January 10, 2008
1979 Schwinn Spitfire "paperboy"
I got the coolest Christmas present from Courtney this year; actually it was last year, but you know what I mean. She got me 1979 Schwinn Spitfire "paperboy" bike. In biking circles, it's called a "Townie." I've been using it to go get a beer with friends, walk our new puppy (I'll write about her soon), and ride around with the kids.
I've been using it without the baskets, but it came with two really cool baskets -- I'm not sure if those were standard or not. Regardless, It's perfect. Thanks Courtney!
Posted by mark at 3:03 PM | Comments (1)
October 22, 2007
Future pro bikers
This weekend I was out riding bikes with my kids. James learned how to ride over a mulch pile. He fell the first time, but tried again and nailed it. He also started riding with one hand on the handle bars. Emma decided to start riding off curbs on her own, which is pretty funny since she still uses training wheels. I was really proud of them, and glad that none of their stunts ended in tears ... this time. I was also thrilled to have my 2 megapixel iPhone with me, which takes pretty good shots.
Posted by mark at 12:39 PM | Comments (1)
September 10, 2007
25th Annual Shenandoah Valley Century
At the risk of turning this blog into a one-trick pony, I'm going to post yet again about biking.
When I initially decide to ride in the Shenandoah Mountain 100, I noticed that the 25th annual Shenandoah Valley Century was happening the following weekend. I decided then that it would be cool to see if I could complete two 100 mile events back to back. I didn't want to commit to the road century until 1. I finished the first event, and 2. recovered enough to ride another 100 miles. Thankfully, I did manage to finish the mountain century, and by mid-week, I felt recovered enough to give it a shot.
My only goal for the day was to beat last year's time. I finished in 7 hours and averaged 16.8 mph (up from 15.1 mph last year). At the end of the race I felt a lot stronger than last year. I improved 20 minutes from last year's finish time. I thought I would have made up more than 20 minutes given the faster average speed, but I'm guessing I must have stayed a few minutes longer at each rest stop.
There were approximately 300 people racing that day. This picture was taken at the start of the race. As you can see, I managed to be the last guy to start on time. I'm sure there were some additional stragglers who started late. It was a lot of fun.
I did keep a sharp eye out for lightening bolts, as this was the second subsequent Sunday I've missed church to participate in a biking event.
Posted by mark at 12:33 PM | Comments (1)
September 4, 2007
Shenandoah Mountain 100 Results
I finished! It took me 13.5 hours, but I finished.
The weather was absolutely perfect. We took off at dawn (6:30AM). There was a bit of a racer-bottleneck at some of the initial climbs, but it eventually stretched out. At approximately 57-65 miles, my calf muscles started cramping up, especially my right. Thankfully, that went away and never returned. I was eating the Margarita flavored Clif Shot Blocks like candy (that flavor contains extra sodium), so it's possible that it helped. There were a handful of riders who were dealing with muscle cramping much worse then me -- I can think of one guy who couldn't stand upright. All-considering, After mile 65 I felt really good. I'm guessing that the heat of the day was a cause for some of the bonking. Also, Tim Richardson, one of the owners of Shenandoah Bicycle Company who was helping out as a bike mechanic at aid station 3 (45 miles), recommended that I lose the Camelback. His advice couldn't have been better. I cooled off quicker, and I didn't have that extra weight on the bumps. I had two water bottle cages on the bike, so that was enough fluid. I went tool/pumpless for the last half of the race, but I had a tube in my jersey just in case; I figured I could bum a pump off another slumming rider if necessary. The next time I do this, I'll put my tools on the bike, food in my jersey, and ditch the Camelback. At the 5th aid station I picked up my light just in case. I finished at 8:07PM with barely enough daylight. I didn't make my sub-12 hour goal, but did manage to make my backup goal of finishing without the use of lights. You gotta love backup goals.
I've been riding a full-suspension Jamis Dakar for the past year. The two weeks before the race, I was in Colorado visiting family. While there, I rented a hard-tail with 29" tires. Most traditional mountain bikes have wheels with a 26" diameter. On my last ride before vacation, I bent my dérailleur beyond quick repair (needed to order a part), so upon returning I was in a bit of a bike quandary. Since my experience with the hard-tail 29er was so good, I decided to go a bit nuts and buy a new bike. I'm now the proud owner of a 2007 Gary Fisher Paragon.
On some of the downhills, I was bounced around a bit more than I could have hoped. Perhaps I went soft with my full-suspension and didn't try to find the best line. With the Jamis, I could just point and shoot and it would just fly through stuff. The sorest part of my whole body after the race are both hands, from holding on during the downhills. In fact, I got so tired that I stopped braking as much as possible and just let 'er rip -- terrifying but it gave my hands and forearms some needed relief. With the exception of the steep, rocky downhills, and rutted sections of the course, the 29" wheels really rolled and climbed great.
During the race, there were times when I was cursing myself for attempting such a stupid thing, but I'm certain that come this time next year, I'll be lining up at the start hoping to beat 13.5 hours. They haven't posted the results for the 'normal' people yet, but there's a great write-up in Cycling News. There are some great pictures beneath the article, if you're curious to see some of Floyd.
UPDATE: I should point out that a local Harrisonburg rider, Sue Haywood (Trek/Volkswagon), set a new course record for women by breaking her own previous record. She finished in 8:11 (12th overall) -- that's pretty cool. Floyd Landis finished in 7:23.
UPDATE: I stopped at the 6 rest stops for a total of 1:10, there's definitely some time to be made up there.
Posted by mark at 9:15 AM | Comments (2)
Floyd Landis in Harrisonburg
I was stoked when Floyd Landis announced his intention to ride in the Shenandoah Mountain 100, the same race I was training for. He showed up at my local bike shop, Shenandoah Bicycle Company, on Friday night to hang out and sign stuff. He wasn't selling anything or promoting his cause. It was very laid back, and great to meet him in such a casual atmosphere. While a part of me is glad that he wasn't selling anything, I was disappointed that I couldn't buy another copy of his book to get signed; I had given my copy to my dad to read. Instead, I bought two water bottles, and James and Emma both went up and asked 'Mr. Landis' to sign a bottle. He was very good with the kids. He then signed a magazine that I bought, I told him that it was nice to meet him and that I was looking forward to riding with him on Sunday, and wished him best of luck with his case. It was totally cool. I didn't have my camera, so a friend took some pictures. If I can get my hands on them, I'll post them here.
UPDATE: Here's the photo of us with Floyd Landis.
Posted by mark at 9:13 AM | Comments (0)
August 6, 2007
Floyd Landis - Winner of 2006 Tour de France.
I just finished reading, Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France by Floyd Landis with Loren Mooney. Loren Mooney is the executive editor of Bicycling Magazine.
Shortly after the 2006 Tour de France, I joked about printing t-shirts with the slogan, 'Floyd Was Framed', and selling them online. I was a huge supporter of Landis, and was certain that he hadn't cheated. Then, when I started to read what the media had to say about his 11:1 ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, the fact that there was synthetic testosterone found in his sample, and finally the whole Greg Lemond fiasco, my confidence in his innocence had ebbed.
I know that a book written by the accused, can hardly be considered impartial, but taking that into account, Floyd still came across as a candid and honest person. Landis is fighting these allegations with a fervor that could only be fueled by his innocence. In the book he counters every one of the media's slam-dunk convictions with clarity and science. By the end of the book I was convinced of his innocence.
It's tragic to think that Floyd's childhood dream of winning the Tour could be torn from his grasp, if not literally -- at least in the court of public opinion, at the whim of these anti-doping organizations. Landis is fighting to retain his title, but also to foster a more healthy environment where the truth can surface and accused athletes can tell their side of the story. I wish him success and think you should read the book.
Posted by mark at 10:12 AM | Comments (2)
June 15, 2007
Shenandoah Mountain 100
I'm not really sure why, but I'm planning to attempt the annual Shenandoah Mountain 100 this year. It's a brutally difficult, 100-mile mountain bike race in the mountains near Harrisonburg. Here's a good writeup of last years race. Both Jeremiah Bishop and Sue Haywood are local riders.
Here's the elevation profile for this year's race. There's 12-14,000 feet of total climbing!
I've given myself a couple benchmarks that must be met if I'm to enter. The first is that I must weigh a maximum of 175lbs. A little over a year ago, I weighed in at a whopping 205 lbs. I'm currently at 189 and dropping. The second is that I must have ridden at least 40 miles of this year's course, and not be completely dead.
I expect that even if I'm in top condition, it will take me 13-15 hours. That's totally insane.
Posted by mark at 12:48 PM | Comments (1)
September 11, 2006
SVBC Century
I rode in the 24th annual Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Club (SVBC) Century yesterday.
From the SVBC website:
"The Shenandoah Valley Century is a special bicycling event sponsored in conjunction with a number of bicycling organizations nationwide that are offering similar rides during September. The term “century” refers to the longest ride being 100 miles (a century of miles). Century rides originated in the late 1800’s. Cyclists would attempt to ride 100 miles in under 10 hours. Now, rides of various lengths are offered to suit all abilities with no time limits set."
I rode 104 miles that included 2.8 miles from my house to the start, and no I didn't ride home AFTER the ride. I left about 8:10AM and finished around 3:30PM (7:20), we probably rested at different rest stops for a total of 45 minutes. My only real GOAL was to finish, second to that I wanted to finish with an average speed above 12 mph, so I'm happy to say that my moving average was 15.1 mph. My GPS/Altimeter says that total climbing for the day was 6547 feet, but the mapping software that crunches my GPS data says 4189 feet. I'm pretty sure the ride organizers had the total climbing at over 6000 feet, so that's what I'm going with!
If you're curious here's a map of the ride.
Posted by mark at 8:59 AM | Comments (5)