Friday, April 12, 2013
Schaeffer Farms trail work
Jeff and Mike helping to construct some new trails around Schaeffer Farms in Germantown, MD
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| Hiking in to the new whoop-de-doo section of trails |
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| Laying down pavers to prevent erosion |
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| Testing the lines |
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| We worked with Dave McGill on construction |
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| Adding a new section to Schaeffer Farms' Red trail |
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| We found a downed pilot |
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| Looks like he ejected straight out of the canopy of the remote controlled plane |
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| A little fun riding some underpasses after a day of digging |
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| A well deserved ride on Seneca Ridge |
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| Taking a picture of a picture |
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| We saw a few of these Hooded Merganser ducks at Clopper Lake - first time seeing them - very cool looking heads |
Ride data from Strava:
Thursday, January 17, 2013
lance armstrong and doping in general
i have respect for lance but in a different way then back in the early 2000's when i respected him for his riding ability now i respect him for what an great con artist he is. standing back and looking at what he did it hard for me not to think he did a smart thing by doping and lying. if he hadn't doped all the other guys that were doping would have taken the money/glory and Lance Armstrong would have never become a household name.
Lance was treated like a rock star for 15 years, got millions of dollars in sponsorship, advertizing and book deals . The risk/ benefit ratio is greatly in the dopers favor because the punishment is so small especially in lances situation when so much money is on the line. Not being able to compete in bike racing (at 41 and pased his prime) is tiny punishment when considering the millions that lance made. he made approximately 125 million through bike racing, he will loose approximately 35 million in lawsuits so in the end he will end up with about 90 million. 90 million dollars made through doping . based on the current punishments it seems that you are a sucker if you don't dope when that much money is on the line.
I’ve devised a punishment that would be suitable. Divide out all that money that said doper made with interest to all the pros that weren’t cheating and instead of banning said doper from racing said doper should be made to go to races being a corner marshal or handing out water/feeds to riders while wearing a t shirt that says “ I am a thief who tried to seal your money and glory”. in reality people who dope should be treated like criminals with jail time. the punishment has to be worse than the potential reward otherwise cyclists will continue to dope.
If I were in Lance’s current position I would just take up another sport like swimming in millions of dollars I made.
I’ve devised a punishment that would be suitable. Divide out all that money that said doper made with interest to all the pros that weren’t cheating and instead of banning said doper from racing said doper should be made to go to races being a corner marshal or handing out water/feeds to riders while wearing a t shirt that says “ I am a thief who tried to seal your money and glory”. in reality people who dope should be treated like criminals with jail time. the punishment has to be worse than the potential reward otherwise cyclists will continue to dope.
If I were in Lance’s current position I would just take up another sport like swimming in millions of dollars I made.
Monday, September 3, 2012
shenandoah 100 race report 2012
race: Shenandoah 100
course description: giant climbs followed by fun decent separated by road and fire roads
weather: raining on and off (mostly on and very heavy at times)
this was my first 100 mile race. i was in about 10-15th place when i flatted on a decent at about the 20 mile piont. i fixed it and tried to keep riding hard. it is a long race so i figured that 6 min it took me to fix the flat wouldn't be that big of a deal in the larger scheam of the race. i was wrong. loosing that 6 minutes meant i missed the opportunity to get in a train of the top riders in the fire road/ road sections between the actual mountain biking sections. team mates Jeff Dickey was right in front of me and Aaron Snyder was right behind me when i had the flat. we could have worked together on the fireroad at the bottom of that decent.
i felt ok up till about mile 60 or so. then some of the people i had passed started passing me. i tried to focus on eating more and i felt a bit better but my pace was definitely slower. at mile 90 or so i broke my chain. it took me a long time to fix because i didn't have the right parts so i had to reuse a chain pin. i tried a power link but i guess power links don't work with shimano chains. it took me at least 20 min to line up the old pin to screw it in to place. just after fixing it teammate Jeff Dickey rode up. he had bonked early and often and was just cruising in. i had lost my motivation to push hard too so we cruised in the last ten miles together. my chain broke again while we were riding those last ten miles. Jeff was patient and helpful as he waited for me to fix my chain again. we came in in about 9.5 hours. Aaron came in 5th!
it wasn't a fun race for me . not that there was anything wrong with the course or the way the race was organized it's just that by about mile 60 my body was feeling uncomfortable enough that having fun was no longer a possibility and the suffering i put myself through for the last 40 made me forget about any fun points in the first 60. if the weather was better and i had put in some longer riders leading up the the race to prepare myself better i feel confident i would have enjoyed myself more.
PS the volunteers at aid stations were great!
course description: giant climbs followed by fun decent separated by road and fire roads
weather: raining on and off (mostly on and very heavy at times)
this was my first 100 mile race. i was in about 10-15th place when i flatted on a decent at about the 20 mile piont. i fixed it and tried to keep riding hard. it is a long race so i figured that 6 min it took me to fix the flat wouldn't be that big of a deal in the larger scheam of the race. i was wrong. loosing that 6 minutes meant i missed the opportunity to get in a train of the top riders in the fire road/ road sections between the actual mountain biking sections. team mates Jeff Dickey was right in front of me and Aaron Snyder was right behind me when i had the flat. we could have worked together on the fireroad at the bottom of that decent.
i felt ok up till about mile 60 or so. then some of the people i had passed started passing me. i tried to focus on eating more and i felt a bit better but my pace was definitely slower. at mile 90 or so i broke my chain. it took me a long time to fix because i didn't have the right parts so i had to reuse a chain pin. i tried a power link but i guess power links don't work with shimano chains. it took me at least 20 min to line up the old pin to screw it in to place. just after fixing it teammate Jeff Dickey rode up. he had bonked early and often and was just cruising in. i had lost my motivation to push hard too so we cruised in the last ten miles together. my chain broke again while we were riding those last ten miles. Jeff was patient and helpful as he waited for me to fix my chain again. we came in in about 9.5 hours. Aaron came in 5th!
it wasn't a fun race for me . not that there was anything wrong with the course or the way the race was organized it's just that by about mile 60 my body was feeling uncomfortable enough that having fun was no longer a possibility and the suffering i put myself through for the last 40 made me forget about any fun points in the first 60. if the weather was better and i had put in some longer riders leading up the the race to prepare myself better i feel confident i would have enjoyed myself more.
PS the volunteers at aid stations were great!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Schaeffer trail maintenance plus 40 mile ride
Jeff and I did some trail maintenance at Schaeffer trails in Germantown MD on Sunday July 29th...
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| Jeff and others |
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| an hour and a half in to are ride, stopping to refill water bottles |
Sunday, July 15, 2012
toe injury
i cracked my toe nail a while back...i don't remember exactly when it happened but i am guessing it happened when i was moving around big rocks for the pond building business i was working for last year... i supper glued the crack to hold the nail together...a few months later it started swelling at the base ... i guessed it was an ingrown toenail but i felt around the sides of the nail and it didn't seem to be sticking into my skin... after the swelling got so bad that i wasn't able to use my cycling shoes i went to the doctor (i haven't been to a doctor in about 6 years)... he confirmed it was an ingrown toenail and that the toenail need to be removed... he gave me two novocaine shots on both sides o my toe... they were big needles and it was painful but the removal of the toenail was painless... i am not going to be able to where tight shoes (which includes my cycling shoes) for a at least 2 weeks ( im not sure beyond that)...it doesn't hurt so much any more... i am mostly worried that i might mess up the healing processes and be back to square one... i've been riding with platform pedals the past couple of days... its not horrible but it would be a pretty big handicap in a race.
i was planning on dong the MASS fair hill race today but am missing it... i might miss the bear creek finals at the beginning of next month too... i really hope i am able to ride with cycling shoes September.
i was planning on dong the MASS fair hill race today but am missing it... i might miss the bear creek finals at the beginning of next month too... i really hope i am able to ride with cycling shoes September.
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| before toenail removed |
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| after toenail removed |
Sunday, July 8, 2012
2012 Danzeisen and Quigley Summer Sizzler
Race: 2012 Danzeisen and Quigley Summer Sizzler
Where: Gloucester County College, Sewell, NJ
Date:July 7th
Conditions: 105 degrees, twisty rooty short steep ups and downs
I think this was the hottest day of the year. Despite the heat teammates Aaron and Cam pulled off their normal 1st and 2nd that that normally get for MASS (Mid Atlantic Super Series) races. Nick had a great race pulling off a 4th (the best he has done in a MASS race yet!). For some reason the heat seemed to be affecting me (Mike) more than my team mates. I realized half way through the first lap that with the heat this race for me was going to be more about survival than getting a good result. i kept it slow and steady (any pushing hard made my head feel like it was going to pop) and came in 15th.
teammate Jeff Dickey normally dose well in hot races and this course suited his strengths. He was riding comfortably in 5th when he came across a woman who had fallen and broken her collar bone in the middle of the trail. Other riders were going around her and/or telling her to get out of the way. Jeff being the better person stopped, helped her off the trail and waited with her till help came. He came in last after waiting with this woman for 20 min when he could have easily pulled of a top 5 finish if he had not stopped.
Where: Gloucester County College, Sewell, NJ
Date:July 7th
Conditions: 105 degrees, twisty rooty short steep ups and downs
I think this was the hottest day of the year. Despite the heat teammates Aaron and Cam pulled off their normal 1st and 2nd that that normally get for MASS (Mid Atlantic Super Series) races. Nick had a great race pulling off a 4th (the best he has done in a MASS race yet!). For some reason the heat seemed to be affecting me (Mike) more than my team mates. I realized half way through the first lap that with the heat this race for me was going to be more about survival than getting a good result. i kept it slow and steady (any pushing hard made my head feel like it was going to pop) and came in 15th.
teammate Jeff Dickey normally dose well in hot races and this course suited his strengths. He was riding comfortably in 5th when he came across a woman who had fallen and broken her collar bone in the middle of the trail. Other riders were going around her and/or telling her to get out of the way. Jeff being the better person stopped, helped her off the trail and waited with her till help came. He came in last after waiting with this woman for 20 min when he could have easily pulled of a top 5 finish if he had not stopped.
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| Cam collecting his winnings for 2nd place |
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| Aaron getting his 1st place award |
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| Results |
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