Hop City is open in ATL!

I've never seen such an amazing selection of beer in one place. Truly beautiful. My Breckenridge Double Hopped IPA is in the freezer now because I can't wait for it to chill in the refrigerator! My other choices today were Left Hand Smoke Jumper Smoked Porter and French Broad Wee Heavy-er Scotch Ale.

Next on my list of things to try: Lagunitas Maximus IPA, Stone Levitation Ale, and Dogfish Head Black & Blue or Red & White. I'm open to recommendations!

I'm done with this month..next please!

April was pretty crappy for me. Good thing it's over...I'm now done with graduate school, my knee is better, and my team bikes should be ready to ride very very soon. This all means that 1) I can start making some money and 2) I can resume training, racing, and feeling like a mountain bike racer again. What better way to do it than when the weather is 80* and sunny in Georgia and you have a 10-day trip to Colorado coming up?

Patience

It's not really what I'm known for :) But, I'm being good and patient. Yes, still riding "easy" but it's working and my knee is feeling much better. I can tell that I'm no longer compensating much with my right leg while I'm riding. I also really have the urge to hammer but resisting.....

(edit: Just read someone's status on Facebook and this totally happened to me today's ride, too. Funny: "Pet peeve of the day: When some "Fred" camps out on my wheel during my ride today ... my recovery ride ... then attacks at a stop sign like we were racing. Wow ... what a stud. Was I supposed to be impressed?")

As for racing, the Dirty Spokes 6/12 hour race is this weekend at Fort Yargo. Originally, I was going to race solo..then I was thinking about joining a team. I emailed my coach to ask her if that would be OK and then promptly realized that she would probably tell me no. And, yeah, she pretty much did. Haha.

BUT...I just found out that the US riders of Topeak-Ergon will be attending the Gunnison Growler in CO at the end of May!!! I am going to go out early and stay longer to get in some vacation/ride/brewery time with my teammates and friends...oh yeah!!!

In other team news, some clothing, wheels, and other bike parts are en route to Georgia! I feel faster already :-)

One last thing, have you seen this?

Reason #431 why I need to start training again

Photo taken by Shelley @ Roswell Crit on Sunday!

not just any black shorts

New Race Schedule

I need something to obsess over so I reworked my 2009 schedule. It's still pending coach approval, but here it is! Obviously, I'm starting and ending my "season" a lot later this year and that is OK. You will notice I added back 24 hour Nationals because, well..I can't resist not going. At least my Rotwild race bikes should be all together and completely ready to go by the end of May!

May 23: Burn 24 hour (NC)
May 31: Bump n Grind (AL) or Mohican 100 (OH)
June 5: Top View Sports 40K road TT (SC)
June 20: Lumberjack 100 (MI)
June 27: Stony Creek Marathon (MI)
August 8: Ore 2 Shore (MI)
August 15: Fool's Gold 100 (GA)
September 6: Shenandoah 100 or
September 12: FM.24.09 (GA)
October 11: 24 hour Nationals (UT)
November: Iceman Cometh (MI)

2 steps forward, 1 step back

That's how I roll! I do NOT make a good injured person, I'm too damn impatient. I got a massage @ Georgia Sports Massage yesterday and felt pretty good on my rides this week. SO..what did I do? I went out and rode hard yesterday, I only had an hour so I wanted to make it hurt. (Yeah, the hurt felt so good). But, things around my knee started tightening up again towards the end and this AM. I got reprimanded from Dr. Glass this AM when I went to see him..he told me settle down and to keep taking it "easy". Ugh. So, I'm trying the kinesiotape out and will try taking it "easy" again. Good thing I'm not doing Cohutta 100 but I REALLY want to be back in for Dirty Spokes @ Yargo and Dirt Sweat & Gears!!!

back in the saddle!

Yeah!!!! My fingers are crossed that I'm over the tendonitis. I actually rode for two whole hours today with no pain and just a little bit of lingering tightness. The best part of my ride was I finally got to wear my new helmet and new sunglasses



Pictured: Adidas Adilibri Sheild (W) glasses and Cratoni helmet

This is the best helmet I've ever owned so I'm going to have to take good care of it. I cannot wait to get on the bike. Everything except the drivetrain and wheels are in for the Rotwild R.R2 hardtail but I'll just borrow that stuff in the meantime. I'll get some more pics soon!

Not meant to be

Maybe I'm not meant to race the NUE. Last June, I crashed really bad while riding with Danielle two days before Lumberjack 100, then, race director responsibilities were too overwhelming me to race Fool's Gold 100 a few months later. Now, tendonitis from overdoing it on a new bike has taken me out of Cohutta 100, the first race in the 2009 NUE. Bummer! I will probably just go to Athens Twilight instead, since I have never been. I have re-done my race schedule and will be following around @daniellemusto for the summer :) I will post it ASAP. But, May is still sort of TBD depending on how I heal up and can get back into riding. It's been frustrating to be off the bike for so long, to say the least. As Dicky would say, FJEAR my return because I am pissed and ready to rip legs off!!!! Haha. Oh well, at least I have been having fun with non-riding friends...they have fun too, occasionally. :)

Thanks, Grange Public House

I, surprisingly, made it through a weekend without riding without inflicting any harm on anyone or myself. I left my bike at school so I wouldn't be tempted to ride it, either. I actually had a pretty good weekend overall, even though it had more than its fair share of low points. I almost bailed on going to the Grange tonight to watch Paris-Roubaix but I decided to go at the last minute. I was glad I went..tons of cyclists there and excellent beer, of course. It was a great way to end the weekend and I found a new favorite:

the routine

Lately, the routine has been: massage, stretch, ice, heat, foam roll, massage stick, biofreeze, repeat. I haven't been injured like this since my running days and I don't miss it at all. I finally realized a couple days ago that attempting to ride everyday (unsuccessfully) was just prolonging the recovery so I decided to completely rest and heal over this weekend. Two weeks and counting to Cohutta 100. It looks like I will have a nice loooong taper, ha!

xxcmag.com Issue One

Dirty Spokes 6/12 hour race update

From Tim, the race director:

Dirty Spokes Race #2 of the Series (we are about 3 weeks away)! Fort Yargo State Park, Winder, Ga.!

Just a quick reminder race registration "late fees" kick in April 22nd.

Race course will be run "clockwise" (same as always) and we will be using 95% of the "outer loop" (no horseshoe drop). When you get to the "gas pipeline" you will go up about 1/2 way and turn right down towards the dam - then back up and left into the woods to climb back up to the top of the gas pipeline - cross the gas pipeline - then back to the outer loop (will not do the "new addition" next to the gas pipeline). Should be the same course as we did last year.

We have some great sponsors - please check them out: www.dirtyspokes.com and support them as they support us! As always neutral support will be provided by Addictive Cycles / Contes Bike Shop!

Probably a good time to remind you also, if you are planning on going to the series finale at Unicoi State Park, you might want to get hotel / camping reservations up there - it will be Octoberfest time and they will fill up quickly...

going on 6

6 days of not riding a bike. It's a good thing we don't have any guns in the house. I had one chiropractic and one massage appointment already, and going in for round two of both today and tomorrow. As much as I want to ride my track bike again, I cannot get back on it until it fits me properly...I really need to locate a stem that will work for it. I think what happened is 4 hours of riding on that bike strained my hamstring and then I did that long road ride the day after for the nail in the coffin. Now I have some tendonitis that is taking way too long too go away. Yes, I'm impatient.

Cohutta 100 is less than 3 weeks away. I had originally planned on doing the entire NUE, but I may just do a few of them and adjust my focus to some even shorter races this year. The exception, however, is this one!

We've had a lot of cold, wind, and even snow the last couple days. I hope I'm able to ride again tomorrow as the temps are supposed to go back up, thank goodness!

arrrgh. can't catch a break!

My left arm finally healed up, then I crashed on my right arm...NOW my left knee is irritated. I guess the fixie riding followed by 6.5 hour thrashing was not good for me. I know my left quad muscles are weaker than my right, despite me trying to correct that over the off-season. Everything on my left side fatigues quicker and that's what happened at hour 6 of the ride this past Wednesday. I saw Dr. Josh Glass today and he seems to think I'll bounce back quickly but I need a massage and lots of ice and foam rolling. I'm going to rest it again today in hopes that I can take advantage of 74* and sunny tomorrow...pleeeeeaase!!!

SEE-ME 2009 is tomorrow afternoon at the Concourse Athletic Club..should be a good time..stop by the 55nine Performance booth if you're there.

my first case of..

road rash.

Combine wet pavement, skinny tires, and some bad judgment, and this is what you get:



I had long sleeves on, and ripped them up. My shorts got it too, leaving me with a nice strawberry on my hip/thigh.

In shock

I know, no one is going to believe me..but I actually rode for 6.5 hours today! Yes, it's true..last week's training hours weren't even up to 6.5. My body is in complete shock but something had to be done...Cohutta 100 is 3 weeks away and I'm so far from "A" race form. Oh well, more important things have taken priority this winter..so anyway, I packed up for a 4-5 hour ride and got 6.5. At least 2 of it was me staring at the wheel in front of me..no pulling for me today, just holding on. Whew, I'm tired!!! It's a good thing it's a long season because I will probably be "racing myself into shape" this year...