The wall...

Well today I woke up a little late, I was supposed to leave the house at 8:20ish for a Lehigh ride with Vegan Rob & Dakota. I didn't even wake up till 8:20, so as usual I was running late.

I got there at 9:15 to see Rob with his feet up and Dakota chillin' in the parking lot. Moral of the story for this ride is two-fold - don't wake up late for a ride with anyone else, and don't skip breakfast when you're late for that ride with somebody.

I really hit the wall today, about an hour and a half in I totally bonked. I definitely don't want to experience that again. I guess I should have also tried to eat while I was riding, but failed at that too.

After my bonk, Rob and Dakota continued on to finish up a loop. I limped back to the car with just 10 miles and 2 hours of ride time. The other issue with the day was my lack of bike maintenance, apparently my middle ring and chain on the f29 were shot. I made the call to SMC for a Talum order, picked up some grub and headed to SMC to replace my ring / chain.

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The Allentown Brew Works is holding some roller races on the 2nd floor on 2/27, 3/13, & 3/20. Last night was the first one - and this is a fun night. Olympic cyclist Bobby Lea busted out the fastest time trial of the night, beating his competition by approximately 9 seconds in a mile.

I didn't stay to see the finish but I've gotta guess that Bobby took the win for the night. Geronimo was another one that just seemed to toy with his competition, just as someone would catch him - he would put a 1/4 lap lead on them.

The bar has pitcher specials and good food, so come check it out! I think Flask is gonna do some racin' next time too. Rumor has it we should do a blood alcohol test on the racers and deduct 10 seconds for each .01 blood alcohol level - should give Flask a distinct advantage.

-matt

Snowy lehigh...

The plan was to try to head down to Philly for some Wiss/Belmont riding. Unfortunately mother nature had different plans - as usual. It was supposed to rain/snow there, so that place would be wrecked from what I'm told.

John Eurio and I headed out for 2:45 at Lehigh, and hit every hill we could find there. It was definitely a challenging ride, with a steady effort the whole time. I was really working on recovering on the downhills, and keeping my effort in check.

The conditions were quite good, even considering the falling snow and rain at points. I'm really ready for some good weather, ie: not putting on soo many layers in order to just ride. We need some dry dirt to ride on really soon.

I'm gonna try to hit up the Camp Hilbert 5 hour Enduro in Richmond, VA if anyone wants to hitch a ride down and split some costs. It's on March 8th, and is about a 5 hour drive from the Lehigh Valley. So hit me up if your in.

-matt

double header

Sunday's plan was to meet up with Jay and ride with Dank and a few guys at Lehigh. Fortunately I wasn't the late one to the ride today, it was actually Dan showing up about 15 minutes late.

After the customary ball busting took place we were off for some Lehigh trail fun. Only a few minutes later there was a flat, and this would set the pace for the ride. Jay and I peeled off down the deer path and rode out the loop. Our plan was to hit a Lehigh loop, cruise down through campus and meet up with Talotta for a Sals loop.

After blasting through campus, which I've never actually rode through there (kinda cool). We showed up to St. Lukes just on time, expecting Chris to ready to ride. Apparently he thought we were meeting at Dodson, so he rode down and we rode in to meet him. Fun loop at Sals, though I was a bit tired.

I flatted late in the ride, just before the 3 bitches climbs. We cruised the rest of the lap, with Talotta riding up to the cars with us, and he hitched a ride back to his car with me. That was a pretty good loop which is just shy of 3 hours ride time. Bowman's did BELS (Bear Creek / Emmaus / Lehigh / Sals) all in the same day, which is damn ambitious. I think I'd be dead by Lehigh. Though I plan to at least try it soon.

Unfortunately I'm "working" today and not enjoying the sunshine and decent temps we have here today. I hope a lot of you got out for some miles today.

-matt

School is in session..

Friday morning I was set to ride Lehigh with Vegan Rob, and as usual I was running late. Unfortunately when I got there I realized even Jay DeJesus beat me to the ride, which he in the past is always the late one. After gearing up and heading into the woods, it would seem that the race was on.

My legs weren't really feeling fresh going into the ride, which is odd as I'd had a few days off the bike. So I focused on trying to mirror the two really talented riders ahead of me, when I could get close enough. Every time I get to ride with these guys I learn or relearn something that I need to keep practicing in order to get faster.

Today the key I would have to say - is trying to flow better on the downhills in order to recover for the uphills. I've been working on a lot of cornering skills / techniques while following better riders. I just wish I could make these things more of a second nature kinda thing, it seems I always forget to put to use the skills I pick up.

Just about 2 hours on the mountain and a really good workout, and we were back at the car. I was contemplating doing a road ride just to spin my legs out, and I was told that doing a group ride wouldn't really work. I didn't take that advice and headed over to the Rodale lunch ride.

Another just over an hour of a spirited group ride was probably not exactly what I needed, but it sure was a good ride! On to a quality nap, and race over to Double Click to pick up our failed iMac hard drive, which are supposed to be trouble free?? A trip over to SMC for happy hour, followed by some beer and food at Liberty St, and that concluded a great Friday.

-matt

Derby..

Apparently the Derby went kinda quick yesterday. Swope called me looking for Brad Ford's phone number to let him know to not wait for her, after getting dropped on the way out. I guess it was windy and if you fall a little off, you're done.

Even Vegan Rob, who attempted to chase the group after starting only 6 minutes late, couldn't chase 'em down. So now he's taken to racing horse and buggies.

-matt

Weekend updates (2of2)...

A bunch of people were going out for a long Saturday ride, unfortunately I work Saturday's and can never get out on this ride. We were kinda busy at work for a change, and I didn't get outta there till almost 6:30pm.

Cush was having a birthday/1 year in PA bash at his place Saturday night. Beer, food, live band, and friends. How can you go wrong? The party was ridiculous, a keg of Fosters in the snow, the Elkie in the driveway which I thought the band was gonna play in the back??

This long night wouldn't work out too well for doing the Derby from SMC at 9am Sunday morning. So I chose to hook with Bill, JK, Taylor, John, Dkill, Ray, Plunkett, and Christine for a 3-4 hour winter paced road ride - notice Cush wasn't there, so it was in fact a winter paced ride! Most of the ride consisted of really cool back roads, riding through rivers of melting snow, HILLS, and some dirt roads that made you feel as though you had a double flat.

On the way back we stopped at Cush's for a much needed Red Bull boost. Recharged a few of the riders and off we headed back to Emmaus. Great ride, about 40 miles with just about 4000 feet of climb. A few of us capped the ride with some grub from the Superior, and some beers at Keith & Christine's. Fortunately I didn't have to go out and ride again, like Christine had to. She's testing some really killer Specialized women's free-ride bikes.

Back to the long work week, hoping for some great weather like we had yesterday!

-matt

Weekend updates (1of2)...

This weekend had some good riding, along with some good partying as well. Friday's ride consisted of a fast 63 mile road ride out to Lk Ontalaunee. The Animal and Bobby Lea led us out for quite a bit of the ride (so this set the pace). By the time we got to the lake after making a wrong turn at my suggestion, we had put down about an 18 mph average even with a few stops and Bobby's flat.

We turned around to head home in order to get Beth back in time to pick up Nat from school. So the pace was once again fast to ensure our arrival in Emmaus by 3pm. We succeeded with time to spare, rolling in at 2:45. Pearson treated the bunch to some Old Milwaukee pounders (recovery beverage?) Tom and Hans rolled it a bit after 3pm after hitting the wall around Mertztown. Tom bought another round of Bass, for being the last one back from the ride (Beth's new rule).

Christine worked some overtime, since Wachovia is occasionally looking for OT. So, since she was working I headed back to SMC for some happy hour fun, with the excuse that I had to get a heater to Cush for his birthday/1 year in PA bash.

-matt

Brrr....

Another cold ride was on tap for the Rodale lunch ride. Pearson, Brad Ford, Matt Allyn and I left the north street building just after 12pm. Well after Beth got a few pics of Pearson's new bike and his homemade assflap fender (I think it was made out of a tupperware lid)

Apparently Flask attempted to guilt Pearson into the whole Lehigh Valley Fender Movement. But Pearson didn't give in and unhooked his tupperware lid for the ride.

We were headed out on the Vera Cruz loop when Matt Allyn decided it was TOO cold for the him and he bailed at Pennsylvania St. The 3 of us continued on, and it really wasn't too bad out. The roads were decent with only a few patches of snow/ice in the shady areas.

I felt great until the turn near the school where we caught a wicked head wind. Otherwise the ride was great, and we saw one other crazy cyclist out. Looks like nice long ride tomorrow and possibly the Derby for Sunday. Nice weather on tap for the weekend, so I hope everyone gets out and enjoys it!

-matt