I hit a squirrel.
Nothing like coming back from a blog hiatus with such breaking and important news.
I was in the middle of a threshold set starting down a small hill. When a little gray blur popped out of the brush and; Bam, bam. Both wheels. Which makes me think if he wasn't able to move out of the way of the second wheel then he's not likely making it anywhere else soon.
I've wondered for a long time what it would be like to hit a squirrel/chipmunk (they're pretty much the same for all intense and purposes right?) while ridding. And now I know. Just a couple of quick blips under the wheels. No guts, no losing control and ending up in the ditch. It was pretty fricken awesome I must say. If I wasn't in the middle of a set I would have def turned around to survey the carnage.
Poor guy.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
What A Great Day
The weather was brutal on Saturday for my threshold run in the wild and the rain and for the first day of cross racing in Gloucester. The all day ran made for an insanely muddy course. I heard reports from years past that Gloucester can be a grass crit...but I've never raced it so what do I know: That I was bummed to not be duking it out in the mud-fest.
It cleared up on Sunday and the course dried out a lot. I've got some footage of starts and some lap footage I'll try and put up now.
I caught the start of the Elite Woman's and then had to take off for my own training ride...on the roads...sigh. But before I left the house I tracked down a portable radio I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. I swapped out the battery and low and behold the thing works. You konw what that means right?
Sunday afternoon ride in the fall with a radio? That's ride. It was a Pats ride!
Granted the reception kept fading in and out until I started to closer towards Boston, and it was hard to really focus on the game a lot of the time. But I got the jist and could pay attention during my cool down, which coincided with the exciting last couple of minutes of play.
Plus Evelyn was in her first race and did really well. And the day was capped off with a killer roast with veggies.
Pretty awesome day.
It cleared up on Sunday and the course dried out a lot. I've got some footage of starts and some lap footage I'll try and put up now.
I caught the start of the Elite Woman's and then had to take off for my own training ride...on the roads...sigh. But before I left the house I tracked down a portable radio I got for Christmas a couple of years ago. I swapped out the battery and low and behold the thing works. You konw what that means right?
Sunday afternoon ride in the fall with a radio? That's ride. It was a Pats ride!
Granted the reception kept fading in and out until I started to closer towards Boston, and it was hard to really focus on the game a lot of the time. But I got the jist and could pay attention during my cool down, which coincided with the exciting last couple of minutes of play.
Plus Evelyn was in her first race and did really well. And the day was capped off with a killer roast with veggies.
Boog's First Race from Toby on Vimeo.
Pretty awesome day.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday Night Cross
Well, this is a week late, but last Wednesday we headed over to Bradley Palmer for ECV's weekly cross practice.
It was great to pull up and see a strong showing and a wide range of abilities.
The practice loop is a bit small, only a few minutes at best. They manage to put in a couple of technical turns, an off camber section and one forced dismount (barriers).
In typical cross fashion there was a good friendly vibe emanating from the workout.
I think that the general structure to the evening goes like this:
Any time before 5:30, ride laps and get aerobic work or a warm-up done.
Meet up at 5:30 and work on some technical aspect of cross. We worked on a couple of techniques for dismounting and going over barriers. I picked up that last week they worked on starting techniques.
Take a little unorganized break.
Partner up and do some Madisons on a re-routed part of the course. We did 5 Madisons.
Take another unorganized break.
Practice some starts.
Head back to the car in the dusk and try fruitlessly to avoid the EEE mosquitoes.
Explicitly focusing on and discussing skills and drills was a pretty good way to spend a practice and to hone some talent. But it made for a far less aerobic workout than the 'one on, one off' style of the West Hill Wednesday night practice. And arguably when you go 'round and 'round, lap after lap your gonna get sharper at dismounts and sprinting out of corners and elbowing etc without going slow and breaking it down. A mixture of the two perhaps?
On another note thank you to the two people that gave up tubes for me. I showed up completely unprepared and owe a couple of six packs to Tim and the nice lady I madisoned with. Maybe I'll see them at Gloucester.
It was great to pull up and see a strong showing and a wide range of abilities.
The practice loop is a bit small, only a few minutes at best. They manage to put in a couple of technical turns, an off camber section and one forced dismount (barriers).
In typical cross fashion there was a good friendly vibe emanating from the workout.
I think that the general structure to the evening goes like this:
Any time before 5:30, ride laps and get aerobic work or a warm-up done.
Meet up at 5:30 and work on some technical aspect of cross. We worked on a couple of techniques for dismounting and going over barriers. I picked up that last week they worked on starting techniques.
Take a little unorganized break.
Partner up and do some Madisons on a re-routed part of the course. We did 5 Madisons.
Take another unorganized break.
Practice some starts.
Head back to the car in the dusk and try fruitlessly to avoid the EEE mosquitoes.
Explicitly focusing on and discussing skills and drills was a pretty good way to spend a practice and to hone some talent. But it made for a far less aerobic workout than the 'one on, one off' style of the West Hill Wednesday night practice. And arguably when you go 'round and 'round, lap after lap your gonna get sharper at dismounts and sprinting out of corners and elbowing etc without going slow and breaking it down. A mixture of the two perhaps?
On another note thank you to the two people that gave up tubes for me. I showed up completely unprepared and owe a couple of six packs to Tim and the nice lady I madisoned with. Maybe I'll see them at Gloucester.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Autumn
It's defiantly not summer any more.
Well, clearly.
It's not like I need to announce that in the middle of September.
Labor day has come and gone. Schools are filled back up. Trees are already changing and shedding. And it's getting cold....
It always comes as a surprise to me once September hits. But alas. It's time to dig out the armwarmers and the leg warmers and the long fingered gloves, sigh, and the toe booties and the vests... and I shudder at the thought of having to do a swim bike brick. (10 min T1 with a wardrobe change? I think so.)
But it's the way it goes yah? And it's all in the name of Clearwater baby.
Well, clearly.
It's not like I need to announce that in the middle of September.
Labor day has come and gone. Schools are filled back up. Trees are already changing and shedding. And it's getting cold....
It always comes as a surprise to me once September hits. But alas. It's time to dig out the armwarmers and the leg warmers and the long fingered gloves, sigh, and the toe booties and the vests... and I shudder at the thought of having to do a swim bike brick. (10 min T1 with a wardrobe change? I think so.)
But it's the way it goes yah? And it's all in the name of Clearwater baby.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Timberman Race Report
Okay. So in retrospect Sunday turned out to be a pretty good day. Overall my goal was achieved; a spot to Clearwater. I had a good bike an as expected swim and I learned a lot on the run.
The water was warm during the swim and in between dodging passed swimmers and tapping toes (Sorry Mr. Schweihs) I started to get toasty. Wet suit stripping is fun but it is always nuts. A quick, but not too quick, transition put me on my bike and a straw sip away from some refreshment.
For such a challenging bike course I had a pretty enjoyable ride. I was worried that the turns at the bottom of every downhill were going to zap away potential speed but managing to stay aero and fast made for fun bike riding. Although I shutter to think what would be if I was another inch closer to the cones on the last turn onto route 11. Also I made it up to 52 mph on hill down on 107...I thought that was pretty good. Yah?
Starting in the 10th wave makes for an interesting disposition on the bike. You're passing tons and tons of people and feel pretty studly. But it makes it that much more difficult to settle into your plan and hold a straight line. If nothing else it abolishes any monotony. But you have absolutely no idea of where anyone in your wave is, and you get held up on the technical sections. But climbing the 'monstah' with all those people and rolling down 106 with a huge line of bikers in front your is pretty cool.
I tried to cool off with and drink a bottle of water at each aid station but realized a little too late that I needed to reload with more liquids. With twenty five minutes to go I choked down my last salt pill with my last squelch of Gatorade. At the top of the final hill I almost asked a guy with two full bottles for a sup of his water. Maybe I should've.
After another quick, but not too quick, T-2 my plan was to keep it reserved for the first couple of miles and maintain consistent splits for the rest. I managed to achieve the former but quickly realized that my legs were in no shape to attain the latter and my times consistently slipped over the last 10 miles. And, by the way, did anyone else have an insanely long mile 6 to 7 split? I can't tell if I just was really slow through the turn around chutes and over the grass or if it was marked wrong.
Despite pulling out my D Game on the run I managed to offer up a 1:30 half. Fortunately the heat repressed everyone and I still can't believe I didn't get passed. I kept waiting for it, especially towards the end.
You ever watch The Biggest Loser when they have the option to eat a whole plate of their favorite food that's sitting in front of them if they just give up? Me either. But those cold cups of Gatorade (not so much the warm ones, each aid station was a crap shoot, dagg) were like a little temptress offering up her goods. "You can go forth unto this heat and land of suffer or stop here under this tree. Take a seat and soak up this cold sweet nectar laid here before you as a gift from Kuahana, watch your compatriots suffer and give unto the relaxation my darling." Must...not...stop...
Dude, I just could not turn my legs over faster. I was all, "Okay I crested that hill, lets get smooth and turn it over on this slight downhill here. That sounds good. Okay...you're doing it, picking it up, high tempo, nice....feeling good...keep it up...uh oh...waiiiiit a sec...that lady's catching back up to me. Crap. Go faster, by any means!!!"
Didn't cramp though! (Thank you salt) Even though I was sure my quad twinges on the bike were going to take me into the hurt box. Lucky...
So any way. I want to give a couple of props to the Works crew for cheering me on and for the post race bevvies. It was great to have a strong showing.
And a big Thank You to the Fam, Sarah and Boog for supporting me through the weekend. Now it's on to the future! Tally Ho!
The water was warm during the swim and in between dodging passed swimmers and tapping toes (Sorry Mr. Schweihs) I started to get toasty. Wet suit stripping is fun but it is always nuts. A quick, but not too quick, transition put me on my bike and a straw sip away from some refreshment.
For such a challenging bike course I had a pretty enjoyable ride. I was worried that the turns at the bottom of every downhill were going to zap away potential speed but managing to stay aero and fast made for fun bike riding. Although I shutter to think what would be if I was another inch closer to the cones on the last turn onto route 11. Also I made it up to 52 mph on hill down on 107...I thought that was pretty good. Yah?
Starting in the 10th wave makes for an interesting disposition on the bike. You're passing tons and tons of people and feel pretty studly. But it makes it that much more difficult to settle into your plan and hold a straight line. If nothing else it abolishes any monotony. But you have absolutely no idea of where anyone in your wave is, and you get held up on the technical sections. But climbing the 'monstah' with all those people and rolling down 106 with a huge line of bikers in front your is pretty cool.
I tried to cool off with and drink a bottle of water at each aid station but realized a little too late that I needed to reload with more liquids. With twenty five minutes to go I choked down my last salt pill with my last squelch of Gatorade. At the top of the final hill I almost asked a guy with two full bottles for a sup of his water. Maybe I should've.
After another quick, but not too quick, T-2 my plan was to keep it reserved for the first couple of miles and maintain consistent splits for the rest. I managed to achieve the former but quickly realized that my legs were in no shape to attain the latter and my times consistently slipped over the last 10 miles. And, by the way, did anyone else have an insanely long mile 6 to 7 split? I can't tell if I just was really slow through the turn around chutes and over the grass or if it was marked wrong.
Despite pulling out my D Game on the run I managed to offer up a 1:30 half. Fortunately the heat repressed everyone and I still can't believe I didn't get passed. I kept waiting for it, especially towards the end.
You ever watch The Biggest Loser when they have the option to eat a whole plate of their favorite food that's sitting in front of them if they just give up? Me either. But those cold cups of Gatorade (not so much the warm ones, each aid station was a crap shoot, dagg) were like a little temptress offering up her goods. "You can go forth unto this heat and land of suffer or stop here under this tree. Take a seat and soak up this cold sweet nectar laid here before you as a gift from Kuahana, watch your compatriots suffer and give unto the relaxation my darling." Must...not...stop...
Dude, I just could not turn my legs over faster. I was all, "Okay I crested that hill, lets get smooth and turn it over on this slight downhill here. That sounds good. Okay...you're doing it, picking it up, high tempo, nice....feeling good...keep it up...uh oh...waiiiiit a sec...that lady's catching back up to me. Crap. Go faster, by any means!!!"
Didn't cramp though! (Thank you salt) Even though I was sure my quad twinges on the bike were going to take me into the hurt box. Lucky...
So any way. I want to give a couple of props to the Works crew for cheering me on and for the post race bevvies. It was great to have a strong showing.
And a big Thank You to the Fam, Sarah and Boog for supporting me through the weekend. Now it's on to the future! Tally Ho!
Bradley-Palmer and Willowdale Recon
I know, I know. I should be putting up my Timberman post. Sooooon.
I decided to skip the repetition of pounding pavement in MHD and head to one of the nearby trail running locations. A couple of weeks ago a did a jaunt in the rocky disjointed mess of trails known as Lynn Woods. I kind of know my way around there from several outings and still don't really enjoy the place. The maps are insufficient, trails are seldomly marked and tons of unofficial trails add to the mess. But as an alternate opinion some people think that there's some good ridding there. Plus there is a cool 'mural'. On a brief continued note of positivity I might enjoy the place better if I knew the trails more. But I still think the ones I've been on don't flow that well.
'Nuff about Lynn.
In my quest to find some trail running on the north shore I found these two websites. I was leaning towards Manchester because of proximity but decided I wasn't really up to another stop and go Frost workout. Dogdown sounds like a pretty sweet spot. But sounds equally heavy on the guesswork unless you stop in Gloucester for a map. I guess there's nothing wrong with getting on a trail blind and trying one intersection or another. But I find that you end up doing loops, on crappy trails and often have to retrace your steps. Which is fine for an adventure, but not for a workout.
So I pointed towards Willowdale and Bradley-Palmer. They're technically two separate parks but are only separated by a road. They're also connected to Georgetown-Rowley if you're interested.
Any way the ample amount of trails plus maps to follow make this trio appealing.
I got maps at the 'Park Headquarters' in B-P by the Willowdale estate. (There's an outside map box) And then started running on the B-P trails. Which were fair but not very lengthy and inconsistent. Plus they frequently open into fields where the trail just kind of seeps into the grass.
But what's really cool about the area is the obsticals setup for Hunter-Jumper (Cross-Country?). Big fence like obstacles that barricade most of the wide field-trails and dot the open fields. Looks like an awesome place to ride...if you have a horse.
I worked my way up to the Willowdale trials and found them much more enjoyable. I tried to follow most of GAC's 10k directions which I only read once, briefly, and did a pretty good job of running the course. If you try it be heads up around intersection 15. I think this is where the trail turns left and it goes up a semi-washed out jeep trail that's also is intersected by a bandit single-track trail and going right takes you to the edge/end of the park and a dirt road.
Also, up near Marini's field it gets a little screwy. I jumped onto a spot of single track on the left as I came into the field. Which was a ripper of a trail by the way. But presumably the 10k trail goes straight up into the field.
The trails up on the Willowdale section are pretty well marked with the intersection markers. Some have disappeared, but there are some additional markers for the Bay Circuit Trail and others. Most of the trails are on the flat side of thigns, are bridal baths/jeep trails and are smooth. There is also some clean single track here and there. Overall it actually looked like a really excellent location to bring your Cross bike. B-P would also be good to ride through although neither one is particularly technical if you bring your MTB.
That said, I hope to return, explore more and see if there's some tricky stuff nestled in the woods...or bring a horse, that would just be so awesome.
I decided to skip the repetition of pounding pavement in MHD and head to one of the nearby trail running locations. A couple of weeks ago a did a jaunt in the rocky disjointed mess of trails known as Lynn Woods. I kind of know my way around there from several outings and still don't really enjoy the place. The maps are insufficient, trails are seldomly marked and tons of unofficial trails add to the mess. But as an alternate opinion some people think that there's some good ridding there. Plus there is a cool 'mural'. On a brief continued note of positivity I might enjoy the place better if I knew the trails more. But I still think the ones I've been on don't flow that well.
'Nuff about Lynn.
In my quest to find some trail running on the north shore I found these two websites. I was leaning towards Manchester because of proximity but decided I wasn't really up to another stop and go Frost workout. Dogdown sounds like a pretty sweet spot. But sounds equally heavy on the guesswork unless you stop in Gloucester for a map. I guess there's nothing wrong with getting on a trail blind and trying one intersection or another. But I find that you end up doing loops, on crappy trails and often have to retrace your steps. Which is fine for an adventure, but not for a workout.
So I pointed towards Willowdale and Bradley-Palmer. They're technically two separate parks but are only separated by a road. They're also connected to Georgetown-Rowley if you're interested.
Any way the ample amount of trails plus maps to follow make this trio appealing.
I got maps at the 'Park Headquarters' in B-P by the Willowdale estate. (There's an outside map box) And then started running on the B-P trails. Which were fair but not very lengthy and inconsistent. Plus they frequently open into fields where the trail just kind of seeps into the grass.
But what's really cool about the area is the obsticals setup for Hunter-Jumper (Cross-Country?). Big fence like obstacles that barricade most of the wide field-trails and dot the open fields. Looks like an awesome place to ride...if you have a horse.
I worked my way up to the Willowdale trials and found them much more enjoyable. I tried to follow most of GAC's 10k directions which I only read once, briefly, and did a pretty good job of running the course. If you try it be heads up around intersection 15. I think this is where the trail turns left and it goes up a semi-washed out jeep trail that's also is intersected by a bandit single-track trail and going right takes you to the edge/end of the park and a dirt road.
Also, up near Marini's field it gets a little screwy. I jumped onto a spot of single track on the left as I came into the field. Which was a ripper of a trail by the way. But presumably the 10k trail goes straight up into the field.
The trails up on the Willowdale section are pretty well marked with the intersection markers. Some have disappeared, but there are some additional markers for the Bay Circuit Trail and others. Most of the trails are on the flat side of thigns, are bridal baths/jeep trails and are smooth. There is also some clean single track here and there. Overall it actually looked like a really excellent location to bring your Cross bike. B-P would also be good to ride through although neither one is particularly technical if you bring your MTB.
That said, I hope to return, explore more and see if there's some tricky stuff nestled in the woods...or bring a horse, that would just be so awesome.
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