Paris Mountain Time Trial

This weekend brought the first race of the season for me: the 1st Paris Mountain Time Trial. I placed 23rd out of 53 participants with a time of 12 min 48 sec. Not quite the time I wanted, but not too far off. Zach also did well, coming in at 14 min  8 sec. What's great about this race series is that there are two more time trials throughout the season to test myself in. This means I now have four and a half weeks before the Wintergreen Ascent, my first season goal every year. I have to keep my streak of top 10 going.

 Here's a shot of me waiting for my 30 second man to start. I didn't catch him. But I did catch a guy who started a few minutes up on me.

First race of the season

This weekend I get to test my legs against one of the fastest region of road racers in the country. Saturday is the Paris Mountain Time Trial in Greenville, Sc. This 2.2 mile hillclimb averages 7% and tops out at 14% grade. A nice little molehill if you live in Damascus. Zack and I will be heading down in the wee morning hours and pre-riding the course before tackling the beast.

The fastest known time is 8:45, set by George Hincapie (a local pro who has raced for the likes of USPS, Discovery, Columbia, and BMC Pro Tour teams). I am hoping for something under 12:30. That would put me well on my way towards racing well at Wintergreen in roughly a month. We'll see. I will post what goes down (or up in my case) on Sunday. Enjoy this incredible weather.

Here is a picture of Jared, Paul, and I just before Jared hit the road for Texas through Cinci. Jared: Best of luck to you at your new job.

Team Twin Six

As some of you may already know I had the chance to talk with some of the guys from Twin Six at this years North American Handmade Bike Show. While talking about riding and their clothes, Brent brought up the Team Twin Six: a loose collection of riders around the country riding for Twin Six and posting race reports and journals on their website. Needless to say when I got back to Damascus I applied. And was accepted.

This year I will be racing for Team Twin Six in full Metal kit. I know, It's black and will get really hot in the summer heat. If it gets too bad I can always switch to my Twin Six Fat Cyclist jerseys which are in orange, white, and (of course) black. I will be sure to let you all know when I have stuff up their website. Now off to go enjoy the weather.

This is the reverse of what the team jerseys will be: our are black with gray graphics.

2010 NAHMBS: Richmond

Last year Jared and I attended the North American Handmade Biks Show (NAHMBS: pronounced "noms") in Indianapolis. This year the show came to my neck of the woods: Richmond.

Leaving Friday afternoon and picking up people all along I81 we pulled into my house around 10 PM. The next morning we got to Richmond around noon and found a parking spot around noon-thirty. We then rode our mary way to the valet bike parking (only a cyclist would geek out over this). At this point we intered the fray. Or heaven for bikers.

Vendors ranging from Columbus to Pedros to Thomson to Paragon dotted the halls. Builders with the names of Sachs, Vanilla, Bilinky, and DeRosa filled up most of the space. Pure heaven I tell you. I can't give a great recap becaus there was just too much to tell. But I will give you my top 5 list.

1) Twin Six- I got to meet Brent from my favorite clothing company. Also picked up an awesome pink wool welder's cap. Yeah... the one with the green stripes.

2) Shamrock Cycles- Amazing bikes. My favorite, however, was the Belle Fast- a around town bike built for the rider with everything. Increadible attention to detail and accessories on this bike along with a precisely crafted frame.

3) Pedros- Tools! I know, I know... not Park. But thier Vice Whip is amazing and will be added to my toolbox by the end of the year. And the Trixie is awesoem for you fixie freeks.

4) Six-Eleven - The best new builder of the show. And he is building in Roanoke, VA! He also invited us to the COG after-party. Cool guy.

5) Seven Cycles- They brought Mary McConneloug's race bike. She's been riding this one for six seasons as a pro. Including two Olympics. Wow!

We rounded out the day with a Fixie trick jam, the COG after-party, and the world premier of Death Pedal II. I never new fixies could be thrown around like these guys do.

With that goodnight and good riding.