Just Imagine if your local bikeshop guy handed you this.

Another busy day at the shop. Lots of customers and lots of repairs. It really amazes me what some people will put up with while riding their department store bikes. Its no wonder that her brakes don't work right. Oh well, the pay is good and its good for a laugh or two. You should have seen the Elk bike. I will try to find a picture.


More Happy Customers..........









Stewart and John both picked up they're new bikes this weekend. A do it all Schwinn World DBX, and I mean do it all , cyclocross, Touring, Commuting or just plain getting out there. And Johns new Giant OCR Carbon 3. Both were smiling ear to ear. thanks guys and enjoy.

Maybe I'll Ride this In Erie In September.....

So I took this and another bike on trade a month ago. Turns out that this one is kind of cool. Its a Centurion Master Ironman, Dave Scott edition. Dave was and is an excellent athlete and there has been many products with his branding over the years. Maybe, just maybe I will race this in Erie this coming September. I might at least take it along.









What was he thinking????????

So I'm no political junkie, but I do have my opinions. I really think that it is a shame about John Edwards.Not that he got caught but the fact that he did it. Unfortunately it appears to be a sign of the times and infidelity is something that touches people in all walks of life.Lets face it the Dem's have little or nothing to offer these days and to see a guy like that fall into such a mess is quite the shame. Edwards could have been a real positive influence in what appears to be a failing Democratic run, although I am sure that it will have little or no affect on any future political endeavors he may have, which is a shame in itself.

Roaring Run Tomorrow.......

Looking foreword to tomorrows ride at Roaring Run. It has been well over a year since I have been there to ride so I am sure that I will leave some blood behind. I hope that everybody that said they will be there will show, I will have some photos as well to share. Sorry for missing the road ride tomorrow Rich. You should really get a mountain bike.

Friday August 8th, 2008

No riding today but I recovered from the past two days pretty well., I hope to be able to get on the spinner tomorrow morning. Gabe and I rode to the shop this morning, what a beautiful morning it was, and he loves to ride. We kicked around the shop for the better part of the morning. I worked while he spread my tools from one end of the shop to the other. He gives each and every one its own identity and personality and really seams to enjoy himself. Most guys would probably freak but I don't mind. He comes to work with me just about every day without complaint so what the heck.

Planning a trip to Roaring Run.......

So I have not been on a mountain bike in well over a year, and with a 24 hour mountain bike race looming in the near future I figure its time I get out and get dirty. I'm hoping that everyone I told about it will be able to come. Some of them I haven't ridden with in well over 2 years and I miss them. We used to ride at least once or twice a week but then everybody seemed to get busy and of course I spend all my time riding on the road now.

Speaking of 24 hour racing......

On the same token the last time I did this upcoming event I spent the following week in and out of the emergency room then a full week in the hospital (read all about it) with MRSA, Man I cant wait to race this Labor Day weekend. In all actuality I really cant wait fro these reasons

• I really do love mountain biking but cant seem to fit it into my schedule these days.
• Nothing like spending 24 hours suffering with 3 of your friends
• There will be at least 15 other people there Racing that I have done 12 or 24 hour events with over the past several years.

Speaking of MRSA.......

My poor dog has it or some kind of similar infection. He got a hot spot on his neck that neither myself or the groomer caught and now he is sick. What a bummer.

On a lighter note.......

Spent the evening hanging with the family. Gabe and I spent some time in the garden picking and eating tomatoes and peppers then off to the blueberry bush for dessert. I have never seen a kid eat tomato's off the vine like and apple but that is how he does it.Then we spent about 45 minutes or so jamming. How cool is that? I picked him up a Line six 15 watt amp and he really seams to dig it.

Newsflash???????

Nigerian Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, has advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women. Like we didn't already know that.


And finally something else cycling related...

Valverde favored to win Beijing 250k

Thursday August 6th Ride Report

Had another great ride this evening, even though it didn't look like we would . It was raining and thundering right up to the time we were ready to leave. The rain stopped, the clouds disappeared and the sun came out. What a beautiful evening, 74 degrees and a triple rainbow.

Nicoll, Hammer, Duane, Sean and myself did the three man loop again this evening. Duane and I had a pretty hard ride the on Wednesday and Nicoll had raced so the fact that hammer and Sean had fresh legs so I new that we were in for it. We had a great ride. Lots of attacks and some good, hard pace line riding. Of course close to the end I was spent and hammer was being his usual relentless self so on the final part of the last climb I just let him Sean and Nicoll go and turned back down the hill to finish of the climb with Duane. My heart only gave me a bit of trouble during the ride this evening but nothing that affected my riding. I had the most trouble once we got back to the shop and were just standing around. I know it was a good ride because I know I had nothing left, Duane looked like a zombie sitting on the couch and Sean lost his balance just standing there.


If cats have nine lives how many do cyclist have??????

So we are cruising out Bethel Church Road and had just passed the church and descending back down to 286. There was allot of chatter and we were riding side by side, which by the way is legal here in the state of PA. Now you must understand this isn't a very busy road and rarely see more than a car or two any time we ride it. So as I said we are just cruising along when I notice this mini van pulling off the road and coming to a stop in the burm. I look to my right at Sean and to make sure of our location on the road, I look back toward the road ahead and catch movement out of the corner of my eye. I look to my left and just in time to see the mirror of a car literally 4 inches from my leg. This totally caught me by surprise, but also explained the reason for the mini vans actions. I must say that this rally startled me but fortunately I held my line and let the imbecile continue buy. The whole incident really set the group off so the chase was on and we caught up to the lady at the intersection of 286 and yelled and screamed, pointing out the fact that she had really not made any headway buy passing us then we continued to pass here and get in front of her again, which made us feel better but probably had no effect on her. As she passed us i reckoned back to my early days of riding when a friend of mine, Spa-Man, carried a small bag of rocks with him for just such an occasion. This state really needs to do a better job of getting the word out about cyclist rights on the road. My only regret is that I did not have my camera so that I could post her obese mug and license plate number all over the net.

Wednesday August 6th ride report.......

Another busy day at the shop. This is Sean's last week before heading of to Geneva College. Hes a good worker and had become a good friend. I wish him well in his endeavors.

That's enough of that.....We did the Snyder Road loop this evening. Rich Z, N.C. John, John Blank, Andy, Dr. Vitality, Duane and myself headed out from the shop and headed out south 6th st. to Snyder road. We proceeded to Rt 56 then took 259 and eventually turned back toward Luciousboro. We then mad the right down the dark side descent to 119 then headed toward the Power Plant climb. Then back Hilltop road and returned to Indiana.

This ride was about 30 miles or so but felt like allot more than that. What a climb fest South sixth is a pretty good climb itself then Snyder road seams to go on forever. The ride across 259 isn't to awfully bad but still plenty of climbing. the descent off of Luciousboro was a blast except for going into a few of the turns a little hot, but that just ads to the thrill. I mad Duane work to beat me to the top of the Power Plan climb and near the end we let bill get out ahead of us so we chased him down and blasted the final little climb. Like i mentioned we had a pretty hard ride with plenty of attack and very little pace line work. N.C. John described it as a ride that was mostly individual time trialing with hard climbs mixed in.

The apple and the tree.......

So my wife calls me today in kind of a huff and a little irritated with me. Now I have been at work all day but as most married men know you don't have to be around to fall victom to a woman's wrath. Anyway i reluctantly ask what is wrong, her reply...."do you know what your son just said to me". Oh no... Has Mike Rowe gone off the deep end again and not gotten bleeped??? Did Bear Grylls let one slip??? the the Barnyard gang finally lose it???? I reluctantly ask, what did he say.

Well since my sons last Nintendo disappearance, he has gone back to playing with his regular, non animated toys, which in my opinion is great. He has a great imagination and the things he does are really cool. So his latest thing is to build his Thomas track around the living room from his playroom, to which my wife made a comment about him having enough track to complete his job. He turns to her and says "Of course I do, why wouldn't I" which is a bit sarcastic for a 5 year old but for me that would have been a typical response, hence her aggravation with me. What she doesn't understand is that she spends allot of time with her as well and I see allot of her in him as well so in my opinion all is well, of course she thinks that I am just turning him into a wise@$$.

Whats in a potsticker anyway......

What is in a potsticker anyway. My wife made them for supper this evening and i must say they tasted exceptionally well. I don't know if it was because I was so hungry or if she is such a good cook.

What kind of person steels from a kid

So....My son has had his third personal item stolen from the store. 2 Nintendo DS's and 1 Leapster. Now as an adult I know better than to leave personal items lay around but five year old's don't. What type of person steels from a little kid, how shallow must one be to do such a thing. I have stuff stolen from the store all the time but personal items are a bit much.

What kind of headline is this....OOPS

Gay and Powell Kept apart in 100m
World champion Tyson gay and record holder Asafa Powell claim they are not allowed to face each other at the Golden Grand Prix in China.
I think the BBC needs a proof reader.

What the Hell.....

So the family and I are out for a ride on the trail the other day and we stop for our usual 100 meter brake. My son loves to ride but he feels the need to stop every so often. Anyway my wife notices something on my arm and proceeds to pick at it. I in turn swipe her hand away and and start to inspect it myself, it was nothing so I kind of ignored it, of course then my son starts to pick, I look down at him and he has this real intense inquisitive look on his face. He then turns his eyes toward me and exclaims "What The Hell???"

Now you must understand that this is nothing he has ever heard from his mother or I nor from a majority of the people we are around, so I ask him where he heard that. Of course he could not remember so we made sure that he knew that is was not something he should say. Later that evening we are watching one of our favorite shows, Dirty jobs, "What The Hell"....thanks Mike Rowe.

A Day at Yellow Creek

Another beautiful day in Indiana PA today. The weather was perfect and I have Mondays off so what to do. My son proclaimed it to be pajama day, so he and I just slothed around until my wife came home from work. So after a quick lunch and clothing change we headed to Yellow Creek State Park Swimming Beach for the rest of the afternoon.

I often times forget how blessed we are here in Indiana County and what it has to offer those who enjoy the great outdoors. Biking, both road and mountain, hiking, fishing, boating swimming and so much more. So needless to say the beach at Yellow Creek did not disappoint. The water temperature must have been around 76 Deg. and after a little splashing around with my son he made a couple of friends and I headed for the blanket to let them play.

The short list of parks within 15 minutes of Indiana are....Yellow Creek State Park (Mountain Biking, hiking, Fishing, Boating and Boat rentals, Swimming and cabin rentals, there are also 2 camping areas near by) Whites Woods & IUP's College Lodge activities area. These two parks are smack up against each other with connecting trails . Hiking, Mountain Biking and Disc Golf are all activities that can be enjoyed by combining these two parks. Blue Spruce Park (hiking, fishing and picnic areas). And if you want to travel a little further the Roaring Run Watershed Association has some phenomenal single track as well as a rails to trails for family fun. Dogs are also permitted at most of these facilities so long as they are on a leash.

There needs to be some sort of litmus test........

So there we are at the beach, and I will be the first to admit the the perfect body is something that I don't have, as most people out there but when purchasing a bathing suit it should cover a certain percentage of the body. Now I know some of you guys out there would scream foul but how often do you really see something worth looking at? And for the ladies.This is usually what you get.....Sorry all PG rated photos on line are too disturbing to show or link......but i think we all know what I am talking about. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing overweight people , just wishing that all would dress appropriately.

XTERRA Appalachia and Sunday ride report

Did the eastern shore loop this afternoon with Andy, Zewacki, Matt and Sean. Had a pretty good ride for the most part except that I did have a little heart flip about 14 miles in. I did a pretty hard effort on one of the climbs and let up before I reached the top. About a minute later I was in affib. It only stayed out for about a minute or two then came back and was fine for the rest of the ride. I was able to ride pretty hard from that point on except for the fact that the salad that I had for lunch left me with little energy for the last 7 miles or so.

XTERRA Appalachia.......

Yesterday was also our second annual XTERRA Appalachia event. We had a pretty good turnout, I'm not sure if it was as many as last year but with the cost of travel these days I would say that it was pretty good. We had people from as far away as California last year, this year I spoke to some people from Maryland and the Poconos in the Northern part of our state.

I went out early with my son and Sean to set up in case anybody needed repair work, also a couple of guys that came to the race, this must have been their first XTERRA, didn't bring their helmets with them so I sold them a couple since I'm pretty sure that they did not own one. The other thing I don't get about this particular event, and I am not sure if it is this way at all of them, but , I have been to allot of races in my time and I have never seen so many people need repairs done the day of the race. Everything form brake adjustments to one guys brakes needing to be bled to another guys front brake pad rubbing a hole in his front tire.How can you go to a race that involves riding a bike and not bring a bike that is working properly?

We weren't able to stay for the end of the event of the reward ceremony but we did stay long enough to see the winner cross the finish line in under 1 1/2 hours. These races are fun to watch and I like to sit where I can get a good view of the transition area. Its funny to see how exhaustion and hypoxia wreak havoc on your ability to follow even the simplest of instruction, even with people pointing and telling you were to go. Even watching the participants dismount their bikes is comical, I saw so many people unclip swing a leg over the bike like they were going to take off running to the transition area only to stop and stand there like they were done or something.


A funny thing happened on the way to work the other day.......

So my son and I are on our way to work the other day and we are just kind of meandering down the road and chatting. I happen to glance up into my rear view mirror just in time to see this little black kitten pouncing across the road about 200 yards behind me. Now one of our cats had kittens not too long ago and one of them happens to be black. by the time my mind processes all of this, remember it is early in the morning, I realize that said black kitten is probably ours. I am guessing that she had crawled up under the truck and decided that this would be a good time to get off. Fortunately it didn't appear that she got hurt, unfortunately we have still been unable to find her. I am sure that somebody found her and took here in , there are allot of houses and apartments around.


Tennis anyone?????

Found a couple of interesting articles on the past couple of rides. Now I'm no Beachcomber, but if I happen to spot something worth picking up I will. I found the racket cover on Thursdays ride and the tennis ball on Sunday.

Just Another Day

Another busy day at the shop today. Really looking forward to the weekend this week. I think Brian is home so that means at least one really good hard ride this weekend and of course the XTERRA APPALACHIA is this Sunday as well. Doug always puts on a great event and is sure to have a great turnout. I of course wont be participating. I see no reason to swim before a good bike ride and no reason to run afterwards.

The Tae Kwon-Duo........

The wife stopped buy the store today on her way to Tae Kwon-Do Today. She is just getting started so she is a white belt, my son is a Yellow belt with a green stripe. It is good to see the two of them sharing an interest in something. Its not cycling but at least its better that shopping. I really need to motivate her back onto the bike, I know that she misses riding, she rode 2500 miles until she reached the middle of her eighth month of pregnancy and never really got back to it since. They really both enjoy riding so I know it only a matter of time.

Went to Kennywood the other day......

Went to Kennywood the other day with the family and had a great time. Its really cool having an amusement park so close to home. I didn't ride too much but my kid did, and lets face it , the fact that he had fun was what its all about anyway. I did ride the Exterminator....what a lamo ride the only good thing about it was that i escaped without any major back or neck injuries. My son and I did ride a few things together, like the log jammer and the old time expressway. the cars are kind of a let down from when I was his age. One of the best parts of the ride then was trying to catch the guy in front of you and bumping into them, of course they used golf cart motors and you could control the speed a little bit. not its totally automated, but we had fun anyway.

3 Man Curse Broken

Did the 3 man loop this evening with Sean, Matt, Andy, and Duane. Now the 3 man loop, is very interesting for the simple fact that no matter how many people start the ride, weather it be four, five six eight, it really does not matter the way the group finishes up is with at least one group of three by themselves. What is strange about this particular loop is that it is not terribly hard. not too much elevation gain and is right around 35 miles so it isn't super long.

We started the ride as usual and just about 2 blocks out from the shop I realized that I had forgotten my water bottles. So i told the guys just to soft pedal and I would catch up (now our 5 are 4). So I return to the shop, grab my bottles and head out, just outside of town, right before the climb I encounter Andy (2 + 3 you can see where this is headed. So I blow past Andy, and my heart is ruining on all 8 cylinders this evening and I am felling strong. So up the climb on Fulton run and down the other side. I did soft pedal to let Andy latch on, and the chase was on. It wasn't too long before we had the other guys in site. We finally caught them and throughout the whole ride it was a real struggle to keep the group together. but we did finally finish with all 5 of us together. that is absolutely the first time that has ever happened.

I felt really Strong this evening and only had my heart jump once during one of the times I was bridging Andy and Sean back to the other 2 guys that had gaped us. Andy has not been himself lately either. He also has some sort of heart issue as well. We really should get a cardiologist to ride with us. Tonight's ride included 2 guys with heart conditions and one diabetic.


Look mom I'm Hypoglycemic.........

So we return to the shop and Sean was hanging out letting his sugar balance so we decided to test mine as well. Now I'm no pro at this diabetic thing so after 3 tries I was able to finally draw enough blood for Sean to get a Reading on his glucometer. My blood sugar was at 87 which I took as meaning that I had a good hard ride. Low blood sugar and ringing ears...nothing like it.


The Russians are doping the Russians are doping....

So the Olympics are just around the corner and there is already a doping scandal. At least its not only in cycling...as if we didn't already know that, right? The list is long and well known most just refuse to believe it.





The heck with exercise...just give me a pill......

That's right folks...fitness in a bottle is just around the corner. No more exercising just take 2 pills and race me in the morning. The Journal Cell reports that US researchers have 2 possible pills that appear to grow muscle, increase stamina, even burn fat and in tests, 44% of mice were able to run further-suggesting that humans without prior training would be able to do the same. SIGN ME UP....I'm tired of all this suffering. Of course this is all controversial for fears that they would be used in sports.....DUH.

Last Week S&@^@d

What a horrible week. the only highlight that is remotely cycling related was reading Burt's Blog (that guy cracks me up, although I'm sure his boss would be P*&^#d if he found out he was blogging instead of working. BTW if anybody can figure out who he is let me know.). Anyway, last week for me was horrible. after a pretty descent race the previous weekend, at Clark Valley, Wednesdays ride was quite the let down. the shop was a zoo and I was spent but I figure that what does not kill me will make me strong.Rich, Andy and myself did one of Rich,s through together loops and ended up with about 40. it wasn't a lot of fun but I finished. As far as the rest of the week went I totally bagged Thursday and did not ride again until Sunday.

I really need to start keeping my Camera at the ready.........

The family and myself headed out to Steel City Samiches for dinner. That's not a misspelled word its just a Burg thing. The guy worked for Permanti's for 24 years and just opened shop in downtown Indiana) So we are cruising along and this dud on a custom Harley pulls out in front of us and My wife starts cracking up. I ask her whats up and she points at said dude. Just so happens that his low rider jeans didn't quite make it to his midriff. This picture tells the story but does not quite meet the specs. This guy had enough crack showing that I bet if he want riding a Harley you would here a whistle.

Then not 2 minutes later we are headed up Philly street towards our destination and I see the owner of previously mentioned restaurant crossing the street, in the cross walk none the less, now everybody starts to slow down and come to a stop to let them pass. Except for the State Trooper that blew right past them, no lights and nobody else around coming his way. I will give him credit though, he did look in his rear view mirror to make sure they made it across unscathed.


Weekend race news.......

I didn't race this weekend but others did. Brian, Mike, and Nicol did the Wilderness 101 in state college on Saturday. Mike finished in 9 hours and 09:51:00 (not unscathed of course), Nicol in a little over 11 hours and Brian in over 12. Hoovis raced a Carlisle and broke the 1 hr barrier in the 40K TT.

Sundays Ride........

Did the Prosperity Hill loop with Andy and John....another horrible ride. I felt good at some parts but mostly wished that I was home. Of course the ride started out with the regular Sunday after church crowd yelling and blowing their horns at us. Unfortunately on this particular day I had to apologize for one of our Church members for his exploits. Andy had drifted a little far out into the road the next thing I heard was a horn blaring and a motor revving, i turned to looked over just in time to see one of our Church Deacons speeding by. I told them that the difference was that there was no foul language or improper gestures flying from the SUV. Anyway I figure that I must be getting dehydrated again, therefore the explanation for my poor performance, I have no explanation for the Deacon. Oh well better days are on the horizon

Clarks Valley 40K (25mi) ITT

Headed to Mechanicksburg this weekend to visit Brian and participate in the Clark's Valley 40 K ITT. A pretty good race venue except for the turnaround at the 20K point. I really don't like races where you literally have to turn around. the upside to it was they did it on an uphill grade so it made accelerating out of the turnaround much better than others I have seen. The course was fairly hilly but more downhill portions on the return trip. I only remember struggling on 2 of the climbs on the way back.

I felt pretty good this morning and again had pretty high expectations for myself. My start time was at 9:15:30 and was one of the4 last start times on the day. The race started out on about a 3 mile uphill grade. I was feeling pretty good and usually can ride pretty Strong on climbs like this. I was holding between 23 and 24 mph for this entire portion of the ride then things leveled off for a bit then back to more climbing. It was really hard to keep a good rhythm on this course but I was holding my own. I probably went a little too hard though because by the time I reached the final climb before the turnaround i was really starting to feel it. Man I need to lose some weight.

The turnaround as I said want bad and I was able to accelerate back up to speed fairly quickly although I was really starting to feel the first half in my legs. I continued to push myself though and finished with a 1:09:09 time (21.69 mph). I was pretty happy with this time but am pretty sure I could have done better. I did not have any trouble with my heart today but i did back off on my efforts a couple of times during the race fearing that I was riding too hard, I really need to get over that though, hopefully I will over time.

Of course Brian smoked the course on his new REK breaking the sub hour mark with 56 or 57 minutes...Good job Brian.

UPMC ITT, Team TT Family day at the track

The next race I did this month was the UPMC, ITT adn Team TT family day at the track on July 12th. What a great time, Ag3r/indianacycling.com had a good turnout on the day and had some great times to boot.

The ITT was 10 miles on the oval track in Pittsburgh and I was excited about it. I had pretty high expectations for my self on the day and didn't walk away too disappointed. The races got off to a late start, being the first time for this event, but once things got started everything went fine.

I started off the race feeling really good, and ramped it up right out of the blocks , which can be a bad idea for me but seemed to be working for me this particular day. At about the 2 mile mark though my heart kind of flip flopped, so I up shifted immediately and increased my cadence, increasing my heart rate a little. I have found that this will sometimes keep my heart from jumping into affib, that along with some controlled breathing did the trick. My heart held its rhythm and I continued on. Unfortunately though it was in the back of my mind so I kind of backed off the pace for a while. I did however ramp it back up for the last four laps which definitely helped my finish time of 24:34 with and average speed of 24.42 MPH.

Overall I was pretty please with my performance but I know that I could have done better having plenty left for the end. Hopefully as my racing and training increased I will have fewer problems with my heart as in the past.

The other high point on the day was my soine race as well. They had kids races between the ITT and the TTT. ONe lap around the treack sith a rider coach along for the ride. Kids that had parents racing that day got to have them as thri rider coackh so I also got to ride with him. He is only 5 but tey let him race anyway. His one lap time was 02:46 with and average speed of 10.84 MPH. A great time was had by all and I look forewar to next years event.

UPMC Time Trials

UPMCCycling.com organized a (painful!) 10 mile Individual Time Trial this past Saturday......and while the day took a bit longer than many had planned for, the multiple category event went off quite well. A few of us (not me!), even went home with money in (our) pockets!!!
Additionally, there was a Junior's Race...
...and even an U12 Kids Race, completing one lap of the circuit with their still-in-kit dads at their side, and their own race numbers pinned to their backs. Cool :)

And last...and least... Agr's Team Time Trial Record for the 20 mile distance fell.

New 20 mile TTT - WB Track Record => 43:10.0 @ 27.80mph

Old 20 mile TTT - WB Track Record =>

2007_0720 => 44:57.0 @ 26.70mph by Ag3r: DeFurio, Dimmick, McCracken & Rogers

(Thanks to Dave Hickey for the photos in this post :)

Saturday Afternoon Ride

Had a good ride this afternoon. Closed the shop at 1:00 today since it was a Holiday weekend and rode with Brian, Sean and John (a student from wyoteck) . we started out doing the Five Points Loop but a one point lost John. We did not realize he had ridden form Blairsville and was struggling to hang on, so he decided to make a turn towards home without telling us. We turned back and I just caught a glimpse of him heading in the opposite direction. We chased him down and he explained that he was just going to head for home, which would have been about a 60 mile ride for him, so we decided to change our route to one that would get him in a more homeward bound direction.

So we opted for the 3 man loop, and as usual 4 men started together and 3 finished. We had a really nice ride, although my quad were still screaming from the night before, but the further we rode the better they felt.

The ride was pretty much uneventlful, except that Sean cant make low speed turns without falling off his bike.

Friday TT at the Track

Well...I must say that this race did not go as planned. As a mater of fact it was down right miserable. Brian, John T. Lyle and Myself all went to the Friday Night TT at the track on July 4th. I had really planned on having a good race since I have been feeling so good as of late....how foolish of me. Now if it had been only a 5 mile TT i would have done pretty good but since it was 20 I should have just stayed home.

I showed up a little later than I wanted to and did not have much time to warm up. I did not think this would be a problem though since it was a 20 miler I figured that I would just ride into it and still be able to do well. The problem is I have not learned how to do that in a race situation yet. I started off hard from the start, big mistake, but was feeling pretty good. As a matter of fact I was feeling really good until about five miles in. Thats when my world fell apart.

I had been pacing "T" since he started 15 sec ahead of me and was slowly closing the gap. I was feeling really good until the 5 mile mark when my heart went into affib. Fortunately the track is pretty level so I continued to ride, slowing my speed and increasing my cadence. I was still feeling OK and if my heart would have been my only probem this particular evening I would have been happy.

Now I have ridden my new bike a couple of times but no sustained time in the aero bars....big mistake. It was like Erie all over, my saddle started to feel like it had teeth and I was unable to get comfortable, that along with my heart beating funny really made me want to just quit, but I didn't. Fortunately my heart came back into rhythm fairly quickly but by that time I was more or less just turning the pedals. My discomfort was really ruining it for me now. I kept trying to find a good position, but was unable to until almost the end of the race. I crept out onto the nose of the saddle and was able to sit there with little discomfort and was able to concentrate on riding.

My speed also increased back to where it had been earlier but it was too late. I ended up finishing 10th out of 11 and I also think that i did an extra lap as well. It was a 40 lap race and I was using my computer to gauge my distance. I had ridden the apron of the track and got exactly .5 miles. At the 10 mile mark my computer read 10.3 so I figured that at the end of the race my com should read around 20.8. When i got to the 20 mi mark though my computer only read 20.4 or somthing close to that so I went around again. It is my hoe that next weeks TT goes better. Brian and I are going to work on my position this afternoon.

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.