Good Friday

It was finally nice to be able to get out and do a group ride at the point today. Pace was pretty high for a Friday but as usual that's Chucks Fault.

So tomorrow is the Snot cycle MTB Race. My race starts at 10:30am. Starting temperature according to www.weather.com will be 13 degrees, with the wind chill. That's officially colder than a witches titty.

I hope I don't puss out in the morning. Tomorrow is one of those days you have to strap up the nut sack and get it done ;) yeah we'll see, you crazy bastards.

Training through the Winter Blues

I guess we were about due for some winter weather. Tuesday we got snow then Tuesday night through Wednesday morning was freezing rain. I grew up in the Southwest so winters around here bumb me out.

The day wansn't a complete loss though. My son christian enjoyed playing in the snow. Second, I was able to get a ride in on the mountain bike.

Like I said, I managed to get some riding in Tuesay after most of the snow had fallen. I took me about 2.5 hours to cover 23.5 miles on the moutain bike. I drove down to Burke Lake and did a loop in there. Its about 5 miles long. That part was fun. I then headed out of Burke lake on the bike path to the Laurel Hill loop. The bike path was awesome because no one had been on it yet. The moutain bike tires roll better through fresh snow. Once inside Laurel Hill, I must have busted my ass about 5 times. The loop there is also about 5 miles. It didn't go very smooth and took me quite a while to complete the loop. On the way back to Burke Lake, I busted my ass once more on the bike path. I lost my focus and ended up riding off the bike path and hitting the lip of a driveway and down I went. I went down hard enough to tear my leg warmers. I felt like a complete dumbass. Luckily no one saw me look like a pathetic loser.

Wednesday all I did was hit the weightroom for my weight and plyometrics workout. Today, Thursday I ran a hard 10 mile run of which almost left me puking. My time was about 1 hr and 2 min.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading.

Signed up for my first race in 2009-snotcycle mtb race

So I went ahead and registered for my first race in 2009. Its the SNOTCYCLE Mountain Bike Race up in Leesburg, VA. I signed up for the Sport Male which consist of 3 laps for a total of 22.8 miles. The course is suppose to be rolling single track. It should be a good time. I've definitely been putting the time on the MTB this winter so it should go well. I'm going in with no expectations so we'll see. This is my first official mountain bike race ever.

For anyone that wasn't aware, come on out. Here's the registration link:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=7495

Good thing the "Chuck Hutch" wasn't at the point today

Cause I felt like shit!!!!

Let me stray a bit before I give you my Haines Pt recap.

Who in the MABRA community hasn't had a Chuck Hutchinson entry in their blog? Chuck is like a love hate relationship. You either hate him or you love the guy. I'm somewhere in between. I like the guy when he's not making me hurl my pre-Haines Pt. snack but I absolutely want to beat the shit out of him when he attacks you after you just put in a hard pull into the wind!!!

Dave Fuentes said it best, Chuck has two speeds, "0 mph and FUCK IT."

Chuck reminds me of a guy I played high school football with. His name was Omar Atilano and he was an outside linebacker. We called him "One Way Omar." The guy only knew how to play one way, "Fucking Hard" whether it was practice or a Friday night game under the lights.

I remember in practice one day Omar laid me out. My position was Tight end. I went up the middle for a dive pass and as soon as I made the catch Omar cleaned my clock. It wasn't a concussion type hit but it was the type of hit that made me say "What the F*ck dude." I remember coach yelling at him saying:

"Omar you damn knucklehead, Tony is the only tight end we have that can catch a pass up the middle get the shit knocked out him and hold on to the ball, please Omar don't waste those out here in practice."

I'll never forget that line. Anyhow, for me Chuck is Omar in the sense that he rides one speed year around, "FUCK IT" speed.

I say we have "Boycott Chuck Hutch Fridays" at the pt. Chuck here is to you, you heartless leg breaking Mother F'er.

Now back to my Point recap. It was about 6-7 guys and the pace was high on the Arlington side of the pt. We were consistently doing around 29-31 mph on that side. On the DC side of the pt was the headwind. That side was more tolerable. I stayed on the entire time but that last lap had me on the rivet. I just didn't feel solid out there today. AND that brought me to my initial reason for writing this blog. I'M GLAD CHUCK WASN'T THERE, for had he been it would have been a much harder ride.

Chuck, all in good humor, I'm glad you're out there making us stronger.

GamJams Reviews: Best cycling gift - GARMIN Forerunner 305

My lovely wife surprised me with a new training gadget for the holidays, the Garmin Forerunner 305. She said it was the only gift I knew I wasn't getting :) How many other wives do you know contribute to your cycling addiction by giving you a gift that may keep you out of the house for a few more hours. Unless Hmmmmm.

First let me start by saying I'm not into bike gadgets. I don't do bike computers or power meters. I do always use a heart rate monitor though.

BUT that's not to say I don't like running gadgetry. When I run I always like to know my pace and speed as well as calories burned. She figured this would work perfect for me.

The Garmin Forerunner 305 is a wrist mounted GPS unit. Its simple enough to use and the best thing about it, is the software. Its cool how you can map your training rides or runs. You can store and track all your workout history from your total mileage, avg speed, total elevation, to total calories burned etc.. You also have the option of toggling between bike mode, running mode or other sport.

The kicker is I've used it more on my training rides and than on my runs. I may have to eat my words about bike gadgets!! BUT I still don't see myself joining any power meter geeks any time soon. Sorry guys ;)