ok ok

So this is going to take more effort than I realized to keep up with. I will make an honest effort to do posts at night before the day passes.

I have raced my first 2 lap race at Catamount for the season. Giving my follies last year, it is pretty much my first race there. I have a base time set at 50 minutes. I must work on improving on this time. I haven't ridden my bike before this race since last years Vermont50 race. After doing alot of commuting to the shop now, I have really started feeling how big this frame is for me. I need to do something about that. More on that later.

I made it in for registration for this year's VT50. It is on Sept. 26th. This year is going to be so much different than last year. I am using all of my available time to train and get fit for this attempt at finishing. I will do my part and hopefully Mother Nature will do hers and keep it from being a mudfest.

Flower Power results

So the race came and went. I believe that there were 115 people that raced. It was a good turn out. Dawn, my wife, did really well. She put in a great effort. She did a warm up run with my friend Bob. While she was racing my daughter and I walked the course popping in here and there to cheer her on. She later thank me for the support. I too know what it is like to know people are there to root for you. Dawn did 1 lap and finish in 36:19. I am really proud of her. She now has a base line set that she can personally improve on.

My friend Bob did the race on his recently built GT 1x9. It is quite a nice rig and it was the first time it seen Catamount in its current state. Bob did 3 laps in right at one hour. An excellent job and a good place to start the season. This bike is the brain child of us putting together ideas and bringing it to reality. It seems to be the perfect rig for this race series. Time will show how well it shines. Stay tuned!

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.