It's pretty much official, it looks like I will be flying the colors of the 29er crew for 2010. I am super excited. I have been wearing the shop's kit since 2004 so it will be something different. From the looks of it I will be racing in the SS category in the Georgia MTB series. If I don't do that for some reason I will be Expert 30-39. Yep, you read it right, 30-39, I will be 30 next year, kind of weird.

Since I mentioned Fisher check this out from Cycling News.

I guess I better start my winter training. I am going to throw in alot of running this year because I miss it. Hopefully it will help alittle. As well as doing a ton of core exercises.

Photos courtesy of Chris Lewis Photography and Beth.

Well, the season is over. I had a blast! It was a great series that at great venues, good people, and great volunteers. After not really racing much the last couple of years I forgot how much a little 2 month series racing almost every weekend can take out of you. I am physically and mentally exhausted. I will have to move up to the Men's A class now. Even though I am tired I did register for the Dirty Duathlon put on by OMBA this upcoming weekend. I believe it is a run/bike/run format all on trail. They are not releasing details until the day of which makes it fun I guess. I haven't been running much but have good legs for the bike portion. I am not looking for any good results, just to have fun. If I get a good result that will be a bonus. They only thing I am having a problem with is which bike to use, the SS #1 or SS #2 or geared and this nagging chest cold that I can't get rid of.

The shoe of choice for the Dirty Duathlon will be the Brooks Cascadia 4. My fuel of choice will be Hammer Nutrition. Based on the weather forecast my tire choice will be the Mud X and more than likely I will go with SS #1.

Well I haven't posted in awhile. After the last race I took most of the week taking it easy. My legs were cooked and mentally I was tired. I have been doing some rides during the last couple of weeks. I skipped last weekends race. (they drop the lowest) but I will be competing the last two races, this weekend and next weekend and the cross season is over.

I went out today with Tyler, Mike and James. We did just over 34 miles avg. 17.6. It was a nice ride. We ended up riding out to Perry and doing the Perry Roubaix course. Good times.

It was beautiful day in Dallas, Ga. Daryl Sawyer and gang put on an excellent race. Plenty of sand and mud. Grant, Ethan, and Mark made the journey, good group of guys. I had a great start, sucked in the middle, and held my own at the end outsprinting a guy for 3rd overall. Josh Stinger had some bad luck, he has won the last two races and I believe on the last lap he had a flat. That's why I was 3rd. As much as I like 3rd it sucks that I benefited by someones misfortune, he's a cool guy.

Ethan was 3rd in the C class, Mark and Grant finished in the low 20's, but don't qoute me on theirs.

Here are some photos taken by Mark.







On a different note, I switched from my SRAM components on the cross bike to Shimano Dura Ace 7800. I love SRAM components but for me the older hoods on the DA stuff is great for cross and I find it less effort to shift it during a cross race.

I got fouth in Savannah last weekend. I wasn't to happy with the outcome. I should have done better but thats racing. It did move me up to second overall in the men's B.

I am looking forward to tomorrow. We are headed to Dallas, GA. I heard on the forum that the lower part of the course will be extremely muddy. It shall be fun.

For your viewing enjoyment check out www.bartape.net. It follows the Cervelo Test Team. Pretty cool.

Video found here.

I think I am officially obsessed with cyclo-cross.

Gran Prix of Gloucester - A Cyclocross Film from Benjamin Eckstein on Vimeo.

I started off today with a nice 1 hour cruise to get the legs ready for this weekends punishment in Savannah. The state championship cross race is this weekend. Two weekends ago I placed 3rd. I had amazing legs but with this last weekend off I am interested to see how my legs respond to some hard efforts later this week. Ft Yargos race was canceled last weekend which was nice because that was going to be my dropped race. I had family things going on which were more important.

Tomorrow mornings ride will be mainly a cruise but with some short hard efforts thrown in. Thursday will be a nice 45min-1hr cross workout followed by some stretching. Hydration is always on my mind especially leading up to a big event.

We should have at least 6 guys going from the shop. I have to figure out all the logistics, drive time, eating, packing everything in the least amount of space, etc., stuff I like to do.

31 oct 09

New bike lane on Houston Lake Rd heading towards Perry. It seems alittle narrow in places but I am definetly not complaining.

Augusta Cross Race

The Augusta cross race was today. It was the 3rd race on 8 for the Georgia series. Greg and Ethan joined my on the 3 hour trip. I told myself after last week to start at the front and stay there as long as possible. I did just that, allowing myself to stay in the top 3 all day. We actually had 6 hanging on the first couple of laps but it finally dwindled down to 3 with 4th about 10 seconds back. There was a climb every lap that people ran, I found the sweet spot and rode it every lap. I would make a few seconds up there each time but was stupid and didn't lay the hammer down at the top, trying to conserve for the remainder of each lap. Because of the strength of the two with me it probably would have been wasted energy trying to attack after each climb. But I should of tried, lesson learned. That's the beauty of cross I guess, you only have 45 minutes and if you make small mistakes they can come back and haunt you. I wasn't to happy with the person who placed 2nd. He didn't do any work. He has won the opening two races so maybe he thought he didn't have to. Oh well, he still beat me.....maybe next time. All in all I felt extremely confident and strong throughout the race. I have a break next week since the race was cancelled. That will give me two weeks to prepare for the state champs in Savannah. Motor pacing is on the agenda at least twice.

Ethan and Greg both had strong showings during the C race. Greg's bike seemed to not want to cooperate initially with two punctures during warm-up. At least they were not during the race. Ethan placed 7th overall and Greg was 14th. That was Greg's first race back since winning the overall GSC series. I was stoked for him. I was extremely happy to see Ethan have such a strong race after not getting to ride much the last 3 weeks.

Here are a few photos from today.

Blackbird coffee was on the agenda coming back into Milledgeville on the way home. If it wasn't for having such an awesome job I would definitely move back. Stephanie and I both graduated from GC&SU located there.


My Honda Accord loaded down.


The podium. 3rd place overall today.

I woke up this morning to this....damn, out of The Bike Store coffee.


But luckily my wife picked up Publix coffee for a penny the other day. Crappy coffee saved my morning. It sucked but gave me a jolt.


This mornings group ride that left the shop at 10am. I used this as an easy ride to get ready for tomorrows assault on Augusta, the next cross race.


My legs feel good so I hope it carries over to tomorrow.

I went out for an easy spin this morning. I wasn't able to ride Monday or Tuesday so I figured I would just spin the legs out today to get ready for tomorrow's cross practice. I have a good loop on dirt,sand, and pine straw that I do for my practices. It's perfect for anaerobic training. It has helped.

I checked the Georgia Cross overall standings after two races and I am sitting in4th overall. I am extremely satisfied. Augusta is this Sunday and I am looking forward to it.


I rode the Niner Air 9 this morning to cut down on wind chill.


Multiple layers were needed.


Ergon GX2 carbon cut down for the X0 grip shift.


By the way Race Across The Sky plays nationwide tomorrow night. Who's going? We are heading to Morrow.

Georgia-Cross Race 2

The second cross race of the series was held in Dahlonega today. Good weather, good course, good beer, what more could you ask for. Steph and I made the 3 hour trip up this morning. I was nervous not knowing what to expect of the course. I got there, checked in and pre-rode the course. My initial reaction of the course was that it was really rough. Once I lined up they started calling the top 10 up and luckily I was 7th last week so I got a front row spot. Once we started I faded back a bit but decided not to kill myself. I started picking riders off one by one. I think I passed 3 or 4 riders that either missed a turn due to too much speed or them falling over in the slick corners. The course was all the way down and all the way up. I don't think there was a flat spot on the course. If it seemed flat it was a false one or it was really off camber. The run up each lap to the start/finish was steep. After a few laps I figured out the best lines and just stayed the course for the remainder. I didn't even get into my big ring today. There was a good down hill but by the time you really picked up speed you had a sharp right hand off camber turn coming up. I ended up placing 5th overall. I am extremely happy with my performance.


I am taking tomorrow off and starting Tuesday getting ready for the Augusta venue.

Here are some pictures.

I had a few things to do today to catch up on everything.

The first thing was to get my tickets for Race Across The Sky which will play nationwide next Thursday. If you haven't got one, get one. I will be going to the theater in Morrow, south of Atlanta. Who's going?


The second thing was to clean my cross bike. I had a creak coming from it this week. I thought it was the bb but after cleaning it top to bottom I noticed the rear derailleur hanger was very loose. I am glad I spotted it today and not half way through the race when it broke.


I love this tire.


I got this ring from Cyclocross World. 44T 130BCD


For the race this weekend I decided to throw on the Bontrager Race X Lite wheels. In the Macon cross race I ran the Bontrager Classic wheels. I figured since the next race in Dahlonega might include some good climbing I threw on the lighter hoops. I should be receiving my new Egg Beater 4ti pedals tomorrow which will knock some more weight of the bike. I have been using these. They were at 308g. The 4ti are 167g per pair.

The third thing I had to do was my bike laundry.


The last thing I had to do was call Stan at No Tubes to make sure my buddy Jim's wheels would be here tomorrow. They never let me down.

I am stuck in the Macon store today. Weather sucks, watching it rain and no customers. I wish I was riding.

I had a great ride with the Tuesday group last night. I ended the ride with 35 miles. Beautiful evening, temp was perfect with no wind which is odd for this area.

I ordered my new pack for those long winter training rides on the Niner. I should see it tomorrow. As Jeff Kerkove said "enough room for the kitchen sink". It should work for everything including my hiking and traveling.

The Dahlonega cross race is this weekend. My wife and I are heading up to it. I am hopping to improve on my 7th place finish from the last race. It sounds like the course suites me, lots of running and climbing.


Just to remind everyone there will be a clinic that I will be having at the Warner Robins shop on layering for year round comfortable riding. Let me know if you want to attend.

Just a hint of what I have been up to.

Long time no blog

Mike Stanley, the Niner rep who also is the manager of the Terrapin team brought us to my favorite beer company in Athens.


Tyler helping me get rid of the course tape from the first georgia cross race which I helped promote with Grant and Dave from LH Thomson. That was a busy weekend. I helped promote and still found time to race and place 7th in the B's. I felt really good with that result. No more focus on the promoting, just racing.


I have my bikes of choice for next years assualt on the mountain bike series. I know what most people are thinking, "you are a fisher guy." I still love the fisher bikes but its time to try something new for awhile. I really enjoy riding 29ers. I still have my Rig and Superfly SS which I might break out for some muddy races but overall I will be on the Niner Air 9. Its a fanatastic ride by the way.



Once I finalize some part specs I will give you a rundown on what I will be on for the winter.

Gary Fisher on the road, thanks to Velo News.

Check it out here.

Lance Armstrongs Trek Top Fuel for the Leadville 100. Check out all the info here.

I Love My Bike

I decided to celebrate the Tour De France this year by throwing some love on my bike:

BEFORE

AFTER



Choices, choices.


I have decided to make a challenge for myself. One of my friends Matt, from the riding group did this last year. I want to ride every day that the riders in the TDF ride. I know it doesnt sound hard to some people, believe me I wouldn't have had a problem in college but with an awesome wife and an awesome son I don't have as much time as I used to.

I tried to figure out ways of doing it, maybe a percentage of the day. I figured based on my many time constraints I will ride a minimum of an hour. If I have time to do more I definetly will! I think that is reasonable. I can also use it as a small three week training camp. I will try to copy some of the terrain but it depends on traffic flow since many of the miles will be put in early in the morning.

Of course if something comes up such as sickness, family issues, etc., then of course I will not ride. Life happens you know. I am going to try and keep a day to day post with all my Garmin Edge 705 info.

People often ask me why I like my Trek Madone so much. I guess its because Lance
Armstrong is one of the main reasons why I got into cycling. For me he just adds that excitement to the bike race. I remember wanting a Trek carbon road bike since I first laid eyes on one in Bicycling magazine back in 1999. While I was at Georgia Military College that was one of the few posters I could have on the wall. I guess thats why I love my Madone so much. It was built on my birthday, the color rocks and I have rode alot of bikes, aluminum, carbon, titanium, steel, and its my favorite. What can I say, I love my bike.

Madone 6 Series

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/trek_life/news/article/1606/2009/07/02/trek_unveils_all_new_6_series_madone/

Just read it and you will see why Trek Bicycles make the best road bikes in the world.

Just my opinion of course.

Cruising on the RIG.


SUPERFLY SS (4TH in the geared category at Dauset)



Cruising with Derek.