Snow

After a week of cold weather and snow, it finally cleared and today ended up being very sunny. The forcast said 35 degrees as a high, but it was 28 when we drove to the mountain. It's usually 5 degrees colder in the forest. Anyway, it was good because it wasn't windy and we were able to stay on trails - nothing too fast. Here's some pictures.Gasline that goes through the forest - recently made wider for another pipe
3 Bridges trail

Plans for 09, and probably 10

I really don't wanna stay at home for these, especially since I missed last years and these next two years would be my last at USA Cycling juniors. But my dad and I have decided that since the elevation for nationals is 7,000 something, it would be way too unfair and I shouldn't race. That elevation really takes energy out of you, and there is a reason why Harlan and Eatough said they stayed away from the marathon nationals in Breckenridge. I doubt I'd find a healthy solution that is good enough to race with, but if I do, I still may consider. As of now though, next year's nationals and possibly the year after's are definitely races I won't go to, even though I wanna race them without the elevation handycap. It makes no sense to beat myself up way too much, racing with 10 - 15% of my energy not there. If I traveled that far to race, I'd wanna have some fast results, and right now we don't think that can happen with the elevation.

New Suprize

On Saturday, we went into the Bicycle Shop to get my dad's wheel trued. I didn't know that he had been planning on getting me a Cannondale F29 for Christmas, and I didn't know why a size medium had been rolled out of the warehouse. And then I realized it wasn't one of my dad's new toys. He told me that it was left over from 08 (which is great because they stopped making them in the raw aluminum) and that he didn't want to wait until Christmas because I wouldn't get to ride it much. We took it down to the basement where we swapped the wheels for a pair of my dad's extra Stan's Arches with a King hub, swapped the bar for a FSA carbon (I think another of my dad's extras), and got everything set up. It has X9 with the SL fork, and weighs about 24.3 lbs with those wheels. We got it at a really good price, because you see the SL forks on ebay for just a few hundred less. I rode it around the driveway and it felt a lot different than hopping on my dad's. Snappy and fast. Today I went for a ride with the owner of our shop and some others. That bike climbs like a rocket on the fireroads. If you try to power up short climbs, the wheels just won't turn though. Staying in a smart gear is important. It felt really smooth in the rocks when I had momentum, but if I hit a pedal or something, it was hard to get going again. Turns better than I thought. I think I'll race it next year. Possibly Granogue and the summer Fair Hill. Probably more. The ride went really well, considering I'm just getting over the flu and how bad I felt last Sunday. At one point I got a little dizzy, but that was only after racing Erik Scott up a climb. It's not a good idea to do that because he needs to be the first to the top of every climb. At the end of the ride, we saw a porcupine climbing a tree. My dad commented on how good of a climber it was. Erik immediatly claimed he was a better climber and tried to race the porcupine up the tree. He just really likes to climb.Erik the Porcupine

Wanted to, But Didn't

Today we were supposed to go down to Michaux and ride the Maximus 25 mile course. With some exceptions like riding Fender both ways. Anyway, I fell at the end of a night ride on Friday and bruised my hand. It swelled up really big; it's still swollen but I could've ridden today. The real reason why I'm not riding is because last night, I got really sick. All of the sudden the only thing I could do was lie down. Even walking made me more sick. I barely got any sleep last night and threw up a total of 13 times in 10 hours. It was so bad that when I went to the bathroom for water, I threw that up 30 seconds later. I don't know what I have or how I got it. If no one at school is sick, I probably got it from my Camelbak. We were going to stop by Mountainside Ski and Sports on the way back to get new bindings for my skis. I DNF almost every race last year because I ejected out of junior bindings. Chris from Mountainside watched me race and he said that I skied too agressivly for the junior bindings. May go back and try to ride in a week or two.

Crazy Riot

Penn State riot the other night after beating Ohio State. It's sad that this happens when we win a big game.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izj8TGFZE6U

IMBA R3 Epic

R3 stands for Rothrock 3 Loops. A 32 mile course that was set up 9 or 10 years ago. First loop takes you to the top of Bald Knob, rides across it and descends into Shingletown. Climbs back out and you ride towards Croyle. Down Croyle and up one of the longest climbs, going from a little above the lowest point in the forest to the top of one of the highest mountains. Then down a jeep trail to Long Mountain, where there is an extremely steep hike-a-bike to the top. 3 years ago, there was a sign of a hiker, which marked a designated hiking route. Someone spraypainted a bike on it, and drew an arrow to this trail. It isn't there anymore. Anyway, the trail is so steep that the first time I did it (back in 2005 on my 24inch Specialized Hotrock), my dad had to carry my bike up as I crawled up the trail. Down the never ridden Long Mountain descent and up a long road to Upper and Lower Longberger. I'm apologizing to myself for accidentally deleting all the video and pictures I took for this ride. Wow. How could I have done that?

The Watershed

So all 3 times we've made it down to Gambrill State Park to ride, we haven't ever gotten to the Watershed due to time constraints and other stuff like that. But today my dad, Fernando Torres, his friend Rob, and I met at one of the trailheads and I got to ride the area for the first time. It was a good ride; about 18 miles and 2:20. Started off with a nice descent, then around a lake. At the lake there was a nice jump into a steep pitch, which was really fun. I just kept falling and falling, but the landing was very soft. It's a natural jump off a rock, but it is perfect. Then rode a short technical trail down to some road, down that and on to what Fernando called the Death March climb. From there we turned right and on to a really fun downhill. At the bottom, you go through these huge boulders, some being close to 20 feet above you in places. Then onto the road. We did some more fun stuff like that, got on the Blue trail at some point, and eventually worked back to the car. It was one of those days where everything worked perfectly -- the bike did everything I wanted it to, and I was having a great day both physically and technically. Numerous times during the ride, we'd pass these really nice looking rocks. Of course I never really noticed how nice they were, just tried to figure out if I could ride them. Chances are that if it's a big rock and it's on the side of the trail, ride up it and you'll find some interesting way back down. At one point in the ride, we passed this big metal box, which used to be someone's trash. Everyone tried to figure out what the thing was. I saw it as someone's junk that shouldn't be in a forest, but since it was there I might as well try to ride it. It was built up, so I gave it a shot. This was my mental state the entire ride and it turned out to be really fun. Can't wait to go back. Pictures should be coming soon.

Grizvitational

Rob Ginieczki used to live here in State College. He has written many mountain biking guide books. His book of our own Rothrock State Forest helped my dad and I find a lot of the trails here. Every year, there is a big group ride for him, and he usually shows up. He lives out in Colorado now, and didn't make it to this year's ride. The ride started at Penn Roosevelt State Park, the same place as the Stoopid 50. We climbed to the top of Thickhead mountain, and descended the steeper side. 31 mph without pedaling on a jeep trail. Then we turned onto the John Wert Path, a trail known for it's technical rock gardens, and is a must-do for anyone visiting the area. Then up to Upper and Lower Longberger. Upper and lower are completely different trails; lower is one of the only beginner trails in the area, and upper is a 1 mile rock garden. Turned on to 3 Bridges trail and up Laurel Run road to Charcoal Flats trail. Starts off fast, then stops descending and turns into a 3 mile string of rock gardens. Steep, technical descent into Shingletown Gap, with lots of big rocks and ledges. Then a rocky climb back out to the road. We turned back into 3 Bridges and took it down to Bear Meadows road, and climbed that to Kettle trail. Kettle is a short, but steep and washed out climb up to Tussey Ridge. I've only cleared it once, and my dad is the only other person I know that has done it. Tussey Mountain trail isn't as rocky as John Wert or Charcoal flats, but it's still technical. Rode it passed the forest fire that burned the whole ridge 2 years ago and across the gasline to Tussey Extension. The extension finishes the ridge, then descends, but goes back uphill to the gasline, and descends the gasline down to Treaster Kettle road. The climb up Thickhead from that side is really hard when you're only 1 hour into the ride. We started around 11 and the sun was beginning to set while we climbed. The only race that this side of Thickhead has been in was the Singlespeed World Championships in 2005. My dad climbed it that night and all he saw were footprints. By the time I got to the top, it was almost dark. We descended the other side with just enough daylight to see the bumps on the way down.

A Week of Fun Riding

On Sunday, my dad and I woke up early and left from the house for a ride. It was really foggy when we left, but as we started climbing, we went right through the clouds. By the time we got back down, the sun had burned off most of it though. Rode a rockey trail down and almost out of the forest, then turned around and took a different one back up. Climbed a steep and loose trail to the top of the mountain, which is one of the big ones you can see from my house. The mountain is called Bald Knob, because of the large boulders at the top, where there aren't any trees. Ride passed that and you come to that steep, technical descent that I talked about earlier. Did it in the daylight, and it was much more fun. Down the road, up a trail, and back another rocky ridge to the house. Ride time was about 3 hours, and we had to get back to help get ready for a party that we were having for the local mountain bike club.

On Tuesday was the Bicycle Shop group ride, and it also turned out to be really fun. Up a climb, then down a really fun 20 minute singletrack descent. Usually at this point, you take a fire road through a gap, and connect to a rocky trail that goes through a really dense hollow. Instead, we took the gasline up and over that ridge to the trail. Up an encredibly steep wall, then down the other side. By the time we got to this difficult trail, my dad had already snapped a chain, but we got that fixed pretty fast. While we rode off the gasline, another mechanical occured, and a derraileur got snapped. Threw a singulator on it and singlespeeded out. At that point, it was night. The John Wert path is a difficult trail in the day; riding it at night was completely different. Big rock gardens, and low trees and other plants that try to grab ahold of your light. I'm 2 for 3 this year on the "Sea of Rocks" rock garden. It's one of the hardest ones around, and when I did it the first time I thought I would never be able to do it again.

Today was my birthday, and I got mostly riding gear. Which I'd actually rather have than anything else. Some new gloves (I tore mine when I broke my collarbone and they started giving me blisters), a waterproof jacket and baggy shorts (I was borrowing my mom's jacket because mine leaks through). I also got a helmet cam. It's the same one that Gunnar used to record his Bear Creek videos, I'm looking forward to learning how it works. On Sunday we'll go out to R.B. Winter and do a fun group ride out there. It's hard to believe that it's only 45 minutes from my house and I've never been there. Can't wait.

Way, Way Off

Based on the calculations for lactate threshold heart rate and max heart rate, I was able to redo my zones. They were way off. It makes a little more sense that I didn't recover until I didn't ride outside for a month. When I was doing "recovery" rides in "zone 1," I was really in high zone 2 and in zone 3. It wasn't really any kind of recovery. My perceived effort was screwed up because I got into a rhythm of hammering. The rides felt easy because they were easier, not because I was recovering.

Yesterday was my first real night ride of the year. My dad and I started off in the day, as soon as I got back from school. We rode many of the trails from the Stoopid 50 (from the first fun downhill almost to the first aid station, then picked it up again towards the end). We're kinda spoiled since we can ride from our house, so we hadn't really ridden on that side of the forest many times this year. The trails aren't as rocky but are just as fun. The one part that we did get to ride at night was the last 5 or 6 miles. It's the part of the Stoopid after the rocky ridge, where you cross the road and continue along the ridge, through some nicely built piles of rocks and some clearings. It was really fun at night. When I was riding that trail, I noticed that a few trees had a reflective dot on them. Not even ones that were close to the trail. It looked perfectly round and was probably a big nail, but I don't know why they were there.

9/29/08

Today I re-did my heart rate test to figure out my zones, and found out that I had been running the generic 220-age max heart rate since I got the Garmin. Which was wrong. My lactate heartrate was off, and that threw off the hr zones. Did 20 minute timetrial up the Laurel Run road (it's the climb after the 3 Bridges trail in the W101). I ran out of room so I continued up to the very top by taking another road to the fire tower. Almost made it there, about 1/4 mile left. Rode back down and joined my dad and several others for the Bicycle Shop Tuesday group ride. We descended into this rockey hollow, climbed to the ridge on the other side, and descended an extremely steep, technical trail into the darkness. Really would have liked the Rush on that one. Big 2 foot drops on an already steep and rocky trail made the Taurine feel like such a steeply designed bike. The 70 degree headtube angle is fine and turns fast, but the front wheel is almost directly under the frame. 69 degrees for the Rush and full suspension would have made the trail much safer. It still was fun and I'm looking forward to riding the trail again. This time with the Rush and some kind of daylight.

Bear Creek Final

I'll just start off by saying that the XC race was probably my best preformance all year, and that the Super D was super fun. On Saturday, we got to the mountain just in time for me to get registered and go and pre-ride the Super D course. While I was riding up the course, I could tell that it would end up being a good race. I got to the top and went a moderatly fast speed back down because it's easier to find the best lines that way. A quick adjustment of the pedals and I rode back up to the top. Watched racers start for about an hour until it was time for me to go. I was the second to last person on course. Some spots got better but others just got torn up. The race started off with a kinda rocky section. Not too bad but it really beat some people up. Then onto a loose access road and off a jump into some twisty singletrack. Across another road and more twists to a big steep chute. Gradual uphill to a switchback, under a tree, and a sharp but fast turn into some more rocks. Jump across a bridge and some more tight turns until it opened up for the finish. I made the mistake of trying to shift out of my big chainring, and double shifted making my chain skim off the rings. Despite that problem, my run went really smooth. I finished 12th overall with a time of 6:06. About a minute behind Harlan and 20 seconds behind Brandon.vThe next day was the XC final and it went great. Cameron and Caleb had a big lead through the back of the resort and up to the singletrack. On that first steep climb, I passed Caleb and closed the gap on Cameron. I stayed behind him up the first climb, and passed when we got to the rocks. I felt that it was a good attempt to get away, because I couldn't hear him or see him at the turns. But while trying to pass around a turn, I went too far to the outside and my front tire found a small shrub. Straight over the bars and onto my face. Cameron passed but I caught up to him soon enough. I followed Cameron all the way until the first climb on the second lap, where he gradually got out of my sight. I'd still see him at the end of some rocks, but he wasn't close enough to get back to him. He finished with a high 1:33.40something and I finished with a 1:35.0something. My best preformance all year. I did beat him at Granogue but I felt like I raced better today. Gunnar came in about 9 minutes back. He had pink eye or something and he wasn't feeling too good. It was a really fun weekend and a great way to end the season.

A lot of people kept telling me that I would come back much stronger from my injury. When I was in the sling, I didn't really believe them. Laurel Classic was a good race but I didn't know exactly if I was stronger than before. I knew something was wrong at Teaberry because, looking at the results now, I realize that it was a very bad race. This weekend, I can now see that what everyone said was true. I was able to respond to almost every attack that Cameron tried, and although I wasn't able to, I know how to beat him. Simple race strategy that I won't tell anyone over the internet.

Go Ahead Dearie...It will Make You go Faster

Last Sunday was the Terror of Teaberry. Most of you who weren't there would probably think it couldn't top last year's crazy event. Most of you that weren't afraid to come back would agree that the course killed last years. What it lacked in distance (yes, it actually was 25), it made up for in some of the hardest conditions I've ever raced in. Rain the day before, 90 degree heat, loamy and wet trails, and fresh cut disasters made it incredibly long. Last year it took me 4:08 to complete the 33 mile course, in perfect conditions. This year's time was 3:50.

the back of the t-shirt

After the race, Harlan let my dad borrow one of his sets of Industry-9 wheels. He'll get to ride Harlan's "heavy" set, which were the ones that won Teaberry, until Bear Creek. Thanks Harlan.

I fell while trying to pass Cameron in the beginning of the race, but soon caught him again. I stayed with him for about 15 miles, but couldn't close any kind of a gap. Cameron has been training specifically for this event, getting in lots of 30 mile rides. I have not, and my endurance is way way down since the injury. No biggy though. 2nd place. I came through the 12 mile loop a little over 1:10, which was a pretty solid time. The back 13 took me 2:40, and I was still passing people. If you can remember the 3 Stooges trail from last year (the technical, steep downhill), you'd remember that it was wet on a dry day. This year was crazy. Roots criss crossed the trail as well as huge slippery boulders. Possibly the most technical trail+conditions I've ever raced on. Not to bad, I actually thought it was more fun like this, but it was a little to technical for most. The 3 others that I was with were walking down it. I rode that last 8-9 miles without water, and a stupid mistake. At the aid station with 6 more to go, I drank some water, but completely ignored the nice, orange, water cooler. I was suffering from dehydration, feeling dizzy and sick at the end, AND COULDN'T EVEN BOTHER TO DRINK THE ICY COLD WATER.
Next race is the Bear Creek Super-D and XC race. Should be a fun close to the season of racing

Because of this thing where no company can order any spare parts/bikes (Gunner knows what I'm talking about), we had 2 pairs of shoes that can't get fixed. The one pair were the red S-works Specialized shoes that my dad gave me. I wore them at the end of last year and this spring until I broke the boa a week before the relay. $10 gets you a replacement kit, but since Specialized can't get any, we're getting store credit. Same with my dad's other S-works shoes. He switched over to Sidi so we got more store credit. With my dad's shoes, we were able to trade them for a pair of new S-works in a 43. And today I got to try them out. They fit your foot like a slipper, and I found some old Shimano insoles to put in them cause I have weird feet. Hopefully they hold up nicely and don't break. Specialized puts all their money into weight savings, while companies like Sidi offer every replacement part you could think of, including spare treads for when you wear out yours. They're heavier, but unless you rip them, they will last a lifetime. There's a really slippery bridge when you're entering the forest, and on our way back to the house, we passed a car that had flipped over. There's been a lot of accidents on this bridge, but I'd never seen any of them. The car slipped off the road and drove up onto a bank, where it flipped over sideways back onto the road. The driver was alright, thankfully.

The Dog

So my mind was pretty set on just riding the beginner course at Laurel with my mom. Until last night at 8:00 when I figured that I was healthy enough to race. We drove up and I got ready as usual, but when I was about to start warming up, my dad rode by and told me that Gunnar had just pulled into the parking lot. Big suprize. So it ended up being Gunnar, Julian, and me at the start.

At the last second, I kinda dozed off and the gun sounded, catching me by suprize. Before I knew it, everyone was around the turn and I was weaving in and out of riders to catch up. I rode with Gunnar and Julian until the first steep uphill section, where I pulled away. 29ers go fast on fireroads, so I wanted to give myself a little advantage. It worked out pretty good and I had a big lead on both of them, until it started getting flat again. Every flat spot, Julian got closer, until he finally passed me. The same with Gunnar, and I got behind his wheel going into the singletrack. It continued very steep uphill for a while, where I rode behind Gunnar and got a little rest. Once we got to the top, I shifted first into the middle, then worked through the cassete until I was in the biggest chainring. I didn't look back, thinking I would be dissapointed with what I would see. "The Dog" is the name given to the big chainring by Craig Gordon, the 2006 24 hour solo world champion. I ended up using that ring a lot of the race. So anyway, I was flying on this gradual downhill section and before I knew it, the trail dropped off the side of the mountain onto the Stinger trail. It's so steep that once you start down it, you're not slowing down. I started down it too fast and ended up passing 3 people. At the bottom, you flew out onto a fire road, and I looked back. Still no Gunnar, but Julian was just ahead. Seriously, this is the exact same thing that happened to me last year with Gunnar. I rode hard, but Julian just rode faster and had dropped me by the time we got to the Dear trail, the second technical descent. Bombed down that and across the road.

After the road, there is a little ditch where a spring crosses the trail. I don't know how big it is, but it's deep and not many people try to jump across it. By the time I saw it, it was too late and I knew that I had to try and clear it. As I was in the air, I looked down and saw this awful knob on the other side. I was just hoping to clear it, and I did. Barely. Through a few streams and you're off to the 3rd big climb of the race. Again, I had closed the gap on Julian, but couldn't catch him. Just kept pulling away from me. On the last downhill, my Garmin registered at 31.2 mph. It's fast, but only if you're really pinning it. I crossed the finish 2nd overall, less than a minute behind Julian. Julian got a time of 1:52, I had a 1:53, and I'm not sure what Gunnar's time was but I'm sure that he broke 2 hours. It was a fun race, and I like the course conditions - slippery and foggy and wet and muddy.

Oh and I also have my first week of school behind me...

btw Gunnar, that Hammer gel flask that you saw without the top, it was mine. we figured that out when all I had left in my pocket was the cap ;-p

Bear Creek Pre-Ride

Last weekend, my dad and I drove down to Bear Creek to pre ride the course. We did 2 laps Saturday night and 3 laps on Sunday. The hotel is really nice and so is the course. I got most of the lines down and I felt that each lap was smoother and more flowing than the last. Should be a fun race.

Now for Some Rocks...

A few days ago, we decided that I was probably ready to ride some rocks. I had been doing the 3 Bridges trail (walking the minefield cause everyone thought it was best) the direction that the 101 did it for the past week, and my shoulder wasn't hurting. On Thursday, although my mom didn't agree with our decision, I rode down one of the steeper downhills in the forest. It's washed out with some steep pitches. It ended up being pretty easy and I rode down it and up over a few big logs without noticing any problems. Next day we went out for a spin, and did a fairly rocky trail. Much like the rocks at French Creek's rockyest part. No problem. Then today I did 20 minutes of all-out effort, followed by a nice, long, cool-down. On the way back home we rode another trail that was kinda rocky, but a different kind of rocks. More big, rock garden type rocks than Friday. Lifted over some big logs without any difficulty. My forearms ached after a downhill section, but nothing in the shoulder and the strength will come back soon. Still no problem with the shoes so the new soles should work out good for me.

2 Mysteries Solved

Yesterday we figured out 2 riding problems. The one with my dad's bike and the other having to do with my shoes. At Iron Hill, my dad's crank wouldn't turn with 2 miles left in the race. We thought they were bearings in the BB30 that went bad. When we took it into the bike shop, the real problem was quickly found. One of the small chainring bolts had backed out of the small chainring, and was scraping against the bottom bracket shell. Lucky for us, they aren't all carbon, but are coated in aluminum. The damage wasn't bad. For some time now, my feet have been bothering me. I came to the conclusion that it was just my feet swelling up inside the shoe. I decided that I probably needed a wider shoe. I went to the bike shop yesterday to look at Shimano shoes, because they are wider than any other major shoe brand. The manager had the idea of putting the in-soles from my Louis Garnaeu road shoes into my Specialized mountain shoes. I did not have the problem in the road shoes, and he thought it may be the "ergonomic" shape of the Specialized in-soles. The middle of the sole is raised for the meditarsal button. It helps produce more power for some people, but it was just making me angry. Rode the LG shoe on the road, then switched in-soles and went for a mountain ride. Nothing. I'm pretty sure that problem is solved.

Physical Therapy

Today started my physical therapy. It went pretty good, and it should really help my tendons and muscles heal. During one of the excersizes, I pinched a nerve and passed out, but that's kinda normal because of the different position of my collar bone. I found out that I have a grade 1 seperation of my AC joint, but only half the bone is displaced, so it's not too bad. I'm still supposed to take it easy for a while, so no racing Laurel Classic for me. Instead, I've decided to ride behind my mom on the beginner course and give her tips and help her and stuff like that. Yesterday's ride went much better than I expected. We left from the house and rode near the 3 Bridges part of the W101. I thought we were just going to stay on fire roads, but when we got up there my dad thought it was okay for me to ride an easy trail. Went up it, then back down it. It's not too rocky but has a few washed out sections. Those weren't a problem and my shoulder didn't hurt at all. Tonight I'm going for a ride with my mom on some fire roads. Spinning.

Finally

Today I got my shoulder x-rayed and it turned out pretty good. I'm mostly healed, and the only things I have to deal with are a swelled AC joint and my muscles being very weak. I start physical therapy tomorrow morning, so it should be good. The doctor said to take I should be good to ride, but I should really take it easy for 4-6 weeks. That brought up a whole new option for what I should be doing this fall. I'm undecided about whether to ride the Laurel Classic with my mom, on the 10 mile course, or race it with Gunnar or whoever else shows up. It's 3 1/2 weeks away, so I should still be taking it kinda easy. And if I do injure my shoulder again, I'm taking the ski season off and not skiing this winter. My Rush is back from the shop, as it had been there for 4 weeks with a broken fork. I popped the saddle rail through the back of the saddle in the crash, so it had a new saddle put on. I may or may not go for a ride tonight, but if I do, it'll be on fire roads with my fork unlocked. I can't wait to at least get on a bike, that I really don't care about what I ride.