Bicycling, Mountain Biking, Cyclocross, Road Bicycle Racing, Mountain Bike Racing, Fitness, Colorado, Denver, Fitness Training, Life, Challenges, Running, Front Range,
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Motivation
Monday, January 25, 2010
The HT 29er
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
5 Years!?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Hunt for the Hard Tail 29er
A friend let me borrow his hard tail 29er at a race last year and it was phenomenal. Every hill that we had previously raced, felt shorter. Anything that was flat, the bike just rolled through. I didn't get too crazy on the descents because.... well... it wasn't my bike. After that experience, I put my Santa Cruz up for sale. I was going to make the switch. Time to re-find my love for mountain biking again.
Now I have to figure out what to get. I was thinking about building up a bike but by the time I get all the parts, it costs more than just getting a completed bike. So, I'm going the complete bike route even though I know it wont be everything I want. As for the frame material I'm just doing aluminum. Carbon is too costly and it's particularly costly if you crash or rub a rock or hit a tree. So now it's time to find something reasonably priced that maximizes my return on investment.
So what am I looking at, basically the high end aluminum 29er from the major manufactures.
The Specialized Stumpjumper Comp 29er
The Gary Fisher Paragon
The Giant XTC 29er 1
and the Cannondale Flash 29er 1
As I begin to look over the build specs for each of the bikes, all of them look pretty good. As to the general aesthetics, I like them a lot. As for what is the right price to pay for those components, we'll see. First thing first, think I'll try and track down some of these bikes and ride them.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Daddy is the Mommy
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The Ride
Friday, January 15, 2010
The Group Ride
So what is the problem? I haven't ridden more than a couple of hours (almost 2hrs) at a time in a few months, they have. Hell, I've only ridden outside once in the past month in a half. Sad
What I need is just saddle time. I need a good long ride to build up the aerobic base. The training issue is my competitive nature. There's no race this weekend (well there is but I only have Saturday to ride and the race is Sunday. I have the kids Sunday... would be fun to race but slow). So the question is, can a go to a team ride and get the aerobic ride I need or will I let the moment overrule my brain and mess it up?
I want to stick to the training plan... but can I? We'll see. Maybe I should just plan on getting dropped, then I wont push too hard trying to hold on to something that's not there.
As the new president, maybe I should talk with everyone and get to know them. I hope they ride slow enough..... wait a minute... I hope they ride fast enough to keep up with my minimal HR and power requirements. I don't want to have to ride too slow!
This is complicated.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Keep'n it Real
Last year I used Training Peaks to track and help me with my training, but things didn't go as well as I wanted. I didn't stick to the plan very well. Too much .... cheating. With no one keeping me accountable, I ultimately paid the price.
I've thought about getting a personal trainer but it costs from a little to a lot more than I want to pay. Besides, this is a hobby. Part of my enjoyment is tweaking and figuring it out myself. Do you really get as much pleasure out of something when you just pay someone else do do it for you. [Depends on what it is]
With that in mind, I have put a new link to view my Training Peaks log, on the right of the blog. Feel free to click on it and see what I've been up to. It has my work out plan and what I actually did. If you see me wavering too far off the plan, leave me a comment to shape up and fly right.
Oh and by the way, the new Training Peaks layout is pretty nice. Last year I really liked the old layout and didn't think I'd ever use the Beta version. But they've really improved it and I think I like the new setup more than the old. I'll let you know how it goes as I get more use out of it.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
America's Past Time....
So why didn't he break the record when he was younger, he would've made more money during his career. Well, that's obvious, he couldn't do it without the dope.
So, what does this teach our kids.... Do anything you can to win, including doping. All to be a sports hero. No honor and no ethics, Sad.
America's Past Time..... Cheating.... Success at any cost.
BOOOO!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Weekend Mayhem
All I wanted to do was ride, all I got was so much more!
Saturday I was up early to bottle two batches of homebrew, that's 4 cases of beer, 96 bottles of beer (it's not all for me, so don't worry, I don't have a problem). One batch was an Irish Red and the second was a Porter. Both tasted great! Dave and I had a good time and things went smoothly. We knocked it all out in about 3 hours. Also started planning our next brew and made a list of some additional equipment we need (anyone have a small refrigerator they're looking to unload?) The bottles should be fully carbonated in about 2 weeks. I'll give you an update then.
I rushed home so to watch Nate while Kailee and Melissa went to a Birthday party. Nate and I hung out and had some man to man time. It was warm out so we walked to the park to see how the lake and neighborhood park were doing. Don't worry, they're doing well. After that, Nate was ready for a rest.
Saturday night, Melissa and I went to the Velodrome for a TE and TER board end/beginning of the year party. It was great fun to ride the velodrome and talk with everyone. I think Melissa and I were the only ones that had ridden a Velodrome before. People were totally freaked out by the 45 degree banked turns. There were no crashes or misshapes. Everyone I saw had their fear quickly erased by a smile once they were on the track. We had a blast.
Sunday the in-laws came down and we tackled some work we needed to get done on our new/used popup camper trailer. It's in really good shape, except for the parts that don't work. We're working on those. Thanks Jack for all your help, I really do appreciate it.
After all of that, I got a ride in on the trainer in the basement Sunday night. 1000+Kj on the trainer, in the basement, on Sunday night..... not ideal. On a lighter note, after 1:10:00 my power to HR decoupling was less than 5%, all in the E2 HR range. That's good for the preparation period. Maybe 2010 will be a breakout year (break out of cat 4, ah ahah).... I can dream, it's my blog!
Sadly it all happened so fast, I didn't get any photo's. Kind of lame but I was living life like a kid in a candy store. I'll try and have some photos next time.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Watch out for that chainsaw
I'm going to cut your leg off". What?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Your New President
Well, I decided to stick it out. I also got a little more involved (actually even before this happened). While it wasn't my original plan...
Our 2010 president had to step down, great guy but he got a good job, approximately 3 days into his term. The team was headless and heading towards oblivion (not really but it's my blog) so, I volunteered and actually had a lot of support on the board. Thanks everyone, it was nice to see you all think I can do it. So... I'm it.
It all happened a little fast! I'm going to need some time to wrap my head around this.
Wish me luck.
Thanks for reading.
Your President........ of Team Evergreen Racing
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Happy New Year
Thursday (New Years Eve) I took the day off and spent the day with the kids. We hit the Denver Museum of Science and History. I took both kids, which was a test of my tracking skills. Nate and Kailee had a great time and we lasted a couple of hours before enough people were there that the lines lasted longer than the kids attention span. I didn't even loose anyone... for longer than 15 minutes.
Thursday evening we were off to our neighbors great kids New Years party. We had a super time. The kids ran around and had crazy fun. There was a chocolate fountain, balloon drop!, party toys for the kids, a pinata, and adult beverages. Amy and Tim were outstanding hosts!! We are so lucky to have them as neighbors. Everyone had fun. Lucky most people had left but when we were packing up to go, Nate decided to projectile puke all over me! Sweet. Lucky we weren't on the carpet, sorry were were next to the food and back splash was danger close. So much for leftovers.
On New Years day, we had a lazy slow morning then went out to get in some sledding. Sadly there is still way too much snow laying around (nothing fresh, just old packed down snow). So we got out our Christmas sled and hit it.
That afternoon I went out for a ride; starting of 2010 right. Sadly it was too cold or at least I wasn't wearing enough. But I got in an hour before my toes were starting to hurt. Need to start using those toe covers. Training in the cold and racing in the cold are two different things. I am however, looking forward to getting back to those training rides.
Saturday we went up to Melissa's parents house. We had a great afternoon, visiting and playing around.
Saturday evening was really the defining event for the weekend. A friend of mine from work, Joe, got married. They had their reception at Dave and Busters. They gave both of the kids special cards so they can play as much as they want. Play they did! They won all kinds of stuffed animals, tickets, more stuffed animals and played all the great games. We didn't leave until 9:45. The kids were wrecked, delirious and running on fumes. We got them home and in bed while they were sleepwalking. The next morning both kids were asking "when we were going back?" Joe and Angle, thanks for setting up the kids so well. We all had a wonderful time!
Sunday it was a day of rest...not. We had a little shopping spree. See the posts in the coming days to see the exciting news.