• The Team is FIRED UP for 2013 Racing. Bring it!

  • 2012 Checkpoint Tracker Nationals in Oak Hill, WV

  • Earning #3 in the nation plaques at USARA Nationals

  • Check out our latest clinic on Stan's No Tubes!

  • Two co-ed squads tackle the 24-hr Cradle of Liberty

Posts by: shane

Prepping for North Georgia Adventure Race

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Our race season is about to kick off.  We’ll have quite a presence at the  North Georgia Adventure Race on 16 and 17 January, with three teams there to race.

  • TeamHalfwayThere.com/RottenCheeseburgers Team (Michelle, Todd and Victor)
  • ImONPoint.org -Odyssey Adventure Racing team (Shane, Mark and Jen)
  • WRR1/ImONPoint.org (Eddie and two friends of his).

Thanks to Anthony, I have been training my butt off.  So, no excuses from a fitness perspective.  In preparation for this race, remembering the CP0 race from 2 years ago, and drawing on lessons learned from Michelle’s recent diet, here are some changes I made.

  • Picked up a Rohloff hub.  It is an internally geared 14 speed set up.  I have battled derailleur issues, shifting problems and chain suck too many times.  Broken drivetrains can take a team out of contention for a podium finish, or entirely out of a race.  This hub should eliminate the majority of those issues.  I have been looking at them since 2008, and after talking with teammate Mark Lattanzi (he’s had one for a few years) and watching him remain unaffected by deep mud and chainsuck at Nationals this year, I am sold.
  • Lake cycling shoes.  Some mx140s are on the way.  Jeremy swears by the Specialized Defrosters, but I cannot locate any in the bigger sizes.  The Lake’s have a great reputation, and I found them in my size. I tried the Pearl Izumi Amfib MTB shoe covers at the diet, and they were shredded within the first 20 minutes.  These shoes should be much more durable, and with thick socks I hope to stay relatively warm and dry.
  • A warmer set of gloves!  On singletrack, my hands stay warm.  But once we hit those road sections, I end up with ice blocks on the ends of my arms.  Spokes, Etc is holding a pair of Pearl Izumi Barrier gloves for me.  Waterproof and insulated will be the ticket, especially when it is really cold, wet and miserable.

From an “I know better” perspective, these are some significant changes to make, especially this close to a race.  The wheel isn’t even built yet, and I will have all of a few hours with both the bike and shoes pre-race.  Additionally, I’m still wrapping up the patch job on the canoe.  North Georgia, here we come!

See you outside,

Shane

Santa Smackdown-Computrainer Racing

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Spokes, Etc and Kirk’s coaching company Veloworks hosted the inaugural Santa Smackdown Computrainer race.  The format was 4 compu-trainers set up in the shop with 4 members racing per trainer.  Kirk had a big screen in the front of the room and the race course was set for Central Park in New York City.  Racers could watch there progress as they raced.  It was kind of like a great big video game console but with a lot more sweat.  Beer and pizza were generously provided as well as race shwag for the top finishers.  Anthony and I were the ImONPoint.org and TeamHalfwayThere.com representatives.

Final results (quoting Kirk’s email):

“- Shane pedaled away with a stunning 1st place– on a 29er mountain bike no less!

- Colin did the Ironman thing and quietly motored along into second, barely breaking a sweat!

- Stacia absolutely killed it with a crushing third!

- JimmyMac duked it out with a solid forth!

Team Men are from Lars (changed to Men are from Shane, since Lars FAILED TO SHOW;) rode away with the overall team lead (and three in the finals) finishing more than 5 min ahead of the second place Barstucks …  Team Just Wone (Justin– we miss ya) and Team Bretstrong who had the best kit all rode like champs too!

The fixie community was represented by Spokes own Marc and Chris who pedaled furiously in monster gears and tight jeans (chris)

Thanks to Spokes for supporting with pizza and beverages and Julie for a wonderful prize.  Also appreciate the help everyone gave getting the bikes on and off the machines, timing (Kim, Tom, Matt) and other stuff.

Anyhow … ridestrong and get ready for next year’s Smackdown … see you all on the road, computrainer, or at the shop soon!”

Pics are here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/SpokesPhotos/1stAnnualSantaSmackdownComputrainerRaces?authkey=Gv1sRgCIT8v_3Rt7Cwfw&feat=directlink

See you outside,

Shane

New Year’s DIET January 2, 2010

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Weather was projected in the teens, gusts were over 30 mph and conditions were Icy. This was a great day for a Diet and a fantastic way to kick off the New Year!

Shane and I arrived at the Rapidian Wildlife Management area in Shenandoah, VA, at 8:10am for the 9-12 hour DIET slated to begin at 9:00am. Weather on 2 January was projected to be in the teens with wind chill in the single digits. Icy conditions and 5 river crossings awaited.  I was there to get a great workout and glean a few AR tidbits from Share who was shaking out his gear and plan for NGARs in mid-January

After the race brief and a few gear adjustments, we stepped off at 9:20am. We had a solid plan to return within 6 hours as we both had commitments later in the evening.

CP 1 We made it to checkpoint 1 without incident. However, what we thought was supposed to be the pink tape marker did not have the required word/message written on it. After searching for 15 minutes or so, we decided to move on to CP2. We found out later that no words were required at CP1. Careful reading of the passport would have told us that.

CP2  A series of river crossings were required from CP1 to CP2. As we approached the first major river crossing, the teams were scattered in various states of crossing. Some were crawling across logs and others were scouring the banks for a suitable crossing area.

As the clear veteran of the two person team, Shane quickly surveyed the shoreline and made the decision to slog through the water. However, I  was reluctant to get my shoes soaked in that weather with another hour plus projected on the bike. After too long a time searching for a suitable crossing, I pulled my shoes and socks off and  waded through. Subsequent water crossings were completed much faster by shoes and sock removal method. Note to Shane,  thanks for your patience. Note to self, just suck it up next time and wade through)

CP 3 and 4 – Transition to Trek.  Miguel, hot soup and hot cocoa welcomed us at CP3 where we transitioned to the trek. The trek consisted of 4 locations labeled A,B,C and D. After bagging A-C, it was after 1:00pm and we made a decision to skip D due to our commitment to our 6 hour cut off. Back to the TA area and we were off.

CP5  After CP4, we hopped on the bikes and headed down the hard ball to CP 5. We quickly made CP 5 and realized we may have a little extra time and CP 7 wasn’t that far away. What the hell, we decided, let’s go get them.

CP6  and 7  After accidently passing CP7, we made it to the base of the mountain where CP 6 was. Although a trail wound to the hilltop, we made the decision to stash our bikes and make a bee line for the top. We quickly made the ascent to CP6 and were able to see CP 7 from the hilltop. CP 7 was located without incident.

CP 8, 9 and finish  CP 8 and 9  were right off the hardball and we picked them up as we made the  12-13 mile bike back to the start. This was pretty much a straight shot, however the events of the day had begun to catch up with me. I was a lot slower than I expected on the ride back and will need to work on my nutrition plan next time.

Thanks to Michelle for putting this together, Todd for assisting her with course setting, and Miguel for hot soup, hot chocolate and a warm vehicle.

Brian

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