A work trip gone wonderfully astray yesterday found me alongside the mighty Ken Tank for a 2 hour rally down by the river, pedaling my brains out to just hang on, wondering if he's gotten faster or if I've gotten slower. Could be a little of both. We rolled a fast, tacky loop from i-64 over to YRSP and back, hitting just about all of the goods along the way. The experience made me draw two conclusions:
1) Despite his claims to the contrary, Ken Tank is going to roll Douthat in under 2:20. I really hope I'm right about this. Because given our relative performances yesterday (him dropping me on the road climb back to the car), he's either rolling a 2:20 in the XC, or it's going to take me about 7 hours to finish the XXC. I guess that's the nature of training without a power meter. Although in a lot of ways, a Ken Tank is way better than a power meter (measuring ones own performances is apparently not one of those ways.) So I'll either see you around 2:00 on Sunday for some cake, or I'll make an effort roll in by dark. Save me a corner.
2) In terms of life-affirming, interstate 64 experiences, parking your car on exit 231 at Pierce's BBQ, saddling up, and hitting York River before digging into the chicken dinner platter is probably among the top 5.
One might also put a similar experience at Douthat on that list if one could find some BBQ.
Some bits and pieces from the mailbag:
1) The Tour De Moore (no relation to Erico Moortani) is way the hell down in North Carolina on Saturday. It's a road race, which if you're not familiar with the concept is a lot like a mountain bike race, but with skinny tires and better posture. If you're going, drop a line to BRC, because FOTP JoJo Cook wants to finagle a carpool.
2) The Giro De Ville route is out and about, or about as out as the Giro route can get.
Stage Sneak Preview:
Friday Night: Prologue Time Trial
Saturday: Sherando
Sunday: BRP Hugging
Monday: Whetstone, TTT, Vesuvius.
Be Prepared and a BadASS
3) Last but not least, no children were harmed in the making of this Video. And Danny survived. So I think this is technically legal.
Directionally, and as a piece of motivational paraphrasia, up, up, up.
But try to keep your wheels pointed down.
A grassroots racing team from Charlottesville, VA.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
I call shotgun to your group ride state of mind.
Say what you want about celebrating the anniversary of the resurrection of Christ; whatever your opinions are about it, Easter weekend is usually a damn good weekend to do some riding. Dogwoods blooming, great temps, clean rain-washed spring air, and the near-constant availability of cadbury eggs to bring you back from the precipice of whatever hunger-induced, ghost-of-Jesus-seeing bonk you might be on your way to.
always, always pack a lunch.
Let's get to the nitty-gritty. From Shawn at the shop, like Spring itself, the ride schedule has bloomed. A few reasons to ponder why you ever ride alone:
Wednesday Night BRC Fast Road Rides - Led by the Fortuna Crew, 6 PM from BRC. Your chance to stick it to Morgan in all his post-'Stan obesity will likely be short-lived, if indeed it ever happened at all. Dude's been training, I'm told. And not in the "wears desert camo and low-crawls around the desert" sort of training anymore. Regardless, you are the enemy. Come armed.
Wednesday Night MTB ride - Led by Blue Ridge Racing - 8 PM at BRC. A super sweet loop up the RT to OHill and back. Lights optional. A motivational pace. Make of that what you will.
The Thursday Evening Shred Like Ted ride - Led by the original Ted Shred at 5:30 PM from BRC. Look, there have been a barage of applications in the past few years to usurp the name Ted Shred, but really, there's nothing like the original. And now the original has better gear. But typically only one of them.
Saturday C/D road rides. 8:30 AM from BRC. I could go on and on about who I think this ride is appropriate for. Fast riders. Slow riders. Easy Riders. Beginners. Siteseers. The hungover. Those new to town. Those who have been in town for 15 years but have never really looked around on a road ride because they're barely hanging on by their eyeballs while Morgan shows them no mercy. Etc. C/D means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. All of which are near and dear to my heart. Show up. Seize the day.
And two rides that aren't weekly, but instead, once in a lifetime.
1) Shawn's bachelor party. May 7th. Lodi. Kegs and BBQ. Perhaps a blow-up animal or two.
If any of that sounds like something you shouldn't have been left off the notification email about, that's probably my mistake and, preemptively, I apologize for forgetting about you. Hit me up, then hit me.
2) I turn 33 on May 1st. That's a Sunday. 6 the hard way, in Vegas terms. And I'm hoping for some luck at the XXC of the Middle Mountain Momma. Douthat, bright and early. To follow, beer and birthday cake at the finish line for all. And I do mean right at the finish line. Then perhaps a BBQ if the weather looks worthy. Come get some.
Up, Up, UP!
always, always pack a lunch.
Let's get to the nitty-gritty. From Shawn at the shop, like Spring itself, the ride schedule has bloomed. A few reasons to ponder why you ever ride alone:
Wednesday Night BRC Fast Road Rides - Led by the Fortuna Crew, 6 PM from BRC. Your chance to stick it to Morgan in all his post-'Stan obesity will likely be short-lived, if indeed it ever happened at all. Dude's been training, I'm told. And not in the "wears desert camo and low-crawls around the desert" sort of training anymore. Regardless, you are the enemy. Come armed.
Wednesday Night MTB ride - Led by Blue Ridge Racing - 8 PM at BRC. A super sweet loop up the RT to OHill and back. Lights optional. A motivational pace. Make of that what you will.
The Thursday Evening Shred Like Ted ride - Led by the original Ted Shred at 5:30 PM from BRC. Look, there have been a barage of applications in the past few years to usurp the name Ted Shred, but really, there's nothing like the original. And now the original has better gear. But typically only one of them.
Saturday C/D road rides. 8:30 AM from BRC. I could go on and on about who I think this ride is appropriate for. Fast riders. Slow riders. Easy Riders. Beginners. Siteseers. The hungover. Those new to town. Those who have been in town for 15 years but have never really looked around on a road ride because they're barely hanging on by their eyeballs while Morgan shows them no mercy. Etc. C/D means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. All of which are near and dear to my heart. Show up. Seize the day.
And two rides that aren't weekly, but instead, once in a lifetime.
1) Shawn's bachelor party. May 7th. Lodi. Kegs and BBQ. Perhaps a blow-up animal or two.
If any of that sounds like something you shouldn't have been left off the notification email about, that's probably my mistake and, preemptively, I apologize for forgetting about you. Hit me up, then hit me.
2) I turn 33 on May 1st. That's a Sunday. 6 the hard way, in Vegas terms. And I'm hoping for some luck at the XXC of the Middle Mountain Momma. Douthat, bright and early. To follow, beer and birthday cake at the finish line for all. And I do mean right at the finish line. Then perhaps a BBQ if the weather looks worthy. Come get some.
Up, Up, UP!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)