Not my day.....

As I wrote this morning things were going in my favor. All the rain dropped during the night, blue skies were overtaking the scarce dark puffs, temps rising into the 60s, new Flyte hanging in my bike stand, pancakes and coffee on the stove, and a group meeting north of Nashville at 10:45 that I will be able to make. That all sounds good.....right? Yes it does! And it all went well besides the relentless winds pummeling me until I split from the group to ride home.

I admit I was pretty wiped out after 3 hrs of 20+ mph gusts and some steady efforts but that did not have any relation to the events that caused the day to be a little upsetting. What you might ask....I wrecked the new bike and slid it across some blacktop on its second voyage. I was not a happy camper and there was no one to even blame or get mad at; not even myself!

How is that possible? Well unless I can blame the wind (hmmm sounds like an old Milli Vanilli song) or the almighty himself, I'm out of luck. As I rolled through an intersection just on the northern side of Nashville something happened that I couldn't repeat if I actually tried. I was passing some construction barrels that unfortunately had loose yellow caution tape between them. Yeah I can see it in slow motion now. The wind gusts, the tape bow out past the edge of the road and right under my drops. Actually nothing I could do as it entangled in my bars and pulled my front end right out from under me. Luckily I didn't get hit by the Cherokee that was coming by me as I slid out in the road on my side. I managed to only come out with a nice sized strawberry on my hip, elbow, and across my lower leg. Too bad the skewers, bar tape, and Dura-Ace shifters took the fall as well. Arrrggghhhh! New bike no more and I guess I don't have to worry about getting the newness worn off now. Only cosmetics really so ride on!

For Love of CYCLING

I have really enjoyed the direction that being a health consultant has turned me in the last year. It really makes me realize not to be hypocritical. I suggest ideas to people all day about health, stress, etc and it makes me want to improve my ways of living. This may be a good thing or bad thing b/c now I've realized with a little more preparation I can ride my bike to work 18 miles away and not only get some training in, save some bills on gas, but also do my part for preserving the air. And yes now everyone looks at me when I walk in work fully dressed in lycra, but hey that is where I'm at now b/c I will sometimes do what others won't. I think the coolest is everyone making a big deal of me riding home at 9:30pm when I get off night shift. It is one of the most enjoyable rides b/c there is no traffic and getting to enjoy the rolling terrain by night light is cool. On Monday night I rode home and I made a conscious effort to take a mental snapshot of something that I had never experienced before. While riding home that late, the dew started settling and having my headlight mounted on my helmet perfectly illuminated the water droplets as I was slicing through the fog. It reminded me of driving in a really hard rain storm with a cars high beams on and you can see each rain drop coming straight at the windshield. Simple, but memorable!

And in other good new the Midwest Elite team that I founded has pulled through as our primary sponsor, Flyte Bicycles, have just mailed our new bikes. I build mine on Friday afternoon and put it to the test yesterday. I've never ridden a compact frame before and I really like it. Getting ready to head back out today after I partake in some dark java and a mtn of flapjacks. Got to have the fuel to fly!! It's 9 already and training to start. Lates!

For Love of CYCLING

Utah, skiing, and big smiles....

Perfect! That is the only way I can explain the last couple weeks! Even though I am having a hard time typing this right now since I am sitting next to a warm plate of banana buckwheat pancakes and a fresh cup of sumatra. I can do it...type a few words; then have a few bites. C'mon Daniel...focus!

Utah was great and I have to recommend it to anyone wanting to take a ski trip. It is nice b/c you can fly directly into Salt Lake City and there are 11 mtns w/n an hour. You cannot beat that! We unfortunately only experienced 2 of them, but I can see an encore of this trip next year. My faithful travel buddy, David Timmons, was at my side yet another nice week. Can't ever go wrong traveling with him whether to a race or just for fun; it's always just fun times. We experienced the Canyons resort which is close to Park City. It was nice with around 146 runs ( the most in UT), but it was a little too touristy and overrun that weekend due to MLK and kids being out of school. Luckily we learned and searched out more remote local spot, Powder Mtn. Now that made the trip completely worthwhile. Luckily Sunday dropped a couple feet of powder and we had the chance to experience it first hand on Monday. I wish I could say I was a good skier/snowboarder but hey I'm from KY around 500 ft elevation. There aren't mtns or snow here, so kinda limited on practice. I did just throw caution to the wind and venture down several black diamonds. I found that if you force yourself out of your comfort zone, you pretty much have to get better. This was true for me besides the few "yardsales" and "ragdolls" that I had down some steep sections. All I can say is, I'm sure glad I'm flexible b/c I don't know how I can kick myself in the back of the head so many times and not rip my groin or tear a hammie!

I can't go on ranting about the skiing trip w/o mentioning some other great things from UT. It wouldn't have been possible w/o my cousin Ariel and her husband Gabriel. They put us up for the weekend and all we had to do was ignore the crying of their adorable 15 mth old, Mirsayah. They were our personal tour guides, airport shuttle, and all-around hook-up. We were lucky that they bought our lift passes from the air force base so we got them half-price. Sweeeeet! I love being frugle, but I still haven't looked at my credit card bill yet. Oooops!

Coming home was a bummer b/c I can wake up to the sun rising over the mtns, but at least I received a promotion and raise at work on return. I was excited to hear that b/c I was already trying to plan another ski trip in March to hang out with my brother from another mother, Kevin; his hottie, Bryn; my old roomie and wife, Eric and Trish; and a cool new hottie friend of Bryn's, Heather. I don't know if these plans will work out since I was also surprised during my trip by my sis, Tina, that she was engaged and expecting. The wedding is set for beginning of March as well, so the conflict arises.

I am good at playing things by ear and waiting for the last minute to fly by the seat of my pants anyways. The next thing I'm looking forward to is my first 24 HR race coming in 3 wks in Reddick FL. I can't wait to test my skills in day, night, and w/o steady sleep. 24 hrs of bike racing....what could be more fun? Yes I'm sick in the head!

Well my pancakes are cold and my coffee is getting that way. I must go and shower from my run and get my bike ready to spin to work this afternoon. Next update....new bikes, great report of Montgomery Bell State Park (as I promised), and who knows!

I am leaving you with a smile, since I can't seem to get it off my face. I love life and how I've been blessed!

Halaluah!!!!!

This past weekend was one of the most productive and motivating weekends in months. I must say most will think this weekends hours in the saddle are a big compulsive, but I felt great and wanted to take advantage. I would have rather been on the mountain bike but I'm focusing on building some endurance right now so the 10 1/2 hrs in two days this weekend was more appropriate. Saturday was the 1st day in months that my legs felt smooth at a high cadences. I think some of the later strength training I did specifically mimicking the cycling stroke helped get those hip flexors and hammies fired up and ready to pull nice clean circles. I am now so stiff sitting here that I'm off to the gym again to work out some soreness.

It's great to feel good on the bike because now my goals of getting in race shape is falling into place. My better eating habits are much easier when I see the progress I make and how much better I feel climbing when I'm simply a pound lighter. Down 1 and 9 more to go which puts me on schedule to be at race weight sometime around March. That is unless the 24 hr race in February takes 5 lbs off in one day.

Got a new toy on the way! Ordered my new sponsorship bike from Flyte this weekend so I should be sporting my new full Dura-ace rig by the end of the month. I had a blast with the online customizing tool they have. You can customize any stock bike down to the headset spacers by +/- price and grams. How sweet for those looking for the best balance of price and performance! I hate worrying about bike wgt when it would be just as easy to drop 3 lbs and I would have to worry about riding a heavier bike...but darn those big pancake breakfasts are great!

Now waiting for new production mtn bikes to come out so I can see what Flyte has to offer for full-suspension. After riding a 5in travel bike all year, there is no way going to ride a hardtail!

Next big thing....skiing in Utah this weekend. This is one time I say heck with the bike...lock my feet in some boots and let me go!

Montgomery Bell....Wheee!

Oh the ankle hurts but it's amazing how if you ride in the cold for 3 hrs you can't really feel it. This is a great thing because I took a haul out to Montgomery Bell State Park today to explore some of the mtn bike trails. I raced there this summer and the course was relentless. I found out that the race course only exposed the tip of the iceberg. The crew that has been putting these trails together really know how to utilize the space and the natural terrain, not to mention build some sweet wooden jumps and bridges. I rode for 3 hrs taking the outer loops, inner loops, one way downhills, and new trails that ended no where. This did not bother me one bit b/c whatever trail I was on kept me working, twisting, and wrenching the bike and my body. I wanted to take it easy but that just not happening with the 180 degree switchbacks and the geeeeed out drops. This is my new favorite trail around the Nashville area, although Hamiliton Creek is a close 2nd. I think I would like Hamilton Creek more if you didn't have to worry about the attack of the non-breeders.

And I just remembered that I did not post an update about some riding and trail-building that I did with a few friends at Lake Barkley State Park. Check back b/c it's 9p and I'm jettin' to the gym to get my lift on.

Buenos noches mis amigos!!!!!

For Love of CYCLING

Slow for now....

I still haven't admitted it or given in completely, but my nature of ignoring the obvious aches and pains of training has caused some winter drawbacks. During the weeks of x-training, my endurance from cycling exceeded the wear and tear that my joints were accustomed to withstanding. Basically I have come to the realization that I either have a stress fracture or tendonitis in my right ankle. Not a good thing as I am trying to start some base miles while prep for the 24 Hours of Reddick that is coming in February. I am doing the immature thing now and postponing the actual diagnosis by not getting a doctor appointment until after I return from a skiing trip in Utah.

Don't worry though, good things are happening. I've noticed my maturation as a cyclist now entering my 6th year of racing. This means my body is starting to put muscle and power in the right spots and cycling is becoming a natural movement, like walking for most people. The only thing I have to fight is trying to not overdo it most of the time. I am trying to keep up the training by lifting weights 2-3x/wk now keeping off the ankle and riding the flat routes and rollers inside keeping the cadence higher so the ankle doesn't have to push and pull so hard on the hills. It is still hard to miss out on the "Be there or get slower" Nashville training rides, so I tend to pound out 4-5 hrs every Saturday morning with a solid group of guys staring at powertaps and SRM's.

Good things are also happening with racing plans for next year. I started a small team to get some local riders more involved and it seems to be paying off. Midwest Elite just sent the contract back to Flyte cycles out of Ohio. We will be supporting this company as a team in 2006. Can't wait to order the new bikes and start racing in the coming months. It is great to be dealing with a smaller company b/c they are offering a very personal touch and this gives us the opportunity to help them grow around the region. Check them out at www.Flyte1.com and look forward to seeing our team link on their site when we get our uniforms, bikes, and team photo.

Daniel