All Dressed Up and Ready to Go (almost)

After a minor miscommunication with our uniform maker, the uniforms are finally being made. I'm going to say they should be in our hands in mid-February. This is about 2 weeks later than I wanted but still enough time to get them out to everyone for the start of the season. When they get here, I'll be sure to post them but I'm sure you will see us riding around town/races with them too.

This is Chad. If you can't tell by looking at him, he is all roadie. He's chowin' down on some good old fashioned holiday cheer. He could stand to put on a few pounds anyway.

Ahh. The Off-Season

Capt. Space Invader Shawn (left), Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White Tom (right), and I decided to go for a ride Saturday at the frozen Fairhill. Being the off-season less attention was paid to pace than normal. It was an awesome day for a ride. Crisp cool air. It just fills your lungs and really feels great. Shawn was riding his new GF Superfly, a full carbon 29er. Complete with an XO drivetrain (upgraded XTR cranks to boot). It is certainly a wonderful looking machine. That was until I plowed right into it. Here's my side of it though. We were cruising on a downhill section and my eyes watered up. When I cleared my vision, those two were at a dead stop in the middle of the trail. BAM! Fortunately, no damage. This was about 5 minutes into his first ride with the bike. At least we broke it in right? The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful (which was fine with Shawn).

The top picture is post crash, so you can see, it's fine. I think I would've felt a little bad had I messed it up. Just a little.

If you haven't been to Fairhill lately (or ever), go. It really is beautiful there right now. Some really nice frozen trails. By weeks end they will probably be soft and muddy though with the temps getting up into the 40's again. Trailspinners gets a little upset if you are riding them when they are soft. It's understandable. They put tons of hours in building them, so yahoos like us can crash into each other. Check out www.trailspinners.org.

'Tis the Season

Due to my fatigue at the end of the season I decided it was time to actually train. Not that I didn't in the past but I mean the real way. I hate running and swore that I didn't need to do it ever. Yesterday, I ran. I did a 4+ mile trail run in a drizzle. It wasn't too bad. I'm not ready for a marathon or anything but I did ok. The muscle groups used for running are completely different than those for cycling and boy howdy can I feel it. When I do biking motions, I feel great. When I walk, it hurts. I may have over did it because the longest I ever ran before yesterday was one, that's right, one mile. As in uno. 1.6 kilometers. I did this 4+ in under 40 minutes. It was soggy trail so not too shabby. The downhills were scary. I'm working on getting a core routine together. I just feel as though my bike legs need a rest for a few weeks. Not that I won't be biking but not training.

With the weather getting closer to staying below freezing the trails should be firming up. This makes for some of the best riding all year in my opinion. It's not race season. Kick back and enjoy the scenery. A good long ride at a nice even pace. Cool, crisp air. Some joking with friends. Can it really get any better?

The Kizzer

This story really begins a few weeks after Katrina. Staci and I volunteered to go to the St. Barnard Parish district in New Oreleans to help the ASPCA. This was, I think, 2-3 weeks after Katrina. The flood waters had dropped enough to start search and rescue missions. We mainly stayed at camp, taking care of the animals/people. Staci worked closely with the Vets in charge of the dog side. There they made sure all dogs were walked three times a day and generally played with throughout. Many animals came into the campsite skin and bones. Their habitat, (homes) were destroyed. It was total destruction everywhere. Nothing was spared. My job, with 3 others, was to make the humans feel human. We did various tasks from setting up work stations with lights (run on a generator), to shelving. We even found running water, which was contaminated but, still running water. We made a shower by using garden hose and a kiddie pool. It even had walls for privacy.

After our tour with the ASPCA, we started driving home. 1100 miles if I remember correctly. It was pouring rain when we decided to stop at a Motel 6 in Virgina. Staci was driving (we switched every 2-3 hours). She pulled into the spot, we opened our doors and, in hops the little black and brown guy in the pictures above. Seeing as we were at a Motel 6 (pet friendly) we decided to at least give him a warm/dry place for the night. We asked the clerk if he was somebodys and she said he showed up about 4-6 weeks earlier. As the night went on though we decided that we would take him home and put him on PetFinder.com. So Staci went to a local store and bought some real cat food (we were giving him whatever we had available), litter box, and litter. He was so skinny so we didn't want to overfeed him but he did eat well that night. We all fell fast asleep. Kismet (we later named him) slept on our heads. We knew we did the right thing.

In the morning we gathered up everything and headed for PA. It was a 7 hour car ride back to Lancaster. Kismet slept under the seat the whole way. I'm sure he was scared but I think he knew he was safe, finally. We took him to the vet. They determined he was about 9-10 years old and in good health. We put him on PetFinder.com like we knew we should but no one answered. That is how we ended up with him.

He lived with us for a little over two years but in that time he was friends with everyone. All the others in the house and anyone who walked through the door. He most certainly was a lover. He was the one that made everyone (other cats) stop hating Skellington. He loved Skellington as much as Mayari, Serendipity, and Malificent. He was the one that tought the girls (other cats) how to clean dishes and Skellington to dig in garbage. He also tought Skellington how to make a nest to sleep in.

After Thanksgiving, Kizzy was wheezing so we took him to the vet. They took chest x-rays and basically told us to make him comfortable. There was nothing they could do for him. He knew we did everythng we could and last night we had to make the hardest decision of our lives. We had to put Kizzy down. The cancer in his lungs made it almost impossible for him to breath. His kidneys were twice the size they should be. Pushing his other organs out of place. He was a trooper. It wasn't until last night that he showed any signs of pain. We didn't want him to suffer. As hard as that decision was, I'd hate myself if he were still here in pain.

We will miss you Kismet. We love you.

States

Phew! A long season finally over. PA states were a mess. Recent snow/rain/ice mixed with a slightly warmer temperature combined to make it an absolute mud fest. Running about 200 yards in 4 inches of the stuff, 3 barriers, 2 run ups, and a sand pit (ridable but clogged your brakes with sand). That equals a lot of running. Not my strong suit. I never did get my legs yesterday. I just kept losing ground to the leaders until I finally hit ice, went down, and called it quits. I only had one lap to go but I was done. Shawn did awesome. He took 9th and was the 5th PA rider to finish. Not bad. He even broke his helmet when his bike slammed his head on one of the run ups. It looks like the slop is where he shines. I knew he would do great because of the way he handles a bike. He's just technically sound. Great balance (usually haha!) too. Hats off to Shawn.

We had a nice crowd to race for too. Three other none cross team members (along with Katie, Roger, and a lady that I forget her name) were there in the muck cheering us on. It was really cool to hear those guys yelling for Shawn and myself eventhough I was going slower and slower every lap. Thanks guys.

I'm not sure exactly how many races I did this season but it was 9 months long. I had a blast but was definitely fatigued from Mid-October on. I didn't manage one decent finish after Iron Cross and that was with a concussion and a saddle that was stuck at about a 30 degree angle. Not comfy at all. I made a lot of new friends being my first year racing on the road. I learned that next season I have to be more prepared to finish the season as strong as I started.

It seems like we are really coming together as a team. Our roster is full. We will have a good road and 'cross team, and an awesome mountain team. I can't wait for next season. Our focus on the road will be to target specific races. Obviously, the ones we feel we can win or will get our sponsors names out the most. 'Cross our goals will be high finishes in MAC. Mountian will see us going for an overall team (under 10 riders) podium in the MASS. We will also be doing some other endurance races not on the MASS calander. Our two man downhill team will do what they can, when they can. They are free to do as they please since their participation is a bonus to the sponsors.

Carlizzle

Shawn and myself braved the brisk winter air that is rolling in to race the Carlisle Fairgrounds. #9 in the MAC series. I'd like to say we won but Marc, Ethan, Jeff, and about 10 others that finished in front of us said no. We both had good starts and I was in the top 10 for a good portion of the race until I took myself out pushing a corner harder than I had to. I was trying to build momentum for the uphill coming up so I was really railing the corners. My luck ran out. I hit a nice sized rut in the course and lost the edge on my front wheel. From there it was blurry masses passing me. My bike was fine so I attempted to catch up to what was chase group #2. I was alone and it just never happened. Every barrier it felt like my feet were cinder blocks from being so cold. As chase group #2 started dropping riders I was picking them off. All said and done I was about a minute behind the winner. Shawn not too much further behind me.

We were pretty frozen so we packed up and left. We didn't stick around to see where we finished but it was another mid-pack day. Next weekend is Wonderland which is actually states. Hopefully we are feeling good for that one. It has been a long season (since mid-March) and for as much as I love racing, it will be nice to have a break and just have fun with it again.

A Ripper in Honor of "The Dude"

This is Andre. The story I am about to tell you was all his fault. The night started off innocent enough. A little music, chips, salsa, hummus, pizza, beer, and of course Caucasians (aka White Russians, "The Dude's" favorite beverage for those not in the privvy). From a few drinks to bowling (we used designated drivers) at Leasure Lanes.

The young man you see in the background was our ringer. He brought his own ball and shoes. While he hasn't bowled much lately he was still putting up scores in the 160-170 range. Me, well let's just say I agree with "the dude". By nights end though I had managed one game over 100. I was too busy pretending I was in a mix of "The Big Lebowski" and "Kingpin". Probably the two best bowling movies ever. After every roll I would make some sort of celebrative motion. Much like the one Staci is making up top. Now if only I had some hair that I could comb over.

Still zipped up in our hoodies but...

We are a bit cozier in this ice box now. Our new storm door is finally installed. Yes, it took a week to fit it, stain it, varnish it, and then finally install it. It looks pretty nice though. Being a pipefitter I know how to do many things construction related but doors, not really. I enlisted the help of Staci's moms better half. He crushed it. I mostly just watched as he fit the door and notched little coves for the hinges. The sucker is pretty air tight. No more drafty front door. We never were ones that did the before and after photos so all we have is an after. Oh well.

Yesterday, I went out for a ride in the 20-30mph wind. Talk about some resistance training. Boy howdy! I road directly into the wind for the first 23-24 miles. Basically, I road RT.23 to 441 (with some other roads to break up the straight shot). This took about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Horrible. What is that, like 15-16mph average? When I turned south on 441 the pace went super high. The last 21-22 miles of my ride took 50 minutes. It felt like I was a pro just humming along on a flat stage in the Tour de France. All said and done, not a bad day on the bike.

In team news...Our uniform designs are done. We are submitting our templates to Champion Systems and by late January they should be in our hands. They have a thing on their website that lets you dress up a guy in their clothes. It's a good chuckle. Click on the title of this entry to check it out.

Cool as a Cucumber

In our efforts to have a smaller carbon footprint, we, at this household, for the past few years have been setting the thermostat at 63 degrees. You may say, "That's a bit chilly." I will tell you this, you are right but, think of the positives. Our house which is 100+ years old is inefficient so, we reduce our heat bills. Also, we get to snuggle with our family and furry friends. Even when they are mad at us. See pictures as proof.

Today, we get a new storm door. The old aluminium one will be given away via letting on the sidewalk or to our neighbor Butch. No picture of him will even be placed on this blog. I'm pretty sure he would kill me. Seriously. Butch scraps metal, which the price is up so he may get $2 for the door. I say way to go Butch. The new door will be a wooden one. It should look nice. Staci's mom and step-dad are coming down to install it. Well, her mom is really coming for the good times. Normally, I would help with such a project but, no one would switch days with me at work. Yet another reason why work is for suckers!

Skellington and Serendipity are mortal enemies but with the 63 degree mandate they've quickly become close "friends". Skelly is the one that is just a head. Dippy is the one using him as a bed. T and Staci are the ones with grumpy faces. They have been wearing these grumpy faces for a few days. In their defense, I've had one on too.

Well, another set of business cards came in the mail. These were from Chad. Thanks.

Not so Fairhill

Shawn and myself made the trek to Fairhill today. It was wonderful 'cross weather with temps in the mid 50's and a nice stiff wind. A little chilly actually. When the gun went off we pedaled like mad men. Unfortunately for me, I appeared to be going backwards. I've never really been a strong starter but this was backwards fast and I never really got into a rhythm. The two of us raced the whole race pretty close to each other. Shawn having mechanical issues. His chain dropped twice and he went down and broke his left shifter/brake lever. Me, I just had dead legs. It wasn't until the 4th lap that I finally felt "fast" but by then it was far too late. On the 5th lap though, the legs were dead again. I haven't been training much this 'cross season, about 45 minutes on the trainer each week. I've been relying on what I built up all spring/summer. This week though I did put about 6 hours in because I didn't want to lose what I worked for all summer. Maybe it was too much. Maybe it was the stiff wind that seemed to always be a head wind. All I know is that we didn't even bother to see where we finished. That's bad.

In my excitement, I never snapped a photo of the wheels (awaiting their tubbies at the shop) but here is the rest of the Ritchey stuff (just for you Chad). These are the carbon Evolution bars. I went full out on them. They have a 3 degree sweep on the tops with a flat top for more comfort. They also have an ergo bend which is pretty nice. The stem is the WCS Axis aluminium. I opted for the 17 degree drop with a 90mm length. The seatpost is a WCS aluminium post. It's a 27.2. It's going in my 'cross bike to replace the stripped out one I've been babying for the past two races. While I managed on the first race (6th). The second well...DNF.

Jeremiah, you da man!

Here it is, sorta. None of the Ritchey stuff is on only because it's winter (soon anyway) and I don't feel like destroying it before the season even starts. Plus, when I put the bars, stem, and wheels on in the spring it will be like a new bike all over again.

I got home too late from work to actually ride it today though so I threw it in the trainer. I can tell just from that, that the frame is stiff. There was hardly any movement in the BB area. That means tons of power transfer. Tomorrow I will do my 30 mile loop and put it to the test.

In other news...Staci made me some rockin' business cards. Now I'm all official. It also appears as though we may be able to have a downhill team as well. I'm still working out all the details but it could happen. On top of all that, we are also going "green". Our team has purchased enough wind power to offset our carbon footprint traveling to and from all our races this season. Check out http://www.renewablechoice.com/. It could only cost you $5 a month.

Shawn's finding his rhythm. An 8th place finish at the Trexlertown 'Cross race in the B's. It was a super slop fest. This after a not too shabby 4th overall in the Mid-Atlantic Super Series Endurance Series too.

Last but not least. Thank you Jeremiah for staying late at work to wrap my bars! Now I can start training again. I'm still undecided if that is good or bad though.

Dunkin' without the Donuts

Excitement runs rampant here as we finally got to see what our uniforms may look like. The reason I say "may look like" is because they have to be approved by the fine gentlepeople at Allied Milk. I spoke with the folks at Isaac's Deli (their marketing department has been feverishly working on the design) and they dropped me an e-mail with what they had come up with. Wow! I was pretty blown away. As were a few teammates that I had spoke to tonight. I must admit, it surpassed my expectations.

To celebrate, Staci, Skellington, and myself took a road trip to the new Dunkin' Donuts on Columbia Ave. We fully expected to have some fried goodness tonight and take some home for what we like to call "the breakfast of champions". On the counter of said Dunkin' onuts was a sign that read: "Due to donut shortages we may not be able to fullfill coupons." Turns out, they had NO DONUTS anyway! It's like Hershey not having chocolate. It just can't be true. So now we are on a donut kick but without the key ingredient...Donuts! We pack back into the car to drive across town to Leola. There, there is a Dunkin' Donuts open 24hrs. On our way I jokingly say "Maybe we should call and see if they are experiencing a donut shortage as well?" After I said that though I thought, "Maybe we really should, ahh, heck with it." Luckly, when we got there, there was no donuts shortage at all. It was merely poor planning on Columbia Ave's part. Phew!!!! I really thought we were in for some tough times.

Pictures to prove I was there.

Here's a picture of my hand coming out of the hole left by someones canti. Like I said before, sorry to any I may have exposed myself to. Lycra and sharp/pointy metal do not get along. I am really fond of the dirt skidmark going down the leg. Oh well. It's a good thing that our team kits should be ready to print in the next two weeks or so. I'm running out of bibs to wear. I (as with the rest of the team) am very excited to see what the Isaac's crew cooked up for the design. Their ads are always eye catching but not over the top. I'm sure they will give us something we will be proud to wear.

I hate it when...

I was super excited at racing Granogue. A big UCI-1 race with tons of riders battling. A good starting position too, 3rd row from the front. I made it half of one lap before crashing out. Well, really it was the first turn. The whole way up the paved start the guy on my left was just leaning into me. Really annoying too. I understand that the start is a scrum, no problems with that but, even when I let up he kept leaning. So I decided that it was my spot. Well, I lost. Around the first turn we went, he on the inside. I couldn't hold the edge anymore and down I went. Ripping my shorts on someones canti. Sorry to all I exposed, it was not intentional I assure you. I get back up, dead last. Mash the pedals, over the barriers. "Wow", I think to myself, "I'm back in the middle of this race already!" I hop back on through some twisty donwhilly section. "I love Granogue, it eats roadies alive" I say with a grin in my brain. Here comes the run up. It was pretty slippery but still I was making up ground until...I hopped back on and my seatpost for the second race in a row slipped on me (I'll be replacing it with a Ritchey very shortly). Only last week it stayed put. This week it decided to be completely stripped. Mentally I was finished at that point so I DNF'ed. So my hopes of a good MAC overall placing this year are already over since I couldn't race Wiss today. I have no hope of a call up for starts. Oh well, next season will be different. Shawn, finished 44th (I think), will have more experience next season and I believe one other team member will be racing too so that will help.

my hunch

Turns out my hunch was right about the Ritchey items. I got it straightened out and everything is set. I should be able to complete my build next week sometime.

On another note, isn't this just one of the cutest pictures ever. All his legs are tucked in at his head.

Skelly fell down the steps the other day so I made this smooshy bed for him and he loves it. When I'm working on the computer he is laying almost exactly like that 90% of the time.

He is super excited right now though. He is going to Grammy's house for a sleepover with his girlfriend Xena. She is a Golden Retriever. Skellington thinks she is beautiful. I will miss it though as Shawn and myself have a date with pain at Granogue. I can't wait. I was watching the weather and it looks like they got hit with some rain today. The course will probably be soft and a little slower than the races so far this year. Slower is usually better for us mountain biker types. More technical too. Fast is for the roadies. Although those are fun too. 76 are officially pre-registered with more to sign up tomorrow I'm sure. Last year I started about 2 or 3 rows from the back and still got 33rd on a singlespeed. Hoping for more tomorrow though.

Late.

Worse than Christmas

So here is what I have so far. This the Allied Milk team ride. I'm waiting on the Ritchey things though. Seatpost. Stem. Handlebars. Deep Dish tubulars. With the mugging, I hope the team order (that was placed on my credit card) didn't get screwed up. Our sponsors have been very generous with what they have offered our team and we as a team are very excited to start next season, eventhough a few of us still have two months of racing left.

Like Granogue this weekend. UCI-1 cross race. Last time I checked there were about 60 riders in B's alone and online registration is open until Thursday. It will only get bigger. DCCoD does a great job with this race. If you want to see some of the best in the US, you should be there. Most of the course is visible from on top of the hill.

Late.

So I was planning on not putting this story in but I have to now...

Thursday night around 9pm I was walking down the street to my backyard when I was spun around pushed/punched to the ground. The two gentlemen demanded my wallet. I said "Are you kidding me?" Then they started kicking. I only remember four kicks to the body and head. When I woke up, I found my glasses, noticed my wallet really was gone and crawled (because I couldn't walk) into my house. Everything was spinning and blurry. Staci called the cops and talked me into going to the hospital. I'm not sure why she had to but for some reason I was refusing.

While in the hospital I had some tests done on my neck and brain. Everything was fine. All the pain was from muscle strains and I had barely a scratch. I'm not sure how it happened but in a few days there will be no physical signs that this even occurred.

I spent most of Friday canceling my credit cards and getting a new license. What a pain...

Yesterday was Iron Cross. Shawn and I decided to go up, I was still unsure of if I was going to race or not since I basically have motion sickness all day now (a symptom of a concussion). When we got there I made the decision to start. I was planning on just riding it and seeing where I ended up. At the start I wasn't aggressive at all. I actually ended up dead last by the sandpit. I passed a few on the uphill to the barrier and when I hopped back on the bike my saddle slipped in the seatpost. I rode the 45minutes with my saddle sticking up at a 30 degree angle. Long story short, 6th. Not bad for the terrible start. Shawn ended up 17th.

This is his first year at cross and he is figuring it out. It's nothing like a 50 mountain bike race.

When I got home, Staci told me that someone dropped off my wallet. They found it in the cemetary. Everything except the cash was in it. I couldn't believe it but I already canceled every card I had and paid $15 for a new license. So I cut my cards up and tossed them. Err.

Thursday was a low point in my life. I really lost a lot of faith in people when this happened but with the things that have happened in the last few days I quickly realized that these were just two people out of everyone I've ever dealt with and I can't let them destroy me.

Late.

Not Your Momma's Socks

Our team order from Crank Bros. came today. It was jam packed full of goodies like pedals, multi tools, their new shoe shields (for carbon soled mountain shoes), t-shirts, sweaters, and socks. Lots and lots of socks. I guess I've officially become old today. I just got excited about socks. Out.

Van Dessel. Yum.

So I ordered a Van Dessel Rivet on Friday. It arrived on Monday. One word. Yum! It is beautiful. Now all I need is my Ritchey order and my Dura Ace kit. This wait will be worse than the 12 days of Christmas for a 6 year old.

In the beginning...

...there were bikes. people to ride them. and eventually start and finish lines.

Welcome to the Allied Milk Cycling Team blog. We're a team, that bikes, and drinks a lot...of milk.

More to come...