And then... there were three!

Tuesday and I finally made it to the "track club" running group, invited by two of my work collegues. Wow...... I had forgotten just how unremittingly painful track work outs were! Paired up and had to run 800 meters, 1000 meters, 1200 meters, 1000 meters and 800 meters in a continuous relay with your partner! Only three miles, so why does it hurt so much eh? Still the beer and burger afterwards helped. Hopefully this could become a bit of a regular bit of agony.

Then Thursday it was time to hit BurchField with Kevin. As we leave the parking lot a guy shouts "Hey Kevin" turns out it is another of the team Kevin organizes (Joe). Now then - Joe is the Man! KNows the trails and leads us on a magical mystery tour around bits of the park I had completely missed on my first exploration! Twist and tight (like Charlotte) but with more ups and downs and some fun obstacles and roots etc. Several "teeter-totters" the first of which nearly does for me and quite a few elevated (O.K. by about 6 inches most of the time, but still)sections.

Logs to get over (though most almost inexplicably built up on both sides - even when less than 12 inches in diameter) and some nice short steep downhill sections! All in all pretty much spot on - in no time we had over 8 miles under our belts and it was time to head back to the cars and a sneaky beer (somewhat spoiled by a policeman showing up!).

Skeets were out in full force and I'm still scratching now but it was all worth it!

Nuff already

Cheers

Jim

Wot a weekend!!

Whoo Hoo!
That just about sums it up!

Like all the best weekends this one started on Thursday. Got invited out for a road ride on Saturday by a work colleague (David), so decided I have bloody well better get used to riding on the roads at some kind of pace! So Thursday after work I did a quick change and was out on the fixie by 7 o clock - giving me just an hour before the light would get dodgy. Aimed for approx 20 miles and so headed south on Okemos Road. Dead straight! Try and keep the pace at 19-20 mph but it is a struggle in places, a cross wind takes it's toll and the gentle uphills drain the legs a bit. Turn left on Howell Rd with wind behind me and the pace really ramps! Feel almost like a real cyclist for a bit. Then left again on Meridian Road and I'm heading home - weather looks like it might chuck it down any minute but in the end I escape with nothing more than a few drops. Meridian Road seems to go one forever, no shoulder for much of the way and a pretty pock marked surface makes in interesting. Wind feels like it is more in my face than sideways and the pace drops to mid teens for sections. Over I 96 and all of a sudden the sign for Jolly Road appears. Blimey never though Jolly Road was so up and down! Wind in my face doesn't help but the end is near! Finish with 20.2 miles on the cyclometer and an average of 18.9 mph - solid effort.

Friday (with Saturday on my mind) head out for a repeat of Thursdays adventure - weather is awesome! Sunny so just short sleeves tonight and no hint of rain. Plan is to take it easy but the evening is just too nice. End up with exactly the same average as Thursday.

Saturday and the morning (up here without the family) is directionless! Need order! So I decide it's time the bikes got some TLC. Spend a good hour and a half (probably much to the bemusement of the other hotel guests) out the back of the Staybridge Inn Okemos cleaning both my fixie and my Rockhopper! Oh the beauty of a sparkling hub!

Happiness is a sparkling hub!

Afternoon (after an abortive attempt to bike to Denny's Bike Shop in Okemos - flat bloody tire on the Rockhopper) and its time to head to David's house in Watertown for my fist "proper" road ride in Mi! Windy as a cowboy in the bean sequence of "Blazing Saddles". Riding into the teeth of the wind is a real adventure. But we doggedly stick to the task and cover just over 40 miles at 18 mph average (15 mph into wind and 23 mph with the wind). Beautiful countryside, rolling hills, Life Is Good! Afterwards David and his family invite me to dinner - which is marvelous - then back to the hotel and I watch 24 solo on DVD for about the 6th time. Awesome movie! Makes me homesick big time for the gorgeous trails of Patapsco! But motivates me for Sunday and my inaugural ride with Kevin (Biodegradable Bike) Karpinski!

Sunday 2:30 and after many telephone calls and emails DB and Kevin finally meet in person - both riding Specialized MTBs - just made about 20 years apart (as I am riding my 1986 Rockhopper and he is riding an early naughties Stumpjumper). Head for Charlotte and a new section of trail. When we finally find it (after may missteps and me going over the bars trying to jump a log on the entrance to the first trail we find - I do like to make a good impression) we fins the new trail! It is pretty spot on - not much in the way of obstacles but twisty as a twisty thing and as tight as a nun's bits!

Kevin thru the flowers

Sections were hard to decren as we scooted along. A couple of fallen logs gave me the opportunity to fall off a couple more times and soon it was time to go home - DARN!

Here endeth the first ride!

Still 4 days/4 rides and nice clean bikes! Can't complain - life is treating me well in Mi!

Till Next Time

DB

Cat Aerobics!

Our cat (Hermione) - just thought this was amusing! She wants to come in from outside!!

Making Friends in Michigan

Been here for over a week now - Wow it's been a blast.

Without the beloved family (not moving up here until after "school's out for summer") time seems to be sucked up mainly by work. Hoped to cycle to work but pressure to turn up (i) bloody early and (ii) looking half professional have crushed that ambition! BUGGER.

Still found time on the weekend to hit the roads on the fixie, and what an adventure it was. Searched on line and found a site that gave me a whole host of road rides around Okemos - ranging from well over 100 miles (Crikey!) to 10 milers. Smashing. Chose a 50 miler for Saturday am, headed north into the country with a detailed route scribbled on a piece of hotel writing paper. Not too far into the ride I turn right and wadda you know the road is dirt! What the....! At first I am non-too pleased, as it has rained overnight and still drizzling the road is slimey and soft. But after half a mile it turns out to be massive fun. To the point that by the end of the ride I am disappointed when the road is paved. Biked up as far as Sleepy Hollow State Park and round the lake - checking out the trail heads for XC ski-ing this winter - cos biking will be out and I'll need to find some novel way to hurt myself! At one crossing I see a large yard sale outside a church and stop to check it out - despite my somewhat unusual lycra clad appearance the people at the sale are spectacularly friendly and only slightly bemused when I start eying up a pair of XC skis! "Bit tough on your bike" is one comment -" yeah" I sigh "guess so". But they come to my rescue putting them to one side till I can finish my ride and come back in the Bolluxmobile! Cracking.

As I return to my bike I meet an older Gentleman eyeing up my fixie. "How many gears you got" he asks and is somewhat surprised to hear I only have one! "I've got 26 on mine" he tells me - then if he was surprised by my lack of gears then I was flabbergasted when he revealed that he still rides with a club, did a 400+ mile tour a couple of years ago and that the next day was going to be his 82nd birthday!!

Sunday and I headed south, not so many unpaved roads (only found one section) and the paved roads were pretty straight and flat. Pretty countryside and some nice old farms and small communities but not as cool as heading north the day before. Managed to get another 35 miles in to make it about 90 miles for the weekend and just over 100 miles in my first week in Mi.

Tonight - bugger it it was time to try and find some trails!! Headed over to Burchfield State Park - which is rumored to have some smokin' technical trails. Another website claims it has trails that "are straight out of a B movie". Rode for about an hour - still early in the season so some sections under water - found some "technical" sections, very short and man made rather than the natural goodness of Patapsco. Nothing I was uncomfortable attempting on the Rockhopper SS conversion! So even though I fell my regulation twice the ride was not super taxing, the second half of the ride I followed a young local who I met as he took a spectacular fall right in front on me - on a completely flat piece of trail - my kind of rider I thought!! Will go back and explore some more another night next week - it is 15 miles from Okemos and likely to be my only regular mtbing in Mi for the foreseeable future so I better damn well enjoy it!





Ciao for now

DB

Crazy Shit Goin' Down

Yeah, I know......... Been too freakin' long! Well guess wot? Shit been goin' down in my life.

Enough already, I'll explain.

Stuff was stirring in the depths even as I ran the George Washington Birthday marathon back in Feb. Not bike, run type stuff (so not important enough to make it into the old Bollux-blog), but stuff to do with the other bits of my life...... you know work and stuff. Turns out that I was offered a job in Michigan! Yep they do exist! This lead to a huge amount of teeth gnashing and sleep loss as MLW and I tried to work out if we wanted to leave the delights of Maryland (and proximity to Patapsco and all the adventures that allows us) and head West. Too much on my mind to get round to scribbling for the blog.

In the end we decided we had better take the plunge! So I am currently sat in Okemos, Michigan (just outside Lansing) trying to remember what the F has been happening for the past three months!

Weather has been pretty dodgy so a lot of biking (both Sunday morning rides and night rides) has been washed out. Nevertheless there have been some rides of note - both in Md and else where!

Now it;s a sad fact that although I have lived in the Good Ol' US of A for over 7 years, I have never mtb'ed west of the Appalachians! So when a business trip to Boulder Colorado was on the cards - Woo Hoo! Contacted a colleague across there and plans for a bike in the foothills of the Rockies was confirmed - bike borrowed and work schedules wiggled so it would fit in. Only slight issue is the weather, sunny Colorado and all that! Talk to colleague two days before departure and he announces all is well with the world and temps are in the 70s. Fan-freakin-tastic! Pack accordingly and am only slightly bemused by the pilot of my plane announcing ground temperatures in oC when I realize he soddin well isn't! It's bloody 15 oF in Denver! Snow on ground the whole soddin lot! And me (like a pillock), short sleeved shirt, and a light casual jacket. Worse still only short fingered bike gloves and no hat! Quick trip to Safeway sorts that - nice pink woolly beanie and a pair of fleece gloves later and it's "Mother Nature - bring it on!"

Ross against a majestic backdrop

Ride is a blast - deserted trailhead, cold but not too far below freezing and a lovely grinding climb for the first mile and a half or more to get the blood pumping! Ross (my colleague) suffers up the hill - a result of no mtbing all winter - slacker! But then after we pass a Prairie Dog "farm" at the summit shows me how Rockies technical riding is done as he disappears down a wicked rocky downhill (boulders the size of cows I tell you! Well nearly). I pick my way down sections, walk others and launch myself over my bars a few times - oh what fun we are having!. Then we take wide open swoopy sections which are about as fun as life gets, past abandoned ranches and herds of deer. Far to soon it is time to head back to the car and thence to a local brew pub for excellent beer and food!

DogzBollux in Co - In the words of the Lengendary Max Boyce "I was there"

Does life get any better?

Yep apparently! Cos I fly home the next day and get a pass from MLW to go night riding with the guys!! Two days, two rides, two states!! Died and gone to heaven. Turn out is Brian and George (as it turns out last time I ride with George before I leave for Mi :( but that is in the future and not known as we head out into Patapsco. Usual trek up and onto Ridge, then down the white hike only trail to the road! Soapstone anyone? WaddaUthink? Up we go gasping our lungs to capacity. At the top Brian mentions a new bit of trail that is huge fun! Rocky, rooty downhill between tight trees, woo hoo - and I don't even fall off. At the bottom is a plain stupid steep approach to a drop off with a run out that I can't even discern. No way in God's earth am I even thinking about it. George of course throws himself (and hit rigid single speed) at it and bugger me if he doesn't make a complete Dogz Breakfast of it and nearly eviscerates himself on jagged log that is sticking out from the right hand side of the trail!! Exactly how I will always remember riding with George!

Brian and me walk it (and that's tough enough) then we scoot back uphill to take the steep down, up and down again that takes us to the base of soapstone (by the toilet block). And so with limbs intact we head back to HC side and the cars and beer I'm knackered but as happy as a pig in poop! Unfortunately (and unbeknownst to me at the time) these nights would be in short supply!

Next adventure involved a trip back to Old Blighty in April to see the folks, which gave me the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my nephew Chris. Now Chris is a pretty keen roadie and even though last time we went "home" he was only 15 he kicked my butt pretty bad! So it was with some apprehension that I saddled up to join him on a 50 miler on his home turf roads. Needless to say in the past twelve months I have not gotten any fitter - Chris on the other hand has grown up even more and added 15 lbs of muscle to his frame - 6ft 4in and 155 lbs, man this was going to hurt!

In actual fact had a blast, scooting round the Cambridgeshire countryside - felt almost like a real cyclist for a bit! Chris took it easy on me and it wasn't until the final 3 miles that he put the hammer down and left me for dust. I tried to hang on but my legs were spent and I finished with stars flashing before my eyes and having to go and lie down in the porch with a powerbar for 15 min to get my blood sugar back to a range that avoided the imminent danger of me passing out.

Once back in USA and the decision to head to MI is made - notice at work handed in and leaving date confirmed. Just three more chances of night rides with the guys! With Todd traveling extensively with a new job of his own every chance was like the last one - so despite some soggy weather a ride was slated - a change in venue was called for (i) to safeguard the health of our beloved Avalon trails and (ii) to allow us to start and leave from a pub! Good thinking my man! Cars parked on the pub car park (can't recall pub name - it'll come back to me and I'll edit later). New trails and a guest appearance by not only Todd's dog Pepper but a visitation from Mr Mike! First time he has ridden nighttime with me and first time ever for him in the dark on his single speed! Possibility/probability tat this will be our last ride together - Todd, Brian, Mike and me - so we keep it fairly short - couple of hours - to allow time for brews in the pub. Excellent time all round having a warm pub to crawl into after a ride certainly has it's advantages - bikes, beers, barmaids! This was last ride with Mr Todd :(

Da Guys!!

Next week and as luck would have it weather was kind and back for one last scoot round Patapsco in the dark! Oh how I love that place! Leaving the guys and nightrides in Patapsco was infinitely more difficult than leaving the "dream job" I had dragged my family 3000 miles across the Atlantic to pursue! Great hilly ride, Soapstone, down Vineyard, up Convent and then the steep up and down to Bull Run - with Mr Mike and Brian as company. Even got a nice trail tattoo to remember the night! No pain when it happened but when I got home I had a nice inch long split in my shin that went right to the bone! Cleaning it out with alcohol wipes, a face cloth (swigging heartily from a bottle of Blue Moon) was a real blast and then trying to hold the two edges together - at least a bit - with strips of band aid - Oh good times I'll miss them immensely.

Guys! Thanks for all the memories! Small Intestine, New trail, Soapstone, Tunnel trail, Mission Impossible all will live long in my memory!

And now on to the next chapter...............

DB

George Washington (GW) Birthday Marathon 2009 (Race Report)

So I was talked into this by Running Sean - as part of a pact to try and qualify together for Boston, only Sean never got round to actually entering! So on Sunday morning I am by myself trying to find the start of the 48th annual GW Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt MD. Good news is it's only 20 min from the house.
Takes some finding as it is a VERY small race and hidden away.
Turns out it is a marathon that looks like it is frequented mainly by the ultra-marathon crowd. Several faces I know from other races (including Mark Zimmerman - whose article on the HAT Run website was one of the things that got me through my first ultra), I'm wearing by JFK50 shirt (more as a comfort blanket to remind me I can do this) and end up talking to several other who did the race too.
At 10:30(ish) the race gets underway with very little ceremony, just a small group (around 200) of runners huddled in a suburban street with a Race Director saying "Ready, Steady GO!" The pack, inevitably thins quickly - it was never really that thick! And by one mile marker I'm running with a guy in a Red "Boston marathon" vest and a tall young guy with a white baseball cap. First mile is ticked of in under 7 min, a bit fast but what the hell. Initially i think I will run with the guy in the Boston Vest - seems like a good pacer for a Boston qualifying time! But I strike up a conversation with the tall guy in the baseball cap and turns out he ran JFK two years ago (in sub-8, wow!) and did the Vermont 100 in 2008. We talk and run and the miles just tick away, by 6 miles we are still under 7 min/mile pace and life is good. The course is a short "out and back" leading to a loop that the runners lap three times. Not super hilly but enough up and down to keep things interesting! At mile 9 we lose the first round of relay runners and enter a feed station where Running Sean is standing with his eldest and my middle daughter - great to see the girls having fun handing out water and Gatorade at the aid station. I take Gatorade at every stop - having remembers how to drink from a cup. Mile 10 and we are still under 7 min/mile pace and the pace feels comfortable - I am waiting for the inevitable crash to happen but for now I am fine. Start the second loop and passing lapped runners who are all happy to shout encouragement "Go JFK guy!" is shouted at me at one point - CHEERS! Halfway and a time of 1 hr 31 min and change means that for a brief second I am even contemplating a sub 3 marathon (in my dreams). The guy in white baseball cap (lets call him Will, because as I find out at the end that is his name) pulls ahead and I feel my time running with him is at an end. I relax and just try and stay smooth. After a mile or so we are back together, chipping away at 7 min pace and still talking ultra running. At mile 19 things start to change - we are slowing to over 7 min/mile pace. Sub 3 hours is out the window unless a miracle occurs. At 19.5 see Sean and the girls again - he yells "come on under three is doable", but I know today probably isn't the day. 20 miles and we are 1 min over 7 min/mile pace. A guy overtakes us and we try to lift the pace. At 21 miles Will mentions that the hills seem to be getting bigger. the guy who overtook us earlier has come back to us but makes another break. Will goes with him and I try and relax - let them go! At the next hill I am back with Will and then he is behind me. I think about waiting but at 22 miles it is not time. I head on desperately trying to lengthen my stride to gain a few seconds a mile. By 23 miles it is officially hurting - I am trying to keep it smooth. A look at my watch at 24 miles and I am at 2 hrs 47 min. No chance of sub 3 but even at 7:30/mile a bash at under 3:05 is achievable. At the end of the final loop Sean and the girls have abandoned the aid station to head to the finish, just after the aid station a Marshall is guiding me and another runner to the left. I ask "when do I peel off to the finish?" Good job I ask because this is the place! "You at 25 miles?" the Marshall asks, when I nod he guides me right to a stop sign and then left towards the finish. As I head to the stop sign I sense I am alone! I resist the urge to look behind, but snatch a quick confirmatory glimpse as I head left at the stop sign. No-one within a hundred yard of me so no panic for now, just me against the clock. At 25 miles a long hill appears and my heart sinks! I can see a runner way ahead but my chances of catching him are zero! The only change can be someone passing me! I can feel the pace slow as the hill continues on and on! At the top I give in and have a look for potential pursuers. There is no one. I am tempted to relax but then decide with less than a quarter of a mile to go now is no time to give up. A Marshall guides me down a footpath (and a steep downhill) to an underpass and the 26 mile marker hoves into view. Just 385 yards to go. I try and lengthen my stride and then I hear Sean and my daughter yelling. Pin my ears back and cross the line with a goofy smile and the traditional arms raised salute. The final hills have cost me a sub 3:05 finish - final time 3:06:25 a PR by over 3 min, a Boston Qualifying time and good enough for fourth overall and first "Old Bugger". I finally have one of those plaques to hang in my downstairs toilet, taken me 41 years but it was worth it!

I can't say enough good things about this race! Fun and friendly as it gets, marvelous course, great volunteers and an ace long sleeve shirt. All for under 40 bucks!! - Welcome to the 8th oldest marathon in the US of A. An absolute gem!

Now if only my legs would start working again!

Cheers

DB

Where'd the time go?

Wow!

Feb has been a strange old month!

The poor old Monocog has not made it out of the garage yet - trails either too sloppy or other commitments keeping me away!

Still not been a complete waste. Superbowl weekend was spent Ice-climbing up in Pa. Great time had by all, travelled up with Todd, George, Mike and Spence on Friday - stopping briefly in Sunbury to restock with beer (I can recommend Molson XXX to anyone, useless you ever want to function properly again) and talk to the rudest man on Earth.

Saturday started with outside temps of 8 oF and blistering hangovers (think it must have been something we ate) and improved rapidly. discovered a skill I didn't know I had - I am now an expert at sitting on my arse with cross-country skis attached to my feet (less fun than it sounds).

Cold as a cold thing all day which meant the ice (on my first introduction to ice-climbing) was fantastic - hard as concrete. Saturday night was the traditional camp out! Tents pitched and fire lit. Temp was a disappointingly warm 14 oF by 10:30pm and just kept on climbing to a toasty 18 oF by morning - we had kind of hoped for a single digit low to boast about but it was not to be. Sunday and it was time for the "organized" ice-climbing - with a trip lead by students from Boonsburg Uni. Very different experience, high temps in the high 30s and climbing in T-shirts was an option. Wet ice, soft and the occasional icefall to remind us to keep our helmets on even when not climbing. Well I'm hooked - need to build some upper body strength, the cycling/running vestigial arms not so useful when trying to pull yourself up an ice face!

Happy Campers

One of most memorable weekends since been this side of the pond! MLW took a look at the "movie" put together by George and proclaimed "wow! that looks REALLY miserable" - women what do they know?!

Group Photie In Front of Ice!

Rest of month spent trying to prepare for GW Birthday Marathon (15 Feb). Meant to do loads, in the end did the bare minimum - longest run in preparation 16 miles. Just hope the training for last years JFK 50 has been maintained. Managed to get the trusty fixie back on the road - BIG UP to Princeton Sports for rebuilding my backwheel - super job!

Later

DB