I'm back!

Ok, this blog has been dormant long enough. This is one last attempt to make good on a continued discussion of cycling events that involve my wife, my friends, and me. This weekend my wife is going to race her first ever MTB race. It is at Catamount Outdoor Center. The first race of the season is called the Flower Power race. It is to ring in the new season and open up for the Catamount Mountain Bike Series races. My friend Bob is racing it too. So my daughter and I will be course side with the cowbells and a lot of spirit to cheer them on. Stay tuned for the stories and maybe even some photos. Thanks, Wil

Race to the Top of Vermont

Mount Mansfield has an auto Toll Road that travels 4.3 miles upward to a parking area for all to take in magnificent views. On 8/30, it was opened to a race. You could either mountain bike or run the course. I chose to ride it giving the fact I have the VT50 coming up. Unbelievable! It took me more than 1.5 hours to finish. In the end, I am glad I did it. It was challenging right from the start and never ceased to be so.
My friend Bob joined in to do it also. He finished in under an hour. My wife ran the course and did it in not much more than an hour. I am proud of her. She didn't train for it and did exceptionally well.

its a keeper

I am going to continue to post on this blog. I think that there are alot of bike related topics that I would like to talk about and share. I think by keeping them here instead of merging them with eightzerotwocycles.blogspot.com will give them both their due rights. Alot is coming up, so check back to see what is going on. Thanks for reading!

Is this the end?

I think I have all but decided to stop posting to BikeCycology. It is not that I don't have anything to talk about bike related. It is more like I want to focus on building frames. I think that Eight Zero Two Cycles will have plenty of room to be able to post about framebuilding and all things bikes. A nice integration for all to visit in one place.

So, give me a couple of days to chew on it and I will let you know what I came up with.

VT50 - Sept. 27, 2009

This is it. I have registered for a 50 mile mountain bike race. I am so pleased that I have done this. There is a certain place that I would like to be with my athletic ability and without a definite goal, I don't think that I would ever reach it. I want, this year, to say to myself that I am 36 years old and I'm in the best shape of my life.

somethings in the air

WARMTH! It is so nice today. It was a pretty long winter. Although the weather wasn't horrible or way to cold for to long, it was still a bit drawn out. I am glad that we have warmer days now. Easter weekend my daughter learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. I am so happy for her. She wasn't getting it so my wife bought her a scooter. She tooled around on that for a week or two and then I thought that that might have helped with her understanding of balance. We got her feet on the pedals while I held her sides and then in about 40 seconds, she had it mastered. Now there is no stopping her. Matter of fact, Dawn told me that Justis was being dramatic and was saying that "biking is my life!" Wooah, slow down Nellie. Anyways, I am very proud of her and glad that she was able to conquer it.

I broke the ice with a great winter ride!

This was the final climb of the ride. It is hard to get warmed up enough in the cold to get the legs turning at full potential. Climbs are lung burners too!

This is were I came from on the final climb. Part of the climb is hidden around that corner. Yes, I did stop half way up. Inclines are quite a challenge of a fixie, especially with 35c studs.

The ride was just under 14 miles. It started out on a route that was quite windy by the lake. As I turned away it got better. I really enjoyed getting out. I should had changed my tires, the roads were dry enough for 23c road tires. I wish I had some better winter riding gear, but I do fine with what I have. I am way off my mark for hitting my goal before Spring, but I will continue to peck away at it and see where I end up. My average was 11.9 mph.