Spicey-ness!

So I feel like guys up at Salsa will come visit in my sleep and repossess the new spicy ride if I post this picture as it does the frame absolutely no justice. Don't worry a better picture will be taken in the daylight with a better camera than the good ole camera phone. Which is new btw thanks to the good folks at Verizon! Jenn and I will be taking it out to Westcreek tomorrow night for its maiden voyage.

My new La Raza

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to take a second and wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a good time and enjoying all the delicious eats and quality time with friends and family. And if you are having trouble finding the spice in your holiday season, have one of these delivered to your door!

My new road frame from Salsa!

CED SO

Last week I got a PM on the local cycling forums from Cycles Ed. He is a local mechanic, frame builder and all around one of the nicest faces you will ever meet in the cycling world. The message said that "she was ready to go!" Which meant only one thing, the CED SO was complete and ready for a demo ride. The CED SO is Ed's latest Singlespeed frame. He asked if I would take it out and let him know how it road from a SSer's viewpoint. Not really sure why he asked me but to say the least I was completely blown away and excited to take it for a spin.

Met up with Ed at his place on Wednesday morning before work to pick up the bike. First impressions were purely astetic but the frame was breath taking. First thing I noticed as I walked up, was the paint. I'm not quite sure who he had do the paint but it looked great. As I got closer, I noticed how there seemed to be almost no welds holding it together. Ed described the type of welds as a Fillet Brazed frame which is a much more labor intensive way to join two pieces of metal. It definitely shows as every piece of tubing seems to melt into the connecting tubing and becomes one. The joints are virtually non-existent.

I was extremely excited to take it out for a spin on Thursday but was a bit nervous as I tried to decide where to take it. I hadn't been on a MTB in almost a month and Ed asked me to take care of it as he wanted to be the first to put a scratch on it. Do I go to PSP where I know the trails like the back of my hand or do I venture downtown where I only randomly visit a few times of the year and meet up with a few friends? Decided on showing off Ed's work and headed downtown.

Fast Forward Hubs also built by CED

Hit the trails a little early to ride from Reedy Creek to Tredagar so I could get used to being on the bike again and meet up with PiperJ and Carter. Arriving at Tredagar just as they were starting to roll out to head to Reedy Creek we hit the trails on top of Belle Isle before heading back over to the south side of the river.

The ride downtown as amazing except for the two seconds in which I heard Ed's words of no scratches run through my head about 50 times as I tried to save the bike from being dumped down a rock garden into a culvert near Reedy Creek. Thankfully the CED SO saved me from trying to explain what would have been described as the worst ride of my life if I scratched the bike, to Ed.

As most SSer's know, handling and climbing prowess are probably the two biggest characteristics one looks for in a bike. The handling of the bike was beyond ridiculous. And that is a good ridiculous! Many a time on the first ride on the slippery leaf covered trails of the JRPS the rear tire tried to wash out from under me. This is where the overall balance of the bike came shining through. A few pedal strokes and the CED SO just stood itself back up and continued on its way down the trail.

On the many ups of the JRPS trails the CED SO displayed it's climbing ability. I could feel only the slightest flex in the steel frame while I mashed up the hills. Never did it feel like it was robbing me of the power I was putting into it and like a goat, it got me to the top with as little effort as necessary.

The CED SO is setup as with a rigid White Brother's Carbon fork. This meant I not only got a chance to ride a new frame design but also it gave me a the opportunity to compare carbon forks as I ride the Origin 8 carbon fork on my Carver 96er. After about 4 hours on the bike I came to the conclusion the O8 had a bit more forgive to it but after I thought about it I figured out why. Basic physics, longer legs will flex easier than shorter ones. The O8 is designed as a 2-9er fork as the WB is a 26".

Finishing up the ride with PiperJ, Crankee and a few others inside the JRPS just before dusk, I decided to head over to PSP for the night ride. Spent another couple of hours on it and the bike seemed even faster once the lights went out. Smooth as silk the CED SO just floated over everything the local trails had to offer. The idea that after not being on a mountain bike for almost a month I could go out for a 6 hour ride and never start to feel fatigue from being beaten around speaks to the world of just how smooth the ride was. Hands down the CED SO was one of the most comfortable and fastest bikes I have ever ridden.

Normally I would complain about the relatively narrow chainstays as I like to ride a bit bigger volume tire ( read 2.35 - 2.4) on my ss's. But this became a mute point as the combination of the steel frame and the 2.1 rear seemed to soak up enough to prevent any premature fatigue.

Overall I give the CED SO a 5 blazing stars out of 5! Hardest thing ever to have to give it back, but I did. And scratch free nonetheless! If you see him on the trails be sure to check it out. Believe me, you haven't seen anything like it!

Black Friday means different things to different people. For some, it means sharpen those elbows we're going in! And for others it means I'm just going to sit my ass here on this couch and watch some college football or Hanana Montana. For me as I work in the retail business it meant waking up along side the elbow sharpened consumers and jumping on the bike for an early morning commute. I got lucky and the Cateye still had enough of a charge to get me to work without a hitch.


I figured it was about time to thank Ryan over at Twin Six for sending me the new jerseys. They arrived just before Thanksgiving. Picture shows two but there are three. One got worn on black Friday and is in the wash.

Polar water bottles also stepped up to the plate in support of me in the '08 season and sent me these, free of charge. NICE!


Un-cycling related, spent all day yesterday setting up the aquarium with Jenn. It was a lot of work getting everything cleaned up and running but it was well worth it. In my opinion, it hasn't looked that good in long time. I am excited to get some little scaly critters in it this weekend hopefully.

Back from Boise

So Jenn and I arrived back in Richmond last night from Boise. What a great little city! Everything I could ever imagine wanting to do is basically just outside your doorstep. It was trip of firsts for me. Keep in mind I am deathly afraid of heights!

Although no photographic evidence, I took my first flight in my life.

Did some rock climbing in a gym

(Becky)

(Brian)

(Me)

(Jenn)

Then some up on Flat Rock

Went to a Basque restraunant where I discovered they eat the nastiest food in the world. Here is the plate of Beef Tongue in a fine gravy sauce. Yuck!!

Becky about to attempt the Tripe. TASTES LIKE SHIT! Literally! Becky won the fear factor competition at the table swallowing four pieces of it. Looking at the pictures I want to vomit!

Walked along the Boise River.

And last but not least,

Drove 9 hours to end a 3 day long manhunt for a ......

Thank you to Brian and Becky (my favorite sister!) for all the hospitality. Looking forward to get back out there, this time with bikes and warmer weather.

Who's bright idea was it not to bring a bike with me to Boise? DOLT!

The foothills of Boise

Spent some time in Solitary Confinement at the Old Idaho Penitentiary

Heading out to Idaho to visit the Lil Sis tomorrow morning. Going to be a lot of first times for me including flying and rock climbing which neither is something I am looking forward too at all. I like both feet to be on the ground as often as possible. I will try to keep the blog updated with pics and other random thoughts as the week progresses.

Uncle again!

At 10:45 this morning, I became an uncle for the second time. My brother James and his wife Crystal gave birth (alright Crystal gave birth but you know what I mean) to a beautiful baby boy. James Aiden Welch came into this lovely world of ours weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz. Both he and momma are doing well this evening. Congrats to the both of you!!!!!

Cobblestone Cross - Pole Green

Better start position than last week

Got the hole-shot

Was caught and passed in the barriers on first lap.

Couple of laps later I was brought back by two riders and sat in 4th.

Could see 5th place (red) bringing me back in while the course switched back and forth.

Suffered on every lap trying to hold a fast pace down the backstretch.

Took a lesson from the master JB in the barriers at the end of the second to last lap.

Starting the last lap, I saw the 3rd place rider with his head down. Decided to try to reel him back in. Caught him at the end of the front stretch entering the switchback climbs. Tried to take advantage of the surprised look on his face and kept the hammer down hoping I wouldn't blow up before the finish.

Nice superman remount after the barriers on the last lap.

Sprint to the 3rd place finish.

Was a great race and thanks go out to Cobblestone Bikes for hosting the event. Will definitely be back next year hopefully for 45 minutes of suffering instead of 30. The third place finish leaves me only needing to capture 2 upgrade points next weekend.

Corkscrew Cross

Saturday brought on the first day of cross racing this year. Looks like I will only be able to do a handful of the races this year. BWAAAAA!

Arrived about an hour early to the venue. Got registered, dressed, pinned then grabbed the bike to get warmed up. Rode around with Nate for awhile. I'm sure he got tired of hearing me complain of how bad my legs felt and how little sleep I got the night before. Note to self: Mexican not a good idea for a pre-raceday meal.

While taking a couple of trips up and down the vineyard while waiting for the course to open up, the legs felt the furthest from good as humanly possible. Course opened and I hit it to try to shake the cobwebs out of them. The bell rings as they call the C's to the start line and I am made aware my number is upside down. F! The conversation between Jenn and I rolled back through my head.

Jenn - Which way does it go? This way?
Me - No, turn it around.

She had it right! I'm such an idiot sometimes. A nice A/B racer gave me a hand in getting it turned around before the start and then urged me to jump up front. I didn't heed his advice and stayed at the back with Nate where I jokingly told him that we had the best starting positions.

Race started and we all shot up the big climb on the course. The field of 20 quickly spread out and I started to make my move to the front. Was sitting about 7th first time entering the barriers where I proceeded to enter too quickly. Got off the bike, slammed the bike into the top of the first barrier, stumbled over the second and somehow still passed 4 people on the remount.

I could see the two gentlemen in front of me but knew I would have to really try to reel them back in. Crossed the line to finish lap one, hit the hill and decided, I would put in a good effort up the hill to bring them back and then just suck their wheels until I recovered. It worked! The gearing I brought with me was perfect! Sat on their wheels for the second lap. When we got back to the line and hill it became apparent to me I could charge the hill all day long. Big effort got me to the top with a sizeable gap. Thought I would have a second to gain my breathe but as I was exiting the barriers, I heard them entering. Took a look back to see how close they were.

Remounted and tried to take off. The NCVC cat pulled me in and we started to exchange pulls in hopes of seperating ourselves from the 3rd place. I let him pull me up the hill a couple of laps and then with about 3 laps to go, I put in one last hard charge up the climb. Took a look back once at the top and couldn't see NCVC. "Where is he I thought?" Stayed out of the saddle on the flat top, looked back only to get a huge burst of adrenaline. "I broke him!", I thought to myself.

The last couple of laps went by too quickly as I put everything I had into getting down the hill and back up again. Bell lap came, I shot up the hill probably the fastest of all the times up the hill, sprinted down the backside and kept telling myself, "Just don't fall". Well I didn't fall and I scored my first cyclocross win. Guess the start position wasn't so bad after all. Thanks to Maxxis and Carb-boom for making such great products which aided me on Saturday.

The win leaves me 7 upgrade points or 18 mass start races away from getting the upgrade to Cat 3 from 4. Sunday will be my next shot at gaining the elusive yet much desired upgrade points, when I hit up the Cobblestone Cross at Pole Green Park.

Lack of Posts ...

Sorry for the lack of posts in the past few weeks. The posts are almost equivalent to the amount of time my arse has been in the saddle. I have been able to get in a few good rides on the cross bike last week with another slated for this morning.

Going to be meeting up with Nate so we can both get fully accustomed to riding the cross bikes. Need a little practice getting on and off the bike in a timely manner and not falling on my face. Mostly because my dental insurance is not all that great and my wallet not heavy enough to pick up the slack.

Really wanted to be able to make it up to Iron Cross this year but alas I swore off cross racing for this year about 2 months ago. That was until last week when I built it back up. Well not entirely up. I left off all those pesky dérailleurs and shifters. Looks like I will be able to make 7 races here in VA throughout the season. First one is this Saturday at the Cooper Vineyards where the course description states, "This course is offers only a fewe short downhills and not much time for recovery." F-in great! As if cross doesn't take it all out of me as it is. Not sure my chest can take all the vomiting and heaving after the races that took place last year. Good thing I am in worst shape this year than last.

Going crazy without the time to get in a good ride until Saturday morning. How does one cope?

Catching Up

Seems like forever since I last updated. Truth be told there hasn't been too much riding done by me here lately. I was able to get out for the Heart of VA century ride this past weekend. I had begun the day with a time window of when I would have liked to have finished. The window was between 5 and 5 1/2 hours.

The ride started off in Ashland and would take us all over Henrico and Hanover before all was said and done. I started the ride alone and before I knew it, was starting to reel in some of the groups that had started a little before me. This worried me a little as since it had been so long since I had put in a long distance ride, I was a bit afraid I wouldn't be able to hold that pace until the end.

About 60 miles in was the "lunch stop" where I stopped for a banana and new bottles. There I ran into Cycles Ed. Stopped and chatted with him for a second before getting back on the bike. That's when my fears came to fruition. I no longer had the power in my legs to sustain the 21 mph average I had set before the stop. It was a long last 40 miles full of upper quad pain in my left leg. Limping towards the finish, I arrived 6 hours after I started.

Despite the discomfort towards the end of the ride I was pleased with my effort. Looks like I will need to get out for the longer rides more often. Hard to do though with the race season dwindling to an end. Any suggestions?

A clear radar for the Heart of VA ride this morning.

Riding w/ Others

Spent this week riding with others. I know this is somewhat of a new concept for me as my schedule usually forces me to ride when everyone else cannot. So when a chance comes up I usually take advantage of it.

Met Zach at the store Monday morning for a nice 22 mile loop through the Hanover/Henrico/Ashland area. Although I have ridden out there many a time, I still do not know where the town/county lines are. Oh well doesn't really matter until I look like a dumbass trying to explain a route I rode through "Ashland" the other day when it was really in "Henrico". Zach got the chance to rock his new Diadora's and might I say he looked a bit Tom Boonen-ish(I know Tom doesn't wear Diadora's). Maybe its because they rock the same build but probably more so because he put a hurting on me for the entire 22 miles.

Last night, Jenn and I loaded up the bikes once again and headed over to WestCreek. After her first ride last week, the concensus was we needed to bring the bars back to her just a little bit more. Grabbed what I described to the LBS as "a stem that is short, stumpy and has a lot of rise", she was much more comfortable on the bike. 18 miles last night and she is pumped and asking for more.

Blurry due to speed!

Thursday equals a rest day with a short ride on Friday to get the legs stretched out before Saturday's Heart of VA century. Legs are feeling a bit tired as always but am looking for my first ever sub 5 hr century.

Spent Labor Day weekend in Hickory, N.C. with Jenn while visiting her sister Aprill and soon to be husband Adam. Saturday was pretty laid back and which means my ass didn't leave the couch while we watched the opening weekend's worth of college football.

Sunday the girls pressured Adam into showing me some of the local trails. A pint of Jack Black the night before had him thinking he really would rather not but did anyway. We hit up South Mountain State Park. Wish he would have told him to pack my climbing legs. Ended up climbing about 1000ft every four miles until about the 10th mile or so and then as we all know, "What goes up, must come down!"

Pointed the bike down the hill and just held on. The Carver was handling great through the rough rocky sections which put that shit eating grin on my face. That was until, "psssssssssssssssssssss" and then silence once again. F! Reached in my jersey to grab the extra tube I had pulled from the bag and found many a pack of Jelly Belly Sport Bean. Double F! Did I lose it? Nope my opposite of brilliant tail left it sitting on the tailgate of the truck.

Started to run down the hill but then realized that I hate to run. Since the majority of the remaining loop was downhill, I decided I would just jump back on and nurse it back down the hill. Wasn't worried about the tire but more so the rim. Got to the bottom to find a little wear (surprise suprise) on the tire but none on the rim. Still as true as true can be!

___________________________________

In other news, the final few pieces needed to finish up Jenn's first road bike arrived on Thursday and I was able to hang them before we left for Hickory. Looking forward to her first ride on Wed evening!

And just to leave everyone with component envy, I finally was able to complete the SRAM Force grouppo when I found these beautiful puppies awaiting my arrival back from NC. And to think it only took me a year to accomplish. Will get those installed this morning before heading to work.

As we all now by now the 18 hour race was canceled due to major storm damage earlier in the week of the race. It has now been rescheduled for November 17-18. That same weekend, is the VA State Cyclocross Championship in VA Beach. I really enjoyed that event last year as well even though it is very clear to me that short races like cross racing I do not excel at.

Would have been a tough decision to make had I been forced to make one but luckily I'm not. I will be arriving back home late that Sunday from my trip out west to visit my lil sis! I am super excited about this trip. I know for a fact I will be taking the road bike with me but may also end up taking the Carver as well. We will see!

Since my schedule isn't going to be too Cross friendly this year, I have decided to put my training efforts for the next few months onto longer rides. The 24 hours of Sebring looks to be my next big race, also the first of next year, and I want to do better than this year. Actually riding the bike more than once a week like I was before the event this year, will be a good first step. I think?

Chris has been trying to get down his way for a trip around his new favorite loop through Southern Chesterfield for awhile now. Finally got the schedules matched up and planned on meeting up with him on Friday evening. On the ride back to get my car from Jenn's place after work I started to get a ridiculous vibration in my left pedal. Limp it back to the car and take a look at it. Crank arm has come loose.

Threw the bike on top of the car and call Chris. "On my way, I will need an 8mm wrench when I get there." Arrive at Chris', throw the bike up on the stand, insert said wrench into bolt. The bolt has no head. Argg! Ride is called off.

Call around on Saturday morning looking for a new one. Thinking Ben at 3 Sports would be the only place who would have one in stock he was the first I called. "Yup! I've got one." Great! Headed over there during my lunch break and picked it up. The Felt is back up and running! Going to give the loop another try tomorrow night. Looking forward to it!

__________________________________

Jenn has expressed some interest in road riding. Decided to tear down the Cross bike and build up a bike for her. It is coming along great and I am excited because she seems very excited. The last pieces of the puzzle will be arriving this week and I will be able to get her out on the road.

Cannot wait to get this bike complete. What is it about building bikes from scratch attracts me so much? Light frame with 105 shifters, Ultegra front and rear and FSA carbon cranks. NICE!

His and Hers

His and Her's

More to come ......

Mother Nature, I'm mad at you!

Unfortunately, someone really pissed off Mother Nature here in the Central Va area and she through back the ultimate F-U! Storm damage has left many of the local trail systems closed until cleanup crews can get to them. Goochland where the Scout Camp is located, took a tremendous hit and has forced the cancellation of the 18 hour race this weekend. Bummed to say the least.

Spent the day yesterday mooping around the store while trying to figure out how I wanted to spend my now free three day weekend. Looks like a day full of history lessons while visiting Colonial Williamsburg. Might try to grab a wheel or two tomorrow morning on the Powhatan Courthouse ride in the morning.

18 Hr Prep

Met up with the other members of Yoda-Llama's Juicy Sin last night for a short night ride at an undisclosed location. Not really sure where I was when they finally took the black bag off my head but was glad to be out on the bike.

I was hoping for a relaxed pace with a few hard pushes to test the limits of the lights. If they were relaxed, someone is in trouble because they were ridiculous quick. Not sure if Llama could see Yoda or Sin but at times I was having trouble keeping Llama in sight myself. Not sure how Yoda didn't see that one thorn along the trail that reached out and bit his rear with that bright a$$ light he was using but it provided a great photo op.

That will probably be my last day on the bike until Saturday. Which is probably what my body needs as it tries to fight off this head cold.

On a side note, I will have some pics of the Hilbert Race up in the gallery probably tomorrow. There are some pictures of others, aka Scott Davis and Jared.

Hilbert Race Short Story

Took part in the 3rd Hilbert race this afternoon. With the 18 hour race just a week away I decided to run in the SS class once again. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that the shorter the race the more I suck.

Much to the dismay of the new Carver, my legs were nonexistant until the end of the second of the three laps. That is when the Carver showed me what it really had in it. The legs began to cooperate with the rest of my body and I began to reel the leaders back in. I was able to pass the second place rider and pulled the leader back to what I think is probably in the 30-35 second range. (Offical times will be up tomorrow I think)

The Carver was amazing especially once I was able to truly put the hammer down. I cannot sing my praises for it loud or often enough. The machine is simply amazing!

I will have pictures of the race up later this week. Until then I will be laying low all week as to save my legs for this weekend.

3 in 3

Made it out to PSP once again this afternoon for the third time in three days. The heat has been slightly ridiculous all week and I really began to feel it today even though today was the coolest of the three days.

All three days have been on the Carver and now that I have some decent miles on it I have to say I absolutely love the ride. I was a bit worried the ride would be a rough, mouthpiece requiring ride when I made the decision to run it with the Origin 8 carbon fork but quickly became elated to find that the bike does not beat me up at all. In fact I feel as if I feel less fatigue than I did on the BUSS or Turner.

The combination of the carbon fork and 29" wheel really makes the bike float over everything big and small. My forearms and shoulders are less tired at the end of the ride and I have to give the credit to the light front end. The fork itself weighs in in the sub 800 gram class. Total bike weight is 19.1 lbs. This bike's climbing ability is borderline unfair. It just shits and gets up the climbs.

The true test will be this coming Sunday at the Camp Hilbert race (which I forget to pre-reg for). Hilbert has always really beat me up. Lots and lots of big roots. Going to be running the SS class once again. With that being said, I am going to take tomorrow off and hydrate well so I will be ready for Sunday.

Thanks again to Davis Carver of Carver bikes and Bikeman.com for hooking me up with such a great ride! I'm in love!

Carver 96er

All the pieces to the puzzle have been put together and I have to say this is one sweet ride. Have about 20 miles on her so far. Smooth and fast are the only two words that come to mind. Now only if the engine was strong enough to push it to the limits. Thanks goes out to Davis Carver of Carver bikes and to John Gonyo for selling me his Paul hubs. A more in depth review of the ride coming up after a few more rides. But for now here are some photos for your drooling pleasures.