Got up early and hit the road for the first race of many to come in this spring MTB season. This would be my first race in the 30-35 catagory which is much more compedative. I got there and was reg'd by 8:30 took the next 30mins to try and warm up a bit as I now know that a good start is key! The bell rings and I get a great start! nail my pedal the first time and I'm in a good spot amongst the Experts. We hit the first climb which was the bridges switch backs and I'm a bit redlined from the pace, legs are good lungs are burning!!! The dragons back was fun I was rocking that decent! We cut up the ambulance road and down the tunnel of love and over the whoops. 35min lap, I was feeling good but I thought I needed to dial it back a bit. So I did and while I cleared the whole course again (no dabs at all!) I was 4mins slower:( 39 mins.... Yea I dialed it back too much, not really in any one spot just on the climbs in general. Ended up 7th in 30-35 the 4mins would have gotta me 5th :( Live and learn as I learned to get a good start and I did and now I know never let up! NEVER! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1682 ft Location: Aguanga, CA Elev. Gain: +7 ft Date: 01/31/09 Up/Downhill: [+1617/-1610] Time: 09:01 AM Difficulty: 4.2 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   54 F temp; 46% humidity   54 F heat index; winds SE 3 Performance Distance: 11.92 miles Time: 1:28:04 Speed: 8.1 mph Pace: 7' 24 /mi Heart Rate: 179 bpm (Avg) Calories: 565 192 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)

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Wheel Builder

A new title for me :) "Wheel builder" Tony needed a new rear wheel and wanted an Uber black wheel that was Beefy! 36 spoke Mavic 721, XT hut, 14 straight gauge spokes, alloy nipples.

Checked out La Costa for the first time... at night.... :) We got a lill lost at first and climbed up the steep ass fireroad! its was a grinder! and def no warm up! but we got to the top and found NASCAR! man that is fun! Matt had some issues as he didn't have a lot of light. We made our way down and kinda got lost again when we got to a spot where it just looped back but figured out a way up the switchbacks. That was a really fun technical climb. These trails were 75% rock and lots of tech I loved it! I dabbed in 2 spots, 1 was a rocky section where I lost traction and I picked a bad line 30 yrds from the top and smashed my knee on my stem :( Great ride can't wait to do it again some time! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 709 ft Location: Rancho Santa Fe, CA Elev. Gain: +33 ft Date: 01/29/09 Up/Downhill: [+1269/-1236] Time: 06:11 PM Difficulty: 3.5 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   62 F temp; 28% humidity   62 F heat index; winds E 5 Performance Distance: 5.13 miles Time: 1:24:23 Speed: 3.7 mph Pace: 16' 13 /mi Heart Rate: 160 bpm (Avg) Calories: 370 187 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)

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First night ride in a while, and the first night ride on the new rig. Man night riding can be fun and annoying at the same time. I really just wanted to ride in the warm sunshine instead we had to ride in mid 40's darkness, but it is January so I can't complain :) Me and Jeff hit up the clairemont mesa side. Due to the Aqua duct project the bridge across the canyon was closed though there was another access point just to the south. That put us on a super steep climb to start though! ouch! and with the cold air both of our lungs were on FIRE at the top of it... This kinda took the wind out of my sails for the rest of the ride as I just felt like I swallowed a match the rest of the ride. But onward we went across the mesa down past E ticket and over to the 52 climb... man I love how this bike climbs! I cleared the lower stuff with ease and then I cleared the top section (for maybe the 3 or 4th time ever) with no issues no bobbles! then it was down :) and I would drop the seat on the descents and pop it back up on the climbs so cool! Down Eticket (which is super bad now and I got swallowed up by a rut) across the bottom on the canyon, I was a rec in the rock garden picking weird lines but I did clear over some big rocks... Then we hit S turns and I was really hoping to top this ride off by clearing it! The lungs were on FIRE but the legs felt good. I was doing good I was about 80% up past all the hard stuff when I tapped a loose rock my rear wheel spun and lost my balance.... damn.... but I dabbled just for a minute and cleared the rest of it. Then we rode the fire road back a short, slightly painful on the lungs, fun night ride. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 679 ft Location: San Diego/Miramar MCAS, CA Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 01/27/09 Up/Downhill: [+1131/-1131] Time: 05:37 PM Difficulty: 3.4 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   56 F temp; 48% humidity   56 F heat index; winds NW 6 Performance Distance: 6.01 miles Time: 1:13:59 Speed: 4.9 mph Pace: 12' 15 /mi Heart Rate: 162 bpm (Avg) Calories: 390 193 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)

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Met up with a new crew down in Bonita to try some new trails. Was really looking forward to a new ride. so we hit the trail at 9am and it didn't disappoint. A fun ride and a great way to stretch the legs after my time off. Not a lot of climbing but lots of rolling hills and great technical stuff! including some local trails complete with stunts :) Great stuff I look forward to going back! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 347 ft Location: Lincoln Acres, -- Elev. Gain: +295 ft Date: 01/24/09 Up/Downhill: [+1505/-1210] Time: 09:10 AM Difficulty: 3.7 / 5.0   Weather: Mostly Cloudy   57 F temp; 93% humidity   57 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 8.85 miles Time: 2:49:34 Speed: 3.1 mph Pace: 19' 21 /mi Heart Rate: 143 bpm (Avg) Calories: 595 191 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)

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Rainy winter day

Well forecasters got it all wrong again.... So it was time to pull out the trainer and spin while watching the Tour Down Under, catch up on Leverage, and catch up a bit on Battle Star Galactica.... :) Easy spin the legs are recovering well from Mondays beat down I gave them in the gym, MTB at La costa tomorrow.

What a ride! First day back on the bike in 2 weeks. First time on the new rig. First impressions are great. The fork is stiff! and the rear doesn't feel like a ton of travel but when you need it (like when me and Joe hucked a much bigger drop then usual it was there and plush!) As far as me... my legs are pistons firing like mad! but the lungs burned and the HR was WAY WAY WAY up hi.... not to be suprised...

The climb up was a bitch as usual but this new geometry is great on the climbs! the rear set on pro pedal the fork set at 100mm and away I went! no hicups no dabs just slow and steady all the way up! Down put the rear to open the fork to 140mm and down we went! man its amazing!

Big observations the longer stem was great on climbs but slow reacting on descents.... the bars were wider then I'm used to but may give it a chance as it gave great leverage out of the saddle climbing. The seat post is the hella sickness! the saddle is ok and one HUGE thing I noticed is my lower back didn't hurt!

My back has been my weak point for years! in the saddle cranking out power puts strain on my lower back and I didn't feel that on this bike! Training begins, gym monday and night ride tuesday :)

Activity Route: ATT world cup Elev. Avg: 1699 ft Location: Alpine, CA Elev. Gain: -3 ft Date: 01/18/09 Up/Downhill: [+2326/-2329] Time: 10:00 AM Difficulty: 4.2 / 5.0   Weather: Partly Cloudy   84 F temp; 14% humidity   79 F heat index; winds Vrbl 6 Performance Distance: 11.37 miles Time: 2:38:30 Speed: 4.3 mph Pace: 13' 57 /mi Heart Rate: 166 bpm (Avg) Calories: 2458 193 bpm (Peak) Map Alpine, California   Elevation (ft)

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