unwrapping

I also rode with these today. I normally have an issue mtb'ing with sunglasses, but I really liked the Alpe. They are small and I don't have any extra frame to get in the way of my view on the trail. Oh, and they are pink, of course :-)

I also got a pair of these, and will hopefully get a pair of these as well. I'll be stylin.

Santa has arrived..

with lots of shiny new goodies. Too late for pics right now, but soon...

Ergon/55nine Performance Demo Day April 24, Blankets Creek

Wednesday Dirt

Eddie and I went out to a local trail to get our mid-week mountain biking fix. The weather was great (and hot), the company was the best (minus the boys, it's getting too hot to take them out riding for several hours), the trails were fun, and my bike ROCKS!!







Eddie took all the pics while he was riding (his jackhammer, none the less)..pretty impressive :)

Not too much to report.

The marathon came and went. I never understood wanting to run 26.2 miles on pavement, but seeing some of the elite athletes today, especially the wheelchair athletes and Scott Rigsby run today was pretty cool. It almost made me want to run...almost. Actually, I haven't exercised in 3 days, so..yeah. Running even sounded good to me. The highlight of my weekend? Other than getting a lot more participation for my research study than I had expected, I got to eat lots of these



YUM. The Pina Coladas will definitely be coming along with me to some races.

I guess he was right.

My coach had this week as a recovery week for me. But, I didn't think I needed it. I knew I wouldn't be able to ride for 4 days straight this weekend since I have to work 12 hours a day at the Georgia Marathon, so I wanted to pack in hours between Tuesday and Thursday...um...not happening. On Tuesday, I rode with Eddie and kept on his wheel until mile 22 or so..then I let him go and pushed on to mile 28. I figured I better turn around before I ended up too far out, because I still had to ride back home. Well, I lost my legs somewhere around there and it was a long and painful ride back. Eddie's response afterwards was.."I told you you needed a recovery week, I had it all planned out." Gee thanks. So, today I did a short ride on the purple unit trying to figure out some small glitches. The brakes need bleeding, the bar is too narrow (but I found that a riser bar will not work AARRGH.) so I will either put the heavy POS bar that I got last year on it (so I can use the ERGONs), or I will temporarily put the Jones bar back on. I would really like to find a wide Ti flat bar with a nice big sweep to them. But, I have to be able to pay for it..hmm, sounds difficult. Another thing, my upper body muscles had gotten so used to the position of the Jones bars, that now I'm super sore from riding with a flat bar..that is so sad! I am going to hit the core and upper body stuff hard for the next several weeks so I'm not always walking around whining about being sore. I also need to cut some of the steerer tube off so I don't have anymore unfortunate collisions between my...uh...knees, etc. and the unnecessarily tall steerer tube. It's coming along, though. No, I don't really care for the pink headset/purple frame combo, but I'm not about to take it back to the shop to swap out again. I think they are sick of looking at my bike. I think we've taken a combination of 5 frames and 4 King headsets in there in the last month, swapping back and forth. Anyway, I probably won't be posting at all until sometime next week. Thank goodness the weather will be in the high 70's this weekend for the marathon...and thank goodness I'm not running it!! :)

Port-o-pot (aka Cat Dog) enjoying the beautiful Georgia spring weather

Georgia State University Performance Study at the ING Georgia Marathon this weekend

For anyone that is interested, Georgia State University will be conducting a couple performance studies relating to sports nutrition at the ING Georgia Marathon this upcoming weekend. My research will include a survey that anyone may voluntarily consent to complete. My area of research is: The Prevalence of Exercise-Induced Food Allergies or Sensitivities in Power, Endurance, and Ultra-endurance Athletes. Dr. Dan Benardot will be the principal investigator with me on this research. My friend Margot is also conducting research on the use of NSAIDs and hydration status of the Georgia Marathon participants.

So, if you're running the half or full marathon or spectating this weekend, come visit us at the EXPO on Friday or Saturday, and see us at the finish line on Sunday!

accessorizing

I got some nice pink Twin Six accessories that will complement the purple unit nicely..





Also going on the bike today is an Aerus carbon riser..you've probably seen the Aerus roadie parts, but they do make MTB stuff too. It's light, affordable, and sexy.



And, of course, the Industry Nine 29er SS wheels are on the way!

My new weapon

I finally got to ride it today. It's a long story, but I ended up going down to the 16 inch frame (my green '06 Unit 2-9 was a size 19")...

We went out to Fort Yargo today for a few laps and I had a great ride on it. The handling was much better through the turns and the acceleration was much faster than the 19" frame for me. I put a smaller cog on the back, and didn't even notice it. The ride was smoother and the bike was more responsive than before. Other things to note:

*I have been playing around with the setup on the Reba..I really have hated that fork so much and Clem (aka Wooglin) pointed me to some setup instructions. I'm closer, but still not there. Hopefully I can have the fork figured out on my next ride.

*The Jones bars are gone for now, and I'm running a cheap-o 24" flat bar. I miss the 26" bar..so I have to now find a flat or riser that's a bit wider.

*The Ergons ROCK. I love them. I need to play around with the angle of them a bit, but really, these are the most comfortable grips I've ever used.

*Other than that, the BB is lower, which I will just have to get used to...my brake levers really need to come way in, and the bars need to come down a little bit. Otherwise, my fit is great.

I'm very happy with how it turned out!! I have no idea how much it weighs, but it's more important to me that it fits and that the ride is comfortable. The new weapon will look mighty sexy when her new wheels get here.

Here's me in the parking lot before the ride. No trail pics yet..but soon.. It's not a great view of the new T6 jacket, but trust me, the jacket is sweet! There are only a few left, so if you want one, order soon!

Ouch I'm tired

This will be the first week in a long time that I think I've managed to get in ALL of my prescribed training hours. It's even gotten cold again, so I'm proud of myself. I did a 5 hour road ride today, and met up with the infamous Wooglin for part of it. He, of course, was on his fixie. After a while, I stopped chasing him and had to chill out a bit if I was going to make it back home. I'm officially beat. I am assuming I'll be recovered enough tomorrow for my first long mtb ride in several weeks. I've been taking my Recover-ease and I have been eating pretty steadily for the last few hours. I probably won't be in bed early, though..It is St. Patrick's Day, which is also 1/2 way to Eddie's birthday, so we celebrate this twice a year. In September we celebrate Eddie's birthday and 1/2 way to St. Patrick's day. The celebrating must involve Smithwicks.

Welcome

The newest addition..Eddie calls her Blueberry Pie.

The shop moves outdoors on nice days. Goodbye green Unit, hello purple Unit.



New tensioner mechanism, and my trusty Kick Ass Cog.



Ergons and my cheap-o handlebar that I picked up the day before 24 hour Nationals last year. See the marks on the handlebar? The race number plate did that..in one race. Nice.



Mechanic/Bike Fitter/Coach/Husband Eddie O, getting ready to fit Blueberry Pie for me.



My new team kit. My shirt matches my Ergons!



Hot Breath Harry thinks the new ride is pretty cool.



It will get another facelift when my I9s get here.

woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!

Just got an email from Jeff at Industry Nine..my wheels should be here in the next week. I'm picking up my bike from the shop today, then Eddie and I can fit it, and it will be ready to go!! The Ergons are already on there and looking mighty fine with the purple.

I'm thinking about doing my first XC race ever..at the Knobscorcher. I can't believe I have never done anything shorter than 6 hours. Plus, I love Tsali..not necessarily for the trail, but for the fact that good things happen to me there. Eddie and I went there to celebrate my birthday when we first met, and, of course he proposed to me there. So, yes, Tsali makes me happy :)

Sometimes it just doesn't work out

I didn't make it to the SS race this past weekend. After being violently ill for several days last week, and as a result not having any strength on the bike, PLUS having new bike-building issues (mine and Eddie's) the night before the race....I was just too overwhelmed and made the last minute decision to sit this one out. Sorry to anyone that was upset that I wasn't there...I really was looking forward to it.

On a positive note, I am feeling better and hopefully my new bike will FINALLY be complete (minus the new wheels) tomorrow. While I think it's great that we (ok, fine, Eddie) does all our wrenching now, it would be nice to have a local shop sponsor to do the big stuff like this.

GA Rides to the Capitol

Yesterday was the 2nd annual Georgia Rides to the Capitol, and it was cool to see way more cyclists out than I expected. I even got interviewed for the local news (no idea if I made the cut!).





On another note, the stomach virus is still hanging around. I feel like I've lost all the muscle and strength I've gained in the past 3 weeks, it's not too cool. It's really frustrating not being able to eat, drink, and train like I need to. Not to mention, I have a RACETHISWEEKEND!

55nine team camp

What a great weekend in the mountains. It was relaxing, actually, maybe too relaxing!

We arrived later than we wanted to on Friday, and were able to squeeze in a couple hours on the road. I was in a big calorie deficit even before we started and I basically crawled up and down, and finally back to the house.

Saturday was awesome, I was feeling much better and Eddie and I got in close to 6 hours riding many of the roads in and near the 6-gap century route. Afterwards, we went to the Crimson Moon, where we had our Rehearsal Party the night before our wedding. It's a cute little place in the Dahlonega square with a good wine and beer list too.

Well, Saturday night wasn't so good. I woke up in the middle of the night..several times...ugh stomach virus. I barely got any sleep and on Sunday I barely had energy to get out of bed let alone ride a bike. Eddie was very kind and once I was sure there was nothing else he could do, he went on his ride as planned..mountain biking with the dogs. I was bummed, it was supposed to be my final ride on my green Unit 2-9. Instead, I spent the entire day on the couch sipping gatorade and staring at this:



Ahh...I could get used to the life in the mountains. So I didn't get in all the hours on the bike that I was hoping for, but luckily I feel better today and I'm trying to make up for a whole day with almost no calories. I plan to get back on the bike tomorrow, and start building my new bike for this weekend's race.

Unfortunately, I didn't really take any pics this weekend, but here's one of Porter pretending to be the court jester

It's Here!!!!!!!!!

I just heard from Eddie. 2 new shrunken purple units have arrived!

Stay tuned...

edit:

Ok, everyone sing along now..I love you, you love me, we're a Barney familyyyyyyyyyyy....

Eddie examines the small headtube on his shrunken purple unit, and notice how his Kona jersey matches perfectly! :)