1st pre ride of the year...

and I hope its not some sort of foreshadowing of things to come...

the weather had been great for the last several days...so what do you think happens the morning of the pre ride...it pours rain...i mean enough to create 6ft long 3inch deep puddles...the only good thing is it's not nasty muddy crap on the bottom, just water...but the sand is the killer here...that's all the soil is...SAND.

so, brad and i do what we do...got suited up and went out for a ride. it was nasty fo sho...BUT with more folks, as we were the first to pre ride, ride the course today it should dry up and with no more rain, 20mph winds, and hopefully some sun, I;m sure things will be solid for the race tomorrow.

this race is a abnormal due to it being only about 45 minutes from the la casa. which makes it nice for when your bike is trashed and nasty and you need to give it some tlc and have her ready for the ride tomorrow.

The 09 campaign gets kicked off tomorrow. For some reason I am more pumped up about this year than in the past...I really don't even know why I'm so stoked...could be cause I've trained hard this off season and I'm ready to race, could be cause the new sponsor and the new rig "The Oiz", or could be cause I'm going back out on the rode for the SERC with B rad and the SERC's races are always such the epitome of southern grassroots xc mtb racing at it's best! I simply am fired up...

race report coming soon...probably Monday...I'm a slacker after hard efforts!

last bit of effort before the race

coach had me doing the last bit of effort today before the weekend. she wanted me to do 3x race start practices which are 1 min full out then settle into a nice, high z4-5a effort...i love these! i normally do the ride a little more structured but today i went to the race course with max to ride. i decided to do the first bit of effort just out on the course...so that's what i did...about 40 min's in the ride, i drilled it for 11 min...cooled down for about 15 min. by that time i was back at the starting line so i drilled the second and last effort of the day...ended up with 2 solid tempos and an 1:45 over all ride time.

My first warm up race of the season is this sunday at the Bethel trails in MS and is part of the SCRCS. The course for this weekend is long and fast...bad thing is there is NO recovery out there...it will be non stop peddling the entire time...all 35 miles!

i'm ready. just a couple of light rides tomorrow and Saturday then it's go time. this season will be fun...i've had a great off season program and feel really right where i wanna be. it's still a long way away from my major goals for the year, so no pressure at this point.

Goal # 2 = Finish top 5 overall at SERC

Goal # 1 = Top 3 at Bump N Grind!

I've never been on the podium at this race...it's the largest xc race i do every year and i love the course...so maybe this is my year!?! It's part of the ProXC and Kenda Cup East series...I can't wait!

T minus 14 days

Coach had 2x 2.5hr rides planned this weekend for me...one with effort, one without...

I wanted to hammer out the 2.5hr effort off road but due to the rain on friday/sat am, i decided to keep clean and go hill hunting...

My 21 mile out-n-back route won for the suffer fest! This route has some great hills to climb...

Those are just a few of the killer climbs...the overall ride details would net me...2:31rt, 51 miles, 2600 ft of climbing, with an avg HR of 156...and some semi sore legs.

this was my turn around, the beautiful town of Baxterville, MS...not a bunch going on here.

Sunday called for the same ride time but with no effort...I was to keep the HR in z1-2...which i did.

For the first time in awhile i gathered a few fellas to ride with me. It was fun for the first 1.5hrs but then they all went they're own way home and i was left to finish the ride alone...like normal.

The end of the ride...great day...64degrees and sunny...can you say almost spring time?

the weekend was great, even though i missed riding off road, i was still treated to some great road riding!

started the new race plan this week...

today i was accompanied by Sam, a riding buddy, who trains a lot but for tri's...??? But he's good to ride with. I told him i was doing a very specific workout and he said he was in so, i told him to meet me about quarter till 4.

the workout today was brutal, coach had me doing hill sprints...4 sets each of 3, 2, and 1 min intervals...ouch! i went WAY to hard(190 HR) on the first 3 min interval and paid for it by the 4th one...but after about 9 min of full recovery i felt a ton better.

i was able to really power out the 2 min reps. they felt good and so did i. on the first 3 min intervals, sam stuck on my wheel...not on the 2's or 1's though. it made me feel good.

i felt good after the ride. i rehydrate like coach waned me to, cause tomorrow is another tough workout...race starts...fun!

No plans just riding!

I decided to ride the Oiz again to continue getting more comfortable on it. I did a combo of road/gravel/singletrack riding today...a little exploration to keep it fun.

Here are some pics and thoughts...

Notice the little boy of the right rigging up his fishing pole...that was your boy about 17yrs ago...as soon as i could get out of the house, i was fishing....i even probably fished right where he was at one point...got to love some fishing!

I have pasted "Dunaway Lane" for years...today i decided to go down it. I found some gravel roads, 4wheeler trails and this sweet little swimming hole with a zip slide...not sure if i'd give it a go now, but 10yrs ago, you bet! Or maybe i would have just brought my girlfriend out there and made out all day!
Nice side shot of the Oiz. It was supposed to be a zoom in shot going thru the frame looking down at the Trace...you can sorta see it...this is a great section of trail that runs parallel to the Rails to Trails...good for folks to see us riding and get exposure to the trials themselves.
Once again...i'm not sure shot when I'm sitting still much less on the move. This is a new section of trail that has made a nice figure 8 loop...
We had some nasty areas in the lower part of the trails so the boys built a fabulous bridge to help out. Nice job! How you like that BOR sticker on that bike?
In this same area of trails, it seems like there is a abundance of skulls...no humans yet...but give us time to build more trials and you never know what'll turn up. I think we're calling this area of the trails...Death Vally. I guess if i were an injured animal, this would be a nice place to cal it quits...nice rolling terrain, plenty of undergrowth to hide under, plenty of water to sip till you pass...i think it would be down right pleasant to die here...

Ah, the quite stroll on the Trace before i head back out on to the open road. it's always such a great place to ride...

bonita...means pretty in spanish

a good ride today at the Bonita lakes trails in Meridian, MS. i use to ride these trails weekly...the ride brought some good memories back for sure...some great single track to enjoy on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. you;ll notice the downed trees...they're from the last several years of nasty storms that seem to happen all too often.

The M Town overlook...it's not that great but hey, it's an overlook in MS...what else can you ask for?
Today's ride was simple...ride with no set agenda for about an hour and some change and that's just what i did. tomorrow's ride will be a little longer but not much in the effort dept. I'll be riding almost everyday over the next week but not too much effort. Coach is building my new race plan so I'll kinda just maintaining/recovering until she's ready.

recovery week ahead

ahh...so much satisfaction happened this weekend!

I guess you could say i'm starting to learn a new term..."time management"...this weekend was a test of whats to come as the family grows. Saturday started with amanda and i having to go separate ways due to parties and practice...she took the 2 babies to a baby shower with her moms and I had to bring carter to soccer practice. Then I had to fit in my 3hr ride, so I dropped the boy off at my moms and immediately jumped on the bike...it was a great day for a ride...60 deg with plenty of sunshine...rode with a fella from Bham AL that i meet friday night at a party.

As soon as i finished the ride, straight to the house to refuel and help decorate the house for caroline's birthday party...which was great! (i'll post pics soon) Then after that party was over at 5p, we had to head to my parents to celebrate amanda and my sisters birthday!

After one last stop at the sister n law's house we headed home. shew...that was a long sat!

Sunday was much more laid back! Woke up with the kiddies and fixed the family breakfast. After I got them all settled and full i got my self ready for the 4hr ride.

I decided to ride the Oiz on the road just to get more use to the way the bike rides...so off i went...the first 2 hrs were on the rd...then i explored some dirt roads for about 35 min to break it up...well...that would prove to be a bad idea. Just as i exited the dirt, i heard a hiss...no biggie, i got a spare tube...so i stopped to fix the flat. What caused the flat...a damn fish bone!(should have taken a pic) i was all ready to fill the tube with air but...the damn Big Air i had didn't work! I started to walk...long story short...dude picked me up and gave me a ride to the house, thank god for good ole' southern folks! As soon as i got back to the house, I jumped on the road bike for about 1:45 min and finished off the 4hrs.

Then it was SUPA BOWL time!!! I picked the Steelers pre season to go to the big show...oh yeah...hella bragging rights!!!

thought of the day..."Why I didn't document the weekends rides with pics, i just don't know...but i will from now on!"