Two-Wheeled Awesomeness

This is about as long as today's road ride....

2006-08-27T20:37:00.000-04:00

So much to talk about.

Let's see, let's see. Where to begin.

The Beach

Last week, the 12-18, I went with my family (mom, dad, nana, luke, aunt liza, uncle blue, amanda, jason, lindsay, matt, and our family friend Steve and Gayle. - Even cousin Orran stopped in on his way to The Charleston School of Law. Pretty much all we did all week was swim, lay around, and eat seafood. As usual with the fam, an excellent time was had by all. It was a much needed break from work for me. Though, now that I have had a break, I want another one. Freetime is priceless.

Classic Orran

After getting back from the beach I went on a long mountain bike ride at Douthat State Park, with Brandon, Tinnen, Eddie and some cool West Va dudes. It both kicked my tail and was totally perfect. Those long rides are the best.

Danville Mountain Bike Race

Yesterday (26 August) was the 2nd race in the VA Derailer Series (and no I didn't spell it wrong, the series is supposed to mirror the rich railroad history of the area - or something like that - so it is kind of a play on words) Anywho, Luke and I rolled on down there, and in standard race form, we ran into our friend Dave Bradeson at Sheetz. It seems to be a common happening when we are driving to a race.

Anywho, the race was an 8.5 loop of pretty much all single track. Luke, Dave, and I did the sport class, so we did two laps. In standard practice for short races, Luke beat me by one spot, and Dave was right behind me. Luke owns me at anything shorter than 40 miles. He is cool people though and I was happy for him. I enjoyed the race, but after doing so many endurance events lately, it felt like it was just way too short. It was still really cool to see everyone and just be out there riding something different. Next time I'll take two water bottles. One just won't cut it for me. I was getting too thirsty.

Check it out - It's Kenny!

Last night I was just chilling, gettin pumped up to watch the Sharpie 500 on TV. And yes I do watch NASCAR sometimes, but I mean seriously. It was the night race at Bristol, if you can't watch a Hokie football game, you gotta find something to watch. Anywho, I got a call from Brandon informing me of some big road event at Afton mountain on Sunday (today). I called up the roadies who were going and found out when they were meeting, and how much it was, and my decision was made. So at 5 am this morning we were off to do the Blue Ridge Extreme Century Ride. It is fun to do something different every once in a while, different ridge, new place, new people. Im not very fast on my road bike, but I do enjoy the scenery, and definitly the descents. The climbs, well I suppose they are cool too. The ride was so well put together, great rest stops with tons of food and friendly people. I saw a lot of nice old farms, interesting buildings, a chipmunk (which you never see here), and a dead copperhead whose head had been smashed by a car. I will probably do it again next year, and hopefully it prepared me for the SM100 next weekend. All in all, my finish time was 7:59. I came in just barely under 8 hours. Hey man, I rode my bike 100 miles today. Who gives a damn how long it took me. It rocked.

PS: Adam and Tim rolled in at some ridiculous time like 5:48 or so, which is just gross, and awesome. Paula and Donna finished around 7:02 and 7:08 I believe. They did really well, and were a really good group to do the ride with. Even though I was only with them for about the first 20 miles. Right on! Im tired.

I didnt take any pics though. I didn't want to lose my camera, I should have taken it though. There were some sweet landscapes I could have captured. Dangit! - Next time. I may take it at the SM100. We will see.

DAD

Oh and by the way. Saturday, August 26th was my Dad's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Carbon!

2006-08-24T00:05:00.000-04:00

So Im super pumped that my new handle bar and stem came into the Bikes Unlimited today. I have finally given in and decided to go with the riser bar. Hopefully that will give me some more downhill edge and be a little easier on my back on the long rides.

Its full carbon too and looks real hot. It is being put on and will be ready for my race this weekend. Once I get it on I will post a pic of her.

RAD!

Fall is Almost Here

2006-08-08T21:12:00.000-04:00

And you know what that means-

Well, of course there is less heat, but it also means more races. Starting the end of August I will begin the series of races for the fall that should take me all the way to November ending with the 6 Hour Enduro of the Tidewater Challenge In Williamsburg.

What have I been doing lately you ask? Well, other than working and trying to get in some riding during the week, my room mates from college (Chris and Megan) got married in PA, we had a bash for my cousin Linds who moved to Durham to start her job at Duke Hospital. The party was also for her b/f Matt who moved down and got a job down there as well. I visited some old buds in Blacksburg for a two nights of craziness. And I had some family come in one weekend, and some friends the other. Dont worry though, I've still been getting in the riding and I will be plenty ready for the SM100......I hope.

This past weekend, we all went to Blacksburg for the "Steppin Out" Festival. Arts and Crafts, cool people, food, music, and Blacksburg, had I gotten to ride my bike at the Pandapas pond trails it would have been perfect. Though I got to do that the weekend before, so I suppose that counts. I ended up buying a really cool photograph of a bicylce which the woman said she took in Paris, and the bike was a getaway vehicle for a graffiti artist.....who knew? Its really odd looking, spray painted and has yellow stripes all over it. I thought it would look cool on my wall.

Apparently my blog buddy Ashley was in Blacksburg as well and I totally missed her. Thats a serious bummer cause she is a super cool kid.

Anyways, the biggest news I have for now is that I got a really cool package in the mail today from Cameron Chambers. Just in case, for some reason, you don't know, Cameron is a member of the Gary Fisher professional mountain bike racing team. He basically lives the coolest life ever, traveling all around riding his bike to make a living. He is the 2005 NORBA 24 Hour champion, and a really sick guy. I wrote into the Fisher site to see if I could get an autographed poster and just let them know how much I like the company, and Cameron himself emailed me back and then sent me a box of really cool gear. Socks, a shirt, stickers, front and rear 29" tires, and an autographed poster! He sent two pairs of socks, and so I gave a pair to my brother, who was very jealous......hahaha. Anyways, I thought it was really cool that a pro would take time out of their day to do that for a fan and fellow rider.

This is Cameron coming down the ramp after his first lap at Big Bear

Also, today Lucas and I went over to Bikes Unlimited and he bought a used 90's Trek Mountain-Trek to use as his riding to campus bike to keep the miles of his road bike and his Cake. As usual, I could't get out of there without spending some money, and I ordered a carbon riser bar and new stem for my Sugar. Hopefully that will make for more comfortable long rides and drop a little weight for me.

We did some serious riding on Sunday at Carvin's Cove with Tinnen and Dave. (My bad Tinnen if I spelled your name wrong and you are reading this) I dont have my computer anymore since I destroyed it at Massanutten, but I'd bet we did at least 35 miles. It was awesome, the Sunday long rides are the best. I didn't take my camera, because I didnt want to crash and destroy it. I never ended up crashing so.......I guess I should have taken it.

Next time.

Prolly hittin Candler's tomorrow......."Oh Snap"

Here are the races I plan to do starting in late August:

Southside Scramble (danville) - VA derailer series #2 - Aug 26 (My Dad's Birthday)
Shenandoah Mountain 100 (Insert Joey Lawrence "Woah" here) - Sept 3
Peaksview Park Race (Home field) - VA derailer series #3 - Sept 10
Falling Creek (Bedford) - VA derailer series #4 - Sept 23
**I'm not sure about the Poor Mountain Hill Climb, depends on if it falls on the same date as the Rowdy Dawg race in Blacksburg, and I dont know when that will be yet.
**There are some mountain cross races in here that I will probably do..
Tidewater Challenge 6 Hour Enduro (Williamsburg, VA) - Oct 29

Oh and you know the other thing about fall that rocks??

HOKIE FOOTBALL!!!

Peace,

The Jake

The Weekend

2006-07-05T21:22:00.000-04:00

Heres to a weekend of riding. Mr. Scott Thomas Dwyer made a surprise visit to the burg this weekend on his winged chariot, otherwise known as "the exploder." Anyways, we decided to do some riding. Saturday was road bike day so we decided it would be fun to tackle Thunder Ridge. I also recently purchased a new camera for taking sweet pictures. This was its inaguaral road ride, and, as fate would have it, its inagural serious dropping......Ouch!

The camera survived and so did we. Thunder Ridge is a beautiful ride, despite the 13 miles of climbing that comes with it. I really do enjoy riding my road bike and I feel like I need to do it more often. Especially now that it is hot, there is a lot more airflow involved in road biking.

Scott was obviously excited about the ride.

Well........Alright then, on to Sunday....

Sunday, Lucas and I wanted to go on an adventure ride, and we wanted to be some place a little bit cooler, with streams and a lake....hmmm Douthat? I do believe so...

Right on, and of course........yesterday was the 4th of July so Luke and I hung out with Matt and Linds, and Jason and Amanda. We went up to the ole "Green Hotel" and watched all the local fireworks from there. It was really nice up there, and had a slight breeze. Very comfortable. There were also a few other families who shared the same idea, but it wasn't a crowd.

Welp, I suppose I am out for now. We've got the Carvin's Cove race coming up this weekend on Saturday. I still need to figure out how I'm gonna get my pass and when.

I think I'll just play that one by the seat of my pants....as usual.

See everyone at the race. Im gonna be the guy pushing his bike as I cross the finish line to begin lap two!

Jake

Turtles!

2006-06-20T22:34:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I suppose now that its June and humid and all, it seems that the box turtles are back in full force. I almost hit four of the little dudes on Monday riding at Candler's. The ones that have very bright markings on their backs are very interesting. Actually, one of the turtles we saw was more of a water turtle. (The type that you often see sunning on down trees and such in lakes and ponds) That one in particular was actually laying eggs in the middle of an ATV trail.

Here is a picture of my friend, the Common Eastern Box Turtle

As for today, Lucas and I did some riding over at Peaks View. We never frequent Peaks View as much anymore, seeing as how Candler's is much closer to where we live. However, it is nice to mix it up. And we can always make that stop by Bike's Unlimited on our way to see our friends at the store and, as usual, pick up some cool cycling equipment.

To put it plainly, shes hot.

Heather Irmiger (Gary Fisher Pro Squad)

Anyways, I'm out for now.

The Jake

Holy Crap Where Have I Been

2006-06-16T22:10:00.000-04:00

What is more sad? - that I am updating my blog at 10 pm on a Friday night, or that I havnt updated at all in like 3 weeks. I believe it is the later!

Anyways, Big Bear was freaking amazing. Not only did I get to tear up the trails with my great friends but I got to see my favorite pro rider in action also! We had a massive camp going on. Two four man teams and some other great cats helpin us out. The Bikes Unlimited team took 9th place, which I feel is very solid. Those guys did a great job.

My team (The Team Lift Evolution) I felt did pretty well also. This was a huge race with a ton of competition. We placed 29 of 49 teams in Men's Sport, which I will take home with me. It was just an excellent experience. The atmosphere was great with all of the friendly outdoor people roaming around.

Pic of Cameron Chambers crankin out 24 Hours of Solo Awesomeness
Sweeeeeeet Bike: Here's to Gary Fisher

My team consisted of myself, Dave Thilking, my brother lucas and Scott Dwyer, who made a visit all the way from Colorado. Scott and I have been very good friends ever since sixth grade and I hadnt seen him since he left home to take his job at Carmichael Training Systems.

Probably the most interesting part, besides the bad ass single track, was that we were team number 69. It was awesome! Everyone, everywhere would cheer as you past by. I felt like some pro burnin it up with fans all around. ...........Ok Ok, so I'm weird. Can't a guy dream? ......Anyways, whenever I came around a bend that was open and where spectators were standing, everyone would scream,......"Yeah!! 69!!" A bunch of fellows on the trail would make comments, and one guy (who was doing the race solo by the way) was like "I hope youre doing a coed duo with that number" - hilarious cause at that point I was about dead.

So, basically it was an awesome time. Oh, and I would like to say that I had a really sweet, long, entry about the burn race. However, in a failed attempt to fix some spelling errors of mine, my brother pretty much destroyed my work. I appreciate the thought though.

Here is your picture of the week.

Scott, what are you doin man?

Alright, the blog is back, and I'm out.

Next race? - Commonwealth Games race at Carvin's Cove - July 8.

For me, I'm gonna take the weekend off and head to Middleburg for a few brews with my Cousin Big "O"

The Jake

Ok, so I cant resist.......More pictures

Do it Kenny.

Burn 24 Hour Challenge - Wilkesboro, NC

2006-05-29T12:28:00.000-04:00

To start, my knees hurt, my back hurts, my legs hurt, I'm still a little off due to lack of sleep, and my rear dearilleur is destroyed. I love it! This race was so much fun. There were over 200 racers, a large lake, unlimited free Burn energy drink, camping, lots of dogs, spectators, and just friendly, helpful people. Oh and did I mention the sweet 6.25 mile single track?

As this was my first 24 hour race, I was not sure what to expect. Was I going to survive? When would I sleep? Did I bring enough food? Will there be any good looking girls there?

In short, yes on all occasions. We didn't leave L-burg till almost 8 Friday night after some of the guys got off work at the bike shop. After the long drive and a stop for a Mexican dinner we made it to the W Kerr Scott reservoir around 12 midnight. We then proceeded to pitch our tents in the dark and immediately crash. Note to self: the $70 dollar Thermarest sleep pad will be well worth the money for the next 24 hour race. This being the case, 7 am was the latest I could sleep on the hard ground. My sleeping bag is awesome though, I was plenty warm and comfortable in it. After a healthy breakfast of oatmeal and other such items, we began the day. There were a total of 10 of us in our camp and another camp of 10 or so more that we new from the Burg. Basically the two bike shops in the area were represented and despite the slight bit of animosity between the two, much fun was had by all. In the end, the fact that we are all having a great time on a bike is all that matters.

The race began at 12 noon on Saturday with Dave Thilking running the Le Mans style start for us to%2

Central Virginia Bike Festival

2006-05-21T21:24:00.000-04:00

After waking up bright and early at 6 am today, we ate some breakfast and headed on over to the Forest Medical Center for the starting area of the big Metic Century Ride of the Central VA Bike Fest. That was all pretty standard. We got there, got ready and met up with some buds and headed out at about 7:40.

Here's a shot of Luke dawg getting ready.

We left the center with Brandon and Pat, who we later lost when, as usual, I took a wrong turn. Though, I figured out my mistake and we caught up not too much later on. The ride took us down Old Cifax and up Charlemont and on to a lot of back roads that eventually brought us out onto 501 and then to the parkway. This parkway ride of course included the might thunder ridge. This was my frist time up the ridge and it was crazy, but I survived. The super fast and fun downhill was well worth me getting dominated on the way up. The picture shown here is what it looks like from the top of Thunder Ridge. I didn't take my camera on the ride today. I took this picture back in October when I was out in my RX-7 one day. It's absolutely gorgeous and every second of the ride made me love cycling all that much more. Well, save for the last 15 minutes of the ride when I was spent, hah!

I took my i-pod with me today and rocked out to an awesome mix that I felt really made a difference. I was more in "tune" with my riding and of course......more "pumped."

One of my favorite parts was the descent from the base of Sharp Top coming down 43. I maxed out my bike at 43 mph flying through all those tight turns. It was scary, but a great thrill and of course, time to relax some and let my muscles regenerate before all the rolling hills to make it back to the finish.

I really do enjoy riding my road bike. Granted, it is not as thrilling as a mountain bike ride, but it is so peaceful and satisfying to be out there on such a nice day as today amongst all the beautiful views that Viriginia has to offer. I wish I could have taken some action shots, but I hope that some of the official pictures will be posted on the site soon and I can get some of those. www.cvbikefestival.com

Anyways, it was awesome. All in all the ride was 63 miles, 4.5 hours, and a lot of climbing! Right now I am incredibly tired, my knees hurt and my body is totally sore. I wouldn't trade it for a second. I always feel so comfortable and at peace when I'm riding my bike. For now though, I'm gonna get really comfortable in my bed and crash.

Next up: Burn 24 Hour Challenge in Wilkesboro, NC.

My Team:
Luke
Dave
Eddie
and me.....yesss

Later on!

Jake

Goofing Around

2006-05-18T23:20:00.000-04:00

So, not every ride has to be super hard core. Today Luke and I just kinda "goofed around" at Candler's. We did hit some good climbs and downhills but we didnt ride for very long. Just wanted to hit on a little exercise and be outside. Thats always the best, do a little riding to cleanse the craziness of the day that is work, come home, eat a lot of food and watch my favorite show...Scrubs.

We did stop for a bit at Bald Spot, which is always a nice view.

Facing Fears

2006-05-16T22:49:00.000-04:00

Today marked quite the milestone in my mountain biking career. Armed with my new Trek circuit shorts and the amazing shammy inside them, and of course with quite a bit of mental assitance from my brother Lucas, I set out to attack my arch nemessis.

The long log bridge at Candler's mountain. OK OK, I realize that most of the actual riders reading this will think me a wimp for not being able to attempt this. I just psych myself out each time somehow. Riding the short one is no problem, but the long one....well I just needed practice. Today I got it.

Here is a picture of the bridge for those who are not familiar, or even those who are:

The picture hardly does justice to the bridge. Though I do realize that people much cooler than me are riding obstacles much harder than this. I'm getting there....

After two failed attempts, and my younger brother, as usual, making fun of me. He was able to psych me up enough to do it. The best part was, I didn't fall off the side and take the plunge down the horrendous three feet drop to the creek below. Looking back on it, I don't see why it was such a big deal. Very similar to building up the courage to speak to a pretty girl...

....I'm still working on that one.

Anywho, here is hot pic of me dominating the bridge.

Jake 1 - Bridge 0 - Well, that is, of course, if you aren't counting the 300 points the bridge accumulated against me before today. I vote we go with the clean slate points starting today.....don't you?

I also snapped a quality shot of Luke, and though his face is not in the picture, I think it makes for an excellent computer background. Especially when I use my amazing photo-editing skills and invert the picture. It is a highly technical process of clicking the invert, and sepia buttons on my photo studio software that came with my computer. But, whatever, it looks cool hah!

In closing I would like to say, that mountain biking is the greatest sport ever and it really has changed my life. The people involved are so incredible, and how could anyone ever beat being outside, having a blast, and getting exercise at the same time. Its awesome.

One last picture just for fun. My brother, my keeper.

Keep it real, and keep on riding folks. See you out there.

Sunday is the Metric Sentry........I havn't done much road bike discussing on here. Well, I will after that.

The Jake.

Sweet Picture

2006-05-07T21:39:00.000-04:00

This is very fitting for me I would say. Thought you guys would maybe enjoy.

Excellent Weekend

2006-05-07T19:04:00.000-04:00

I realize that this has little to do with cycling but Lindsay and Matt both graduated from JMU saturday! Congratulations to both of them! The ceremony was very nice, and it was outside so we could also enjoy the beautiful weather on Saturday. Afterwards Matt's family was nice enough to have everyone to their time-share at Massanutten. Great food and drinks and as usual, a humor-filled afternoon with all of the Browns and Painters, and Mr. and Mrs. Cocke!

Hey look!, It's Matt and Lindsay the grads!

And hey, it's Amanda and Jason!

I left there around 4 pm and headed to Blacksburg, for a late night of debauchery was upon us. Chris Derzack, an old roommate and great college friend of mine is to be wed this summer and it was time for the old bachelor party. A most excellent and crazy night in great Blacksburg town was had by all, and it was great to see everyone!

Dude!

Since I was gone for all of Saturday and most of today, and since today it has been pouring down rain I didn't do any riding this weekend. The rain is good though, things were starting to dry out around the parts!

I did however fool around with that picture of my bike and made this:

I think it makes for a nice destop background.

I'll be riding this week though! Tuesday night ride at Peaksview and prolly some Candler's action on Thursday. Oh and road on Saturday of course.

Later on,

The Jake

The Lone Rider

2006-05-04T22:29:00.000-04:00

Now that it seems my recent attempt to create a random blog was little more than futile, I have decided to go about making this purely about cycling and other related suchnot. This way, I will most likely actually have something to talk about.

Since I have much traveling to do this weekend, (my cousin Lindsay and her awesome boyfriend Matt are both graduating from JMU!! Congrats!), I wont be able to spend very much time "in the saddle." I wanted to take this evening to get in a decent ride.

I headed on over to ride good ole Candler's mountain. Now that "big Jerry" pretty much runs the show in Lynchburg, the CVMA has to call the LUPD to let them know we will be riding, that we are with the club and how many people. It honestly isn't a big deal, its just weird cause each time I call, the herb who answers the phone pretty much has no idea what is going on. Kinda cracks me up actually.

So the ride was pretty standard for the most part, except I don't really love riding at Candler's by myself, in the event of course that I dominate myself against a tree flying down one of the sweet downhill sections. It's also great to have some companionship on the ride. I was supposed to meet Eddie there, however there may have been some miscommunication and Ed didn't make it. No sweat, I'll catch up with him next time, and of course definitly at "Burn" since he is on my team.

All in all it was most excellent, a day on the bike is always a good day. There seems to be quite a bit more erosion on some of the trails this year, however, and some parts were somewhat frustrating. I also need to somehow acquire the gonads to ride the second (longer) log bridge. The short one is no problem, but the long one freaks me out. I think its the five foot drop and rocks below that really get to me. Don't worry, I'll be riding it no problem here in the next few weeks.

The two-niner did well today, as it always does.

Last weekend rocked! I dominated 55 miles on the road bike Saturday, and some kick ass Sunday mountain biking. Im definitly getting in as much training as I can, so I can survive some of these races I would like to do this summer!

^^ I didn't take this picture. Someone else much cooler than I did. Fun race too, I'll be doing it again next year, only next time it will be the 6 hour solo - yesss.

Welp, for now I am out. I hope to have some more up soon. As for the O-Hill Melt Down, I dont know how well I did since I had to skip out before they really showed how everyone finished, and they seem to be quite slow at posting any results. Either way it was fun...hard.....but fun.

Note: I also got owned by both Jeremiah Bishop and Sue Haywood at that race, I am proud to say. There were a lot of really cool riders who came out, it was a pleasure to ride with all of them.

Up Next: Central VA Bike Fest - Metric Century Road Ride - 63 miles - May 20
*This includes Thunder Ridge - *Gulp*

Anyways take it easy everyone, enjoy the spring. Though we could use some rain.

Jake

**Disclaimer - all spelling issues will be disregarded since it is generally late when I write this, I am tired, and just typing away.