The crossroads

photo: Patrick Hartford

I've been getting some decent riding in with my time off this week. On Wednesday, we set forth on the Lake James (bitch!) loop. Nothing like a 5 hour road ride to set some perspective in your life. Given the fact that this was the longest bike ride I've done in about 2 years, it worked out pretty well. But I just couldn't leave it at that...

Jeff and I got Brian to cover the shop today (thanks, B-Rock!) so that we could meet up with The Mayor and Preacher Todd for a dirt road ride out in Collettsville. We met up at 10am at the "Hard and Flossie Clark" Park (I swear that is its name) and departed down Hwy 90.

Just as Hwy 90 is about to turn to dirt, there is a road to the right. This is Anthony's Creek Road. Anthony's Creek is paved for a couple of miles and then turns to dirt. When the pavement ends, the climbing begins. And climb it does. Up and up and up it goes with Anthony's creek sinuously winding from one side of the road to the other. Almost from the gun, there is a beautiful waterfall that cascades through a jumble of granite blocks covered in green moss and algae. The air was crisp and cool, but the climbing caused us to warm up pretty quick. Towards the top I had to stop and get rid of some layers as I was starting to soak my wool jersey through with sweat.

We got to the top, a little community known as Gragg. We rode along a ridgeline and then descended down towards Wilson Creek and the community of Edgemont. We rode through Edgemont and on toward Mortimer. Just past the old CCC camp there is a little store. The store sits at the intersection of Hwy 90 and Brown Mtn. Beach Rd. This is a fairly important little intersection when cycling in this area for, as Jeff put it, this was "one of life's crossroad moments"; a decision point. At this point we had been riding for 2hrs and 45 minutes. Take Brown Mtn. Beach Rd. and we're back at the car in about an hour; take Hwy 90 and we have about the same ride time but with a lot more pavement. Or option 3: take 90 for a bit and then turn onto the all dirt "18 Mile" road and add another 2+ hours of ride time. Guess which option we chose?

"18 Mile" road is a beautiful, if not jagged, ride that has many ascents and descents and goes through at least two distinct life zones before dropping you onto Adako Rd. I readily admit I had a few dark moments towards the latter sections of the road, but it was worth the extra mileage.

Upon returning to the car, I immediately dubbed this loop the "7 faces of death" ride, but we were all in agreement that we seemed to not feel as beat up as we did at the end of the Lake James (bitch!) ride on Wednesday. I regret not having brought a camera, because the views were stunning and pictures would serve as ample inducement to get you to ride this route, but I also regret that I have not developed the habit of applying Chamois Butt'r before doing these epic rides. I keep trying to remember, but the habit just isn't ingrained yet. However, I do have a deeply ingrained habit of complaining about not using Chamois Butt'r at the end of long rides when my hind end feels the way a baboon's butt looks.

I got home, got a big hug from Owen (and his assistance with putting the wheels back on my bike), jumped in the shower and took off for Sledgehammer Charlie's in Blowing Rock. I hadn't been there since they moved, but Chuck had been talking about the food during the ride (never a good thing on an epic ride) and so visions of brisket and apple crisp sundaes danced through my head as we hit the road. The food was excellent, Owen ate his weight in french fries and baked beans (I'm sure an interesting diaper story is imminent) and I ate like there was no tomorrow. And now, since I feel somewhat human, I'm gonna call it a day and go crash out.

And Todd: today's ride was totally blog-worthy!

Happy holidays! - or: how I survived the shop party and saved Christmas for a little girl on Christmas Eve.

The shop has been hopping for the past week. A big thank you goes out to all of the people who came in and, in one way or another, expressed the sentiment that they were trying to do all of their holiday shopping with locally-owned businesses. Amongst all of this holiday shopping, many of our regular customers and friends came by bearing gifts of a decidedly belgian flavor. By the time we shut the doors on Saturday, our 'fridge had to have something propped up against it to keep the door shut!

We had told everyone we could that we would have an informal holiday party during our shortened Christmas Eve hours from 10am to 2pm. Jeff and I were a bit nervous that although people might come, they would also bring more libations with them and our huge collection of belgian beer would not easily diminish.

By noon, no one had stopped by for the party and I quietly went to the fridge, pulled out the first bottle, popped the cork and set out upon the grim business of consuming our Christmas booty. Fortunately, people began to arrive shortly after. Jeff and I were heartily helped with dispensing with all of our holiday good cheer and a good time was had by all.

I got home and hung out with the family. Owen was ripping around on his little trike, his stuffed puppy draped across the bars when there came a rapping, a tap-tap-tapping upon our front door. Golden answered it and told me that our neighbor had an emergency with a Trail-a-bike that they had purchased from the shop. Now I have promised to not use the real name of this neighbor, so let's call him: Farley Chrye. Farley's wife had come to get me and Golden later recounted the look of desperate panic that was in his wife's eyes when Golden greeted her at our door. So I took off to see what was up.

She took me to their neighbor's garage. I walked into the garage and was greeted by the sight of the trail-a-bike lying on its side, a cordless drill with a large drill bit in it, a pair of channel lock pliers, a seat attached to its seatpost and the attachment collar for the trail-a-bike. I turned to her and asked, "what's the drill for?" Now as a long time professional bike mechanic I have come to realize (without a small measure of trepidation) that nothing good ever comes from the introduction of power tools into the bicycle repair equation when a layman is involved. Farley's wife just said, "I don't know" with that tone of voice that drips with the undertone of my-husband-has-done-something-stupid that I personally know all too well.

At this point in the story I must put forth that I am not immune to the occasional stupid act. I have locked myself in the closet while no one else was home, swallowed a nail while doing work around the house and set my porch on fire while trying to start a charcoal grill with white gas. Now I say this to establish that I am somewhat sympathetic to the plight that Farley was in.

Farley came into the garage with his neighbor, Paul. Paul is a nationally-known comedian who for some ungodly reason decided that he absolutely had to relocate to Lenoir, but that's another story... Paul immediately started laughing and explained that he had tried to be the voice of reason. I asked Farley what he had done and why, to which he answered, "I'm an artist not a bike mechanic." Duh. So I replied with, "I wonder what the labor rate should be for an after hours house call on Christmas Eve?"

Now partly out of empathetic pity for the situation Farley was in and mostly because this was a gift for his cute as hell, 4 year old daughter Gwyneth, I said, "Let's go to my house where I have the right tools." On the walk, I was regaled with the tale of how Farley had tried to wedge the wrong sized adapter (he had thrown away the right one) onto his seat post using lavender scented massage oil (Paul kept calling it "love oil" and explained that all of the original "spooge" had come off the post while they were working on it) and using the drill to try to ream out the plastic adapter.

Long story somewhat shorter, I got the trail-a-bike installed on Farley's bike. Farley thanked me profusely and about 20 minutes after leaving my house brought back a portrait of me that he had painted a while ago and gave it to me in appreciation for helping him out. This morning, they came by with Gwyneth riding on the trail-a-bike, a huge grin on her face. Her mom told her to thank me for helping her Dad not ruin Christmas, and she did.

As a postscript to this story, Paul point blank told Charlie that this kind of thing was the "moments that he lives for" and that he would probably be blogging about it, but was definitely going to include this incident in his next book! You can check it out at Paul Stoecklein.

Happy Holidays!

Goodbye Heat Miser!

So long, for now

The day started out chilly and grey and just got colder and nastier from there. Different Charles and I went for a ride this morning out towards Collettsville. It was all good until we encountered this freezing fog that seemed to drop the temps a significant amount. At some point, my left hand turned into a block of wood and I began to feel a sense of urgency about getting back to warmth.

I hit the shop doors and felt immediately warmer, but then my hand started thawing out and then the pain hit. Wow, that unfreezing process will make you do a little rictal dance of displeasure like nobody's business...

We piled the fam into the car and took a little xmas shopping trip to Hickory this evening. The usual selfish, reckless driving behavior of Hickory was in a serious holiday upswing. Everyone surges forward without regard to anyone or anything except for their god-given right to be ahead of you, no matter what the cost. We got the supplies for our gift project and headed to Atlanta Bread Company for dinner. To me, Atlanta Bread Company is almost always a mildly disappointing experience. The food is lackluster and is nothing more than fast food with fresher ingredients. It also attracts an odd collection of middle class America, from the bulky father-son pair who communicated in little more than drawled monosyllabic grunts to the pair of Hickory Hipster decked out in corduroy, tweed and argyle suits, beards and big chunky black hornrims. They looked fresh out of the pages of Art in America and out of place by a few time zones.

The weather has really socked in. Cold, rain and high humidity make for unpleasant riding conditions. We'll see how things are in the morning. Maybe a bit of white stuff on the ground?

Say it ain't so!

You mean to tell me that cycling isn't the only sport on the planet that has a drug problem?! It looks like the Mitchell Report is going to make a lot of Americans do some soul searching about whether or not they think a doped athlete is okay. It's funny how in denial the MLB has been about its fairly obvious doping problem. Barry Bonds is not alone in amassing a huge amount of muscle bulk in a fairly quick amount of time. It will be nice to have another sport become the center of the doping spotlight for a while. But it won't be all bad for the MLB since they have not accepted membership in the illustrious club of sports that submits itself to the humiliation and degradation of WADA (and for that matter, the smug buttheads at USADA). It is refreshing to see that Team High Road is living up to its name and is joining Team Slipstream in acquiring the services of the Agency for Cycling Ethics. If cycling has to be embroiled in this mess in order to correct the indiscretions of the recent past, then it's good for other major sports to have to face the same scrutiny.

Congrats to Bob Pugh for finishing 22nd in the 40+ B men and Bobby Lindsay for finishing 61st in the 30+ B men at Cyclocross Nationals in Kansas City.

Group ride tomorrow at 10 am from the shop!

Inuit Summer

This blast of warm weather has been a burden almost to great to bear within the confines of the workplace and the work week. Day after day of glorious, unseasonable weather has made me ache to get on a bike and blow off everyday responsibilities. Fortunately for me, tomorrow is my last day with students and Christmas break will begin. Now if the weather will just hold out long enough for me to take advantage of it!

We've been busy around the shop getting things ready for the holiday shopping season. Everything is stocked up and we have A LOT of stuff on end of season sale for those of you who have been staving off the idea of upgrading your equipment. There really are some deals to be had if you just stop by and check it out.

The Saturday group rides should be a bit more populated now that 'cross season is over. This Saturday we will do the regular ride at 10am from the shop, unless the weather is poor (i.e. rainy) and then we will do a dirt road ride meeting at the Hard and Flossy park in Colettesville (the park on Adako Rd. just past the fire dept.). While a 'cross bike isn't a requirement for riding on dirt roads, don't say you weren't given a heads up on the fact that a dirt road ride is a ride that travels on dirt roads. As in: not paved, but instead, made of dirt.

Now is the beginning of base mile season which means slow, talking pace rides. Putting in hours, not miles. So let go of the concept of average speed and enjoy the comraderie of winter riding season. And if you haven't been doing group rides, now is the perfect time to start since the group will not be out to hammer or otherwise go fast. Remember that next year's riding season starts now. So whatever your goal might be, winter is the time to lay the foundation!

I have to say that I'm glad 'cross season is over. It was exhausting and I really had to let some things slip in other areas of my life to make it possible to race. That isn't my favorite thing to do, but I really enjoy 'cross racing. I won't miss the time away from home every weekend, but I will miss racing and hanging out with old friends and all of my new teammates. A break to recharge, train, get strong and then on to the '08 road season!

Email-

From: Jack Brown
To: Shawn Moore
Subject: Hey Shawn, you know how I know you're gay?

This picture

And the fact that you eeked out a top ten finish again, just in front of me. Dick.

The hard day

We hit the road for the final 'cross race of the NC series at 5 in the am. We had to head out early 'cause it's about a three and a half hour drive to Cary. Jeff and I were in one car, while Jack and his son Harrison followed. As has become our normal routine, we stopped off at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

While I waited for my sourdough french toast with blackberries, Jack showed us a neat feature on his cellphone. When he checks his text messages, he pushes a button in the robot-woman voice reads the text messages aloud. I looked at him immediately and said, "You shouldn't have shown us that." Jeff and I took turns texting Jack some pretty rough messages and the beauty of it was that the robot-woman reads EVERY word. Join the fun; email me and I'll give you Jack's cell number! I'm sure he'll love the text messages!

The only way to describe Cary was: hard. 2 run ups, a super tight twisty course a couple of climbs and a bit of sand for flava. I got a good start in the CX4 race, but couldn't hold the pace. Still, I had the best finish of my season with an 18th place. I turned myself pretty inside-out in the process, but I still lined up for the Master's race. Several of us doubled-up trying to get as many points as we could for the team competition. Everybody gave it a good effort, but I don't think we were able to close the gap on Boone Velo in 2nd place.

Jeff had a solid race, but he got caught up in some lapped traffic in the crucial final turns and missed the podium for 4th place. He was also just shy of the points needed to go from 3rd to 2nd in the overall series results.

After all the racing, we had a few hours of pretty hard spectating. In fact, we spectated so hard, we had to wait around a bit before heading for home. We finally got home about 7:30 and I was pretty knackered. Today, I was pretty useless. In a way, I'm glad the season is done 'cause I'm exhausted. But some of the team doesn't feel the same way. Bob and Bobby leave Wednesday morning for 'cross nationals in Kansas City. It's been great racing with so many teammates this season and I wish those guys lots of luck in the last big race!

finally

Thanks to Shelli for the pics from the Boone 'cross race!



I have been so busy this week. I'm just glad it's over. One more week of school and then a break! I'm still processing all that happened this week, but the true highlight occurred Thursday. Our school had the extreme pleasure of hosting a group of 24 educators from Egypt. It was a remarkable experience and one that will be with me for a long time.

quick race report

Boone is in the books! Jeff Welch won his first race of this year's NC Cyclocross series. Other race results:

CX4:
Chris Behrman 10th
me 21st (dammit)
Big E ?
Other Charles ?

Master's 45+:
Bob Pugh 5th

Master's 55+:
Howard Hesterberg ?

I will post photos tomorrow night and also fill in the blanks in the results.

Want to ride trainers at the shop tomorrow night at 7pm? Call or email me to reserve a spot!

Timing

An open letter to Bob Stapleton, general manager Team High Road (formerly T-Mobile)

Dear Mr. Stapleton,

I recently had the good fortune of coming into a large sum of money through several internet related sources. While I certainly do not scoff at the prospect of such a windfall, I cannot dismiss the timing of my good fortune occurring so near your loss of title sponsorship from you team as being merely a coincidence. Because of my deep love for professional cycling, I can't help but think that I can turn my good fortune into something positive for you. Now, believe me, I do not make this offer selflessly. I am also motivated by the fact that once again, George Hincapie seems to be drawing the short end of the stick. Now, in the twilight of his career, George has signed with your team and now, that team seems to be in dire straits. I would like to see George finally pull off the big win, so we have to keep your team solvent enough to get through the spring classics. With all of this being said, my proposal is this: if you are interested in me giving you the $3 million that I have won from 2 separate foreign lotteries, as well as the 10% dividends that I will receive for helping a UK oil conglomerate extricate funds from the US, then I think that rather than giving these groups my financial information, you could just give them your team's information. If this idea is amenable to you, just contact me through the email link on this page.

We'll see if Mr. Stapleton takes me up on the offer. If I were him, I'd be in a scrambling panic right now, but he seems to be pretty calm about the whole implosion that he seems to be in the middle of. The damage to the sponsorship climate at the Pro Tour level can only be estimated at this point. Who knows what is going on behind the scenes of other top-level teams. The one thing that is certain is that now the war on drugs will get very heated. Given what is going on with Iban Mayo's doping case, things aren't going to get any better, though. Mayo's A sample was positive, but then his B sample was negative. So the UCI then has the B sample retested. It comes back negative again. So now, they want to take the B sample back to the lab that found the A sample positive and have them re-retest the B sample. I gotta say that that seems to be bordering on a witch hunt.

Jeff and I stayed at the shop late tonight unpacking and stocking the 11 boxes worth of Specialized stuff we got in today. We've got soooooooooo much new stuff in from Specialized it ain't even funny. Come check it out if you're down our way!

A hard decision

I'm quitting my teaching job. This has been a hard decision to make, but one that I feel is ultimately best for my family. Given the amount of time that will be required of me to help facilitate the large money transfers for the Star Energy Group, PLC, I feel it is for the best. I feel that the winnings from the UK Promo Lottery will serve as an adequate cushion in the transition time between teaching and my OPEC career, so I think we'll be okay. What really pushed me over the edge was the recent news that I received that I had also won 1.5 million dollars in the Foundation de France sports lottery. I think that my time now can honestly best be spent sitting back and letting the money come to me. I think that my big problem has been the spurious belief taught to me by my parents that you have to work to earn money. Apparently, that is not the path to wealth. So for now, a big "Hello, gravy train!!!"

A couple of shop announcements:

We are very excited to be able to announce that we are now a Specialized Accessories dealer! We have a large shipment of products that will be landing on our doorstep in the next few days, so come check it out!

Due this addition, we are closing out all of our in stock Adidas cycling shoes for 50% off! We have Adidas Tri-star, Race, and Vueltano road shoes as well as mtn. bike shoes and some women's specific road shoes. Get 'em before they're gone!

If you would like to attend a group trainer ride on Tuesday or Thursday night, please call the shop or drop me an email. We will be there if you want to come, but if no one expresses a desire for a particular night we will consider the ride canceled.

Don't forget 'cross racing in Boone this Sunday! It should be very good 'cross racing weather and I'm sure the beer tent will be the prime place to catch all the action since the course goes past it about 5 times per lap! See you there!

Lucky day!

Thanksgiving came off without a hitch. We got up and started cooking and got the turkey in at about 12:30. Cooking the Thanksgiving turkey is the high wire act of holiday dining. If you cook it right, then the meal comes off without a hitch. But screw up the turkey and people will talk about how you ruined thanksgiving for years. The worst is going to someone else's house and being served some super dry turkey and knowing that you could do a better job. So it was great to have a great meal with great food and great friends...

As if all of that wasn't enough, I received this email:

Dear Friend

Let me formally introduce myself to you, I am Mr. Raymond Wessel
president/founder STAR ENERGY GROUP PLC, we are OPEC members who deals on
crude oil and raw material and export into the America,Canada, Europe,
Africa South America and Asia.I will want to solicit for your assistance
to help collect a cheque that is due for payment to me for services and
supplies i rendered to my a client.

Please if you are willing to assist, i will want you to furnish me with
your particulars, so as to enable me give you further details. Please,
you have to be an honest and trust worthy person, as more payments
will be made through you in the course of this transaction.And more so you
will be entitled to 10% of every payment that you are able to receive
for us from our customers.
Provide for Us Your personal and banking details.

We look forward in working with you.

Sincerely
Raymond Wessel (Mr.)
Chief Executive Officer
Star Energy Group Plc

Now, it isn't often that this sort of windfall comes into my life, so I plan on taking full advantage of it. Given my extensive background with helping out exiled members of various Nigerian royal families, I have worked out some foolproof ways of dealing with these delicate money transfers.
1) I only accept gold bullion or uncut diamonds; no wire transfers!
2) I transfer the money to Mr. Wessel by purchasing iTunes gift cards in the total amount needed in $25 increments.

This is win-win for both of us. In fact, Mr. Wessel can buy a lot of digital music, burn them to disc multiple times and make a killing selling bootleg music on the black market.

As if hooking up with the Star Energy Group weren't lucky enough, I also received an email informing me that I had won a UK Promo Lottery by having my email randomly selected from a worldwide email list! What are the odds of being so lucky? Should be a good Christmas around the Moore household...

Eve of destruction

The turkey is bathing in brine in the fridge and the pumpkin pie just came out of the oven. Thanksgiving is nearly here. I really enjoy Thanksgiving. I love the cooking and the hanging out with friends and family. I love the food and even dig the leftovers.

Jeff and Shelly are joining us for Turkey day tomorrow. We have a little feast planned and it should be well worth the effort. Our menu is as follows:

Roast Turkey (bathed in brown sugar brine)
Belgian mashed potatoes with caramelized shallots
cooked cranberries
string beans
salad
sweet potato biscuits w/ orange marmalade butter
deviled eggs
pumpkin pie
Belgian beer cake with dried fruit

Jeff and I went for a little ride this morning as a way to pre-burn the calories we are going to consume tomorrow. It was a little chilly, but warmed up nicely during the ride. The weather for a turkey day ride is not looking hospitable. Better make it an early one or you're gonna get wet (hopefully). The saturday Luna group ride is moving to 10am starting this weekend. Hopefully, that will make the start a bit warmer!

We will be closed tomorrow and Friday, but will be open Saturday for all of your shopping needs! We have a lot of end of season sales on bikes and accessories, so come by and take advantage of us!

3 helmets to the 'cross gods

No snow materialized for Hendersonville, but Saturday was bitterly cold. The ground had a thick layer of frost and was as hard as concrete.

When we got to the venue, it was 7:45 am. I had not gotten much sleep since I had been out at some friend's art gallery opening and didn't get in bed until about midnight. I had gotten up at 4:30 am to start getting all my crap together for the drive, so not much sleep had been had. I had that fine, subtle jittery feeling that comes with sleep deprivation, but I wasn't daunted.

Got everything together, went through the smoothest and fastest registration process in the history of bike racing (thanks, Tim!) and started getting ready to race some 'cross. I got to the line and wound up beside Howard Rhyne, as usual. It's good to be near somebody you trust at the beginning of a 'cross race. This season has been some of the roughest and most aggro racing I have seen in the NC series, so I welcome the chance to be near somebody I know won't do something stupid. Howard and I even managed to talk the UCI commissaire into letting us line up on the front of the grid, but I couldn't follow through with it. Instead I ended up on the second row. The commisaire was doing random call ups and I stuck with the European line up method: if they point in your general direction, assume they mean you and roll up to the line. We started on a paved track, so I knew the start would go ballistic from the gun and sure enough we took off and I began downshifting immediately. My problems started when we came out of the turn onto the paved straightaway and I shifted into my 12t cog. As soon as I completed the shift, the chain jumped off the cog and jammed between the cog and the dropout. I stayed upright and pulled off to get out of the way. I jumped off and started working the situation out. Then the women's field started. All the women went by me before I got the chain sorted out.

I took off and started picking my way through the women's field. Halfway through the first lap, I caught the back of the men's field and settled down to business. I stayed focus on catching, passing and dropping as many guys as I could. I drove it as hard as I could, for as long as I could. My final trip down the fast downhill, off camber grass turn ended in me smacking the ground with my head so hard that I broke my helmet and bent my derailleur hanger. I knew it was bad because I heard all of the cow bells stop ringing and a collective "Oooooooooooooooohhhhhh" rise up from the crowd. I remember my teammate Bob yelling for me to get up and go (thanks for all of the cheering Bob). I sorted myself out and took off. I caught a few more people and rolled across the line in 22nd place. I had caught and passed over 40 guys and gotten one of my best placings this season after spotting the field a 2 minute head start!

Jack Brown finished 4th, Chris Behrman finished 5th (and took over the series lead), Bobby got 15th, Charles Hicks finished 43rd, Jeff finished 4th in a strong Master's field and Howard Hesterberg secured 2nd overall in the Master's 55+ series (and also caught many 45+ and 35+ racers!).

In retrospect, I'm pretty sure I got a mild concussion from my crash, but that didn't deter me from racing on Sunday. However, the effort of Saturday took it's toll on me and I could not capitalize on a great start and ended up in 20th place. Oh well, it's not like I won't be back to do it again next year.

So, I broke my helmet in a crash; Jeff broke his helmet when it slid off of his head after his race and Jack broke his helmet when he decided to do a high speed turf sample on the final lap of Sunday's race. That must be some kind of record...

Jack Brown with turf buddy

Uh-oh... snow?

It looks like nature is going to play a part in this weekend's NC Gran Prix of Cyclocross. The temps are plummeting and snow is swirling all around us. The 9:30 am start for the CX4 race is going to be in the downright welldigger's butt crack chilly vicinity. I'm sure the ground will be frozen solid. Last year this meant zero traction in crucial spots and more than a few warm-up lap crashes transpired. The master's race will neatly bookend the day with a 3:30 pm start. By that time the ground should be mushy to partly goopy. I'm not sure which condition will be best...

I'm going to be stepping up to the line with a new piece of equipment this weekend. Due to the big break between the CX4's and the master's, I will be using the ZIPP 303's with Tufo Flexus 32's that Jeff has been hogging thus far this season. These wheels will drop 2lbs. off of the total bike weight. I can't even fathom what that is going to feel like! Now I will really be on a no excuse bike.

There is a new forum up for cycling in NC. Check out and use bikingnc.com and try to make a statewide cycling community! I'm in the process of revamping this 'blog, so if you have any favorite bike sites you think I should put up permanent links to, send 'em my way.

Group trainer rides will start the week after Thanksgiving on Tuesday and Thursday night's at 7:00 pm. Let us know if you are interested by either emailing or calling the shop.

Lastly, I wanted to post a few pics from Pinehurst that Jenna sent me.



Post race recovery/Jeff's impromptu birthday party

The day after the day after

It's always the second day that gets you. You know, lift weights or run or do anything physical and the next day you feel okay. Maybe a little tired and sore, but decent given what you did. But then the second day hits and you wake up seriously tweaked. And seriously tweaked is the state I am in right now. I think my right leg is shorter than my left one due to an angry calf that has curled up into a tight little ball of pain. Or the right hip flexor that likes to let me know it's displeasure with sharp stabbing pains when I move just right. I am not the victor in this weekend's battle in the sands. I think I would rather crash on rocks than suffer through the sandpits again.

I'm going to try to get a massage before the races this weekend. If you are in need of some muscular work, make sure you give Brian Pleasants a try. He has partnered up with Shelli at The Perfect Fit and by all reports he is an excellent sports masseuse. His number is (704) 895-2360. A good massage can make a world of difference in your performance, so don't blow it off as a luxury!

Now is the time for another great performance enhancer: bike fitting. We have entered the slow time in the shop and have the luxury of being able to spend a good deal of time with you working out your fit issues or even just tuning up your position a bit. We also have some new products in the works that will further increase the amount of customization we can do in order to help you achieve maximum comfort and performance on the bike! Give us a call if you would like to set up an appointment.

This weekend is the double race smackdown known as the NC Gran Prix of Cyclocross. It is in Hendersonville at a new course from the past few years, Flat Rock Middle School. The course looks like a doozy with long straightaways punctuated with sharp, twisty, s-curves and hairpins. It looks to be a long course, too. See you there!

Greetings from the 1st ring of Hell

Sandhell. Pinehurt. Call it what you want, but today's race was no joke hard in a painful, energy sapping kind of way. The course was modified from that of the past few years and it was an improvement to what was already a stellar course. For the first time in the series, barriers proved to be a definite technical issue due to their placement at the beginning and end of a sloped u-turn. Numerous (really numerous) deep sand sections(several of which had to be run to maintain speed and position) and a torturously long, deep sand run up added more than enough spice to this bouillabaisse of pain. Our merry band had a decent day with Chris Behrman 2nd (CX4), Howard Hesterberg 3rd (55+), Jeff Welch 4th (35+), Bob Pugh 4th (45+), Jack Brown 13th (CX4 and an unknown placing in 35+) and me, somewhat ignominiously, 28th (CX4) and 27th (35+). Yep, I just can't get enough of that painful stuff, so I gotta go and do the double up racing back-to-back. My 7th, 8th and 9th trips up the sand run up were the very definition of pain. A lady was talking to me, telling me to "keep up the pace". I said, "Ma'm, this is the pace".

Thanks to everyone for cheering for us and thanks to my teammates for the post race libations! I'll post pics when they are emailed to me. Thanks, too, to Jenna for coming with us and helping out with all of our race needs and for also putting up with our numerous pee breaks on the drive down!

it's about bedtime

We're rolling out for Pinehurst and the Sandhell 'cross race tomorrow morning at about 4:30 am. There is no good way to get from here to the Sandhills region of NC. The most direct routes take you through so many small towns with traffic lights that it makes the circuitous interstate routes significantly speedier. So we leave at the butt crack of dawn, stop along the way at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then try to make it to the race with enough time to get a decent warm up and be able to scout the course before hurtling down it at mach 10.

Jeff won the master's race in Johnson City today. He's doing a back to back race set this weekend to prep for Hendersonville next weekend and the NC State championships/Boone races the weekend after Thanksgiving. Me, I'm just trying to suffer my way through with a healthy dose of smoke and mirrors in the hopes that one weekend will be MY weekend!

The last few Saturdays in the shop have been pretty slow. The whole downtown seems to be slow on the weekends. As Christmas season approaches, try to give your local merchants a shot at fulfilling your gift needs before you head to the mall or the big box stores. Remember that of the 7.5% sales tax that you pay on purchases, 2.5% goes to the county. By buying locally, you are adding money to the county coffers; money that is used for all sorts of public services. Support Locally Owned Businesses!

I'll give a full rundown of tomorrow's sandy funfest as soon as I recover enough to type!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I jumped on the 'cross bike and took off to work this morning. About 2 minutes in I realized it was cold. After about 5 minutes I realized it was pretty damn cold. My fingertips and toes got that burning, tingling sensation and my sinuses felt like I had just sucked up too much milkshake too quickly. Kind of off the bat in my commute I have a pretty decent hill that takes a good 10 minutes to climb. I stood up and pushed a big gear up it, trying to stoke the fire and get warm. It worked well enough to last the rest of the ride. When I walked into school, my students got all wide-eyed, so I must have looked a bit rough.

I have failed to mention it, but I have been riding a new 'cross bike since the Lenoir race. I built up one of the Argon 18 Arsenics that we got recently. It is an all carbon frameset and is the stiffest and smoothest riding 'cross frame I have ever been on. It has a massive bottom bracket area that keeps all of the pedal force going into the rear wheel. I was impressed on the 'cross course Sunday, but I got a different set of impressions when I outfitted it with road wheels and rode it to work this morning. It is a buttery smooth ride and the carbon frame attenuates the road vibration. Argon 18 seems to have done a good job at maximizing the potential of carbon.

With the onset of a windy cold climate, it is time to think about riding indoors. There has been some interest in trainer rides at the shop. I am thinking that we should start the week after Thanksgiving. How does Tuesday and Thursday nights at 8 pm sound to everyone? Give me some feedback so we can get it right!

For those of you looking to take some time off the bike, now is the perfect time to get an end of season overhaul! That way, when you take the bike out to ride again, everything will be smooth, perfect and brand spankin' new!

This weekend is the Southern Pines stop of the NC Cyclocross series. Affectionately known as "Sandhell", this course features the sandiest conditions to be found on any course in NC. Sand is one of those tricky, unpredictable surfaces to race on. Sometimes you cruise on the top of it, sometimes float through it, and other times you bog down and slip and slide through it in an unpredictable dance that can throw you down without hesitation. I have never done well at this course. I have gotten good starts and had moments that were encouraging, but it hasn't come to fruition. Perhaps this time will be different...

Big sigh

I don't seem to be recovering quickly from these weekend 'cross efforts. Mondays, I'm pretty wiped out. Tuesdays, I'm better, but still fatigued in a droopy kinda way. By Wednesday, I'm starting to feel a little more normal. I think what I really need is a good massage. My kinks have kinks in them.

I've gotten a few photos to post, but I need to wait until I have the faster computer to actually put them up.

Up next on the agenda is the Southern Pines race this weekend. It is a hellishly sandy course with a dastardly run up and some grassy power sections. I'm just glad I don't have school on Monday, afterwards!

My students are finishing up their Nascar presentations and it is pretty obvious how much work some of them put into them. Even my diehard Nascar fans have learned something about the sport. Next up, we learn about magnetism and electricity. Not sure how I'm going to tackle it, but I'm working on it.

Lastly, Deb Venti's write in campaign for Mayor of Lenoir came up just short as incumbent David Barlow edged her out 661 to 619. Maybe a full campaign is in order the next time around? I also got to talk to city councilman TJ Rohr who was doing the meet and greet at the downtown polling place. He said something to me about how he knew I wasn't going to vote for him as we disagree on the recycling issue. I was a little shocked by this, I mean true, I'm right and he's wrong about the need for municipal recycling (just joking, TJ!), but I respect the fact that he has a unique point of view and brings a different perspective from the norm to our local political scene. Also, he's a genuinely personable guy and in no way resembles a stuffed shirt. I told him that I appreciate viewpoints on the fringe, since that is where my own political views lie and even though our fringes are on the opposite sides of things, we can at least keep the middle honest!

Our town is at a serious crossroads in its infant rebirth. Our downtown revitalization effort has not just stagnated, but seems to be losing ground. There is a dearth of empty retail space for lease, with no apparent prospects for new business. Fewer people are coming to downtown Lenoir and the effect on business is chilling. The loss of Sledgehammer Charlie's shows how important a strong anchor is to fledgling businesses. That coupled with the advent of out-of-town landlords who swooped in and bought up retail space as an investment in Lenoir becoming the next "big thing" has led to some serious issues for anyone wanting to open a new business downtown. We must do something to encourage an environment that is conducive to small, locally owned businesses starting, growing and thriving in the downtown business district.

Lenoir 'Cross Race

I'm too tired to write much about today's phenomenal race here in Lenoir. Suffice it to say that much verbiage and as many pictures as I can round up will be posted here in the near future. A big, huge thank you to all of the volunteers who helped make this event possible. The past few days have been a whirlwind of last minute details and a huge amount of physical labor to put the race together and take it apart afterwards. Thanks to everyone who participated and spectated. We hope you had a great time!