Weekend at Galitzen

Not much to report from this past weekend. Went camping with the family. I did however commute back and forth from Prince Galitzen State Park and Indiana a couple of times though. The first time was Friday afternoon with Dirty Mike. He was heading out on a 5 day Biking/Fly fishing trip,(lucky sap). So we rode together to the park together since he was staying there as well on the first night of his journey.

It was an enjoyable ride, Mike and I don't get to ride together that often these days so it was great to have the time together JRA. So after a leisurely 3 Hour ride to the park we got showered up and sat down to a nice meal and conversation. Of course 2 cyclist know nothing of getting a fire going fast.

Got started the next day off headed back to Indiana to work for a few hours.. I had Gail drive me back to Caroltown so I did not have to leave too early in the AM. Had a nice ride home, although it was not without its oddities one of which has me baffled. If humans bring hamburgers and hot dogs to a barbecue, what do cows bring. That's right folk looks like the back at the barnyard gang is at it again, now this begs the question, why is Indiana County called the Christmas Tree capitol of the world, maybe it should be changed to the Barbecue capitol.Now you got to believe I have more reason than the cows for this, Right?

That's right folks R2Barbeque including a setting for one as well as a dogie bag. Oh i almost forgot this one. How about Clymers version of muscle beach. Nothing like a little Barbell Barbecue you know packing it on while your packing it on. Also got a little time on my new TT bike this weekend. Bike feels really good but needs a little tweaking to be perfect. Did 28 miles on it on Saturday and the same on Monday. Oh and i had no heart issues this weekend although I did bonk on the way home on Monday.

Rider Out.......

June 25th Ride Report

Had another good ride today. Matt, Zewack and myself did the 3 man loop. It seem appropriate since there were only 3 of us this evening. The funny thing about this loop is that no mater how many start there is always a group of 3 that ends it together. It can be a challenging loop with several climbs and lots of places to really put the hammer down.

I felt really good again today and had no heart problems either. Did a couple sprints and was able to maintain a good rhythm on the climbs, didn't attack them just steady.Looking foreword to the next couple of days, I have several big rides planned.

On a side not on the approach to the climb on Fulton Run (between 2 and 3 miles out) ,I heard Matt exclaim, grill up. I had already had food on my mind and pictured somebody standing by the road handing out hamburgers. Unfortunately he only meant that the grate from somebodies grill had fallen off and was laying beside the road. Now I have a good friend, we call him the beachcomber, that frequently gathers things he finds while riding. However this grate did not meet his criteria for picking things up, it definitely would not fit into my jersey pocket. I thought though that it would be funny and maybe set the bar a little higher.......

Bike Wars Episode 2

After the onset of the clone wars the Jedi Knights are spread throughout the universe, Luke Bikewalkers Droid, jbcj2(cousin to c3po), continues his strategy to collect debris from throughout the universe, to ultimately dump it onto Bike Vader and the clone armies, thus destroying both.

Throughout his journeys he had a set of rules that he followed that had been passed down through Jedi lour, the matter should fit in the Jedi Jersey pocket or at least be easy to carry. this rule had haunted him for many years for he new that the key piece to his ultimate goal, to find and retrieve the sacred Barbecue grill grate. This would be used as a distraction for Lord Vader and the Clone Army, a picnic lunch of sorts. Something to distract them from there goals and temporarily lower their guard for the dumping of the crushing debris. Now you can only imagine how much jbcj2 had to find one pocket full at a time but he is a hard worker and has a keen eye.

Unknown to jbcj2 in another part of the universe another Jedi knight had heard of jbcj2's plight and while cycling had come across the much coveted barbecue grate, and ignoring the Jedi cread, retreived the grate thus allowing years of planning to be set into motion........

Weekly Update

So with my best efforts I have been unable to post on a daily basis bu I will try Harder. This weeks rides went really well. I am finally starting to feel like myself again. Like i have said before my affib has gone into what I call remission, and I am pretty sure up to this point that it can be attributed to my fitness level as well as a couple of other factors.

My training and riding has been becoming more consistent with a good mix of hard and easy days with good rest in between. The variety in riding and rest between is something that was lacking last season. I get over trained and my heart lets me know.

This weeks rides went very well as I said. Nicol, Hammer, Zewack and I headed out Wednesday evening for a 30 miler. We did Luscousborough with a Power plant add on. Good long efforts to the power plant all to be rewarded with a 50 mph descent back into Coral. Did the Dark side climb to Luscousborough (3+ mi.) the another windy, 3+mil descent back into Homer City. Then some rollers back to Indiana. Hammer wont let up at all, although Nicol broke his spirit a couple of times on the big climb. I only noticed a little arrhythmia when I got back to the shop or it may just be that i was a little hypoxic.

Thursdays ride went well also. Nicol, myself and Mat did the Dixonville loop. After many interruptions and a quick stop by my house to get dressed for the ride we headed out airport road. Lots of good little climbs on this road but Nicol and I hammered along pretty steady, only slowing occasionally at the top of the climbs to let mat catch back on. Once we drooped back down onto 286 we really turned on the gas since this was mostly flat or downhill Matt was able to hang. We then jumped onto 403 to Dixonville and hammered down again. this section of 403 has a slight grade so you can really keep a good rhythm. Nicol and I dropped Matt pretty quick and switched on and off on the front. e were almost to Dixonville when I stood up and really dropped the hammer on the last climb, that was all for me for a few minutes. Sometimes when I put forth an extra effort my heart will jump into Affib, and of course it did but only for about a minute. we soft pedales to bar slope the put the hammer down again. I had no further problems during the ride and was able to at least try to beat Nicol to all of the township signs but I just don't have as much snap in my sprint as he does.

Brian and I did an easy 13 on Saturday after closing the store. I really miss him being around. Brian is a great trainign partner and a really good friend. We did double bridges JRA(just riding around) with a couple of little efforts. My legs felt like lead but no other problems.

Today's ride was phenomenal. We did a variation of the Plumville loop. Zewak, Fanning and myself headed out around 1. We started out pretty easy, but once we hit Marting road i just kind of exploded off the front. I was just riding but slowly but surly riding the 2 of them off my wheel. the gap kept getting bigger so i kind of started to soft pedal a little bit, or at least I thought I was. I made the turn onto 110 and headed to Creekside, still no sign of my riding partners. Turned onto 954 and still no Fanning and Zewack, man I love it when I'm feeling good. I just kept riding, just keeping a pace that felt good, noot too hard as to explode but hard enough to keep the others at bay. Fanning finally caught up to me in Plumville, he was close a couple of times before then but really faded on the climbs. Why could i have not felt this good at the Erie TT last weekend. (cant remember if I blogged about that one or not) . Anyway Tom and I road together for the rest of the ride. we came back across Reading run Road to Bell School and dropped back onto Five points road. We then proceeded to Davis raod and cut across Washington Church back to 119. Road 119 back to chambersville Road to Creekside, back on Fulton Run to Indiana. I really had no trouble dropping tom today if I even tried a little, I really felt like my old self today and that is outstanding, and hopefully it will last. I was a little Hypoxic again once i got home though and did have a slight arrhythmia when i arrive home but only for a minute or 2.

Erie Time Trial (Fatheres Day 2008)

Had a really great time this past weekend at the 2008 Rick Gorzynski Time Trial . Had a great turnout for Our Team, Ag3r/Indianacycling.com. Myself, Brian, Henry, Doug, T. Lyle, Randy, Rich, Ray,Hunter, Shaffer and Hicky all made the trek to the isle and had a great time.

The race venue is pretty cool, although kind of a short race. There was a great turnout though, and the weather conditions were perfect. Not to warm with a light breeze.

I had a pretty god ride, although not as well as I had hoped for. I had pretty much figured that I would be able to break the 30 minute time barrier on such a flat course and great conditions but my system had other plans for me. I am still not 100% sure that my heart went into Affib, although there was something wrong. I did about 20 minutes on the trainer before heading out and really tried to ease into the ride and was feeling pretty good. I had planed on settling in for the first 3 or 4 miles then gradually turning up the gas as i progressed and really hammer the last 3 or 4.

About 3 miles in though I started to loose my breath, this is not a new phenomena for me, but it is only the 2nd or 3rd time it has happened. The other times it has happened my legs have felt fine, I just had no air to make them go. Normally in Affib my legs go completely to mush and this wasn't exactly the case this time. I will have to continue to monitor this phenomenon and really pay attention to what is happening. The other problem I had was numbness in the saddle. This is a totally new thing for me, I have never been numb in the nether regions on a bike before so I was pretty surprised. Of course the bike I was on was borrowed and was a bit too big for me. This was the other thing that had an affect on my time, I had to stand several time to allow the boys to get some blood flow, at least now i can sympathise with those that have this problem regularly.

Overall I had a really great time and look foreword to the next TT.

Riding On Borrowed Time.....

Time trial Bike that is...Look Familiar Brian

Well this was my second voyage on a time trial bike and I must say that I was impressed. Now the route I took wasnt the best for this type of bike, and the bike deffinately does not fit me right but i was able to make due. the ride the day before was much better and flatter but i had spent most of my time trying to get the bike dialed in for this coming wekends erie time trial.

I did 50 miles from Cambria county into Indiana count and home. the first portion was pretty hilly but others that were flatter were great fun. Speeding along in the mid to high 20's, when the wind was not in my face, seenmed effortless. even the headwind did not seem quite as bad.

The seering heat was probably the worst thing to deal with on teh day, and the limited water that i could carry made me have to stop a couple of times to refill. No real heart problems today to speek of but had a little flutter near the end. I think it is mostly due to slight dehydration and gatorade type products seem to have an effect as well. I usually use ELITE but did not have any with me.

Riding On Borrowed Time.....

Time Trial Bike that is....Look familiar Brain

Well this was my second voyage on a time trial bike and I must say that I was impressed. Now the route I took wasn't the best for this type of bike, and the bike definitely does not fit me right but i was able to make due. the ride the day before was much better and flatter but i had spent most of my time trying to get the bike dialed in for this coming weekends Erie time trial.

I did 50 miles from Cambria county into Indiana count and home. the first portion was pretty hilly but others that were flatter were great fun. Speeding along in the mid to high 20's, when the wind was not in my face, seemed effortless. even the headwind did not seem quite as bad.

The sering heat was probably the worst thing to deal with on the day, and the limited water that i could carry made me have to stop a couple of times to refill. No real heart problems today to speak of but had a little flutter near the end. I think it is mostly due to slight dehydration and Gatorade type products seem to have an effect as well. I usually use ELITE but did not have any with me.

Honkytonk Bonky Bonk

Had some great rides this week. Rode Wednesday with Henk the Hammer, Rich Z, Wallwork and Monkeyboy. Did a modified version of Tanoma adding Airport road and Bar Slope. lots of Reindeer games and sign sprints.
Its obvious to me that Monkeyboy has been to the School of Wallwork when it comes to riding, Lay low until you can smell Indiana then turn on the gas. Unfortunately for him the master held back a little more and dropped him like a used up banana peal on the last climb in. Fortunately for me I was there to witness the 54 year old Wallwork blow by the college boy, and i was able to rib him about it.
Now i must say that Duane did make feeble effort to catch his mentor but quickly lost ground as i too went by. 37 mile of fun and games

Thursdays ride was a hammer fest as well. Nicol, Shawn and Myself headed out o Marion Center at a blistering pace, which is not necessarily what i had in mind. especially after thinking back on the day food regimen, Bowl of Raisin Bran, for breakfast, sliver of broccoli quiche for lunch and a maple nut clif for a pre ride snack. BTW if you have not tried this flavor of Clif bars you are missing out. anyway about halfway through we decided to back off a little and take it ease over the next couple of miles and them hit it hard again after the last big climb.

So after passing the Lacerations farm full throttle was back on til we got onto chambersville road this is about the time my daily intake dissipated, Bonktime. Now its been a long time since i have had this happen and i hope it will be a while before it happens again.

So i limped home on half a granola bar and finally reached the top of Fulton run when some genius on a motorcycle decides that this would be a good time to pass me, why i dont know because we were starting downhill into a pretty sharp turn, and as you might of guessed i had to grab a handful of brake to keep plowing into this guy, only briefly though until it was clear to speed buy him. i was kind of embarrassed for him since i can only imagine his girlfriend telling his buddies about the guy in spandex that sped past him.

It's Good to be Green...and Red!

Hammer Brothers Ride!

It was far worse than it sounds. I haven't been trashed like that for as long as I can remember.

It was good to see some friends and get a ride in. It was killer, hard from begging to end.

24 Hours of racing = 7 days in the Hospital

Well to say that August was a boring month would be an understatement. Not paying attention to the warning signs I continued to ride and train during the entire month. I also competed in 2 races, Ole bull Midnight Madness, which is a 12 hour Mounting Bike Race of which I completed approximately 6 hours of due to outlandishly poor conditions, bike malfuntions and feeling poorly.
The second was the Seven Springs / Subaru 24 Hour Challenge. This is the one that did me in. Again I was already sick and had been for almost a month. This weekend adventure started for me at about 0700 am. On Saturday Laborday weekend and ending ending around 1700 on Sunday. Despite my physical condition I was very excited about the race. Even though the weather was not good. Conditions didn't matter though, This race is always a blast and I couldn't wait to get started.
The race itself was really a lot of fun even thought the conditions got worse as the day progressed. As told by the previous Blog by Brian.
Now this is where the 7 days in the Hospital come into play and is probably due to several reasons. Already being sick, continuing to train while I was sick, Racing while I was sick and staying up for 34 hours all lead to the depletion of my immune system.
During the 24 hour race I developed a slight abrasion on the inside of my leg and a slight saddle sore, neither of which through up red flags to me. The next day,Monday, I started running a high fever which by Tuesday reached the High of 104 which landed me in the local Emergency room. They're diagnosis was the common flu, take 2 aspirin and take it easy for a few days. Still the abrasion and saddle sore weren't of any concern.
Wednesday was a different story though, the abrasion started looking funny and redness started creeping down my leg and by Thursday I had swelling the size aof a baseball on the inside of my thigh and the redness continued down my leg. This fever was also persistent. By Friday I could not take it anymore my condition was deteriorating and I went to se my family Physician who imediatly started me on antibiotics, with the instructions to keep a close watch on things. By Sunday the infection had consumed my entire leg to my knee which meant a speedy trip to the Hospital.
The following week in a nutshell.
Sunday = Admitted to the Hosopital with a possible Staff infection. 24/7 of the stongest vein bunrning antibiotics they could dish out.
Monday = verification of staff infection 103 temp on Monday evening.
Tuesday = More Vein burning antibiotics and the ifection seems to be responding.
Wednesday = Surgery and still receiving antibiotics
Thursday through Saturday = More of the same changing my IV line every other day.
Released on Saturday afternoon. One more week of oral antibiotics and recovery. And at least another month off the bike.
All I can say is be careful.

Seven Springs review

The Subaru 24hour Champion Challenge was this weekend. It was cold, rainy and muddy. It was also a blast. Now don't get me wrong this was a different kind of fun. It wasn't the laughing/smiling kind of fun. It was the kind of fun that you have when you are so miserable and sleep deprived that everything seems hilarious. My day started at 0730 when I woke up and looked outside to see a downpour that was the remnants of hurricane Ernesto. Then I got my car packed, ate breakfast and headed out to meet Rich and go to Seven Springs. When I was sitting at the gas station waiting I got a phone call from Rich saying that he would be late because his camper tires were low and he hadn't noticed until the last minute. He finally got there and met me at 9:10 and we were off. We arrived at the race venue at 10:30 and immediately started to set up camp. By this time the rain had slowed to a mist but the field where we were setting up had so much water laying on it that my feet were completely soaked by the time we were done setting up. From there I went to the pre-race meeting and to pick up our band that we had to pass between riders at the beginning and end of laps. Nick was volunteered to go first so now it was time for him to head to the start finish line. He headed out at noon and Rich, Mark, and I were still working on setting up camp. About an hour later we all went up to the transition area to see Nick finish his lap and see just how fast (or slow) the course would be. It was truly unbelievable when Tinker came through second. Here this guy is doing a 24-hour solo and he beats our guy by almost 15 minutes. I was second in the rotation, so now it was time for me to head out. I was expected to be the slow guy in our team so there wasn't too much pressure on me. Good thing because I got a flat less than 2 miles into my lap. I finished in 1 hr, 38 minutes. Not a great time by any stretch of the imagination but it was only about 15 minutes slower than Nick and with the flat added in, I was happy with the time. Rich was up next and he did his lap and came back and reported the trail conditions were getting worse and worse all the time. With this Mark was off to complete his first lap. When Mark came back he told us the same thing as Rich that the trail conditions were awful. Nick was off next for what would be the last day lap. I was up next and I got the privilege of passing Mike who had been riding for over 7 hours at that point and was feeling really sick. This was my first night ride ever and I was almost blind with the fog. My lap time went from 1 hr, 38 min for the first lap to a 1 hr 58 min for the night lap. That was the beginning and end of my night riding experience. I decided I was done for the night because my MTB skills and lack of light could end up getting me killed. Rich went out next and did his night lap and said by that time the fog had died a little after you dropped off of the top of the mountain. Mark said he would do the next two laps so that he could get some sleep before his last lap of the day. I took Mark another bottle and a few gels between laps. Nick went out next for his night lap and then Rich went out for his second night lap. I went out after Rich for what would be my last lap. My goal was to go under 2 hours but that was in doubt when I was less than 4 miles into the lap and felt like I was on the verge of bonking and I had no food and only a small bottle of energy drink. It was slow going but it was looking like I was going to make it. Then when I got close to the finish and realized what time it was my new goal was to finish before 10 o'clock so I could get pancakes at the lodge. I finished my lap at 10:03 a measly 3 minutes too late so no pancakes for me. Mark went out after me for our last lap. When I got back to camp Rich had already started to tear down camp. I had something to eat and then I started to pack up as well. There are many adjectives to describe this race so here they are in no particular order: fun, muddy, cold, wet, tiring, ect.

Ole Bull Midnight Madness

This was a real mess. It rained for all but about 45 minutes during the race. To make matters worse, for some reason the dirt is not the normal dirt at Ole Bull. It is some sort of dirt/sand mixture that can really mess up your day when it is wet and gets in every possible crack and crevis. Now to the race. It started with the LeMans style start that about killed my knee that still hurts from my wreck last week at seven springs. The first lap I felt slow but still OK, I guess. The second lap I started to feel really good so I wasted no time in the transition tent and headed out for my third lap. The feeling good didn't last long because within the next half mile I was cramping in both thighs. I tried to ride through the cramps but over the next 3 laps I just got slower and more miserable so I called it a day after 5 laps at slightly after 6 o'clock. Rich had mechanical difficulties and finished his day a little after I did. Mike was next to finish a little after dark with 7 laps completed. Then finaly Mark called it a day about 30 minutes after Mike, also with 7 laps completed. It was fun but it would have been better without the rain and sand/dirt.

I don't exactly know what he's eating but it must not taste good

Mark is warming up to win the start, not necessarily a good thing in a 12 hr race.

Another Night on the Fixed Gear Bike

Well I just completed another ride on the Fixed Gear. No mishaps this evening just and enjoyable 20 mile ride in the dark really enjoying riding the Fixi and am anxious to see how riding this style of bike effects riding my regular bike.

Fixed Gear Bicycle Blues

So,
You are probably wondering what this subject might mean. One of you probably has an inkling of what I am about to write about.We have all had mishaps on the bike, yo ride you wreck thats the name of the game. While mountain bikeing you been thrown fore and aft, over logs and onto rocks. Road riding you have been sent flailinginto the air by pilons, other riders or wet bridges, train tracks etc. but what I wxperienced this evening was a totally diferent sensation.
As some of you know I have entered the realm of fixed gear. A dear friend of mine built me up a fixed gear conversion for Christmas and I have been enjoying it quite a bit.
A fixed gear for those who don't no is basically a Track bike with brakes or in other words a bike with one gear and pedals that are always turning even when you are costing.
Now you can probably guess that this takes some getting used to, the fact that the pedals are always turning takes a little while to get used to, but as I said I have been riding since Christmas and have become quite comfortable with it. So comfortable that I have been riding clipless pedals for a few weeks now which, until this evening, has made riding the bike even more enjoyable.
Now for the ejection part. As I am leaving for my ride for whatever reason I have trouble getting clipped in to the right pedal, so I'm kind of not paying full attention to what is happening.Add to this a friend of mine is comming by on an evening run and we exchange niceties. SLIGHTLY DISTRACTED + TALKING TO FRIEND + FORCING RIGHT CLEAT DOWN WHILE PEDAL COMING UP =................ You gueased it EJECTION!!!!!!!! Over the hadelbars and into the middle of the road.
Now on the bright side of thins there were no cars coming in either direction and my friend got a good chuckle and rated the whole incident as a perfect 10 een though I didnt quite ace the landing.

Another Tuesday gone by and another spin session over. It was just Rich and Myself who showed up again this week. With people being busy around Christmas I guess it can be forgiven this time. Anyway, we did the Carmichael climbing video. I really liked this video especially compaired to last weeks spinerval tape. It was fun, more people need to come.

Monday Night Ride Report

Tonights ride was a challenge to say the least. The cold temperatures weren't bad at all, but the snow and ice proved to be a real problem. I figured the snow would have compacted somewhat after Saturday and Sunday being clear and sunny, but the ice under the snow is now harder, but still not strong enough to stay on top of. I ended up cutting the ride short, and returning home via the road. This may be the end of the mountain rides until the snow melts a bit.

Mountain Bike Ride

I went on a mountain bike ride today, or should I say I took my bike for a walk. There have been some 4x4s to the gas wells, and the ruts are ridable. Some parts of the woods are ridable, where there isn't an icy crust. The areas that are open (no trees) are too difficult to ride because of the layer of ice... you can't get on top of it, and there is too much resistance to plow through it.
The ride was fun, despite the amount of walking, and maybe by Monday the conditions will change for the better. I may try again tomorrow, for no other reason than to get outside.