EFTA NECS '08 #1 Glocester Grind

It appears as if my DFL'ing days are over. Even though today hurt really bad, I feel really good because a lot of my hard work finally paid off today.

I got into a really good position off the start, sitting in 3rd behind two very fast individuals who are still pretty out of my league and I felt pretty good for the first mile or so...no red lining and riding the technical stuff pretty well. That all came crashing down (literally) when I was introduced to a very deep mud pothole. I chose just about the worst line possible with my first attempt and performed a perfect display of the family jewels to stem / superman into the woods routine. There were 3 or so SS'ers behind me when it happened, one of which asked me if I wanted a medic sent out haha must have looked awesome...didn't feel awesome though.

So those guys all passed me while I was sorting myself out and I spent the next 10-15 minutes trying to recover a bit. I took a few more sweet spills that 1st lap....just getting the cobwebs out. Crashing like I was at least means I was going fast. My first lap was my slowest I think...just under 40 minutes for 6 miles.

The second and third laps felt better...less crashes, decent pace. For the first time ever I wasnt all by myself, I was still in a field of Experts with wheels to ride and pace on and I wasnt only being passed I was also passing people...especially the third lap. I caught one of the SS'ers who passed me when I crashed on the first lap at about mile 15, I came up on him fast and it was apparent he was in damage control mode. I was 80% sure I was feeling better than he was and that I had more left in the tank for the last 3 miles.

I rode his wheel for a bit waiting for a short portion of the course with some punchy little climbs and technical terrain and as soon as the trail tilted I passed him and up'd the pace. I didnt look at the time to see if he noticed I was SS or not or if he just didnt even bother trying to stay with me but I dropped him fairly quick. I kept my pace high for the remainder of the race to make sure I wouldnt see him again...this led to some sweet cramping in my calves but I was able to pull it out.

I broke 2 hours coming in at 1h:56m. This is a huge accomplishment for me. I have never broken that threshold on a course like this. I have never still been actually racing with experts on the third lap of an 18 mile race...I technically 'attacked' someone on a climb, it could be argued that I used 'race tactics'. Seems lame but this was pretty cool for me. But now to the big pay off...I came in 4th of 7 or so starters. 6 finishers were listed when I left not sure about the 7th. I was only 6 minutes away from third. No more DFL (AKA last)

my sweet rental car...pray for the Echo.

*UPDATE*: Apparently I was semi deceived by the 'unofficial' results posted the day of the race. The official results were posted on the EFTA website last night and it turns out there were two more people who finished 3 minutes ahead of me at 1h:53m. I am still pleased with my results even though I came in 6th out of 8 starters as opposed to 4th. All that really means is that I get less points towards the series. I still broke 2 hours and I met my goal of being in the SS pack and there is no denying that I have continued to improve my fitness over the last few years. Plus I easily lost a few minutes during my epic crash early on the first lap so I think if I could have kept the rubber side down I may have been right with those guys till the end.

Franklin Falls

Naro and I got a pretty sweet ride in at Franklin Falls today. I happened upon this place through my chapter of NEMBA and I have to say I am pretty glad I joined up. I cant wait to put more time into making this place even better. I was testing out a new 'feeding system' for race day and trying to get a few more miles in before I go for broke next week in RI.

My new feed system consists of a little pouch velcro'd up on my top tube at the stem that I am hoping to keep Clif Blocks in. I think its going to work well for me but it needs a bit more tweaking. I'll post pics once I get it completely dialed in. (You can see it in the pic of my bike at the top of the Rusty Bucket trail).

'Prevalence of Groove'...ask Jomo

This is where they filmed the lunar landing in '69

Kula

Lost Wall Trail

Whaleback

If I remember correctly my comp clocked us at an average speed of 10mph over about 14 miles for the day. No ticks and the bugs weren't quite that bad...yet. They are def around but they dont seem to be biting yet. Knock on wood.

EFTA NECS '08 Preview

Well here we are again...first race is in about two weeks and I have maybe 20 miles on my mountain bike. But more coming this weekend and lots of trainer/commuting/road miles. I feel pretty good about this season. I think my fitness has definitely improved over last year and I am excited to see how much better I do this season...both with my fitness and my new bike. I think I have a good chance of being pretty competitive.

One of the last things I needed was some way to motivate myself mentally to push just a bit harder when I get to that point in a race where I feel like laying off and just coming in for the finish. My plan to get that extra motivation was to try and get some sort of sponsorship, so I would in some way shape or form be held 'accountable' for my results. I tried getting something set up with bike29, which looked promising at first, but later fizzled out (haven't heard from them in a while so I'm moving on.)

Instead I decided I would create my own pseudo sponsorship and just 'ride' for my chapter of NEMBA. It's a good cause, I can probably still trick myself into a little more mental motivation to try and represent the chapter well and I don't have to worry about any kind of actual 'sponsorship obligations'. Best of both worlds. And lucky me NEMBA came out with a 20th anniversary jersey that I can use as my 'kit':

LOUD

This jersey is right up my alley, loud colors that dont really match and it has an ax on it...c'mon. Fits really well too and the pockets are a bit looser than some of my other jerseys which will make it easier to get food. Which is crucial because I have come to the realization that I need about 200% more food than the average rider.

Bring on the Glocester Grind! (AKA last)

Noah's Bike

Well I stuck to my guns and rode my bike in today in the pouring rain...there is a flood emergency in Plymouth today and the Pemi is centimeters away from flooding as I type this.

I am happy to say that all my gear worked great. Only parts of me that got wet were the tops of my feet and my hands (sort of). I think I can keep the tops of my feet dry if I cinch my pants on the outside of my booties, so if I get waterproof gloves I will be made in the shade, or rain as it were.

To the other Zoo family commuters, I highly recommend the Performance Brand Rain Pants that they sell in their 'Commuter Store', they are cheap, $30-$35 and they work awesome. You can cinch them shut at the bottom for a tight fit with a velcro strap and they got some reflective jibba jabba which is always nice. but size up when you buy them they run small.

Only complaint is that I am probably going to have to buy a full front fender if I am going to continue to ride in conditions like today. The fender I have covers the downtube, which gets a lot of the spray but at speed the front of the tire throws water straight up and if I'm going fast enough I hit the water before it falls to the ground and it basically hits me right in the face. Today I just tried to lean the bike to the right a bit while I leaned slightly to the left so the water went over my right shoulder. That worked but its not the best position for balance and I was also sticking my head right into traffic...which I would prefer not to do.

All in all riding in a cold rain has been conquered, we'll see how riding in a flood goes this afternoon, the Pemi is forecasted to crest sometime late this morning or early afternoon...

Ethnic Diversity Ale

okay, weird name I know. The kit came as Guillermo's Imperial Pilsner which I don't like saying so I'm changing it up. Ethnic Diversity seemed fitting seeing as the malt extract was derived from American grains, the hops are German, the yeast strain is Bavarian and the beer is being touted as Mexican. This batch fits right in with the Zoo's theme for '08....Going Global, WORLDWIDE.

I can't wait to try this batch...I chose this kit because of how odd/interesting all the ingredients were and I am interested to see how its all going to come together. One of the other interesting features of this kit is that it is called a Pilsner but it is made using Ale yeast that ferments around 60-65. but apparently after bottling you can cold condition the beer to bring out more of a Pilsner feel/taste or condition at room temp for a more Ale feel. Pretty cool. Not sure how I am going to play that...maybe half and half? I am more of an ale fan usually but I'm no hater of lagers either so well see.

I think this kit should take about 2 months or maybe a little bit less so look for this batch to be ready to drink around mid-late June.

sweet broom

Finally got around to bottling this batch, probably almost a month later than I had originally planned. Got busy with some bachelor parties and weddings and the what not and before you know it this batch has been sitting in secondary for over a month. But not to worry, I think the extra time chilling out did the batch well, it looks great in the glass, tried a bit and it was nice and smooth. And it has about 4 weeks to condition until Lakerage. Perfectly in line with corporate goals. On time, under budget and within scope. BOO YAH.

Ethnic Diversity Ale. Locked and Loaded.
Ready for Lakerage.

*UPDATE*: Joe and I tried a sampling of this batch over the holiday weekend and I am pretty pleased with how it came out. Decent strength, but not harsh, good weight for summer. Its going to be PERFECT for lakerage.