Oops.

Sooooooooo, I flipped over my handlebars on the trails today at the first step down. It was a bummer, as I'd ridden over it like twenty times before without incident. But I didn't break anything, just banged up my arm a tick. And my pride. Oops.

CENTURAYYYYYYYYYYY!

The two rides I was looking forward to did not disappoint. As expected, the brick was tons of fun. I had decided to go on a mountain ride with Jessie on Friday to get in some much needed practice on the blue trails at Hillandale. Yeah, any experienced mountain biker (my roommate for example) would probably laugh at me. But honestly? The technical aspects of the sport are not something that I quickly latch onto; I'm much better at thoughtlessly-at least I think so anyway- going fast. That works pretty well on the road, but generally that'll get you flipped over your handlebars when you ride mountain. I'm making strides for sure, and generally after a lap around the trail I am significantly looser on the bike and therefore less prone to wiping out. Still no bad falls yet!

But anyway, we had to cancel the mountain ride on account of rain, since the last time we rode the trails wet we were slipping and sliding and quite a few people bled. I decided that the rain was a perfect excuse to slip back into my chams and jersey and become what Jessie describes as "the asshole road cyclist". So we set out on a moderately paced twelve mile ride down route eleven. Now, route eleven's definitely not a very difficult road in terms of terrain. There are a few rollers and some of them are pretty steep, but honestly after the rockies, cascades, apalachians and catskills, I've had to rethink whatever I used to deem difficult. Still, I was really excited that I could push at a pretty good pace and feel very comfortable. I really don't feel like I've gotten in enough saddle time. It turns out that the reason we were moving so fast is because we had a tailwind, which we realized when we turned around and had to fight through it...uphill.

After cleaning the water and grit off of myself and the bike and chowing down a dumpster dove everything bagel with humous at Jessie's, I was ready to head out to the Brick. I arrived to the meeting place to find a few runners and no bicycle. The practice director was having second thoughts about the bike leg, as I was the only one who had yet turned up with a bike, and it was a bit rainy out. Thankfully, other bikers turned up-Zach, a sophomore riding an Allez Sport, and Kristen riding a rusty mountain bike without a helmet. The ride was on!

The ride-a nine miler out to the trail we'd be running at-turned out amazingly. The weather cleared almost as soon as we hit the road in earnest, and it was great chewing the fat with two athletes I'd never met. Much more impressive was the fact that Kristen was able to keep up with us on a mountain bike with platform pedals. Even more impressive is the fact that she ran five miles on top of that. I can't wait until the next brick workout-I'm also pretty psyched for the long ride on wednesday at 1 PM. Finally something fun to do before my class at five o clock.
But the more pressing subject of the journal, and appropriately the title, was the century I rode in this morning.

I got back in the saddle in earnest this morning, at around six AM. It was equal parts unpleasant and nostalgic to be getting up before the first light. I would've seldom gotten up so late as six o clock during bike and build, but then my roommates wouldn't have kept me up until three AM either. Suffice to say, I had a ton of energy as I headed out the door to the park. The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition has been holding the ride that I was in for twenty six years. It definitely showed. The whole ride worked like a well oiled machine, and provided some of the best food I could have expected for the measly fifteen dollars I payed to register.

I ended up running into some Bike and Builders on the ride, much to my surprise. My buddy Dan, it turned out, had convinced some of the riders from his route to come out for the ride. After a little goading to ride with them on the century-I had since gotten cold feet and conceded to riding only the fifty miler-I joined them on the lineup at eight o clock. I ended up getting to know a little about his friends Rachel and Emily, and the way that their trip worked. It seems every route has its own particular flavor, and the NC to SD trip sounded like it was pretty tasty. I also ended up chit chatting with a woman from Charlottesville named Peggy who had been convinced by her cyclist husband to take up the hobby. She insisted that we were biking twins-which was sort of true, although she was riding a much sweeter Roubaix- and I ended up getting her number. I plan on giving her a call when I get into the Charlottesville area for a ride.

All in all, a very successful, very endorphin filled day. In fact, I'm still riding that high, and plan on riding it for the rest of the week. Peace out Hombres!

Tri It

Yeah. So I joined JMU's triathlon club last night. Sort of on impulse; well not on impulse exactly. I'd been thinking about doing it for a while. But I was a little bit unsure of my ability to do it. Yeah, I know. I rode thirty eight hundred miles this summer and I wasn't sure if I could do it. I realize now that I was crazy to have any doubts about it. It was one of the best decisions I've made since getting back to school.

Mountain biking has been great, but I have been sorely missing being on Jonas. Prior to this, the most I'd been on him all school year was just a few miles, trying to get around. At most we're talking twenty miles. Even more important than just getting on the road bike again was having a routine to doing it. It's great to know that pretty much every week I have a few opportunities to go on longer group rides. I think it'll feel like home again, like the trip. I'm also super psyched to be able to network with so many great athletes, and watch others and myself get stronger. And then there's the competition aspect.

I registered for my first Tri last night as well, which is taking place on September 20th. I think it's going to be really fun and low key, which is a great way for me to get my feet wet in the sport. It's only a sprint, so I'll be more than able to complete it. The team seems very cohesive and I'm really looking forward to being a part of their group, even if it's just for a year. Ohh, and I'm super psyched for the training rides I'll be doing over the next few days. Tomorrow we have a brick workout that I'm really excited about.

For those of you who might not know what a brick is, it's a consecutive bike and run. It's called a brick because...drumroll...your legs feel like bricks during the transition between biking and running. I've never done a brick before, but I am so excited about finally doing it. And getting back into my chams! I have a feeling I'll be one of the only, if not the only person, in spandex because it's only an eighteen mile bike ride. But whatever, I love 'em.

The other ride I'm really looking forward to is happening on sunday. It's a community ride, from what I can gather, so there'll be all sorts of cyclists there. From experienced vets, to families, and I'm sure lots of college students. We have the option of riding twenty five miles, fifty miles, seventy five miles, or a century. Even though I'm a little worried about running out of light, because the ride doesn't start until nine in the morning, I'm going for the Centurayyyyy! I figure if things look like they won't work out, I can always bail. Now I just need to pick up a tube from the bike shop this afternoon when I'm done with class. Yeah-sigh- I got a valve tear yesterday when I was pumping up my rear tire. I'll have to throw away the tube that I got from that triathlete outside of Jackson so many weeks ago.

But ohh well. CENTURAYYY! Peace out Hombres!

First Fall!

So, we've been riding on the trails in earnest for two class periods. We've been on the green trails-that is, the easiest trails in the park- and it's been a lot of fun. Sure, experienced mountain bikers would call it boring, since it's not super technical and obstacles tend to come at you one at a time instead of one after another. But for rank novices like us, the experience has been a lot of fun, and for a few of us, a little scary. I've loved every second of it, including my first fall this morning.

The class so far has gone without a hitch, really. I've been really pleased to find that I still retain a fair amount of cycling fitness, despite having curtailed my riding significantly. The course itself is relatively flat, with the only real climb being what I would call moderate, if not easy. That climb's right at the start, being on the path from our instructors house in town to the mountain course. Needless to say, it's been really nice being able to sing at the top of my lungs while almost everyone else in the class is gasping for breath. And yeah, I still sing all the time on the bike, which my new riding partners have noticed and commented on. But anyway, onto the fall.

Probably the most intimidating feature of the ride so far is, like the only significant hill, at the beginning. It's a bit of stepdown, something like three or four feet down a rocky outcrop. Admitedly it's nothing too difficult, but for those people in the class who have minimal experience cycling at all, let alone mountain biking, I understand why it's a bit scary. At the moment it's one of my favorite features to tackle, and the one I figured would cause my first wreck in the class. As it turns out, the culprit was taking too sharp a turn on a gravely patch, losing my nerve and braking, and taking a spill because of that. It was a lot of fun, and the only reprimand I got for the mistep was some dirt on my jeans and a little adrenaline in my blood. I can't wait to show up to the Russian History class I have right after a little bloody. I'm pretty sure I already get a few stares from being sweaty and dirty.

The semester's only starting to go full swing, and I can't wait to get out into the more advanced trails and tear 'em up. As for the other biking developments, I'll leave that for another post in the future, as more developments occur. But I'm pretty excited about all of 'em.
Peace out, Hombres!