Not every ride is a great one . . .

Well every time you go out can't be your best time out. I had a quick 3 mile ride because my rear hub decided it wanted to retire. Hence a few days off after the ride on the 11th.

For some crazy reason I decided to head to J-ville and punish myself with Keller N Crew. Ouch I was a bit sore. Time for me to get an XC bike for times when I decide I want to get crushed !!!

And today I decided to do a little ride, just some Jabb and down. Was a bit tired from Saturday so cut it short, it was a little snowy on Jabb making things a bit interesting. (The ride was actually only 9 miles, forgot to turn of the Garmin)

***Total mileage for 2012 so far = 277

Early a.m. pedal . . .

Decided to get up before word and put in a good little ride. Left from my house up Park St. to White Rabbit up to the links. I can't get enough links right now. It was a gorgeous morning and I got to watch the sun rise as I was riding.

Ate crap once, off the rock drop on Jab. I was to busy worrying about the fact that a runner might be coming up the trail and wasn't 100% concentrated and the right side of my handle bars clipped the tree right before the take off. But all is well, it was a perfect crash!

Yeah STRAVA !!!

So I found this super cool new site and its what I'll be using to show my rides www.strava.com. Holy crap be careful though its slightly addicting if you are at all competitive !!!

So the first ride here was a blast, took off from the house and got to ride Jab twice in one day !!! Rode with Andy, Fred, Brain W and Sam.

This ride here was my first ride back with the Keller crew for some time. He let me borrow his single speed. First time ever on a single speed, sure are fast uphill !!! Although knee is a little sore. 

***Total mileage for 2012 so far = 234

Old post from Grammo, fun to look back at last season . . .

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/03/2011-xterra-off-road-triathlon-season.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/03/never-say-never.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-xterra.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/03/good-day-during-bad-day.html

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/03/its-time.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/03/xterra-real.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/04/last-push-before-waco-texas.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/04/supplements.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/05/some-good-some-not-so-good.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/05/flex.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/06/granite-man-different-race.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/06/despite-delay.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/06/first-ride-back.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/07/never-know-when-your-going-to-need-gu.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/07/just-5k.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-kits.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/08/xterra-portland.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-to-training.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/08/mountain-bike-workout-preview.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/09/xterra-whistler-wow.html 

http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/2011/10/final-race-of-season-maui.html 

Sick links ride !!!

I was going to take the day off but Aaron shot me a text to ride so I decided since he as such limited days that he can ride I should take advantage of it, plus the weather was AWESOME !!! 

Had a great ride, I was a little sore and Troy road with us as well so the pace on the way up was solid. Made it all the way to upper lower links till we saw the first sign of snow. 

The trails were in mint shape, cant wait to get back out and ride again. It's always a blast riding with people that are close to your abilities or a little better. On the decent Aaron and I were tit for tat, it was fun riding his rear wheel and trying different lines to see what was faster. 

Arron on the left and Troy on the right getting ready for the decent

I ended up getting the chance to work on my tube changing abilities, flatted just below four corners. Got that fixed and headed to Jab ! I decided I didn't want to pedal the 2 mile worth of road back to the house. At the bottom of Jab I headed up BTO to BTI then over to loop rd and up to the Rabbit Hole trail head. Now I've run up and down Rabbit Hole but never biked it. Man it was awesome short but crazy fast. From there I took the ditch trail and stopped by a friends house where these tasty treats were waiting for me . . .

Homemade pizza pockets . . .  YUM Thanks Channi the were delicious !!! After the snack put the  helmet back on and blasted down park st to mi casa. Another great day on the bike !!!

***Total mileage for 2012 so far = 183

First ride of February . . .

Ahhh had a great ride out at Applegate today. It was 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Got to ride with Irby, Andy, Sam and Fred. We rode Collins Mt. counter clockwise to the lake trail counter clockwise as well. I forgot how much fun Collins Mt. is. Pictures to come soon !!!

Actual ride was 21miles, forgot to turn on the Garmin after our last stop, you can see where it draws a straight line. 




*** Total mileage for 2012 so far = 163

Rides of January . . .

January 1st- Rode First Tracks of The Year around Applegate put on by http://rvmba.org/ . . . What a blast of a day, a special thanks to everyone who helped make it happen !!!

(18.5 miles)

January 2nd- Went down to ride lower Shasta with Fish and a ton of other people. Rode some new and old trails and had a blast.

 Getting the finer details worked out . . .

January 4th- Rode from the Bandshell to Ostridge Peak with Sam, Josh and Elliot, yet another great ride !!!

January 5th- Rode from the Bandshell to road 400 to lower bull gap . . . Great ride, very little snow. This was the ride I hurt my knee, no traction in mid air !

January 8th- A new favorite route, left from the Bandshell up to 4 corners then to Bull Gap access rd to rd 400 to Corp Camp rd which puts you in the best spot just above the rocks on lower bull gap . . . This ride was tough, went to bed at 7 up at 10 cause I dont bail. Had a Ruby's burrito 5 minutes before the ride, not a great idea, needed a little more time to let it settle! Got to the park and Matt Wittler, an X pro from Canada and the ever so fast Aaron all showed up. Not the crew I was hoping for : / but I survived.

January 15th- First ride on the knee, did not pick the best route. Decided to ride the ridge trail which has a ridiculous steep 1 mile hike a bike, but boy was it worth it. Wish I was wearing my Garmin, I forgot to charge it. Rode with Sam, Fred and Yeti. Gotta love riding new single track.

(13 miles)

January 29th- Ahhh no Garmin again, this was my first official ride back on the knee. I say official because between this ride and my last I saw one of the best orthopedic Dr.'s this valley has to offer. This ride was super RAD because I finally got to meet and ride with the local Super/Enduro celebrity Nathan Riddle. It was a great ride and we got to crush some Jabberwocky (or as I like to call it 8 seconds) !!! Also rode with Bill (for the climb), Zane, Aaron, Ryan and Rob.

(14 miles)

January 31st- Hard double ride. Rode from White Rabbit parking lot to lower Links back to the park and met up with Andy, Fred and Rob then climbed all the way to No Candies to Mystical to Hit Rd. Hit 32mph on Hit Road trail, it was fast.

*** January is over and the knee is feeling better. Total mileage so far is 142 miles. I'm assuming this is going to be a very low month, the knee put me out for 21 days :( More riding to come soon as well as some more pictures. My camera broke so I'm saving up for a new one.

Running ... eeek

Wow buddy . . . First run back on the knee not so hot, decided to take it easy and just start to get back into it. Fun run though, awesome single track saw a few bikers, made me wish I was riding . . .

Pure Awesomeness !!!

Hey everyone as some of you might know I am now contributing to Grammo Bicycles blog . . . http://grammo-bici.blogspot.com/. I was originally going to abandon this blog and just write on the Grammo one but have since decided not to do that. So follow the link to Grammo for sure and stay tuned here as well. I just wanted to thank some great people for some amazing things as of recently. First and foremost I want to thank Unreal Cycles http://www.unrealcycles.com/, http://grammo-bici.com/  as well as Standing Stone Brewing Company http://www.standingstonebrewing.com/ for all of their support this season. There is no doubt that with out their help I would not be able to be doing all that I am.

 

The bike above is my new all mountain bike from Unrealcycles, its a Titus FTM and it pretty much rocks. I can't thank them enough, its a do it all bike and it really finds its self home in these neck of the woods. This picture was taken when I was showing some new found friends around some pretty awesome trails . . . More photos of this ride and bike to follow.

John descending some switch backs

Another shot of the Titus FTM

John coming up over a log . . .

Bummer . . . trail exit, can't get enough of this stuff

Here is a shot of my friend riding out at Applegate lake with me on an easy pedal day, this place is so gorgeous . . . IE look at the background !!!

Alecia killing it, she's been riding less than a month !!!

The picture above was from a ride on my current road bike about to be replaced by a Grammo Road bike thanks to Grammo Bicycles, can't wait for that. But man this picture does not justice to just how beautiful of a road this was, not to mention I reached 45mph on the way down!

another picture from my amazing road ride !!!

This bike is one sweet ride !!!

Here is a picture of the race bike, its crazy how lite this thing is . . . 

The above picture is of my race bike for this season, after a few races I have decided that I will forgo on the rigid and will be installing a front fork. It just doesn't seem to pay off to run a rigid. I feel as if a fork will help me that much more on the run and allow me to be a little bit more rested and fresh. I'll have to wait and see if it makes a difference. More pictures and stories to follow so stay tuned!!!

February is OVER !!!

So like I said I just want to use this blog to share races, stories and what it take to be prepared at the amateur level for the Xterra tri's. This season I started my training later than I would have like to but at last my first month is behind me. Just thought I'd share what my dry erase board looked like for February. . . I also got some cool new gear to train with that I will soon be posting on here my favorite of which is the Garmin 305 Forrunner . . . Till next time Just Ryde !!!

Cathing you up on Dan

Me and Dano !!!

So like I said it has been awhile since I have been on this blog but have all the intentions of using it a bunch over the next 8-12 months. For those of you who have read about Dan this is just a follow up with some cool pictures. It just so happened that where he was ending his trip was only hours from where I ended up moving (insert picture)

So of course as soon as I got into town I called him and we did an awesome little weekend. We rode Mckenzie river, Sisters and Bend. My favorite trail out of the entire weekend was easily lower whoops in Bend . . . So much fun. Dan was all healed up and we had a great time riding together. Its crazy that I met a guy in FL over a year ago, I decide to move clear across the country and then somehow meet back up with him, pretty awesome. So here are some pictures of the awesome weekend I had when I first got to Oregon over 8 months ago now . . . Till next time Just Ryde !!!

Xterra Season is fast approaching !!!

Hey everyone so I took a small hiatus during which I moved straight across the country just so I could have better mountain biking trails . . . And it worked I'm in love with Southern Oregon. Anyways The XTERRA Tri Season is about to begin and I couldn't be any happier. This year I decided to hire a trainer and so far its paying off big time (thanx Darcy!!!) She managed to get me out on a road bike which I was against (stupidly) for awhile but have since fallen in love!!! I also decided to purchase a more race oriented bike which I am stoked about should have it in a few weeks, its a carbon Grammo 29er and boy it wants to go fast!!!

So just wanted to get back on here hopefully have some followers this season. My goal is to qualify for worlds in Hawaii. I am doing at least 8 races this year and the schedule looks like this . . .

3/27/11 XTERRA REAL CA
http://www.tbfracing.com/events/realmtbtri.html

4/17/11 XTERRA South Championship Waco TX
http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/race.cfm?race_id=1310

5/15/11 XTERRA Pacific Championship - Santa Cruz CA
http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/race.cfm?race_id=1413

6/11/11 Granite-Man/ obviously : ) Home race
http://granite-man.com/

7/10/11 XTERRA Vashon Island WA
http://www.buduracing.com/pdf/2011%20xterra%20vashon%20071011.pdf

8/7/11 XTERRA Black Diamond WA ***(Voted Hardest Xterra)***
http://www.xterrablackdiamond.com/

8/27/11 XTERRA Lake Tahoe NV
http://www.bigblueadventure.com/pub/main2.asp?daEvent=60&daPageName=INTRO

9/4/11 XTERRA Canada Championship Whistler BC (Probably most excited about this one!!!)
http://www.xterracanada.com 


9/24/11 XTERRA USA Championship
http://www.xterraplanet.com/utah/index.html

and hopefully . . .
 

THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP in Maui

Quick Update on Dan

Talked to Dan last weekend, he verified that his collar bone is broken and is out a month but his spirits are high . . . The crazy guy told me that he's already back on his bike riding it around the parking lot with one hand. Just can't hold him down!!!

Croom . . . Give it a chance

Alrigh I know most people have negative thoughts when they here the word "Croom". Well hopefully this post will change that for someone. Last Saturday Dave the machine, Bob the mountain goat and myself went for a ride. . . we ended up doing 30 miles and if anyone remembers it was the first real hot day that we've had this year (kicked my butt). The ride was good we parked at fire tower (like parking there for security and the shower) did the south blue loop to the north blue then took the yellow shortcut back to the trucks. I took my camera and didn't get near as many photos as I had intended(I will be getting much more in the near future) on but got a few and wanted to share the goodness of Croom with everyone . . .


So the first picture is of Bob coming down an option near the pits on the north blue loop . . . There is a fun little drop semi technical down hill followed by a small tire jump . . .


This here is Mount Pisca I believe(not sure on the actual name) . . . If you look hard you can see Dave to the top right well at least his legs are there, the picture doesn't do it justice but its a pretty good down hill you just have to be able to make the climb . . .


Here I am on a log ride just south of the Drunken Monkey which is my favorite section of Croom, there is also a log before this one which is a little more challenging . . .

And this is Dave again on the more challenging log ride, soon hopefully we'll be able to roll right into it and get both on our first try, hasn't happened yet . . .

Anyways those are just a few of the many good options that you can find at Croom. Yes it is sandy and yes there are big hills . . . that are sandy . . . but sprinkled through out all the hills and sand you will find enjoyable and at times challenging sections. If you have only been out there a time or two give it another chance. Its not Alafia or Santos its different, if you ride there enough you will build amazing endurance that you can't get at other ride spots in the area. The key is going out with someone who knows how to get to the good stuff and being able to push yourself on some of the more XC style things. Two pieces of advice bring water, LOTS OF WATER and a map. Because the loops are huge you can easily be 16 miles from your vehicle . . . so if you get lost you want a map to get you back and enough water to get you there. Again if you've only been out there a few times and haven't enjoyed yourself I suggest doing the next SWAMP ride which is the last Sunday of the month I believe you can check Swampclub.org for more information. So please before you bash Croom give it a chance, you don't write a review on a bike after only one short ride, it takes time to get to know the bike and get comfortable on it, Croom is the same way . . . So hopefully we'll see you out there . . . till next time Just Ryde!!!

His Biggest Fan

Well, he's finally done it. He has made every breathing moment about Xterra racing and fitness and I couldn't be more proud of him. He has come a long way since that enervated finish at his first race and will grow to be even more amazing I'm sure (even at the cost of 63 year old men he cripples on the trails)! He will be sure to ride that Cannondale Super V 500 past every unsuspecting person on the trail. I'll never forget his first tri when a guy looked at him and said "Ohh a Super V 500, I had one of those...like 8 years ago!" I will also never forget how he blazed past him on the trail and took 4th in his age group and 23rd overall. It was his first tri! He is soon to be traveling the country to attend every Xterra race he can and if you can stand to look past his horrible proof reading and lack of spelling skills he is now wanting to take you on the journey! Of course I will be there too...being his biggest fan

Feeling like a jerk !!! Sorry Dan . . .

So as I stated I'm going to be talking mostly about MTB riding because well that is my passion ! And also Xterra Tri's and the training it takes to be competitive. Well today I decided that I was going to do a run/bike day. Sounded great up until 1 am when I was still out last night after the Rays game which by the way go Rays it was an awesome game. I'm going to say this once if you are serious about training for any kind of endurance race it takes drive. You will have times when you ask yourself why am I doing this (my exact thought at 4:30 this morning when my alarm was screaming at me to get up) and then in the middle of the training you'll notice that your pace is 10 seconds faster or you'll hammer a technical section that just owned you before and it'll all click. But if more times than not your asking yourself this question then just stop. The most important part in any of this is to have fun, just have fun and if you can kick your buddies A$$ while doing it then dang that's even cooler ! So back to my story . . . its a run /bike day, Sunday's normally are because there is a run group (always train with someone it make it so much easier because you'll realize if people are waiting on you, you don't want to disappoint) that does 7 miles at 7 am on some awesome single track trails at Balm Boyette and its close to Alafia so after the run I normally head over there to do some good MTBing. Well the run this morning was 10 miles and I wasn't so sure I was up for a bike after but I brought it just in case . . . So the run went well we finished in under a hour and twenty minutes. Obviously now I want to ride cause the run was great. Well unfortunately all my friends I ride with are out of town so I head over to Alafia a loner. I just figured I'd meet someone in the parking lot and tag along with them. After rolling around the lot I didn't see any prospects so I headed out to the trails in search of a riding partner for the day. I started on North Creek a really good trail to get loose on and warm up. My legs felt great and for me I was hammering the trail. About a quarter of the way through I ran up on a guy who was carrying a good pace but he politely moved and let me pass. However as soon as I did he ran up on my tire and let me know that he wanted to move. So I'm a man and I pushed even harder, took it sort of as a challenge I suppose. He did a good job of keeping up never lost sight of him. He was close, not on my tire close but insight. I thought I'd lose him on the hard option but he followed and again stayed within sight. Towards the end of the trail I had realized that what I was doing was really just seeing if he could keep pace so I could have a riding partner. At the end of the trail I pulled over to talk to him. First thing I noticed was his bike, a really high end Cannondale lefty fork carbon frame with all the bells and whistles then immediately the second thing I noticed was his age. He was 63, how awesome is that. I told him the trails I wanted to hit and told him I liked to technical stuff just to make sure he was down and he was. So we took off and I let him lead cause my legs were a little cooked from the run. It turns out he was an extremely solid rider who also enjoyed the technical stuff. I was stoked I had met a good guy who loved the sport and wanted to ride fast, sweet. So we headed over towards the rock garden to get to the hard options over there ( Franks loop and the other one just past) and I was impressed with his ability and lack of fear for someone his age. We went on to do bridges then rabbit ears and over to roller coaster. After roller coaster I had told him about a section on moonscape that I had just found out about called doom. I told him I would lead so we can make the turn. Its a tough entrance if you don't run the right line. We rolled through it pretty good staying away from the one nasty downhill section and got back onto the main part of the trail. Just after you get back on the trail there is a climb option which is pretty tough followed by some fun rollers. We took on the hill neither one of us making it and I had warned him of what was to follow ahead. I took off and felt great through the next section but for the first time all day didn't see Dan behind me. I waited like 5 minutes and decided I'd walk back and make sure he was OK. And of course he wasn't, right after the climb there is a drop and he had washed out and crashed pretty bad. The bike survived but he had broken is left collar bone. I felt like the world's biggest jerk for bringing a 63 old man down this trail. He wasn't mad, like he said stuff happens, its why we ride. I pushed his bike out of the woods for him and gave him a ride back to his campsite. He had plans of heading out west with his travel trailer and staying with friends along the way and mountain biking the entire time. He was talking about Moab Utah, Colorado, Montana and ending in Bend Oregon. But with this new injury it would push everything back, just made me feel worse. I gave him my number and told him to keep me posted and if he does I will post it on here. But what a cool guy, 63 and still MTBing hard keeping up with at decent fit 27 year old. We were talking about how dangerous the sport can be and a fraction of a hair can completely change everything. We came to the conclusion that is one of the attractions of this sport. No real point to all this just wanted to share a story about a guy who became my hero for the day. I hope at 63 I'll be fortunate enough to ride the way he does or just ride at all. Dan I hope you heal fast and get back out there sooner than later. It was a pleasure riding with you . . . Till next time Just Ryde !!!

Welcome to my Blog

Well I'll us this as an introduction. The picture above was after my first off road tri, I wasn't as prepared as well as I though I was. However it was July 26th in FL so to say it was hot is an understatement. Anyways thanks for checking my blog out. On this blog you will be able to follow much of my mountain biking hoopla as well as my attempt to compete in the South East Region of the Xterra off Road Triathlon series which is already half way through !!! I'll keep it fun with good stories, pictures, maybe some videos, definitely some MTB part reviews, training tips for off road tri's also known as dirty tri's, and really anything in between as well as answering any questions anyone might have. So check back often for good times till then . . . Just Ryde !!!