Man did it feel good to be in the race zone again, that frame of mind, that focus, that determination and that feeling of pain that lets you know you are pushing your body to it's limits. Hair on the back of my neck is standing up from typing this.
It was a beautiful day for racing. Mostly sunny, not to humid at all and supposidly no rain. The course was in tip top shape and was set up like no other course we had raced at Stony before. Course was flagged on Thursday but why pre-ride , we have 12 hours to figure it out. We had all ridden/raced Stony a bunch of times so nothing would be new, just the sequence of two track and single track would be a little different. It great to see the team and howdy do's and hugs went around all morning during pre race staging. Jeff, Heather, Brian, Mike, Jerry, myself and guest rider Lillian Ruz from Team Treefort made up the squad for the day. Our star studded pit crew consisted of Kathy and Bloomer the Cat. Well Kathy did all the leg work but Bloomer kept busy taking inventory by sticking his head and sometimes entire body into everyone's bags.
7:55 came quick tho and Jerry, Heather and I all had to get to the line for the relay start at 8:00. Jeff was to start the solo a couple minutes after 8. I was at the line thinking to myself how long it had been since I was at the starting line....darn near a year since my last race. Lee from Team Sandbag looks over at me and says with a smile, "You sure you know what your doing? This isn't the freeride park." All I could do was laugh. This is why I like endurance racing, the starting lines are so stress free because we all know the race won't be decided in the first lap or the second, third, fourth....fifth......sixth.....well until later in the race when everyone starts to realize how much endurance they do or don't have.
Going into actual race detail would make this a very, very long blog so I'll just post results. What will say is that they cut the race short by 2 hours because of some huge storm that was coming to the park...however, it never rained so that kind of sucked.
Jeff - 1st place 12 Hour solo men's. He was 4 minutes ahead of his closest competitor. 13 laps in 10:59:45 for an estimated 136.5 miles ---> all by himself!!! And I'd like to point out he raced in the geared class on his single speed and beat them all. He even schooled the single speed class and the sub 30 year old 12 Hour geared racers.
Heather and Lillian took 3rd racing against the boys in the 2 person Advanced 12 hour class. They ticked the counter 11 times in 10:36:35 for close to 115.5 miles. Not bad for a couple of Chica's. : )
Brian and Jerry took 3rd in Men's 2 person 12 Hour Sport knocking down 11 laps in 11:15:54.
Mike and I took the win in Men's 2 person 12 Hour Sport throwing down 12 laps in 10:31:59
Now for some accolades:
KATHY!!! - We couldn't have done this without you. From the coffee run for Jeff, the sacrificing of chicken for the team and the general info you gave on everyone thru the laps, you were a huge help. I know your info on Mike made a huge difference in the outcome of the day for him and I. Without your input Mike and I may have not made it thru the day. After talking to you we were able to adjust our strategy and move forward. Having a level headed person not racing in the staging area is very valuable. And the chicken...sorry Scott, your burgers are great and all but Kathy just got promoted to the team's head chef. You now work for her.
Jeff - You are not human....and I am not the only one who thinks this. I've heard this from others outside our team. Being the team's PR rep I hear a lot and you are always a popular name when people start talking about endurance racing. When yo go big remember who gave you that Snickers bar.
Heather - I expect nothing less out of you than what you gave Saturday. Sounds like tough love and it is. I could sit here and write all kinds of good things about you but you'd just knock me over, kick me and tell me I should be on my bike training instead of writing these silly team updates.
Lillian - Was great to have you out with us for the day. Of course we are all going to razz you and try and get you to race for us but it was all in fun. I loved the idea of collaborating with another team to get us more press. I hope Bloomer enjoyed himself and props to you for holding off Brain's chase on that one loop. He's not an easy guy to shake. Now you can go back and tell your team and friends how much fun you had and that not only can we ride our bikes but we also look good doing it. : )
Sensei Brian - I've said it many times before and I hate repeating myself but, well, you are Brian McCabe. You show up, throw down some solid laps and drink a beer at the end of the day like it was another day in the office. You come in, do your job and hammer out results. You joke around when it's time to have fun but out on the course you are all business. Great job out there.
Mike - I can honestly say that I am proud of how you kept it together out there. You did a great job going the distance and to me this is the best race you have ever ridden. I know your salt intake changes helped a lot but I man you were solid out there. You were actually getting stronger later in the day when I thought you would start to wear out a bit. I fed off your energy big time and it helped motivate me to match your laps and keep our team going. Looking forward to us doing more of these in the future.
J e r r y - I spaced that out on purpose. Bro, I think all the above mentioned would agree that you were the team MVP for the day. As captain you led by example. You never gave up and you pushed yourself past your limits for the team. I was very impressed when I came in after my last lap and found out you went out for another. Over all these years you have done a lot for the team, more than any of us. But that last lap you did, to me, was probably one of the biggest things yet.
I know I am sounding a little sappier than normal and maybe some of you were expecting my normal sarcastic twisted humor. But when Saturday was all done and over I think everyone on the team became a different person. All of us had reached a level of ourselves we had never been to before. When we were all sippin' a brew after I could see it in every one's faces.....we were all one step closer to becoming as bad ass as Dawn "U-Dog" Nicholas.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
It finally stopped raining
July is almost over and we have less than 48 hours until the 12 Hours of Stony Creek. This will be the first time everyone on the team will attempt a 12 Hour race so this will be fun for sure. Jeff is still going solo and he is really the only one on the team capable of doing so. Brian and Jerry are in for a 2 man team, Mike and I plan to give it a whirl as a 2 man team and Heather decided to team up with Lillian from Treefort Bikes for a 12 hour 2 person team instead of doing a 6 hour solo. Heather and I could finish a 6 hour solo no problem but the 12 hour 2 person realy sounds like a better way to have fun with the team. I know I am excited about it.
It's been a wet month which is very unusual for Michigan ths time of year. A lot of rolling storms that seem to only come during race times and after work when everyone wants to ride. I just got caught in a storm Tuesday that hit 2 hours earlier than they had forecasted. Nothing gets the legs spinning down the trails like being caught in the middle of a bad thunderstorm when lightening is all around you and there is no shelter areas for miles. I just picked up the pace and kept going figuring I'd be harder to hit as a moving target.
It has been a quite month for the team overall. Heather and Jeff are the only ones who seem to be racing this year and even their adventures have been pretty well around the norm.....it's funny calling top 3 podium finishes the norm. Hopefully Stony will light a fire under the team camp. We'll have 6 of our riders out there but that's still only half the actual mountain bike squad suiting up for the weekend.
I have been piling the miles on more. I have over 1,000 road/trainer miles and over 100 trail miles since I started back on the bikes in April. That's about half my quarterly average but I'll take it. Heck I just had my first trail ride of the year two weeks ago and I just took 5 days off for a short vacation to the cottage so 100 miles on the trail is pretty good considering.
So check back next week to read up on all of this weekend's racing antics. It's been a while since the team has showed in such numbers so there's bound to be some forms of pandemonium and chaos....hell we'll be out there for 12+ hours....anything goes when we are in pit row by Team Sandbag.
Aryn 'Pivotless' Pongratz
It's been a wet month which is very unusual for Michigan ths time of year. A lot of rolling storms that seem to only come during race times and after work when everyone wants to ride. I just got caught in a storm Tuesday that hit 2 hours earlier than they had forecasted. Nothing gets the legs spinning down the trails like being caught in the middle of a bad thunderstorm when lightening is all around you and there is no shelter areas for miles. I just picked up the pace and kept going figuring I'd be harder to hit as a moving target.
It has been a quite month for the team overall. Heather and Jeff are the only ones who seem to be racing this year and even their adventures have been pretty well around the norm.....it's funny calling top 3 podium finishes the norm. Hopefully Stony will light a fire under the team camp. We'll have 6 of our riders out there but that's still only half the actual mountain bike squad suiting up for the weekend.
I have been piling the miles on more. I have over 1,000 road/trainer miles and over 100 trail miles since I started back on the bikes in April. That's about half my quarterly average but I'll take it. Heck I just had my first trail ride of the year two weeks ago and I just took 5 days off for a short vacation to the cottage so 100 miles on the trail is pretty good considering.
So check back next week to read up on all of this weekend's racing antics. It's been a while since the team has showed in such numbers so there's bound to be some forms of pandemonium and chaos....hell we'll be out there for 12+ hours....anything goes when we are in pit row by Team Sandbag.
Aryn 'Pivotless' Pongratz
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Can you believe it is July already???
Man, where have I been? We are months into the 2009 race season and I have done a horrible job updating everyone on the team happenings. So let me give a recap of the last two months here:
Jeff Socia has basically gone mad. Last year he finally found his niche for racing and it happens to be ultra endurance events. So far this year he has completed in two 100 mile mountain bike races as well as the 60 Mile Stony Marathon. His first race was a learning experience, the Mohican 100, and in my eyes he still finished pretty well, 40th out of over 125 racers. He took his knowledge from that race and went into the Lumberjack 100 with more confidence and a fresh set of Stans Olympic ZTR's with Crow tires......big upgrade from his Mavic 819's. He started off very well, in the top 15, before an unfortunate mechanical that caused him to pull out of the race after the first 25 miles. Not much you can do when the crown on your fork snaps. He rebounded back for the Stony Marathon but came to the starting line with a sinus infection....we all know how something like this is bad for hydration. He still managed a podium finish with a 2nd place but he was well off his expected pace and would have challenged for the win if he was healthy. He has a few more of these ultras planned so I will do my best to keep you updated on him.
Heather Patterson has been tearing into the season like we all expected her to. What's crazy tho is that after 5 races she is sitting atop of the Women's Elite standing with a second, third, first and fourth place finishes. I do not have much info from her on how she has been feeling this year. I know she decided to concentrate more on bike racing this year and stray away from Triatholans because it was too hard for her to find time for the pool. What I will say is that she is one Tuff Chic and I'm glad she is on my team because it makes me look bad when girls from another team are faster than me. Yeah I said it, Heather is faster than me. So now I have someone to chase.....or draft, whatever way you want to look at it.
What else is new you might ask, Carolyn Galloway, that's what. Gerry saw an unsponsored rider at the starting line in Expert/Elite Women's and scouted her that day. Heck of a good chance that she is faster than me too.....this is not good for my image, however, it's good for the team. Carolyn sits second in the overall standings right behind Heather and let me tell you how cool it is to see that.....it's cool. I hope to make it out to meet her soon and get her on the site so we can show her off a bit and make other teams jealous. Boy, imagine the rankings if Dawn hadn't decided to take a year off......good chance she'd kick my butt in a race as well right now. Man do I have some work to do for next year.
Speaking of kicking my butt, Mike and I have decided to enter a two man team in the 12 Hours of Stony. Gerry and Brian will be manning a two person team as well. Rumor has it Heather will be showing up for the 6 Hour solo and Jeff will be there for the 12 Hour Solo if his plans to race out of town fall through. He's trying to get into the Wilderness 101 that same weekend.
So that wraps up our late night edition of this Team Signoutfitters.com broadcast. Still plenty of warm weather and races to come so stay tuned and I will do my best to keep you updated. Keep your bike rubber side down and keep your head off the ground because Aryn is back in the saddle and 650 miles into Base One training for the 2010 season. That's right, I'm coming for you!
Jeff Socia has basically gone mad. Last year he finally found his niche for racing and it happens to be ultra endurance events. So far this year he has completed in two 100 mile mountain bike races as well as the 60 Mile Stony Marathon. His first race was a learning experience, the Mohican 100, and in my eyes he still finished pretty well, 40th out of over 125 racers. He took his knowledge from that race and went into the Lumberjack 100 with more confidence and a fresh set of Stans Olympic ZTR's with Crow tires......big upgrade from his Mavic 819's. He started off very well, in the top 15, before an unfortunate mechanical that caused him to pull out of the race after the first 25 miles. Not much you can do when the crown on your fork snaps. He rebounded back for the Stony Marathon but came to the starting line with a sinus infection....we all know how something like this is bad for hydration. He still managed a podium finish with a 2nd place but he was well off his expected pace and would have challenged for the win if he was healthy. He has a few more of these ultras planned so I will do my best to keep you updated on him.
Heather Patterson has been tearing into the season like we all expected her to. What's crazy tho is that after 5 races she is sitting atop of the Women's Elite standing with a second, third, first and fourth place finishes. I do not have much info from her on how she has been feeling this year. I know she decided to concentrate more on bike racing this year and stray away from Triatholans because it was too hard for her to find time for the pool. What I will say is that she is one Tuff Chic and I'm glad she is on my team because it makes me look bad when girls from another team are faster than me. Yeah I said it, Heather is faster than me. So now I have someone to chase.....or draft, whatever way you want to look at it.
What else is new you might ask, Carolyn Galloway, that's what. Gerry saw an unsponsored rider at the starting line in Expert/Elite Women's and scouted her that day. Heck of a good chance that she is faster than me too.....this is not good for my image, however, it's good for the team. Carolyn sits second in the overall standings right behind Heather and let me tell you how cool it is to see that.....it's cool. I hope to make it out to meet her soon and get her on the site so we can show her off a bit and make other teams jealous. Boy, imagine the rankings if Dawn hadn't decided to take a year off......good chance she'd kick my butt in a race as well right now. Man do I have some work to do for next year.
Speaking of kicking my butt, Mike and I have decided to enter a two man team in the 12 Hours of Stony. Gerry and Brian will be manning a two person team as well. Rumor has it Heather will be showing up for the 6 Hour solo and Jeff will be there for the 12 Hour Solo if his plans to race out of town fall through. He's trying to get into the Wilderness 101 that same weekend.
So that wraps up our late night edition of this Team Signoutfitters.com broadcast. Still plenty of warm weather and races to come so stay tuned and I will do my best to keep you updated. Keep your bike rubber side down and keep your head off the ground because Aryn is back in the saddle and 650 miles into Base One training for the 2010 season. That's right, I'm coming for you!
Monday, April 20, 2009
And they're off!!!
Okay, it was really only one. From the sounds of it the team will be small this year but strong. A few racers like myself are taking a leave of absence from the team this year to deal with other things outside the race circuit. Sometimes you need to step back and make adult decisions even if it means not racing for a year.
So Jeff was the lone Signoutfitter to race this weekend on the trails. He made the trip across state with some of the Team Frasier gang to save on gas. His field was pretty packed. New this year was Expert and Elite did two laps at the Yankee TT instead of one.
Like always Jeff never gloats about himself or dives into every detail of his race. He seemed happy with his results finishing 9th out of 36 with a time of 1:43:55. This race is more difficult because a lot of west siders ride there a lot and we only travel to that trail to race it. We interviewed him this morning and this is what he had to say:
"The trail was fun and fast. Rain was just a light mist, not much of factor at all. Considering the fore casted weather it turned out to be a great day."
Nice work Jeff. Next weekend he will be clipping in for two laps at the Pontiac Lake TT which is the first race in the Tailwinds XC series. Jeff knows this trail well and it plays to his strengths being there is a lot of elevation and he is a great climber.
Tim Storm, long time friend of the team who now races for Team Fraiser, made the trip out to the west side as well over the weekend. He did his very first Expert race and decided to go geared instead of SS. He finished 25th in a field of 39 with one trip over the bars but still finished in at 1:51:33. He is glad he moved up to Expert because a 52 minute lap won the Sport category he would have raced in and he believes he would have been able to match that given his first lap split was a 54. Personally I am glad to see him challenge himself and ride against a stronger field. Good luck this season Tim, you are going to do great.
Tune in next week as we follow Jeff Socia thru another weekend of pain and gain. Look for Hollywood Patterson, Brian "The Wrench" McCabe and Mike "Treeman" Keysear to show up and possibly flex a little muscle in their ranks as well.
So Jeff was the lone Signoutfitter to race this weekend on the trails. He made the trip across state with some of the Team Frasier gang to save on gas. His field was pretty packed. New this year was Expert and Elite did two laps at the Yankee TT instead of one.
Like always Jeff never gloats about himself or dives into every detail of his race. He seemed happy with his results finishing 9th out of 36 with a time of 1:43:55. This race is more difficult because a lot of west siders ride there a lot and we only travel to that trail to race it. We interviewed him this morning and this is what he had to say:
"The trail was fun and fast. Rain was just a light mist, not much of factor at all. Considering the fore casted weather it turned out to be a great day."
Nice work Jeff. Next weekend he will be clipping in for two laps at the Pontiac Lake TT which is the first race in the Tailwinds XC series. Jeff knows this trail well and it plays to his strengths being there is a lot of elevation and he is a great climber.
Tim Storm, long time friend of the team who now races for Team Fraiser, made the trip out to the west side as well over the weekend. He did his very first Expert race and decided to go geared instead of SS. He finished 25th in a field of 39 with one trip over the bars but still finished in at 1:51:33. He is glad he moved up to Expert because a 52 minute lap won the Sport category he would have raced in and he believes he would have been able to match that given his first lap split was a 54. Personally I am glad to see him challenge himself and ride against a stronger field. Good luck this season Tim, you are going to do great.
Tune in next week as we follow Jeff Socia thru another weekend of pain and gain. Look for Hollywood Patterson, Brian "The Wrench" McCabe and Mike "Treeman" Keysear to show up and possibly flex a little muscle in their ranks as well.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Counting down the days
The 2009 Race season is right around the corner. Hard to believe the long Michigan winter is almost over. Just as I knew it would happen, the closer the first race gets the more I miss the training sessions. It's going to be hard to sit on the sidelines this year and not race but I know it's still for the better that I don't. Plus, my training for the 2010 season will be starting up soon. I will say the rest I have taken this winter has done wonders for my body and I feel like I am back at full strength.
One thing I don't miss is the big grocery bills and having to eat something every 45 minutes. I was pushing 4,000 calories a day just to not lose any more weight. And of course it wasn't 4,000 calories of junk food that leave you stuffed for hours. It was calories upon calories of veggies, fruits, chicken, pasta and all that stuff that burns away fast. Then the bill for all the hydration powders and gels to eat while I rode.
To keep busy I have been tooling around at the ramp parks on my bmx bike with my son Ashton. Also I am in the process of building a dirt jumper to use at the Stony Skills Park this year. Can't wait until I finish it. I have most of the parts but need a couple more things from the Captain to finish it.
Speaking of building bikes, I have started to brainstorm about my next race bike and what I plan to build. I am actually tossing around the idea of going with a 29'er. Kona makes a really nice full suspension 29'er frame that I'd love to try out. I am going to have to go take some test rides soon and see what this 29'er hype is all about. This next bike tho will surpass my last build in terms of what I want. The last thought is what to do with my road bike. It's so ready for some love and needs some attention. I keep saying every year I am going to get a new one but somethig always comes up and I end up buying a different bike r a lot of replacement parts for the race bike.
As far as the team goes for this year....not sure what's going to happen with everyone. Jeff is planning to do what's natural for him and compete in more endurance events. He will be going out and doing some 100 miles races this year. I think he's up for it. After racing with him in the 6 Hours of Addison and the Stony Creek Marathon I know he's ready for the jump to the 100 mile races. He'll do well too. The guy is a machine and can hold himself in a zone for hours. When he satrted peaking last season in our Expert/CAT-1 category he started winning the geared races and still making it to the podium in the SS classes. 50-60 mile race days became normal for him and you could see he still had more left in the tank.
I believe Heather and Dawn will be back racing in the Elite/Pro level. I'm anxious to see how much faster Heather will be this year. I haven't talked to her much this of season but the Captain says she's ready to roll. Mike and Brian will continue their quests in the Sport or now CAT-2 category. Brian is actually training this off season and I see him returning back to 2007 form when he spent a lot of time going fast and finishing on the podium.
As for Scotty, Alex the Kid, Goatboy, Amber Alert, The Godfather and Aunt Darlene, I am not sure what their plans are for this year. I hope some year that we'll get back to the 2007 team turnouts. At every race we always had a big turnout and it made race day loads of fun.
So hopefully we'll get more riders back to the starting lines, me included. But until then I'll be quietly training on the sidelines to come back in 2010 right where I left off.
One thing I don't miss is the big grocery bills and having to eat something every 45 minutes. I was pushing 4,000 calories a day just to not lose any more weight. And of course it wasn't 4,000 calories of junk food that leave you stuffed for hours. It was calories upon calories of veggies, fruits, chicken, pasta and all that stuff that burns away fast. Then the bill for all the hydration powders and gels to eat while I rode.
To keep busy I have been tooling around at the ramp parks on my bmx bike with my son Ashton. Also I am in the process of building a dirt jumper to use at the Stony Skills Park this year. Can't wait until I finish it. I have most of the parts but need a couple more things from the Captain to finish it.
Speaking of building bikes, I have started to brainstorm about my next race bike and what I plan to build. I am actually tossing around the idea of going with a 29'er. Kona makes a really nice full suspension 29'er frame that I'd love to try out. I am going to have to go take some test rides soon and see what this 29'er hype is all about. This next bike tho will surpass my last build in terms of what I want. The last thought is what to do with my road bike. It's so ready for some love and needs some attention. I keep saying every year I am going to get a new one but somethig always comes up and I end up buying a different bike r a lot of replacement parts for the race bike.
As far as the team goes for this year....not sure what's going to happen with everyone. Jeff is planning to do what's natural for him and compete in more endurance events. He will be going out and doing some 100 miles races this year. I think he's up for it. After racing with him in the 6 Hours of Addison and the Stony Creek Marathon I know he's ready for the jump to the 100 mile races. He'll do well too. The guy is a machine and can hold himself in a zone for hours. When he satrted peaking last season in our Expert/CAT-1 category he started winning the geared races and still making it to the podium in the SS classes. 50-60 mile race days became normal for him and you could see he still had more left in the tank.
I believe Heather and Dawn will be back racing in the Elite/Pro level. I'm anxious to see how much faster Heather will be this year. I haven't talked to her much this of season but the Captain says she's ready to roll. Mike and Brian will continue their quests in the Sport or now CAT-2 category. Brian is actually training this off season and I see him returning back to 2007 form when he spent a lot of time going fast and finishing on the podium.
As for Scotty, Alex the Kid, Goatboy, Amber Alert, The Godfather and Aunt Darlene, I am not sure what their plans are for this year. I hope some year that we'll get back to the 2007 team turnouts. At every race we always had a big turnout and it made race day loads of fun.
So hopefully we'll get more riders back to the starting lines, me included. But until then I'll be quietly training on the sidelines to come back in 2010 right where I left off.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Reflections
Watching Levi in the individual TT stage of the Tour of California yesterday got the blood pumping in me again. Been a while since I felt that. It got me thinking more about this year. I had no plans to race at all with the exception of The Tree Farm Relay. It's hard to not want to go back and defend our team title.
But I question whether I will be able to be ready to race by then. I have enough time to get ready but not sure if I will have the drive to get where I need to be. Obviously I will not be as fast as I was last year. I'm sure with some work I could get myself back somewhere between a CAT-2 and CAT-1 racer. But to get back to the Podium in CAT-1.....I've missed 3 months of training and at this level you need to stay on the pedals all year round to keep up with the pack.
The other issue is a bike to race. I have barrowed bikes in the past. At Bloomer last year my bike had some serious mechanicals on the first lap so I came around ready to pull out of the race. But the Captain said we needed the points so he hooked me up with his team bike and sent me back out to finish. Then at the Brighton Stage race I used Wrench's team bike for the Short Track event because his was better suited for that race. In fact I still owe him for that one because taking 4th in that race helped me to finish on the podium for the sum of the entire 3 races that weekend. My bike tho, oh I miss it. I know people say it's not the bike it's the condition of the rider on it but that bike was built to go fast and man did it do just that.
At the Tree Farm I believe a full suspension bike tracks better. Since I don't have mine anymore I would have to build another one by then but it's just isn't in my budget. Even with the team discounts it'll cost me about $2,000 to build another sub 25 pound full suspension bike, and that's without the wheels.
So I guess I have some things to figure out for this season. I need to make up my mind in the next couple weeks tho because if I am going to commit to the Relay I need to get back on the trainer.
In the mean time, I hope all my team mates and race foes are still training hard. It's great to see others reach their goals and I know they all have their sights set this year. Hang in the everyone. Only two more months until the season starts!!!
But I question whether I will be able to be ready to race by then. I have enough time to get ready but not sure if I will have the drive to get where I need to be. Obviously I will not be as fast as I was last year. I'm sure with some work I could get myself back somewhere between a CAT-2 and CAT-1 racer. But to get back to the Podium in CAT-1.....I've missed 3 months of training and at this level you need to stay on the pedals all year round to keep up with the pack.
The other issue is a bike to race. I have barrowed bikes in the past. At Bloomer last year my bike had some serious mechanicals on the first lap so I came around ready to pull out of the race. But the Captain said we needed the points so he hooked me up with his team bike and sent me back out to finish. Then at the Brighton Stage race I used Wrench's team bike for the Short Track event because his was better suited for that race. In fact I still owe him for that one because taking 4th in that race helped me to finish on the podium for the sum of the entire 3 races that weekend. My bike tho, oh I miss it. I know people say it's not the bike it's the condition of the rider on it but that bike was built to go fast and man did it do just that.
At the Tree Farm I believe a full suspension bike tracks better. Since I don't have mine anymore I would have to build another one by then but it's just isn't in my budget. Even with the team discounts it'll cost me about $2,000 to build another sub 25 pound full suspension bike, and that's without the wheels.
So I guess I have some things to figure out for this season. I need to make up my mind in the next couple weeks tho because if I am going to commit to the Relay I need to get back on the trainer.
In the mean time, I hope all my team mates and race foes are still training hard. It's great to see others reach their goals and I know they all have their sights set this year. Hang in the everyone. Only two more months until the season starts!!!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
It's a girl!
Some know and some don't that my wife and I were expecting on Feb 2nd. Well the baby decided to come a day early. Ciara Brynn was born on Feb 1st at 8:39 am weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz and stretching a total 21 inches long. I don't do my kids pictures on public forums so if you want to see the pix check me out on facebook or email me and I will send you some photos.
Sue and Ciara are home and doing great! We all came home from the hospital on Monday morning. Ciara got to meet her sister Abigail and her brother Ashton then. So now Sue and I will be switching from man to man coverage to a zone defense when it comes to parenting.
Sue and Ciara are home and doing great! We all came home from the hospital on Monday morning. Ciara got to meet her sister Abigail and her brother Ashton then. So now Sue and I will be switching from man to man coverage to a zone defense when it comes to parenting.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Biggest Little Guy
This week Ashton has done two very brave things in my eyes. I can't stop thinking about how proud I am of him. Let's start off with what happened first this week:
It was the day Presidential Elect Obama was to be sworn in. Ashton goes to a Catholic school, 1st grade, and every 4 years when this happens the whole school goes across the parking lot to the church for a mass. The teacher collected all of Ash's classmate in his classroom to have them put their coats and stuff on so they could walk across the parking lot to the church. Well Ash was having problems with his coat zipper and when he finally fixed it he looked up and the entire class including his teacher were gone. He ran out to the hallway and no one was there. He knew where they were going but wondered why they left without him. His first instinct was to take the tunnel to the church. (The school has an underground tunnel that connects the school to the church. Not like a coal mining tunnel but a nicely lit and paved one. Still to a 6 year old that tunnel can be scary). So instead of going outside across the parking lot all alone to get to the church he ran thru the tunnel, later telling us he almost cried because he was so scared.
Meanwhile the teacher had all the kids at the entrance door to the church and asked the kids in back why they were holding the door open. One of the kids said, "Because Ashton has not come out of the school yet." The teacher said her heart dropped to her feet. Ashton is like her teacher's aide...how did she not notice she thought to herself! She looked out the door for him and he was no where in sight. She was taking a second to think of what to do with the kids when all of a sudden Ashton appeared behind her. She grabbed him and gave him a hug because he looked a little shook up...and she admitted she was pretty shook up as well and the hug was just as much for her as it was for him. He told her the whole story and she sat beside him at the mass and kept Ashton at her side the rest of the day to help the both of them feel better.
Now I don't blame his teacher or Ashton. His teacher is a great person and Sue's family has a long history with that school. She went there along with her two sisters and brother and her father went there along with his brothers and sisters. I am just very proud of Ashton and how he was able to think so well on his feet and take the safe route to where he needed to go. I am so glad he did not go outside where he could have been all alone without supervision. Of course going to the office may have been a better solution, he knew everyone would be at the church and that maybe no one would be in the office.
Not 24 hours later Ashton had to do another brave thing. About a month ago the teacher asked us if they could have Ashton stand up and do a reading at Wednesday's mass the day after the Presidential one. Ashton was okay with doing it so we were okay with it. Every day he practiced his reading to get ready for it. He worked on voice projection and he even started working on eye contact all by himself. Remember he is only 6. So yesterday Sue along with Abi, her parents and mine went to church to watch Ashton do his reading. Sue said he was awesome. Can you imagine when you were 6 standing up in front of your whole school and reading something like doing a speech?! Sue said he was so poised and calm. We were worried about what had happened the day before but Ash shook it off and did his stuff. So many people came up to Sue after the mass to say what a great job he did. Ashton has always been good at reading and has been reading chapter books for about a year now and that is why the teacher asked him to do it.
Quote from the 8th grade teacher who sent Sue and email:
"Sue -Wanted to talk with you after Mass but needed to get my class back asap.
Ashton did a fabulous job with that reading today. Such composure and such understanding. You must be so proud!!!!! He took my breath away. I want him on my Forensics team now."
My kids often amaze me with the things they do. I just thought these events were good ones to share.
Aryn - (A very proud father )
It was the day Presidential Elect Obama was to be sworn in. Ashton goes to a Catholic school, 1st grade, and every 4 years when this happens the whole school goes across the parking lot to the church for a mass. The teacher collected all of Ash's classmate in his classroom to have them put their coats and stuff on so they could walk across the parking lot to the church. Well Ash was having problems with his coat zipper and when he finally fixed it he looked up and the entire class including his teacher were gone. He ran out to the hallway and no one was there. He knew where they were going but wondered why they left without him. His first instinct was to take the tunnel to the church. (The school has an underground tunnel that connects the school to the church. Not like a coal mining tunnel but a nicely lit and paved one. Still to a 6 year old that tunnel can be scary). So instead of going outside across the parking lot all alone to get to the church he ran thru the tunnel, later telling us he almost cried because he was so scared.
Meanwhile the teacher had all the kids at the entrance door to the church and asked the kids in back why they were holding the door open. One of the kids said, "Because Ashton has not come out of the school yet." The teacher said her heart dropped to her feet. Ashton is like her teacher's aide...how did she not notice she thought to herself! She looked out the door for him and he was no where in sight. She was taking a second to think of what to do with the kids when all of a sudden Ashton appeared behind her. She grabbed him and gave him a hug because he looked a little shook up...and she admitted she was pretty shook up as well and the hug was just as much for her as it was for him. He told her the whole story and she sat beside him at the mass and kept Ashton at her side the rest of the day to help the both of them feel better.
Now I don't blame his teacher or Ashton. His teacher is a great person and Sue's family has a long history with that school. She went there along with her two sisters and brother and her father went there along with his brothers and sisters. I am just very proud of Ashton and how he was able to think so well on his feet and take the safe route to where he needed to go. I am so glad he did not go outside where he could have been all alone without supervision. Of course going to the office may have been a better solution, he knew everyone would be at the church and that maybe no one would be in the office.
Not 24 hours later Ashton had to do another brave thing. About a month ago the teacher asked us if they could have Ashton stand up and do a reading at Wednesday's mass the day after the Presidential one. Ashton was okay with doing it so we were okay with it. Every day he practiced his reading to get ready for it. He worked on voice projection and he even started working on eye contact all by himself. Remember he is only 6. So yesterday Sue along with Abi, her parents and mine went to church to watch Ashton do his reading. Sue said he was awesome. Can you imagine when you were 6 standing up in front of your whole school and reading something like doing a speech?! Sue said he was so poised and calm. We were worried about what had happened the day before but Ash shook it off and did his stuff. So many people came up to Sue after the mass to say what a great job he did. Ashton has always been good at reading and has been reading chapter books for about a year now and that is why the teacher asked him to do it.
Quote from the 8th grade teacher who sent Sue and email:
"Sue -Wanted to talk with you after Mass but needed to get my class back asap.
Ashton did a fabulous job with that reading today. Such composure and such understanding. You must be so proud!!!!! He took my breath away. I want him on my Forensics team now."
My kids often amaze me with the things they do. I just thought these events were good ones to share.
Aryn - (A very proud father )
Friday, January 9, 2009
What this year may bring
The first full week of 2009 is ending and it's been full of bad news. The economy is the big player as we all know. I feel lucky to be in the Automotive Industry and still be employed. Two of my teammates, Brain "The Wrench" and Gerry 'Captain Terror", work in my office with me and it's funny because usually this time of year we are already talking about the upcoming race season.
We as many know I have no plans to race at all in 2009. In fact I don't even own a complete mountain bike. I have a frame, fork, a set of wheels and some other scattered parts but not enough to throw a whole bike together. I sold all my race stuff to cover xmas this year so we didn't have to dip into our savings to pay for it like we do every year. My company is still going but none of us are sure for how long. My family is more important than my race season. Sue and I have made a few changes and started preparing for the possible "worse case scenario" in that my company goes under and I lose my job. We had put our cottage up for sale in Sept with the plan to build a new one across the lake on her dad's property. It actually sold last month but now we plan to just keep the money in the bank until we see how this economy thing plays out.
It's weird not having a mtb to ride. I still have my road bike and recently acquired cheap used bmx bike. I have already developed a complete parts list for the new DJ/Urban bike I want to build but honestly I can't justify spending the money right now. Even with the big cushion we have from selling the cottage going out and building another bike just seems like a bad idea.
It's funny because a good jump bike for me would be the deal Captain Terror could get me on a Redline D640...but I know if I ended up getting it I would not be completely satisfied and I would end up upgrading most of the bike. So I want to piece together the exact parts I want to make sure I will be satisfied when it is done. Have I become a bike snob as to where I just can't ride a normal bike anymore??? I am not even happy with my bmx bike, I keep looking at upgrades for that and I hardly ride it. But really, even after you build the exact bike you want is it ever completely done?
So to keep me busy and away from spending lots of money I have decided to tamper with building wheels. I have a couple extra bmx wheels laying around and I figure they will be good practice wheels for my first couple tries at this. Might cost me $20 for some new spokes and nipples but that'll be it. Once I gt a couple good wheels I hope to start building my own mtb wheels. This should keep me busy along with having the new baby.
And last, as for milage.....I am so out of the game. Rode about 100 miles in November on the trainer, 0 in December and none yet in January. There are a lot of people who are faster than me now.
I'm still going to d my best to cover the team events this season. I have always felt like the team's Public Relations rep. Sue and I have already talked about the Tour De Cure as well. I want to ride it with Ashton this year so I will be planning to do the short ride instead of the metric century like I normally do. I may even pull Abi in the trailer as well so she can be involved.
So keep tracking this blog. We'll be more diverse in the cycling world this year. Road, XC, CX, bmx, Urba, DJ, Park riding....never know where the team will show up.
Keep the tires aired down and the layers built up, it's cold outside.
Aryn
We as many know I have no plans to race at all in 2009. In fact I don't even own a complete mountain bike. I have a frame, fork, a set of wheels and some other scattered parts but not enough to throw a whole bike together. I sold all my race stuff to cover xmas this year so we didn't have to dip into our savings to pay for it like we do every year. My company is still going but none of us are sure for how long. My family is more important than my race season. Sue and I have made a few changes and started preparing for the possible "worse case scenario" in that my company goes under and I lose my job. We had put our cottage up for sale in Sept with the plan to build a new one across the lake on her dad's property. It actually sold last month but now we plan to just keep the money in the bank until we see how this economy thing plays out.
It's weird not having a mtb to ride. I still have my road bike and recently acquired cheap used bmx bike. I have already developed a complete parts list for the new DJ/Urban bike I want to build but honestly I can't justify spending the money right now. Even with the big cushion we have from selling the cottage going out and building another bike just seems like a bad idea.
It's funny because a good jump bike for me would be the deal Captain Terror could get me on a Redline D640...but I know if I ended up getting it I would not be completely satisfied and I would end up upgrading most of the bike. So I want to piece together the exact parts I want to make sure I will be satisfied when it is done. Have I become a bike snob as to where I just can't ride a normal bike anymore??? I am not even happy with my bmx bike, I keep looking at upgrades for that and I hardly ride it. But really, even after you build the exact bike you want is it ever completely done?
So to keep me busy and away from spending lots of money I have decided to tamper with building wheels. I have a couple extra bmx wheels laying around and I figure they will be good practice wheels for my first couple tries at this. Might cost me $20 for some new spokes and nipples but that'll be it. Once I gt a couple good wheels I hope to start building my own mtb wheels. This should keep me busy along with having the new baby.
And last, as for milage.....I am so out of the game. Rode about 100 miles in November on the trainer, 0 in December and none yet in January. There are a lot of people who are faster than me now.
I'm still going to d my best to cover the team events this season. I have always felt like the team's Public Relations rep. Sue and I have already talked about the Tour De Cure as well. I want to ride it with Ashton this year so I will be planning to do the short ride instead of the metric century like I normally do. I may even pull Abi in the trailer as well so she can be involved.
So keep tracking this blog. We'll be more diverse in the cycling world this year. Road, XC, CX, bmx, Urba, DJ, Park riding....never know where the team will show up.
Keep the tires aired down and the layers built up, it's cold outside.
Aryn
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Starting the year
Well the New Year is finally here. Been a while since I have posted anything. Life got really busy and my riding and training had to take a back seat. In fact it was farther back than the back seat, more like in the trunk. I parted out my race bike, sold most everything off my single speed so I really don't even have a mountain bike right now. I still have my road bike along with the fluid trainer but it has only seen about 100 miles in the past 2 months. Those who know me know I usually bust off well over 100 miles a week normally.
Most people know that Sue and I are having another baby in about 4-5 weeks. Because of that I have decided to not race the 2009 season. Plus, over the past few months I have really started to enjoy more of a trick/stunt riding style on mountain bikes and bmx. I recently picked up a used bmx and have been tooling around on it. In fact just last week I took my son Ashton to the new indoor ramp park that just opened up in Royal Oak. We had a blast. However, I am not sure I belong on 20" wheels. So now I am looking to build a 26" wheeled jump bike to use next summer at places like the Stony Creek Skills Park. Ashton and I went there last fall before it got to cold and I had more fun there than I have had in a long time on a bike. I plan to keep rolling on my bmx until I get that new jump bike built. I already started looking for frames.
As for trail riding in 2009 I hope to get out now and then but not sure how much it will happen. I really enjoy riding with Ashton and with the new baby it'll be hard to jump in the car and ride across town to the trails. When I get me time I'll probably just do my road routes on the Felt which I enjoy. This may finally be the year I get a new road bike. I am way overdue seeing as mine has over 10,000 miles on it.
The big thing this Spring will be if Ashton decides to race bmx. They have a track at Waterford Oaks and they run races every other weekend. If he does I can see myself trying a race or two to see what it is all about. If Ashton does decide to race bmx he'll need more ride time himself so I can see myself doing urban rides with him and Abigail a few times a week to strengthen his legs.
2009 is going to open a lot different that the past few years have. Usually at this time I am already 1000 miles into my off season training and focused on the first few races of the new year. It feels funny not being on the bikes as much but my body feels well rested since I haven't really worked it hard in two months. I plan to get back in a routine so I don't lose my legs completely but I'm sure it will be only half the weekly hours I normally ride. Last year I hit 6,000 miles and that's my biggest total ever. Since I started logging miles 4 years ago I have ridden over 16,000 miles.......that's crazy to me.
So I am ready to go into the New Year and roll with what comes. Looking forward to having a fun laid back year without stressing the big races. But don't think I am done racing forever. I still have a few races I want to compete in after this year. It'll just take some time to build myself up to the condition I will need to be in. So to all my friends and racing foes, keep doing what you are doing and know that when you least expect it I'll be back at the starting line looking to get back to that podium. I'm not retiring......I'm refueling.
Keep your head up and your tires down.
Aryn
Most people know that Sue and I are having another baby in about 4-5 weeks. Because of that I have decided to not race the 2009 season. Plus, over the past few months I have really started to enjoy more of a trick/stunt riding style on mountain bikes and bmx. I recently picked up a used bmx and have been tooling around on it. In fact just last week I took my son Ashton to the new indoor ramp park that just opened up in Royal Oak. We had a blast. However, I am not sure I belong on 20" wheels. So now I am looking to build a 26" wheeled jump bike to use next summer at places like the Stony Creek Skills Park. Ashton and I went there last fall before it got to cold and I had more fun there than I have had in a long time on a bike. I plan to keep rolling on my bmx until I get that new jump bike built. I already started looking for frames.
As for trail riding in 2009 I hope to get out now and then but not sure how much it will happen. I really enjoy riding with Ashton and with the new baby it'll be hard to jump in the car and ride across town to the trails. When I get me time I'll probably just do my road routes on the Felt which I enjoy. This may finally be the year I get a new road bike. I am way overdue seeing as mine has over 10,000 miles on it.
The big thing this Spring will be if Ashton decides to race bmx. They have a track at Waterford Oaks and they run races every other weekend. If he does I can see myself trying a race or two to see what it is all about. If Ashton does decide to race bmx he'll need more ride time himself so I can see myself doing urban rides with him and Abigail a few times a week to strengthen his legs.
2009 is going to open a lot different that the past few years have. Usually at this time I am already 1000 miles into my off season training and focused on the first few races of the new year. It feels funny not being on the bikes as much but my body feels well rested since I haven't really worked it hard in two months. I plan to get back in a routine so I don't lose my legs completely but I'm sure it will be only half the weekly hours I normally ride. Last year I hit 6,000 miles and that's my biggest total ever. Since I started logging miles 4 years ago I have ridden over 16,000 miles.......that's crazy to me.
So I am ready to go into the New Year and roll with what comes. Looking forward to having a fun laid back year without stressing the big races. But don't think I am done racing forever. I still have a few races I want to compete in after this year. It'll just take some time to build myself up to the condition I will need to be in. So to all my friends and racing foes, keep doing what you are doing and know that when you least expect it I'll be back at the starting line looking to get back to that podium. I'm not retiring......I'm refueling.
Keep your head up and your tires down.
Aryn
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