Wednesday, January 31, 2007

29er SS

Received my 29er singlespeed frame and fork. Carl and the crew have outdone themselves again! The new team paint job is a must-see in person. The orange is so bright! I love the new headbadges. They will be on every frame produced by Vicious Cycles this year and on.

Here are some photos after I
put the headset on. Bontrager Wheels are on their way. Then I can finish building 'her up and go for the first ride!












Saturday, January 27, 2007

29r SS is coming!

Vicious Cycles shipped my 29er SS frame and fork on Friday. I'll post some pictures when I receive it on Monday. I'm stoked. You're going to love the new team paint.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

wed night rides

Last week's ride was frigid. I think it was around 20degF or colder out. I got a good hour and forty five minute ride in without freezing too bad. Wore my neoprene knee-brace for the first time on the bike. My knee felt pretty good.

This week's ride was a lot of fun. Upper 30s. Dusting of snow on the ground from Monday's storm. It felt so warm I didn't wear my shoe covers, had an insulated jersey and vest on and even my summer full-finger gloves with liners underneath. The whole time I was perfectly warm. The knee-brace helped again. The only complaint I have with it is that it bunches up behind the knees. Guess that's a small price to pay for not having pain. I'm slowly getting it through my thick skull that anti-inflamitories, nightly icing down of my knee, and a knee-brace will help me. Not to mention daily stretching and my strengthening regimen I do on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the gym. Riding my geared bike also helps seeing as I can shift to an easier gear and not kill myself. After all, its January. Why should I be killing myself on a weekly ride with no up and coming races?

So, tonight I felt great. Tomorrow: gym. Then repeat the cycle next week.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

2007 Race Schedule

Haven't had the chance to sit down and plan my 2007 race schedule. That is something I'll have to do this week. I do know it'll focus on primarily the 100miler races and I want to do a few more than last year (including at least one out in the Rocky Mountains).

I'll also do the two east coast NORBA National races, Dark Horse 40, Vermont 50 and All-A-Muchy 50k amongst others. Might tackle the Mt. Washington Hillclimb 'practice ride' again like I did in 2005. Thinking about doing that on my track bike (fixie!). I told Eric (my tattoo artist) that if he gets into the race I'll do the practice ride. My friend Bryan from Maine is also thinking about doing the hillclimb.

I plan on updating this when I figure out my schedule.

Vicious Cycles Happenings

Carl and the crew at Vicious Cycles have been hard at work this winter. Major changes to the website including adding more frames (The Groover 29er) with easier navigation, ecommerce for shirts, mugs and such, and the creation of our team page. Check 'em out.

The team colors are also changing for 2007. I will be updating you with the paint schemes shortly.

New bikes... Always gotta love getting a new bike. I'm going to a 29er fully rigid singlespeed for 2007. Just finalized the dimensions on a Motivator 29er singelspeed with Eccentric bottom bracket and 438mm rigid fork. Can't wait to ride it.

I'm trying to figure out which wheels I want to run. I've got my eyes set on these wheelsets:
What do you recommend?

Thanks for reading.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Winter Training / Happenings

Usually in the winter I'm snowboarding just about every weekend. This winter has seen none of that. Instead, I've been doing an assortment of other things.

November: Took off a whole month from my last race 'till Thanksgiving from riding. The intention here was to let my knee rest and heal. Plus some good time off is necessary and key to mix things up a bit. Spent the majority of the month sanding and preparing my living room for paint. The week of Thanksgiving consisted of Tara and I painting my living room. We were able to take a day and go up to Killington which was probably my best day snowboarding thus far this season. Next day the 3rd coat of cranberry was going on the walls and then came the problems. Paint bubbling. Bubbling through all 3 layers plus the primer. Uh oh. Stop the presses. Not knowing what was going on the living room was put on hold to dry for a week or to.

The week after Thanksgiving I got back on the bike for our Wednesday night rides. It felt good to be back on the bike again. Took a bit getting used to riding at night but my HID light is my friend.

December: Continued to ride Wednesday nights. Hung up the singlespeed and decided to ride the geared full suspension since I haven't touched it since Mount Snow. What a different ride. Figured I shouldn't punish myself on the singlespeed while I'm trying to let my knee heal and rest (aka: active rest).

Continued troubleshooting my living room paint. Tried everything from stripping the walls (do not try it) to about every thing one can put on the wall to try and seal everything. Every night I was back at Lowes picking up something different to try. Turns out the answer is a coat of oil-based primer. It stinks and causes headaches but seals everything up. Knowing that I turned to painting the dining room. The thought here was that if I can get one room completely done I'd have the motivation to fix and finish the living room.

Last day of work was the 22nd. Didn't have to go back 'till 2007. Spent a few days in New Jersey with my friends and family for Christmas. Went for a jog on Christmas day only to find out my knee can't take running. Guess winter running is out of the question this year. Then drove down to West Virginia and spent a week with Tara and her family. Saw an Orthepedic doctor and confirmed I have tendonitis in my knee. Anti-Inflamatorys (Celebrex), icing my knee down, and rest is the answer. We'll, active rest in this case.

January: Back to the daily grind on the 3rd. Should have taken more days off. Its been tough. Esp with all the personal things I'm dealing with right now. The past couple of weeks have been tough but I'm trying to stay busy to help myself. That results in more riding and preparing on a good '07 season. Monday is my day of rest. Tuesdays and Thursdays are spent in the gym. Wednesday nights are the mtb rides with the Mazaaways and company. I'm reserving Fridays for light trainer spinning in my basement or working on my house (ie: more interior painting). Weekends will be spent out riding on the road or snowboarding (not really given the lack of snow in Vermont).

My left knee is bothersome again. Guess I shouldn't have ridden as hard as I did this past Wednesday. I'm resting 'till next Wednesday and will take it easy. I'd rather risk losing part of a base now for a stronger knee mid-season.