The Official Guide to the World between the Wheels

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A few races..a few rides..lots of working, and a little goofing off. Yea thats what i've been up to. I did the Fat Tire Challenge a few weeks ago and followed that up with the 2nd race of that Bike the Wilds Series at Rural Valley. I'll have a good report on both of those races soon.
I've ridden a few more times with Brandon out at Blue Knob and destroyed a little ring and brake pads one of those evenings there with him!
The Eatough Coaching has been working out great in fact it's eliminated a load of junk miles & wasted time on the bike for me. That was been noticeable lately and i've come to enjoy the harder work and more free time. I've been hitting up Pittsburgh a bunch for urban rides, dinners, movies and just plain hang out time with friends. Somethings I haven't done in a few years because i was always worried about riding & training.
A few weeks back i made it to the Pittsburgh Bike Polo Event to watch a few friends play. What an interesting game and actually pretty fun to watch. Although I'm sure its better to be playing. Maybe someday but i doubt anytime soon for me.

*stork

S&S trails 2009

Sunday morning Timmy Lyons and I headed over to Ohio for the OMBC race at S&S Trails. A great sunny day with lots of heat would find us racing through the almost 100 acres of Chris Skinners property. For a little more info on that read this. Anyway 4 laps around the 5.5 mile course before we could get our hands on the feast of food his family lays out..so i kicked it into high gear to get finished.
With my coaches having me training for these XC course races (under 30 miles) i had confidence that i would do well but never would have thought to be posting the second fastes time of the day! I felt strong for most of the race and even had enough left in the tank to sprint through the field into the finish line. My Superfly wrapped with Bontrager ACX worked really well on the course and i don't think another tire combo would have suited me better.
I want to say Thanks to all my friends there...always great seeing you guys and a big hand to Bob Myers for handing off a few bottles and taking the time to step away from his family to do so.
*stork

Something Differant

Saturday morning found me in Clarion with my Brother, Sister-in-law, nephew and Dad at a very informal "underground" Triathlon. It was at someones camp along the river...no registration, no fee. Sign up for the results and do the race. If you get hurt...your problem. I like this because it keeps things simple and most of the others there had done this the past 3 or 4 years. Afterward there is a huge picnic at the camp with no medals or money for the winners just some bragging rights until next year. Since my Sister-in-law is a couple months pregnant and my brother is a horrible swimmer we had decided to do this for simple fun. He would swim the first leg, i would then bike and Lara would finish with the run.
Little Padon (my nephew) and my Dad would hang out while we completed the event. I must say the trail was wonderful and a saw a few people from the Fat Tire Challenge which was just a few weeks ago (i'll have a better posting on that race soon). Most people were amazed at Lara running while pregnant and she finished in a very respectable time. We all had a good time and I headed home to lounge in front of the TV to rest up for my real event the following day in Ohio.
*stork

Still alive

Last weekend I took a litle time in the morning to have breakfast and ride with my good friend allieb. We hit up a small group "fun race" at North PArk where she meet some of my friends before we rode almost a complete outside loop of the PArk. This girl rocks and managed to get herself over most of the logs. Sunday I spent 4 hours on the road with Timmy before he convinced me to troubleshoot some wiring at his Estate. (how he got me to do this I don't know).
Training with Eatough Coaching is going well so far. Just when I thought it would take some of the fun out of riding i realized that it actually added a differant dimension to riding. Sure there are days i miss out on some social gathering rides but many days i have a particular goal and its something to accomplish and gives my riding some structure. I may have to get up at 5:30 a.m. on a saturday to get my scheduled ride in but after that nothing is stopping me from jumping on one of my other 12 bikes and lets say...cruising to watch some Bike Polo and then riding to a family picnic. Oh yea riding is still FUN first and so far i'm liking whats happening. Again i think the guy who has sacrificed the most is Timmy Lyons because he's always changimng his plans to fit my schedule. Thanks once again Timmy.
*stork