need returns urgently enough to force me to the throne, toothbrush still in hand. After three more angry contributions and some Pepto; I’m heading out the door about 9 AM to still do the race. I’m feeling better and at least the cramps are gone. I don’t really feel sick or anything so I line up with the rest of the boys to start the race. Apparently there are no other bike races today in Western PA and about every fast rider (both road and mountain) have lined up at the start of the expert class race.

I’m lined up near the front knowing that a bad lead out to the single track destroys any chance of a decent finish. I feel a little grumble. Ah, just race day nerves, it’ll be OK. The gun goes off and away we go. I’m sitting about 5^th wheel on the express train to the single track. We are cruising along fast enough that no one can come around on this double track section to pass. Perfect. A little surge occurs and I hop out of the saddle to respond. That’s when I make my new friend. Sparky the prairie dog has made an appearance. I sit back down, clench up and Sparky hides away…for a little while. The entire first lap becomes a new game that really doesn’t involve cycling much. Sparky wants to come out and play, I try to contain him. Great fun!

Apparently when prairie dogs are kept inside they get bored. So to pass the time I guess they do what comes natural. BREED! It now appears that Sparky and his family are a rather prolific mixture of Irish Catholic and Mormons. No birth control in that group. By about half way thru the second and mercifully, the final lap, Sparky, his wife, his 12 kids, aunts, uncles, a couple cousins and some adopted refugee prairie dogs from China all want to come out a play REAL BAD! I’m now putting twice the effort into my sphincters than I am my leg muscles. Luckily I ride a perfectly clean lap (both literal and figurative) for fear that a crash would undoubtedly release the entire clan. With about a mile to go I am fantasizing about the port-a-potty at the finish. I’ve got my gloves off, by camel back unclipped, and my helmet off as I cross the finish line and am now putting out the hardest cycling effort of the day to outsprint the 70 year old women ambling towards the john. I power slide across her path to block her progress and beat her sorry ass to the prize, in just enough time to return the Sparky and his kin to the wild….Shew! Close one!

PS: Although I had a rewarding finish in the mountain bike race on Saturday (I didn’t soil myself) my placing was abysmal. The good news is that I conserved a lot of energy and came back on Sunday and vindicated myself by actually winning The Tour De Strongland Road Race II in a full on sprint, by beating the rest of the 11 man break away.

Thursday Night Ride Report

Nicoll, Andy and Myself were the only ones to show up this evening....buckle up and hang on. We did the Marion Center loop, one of marks favorites and probably the flattest 40 mi. ride you can do around here and believe me its not very flat.
We rode real steady and of course there was no chatter just rhythm. We actually didn't say much until we got to the last climb before Marion Center then the chatter started for about 2 miles or so and off again. Andy and I hung with mark until part way up the climb to the Lacerations Farm, I said "hey....this wreaks of effort , sat up and Mark just kept riding". I was still tired from the weekend and all Wednesday nights ride did was clear out the old lactic acid to replace it with new. So Andy and I just kept a steady pace back to Indiana and still had a respectable average at the bottom of the climb on Fulton Run. No heart issues this evening and a good hard ride....

I am "NOT IMPRESSED"........

So I have been riding a Giant TCR Advanced this year and I am very impressed....What does not impress me is the wheel set I got with it. It came with the MAVIC KSYRIUM ELITE...Now I have been riding KSYRIUM SSC SL's for years with no problem but these particular wheels really stink. They feel sloppy in the corners and wont stay true.

So I send them back, paying the freight the FIRST time and 3 weeks later I get them back not only is the rear wheel not true but one ride later it is really messed up. So I call and MAVIC and explain the situation to them and they're response is that they probably didn't not replace all the spokes and something else about something inside coming undone. So they offer up an RA# and say to send it back, to which I reply "why don't you just send me a call tag ", and they did. SO about a week later it shows up and the wheel is off again.

The wheel finally shows up at my door earlier this week, I put it on Wednesday before the ride and after the ride it is out of true again. I called MAVIC again on Thursday and we go through the same spiel again. I finally get them to agree,begrudgedly , to send me another call tag.Now as the day progress this did not sit well with me so I call back and ask to speak to somebody in warranty.I tell him the story and he asks me a few questions IE maybe this wheel is not strong enough for you...so you are saying I am fat...eh fella. I go on to explain to him that I'm not an elite racer but I'm no lard but either. We go back and forth a couple of times and he finally asks me what I want him to do. I tell him that all I want is to ride my bike and not have the wheel go out of true. He then says that he cant do anything without seeing the wheel.So why did we bother even discussing this anyway.Customer service is definitely not his forte......and fortunately this is my own personal wheel and not that of a customer.

The bright side to all of this is that I have been riding a set of Rolf Wheels, that by the way are a less expensive wheel than the MAVIC and what do you know they are defiantly more stable and much stiffer than the Elites and I am pretty sure the same would go for the SSC SL's. and after about a month of riding them they are still true....go figure.

What industry are you in........

So I call to order a couple of Cross bikes the other day as well as a Sport fitness bike for a customer. Now Cross season is just around the corner and good weather is upon us and guess what. nether style bike is available. The sport fitness is not available for about 3 weeks and the Cross bike not for at least another 4. How am I suppose to run a successful business when my suppliers cant supply me with product, and who's idea was it to release the new model year right at the tail end of the selling season. Close out the new and have no supply of the new......makes allot of sense huh. Oh and by the way there will be about a 16% increase in new bike prices across the board this year........OUCH!

Wednesday Night Ride Report

Ended up having a descent ride this evening. I hadn't been on my bike since the 24 hour extravaganza this pas weekend.Rich,Andy,Matt,John,Bill and myself did the Eastern Shore loop. We started out rolling slow out of town.I am glad for that because my legs were still full of junk from the weekend.My heart wasn't in it either. It was jumping around and actually went into affib once before we were even through campus. I actually at one point was ready to bag the ride but pushed on.

I was somehow able to keep it together and as we rode I continued to feel better and by about 5 miles in I was starting to feel normal again. My legs still weren't in it but my heart was starting to come around.I took really short pulls for a while and just kind of hid in the back but once we got near Virginia farms I was really starting to feal like muyself again and started pullling more and picking up the pace.

Somthing is missing here.........

Today was my sons first day of school. He has come to work with me every day for the past 3 years adn I am going to realy miss him. We dont alwasys get to do much when he is heare but we do spend allot of time talking.I am really going to miss him.


Matt update.........

So you might remember a week or so me telling a story about an abduction on our ride...well here is the rest of the story. When I arrive at the shop the following day it was kind of like the scene from Close encounters were all the war planes show up without their pilots only not as dramatic and Matt was actually standing there as well. It seems that his front derailure was a bit out of adjustment dropping his chaing, which bound things up forcing his rear derailure into his spokes thus breaking 5 and bending his front derailure.

Seven Springs Subaru 24 Hour Challenge

24 Hours of racing....It doesn't get any better than that. It was however a little bit warm but a far cry better than the last time I did this race.

Mike, Henry, Mark and I did the 4 sport Masters (Fogy) division while SAM did the I'm pretty sure I've have lost my mind Solo Division. We all rode really well with only minor mechanical's and mountain bike folly. Mike crashed 2 times both his first 2 laps, once while Hopping a log and landing on a rock, some guy ran into him while passing, some girl was standing along the trail and freaked him out and off of the trail and the fourth...well I'm not completely sure about that something about speed and a tree. Sam had a flat and Henry had a slow leak as well but was able to make it through his loop without having to fix it, topped it off once with a CO2 and stopped buy the tent on his way through to top it off with a pump.Mark hurt his calf on the run but was able to recover from it. As for myself I went down in the rock garden on my third lap and jammed my pedal into my calf on my last lap while all along trying to keep my heart beating properly.

My own personal experiences......

The day started out great and we arrived about 10am and got set up. These events are allot of fun and the atmosphere is awesome. My first lap was not going to be until around 4 so I set off to take some photos and hang with Jay and Liz for a while. We spent some time lurking in the rock gardens at the top of the course watching and looking for the best lines to ride through.

Eventually I headed back to our site to fuel up and get ready for my first lap. I was pretty relaxed and felt pretty good. I had a plan to just ride steady and really focus on keeping my heart rate under control by bombing through what ever I could and just setting a good tempo for the climbs.

Lap #1..... 4:45 pm - 5:09 pm

Ben was at the transition tent waiting on his team mate to come in so I said see ya to him and I was off. I knew I would be seeing Ben on the trail because he is such a strong rider. as most single speed guys are. The first lap went pretty well, I forced myself to just hold a good tempo, which was really frustrating because there were plenty y of places where I could have really ramped it up and shaved some real time off of my lap but I figured it was better not to. Benn caught me just before the Big climb which was at about the half way point, I believe Henry said that there was a 1000 foot elevation gain at that point. I was feeling pretty good until I got close to the top, my heart wasn't in affib but it wasn't in a normal rhythm either...push on. I cleared the top, fast as pancakes, and continued on to the second half of the course. This part was on top of the mountain so there was little climbing but plenty of rock gardens to keep it interesting. I finished with a better time that n I thought I would considering I was just riding steady and my heart didn't not beat funny until I sat down at tent. It stayed out long enough for everybody to feel my pulse and see my color change from normal to pale to normal again.

Lap #2..... 9:03 pm - 10:40 pm

Started getting ready at around 8 pm. Our site was right beside the long climb before the loop at the top which made it easy to gauge when it was time to start getting ready to go to the transition tent. I wasn't feeling 100%. I could tell I might be in for some trouble but by the time I was ready to head for the transition tent I was feeling OK again. I Chatted with Ben again for a while while waiting for our team mates. They were racing the regular, young stud, sport division and doing about the same lap times as we were.

So lights on and off I went....I love riding at night, Its quiet, except for the Ted Nugent concert that was going on at the main lodge, and you become so focused on what is ahead of you. Had a good steady lap....I am however always impressed by the abilities of other riders. I was passed several times during the race by the Visit PA guys, it was like they were riding on pavement, and I had my brakes on. The ride was mostly uneventful and was a blast.

Lap #3..... 3:01 am - 4:48am

I had laid down for a little bit,but did not sleep, you would think that it would be easy to catch a wink but in all reality it is nearly impossible, lots of commotion throughout the night plus you are all hyped up; I really was not feeling good but that can be a normal feeling. I got dressed and headed for my bike...crap my heart is defiantly in affib now. I grab my bike and start for the transition tent again. About half way there my heart comes back into rhythm......Thank you lord.

I checked in and chatted with Ben again. This time his rider showed up before mine. This only due to the fact that Henry had a to top off his tire twice. Had another descent lap just riding steady and getting around without any mishap or mechanicals., I did however go down in the second rock garden at the top. I came around the corner hit one of the big rocks that I should have gone around and before you know it I'm on my side in a pile of rocks laughing out loud.....back on the bike and I am off. Now I am cruising along at a pretty good clip on the latter part of the second loop when all of a sudden my bike feels like it hit a brick wall lunging me foreword but not off the bike. Just so happens that there is a big rock just barely on the side of the trail that I caught my pedal on as I was passing by, aha the perils of night riding. Liz was at the tent waiting to start her next lap when I returned so I chatted with with here for a bit before heading back to the site.

Lap #4..... 8:50am-10:30am

I actually must have passed out for a bit in the camper...the last thing I remember after my last lap was grabbing a bite to eat and sitting by the camp fire for a while. I also remember talking briefly to my wife and that's it, lights out.........then form a galaxy far far away I here the theme from star wars....seriously my son was humming the theme while playing with some of his toys. I did actually sleep for about 30-40 minutes which can be a bad idea.I awoke and steeped outside to a beautiful sunlit day.So I strolled over to a chair and had a seat.

Man did I feel bad. My legs and everything felt pretty heavy,I am pretty sure that I had been in and out of affib during my siesta, since this is usually how I feel after an episode. So I got up to try and walk it off...big mistake....I walked up to Tahoe and it was all I could do to make it. Crap I am totally flat and I'm on deck. So back to camp to get ready. I'm sure that one of the other guys would have gone in my stead but those that know me know that I would only do that as a last resort.

So I got dressed, all this time my heart is jumping around, and onto the bike.Fast as pancakes I exclaim as I head up the hill to the transition tent........amazingly though as I road up the hill I started feeling better...normal even.

I get to the transition ten and check in. Ben was there again so we chatted for about five minutes until he was off. Henry showed up shortly after that and I was off. I wasn't 100% but I knew I was going to be alright. made it around the first half with no problems then up the climb. Everybody riding was in good spirits. For most of them it was probably their final lap and the morning sun also has a positive effect. I made the big climb and off to the second loop. As i approached the second rock garden I heard somebody coming up on me fast so I said let me know wand I will let you by. He wasn't interested, instead he stuck up a conversation. What lap you on...how ya feeling....I hate these stupid rock gardens. We chatted for about 5 minutes or so then he was off.......your would never have that happen in a road race for sure. the only other thing of interest that happened during this lap was that my foot came unclipped and my pedal smacked the back of my calf.....ouch.


Sam is the man.............

So while the 4 of us were out doing our 17 laps Sam was out by himself doing 14 on his own. Bet he will rethink that one down the road. He ended up finishing 3rd overall and was in a field of guys that do this kind of stuff on a regular basis..........I am sure that he will blog about it here.


Final ramblings .......

I'm glad that my family enjoys going to these events with me. They give great moral support and I just plain like having them around.Of course my wife is always busy taking pictures so she doesn't get to be in them very often.

I have always been fortunate to either attract or choose the best of friends and it was great to have many of them around this weekend Mel, Jay & Liz, Bill & Lisa,Todd,Henry,Mike,Mark, Sam and his dad Kirk and many others that i did not mention here.
I don't think this had looks stupid....does it? My wife bought it for me you know......and by the way anybody that is a mountain biker knows that dogs, especially those that owners are bikers could care less if a bike goes by and for most of us are great riding partners.Make sure to let the organizers of this event know that.

The race promoters should be less concerned about dogs and more concerned about non-cycling spectators and make sure that they don't decide to take a rest right in the middle of the rock garden trail. Somebody could get hurt....just ask Mel

Its a good thing John wasn't on our team....He would have never been able to finished a lap with all the bottles and other debris that I saw along the way although he probably would have found Sam's tool.

If you leave your multi-tool laying along the trail somebody will find it. This actually happened to Sam .His dad went around to ask people to buy one and the very first tent he stopped at the guy had Sam's tool...weird.

Some people will dress in anything at these events.

The blond chick on the left is a dude the one in the skirt is not.

Beer and sleep depravity don't mix......

So we are done and we are tired and sitting back with a cold one. My wife asks me to keep an eye on our son while she strolls up to the lodge and I say no big deal. Now my son is a great kids as are all of the kids that hang around our crew. Almost every event is a family event including after race picnics and such. So like I sad we were just sitting there and my son comes over and asks me to take him to the BR. So we start up to the lodge and my wife is on here way back so she knows that I am beat so she offers to take him. So I return to the tent and some good conversation.Now I am not sure how much time had lapsed, but I start looking around and don't see my son anywhere and kind of get an empty feeling inside (now remember he is with his mother and I have not really slept for over 24 hours and I have been racing my bike), So i ask tho guys if they had seen my son anywhere? Of course they haven't because he has been with his mother for who knows how long. So I get up and start to kind of holler for him I turn and look up to the lodge and there he is with his mom dancing to the music.MAJOR BRAIN FART and a graet releif.

Cause and Effect

So you may wonder what some of the things I have found that trigger an affib atack.....

1. Lack of sleep
2. Dehydration
   
3. Hard efforts followed by periods of reduced effort (i.e.- after a climb on the descent or flat , bridging a gap in a race)
   
4. Thinking or worrying about it (the mind is a powerful thing)

Hey lets go racing......

So you can probably see where this is going....

Mike Maher, Henry Dimick, Mark Millican, and myself did the Seven Springs Subaru 24 Hour Challenge this past weekend.

1. Sleep deprivation
2. No matter how hard you try, staying hydrated is a hard thing to do, its not like you race your bike once and your done......you have to race it several times in our case Mike, Henry and myself raced 4 times and Mark 5
   
3. Mountain biking is combination of hard efforts followed by periods of reduced efforts
4. Worried constantly that I would have an attack during one of my laps thus letting the team down

Anyway we had a great time (race report and photos to follow).

Race report highlites......

3 Different Podiums for AG3R/indiana Cyclng........ and other anecdotal stories from the race venue

Seven Springs 24 Hour Challenge.....

1. Mike, Henry, Mark and Rich take 3rd int the Sport Vet/Master division
2. Sam Morrison finished 3rd in ths Solo division (1 guy..... 24 hours)
   

Pa State Time Trial Championships.....

1. Brian Hopkins took 2nd in the Cat3 misssing out on first by only 30 seconds