What are you doing this weekend?

Looks like the team will be all over the place this weekend. Hebe is running in Danville, THE Yozell's are on another mission of 'cross, Ray is drowning the sorrow of his busted ass wrist in the Finger Lakes and Robster and I will be hitting the farm and enjoying some poached Lamb after.

Press Camp for Trans-Sylvania is close to finalized and we can't wait to get those folks to State College so they can help everyone tune in to what awaits next May 30-June 5, 2010. Lots of updates to do to the site too and gotta get a YouTube channel up and running...and figure out how the heck to do videos. I've a bunch of cool footage from Iron Cross that would be great to get up before next year. I figure if that 5 year old on the Microsoft commercials can do it - well, never mind, I'm screwed.

Video after the weekend? There's a 50-50 chance I'll make it, though there is only a 10% of that.

Kuhn

green cross#2

location : mahwah, nj----- total commute there: 82 miles-----race total: 1hr vo2max-----commute home: 85(got lost)----race position DFL(probably)-----Time on bike: 14hrs------Special thanks to giant tent for tools and warm socks to get home to one po'd wife. ----- also thanks to my lupine betty of doing providing enough light to get me home. you can go all night with a betty . giggitty. too tired to type more

Rest and relaxation.

Well the first half of the cross season is in the books. Time for a well deserved rest after the mud fest that was Granogue and the suffer fest that was Wissahickon. First off let me just give a huge hats off to the DCCoD and Kelly and all the folks at Wiss and Human Zoom and The Sturdy girls for outstandingly organized and run races.
As mentioned Granogue was a real riders course . With a huge Nor'easter blanketing the area and hanging for days the grounds on the Estate were soaked through and torn up from the earlier heats. As the day progressed things deteriorated even more prompting the promoters to make corrections and change lines. All well and good unless it's during a race. Lot's of bike changes and a well working pit crew were a key. Finished the day 2nd after a back and forth day with Matt Kraus. Rodger Aspholm takes the win just ahead of us.
Sunday Dawned Cold windy and wet. The course at Wiss changed from race to race and dried out considerably by the Men's Elite race at the end of the day. We even had sun to look forward to.
In the Masters race it was Kraus and I at the start. Aspholm bridged at the start of the 2nd lap leaving me in his wake. Just didn't have the legs to go with him. In the end it was Rodger on the top step and Matt and I taking 2nd and third respectively. Second race went well till the 5 to go card showed up, legs emptied and boy it seemed to get cold. Still I made 10 bucks on the run up picking 1$'s out of the mud. Seems to help the legs when you can entertain the crowd.
Erica stomped on the woman's Elite race. After slipping a pedal at the start and dropping to the back of the race she showed grit and determination and worked her way all the way back to the top ten, finishing 9th for the day. That earned her 2 coveted UCI points and gets her off the back row at the starts. Watching her go from Mom to competitor is always a thing of beauty. And boy o boy can she ride well in the mud.
Like I started with, it's time for a rest. 8 weeks on leaves you tired but in our case still wanting more.

Foreshadowing????

Tomorrow is another first in my year of many racing firsts. A canoe tri. I will be doing the Chili Challenge instead of Granogue this year. The Chili Challenge is a 20 mile bike race, followed by a 2.2 mile paddle in a lake and finishes with a 5.2 mile run around the lake. I am equal parts excited and nervous. Due to multiple injuries, I have been limited in my running. Lately my riding is not without a fair amount of pain. The race is part of a cool multi-discipline series called the RiverTowns Races, that hopefully will be supporting the team in ott ten, so I am going to see what all the good buzz around this event is.

With the ongoing and impending weather that we are experiencing, this will definitely be a challenge. With rain and temps in the 30's, much of the race will be won and lost due to staying warm and dry. We have so many clothes packed for the event, it is not even funny. The bike will be crucial to the race, not so much in the actual time, but in being able to be warm and dry. The need to be dry to start a 35 minute paddle in the cold rain can not be overstated. With rain pants and fenders mounted on each bike, we are opting for dry comfort. Take a gander at the rides above. Good stuff, fenders, aero clip-ons, cx tires, road gearing it is all good.

I will fill in the fine points after the race.

Hebe

Iron Cross 2009

IC VII is in the books. Check out Rob pullin' down 4th overall and breaking for 4 hr barrier. Hebe, Ray, Nancy and me on race duties and enjoying a beauteaus day in the PA woods. I think we're all looking to get back in the mix in IC VIII, Oct 10, 2010! Enjoy this!!

Outside looking in

That is a nice way to explain the good times at Iron Cross this past weekend. I decided to not race this year and volunteer for the day at CP2. It was such a different perspective to watch a race, albeit at one section where you see people for five seconds to a couple of minutes out of a 4-6 hour race. In that brief period you get a feel for the race. Who is good, who is off, and some race dynamics. What you get even more is the sense of friednliness of the racers and the comraderie. I made it a point to call out everyone I knew as they came through the checkpoint. A quick "hello", "you are doing great", something positive to go on for the next two hours. What was so much better in return was the thankfullness of all the racers.
Iron Cross was very rewarding for me this year. I helped out fellow racers, I enjoyed a beautiful day outside and I got an appreciation of how hard it is "to just hand out water".
Next time you have the chance to volunteer, do it. Without people giving back, we could never be able to race our bikes.

last horrah for endurance

Ironically, this comes in the form of a cyclocross race appropriately named , Ironcross. It happens this sunday in michaux . Saturday is the ironlight which is a typical length cross race. Sundays event, however, is around 62 miles(i think) and mountain bike are allowed. And no license is needed. I remember trying this race a few years back and really racing for at least 15 minutes until i realized it was way easier to look around at the pretty colors of fall. (Some may call that ADD, i call it season tapering) From that point i kept a steady pace while enjoying a sunday joy ride. That being said, no matter your racing style this may very well be your last chance to enjoy a marked out, catered ride/race of an endurance distance. ------------On the west side this weekend make sure you check out a 24hr battle between brandon, chris e, josh t, earnie, and kelly. It's gonna be a good one. the battle takes place in Moab and can be followed in real time scoring on grannygear.com. i will be handing off my grannygear 24hr national points championship title to brandon for this year. (watched this year from the sidelines while taking a stab at the nue) He killed it in the last 2 events and has it wrapped up. Good Job!!!! I like to think i taught him a thing or two about 24s. But it may just be like those soccer dads that wish they were as good as their kids when they were that age. i can still beat him in 24hrs of landscaping.

Weekend wrap up

here are some pics from the gap gallop. coach kuhn showed here trying to beat the calorie deficit. He burned 4000 but consumed 14000. Way to go coach. Yeah we were trying to get out $20 worth. What a fun tour . great weather , ride , and company. After yesterdays 5 hour tour with brandon at michaux , this century definitely finished off the legs. ----------------- And one special shout out is needed for the weekend. Goes to VMB. (valley mountain bikers)(bikevmb.com) They had a great turn out today for national take a kid mountain biking day, held at jordon park in allentown. I really wanted to go check it out and help but the century took a bit longer than i thought. I heard all the kids had a great time and the day went smoothly. Thank you vmb for helping the future of the sport. But don't let them get to fast. i'm not getting any younger.

Gap Gallop

If any readers are unsure of their plans this Sunday and are close to the lehigh valley check out the Gap Gallop. This is a road ride put on by the lehigh valley wheelmen(and woman) with three options. A century, metric century , of a half. All options have stocked food stations of yummy goodness. Starts at northampton community college anytime between 7and 9. More info at bikereg.com The roads in this area are amazing especially this time of year. The full century takes you over Blue Mountain, along the northside of the mountain , through delaware water gap , and back(not the same way). I think you see a maximum of three traffic lights the entire time. Awesome riding!!! Go check it out