Got some new bling for the bike!!!!!!!!!!!

This past weekend I was able to get a deal on some new components for the bike. I had Charles at The Bike Store to thank for that. He put new SRAM Force group on his cross bike & sold me his Ultegra components. Today was the first time I had a chance to ride with the new parts. I hadn't been able to ride much since a week ago Saturday, but that's ok. I'm still a bit sore from the crash, but it's slowly getting better. Today I headed out & the legs felt pretty good. I did a route that I usually do. It's only a bit over 30 miles, but there are rolling hills on the route. I was surprised how good my legs felt after warming up. I kept it in the small ring during the early part of the ride just to be sure my legs were doing ok & it wouldn't hurt. The new parts worked fantastic. It shifts much better now than with the other components. I'm looking at getting the Orbea fixed. I found out that it might cost as little as $45 to get the cable guide replaced. I have the old 9 speed parts to put on it, so I'll have a spare bike in case something happens to the Trek. I just want to give Charles & Ethan @ The Bike Store thanks for doing all they have done to help me out. Stay tuned for more adventures.....

Wednesday Rides & a Crash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went for a ride early Wednesday afternoon seeing as I had the day off. I hadn't been on the bike for a week. I decided to just take it easy to see how the legs were feeling. I was surprised at how good they felt with being off for a week. I kept it in the small ring, but did push the cadence up a few times. I just took an easy route with just a few climbs, nothing big, just so I woudln't kill my legs. I ended up doing about 23 miles with an average speed of over 19 mph. I guess my legs felt better than I had thought during the ride. On Wednesday night, Charles from The Bike Store, was putting on crit practice at Perry Primary School. I decided to give it a shot, I need all the practice I can get when it comes to crits anyway. There were about 5 of us at the start and I wanted to see how good my legs felt. After warming up a few laps, I thought it was about time to see about putting the hammer down. I picked up the pace and was keeping a steady 21-23 mph just slowing for the corners. I was doing that for the better part of an hour. I then decided to do a few slow laps to recover for a bit. My legs were starting to get a bit tired. After a few cool down laps Charles was feeling a bit on the froggy side. I was trying to chase him down when I was turning a corner, one minute I'm upright on the bike, the next, I'm down on the pavement wondering what happened. I layed there to make sure I wasn't seriously hurt. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, my helmet took the brunt of it. Thanks to the helmet manufactureres for making a great product. I found out that my rear tire blew out & I think that's what caused me to go down. The bike is fine & I'm just a bit sore. I went for a recovery ride today, my legs felt good. I took it easy for most of the ride, but I had to put in one hard effort to see how my legs would feel. The legs felt pretty good doing a hard effort on the big ring. It hurts more to walk than it does to ride. I've got a bit of a limp, but I'm sure that will go away when the soreness is gone. I'm just going to have to be a bit more careful when taking corners. Thanks for reading & stay tuned for more adventures......

Peach Peloton Ride Recap

Yesterday was the next in the Peach Peloton Ride series. I was a bit hesitant about this one seeing as I had missed the past couple weeks due to other obligations. We started out near Julitte and it was certainly one cold morning. I had on a wicking t-shirt, my jersey, and then a thermal jacket. My legs had my shorts and I put tights on. My feet were trying out some Oslo extreme weather socks from Trek. I put my booties on due to the cold weather. We headed out and the first 10 miles were pretty good rolling hills. We ran into a couple of large dogs early in the ride & we were worried that they would be a problem on the way back. I decided to ride smart this time. I wasn't going to be up front very much, just wanted to survive this ride. The pace on the way out was pretty good, my legs were feeling good and when they started rotating, I just stayed out of the way and let them do it. I stayed close enough with the group to not get dropped but didn't want to wear myself out doing the rotations. We hit the store stop just after 2 hours and I was feeling suprisingly good. After the store stop we got back on the road and once again started rotating. The road after the store stop was constant rollers, some bigger than others, but I need the hill practice. We just continued rolling on the road and I was able to stay with everyone, once in a while we would come across a county line sign and some of the group decided to sprint for the signs. I just watched them, not wanting to contest any of them. We started back down the road we headed out on for the first part of the ride, this was the attack zone. We were all together for about the first couple of miles, then Chad decided it was time to break things up. I did my best to stay with them, but when you're riding with guys who are Cat 3 or higher, it's kind of hard to stay with them. I gave it my best, but had to let them go in order to finish. The return trip down this road seemed a lot harder than on the way out, but at least I didn't have to deal with the dogs like I was worried about. All in all it was a good ride, did 82.54 miles at an average speed of 19.46 mph. I was happy to survive the ride & look foward to next week.

Weekend was a wash for riding

Woke up on Saturday morning to rain. I headed to the meeting place for the Peach Peloton ride, hoping the rain had stopped in north Macon, but it actually was raining harder there then when I left my house. I thought I would head up to see if they were doing the Southside Fondo ride in Fayetteville, but it was the same story, rain. So, seeing as I was already up that way I stopped in to Epic Bikes to give the Power Tap Time Trial Series a go. I warmed up on the trainer for 20 minutes, then it was time to hammer. I increased the cadence & pushed it hard for the next 10 minutes. I started to feel it about minute 7, but I just gritted my teeth and pushed through it. I averaged 274 watts for the 10 mintues. I'm hoping to do it here again in the next few weeks to see if my numbers will improve. On Sunday it was pretty much the same story, it rained the entire day, so riding outdoors was a total wash. I'm hoping to be able to ride more this week and looking foward to the Peach Peloton ride this weekend. Stay tuned for more adventures......

Great weather for a ride today.

I was just about to head out for a ride alone, when Will called and asked what I was doing. I told him I was just about to head out for a ride & he asked if I wanted to join him and his friend Tim. I told him of course and he said to meet them at his house. My legs were a bit tight at the start of the ride, but by the time I met them at his house, they were feeling pretty good. We headed out towards Old Perry Rd, and I was feeling good. We took turns up front breaking the wind. We headed out to Hunt Rd and then hit Sandefur Rd. I like riding down that road, not much traffic, and smooth pavement. We hit a section of the road that has a slight downhill to it & Tim just took off. I tried to catch him, but couldn't close the gap even at 31 mph. I later found out that Tim is a Cat 3 racer, so that might explain things just a bit. We then headed down Bear Branch Rd and when we hit the first section that had a rise to it, Tim took off again, I did my best, but there was just no way I was going to stay with him. He slowed at the top to let me catch him, then we both waited for Will to catch up with us. On the next section that had a rise to it, Will tried going away, but Tim just made catching him look so easy. We then took 247 to Piney Grove, where I took a good steady long pull. The final section of the ride was down Old Perry Rd again, only in the opposite direction from earlier in the ride. There is a section of road that Will likes to attack on, & today was no different. I was behind him and I knew he was going to try something, the only thing was I didn't know when he was going to go. Sure enough, he tried getting away on the last climb as he usually does, but Tim & I were having none of it. Tim caught him first, then I did. He said it sucked doing about 21 mph up that hill and being dropped none the less. We took a quick break & chatted for a bit before splitting up and heading back to our respective homes. All in all I did 35 miles with an average speed of 19.62 mph by the time I got back home. I had a great ride with some great company. Stay tuned for more adventures.......

Catch up time

I think it's about time to catch up and post my adventures from over the weekend. I was going to do the Peach Peloton ride this past Saturday, but situations dictated a change of plans. I had to help a friend out of a situation so I didn't get to participate. I really enjoy doing the rides, no matter how much I suffer on them. It's a great group of guys that show up for the rides and they are a great bunch of racers too. I went out solo on Saturday afternoon and did a 40 mile ride that I really enjoy doing. I rode out to the Perry Parkway and pushed the pace on that part of the route. I came back home on Lake Joy Rd. My average speed was 19.48 mph for the entire ride. My legs felt good the entire ride. On Sunday I rode with my friend Will. He has a new Cannondale & he hadn't seen my new Trek, so we got a good look at each other's new toy. We headed out down Old Perry Rd, then headed out down Moody and then Sandefur Rd to Lake Joy. We took that road into Perry then headed out towards the Perdue plant, then ended up riding down Piney Grove Rd to Old Perry Rd. It was a good ride with a good friend. Today was just a steady tempo ride. I did 2 hours still trying to break in the new saddle. I kept the tempo as steady as I could and kept it in the small ring the entire ride. I rode down the Perry Parkway and then headed back Lake Joy, my legs felt pretty good the entire ride. It's just going to take time to get used to the new saddle. The new bike is working great, comfortable and stable for me so far. Stay tuned for more adventures......

Breaking in a new toy.

A couple of weeks ago I went on the Peach Peloton ride and noticed that shifting from the big ring to the small ring was intermittent. I took it to The Bike Store & had Charles look at it. I was just thinking that the cable was loose and just needed to be adjusted. I found out that I was wrong. The guide on the frame was stripping out. Charles did what he could to fix the problem, but I didn't know what the result would be. I went for a ride on Monday & found out that once I shifted to the big ring, the only way to get it back on the small ring was to unclip my right foot from the pedal and push the derailleur back to the small ring. I asked Charles to see if he knew anyone who had a 54 cm frame that I could borrow until I could afford a new one. He called back a bit later in the evening and told me about a 2008 Trek 1.2 and asked if I would be interested in it. I asked him to let me know what the cost would be and how we would work it out. We came to an agreement and I went to the shop to swap out the parts from the Orbea to the Trek. I went up to Epic to make sure the fit was correct and Mike worked his magic once more. Yesterday was the first ride. I did the Peach Peloton ride from Howard Middle School. We started together then broke up into 3 groups to practice rotation for a bit. The road we used to practice the first set of rotations was mainly uphill and the bike worked great. The frame was stable and responded great. We regrouped and rode 2 abreast until we hit Hwy 42. That was the next section of rotation practice. Chad let me know that I might want to hang back and hang in. I'm glad I listened to him, as the pace was quite fast. I don't think it dropped below 20 mph the entire time down 42. The last hour of the ride we had a tailwind and it felt good, the pace was pretty fast, but I was able to hang with the group. My legs were certainly feeling it close to the end of the ride. All in all we did 66.96 miles and I had an average speed of 19.86 mph. Today I went on a steady effort ride with Eddy. My legs were a bit sore from yesterday, but I really wanted to get more of a feel for the new frame. I just followed Eddy and let him dictate the pace. On some sections of the ride, we were riding what seemed like an easy pace and at other times it felt as if we were hammering. We rode out to Perry and used the Perry Parkway for a good section of the ride. I really like riding the parkway, it's just nothing but rollers, but it will give you a good workout. The Trek worked flawlessly, just need to work on the motor for it now. I'm very happy with the frame, it may be called an entry level frame, but it seems stiff enough for me and stable enough at higher speeds for me. I just need to break in the new saddle and that will only come with getting on the bike. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more adventures....

Night riding

On Wednesday night I had done my workout with my Bowflex and I really wanted to get on the bike. I had two choices, one was to put the road bike on the trainer and ride that way, the other was to take the commuting bike and ride outdoors. I didn't have lights on the road bike & really didn't feel like riding the trainer as of yet. I know I'll be doing plenty of that here in the near future, so I decided to take the commuting bike out on a short route that I use for my recovery rides. It was certainly different riding that route at night. I heard things I never noticed during the day. I guess I was paying more attention to my surroundings seeing as I couldn't see as well. I have to admit it was fun riding that route in the dark. I had a good ride and just might try it again just to break up the monotony of riding a trainer all winter long. I'm up at my folks house, but I did bring my bike and I'm hoping to get some riding in this weekend, just long, steady, miles to build up for next season. Stay tuned for more.....

Recovery Ride

Today was a great day for a recovery ride. I didn't get to do one yesterday due to other obligations, so today was recovery day. The weather was great, didn't need any arm or knee warmers at all by the time I got to get to ride. I headed out and decided to keep it in the small ring the entire ride. I headed down towards Perry to ride the parkway. The traffic was minimal and I had the wind at my back going down the parkway. I just kept a comfortable cadence, not hammering it at all. I'm trying to stick with a plan to do some proper recovery rides and not give into the temptation to ride hard if my legs feel good when I'm scheduled for a recovery ride. There were only a couple of bad things about today's ride. The first was on the return trip I got stuck at a construction zone for quite some time while they cleaned up gravel on the road. The other bad thing was that I had a headwind most of the way back home. I ended up doing 42 miles today & my legs felt better today. Stay tuned for more adventures......

Peach Peloton Ride #1

Today was the first Peach Peloton ride of this year. The temperature at the beginning of the ride was under 40 degress, so I was having a hard time deciding what to wear. I knew it was going to warm up during the ride, so I just had arm & knee warmers, my jersey, a base shirt, shorts, vest and my Slipstream shoe covers. It turned out that I wore just enough for the entire ride. We had over 20 people show up for the first ride, which was great. At the start we were told that it would be a social pace on the ride. There was no attack zones at all on this ride. The pace was nice and comfortable for everyone. The route was rolling hills with a few decent climbs on it. My legs felt good the entire ride, I was able to keep up a good cadence throughout the ride. I was only able to ride once this week, so I'm very happy that my legs felt as good as they did on the ride. I stayed towards the front of the group, taking my turn up front. On the way back to the starting point, I had a difficult time shifting my front derailluer from the big ring back to the small ring, but luckily I was able to shift to the small ring just before the last two climbs. All in all we did 54 miles in just under 3 hours, great start to the Peach Peloton series. I'm going to start my off-season program on Monday & I'm going to stick with it better this year than I did last year.

Recovery ride

Today I went on a recovery ride with Eddie. I really enjoy riding with Eddie cause he's been racing for quite some time & I learn something new each time I ride with him. We rode for a bit over 2 hours today, using the Perry Parkway on the ride. I really like riding that road. It's nothing but rollers, but it gives me a good workout. We talked about what our plans were for the coming winter rides. I told Eddie that I was going to try to make every Peach Peloton ride that I can this winter. I really enjoyed doing them last winter. It's a great training ride they have set up over there. I did suffer on quite a few of the rides, but it did help me get stronger. One thing I really have to learn is to take it easy on some of my rides. Eddie even told me that I need to do the same thing. He said that by reading my blog here that I have a very bad habit of riding the same way on every ride. I totally agree with him. I have to force myself, no matter how good my legs feel, that if I'm on a recovery day, to take it easy on the bike. He also gave me a hint to help me lose some weight, which I'm going to give a try. All in all it was a very nice ride with one great rider. Stay tuned for more......

Group Ride

Today was the usual group ride. I got home from work, changed clothes, and headed out. I met everyone on the road. Chip told me there were quite a few women in the group and they were going to do the "C" route and take it easy. I told him that was fine with me. My legs were a bit sore after yesterdays ride & core workout. We were heading down Lakeview, when one of the ladies seemed to be feeling a bit froggy. I caught up to her and just rode behind her for a bit. We hit Houser's Mill Rd, & I asked if she wanted to wait for the others. She said that this was going to be her last ride for a couple of weeks and wanted to have a good ride. I led her up the hills and Tommy caught up to us. We waited for a bit at the intersection of the 247 connector and 49. She headed ahead on her own. When the others met up with us, I headed out and Tommy was right behind me. When we hit 49, I saw her ahead & was determined to catch her. It took me longer than I wanted it to, but I ended up catching her & we rode in together until Tharpe Rd. Tommy & her headed back to The Bike Store and I headed home to do my core workout and my stretching. My legs actually felt pretty good up the climbs, considering they felt sore all day long. I'll probably have to ride the trainer the next couple of days, the forecast calls for rain. All in all it was a good ride.

Back on the road

Today was the first day I've been on the bike in 3 days. This weekend was busy with things that kept me from riding. My legs definately felt like they haven't been riding for a few days. I rode out to the Perry Parkway and my legs felt okay, but nothing great. I just kept it in the small ring & kept up a higher cadence. I just couldn't keep up the speed I wanted to, but my legs will come back around soon enough. I just have to get back on the road bike & get back into getting ready for the offseason. That's about all I have for now, sorry it's such a short post, but really don't have much to say. Stay tuned for more......

Weekend Report

Sorry I didn't post much last week, but I really didn't ride the road bike until Saturday. I rode my commuter bike to & from work and did other things in the evenings. On Saturday I rode to the Perry Welcome Center for the usual group ride. I got there just before 8 am, but no one was there at all. I waited for about 10 mintues, then just headed out on my own. I rode down the Perry Parkway to Boutwell Rd, then past the Perdue plant, then down 247 to 96 then home. I was in the big ring the last part of the ride & the legs felt good. Today I went out & started doing the Sunday route, but I changed it up a bit. I took 341 all the way through Perry, then went past the Perdue plant, then onto 247, then Bear Branch Rd, to Houston Lake Rd home. My legs felt pretty good the entire ride. I'm hoping to get more riding in this week, the weather is starting to get cooler again & I love riding in cooler weather. That's about all I have for now, thanks for reading.

Trying something different

Today I did something I haven't done in quite a long time, I went mountain biking. I borrowed a demo Gary Fisher Caliber full suspension 29er from The Bike Store here in Warner Robins. I rode the trails at L. H. Thompson. I started out quite cautiously, not know what to expect riding the dirt. I can say one thing, riding a mt. bike takes a lot more upper body strength than riding a road bike. My arms & shoulders definately got a workout riding the trails. I didn't do too bad on the first lap, I only hit the dirt one time. I decided to try a second lap, and I guess I got a bit on the cocky side. I learned the hard way never get too cocky on the trails. They have a way of biting you when you least expect it. During the second lap I hit the dirt twice and brushed up against a tree. Needless to say, I'm a bit sore, but I have to admit, I had a good time riding the trails. I might have to look into getting a mt. bike in the future and giving some races a try. Later in the afternoon, I took the road bike out to do a recovery ride. My right knee was a bit sore from hitting the stem when I went down one time on the dirt, but after doing about a 17 mile easy spin ride, it feels much better now. I told Charles I might have to borrow the other demo mt. bike they have to compare a 29er and one with 26" wheels. All in all it was a fun day and definately a learing experience.

Saturday Jordan Hill Loop Ride

Today I went up to Epic Bikes and rode the Jordan Hill loop. I hadn't rode that loop for over a month. The usual group was there and we took off just as it was getting brighter outside. We started out as usual, a brisk pace for me before my legs warmed up, but after a bit they started to come around. Once we hit Hillview Rd, my legs started to feel the climbing. I did my best to stay with the group, but I dropped back a bit. I was able to catch up on the flatter parts of the road. We hit Jordan Hill Rd and my legs hurt going up the climb. I was happy that at least my speed didn't drop into single digits like it did the last time I climbed it. We regrouped at the top of the hill and just rode a paceline the rest of the way back to the shop. Tim showed us the new location of Epic Bikes. The new location is bigger than the current shop and what Tim told us the plans for the new shop are going to be, it's going to look awesome. He's planning on having the new location open on Feb. 3rd of 2009. It was great to ride with those guys again & I hope to be able to get up there and ride again soon.

Back online

I finally got my computer fixed. Thanks so much to my friend Darren. You are the man!!!!! I did a short ride in the big ring yesterday seeing as I had been off the bike for the past 6 days due to other obligations. My legs actually felt pretty good during the ride, the only downside was that my back did start to get a bit sore. I'll just have to get back with the strecthing program from Cyclo-Zen. I'm looking foward to doing a ride in McDonough this October. It's called Friends Helping Friends Century. It's sometime late in October. I guess with the weather getting a bit cooler, it's time to get more miles in the legs & start getting ready for the Peach Peleton rides coming up in a couple of months. I'll do my best to keep everyone updated with my adventures.....

Storck Demo Ride & Cherokee County Road Race Report

On Tuesday of this past week, The Bike Store in Warner Robins, had a Storck bicycle demo. I saw the sign about a week before & had Charles reserve a bike for me. I rode there straight from work so I could get set up on the bike. Most everyone who was riding a demo bike was planning on doing the usual Tuesday route. I got to the store & was given an Absolutist 0.9 with SRAM Red component group. I was given a quick tutorial on how SRAM Red works & it was very easy to get used to shifting with it. Once on the road I noticed how stiff this bike is, but it was comfortable also. We hit the hills on Lakeview & that's when I noticed how light & how very stiff this bike was. I climbed up the hills it seems quicker on this bike than I do on my Orbea. Once we hit the flatter parts of the ride, this bike is very capable of taking whatever I could hammer on the pedals. I just wish I could afford one seeing as the bike I was riding would cost me about $6500. All in all it's a great bike & it was nice to ride what seems like pro level bike at least once in my life.
On Saturday I was up in Cherokee County for the Cherokee County Road Race. I was in the Cat 5 class. There were about 35 racers in our class. The course profile looked like it was going to be a bit of a hilly route & it certainly lived up to that. I was with the pack when the transmitter for my cyclocomputer became loose & dropped to the bottom of my front fork. I was just hoping that it wouldn't go into the spokes & cause a crash. We were going through this development passing a roundabout when the road went up a bit on the steep side & with some curves thrown in for those of us who are a bit on the weight challenged going up a hill. I lost the pack on that hill & did my best to catch up but no such luck. I was starting to feel my back getting sore, & I almost didn't do the second lap, but I decided that I was going to finish this race no matter what. I did feel a bit better on the second lap and ended up 27th overall. All in all I survived another race and didn't finish last. I'll have to see what other races are coming up in the next month to see if I want to do any more.

Legs coming back around

Last week was a good week of training for me. My legs are starting to come back around. Last Monday I did the route the bike club in town does for one of their group rides, only I did it backwards this time. I'll tell you it's tough doing it in reverse. My legs felt good the entire ride & the climbs that you usually would do early in the ride are a challenge after over an hour in the saddle. I did manage to average about 19.5 mph for 46 miles so I really can't complain. On Tuesday I rode the group ride. I was able to stay with the group the entire ride & even tried some attacks. We all rode hard that day even in the heat & it was a good feeling to be able to stay with the fast group. The rest of the week was pretty much just steady riding. On Saturday I did a ride with Will. It's been some time since he's been able to ride, so we just kept a steady pace for most of the ride. On one part of the ride I decided to put the hammer down to see what would happen. I was able to keep a steady pace of over 27 mph for a good distance. Will was doing all he could just to stay on my wheel. I decided to slow things down for the rest of the ride. Going down Bear Branch Rd, it seems that Will's shifter broke. His bike was stuck on the 12 cog in the rear. The only way he could change gears was to pull on the cable & hold it there, not the most effective way to ride. I rode back to his house with him to make sure nothing else happened. All in all it was a good ride and a great time to spend with a friend. I did an early recovery ride on Sunday morning before church. My legs felt quite good. I was surprised at how they felt. I'm planning on doing a race near Canton, Ga. this weekned. I'll post a race report if I get to race.

Georgia Games Races

Last weekend was the Georgia Games. On Saturday was the road race. The course was described as gently rolling hills, but I think that was an understatement. There didn't seem to be a flat section on the course at all. I felt like I was either going up or down the entire race. The Cat 5 race was said to be 35 miles, 2 laps of the course. I was with the pack the first part of the first lap and when we hit the turn around point, the peleton was stretched out. I was towards the back of the peleton, and tried my best to catch them. I was doing 35+ mph trying to catch them with no luck. My main goal was to stay with the pack & seeing as that wasn't going to happen, I just wanted to finish. I settled into my own rhythym and caught a rider from the MACC club in Atlanta. We worked together very well, each of us taking turns up front. We caught another rider from his club and told him to catch on, but he couldn't stay with us. We just kept up our pace, working well together. We did catch another rider on the second lap just before the turn and he joined us. He didn't want to seem to take any turns up front, don't know if he was that tired or just tagging along until the finish, waiting to pounce and leave us. The other rider with me noticed this also & we made this third rider take some pulls in the front. On the back part of the last lap, we caught a rider from the University of TN. He joined us for a bit then on the second to last climb, he went off the front. The finish was an uphill one & he wasn't that far ahead of us as we headed towards the finish line. I decided to give it a go & see if I could catch him. I figured the worst I could do was not catch him & get passed by the other riders with me. I surprised myself and I think I really surprised the UT rider, because he didn't have any kind of reaction to me when I passed him. The rider from MACC gave it a go with me in a sprint, but I was able to hold him off at the line. I know I was well down in the placings, but it felt good to race again. On Sunday was the criterium. Last year it poured the entire race. I woke up that morning to dry weather. Great I thought, no rain this year. I get to the venue, register, and start warming up when guess what started to happen? If you guessed rain, your a winner!!!!! Before the race started I was already soaked, but I was ok with that. Once the race started, it was fast from the get go. It was much faster than the pace last year. I was shelled off the back of the pack before the first lap was over with. I was joined by 3 other riders & we worked well together on each lap, each of us taking a pull up front. We were coming towards the start finish line when I noticed my rear wheel feeling a bit soft. I was hoping to use the free lap after changing the wheel, but when I looked at the lap counter it said 2 laps to go, so no free lap, my race was done. All in all I had a good weekend racing, it felt good to get in a peleton & give it a go. I'm looking foward to my next race.

Work, sickness, & back problems

I haven't been able to post much here lately because I haven't really been able to ride. I was up in Atlanta for work most of May & I was on night shift. It's hard to get used to sleeping during the daylight when you're not used to it. I would only get about 4 hours of sleep after work, then doze off & on until time to leave for work. On my time off, the hotel I was staying at really didn't have very many safe roads to ride on. I've ridden on roads with traffic lots of times, but the drivers in Atlanta are some of the rudest drivers I've ever met. They're just as rude when I'm in my car as when riding my bike. Needless to say I wasn't able to get much riding done up there. Once I got back home, I came down with some sort of bug & was extremely tired & congested most of the time. I took the first week back home off the bike just to recover. I think I caught the bug was because I was so worn down by lack of sleep up in Atlanta. Once I recovered from the bug I started back on the bike, but now I'm having problems with my back being very sore. I just can't seem to win for losing here lately & I'm getting frustrated with not being able to do much in the way of any kind of training. I'm hoping this coming week will be much better for my training. I guess I'm going to have to just suck it up & deal with my back for the time being. I'm going to try some stretching routines before & after my rides to see if that might have any kind of help getting my back to quit bothering me. That's all I have to say for now, come back & see what happens in my adventures on my bike.

Life & other things

I know it's been quite a long time since my last post & I'm sorry. I am up in Atlanta for the summer doing mods on aircraft for work. The only thing bad about that is that I'm on night shift & I'm having a hard time getting a routine set up for training working that shift. Right now I'm on a short vacation visiting family & old friends. I brought the road bike with me to get some rides in, but I haven't gotten to ride as much as I would have liked to. I rode last week in Oklahoma & it was a bit hillier than I thought it was. If the terrain wasn't enough, the wind was worse. I've heard about the wind, but it's worse than the wind back home. My legs were certainly feeling it after riding against that wind. I'm in Arkansas right now visiting some old friends of mine & was able to get out yesterday & today. I'm never going to complain about the back roads in Georgia again after riding some of the farm roads in Missouri yesterday evening. They are the worst roads I have ever ridden on. I felt totally beat up after only about 22 miles on them. I was planning on going farther, but weather was moving in & I really didn't want to get caught out in it with no where to go. Today I went out & rode around on a former Air Force Base near where my friends live. The wind today was about as bad as the wind in Oklahoma, but I rode out into it for about 45 minutes then turned around & headed back. The trip back was much more enjoyable. I gave it a good hard effort for a bit,then just put it in cruise mode for the rest of the ride. I ended up doing about 34 miles today. I'm driving home tomorrow then going to go for easy rides the next two days. I'm hoping to do the Georgia State Championship Road Race this Sunday. I'll let everyone know how things go. Stay tuned for more updates.....

Computer down, that's why no posts lately

I'm sorry for not posting here lately, but my computer is messed up somehow. I can't seem to get it to register my log in when I turn it on. Well, I've been riding as much as possible here lately. I've done the group rides here with the local club the past few weeks. It's been fun. A couple of Mondays ago, I rode down the the Perry Welcome Center to see who was going to show up for an easy ride. I had ridden to & from work, so I was looking foward to taking it kind of easy. I met Steve, his wife, & another couple there. Kim & her husband Jim showed up & said that they weren't going to ride as fast as I was. I told Kim that I was there to do an easy ride, so not to worry. Kim, Jim, Steve, & I headed out on the Perry Parkway towards Hayneville. Kim & Jim were doing over 20 mph at the beginning of the ride. I looked at Steve & asked if I had heard things that they said they weren't going to ride fast. He thought the same thing. I then got to the front & slowed the pace down a bit. I told them that the only time I was going to go hard was climbing up the hill to Hayneville. We kept the pace about 18 mph till the hill. I then proceeded to ride up the hill hard. I never had the speed drop below 17.5 mph up the climb. I'm definately stronger this year. We then just did the B loop. They did the extra horseshoe, but I still had to ride home & told them to have a good time. All in all I did 50 more miles on top of the commute to & from work that day. I did intervals the next day & my legs certainly were feeling it after all was said & done. I was only able to do 5 sets, but they still hurt. That Wednesday was a pyramid workout, & my legs felt even worse than after the interval workout. Thankfully the rest of the week was all easy rides. The following week I decided to do the local group rides. I went on the Tuesday ride & after the first climb, Jesse was with me & told me we had a gap on the other riders. He asked me what I wanted to do & I replied "Make them earn it" & proceeded to keep a steady pace from there on. I caught the earlier group not too long after the silo & was never caught after that. Wednesday was a tempo ride & ended up doing about 2 hours on the bike. I did the Thursday group ride. On the hill into Hayneville I got a gap on the rest of the group & just went with it. I saw them getting closer in Elko, but once I turned on Elko Rd, I had a tailwind & was able to pick the pace up. I saw a rider up ahead of me & it turned out to be Eddie. We hooked up on the horseshoe part of the ride, he pulled me the rest of the way, but we never were caught. My legs were really feeling it after that ride. I took Friday off to recover. This past Saturday, Shane & I drove up to Cumming to pre-ride the race route for May 10th. We got up there & it was raining. We drove the route once to get an idea what it's going to be like. The beginning of the route is going to be tough. It's all up & down. The rest of the route isn't anything I haven't seen before. We drove back to the start & were going to ride the route when it started raining again. We drove the route one more time to familarize ourselves with it. Yesterday I did a tempo ride to Perry & back. My legs felt good the entire route. Today was intervals. I did 6 sets of 5 x 5's & my legs are certainly feeling it. I'm glad I get to take it easy the rest of the week. I'm looking forward to racing this weekend. I'm going to give it my best shot & we'll just let the chips fall where they may. Stay tuned for a race report next week.....

I know it's been a while since last post.

I know, I know, it's been 2 weeks since my last post here. My computer decided it doesn't like me much anymore & doesn't want to work right. I'm going to have to get it looked at here sometime soon. Since my last post, I've just been doing my training that Mike has so graciously provided me. I've done hill repeats, my 5 x 5 intervals, only this time with another twist. Once I have 2 minutes left in the hard 5 minutes, I'm to increase the intensity, then do that again with 1 minute left, & finally give it everything I have the final 30 seconds. I'm telling you, that is one hard workout. I did that last Tuesday & my legs were shot after about 5 sets, the only problem was that I still had about 15 miles to ride before I was home. Needless to say, those last 15 miles were at a recovery pace. Last Wednesday was a recovery ride & boy it was very welcome. On Thursday I took a rest day then did mock sprints on that Friday. I was going to go on the group ride last Saturday, but Mike called me just before I left to tell me not to waste my time seeing as it was raining up in McDonough. I then decided to head to the Perry Welcome Center to see if anyone was going to show up for a ride there, but then it started raining there also. I just decided that it was not meant for me to ride that day. Last Sunday afternoon I headed out & ran into my friend Eddie & joined him for about a 45 mile ride. We put some hard efforts in & my legs felt good. This past Monday was a high tempo ride which was done on the trainer due to rain. I rode for about 90 minutes. On Tuesday, it was the same interval workout as the week before, but this time I stayed closer to home. My legs still hurt after the workout. Yesterday was a pyramid workout, starting out with a 15 minute warm-up then 1 mintue hard, 1 minute easy, increasing the hard & easy efforts by 1 minute till I hit 6 minutes. After a 6 minute rest it was another 6 minutes hard, but the rest periods on the way back down were a minute shorter. I'm telling you, my legs were shot after that workout & are sore today. I'm planning on going for an easy ride today & keeping it on the small ring. I'm hoping for good weather this weekend & doing the group ride on Saturday. Stay tuned for further reports on my suffering......

Group Ride with Southern Crescent Group

Yesterday was my first weekday group ride with the group. I really had no idea what to expect & was just looking forward to a good ride. The pace was fast from the start. It's a good thing I warmed up before the ride or I'd have been in a world of hurt. We headed out & just kept a good paceline going, taking turns up front for a bit. I did my share up front & was feeling good. I tried to stay near the front seeing as I hadn't ridden this route before. We got close to Atlanta Motor Speedway & I was dropped a bit on a climb. I was alone until I turned the corner to the back side of the racetrack. I caught Scott there, he had been dropped from the other riders. I left him briefly, trying to catch the 3 guys up front. I followed them & they had gotten out of site. I turned the wrong way at one intersection & had to catch up to another rider to make sure I was going the right way. I hit a stop light & Scott & David caught up to me. We decided to work together till the end of the ride. We hit Mt. Carmel & picked up the pace with me in the lead. I took a good long pull, then let the others take turns up front. We made the final turn towards Epic bikes & just cruised in from there. It was a fast ride. We did about 27 miles with an average speed of 22.4 mph. This is one fast group to ride with. I just wanted to say thanks to Mike for all the workouts, they helped me stay with the group for most of the ride. I still need to lose some more weight & work on my climbing. All that will come in time & with effort. I know I'm much stronger than last year & look forward to getting stronger & faster. All in all a good time with a good bunch of riders.

Wrap up from last week

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but life has been keeping me busy. I was pretty busy with my training all last week. On Tuesday, I was doing intervals, the usual 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off, but Mike threw a twist in it. In in the final minute of the on section, I was to increase the pace & then let it all hang out during the final 30 seconds. I was to do this 6 times. The first time it really hurt, but I survived. I thought I had picked a route that would give me at tailwind for most of the workout, but the wind shifted & I ended up doing all 6 sets with somewhat of a headwind. My legs were quite tired when I got home. On Wednesday it was an easy tempo ride. My legs needed it. On Thursday, I rode with the bike club in Warner Robins. I just sat on till we hit the big climb. I just kept a steady rhythym & actually rode everyone in the group off my wheel. I never dropped below 17 mph for the climb. I've never climbed that hill that fast before. We regrouped at the church then headed out. I was in the lead & got a gap & kept my cadence steady. The group was behind me, when I acutally got stopped by a train. That's the first time in 6 years doing that route that has happened. Needless to say, they caught up to me. Once the train passed we started again. I just stayed with the group till we hit the horseshoe part of the route. For some reason the group slowed up & I just kept on going. I just put it in cruise mode & kept a steady pace. I was getting near Elko Rd, when I noticed that they were getting a bit closer. I decided that if they were going to catch me, they were going to have to work for it. I kicked it up a notch & put it in time trial mode. I was able to stay away & was pleased with my effort. On Saturday it was the Peach Blossom ride in Byron. Some of the Securtiy Bank riders showed up & I knew that they were going to hammer the ride. I stayed with them as long as I could & we ended up doing over 21 miles in the first hour of the ride. They decided to pick it up a bit more, but I thought better of trying to stay with them & keep my own pace. The ride was fun, I rode with another group of riders for a bit, then went off on my own up one of the climbs. I finished the ride by myself & I was feeling the effort about the last 3-4 miles. I ended up doing 66 miles with an average speed of 20.3 mph. The hard work is paying off & I can tell I'm stronger than last year. I'm planning on doing a group ride with the guys from Epic this Wednesday, that should give me a good indication of how fit I am right now. I'm looking forward to a hard, but fun ride. I'll let eveyone know how it goes.

Catch up time

This weekend, I went to the Perry Welcome Center to see who was going to show up for a group ride. Chip was there when I arrived, then John, & Tom arrived. We were getting ready to leave when Shane showed up. I told everyone else I'd wait for Shane & catch up to them. Shane was saying he wanted to do 130 miles to get ready for the Bike Ride Across Florida. I told him I couldn't go that far, but I'd ride with him until we got to a point where he wanted to go farther. We left & proceeded to try to catch the other guys. We ended up catching them on Hayneville Hill, once we got to the top, the other guys changed the route we were going to ride. They didn't want to ride down Pitts Rd, because of the hills. I told them, that was fine with me & I would catch up to Shane & wait for them at the turn they said. I then put it in the big ring & caught up to Shane & rode a bit further with him. He was headed to Hawkinsville, but we were headed to Unadilla. I got to the intersection & waited for the others to arrive. We headed down Klondike towards Pitts Rd, I had gotten a gap from the others, so when I got to the intersection, I had to wait for the others. Chip & I decided to ride our pace & we waited for the others once we got to Unadilla. After leaving the store, Chip & I headed out on our own. Once we hit Elko Rd, we put it in the big ring & started hammering it. I pulled most of the way, my legs were feeling good. Once we hit the final climb, I kept a steady pace, but seemed that it was a bit much for Chip. He dropped back, but I thought he would catch up at the top of the climb. Once I saw that he wasn't catching up, I put it in the big ring & hammered down the last downhill. I figured that if he was going to catch me, I would at least make him work for it. I hit the intersection at the parkway extension & saw that Chip was a bit behind me, I waited for him & he asked me what I've been doing to get better. I told him that it was due to doing the Peach Peloton rides, & other workouts I had been doing over the winter. I also told him that losing about 20 lbs. didn't hurt eaither. Today was hill repeats. The wind outside was brutal, it was out of the NW @ 16 mph with gusts. I drove to the Perry Welcome Center to ride out the Perry Parkway to use Hayneville Hill for my workout. I wanted to keep a consistent pace up the hill on each climb. I am happy to say that I succeeded in doing that. I kept it between 14.5 -16 mph each time up the hill. I did 4 climbs & thought about doing one more before common sense kicked in & told me that I had a headwind to ride into in order to get back to my car. The wind was a pain, but I suffered & managed to get back to the car. All in all a good workout, my climbing seems to be getting better. Stay tuned for more.....

Perry-Roubaix Race Report

Well, the first mass start races for this season are in the books. On Saturday was the circuit race. It was a short course with a couple of small climbs. The class I was in was scheduled for 15 laps of the course, which they said would be 21 miles. The pace was fast from the beginning. The pack was staying together & the pace was comfortable for me. A couple of times other riders tried getting away, but the pack chased down each & every attempt. I even tried my hand at getting away with another rider. One of the Aaron riders said he was going to try a break on the back side of the course & wanted to know if anyone would go with him. I said I would give it a go & one other rider said the same. He went up the right side of the pack with both of us in tow, but we really didn't get much of a gap before we were caught. The pace was high enough not to allow anyone much of a gap. We stayed together until the last turn, I was in a good position for a top ten finish, but coming out of the final corner, I was cut off & had to let up a bit & finished 13th out of 31 riders. I was quite pleased with being able to stay with the pack the entire race. The workouts Mike has me doing are helping for sure. On Sunday was the road race. I know the course well, but it's not really my forte. There is just too much climbing on it. The first climb up Elko Rd was a bit fast for me but I managed to catch the pack on Gilbert, just as I got back on, someone up front must have attacked, because the pack picked up the pace. My legs started to cramp up & I knew that if I tried to catch the break, I'd never finish. I just settled into a fast pace that was comfortable for me to finish the race. The dirt section of the course was packed pretty good, so I was able to keep a good pace on it. Each time up Elko Rd hurt a bit more than before. I was able to catch up to a couple of other riders from my class & we rode together for the rest of the second lap. On the third lap, I thought I wasn't going to be able to get up the climbs, but I just dug deep & gave it my best, knowing I could recover a bit on the back side of the course. I rode with another rider who came up from Florida for the race & we worked well together. We both decided that we were going to finish the race, no matter what. On the finaly lap, he got a gap on me going up Elko, but I just kept a steady pace for me. I even managed to pass another rider from the other Competitive class. I kept up a steady pace on the dirt & gave it all I had on the back part of the course. I managed to finish 29th & made the finish list. I'm just happy that I finished 4 laps of that course. All in all it was a fun weekend of racing & now it's time to get ready for my next races. Stay tuned for more.....

Getting ready for Perry-Roubaix

I've been getting ready for the races this weekend in Perry. I did my intervals on Monday & it was hard as usual. On Tuesday I did the Ride to the Capitol & we put a hard effort on the way back. On Wednesday I was just cruising & ran into my friend Rob, who is back from being deployed. We just cruised around & caught up on things. Today was mock sprints. I did my 12 sets of them & then met some other cycling friends of mine & just rode easy with them. I'm looking foward to this weekend of racing. I'm going out there & giving it all I have. I'm borrowing a set of Kyrsium SL wheels for the races from my friend Will. I used these wheels on my ride today. I might not want to return them. This is one nice set of wheels. I'm probably going to take tomorrow off & have the bike checked out by Charles just to make sure things are working great for this weekend. Stay tuned for race reports this weekend........

Ride to the Capitol

Today was the Ride to the Capitol to let legislators know that cycling is an alternative mode of trasnportation worthy of more funding. We all met at Epic Bikes in McDonough. There were about 30 of us doing the ride. We left the shop with a police escort. We had one patrol car in the lead, one following, & 2 motorcycle officers blocking the intersections for us. We had one lane of Jonesboro Rd all to ourselves. That was probably the coolest thing I've ever had done for me while riding my bike. I know what the pros feel like when they get it done for them. We met the McDonough mayor at city hall & he rode with us for about a mile. He then got into a vehicle & rode in it until we arrived at the Marta station. The route was nothing but rollers with a few good climbs. We pretty much rode together the way to the capitol. We had one rider who kept getting flats till he changed wheels. The only other incident we had was one rider was trying to help another up the hill & lost his balance & fell. Everything turned out alright & we made it to the capitol, hooking up with another group from different parts of the city. We listened to the speakers, ate lunch & then got ready to head back. We started back towards the Marta station, & Mike was feeling really froggy. It was a sprint fest between each set of stoplights. My legs were hurting seeing as they weren't warmed up that much at the time. We were doing about 27 mph trying to catch up to him. We got to the station & decided what the plan going back would be. It was if you couldn't hang with the fast group, the truck was there to pick you up if needed. We headed out back to the shop & the pace was much faster than on the way there. I tried keeping up with Mike & was doing good until he decided to let the group go by & catch up from behind. I caught the back of the group, but by then Mike was off the front with another rider. We all grouped together & tried to catch him, with not much luck. We just settled into a good rhythym & rode on our own. We made it back to the shop & we really had a good ride. It was a good time & great company.

Perry-Roubaix recon ride

Yesterday I went & rode the road race route & circuit race route for the Perry-Roubaix races this coming weekend. I rode with Eddie & several of the guys from the Security Bank cycling team from Macon. We did 2 laps of the road race course & I did one lap of the circuit race route. My legs were a bit sore the first time up Elko Rd, due to not being properly warmed up. We found out that Firetower Rd is packed down good as of right now. I'm hoping it stays that way all week. You can ride pretty much anywhere on the dirt as of now. I felt better going up Elko Rd on the second lap, & the Security Bank guys were kind enough to wait for me. I told them that they should go & do what they needed to do & I'd be fine. I was going to check out the circuit race route while they went & checked out the time trial route. The circuit race course is different from last year. The only problem I noticed was the turn from the parkway back onto Limerock Rd. There is an island & the turn seems pretty tight to me. We'll just have to see how things go on race day. Today I did my interval workout. Mike had me do the last 2 intervals in a 53 x 12 & boy was that a workout. Legs actually felt pretty good during the ride though. Tomorrow is the Ride to the Capitol. I'm looking foward to this. There should be lots of cyclists to show the politicians that cycling is a great alternative means of transportation & more money should be spent on bike lanes & things to make cities more bicycle friendly. I'll have a report about it either tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. I'm also scheduled for a power threshold test before the ride. Tim said that would be a good warm-up before the ride. I don't know what to expect, so I really won't be surprised or dissapointed. It's going to be a starting point & we'll see how the season goes & if I get stronger as it goes on. Stay tuned for more.....

Great day for a ride.

Today was a beautifulday for a ride. It was about 70 degrees with not much wind. I was scheduled to do mock sprints today. I did 12 sets of them & my legs were a bit sore, this is only the second time I've done this workout. After doing the mock sprints, I decided to go for a longer ride. I was doing the loop I've ridden with my friend Eddie, & the wind was not much of a factor. I hit the Larry Walker Parkway & put it in the big ring. My legs were a bit sore at the start of this, but after a few minutes, they felt great. I kept it in the big ring the entire parkway, even going up the climbs. My legs were feeling good & I kept it in the big ring the rest of the way home. I rode through Perry & then hit Lake Joy Rd. I just kept a steady pace down the entire road. I ended up doing 35.5 miles with an average speed of 20.1 mph. I'm planning on pre riding the race courses for Perry this weekend, the weather doesn't look all that great, but I should be out there. I'll let everyone know what happened.

Two weeks to Perry-Roubaix

In about 2 weeks my first race weekend will be here. It's just south of me & I know the course quite well. I've ridden it several times over the years. I'm in the preperation mode & getting ready to do some climbing practice to get ready for it. I raced this course last year, but the category I was in only did 3 laps. This year we are doing 4 laps for a total of 50 miles. I'm planning on doing the race distance on Saturday. The past several days, I've been doing workouts that Mike from Epic Bikes has told me to do. Mostly it's been designed to build up my speed. I've done several workouts that involve some type of intervals. This is the workouts I did last week & will be doing. On Monday it was intervals, 5 minutes hard, 5 minutes easy. I did 5 sets of that. On Tuedsay it's a pyramid workout, 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 2 mins hard, 2 easy & so on until you get to 5 minutes, then work your way back down to 1 minute. On Wednesday, it's an easy ride, keeping it in the small ring. Thursday is an off day & Friday is mock sprints. You ride in the drops & raise your butt out of the saddle for 15 seconds, do this 12 times. Last week I was quite sore from the workouts, but this week I'm feeling a bit better now. I'm looking forward to the races in two weeks. I hope I do well.

Time to catch things up.

On Saturday, I went riding with Mike & the guys from Epic bikes. The weather wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't raining & it was starting to clear up a bit by the time we left. The roads were still wet, but that was ok. We had 4 of us riding total. We did the Jordan Hill loop. I really like riding that loop, it's mainly rolling hills, but the last part of the ride is really the fun part. We rode like Mike usually has the group doing, going hard on certain sections of the ride, then taking it a bit on the easy side when someone starts to drop back. We hit Jordan Hill & I was in a 53 x 17 hoping to get up the hill without shifting, that was not to be, I made it up about 2/3's of the way before having to downshift to a 53 x 19. We regrouped after that & cruised through Hampton. Once we hit Mt. Carmel, it was the fun part of the ride. Mike let me lead & I started pushing it. I kept the speed between 24-26 mph, then my legs started to cramp up. I just kept going a bit farther. My legs started to cramp up even more by now. Mike noticed that I was slowing down & passed me, encouraging me to get on his wheel. I somehow was able to catch up & he was pulling me at 28+ mph. After the ride was over, I cleaned up my bike a bit & got ready for the fitting I had scheduled. Mike told me he had been watching me while we were riding & already had some ideas on what needed to be changed on my bike. He told me he was going to shorten my stem because I was too stretched out & he raised my saddle a bit. He told me that should help me with getting more power to the pedals & should help my climbing. On Sunday I put the new position to the test. I rode with the group leaving from The Bike Store. The new position felt comfortable & during the ride, I noticed that it did help with my climbing. I actually tried chasing Charles on one of the climbs & seemed to be closing in a bit. Later in the ride, a few of the guys tried attacking & I was able to catch up to them & hang in there contesting the sprint. I haven't been able to do that before. On Monday after work I went & did intervals. I did 5 minutes as hard as I could go & then 5 minutes easy. I finished 5 sets of intervals after a 15 minute warm up. My legs were a bit sore to say the least. Today it was raining so I was on the trainer doing a pyramid workout. It was one tough workout & I know I'm going to feel it tomorrow. Mike says that tomorrow is going to be a steady tempo ride on the small ring to workout the soreness from the past two workouts. I'm looking foward to taking it a bit easier on the bike. I'm getting ready for the race weekend it Perry. I'll get several chances to pre-ride the course during the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned for more.....

Good ride today

Today was a good day for a ride. I've started commuting to work by bike this week. If anyone is interested in that adventure, you can check out my new blog at http://commutingbybike.blogspot.com
After the commute home today, I switched bikes & got on the road bike. It certainly felt a bit different on the road bike after riding the commuter bike the past two days. I headed out & just went for a loop I usually do with Will. I headed out on Lake Joy & my legs felt good even doing the climbs. I then had a tailwind & put it on the big ring & started pushing it. My legs started to feel a bit sore, but I just pushed through it for a bit longer. I hit Houston Lake Rd. & then decided to take it a bit easier until I got home. All in all it felt great to be back on the road bike, & looking forward to the weekend.

Nice day for a ride.

Today I went for a ride to work out the kinks that were in my legs since finishing the Tundra Time Trial. I rode the loop I've done with Eddie, only in reverse to take advantage of the wind on the last half of the ride. My legs felt heavy the first part of the ride. I kept it on the small ring until I hit the Perry Parkway. I had the wind at my back & put it on the big ring. My legs felt much better by then, so I decided to pick up the pace a bit & take advantage of the tail wind. I just kept up a good cadence & kep on pedaling. I hit 341 & had a head/cross wind the rest of the ride. I still was able to keep it on the big ring & really didn't slow down that much. All in all, it was a good ride & my legs feel much better now than they did yesterday.

Tundra Time Trial Report

Today was the Tundra Time Trial in Hiram, Ga. It's on the Silver Comet Trail. They claim it's flat, but I'll tell you that they lie!!!! It's not flat at all, there are gradual inclines & descents the entire trail. The start was at the trail head in Hiram, then it was out about 4.75 miles, turn around and come back. I made sure I arrived early enough to get a good parking space & made sure I warmed up well before my start time. Well I warmed up & got ready to head to the start ramp when they got close to calling my number. I rolled up on the ramp & got ready to go. I got the start & headed out. The trip out is mostly uphill with a few sections that go downhill. I was using a set of Mavic Kyrsium wheels I borrowed from Will. I really like these wheels. I was going well until I hit a bump at the beginning of a bridge crossing. Once I hit that, the speed magnet on the wheel slid & I was without any kind of info concerning time, distance, & most importantly speed. The only info I had was my heart rate. I just concentrated on getting to the turn around point. It was a very tight turn, really had to slow down to make it, then it was back up out of the saddle gaining speed. I hammered it on the way back, my legs felt good the entire ride. I managed to beat my time from last year by over 2 minutes. I finished in 26:01. All in all a good time & a good race. Nice way to start the racing season.

Update from the weekend.

This past Saturday I went riding with my new club. I joined the Southern Crescent Cycling Club in McDonough & this past Saturday was my first group ride. I met the ride leader at Epic Bikes about 6:30 am seeing as the ride was scheduled to start at 7. His name was Mike & he told me what to expect during the ride. He said that the route was rolling hills with a short, somewhat steep climb later in the ride. I told him I would do my best to stay with the group. I had no idea what to expect during the ride. I wasn't sure what the pace was going to be & what kind of riders I was going to be riding with. We had a group of about 6 of us that left Epic Bikes around 7 am. It was a bit on the cold side ( surprise), but it was going to warm up during the ride. Mike said that he never leaves anyone during a ride, there would be sections to be ridden fast & sections to let the slower riders catch up. Each group would get a workout, the faster riders would be doing intervals, while the slower riders would be building base miles. I liked the concept, Mike said it was kind of like riding to learn the flow of a race, there would be sections where the pace would be fast, and sections where the peloton would bunch up and slow down. The other riders on the ride really made me feel welcome during the ride. It really was a nice route to ride, the traffic really wasn't a problem at all until we were getting closer to the shop on the return trip. The climb up Jordan Hill was just like Mike said, short & somewhat steep. I was in the big ring going up the climb, but managed to make it up the hill. We regrouped at the top of the hill for another of the fast sections of the ride. We were doing about 22-23 mph during that section, when one of the group started to drop back, Mike said it was time to slow down & let the other rider catch up to us. We hit the section of the route that they use for a local time trial, & it was time to hammer. I don't think I dropped down below 25 mph on that section of road. It felt good to really hammer for a good stretch of time. We got back to the shop & I just chatted with everyone that was in the group. I'm looking forward to riding more with the group & Mike said that the pace would be picking up in not much longer. I'm looking forward to the challenge of keeping up with this group. All in all it was a good ride, a good new route to ride, & great new people to ride with.

Recovery Ride

Today I took it easy on the bike. It was a nice day to just cruise & watch the scenery. I really enjoyed just taking it easy today, not worrying about average speed, heart rate, & things like that. It's days like today that remind me why I love cycling. I'm going to ride with the Southern Crescent Cycling Club this weekend. They are sponsored by Epic Bikes in McDonough. I was in their store a few weeks ago & they seemed very friendly & invited me to join them for a ride sometime. I have an old high school friend coming to visit his brother in Buckhead this weekend so I'm going up to my parent's house & get together with him sometime this weekend. It's a perfect time to ride with a new group of people. I'm looking forward to the ride & will post about it later. Stay tuned for more......

Catch up time

I know, I know, I've been either lazy or busy since my last post. I'll let ya'll who read this decide which it's been. This past Friday I just went for an easy ride & just enjoyed the weather on the ride. On Saturday it was the rolling to Roberta ride. I headed to The Bike Store and arrived there about 9:30 am & Bill told me that the group left about 25 minutes earlier. I headed out on my way trying to see if I could catch the group that left. I hit Byron & decided that it probably would be easier to catch them if I didn't ride down Juniper Creek Rd & just head out on 42. I just put it in cruise control until I hit the hillier sections of the ride, then put in some hard efforts. I hit the Knoxville Store & was surprised to see that no riders were there yet. I got me some water & something to snack on & waited for a bit to see if anyone showed up. About 5 minutes later the group that was doing the ride showed up. I actually beat them to the store. I asked them what kind of pace they were going to do on the way back & they said they were going to be going much slower than I probably wanted to ride. I chatted a bit with them, then headed on my way back. I put it in the big ring after the first climb & kept up a nice steady pace. I turned on Walton Rd & headed to Ft. Valley. My legs were feeling pretty good even with all the climbing. I hit Ft. Valley & headed on 341 towards Perry. I was riding at a good pace & kept it steady. I hit Perry & needed to make a store stop to visit the bathroom. I finished there & headed back home. I managed to do 78 miles in just a bit over 4 hours on the bike. I felt good the entire ride & managed to average 19.5 mph. On Sunday I did a recovery ride with Eddie. We had great weather & he told me about the Pine Mt Challenge ride they did on Saturday. After hearing about it, I'm glad I chose not to go. He said it was a hard ride & everyone suffered in some way. We had a nice recovery ride & a nice chat while riding. Monday I started doing intervals. I did 15 seconds hard with 2 minutes recovery in between them. I did about 15 sets of intervals & I was feeling it by the time I got home. Today it was a beautiful day & I headed out for a ride. I did the same loop I did with Eddie, but it was in reverse. My legs felt good after warming up which was a surprise to me after yesterday's ride. I really pushed it when I had the wind at my back. I was able to do 36 miles in 1:46:00 & averaged 20.4 mph for the ride. I'm looking foward to an easy ride tomorrow. On Saturday I'm heading up north of here to ride with a new group of guys. I don't know what to expect, but it should be fun. I'll let everyone know how things go. Stay tuned for further updates........

Update time

I'm sorry it's been so long since my last update, but life has a way of getting in the way of training. I was planning on doing the Peach Peloton ride this past Saturday, but I woke up with an upset stomach & the weather was cold & raining. I decided to head back to bed and catch up on some sleep & hope the weather & my stomach would clear up later in the day. They both cleared up about 2:30 pm so I headed out for a ride. I did the loop I usually do with my friend Will. I didn't want to go too far in case I got sick again. My legs felt ok as I did the ride. On Sunday I went riding with Charles from The Bike Store before we went out on the usual group ride for Sunday. We all got together and did the Sunday route, my legs were feeling pretty good & I took my turns up front pulling the group along. We worked on doing a double paceline for the ride. It was a good ride, & when I got closer to the house I left the group and headed to the house. Yesterday I did a loop that I do with Will, only this time I did it in reverse. I kept it in the small ring the entire ride, but most of the ride I rode in a 39 x 14. My legs felt pretty good the entire ride & I was able to average 19.5 mph in the small ring. I'm hoping to get some good rides in the rest of the week, but we'll just have to see how the weather goes. Stay tuned for more updates.........

Nice day for a good ride

Today I went riding because the Peach Peloton ride scheduled for tomorrw was cancelled due to bad weather. It's going to rain all day tomorrow so I figured I'd get at least 90 mins on the bike today. I started out from my house & my legs felt pretty good. I rode the trainer last night at an easy pace for 90 minutes. I was surprised at how good my legs were feeling. I headed out on a route that I usually ride with my friend Will. It's a 30 mile loop with rolling hills. I warmed up for the first 5 miles of the ride in the small ring, then once I hit Hunt Rd, it was time to pick the pace up. I put it in the big ring and started pushing it harder. My legs felt great, I turned onto Lake Joy & kept a steady pace heading for the first of two climbs on that road. I really didn't push the first one that bad, because I wanted to push the pace up the second one. I climbed up the second hill at a good pace for me. I recovered & started picking things up again. I hit Kings Chapel Rd & I was feeling good. I rode hard to Arena Rd, & then turned off 127 to Bear Branch Rd. I picked up the pace on that road & I was starting to feel it a bit in my legs. I rode hard down that road turning on Farr Rd heading back towards home. I eventually hit Old Perry Rd & picked up the pace once again. My legs were feeling it, but I just kept on pushing at a steady pace. I pushed up the last two climbs on Old Perry Rd & then cruised for a bit on Hwy 96. I crossed Moody Rd on 96 & then picked up the pace for one more push. I was feeling a bit sore by now, but I just ignored it & kept on pedaling. I made the turn onto Peach Blossom for the home stretch & it was hard keeping a steady effort, but I tried my best. I reached home with one of the best rides I've had in a long time. I did 30.1 miles in 1:27:20 for an average speed of 20.6 mph. I can tell that all the suffering doing the Peach Peloton rides, Cyclo-Core, Cyclo-Zen, & the workout program are paying off. I need to concentrate on what I've learned so far & keep working on losing more weight. I'm looking forward to racing this season & should be more competitive than I was last year. Stay tuned for more updates.......

Peach Peloton #9

This past Saturday was another in a series of my suffering on the bike called Peach Peloton Rides. I really have enjoyed each and every ride this year, no matter how much I've suffered on them or after them (trust me, I've done plenty of both). This past ride was scheduled for 100 miles. I hadn't ridden that far in quite sometime so I really didn't know what to expect. The weather was a bit on the cool side, but was going to warm up during the ride. I brought out the new knee & arm warmers my folks gave me for a late Christmas present. This would be the second time I got to use them & I loved them after the first ride earlier in the week. I also took a windbreaker that would be able to be shoved in my jersey pocket once the weather started to warm up. Before the ride, Chad told me that I was NOT to take a pull at all today. He wanted me to sit in & finish with everyone instead of pulling like I did last week & not being able to stay with the group until the end. I told him that was fine with me & I just hoped that nobody would be mad about that. Chad told me not to worry about that. We headed out & the ride was fun, we mainly rode 2 abreast & I did what I was told to. I stayed about mid pack & just sat in. We headed to the first attack zone & the pace started to pick up. I couldn't stay with the group, but as always I had a copy of the map, & I stayed within myself. I caught up to the group at the store stop. I rested a bit & refueled before heading out again. The entire ride route was nothing but rollers. We stayed together heading back towards Macon, when Christian seemed to get sick. We slowed & waited for him to rejoin the group. We hit the second attack zone & Chad told me of a shortcut I could use. I took him up on his suggestion & took the shortcut. I rode hard on the shortcut & once I hit Maynards Mill Road, I thought it wouldn't be long until the group came flying past me, but I turned onto Shi Road & still no sign of the group. I was riding hard, but I guess the route they took was longer than I thought, because it wasn't until I was on Moore Road when they came flying past me. We regrouped somewhat at the end of Moore Road & headed back to Howard Middle School. On Zebulon Road, there are a few good climbs which have in the past really hurt going up after a long ride. This time they still were hard, but I didn't drop down to single digits on my computer like I have in the past. It was a good ride & once we got back to the school, Chad told me that I probably learned more sitting in the entire ride than if I took a turn up front & didn't finish. I told him I have learned quite a bit on each ride & look forward to learing more from the group. All in all it was a fun ride & I can at least say I have one century done this year. Stay tuned for more updates

Peach Peloton #8

We were supposed to have a Peach Peloton ride last week, but weather forced the cancellation of that. This week the scheduled route was for about 95 miles with attack zones. The weather was cold & it seemed that several of the other riders used that as an excuse not to show up. We had 10 of us there for the ride. We started out warming up then Chad had us practicing rotating going down US 23 towards Twiggs County. We kept up a good pace & I took my turns up front as I was feeling good so far. We hit HWY 96 & turned left for the next part of the ride. The pace picked up a bit & I did my best to hang with the group. I fell back a bit, but they waited for me at least once. We broke up into 2 groups to practice rotating again, but I couldn't keep up with the pace of the group I was in. I decided to just ride my own pace & be able to finish the ride instead of letting my ego get the best of me & try to keep up with them. We regrouped again & Chad said that there was an unannounced attack zone to the Laurens County sign. I told the group to have fun, I knew I wasn't going to be able to hang with them & I was correct. I was doing between 21 & 22 mph on the flatter parts & was getting left behind. I stayed within my abilities & rode my own pace. I hit US 80 & headed towards Allenton. I met the rest of the group at the store stop & let Chad know that I was going to finish the ride going straight on US 80. I let him know that the pace was too high for me, & I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up & didn't want to slow the group down. Chad said that was fine with him & that if my car was still at the starting place when they got back, he would know something happened to me. I refueled & headed out on my own. The rest of the ride down US 80 was nothing but rollers. The good thing was that the wind wasn't that bad on the way back to the school. My neck & shoulders started to get a bit sore, but my legs were actually feeling pretty good. I just stayed within myself & had a good hard ride. I managed to get 80 miles done with an average speed of 19.3 mph. When I got home I noticed I had a voicemail from Eddie & called him back to let him know that I made it home with no problems. He encouraged me to be back next week for the ride & I told him that I would be there unless something came up that I couldn't get out of. I told him thanks for the encouragement & I told him that I'm learning alot on these rides & I am getting stronger. I'm looking forward to next weeks ride & we'll see what happens..............

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Today was the annual New Years Day ride starting at The Bike Store. I was using this ride as a recovery seeing as I was told this was a social ride & if anyone tried pushing the pace, they would be dealt with severly. The weather was certainly a factor during the ride. The wind was out of the NNW @ 15-25 mph. We had a tailwind most of the way out, but had a headwind most of the return trip. I decided to take my share of pulls up front early in the ride & then just ride behind someone the last part of the ride. The wind was a pain, but I did my share of pulling on the early parts of the ride. Once we got a tailwind, some of the other riders decided to pick things up a bit more. I picked up the pace myself, but kept it on the small chain ring. On one section with the tailwind I was in a 39 x 13 & managed to top 30 mph. I was very happy with that, & then backed off the pace for a time. I just hung in towards the back, drafting off people & staying out of the wind. All in all it was a good ride, my legs feel good & I'm looking foward to getting back into training the rest of this week. I just want to wish everyone who reads this a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!