Thursday, January 29, 2009

Randomness

Good finds over the last week or so:

Recommendation Letter:
A student gave this to my professor at UT and wanted him to sign it as a recommendation letter for some scholarship. It's quite awesome... Clicky

I heard this one on the radio, and thought it was a joke... Apparently not... I'm not really sure who would want to buy a "seedy" used car...

Ok, back to work on trying to be this cool:

Thats right, feel the wind! Rar!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Before the Rain


Well, before the three day long deluge, I got one nice road ride in while it was nearly 60 degrees out. The day started with perfect blue skys, and I rode with bare arms for the first time since... umm... well, I don't even remember.


Made it out to the Foothills Parkway, and got the lovely road closed sign. The road was actually still open, but was covered in an inch of slush. I climbed a couple of hundred feet up and decided that it wouldn't be fun going up or down.


As I was coming back, the perfect blue skys turned into a swiftly approaching wall of dark cloud... It almost looked like mountains. When I got back nearer to town it was definitely dark and forboding clouds, but I managed to avoid the rain... At least for one day...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Back in Black

The 29er Crew is back by popular demand for 2009 with some snazzy new kits. Does this mean that I have to start referring to my bikes as "XXIXers" now?



The 2009 schedule is slowly coming together. My money is in for the Lumberjack 100 up in Michigan. I'm looking to do some more of the NUEs this year. I'll be doing the Cohutta for sure as well. The Fool's Gold and Shenandoah are strong maybes right now. I want to do the Mohican also. but I'm gonna have to decide between it and the Burn 24 hour... One week is not so much enough recovery time from a 24. Other than the NUEs, I'll still be doing alot of the 6/12 hour races. I'll also be venturing out to some other race types with some road racing and xc.

The rain continues again today...Meh. Dry singletrack seems months away. Looks like Norris fireroad will be the off-road option for the foreseeable future. 

Friday, January 16, 2009

Shine


After nearly two weeks of rain and clouds everyday, the Sun finally made a comeback last friday. I managed to squeeze in a nice 2 hour road ride to spin out the legs and enjoy the good weather. The sun brought some warmer temperatures with it, but my feet and hands remained frozen as always. As I was riding, I couldn't help but think that I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my shadow on the bike... 



Too bad it was 6 degrees this morning... Riding in 20 degrees commuting around this week is pretty much the limit for my hands and feet, which refuse to circulate blood. I'll never be next level.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Rain and Cold

Saturday brought the Rain... The KnoxieCross series began with fitting cross weather, as 40 degree temps and pouring rain made for an epic day. I was not wearing anywhere close to warm enough gloves, and after a lap or so, my hands were so stiff that they were more claw than hand... Shifting and braking were painful, and my lap times slowed horribly as I was thinking in my head how many fingers were worth losing to finish the race. I managed to finish, and spent the next half hour in the car with the heat on full trying to convince my appendages to circulate blood again.


Deep squishy mud and pouring rain...

Sunday was the Cold... The KnoxieCross weekend continued with another race on the same course. So you've got the same muddy and waterlogged course, but now with a 10 degree or so drop in temperature. I sort of learned my lesson, and was wearing the warmest gloves I have (Windstopper with primaloft insulation.) My fingers were only numb for half the race and were then good. Toes were still frozen thanks to multiple creek crossings. The race went much better than saturday's, and I felt pretty decent. Warming up more would have been a smart idea, but I finished around where I figured I would after taking a sprint finish for 5th in the CX3. Lucky for me it was slightly uphill. KnoxieCross takes a month break before finishing up with 4 more races in February. Click Here for a gallery of pictures from the Sunday race.

Coming down the mudslide


Jeremy rocking the Bling



E on the SS wondering why I think its cold

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Goodbye 2008

Looking back, 2008 was a pretty good year to be on the bike. I started January off by getting a Soho S to commute around on and run errands. It turned into one of my favorite bikes, and ended the year with nearly 2000 miles of commuting and greenway riding on it. If you don't have a cheaper bike to just commute around on, get one! You will not regret it! Road riding was good as well, with tons of miles, and lots of new routes explored around Knoxville.

Getting new bikes is always fun, and I couldn't be happier with my Rig and Superfly. Singlespeed was something I always wanted to do as something different, but I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. After waiting 5 months for a Superfly, I was enjoying the SS so much that the long awaited geared machine certainly felt neglected. The Rig has been a wonderful ride, and I can only imagine what joys await me when the Rig is converted to shiny carbon and horizontal dropouts flavor. Despite the greatness of the Rig, there are those days and races where you need gears, and the lightweight ride of the Superfly can't be beat. The big wheels are the real deal, and I can't imagine ever riding anything else.

My mountain bike season started off well with a win at the Dancing Bear 6 Hour race on New Year's day. A shame they didn't have the race this year. [Although, I can't say I miss the experience of riding all day with a 33 degree high and then trying to change clothes in the freezing dark afterwards...] I got my first taste of the NUE series with a good singlespeed ride in the Cohutta 100. I then proceeded to nearly burn myself out by racing a 100 miler, two 12 Hours, and a 24 Hour race within a 35 day period. I really enjoyed the NUEs, and more of those will definitely be on tap for 09...

Alot of near misses this year, with a 4th place in the SS at Dirt Sweat and Gears, 5th at the Burn 24 Hour, and 2nd at the Cowbell SS, Black Bear Rampage SS, and Tsali 12 Hour. Those days are just motivation to work harder, and a win at the Night Train 12 Hour was a nice reward.

A big thanks to all my sponsors for 2008. There's nothing better to roll on than big wheels from Gary Fisher, and best in class Bontrager bits and goodies complete the ride. Infinit Nutrition has definitely elevated my riding with customizeable nutrition products to keep the energy coming for everything from hour long XC races to 24 hour suffer fests. Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to another great year in 2009.