Wednesday, January 21, 2009
January 20, 2009 Snow
Yep. First snow of the year!! Woooooo! We got around 6.5" of snow from sometime between (beginning sometime after 1am) 1am to 3:30-4:00pm. No work yesterday and in late this morning. I think it's just down right beautiful, but would not want to have it around for as long as my friends up north have it. This can melt away and then in a couple of weeks, maybe get a little more.
Took a few pictures and a video while Kyle and I were outside playing....
This morning...
my commute:
these are from 1/20, as i walked to the main road, since i was informed i shouldn't try and ride my cx bike...
neighbor's kitteh - didn't really seem to mind the snow:
O'Neil St (aka The Wall (eventually)):
The Wall:
Took a few pictures and a video while Kyle and I were outside playing....
This morning...
my commute:
these are from 1/20, as i walked to the main road, since i was informed i shouldn't try and ride my cx bike...
neighbor's kitteh - didn't really seem to mind the snow:
O'Neil St (aka The Wall (eventually)):
The Wall:
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Thumb Update
visited the ortho for the one week check-up...thumb looks great - you could hardly tell where the break was located. dr said that i'm cleared to ride outside now, just to be careful and not fall on it again! 3 more weeks and it can come off!! what a great birthday present that will be!!!! :)
i will be so glad to get this cast off! it's very irritating. my back and sometimes the ribs are still fairly sore. my back, near the spine/shoulder blade hurts the most. sometimes the ribs will hurt under my right arm. laughing, coughing, sneezing, etc still hurts, but not quite as bad as 10 days ago.
i haven't been on the bike in 10 damn days. i bought a trainer at performance after the last cx race (1/11) and put it together monday evening, but hurt my back/ribs more pulling it out of the box. i tried to ride but, the back hurt too much to do so. i plan on riding saturday afternoon even though it's supposed to be extremely cold around here this weekend. i have to get back on the bike!! i can't lose the fitness gains i've made over the past year. i plan on getting bundled up well and just doing the short 15mi loop around clayton - fairly flat except for few hills right near 42.
that's about it for now.....
i will be so glad to get this cast off! it's very irritating. my back and sometimes the ribs are still fairly sore. my back, near the spine/shoulder blade hurts the most. sometimes the ribs will hurt under my right arm. laughing, coughing, sneezing, etc still hurts, but not quite as bad as 10 days ago.
i haven't been on the bike in 10 damn days. i bought a trainer at performance after the last cx race (1/11) and put it together monday evening, but hurt my back/ribs more pulling it out of the box. i tried to ride but, the back hurt too much to do so. i plan on riding saturday afternoon even though it's supposed to be extremely cold around here this weekend. i have to get back on the bike!! i can't lose the fitness gains i've made over the past year. i plan on getting bundled up well and just doing the short 15mi loop around clayton - fairly flat except for few hills right near 42.
that's about it for now.....
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Bored
i'm bored. i'm tired of being hurt already. i want to race tomorrow. one week down, hopefully only 3 to go. go back to the ortho on tuesday for x-rays...if it still looks ok, i think i'll be cleared to ride on the road. that's good and bad....temps toward the end of next week are forecasted to be quite cold...i cant get warm clothes on over the cast, so i may be relegated to the trainer - whenever i get one...
my friend, Dallas, who is riding cx too, has one he's going to let me borrow, but i dont have it yet. depending on whether i get it tomorrow or what-not, i may be going to performance and getting myself one. there have been times that i wished to have one lately. yes, i think they are torture devices and will ride outside when at all possible, but for those training days when you need to do specific training, it can come in handy.
finally got some vicodin yesterday. ribs/back/shoulder VERY painful. hurt to move, shower, dress, sleep, anything. today, after taking meds yesterday evening/night, i felt really good. until around 11am. got a headache and felt like i was going to puke. didn't feel like eating either. took a nap for 1.5hr and then ate a little. felt better after all of this; don't know what was up with that...
so, since i can't do the riding i'm accustomed to and i wont need all the carbs, i'm going to start the South Beach diet tomorrow. should be fairly easy to do since it's mainly me eating here. i hope to lose about 6-8 pounds over the next 3 weeks. eventually, i'd like to lose another 20-25 pounds, getting me down to the 150-155 pound range. that should put me at a better climbing weight.
meh...guess that's all for now....
my friend, Dallas, who is riding cx too, has one he's going to let me borrow, but i dont have it yet. depending on whether i get it tomorrow or what-not, i may be going to performance and getting myself one. there have been times that i wished to have one lately. yes, i think they are torture devices and will ride outside when at all possible, but for those training days when you need to do specific training, it can come in handy.
finally got some vicodin yesterday. ribs/back/shoulder VERY painful. hurt to move, shower, dress, sleep, anything. today, after taking meds yesterday evening/night, i felt really good. until around 11am. got a headache and felt like i was going to puke. didn't feel like eating either. took a nap for 1.5hr and then ate a little. felt better after all of this; don't know what was up with that...
so, since i can't do the riding i'm accustomed to and i wont need all the carbs, i'm going to start the South Beach diet tomorrow. should be fairly easy to do since it's mainly me eating here. i hope to lose about 6-8 pounds over the next 3 weeks. eventually, i'd like to lose another 20-25 pounds, getting me down to the 150-155 pound range. that should put me at a better climbing weight.
meh...guess that's all for now....
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
ok...it's just been (and still is) hard to type...
2nd race....woke up sunday morning to rain...thoughts of not driving to W-S and riding were thought about...but i just couldn't NOT GO. there aren't too many entries in my Book of Excuses - the main one being something broke...i'll get to that shortly...
so, i get dressed and head on to the race site in Winston-Salem. arrive at 10am so i could get some good warm up laps in. omg...this course was very muddy. tires on the bike were useless in these conditions. i took my laps fairly cautiously - i didnt want to fall & get too banged up prior to my race. well, that didnt work. lost traction on a muddy off-camber section and went down - banged up my left calf really good (it's all black/blue now). after 2-3 practice laps, all i wanted to do was finish the race. this time, i just didnt care if i was DFL.
we lined up and started 1min after the men. the first lap, i was just content to hang at the back. yea, i was last, 2 women in front of me...all 3 of us were struggling...end of second lap, i passed them on a very short little rise. cranked it up a bit to put distance between us. hit the cobble section, still going a bit too fast, made it through that, but at thetransition to asphalt was the deal breaker...going too fast, a little bit over confident, leaned the bike a tad too much and the ass end of bike went one way and i the other.
dang...crashes happen like "that". very fast. all i remember is hitting it hard on the right side, sliding face down into the bushes. very fortunate that i had no head or facial injuries. i lay there for a minute or so, turn over, look at my knee - meh. then the thumb....i knew something was wrong immediately. hurt like hell. no way i was going to be able to finish the race now. i think there were 9 women racing...i might have been able to finish 6 or 7 outa 9 if not for the crash.
so, that was the end of my 2nd cx race and the winter series. watched my friend Dallas finish his race, then the pro/1/2 (&3's?). those guys/gals are great! walked around talking to some of the other women. the group with orange jerseys were grilling hotdogs & passing out a few beer. had a beer to help ease the thumb pain. that's pretty much it...the rest is history (about the thumb). i'll definitely do the fall cx series this fall. i love it.
now, about the injuries...broke my left thumb just above the last joint. went to dr on monday for x-rays. ribs/right side hurt pretty bad, but nothing appears broken there. but, something is wrong with them...hurts to cough, laugh, sneeze, move certain ways - not as bad today as the other few days. saw the ortho on tuesday, put me in a thumb spica short cast. will get x-rays again in a week to make sure it's still set correctly. i can ride a trainer for this week. after the x-rays and assuming everything looks good, i have the ok to get on the road riding.
not sure how well that's going to work though...i know i won't be able to get warmers or a jacket on over the cast - so if it's cold, i might be relegated to the trainer for 4 weeks. i guess that's better than not riding at all.
2nd race....woke up sunday morning to rain...thoughts of not driving to W-S and riding were thought about...but i just couldn't NOT GO. there aren't too many entries in my Book of Excuses - the main one being something broke...i'll get to that shortly...
so, i get dressed and head on to the race site in Winston-Salem. arrive at 10am so i could get some good warm up laps in. omg...this course was very muddy. tires on the bike were useless in these conditions. i took my laps fairly cautiously - i didnt want to fall & get too banged up prior to my race. well, that didnt work. lost traction on a muddy off-camber section and went down - banged up my left calf really good (it's all black/blue now). after 2-3 practice laps, all i wanted to do was finish the race. this time, i just didnt care if i was DFL.
we lined up and started 1min after the men. the first lap, i was just content to hang at the back. yea, i was last, 2 women in front of me...all 3 of us were struggling...end of second lap, i passed them on a very short little rise. cranked it up a bit to put distance between us. hit the cobble section, still going a bit too fast, made it through that, but at thetransition to asphalt was the deal breaker...going too fast, a little bit over confident, leaned the bike a tad too much and the ass end of bike went one way and i the other.
dang...crashes happen like "that". very fast. all i remember is hitting it hard on the right side, sliding face down into the bushes. very fortunate that i had no head or facial injuries. i lay there for a minute or so, turn over, look at my knee - meh. then the thumb....i knew something was wrong immediately. hurt like hell. no way i was going to be able to finish the race now. i think there were 9 women racing...i might have been able to finish 6 or 7 outa 9 if not for the crash.
so, that was the end of my 2nd cx race and the winter series. watched my friend Dallas finish his race, then the pro/1/2 (&3's?). those guys/gals are great! walked around talking to some of the other women. the group with orange jerseys were grilling hotdogs & passing out a few beer. had a beer to help ease the thumb pain. that's pretty much it...the rest is history (about the thumb). i'll definitely do the fall cx series this fall. i love it.
now, about the injuries...broke my left thumb just above the last joint. went to dr on monday for x-rays. ribs/right side hurt pretty bad, but nothing appears broken there. but, something is wrong with them...hurts to cough, laugh, sneeze, move certain ways - not as bad today as the other few days. saw the ortho on tuesday, put me in a thumb spica short cast. will get x-rays again in a week to make sure it's still set correctly. i can ride a trainer for this week. after the x-rays and assuming everything looks good, i have the ok to get on the road riding.
not sure how well that's going to work though...i know i won't be able to get warmers or a jacket on over the cast - so if it's cold, i might be relegated to the trainer for 4 weeks. i guess that's better than not riding at all.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
First Cx Race Report
OK...lemme say, I had a FREAKIN' BLAST today. I am hooked. It was awesome!!! Ryan, you were so right about hte people there at the race...everyone cheers you on! It was great!
So, I go up this morning a little late, 7:20am, took a shower and proceeded to get my stuff into the car. Left Andy's house around 8am or so. I messed up when I got to Asheville tho....stopped to get gas and then headed on I-40 WEST!!!!!!!!
I must've been missing Andy already. 
I didn't get to the site until 11:20am, which gave me time to get dressed, sign in and wait till the first race was over so I could go ride the course. My friend Dallas was there when I got there, so he and I went and rode the course for one lap. Ummmm, I will be at tomorrow's race with enough time to ride a few laps. Did not ride enough this morning.
So, we line up, cx4 men starting 1min ahead of the women & juniors. I hammered hard at the start and I'm up there with the first 2 or 3 women. Get to the first barrier and I totally F up. Didn't get off the bike correctly, got ran into, leaving a nice mark on my leg, couldn't get back on the bike properly, therefore, allowing almost all of the riders to pass me. Damnit. I do manage to catch up with some of the women and pass one. One. F. Oh well, at least I was in front of 1 other woman. I kept it that way. Pretty much rode by myself for the next 2 laps cuz the women were so far ahead of me.
The course was pretty nice. Only 2 barriers. One was just the kind you can jump over and the other was on an incline, 3 steps up. There was also a paved section, like a greenway path, where I hammered best I could and also sorta rested a bit. Then it was into the woods, with one hill, that if you are a good enough runner, you might do better running it. I climbed it on the bike well enough. Watching the guys before the race, you could hear them breathing reallly hard after coming out of the woods. I understand why now. I lost a lung somewhere on the course.
I managed 3 laps in the 30min time. Dallas did 4 laps. I guess hte other women might have done 4 too, but I don't know. I don't have any pictures of me on the race yet - Dallas's gf took pics/videos of us and she'll email me those next week. After the race, we walked around the course and I have quite a few pictures from that. Don't have them uploaded or processed yet. Hope to get that done tonight, but we'll see.
Overall, I had a great time. Looking forward to the race tomorrow and the rest of them this month. I do think I'll be doing this in the fall. I can also see where some short, intense intervals would be very helpful for these races, so I may try to get some done during the week at lunch.
I really can't think of anything else right now. Except food. I had a chicken biscuit in A'ville and that's been it today except for a gel right before the race.
results: 12/13, was not DFL.
__________________
So, I go up this morning a little late, 7:20am, took a shower and proceeded to get my stuff into the car. Left Andy's house around 8am or so. I messed up when I got to Asheville tho....stopped to get gas and then headed on I-40 WEST!!!!!!!!
I must've been missing Andy already. I didn't get to the site until 11:20am, which gave me time to get dressed, sign in and wait till the first race was over so I could go ride the course. My friend Dallas was there when I got there, so he and I went and rode the course for one lap. Ummmm, I will be at tomorrow's race with enough time to ride a few laps. Did not ride enough this morning.
So, we line up, cx4 men starting 1min ahead of the women & juniors. I hammered hard at the start and I'm up there with the first 2 or 3 women. Get to the first barrier and I totally F up. Didn't get off the bike correctly, got ran into, leaving a nice mark on my leg, couldn't get back on the bike properly, therefore, allowing almost all of the riders to pass me. Damnit. I do manage to catch up with some of the women and pass one. One. F. Oh well, at least I was in front of 1 other woman. I kept it that way. Pretty much rode by myself for the next 2 laps cuz the women were so far ahead of me.
The course was pretty nice. Only 2 barriers. One was just the kind you can jump over and the other was on an incline, 3 steps up. There was also a paved section, like a greenway path, where I hammered best I could and also sorta rested a bit. Then it was into the woods, with one hill, that if you are a good enough runner, you might do better running it. I climbed it on the bike well enough. Watching the guys before the race, you could hear them breathing reallly hard after coming out of the woods. I understand why now. I lost a lung somewhere on the course.
I managed 3 laps in the 30min time. Dallas did 4 laps. I guess hte other women might have done 4 too, but I don't know. I don't have any pictures of me on the race yet - Dallas's gf took pics/videos of us and she'll email me those next week. After the race, we walked around the course and I have quite a few pictures from that. Don't have them uploaded or processed yet. Hope to get that done tonight, but we'll see.
Overall, I had a great time. Looking forward to the race tomorrow and the rest of them this month. I do think I'll be doing this in the fall. I can also see where some short, intense intervals would be very helpful for these races, so I may try to get some done during the week at lunch.
I really can't think of anything else right now. Except food. I had a chicken biscuit in A'ville and that's been it today except for a gel right before the race.
results: 12/13, was not DFL.
New Year's Day Ride
New Year's Day ride today was the Burningtown Loop down in Franklin. One of my favorite routes around here. Temps were in the mid 40's with some wind...a bit cold to me at the start...but, I warmed up quickly.
We rode with one of our friends from Cullowhee, Barry (aka Hammer)...Must be a reason his nick is "Hammer" besides being a variation of his last name...all of us rode fairly easy to begin with, but Hammer is a strong rider and I'm too competitive at times to let him go...Andy was in "winter pace" mode and made no attempt to try and keep up with us when we were hammering off the front. We did this a few times too many and missed our turns....added about 4-5mi to our ride.
I had a great time today on the route...a couple of climbs that I did really well on compared to when I rode the route last time. But, maybe I rode a bit harder than I should have considering I have a cross race on Saturday....29miles
Anyways, enough talking...here's the pictures:
We rode with one of our friends from Cullowhee, Barry (aka Hammer)...Must be a reason his nick is "Hammer" besides being a variation of his last name...all of us rode fairly easy to begin with, but Hammer is a strong rider and I'm too competitive at times to let him go...Andy was in "winter pace" mode and made no attempt to try and keep up with us when we were hammering off the front. We did this a few times too many and missed our turns....added about 4-5mi to our ride.
I had a great time today on the route...a couple of climbs that I did really well on compared to when I rode the route last time. But, maybe I rode a bit harder than I should have considering I have a cross race on Saturday....29miles
Anyways, enough talking...here's the pictures:
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