Its pouring...

I'm still waiting to hear back from Bicycle Sport, but I'm entertaining an offer from a smaller shop that is a few years old. It would be a great opportunity to help build a shop up and turn it into a very professional and quality shop. We'll see how that goes.

For now though, its pouring. Not just any little spring rain, it is coming down in streams. I got a good ride in yesterday in some new territory. I have always been one to head west on rides. I'm not sure what it is, but it always seems my preferred direction. So I decided to buck the trend yesterday and headed east. I was just planning on an easy base ride, but it turned into a pretty tough ride. On the way out, I had a direct headwind of around 15, and that in itself was enough to make my legs feel it. But, I was soon rewarded with some great roads with twisting descents and steep climbs. Granted these climbs and descents are nothing in the profile of the Alps, but they are fun nonetheless. Surprisingly enough, these backroads were perfectly smooth and hardly traveled. This made for a very peaceful slog through the hills and wind. I made a turn for the Ohio River, and as I continued in its direction, I, once again was treated to some fun descents. I finished up my ride by doing a loop in Charlestown State Park. It too was devoid of traffic and had great roads. I had a great time on this ride, and it was great to get some good time in on the bike.

I have a lot of time right now to ride, but the weather doesn't want to cooperate. All I ask for is 35 and warmer and no rain. I suffered all winter long through snow, rain, and at times both. I feel like I've paid my dues in the most inclement of weather. I'm very happy with my fitness right now though. Its followed through, and I've been able to translate that into very fast training rides, and now I am ready to apply that to racing.

I did a crit last weekend, but it was marred by some bad tactics on my part, and the fact that I had no teammates. But anyways, I am finalising my schedule for the race season, and it looks as though I will have a slower summer than I'm used to. I've decided to cut back on my mountain season to focus on cross. I plan on doing my team's series, which is about 6 races, and then do about 3 or 4 Indiana series events.

Alright, hopefully the rain stops soon....

Well that was fast....

Well, its only been a couple weeks in, and I'm looking for a different job. Don't get me wrong, Cycler's Cafe is a cool place, and a great fixture in the cycling community. I just didn't feel like making burritos and sandwiches instead of wrenching on bikes. Its been a slow start up for those guys and I just wasn't getting the hours and the time working on bikes.

So, I parted ways yesterday on good terms, if I need to go back, but I have an interview with another great shop in Louisville. It, is unfortunately, a Trek dealer. I've never been a fan of Treks, but I guess we'll see. It seems to be a very detail and high end shop as well.

The past couple of days have been great training wise. Two days ago, I got a six and a half hour training ride in, with tons of climbing and descents. Then yesterday, I got another 3 hours in for recovery, with some intensity on climbs. I'm thrilled with my base so far, and I'm happy that I still have the tolerance for super high intensity too. Some of the climbs over the past couple days have challenged me to go up faster and faster. I am really thrilled with the start of my season, though I have yet to throw down and race. There is a crit this weekend, but I'm not sure that I want to hit that up.

Alright, well time for my interview, and hopefully I'll have pics up of our new kits this year.

A Couple Weeks in...

Well its been almost two weeks that I've been in my new town. The weather has been damn good compared to what I've been training in, though its too cold for most down here. Funny how that works. I've been able to get about 7 or 8 nice long rides in, and its great to be getting in the mileage and the quality miles. I mentioned in my last post about Cherokee Park; I've ridden there quite a bit, but I've branched out to include Seneca Park which is right next door. Its got a nice climb in it too, but I use it to loop back into Cherokee. With these two parks, and all the roads around there, I've been able to make great, entertaining, and challenging loops.

This past Monday, I had a great 4 hour ride that started off somewhat dry, and turned into and wet and windy funfest. I rode up into what are known as Floyd's Knobs. They rise up around 700-800 ft or so, and you can really pick and choose how you want to climb and descend. Leg-searing super steep climb, or would you like a nice long gradual rise to the top? The same goes for the descents. I chose a relatively middle range climb up, and rode the top for a while, until the rain really came down. The descent I chose is my favourite, its long, and sweeping, so its very fast. In the rain, it was a little sketchy. I made it down, and by that point, my legs were covered in grit and grime. I continued on south in to a town right on the Ohio River, I found some interesting roads, and good climbs and scenery. I also found some nice brick streets to play on as well. That ride ended with me being covered from head to toe in grime, and I loved every minute of it.

Yesterday was a super slow day at the shop, so I took off early and headed to Iroquois Park. Its another huge park on the Southwest side of town. I did a circuit race there last year, and really enjoyed the course. I'm not sure of the distance of the main loop, but it rolls and has a couple twisty climbs and descents. The best part about Cherokee is the really long ascent to the top. Its just off of the main loop, and gradually rises up to the top, and then there is a loop around the top that would make for an excellent hilltop crit. From up there, you have views of the entire city in every direction. You can also see the forest on the south part of town that really has climbs in it. I'll be making it out there in the next week or two.

All in all, this move has proven to be a really positive one for me. The riding is just plain awesome compared to what I have back home, and the community really supports it. Riding in Cherokee, on a colder, and windy day, there were at least 30-40 cyclists out there. I think that the community supports overall recreation, because while thats a pretty good number of bikes; the number of runners and walkers dwarfs that.

I'm looking at a house to rent, and one of the best things about it, it is in a neighbourhood that has ALL brick alleys, and a bunch of long streets. Now these aren't your nice smooth driveways that people have, these are old, rough, broken, cobbles that really require some focus. I can't wait to play on those.