The Official Guide to the World between the Wheels

Little bits of info.

Ok Ok i'm really bad at this posting stuff this summer. Its not because i'm running short on exciting stuff to write about. Mostly it due to my lazyness.
My friend and future Pro rider Lindsey from Ohio has been back on her bike and racing since her injury a few months back and it was great seeing her at Alum Creek and to hear she did so well the following week at Lake Hope.. Great job Lindsey!!

Timmy and i haven't gotten much riding in together lately...Timmy where are you??

Work has been busy for me. (boring)

Eatough Coaching has been fabulous! I can't believe how much this has been working and in so many ways more than just successful riding/racing!! Big question i'm always asked...."can you give me some tips?" I can't because the day to day training is completely differant based on upcoming races and prior training. Hiring Chris is the best tip i can give.

Trek World starts next week (Interbike at the Trek Facility). I'll be taking the week off to drive up hang out, work a little, ride some new stuff and see the city. Can't wait!

Been building a new bike with a friend and it's almost finished! Once its done an overnight trip to Ohiopyle is planned to test her out! This bike is all tricked out with King headset, Thompson seatpost & stem, King TI cages and a few more others goodies! Scooter from the Wexford TOP Gear shop will be lacing up wheelset for her and i won't tell you what it's going to look like until i post a pic.

*stork

Latest Greatest

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

How do i find them?

All i've i got to say is that i hope everyone out there reading this has friends like i do. Since hooking up with a coach my riding schedule has changed drastically and thankfully my riding bud has been very accommodating. Given the choice of riding solo or riding with someone Timmy has been kind enough to tailor some of his rides to fit my coaching schedule. What a great friend! We spent a beautiful sunday riding 3+ hours as I was told to do at a moderate pace. Sure he could have gone anywhere and ridden however he wanted but he decided to help me out and keep me in check during my ride. To that i must say Thanks.

*stork
<<<< timmy after a hammerfest in the woods!

Lonely Days ahead

Little by little the season has crept up on me. I seemed to have overlooked/ignored its coming and simply have kept riding as i wanted. This is not good for racing...but it has been great for for my overall well being. I love riding and the freedom that comes from being able to attend any ride any day that i choose has been great. Sadly I must now stop that. Recently I've decided to actually take training seriously. This is a major change for me especially since i've always said "I don't train, I simply ride!"
With this change comes the challenge to see what differences it will make and whether i can stick with the scheduled rides and training.
For the most part i have always been against the coaching/trainer thing because every individual i've known that had one always missed out on rides and events based on their "schedule" This seemed to go against the fact that i was doing this for FUN, which meant if you wanted to ride then go ride. Well I must go back on what i said and figured the best way to see what you get from a coach is to hire one and try it.
That leads me to this guy. He's been a friend for years and our paths cross yearly at events. Sitting around at the Mohican 100 a few weeks back we got to discussing how i ride and what little training i actually do & he along with another mutual friend Chris Beck thought they could get my wasted junk miles to become viable training miles. All in all making me a more efficient rider/racer and still keeping the enjoyment in it. This venture has so far been very exciting and i must admit that I'm stoked to see where this takes me. Having people like Chris & Chris guiding me can only make things better. Most likely you would have never read about me and a coaching service but given Chris's record and a showcase full of championships how could this possibly be bad??  The great thing about Eatough Coaching is that the man himself is guiding you not someone behind a computer who read a book and passed a test. This guy has has passed  a few tests...24 hour & 100 mile tests many many times!

Well stick with me this season to see just how this works out but remember that the coaching can do nothing if I don't follow their input and guidance. It's only as good as I make it, and i will only get out of it what i put in! I'm off to train!

*stork

The Race (Mohican 100K)

So the word is out that I won the 100K Mohican race this past weekend but not without a little controversy. So let me explain.....

Our race started in Loudenville around 7 and as always I came for a good time with little expectations or goals of placement. I simply wanted to finish this year without cramping which has happened to me the past 2 years. We immediately pegged the pace and for some reason I i felt good enough to maintain with the group pulling away but only for a short time before getting dropped and setting in on a comfortable pace. Riding in a small group through the single track another pittsburgh racer (Steve Cummings) came around me and turned the screws a little more. Smart racing has taught me not to worry but ride your pace in such a long race. This is what I did. I then rode many miles with my good friend (& local Mohican trial rider) Steve Twining. Letting him lead the way around the single track was a good option and pushing him on the climbs helped us both. I had a great time riding with Steve and we politely worked each other over a little with our strong points until hitting an aid station where Steve needed more time to refuel and I wanted to get back on course as a group rolled through. We said our goodbyes & good luck and parted ways.

 

I then worked to catch the group and managed to only get by a couple people before hitting the road sections. Turning up the heat and pushing the 44/11 i did reel the larger group ahead into sight but was never able to get close enough to catch a wheel. They would pull huge gaps on the flats and rollers while I would work & work by myself to keep them in my radar. A short time later we rolled through the 3rd aid station where the 100 mile & 100K split. I was told that i had been chiseling time off the gap to the group ahead while adding time to my pursuing counterparts. 15 some odd miles to go and only one other rider out front. I also knew his strong points were hills which followed but the ending of this years course was taking us back over a little more than 5 miles of the Mohican trail that we had started out on which left me feeling confident that I had a chance of catching him. Railing around and into the Campgrounds where the course then narrowed back into the single track i was feeling happy about the day on the bike and had yet to feel the slightest cramping (which was a major goal for me this year---no cramping). True to form I blissfully carved my way through the 5 mile loop of trail but never managed to ever see Steve who should have been out front. Thinking he must have really just kicked it up I rode my pace as normal and came across the finish smiling while assuming I had taken a solid 2nd place. I was very happy with this since I rode well, felt well and had fun.
Oh but wait...there sits Bob Myers immediately asking me what happened??
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Bob says "well 2 guys finished 20 mins ahead of you".
"Impossible!" i said.
I stated that they had to have skipped the Mohican trail because there was no way the lead guy put that much time on me in such a short distance and the other rider was more than several minutes behind me and another rider was between us. He had not passed me or the other guy. With some sorting out the promoter realized an aid station had set up in the wrong location and these two guys had in fact not ridden the 5 mile loop. Now Steve (who was actually leading) rode down the correct trail a little ways before turning around thinking it was wrong but the other guy had missed it all together. The promoter took some responsibility but had they read the course directions (a stack of them were printed off and sitting beside registration) they would have known we were to double back onto the starting single track. Also the rider following me and several others all made the correct turns without someone there to guide them. Both riders were disqualified. I do feel a bit "short changed" not having the chance to reel in the lead guy but this is how racing goes and i'm sure he feels the same not knowing if he would have maintained the lead or gotten chased down by me. Never the less I was the days winner and slow, steady & smart racing can win.
Thanks to all my supporters..Fisher, Bontrager, Deans Dairy, The Heart Center at Butler, Smart wool Socks, Trek of Pittsburgh, Boone Ti, Bob Myers & Jerry Bliton. I also want to add a thanks to Steve Twining for leading me through the single track so quickly.

*stork

Equipment used:

• 2009 Superfly
• Stork Fork (re-worked Fox G2)
• Bontrager XDX Tires
• Rhythm Comp 29er Wheelset
• FSA K-Force Light 44T/29T crank
• Time Pedals 
• ESI grips
• SRAM drivetrain and XO Twist Shifters
• Bontrager RXL Shoes
• Trek Circuit helmet (new in 2009)

Mohican 100 2009

Saturday found me at Mohican Forest racing the 100K (60 mile course). I really don't train for or feel like I'm an endurance racer/contender but I like this particular event because it brings together a group of friends that i rarely see especially all at once. This weekend usually offers me the opportunity to sit and talk with the top Pros from the Trek family which provides me with great insight on things like tire choices and nutrition tips. I got that chance again since I had dinner with Chris Eatough, Jeff Schaulk, Chris Beck, Bob Myers, Jerry Bliton and my riding bud TJ Platt. I also get to see many other people I've raced with over the years since the Mohican pulls in such a large group of racers. All in all its very enjoyable catching up with everyone.
Above is a photo of Michelle Johnson & Jeff Schaulk talking after the race. It shows just how great the Pro really are. He just hammmered out 100 miles yet he's discussing race situations and trail conditions with the local level crowd.
In addition to the Trek crowd I also got to catch up with Jeremiah Bishop who now races for Cannondale (and also won the Mohican 100 this year) and i saw Brandon Draugelis (riding bud at Blue Knob) who had a career highlight finish in the top 5!! Way to go Brandon!!
Well more to come later about the race and the day in the saddle......
*stork

Do we really need to know?

another clip from Geek and Poke