good separate, great together

I like riding bikes.  It's a little known fact, but I figure we know each other well enough now for me to be able to share that secret with you.

I also like taking pictures.  That you may know.  Or maybe you don't.  Pay attention.

When I first started taking pictures it was all in black and white, and all on film.  I liked it.  A lot.  I'd only take nature/architecture pictures, that was just my thing.  I've since acquired a digital camera and, although nature/architecture/objects are my favorite subjects, some of you may have seen me taking pictures at races.  It's been fun to be able to race, and then get back out on the course and take pictures of other racers killing it, surviving it, or just riding it.

Taking pictures at races has been both fun for me, and nice for riders - because who doesn't like an action picture of themselves on the bike??  I mean, it's nice to have proof of what a badass you are for all your coworkers without having to crash to prove it to them... so stop crashing and just let me take you damn picture!!

Joking aside, I haven't been able to take pictures after racing down here as much just due to the timing of races.  The heats seem to go off a lot quicker so by the time I've been finished and "recovered" the rest of the guys and gals are already out on the course... so no time to get back out and scout a good spot.... so it's fallen off as things I do.  Sorry about that.

Saturday I dropped Annie off at the airport for her annual LA trip with her best friend.  They have fun, make reservations under my last name and get treated to the best seats in the house cause of it, and of course enjoy a nice steak on the sidewalk while talking to Christopher Walken.  I thought about getting out for a ride before the Georgia game... but that's as far as I got.  So Sunday was the day to ride.

Sunday came and it felt more like a crappy movie on the couch kind of day.  So I watched I Robot for the millionth time (most viewings being as I fell asleep at night).  Finally I said screw it and got up to ride.  But motivation was minimal so decisions were hard to come by.  Then I decided it was time to take pictures...  What better way to explore my new city?  So I grabbed my camera, hopped on georgia, and cruised around finding things to take pictures of.  I had two destinations in mind from previous rides, and was open to explore anything and everything in between.

Mostly I just took pictures of trains and Charlotte

I can NEVER turn down a good sign.  I'm sure it's informative and important to the operation of the train, but seriously... I can only be so serious.

I took a bunch more, you can check them out here eastwood9er.tumblr.com

and we're off!

Media Fridays

We'll posts videos or photos that will hopefully inspire trail shredding weekends.

We're headed down south (Charlotte) but I've got to get out west at some point!

Fruita September 2011 from Patrick Rea on Vimeo.

SWAG!

Check in time: How have I been doing thus far in preparing for racing?

Well, the winter was what it was, so I didn't get nearly the amount of bike time as I had hoped prior to my first foray into racing.  I did however manage to get back into the gym on a pretty regular basis... so that was good.

Since my first race I have not been to the gym.  Boo that.

Since my first race I have been riding weather permitting on the regular.  Yay to that!

This week, with the weather looking dreary, it's been tough... but I vowed at the beginning of the week to get my butt in the gym if the trails were not an option.  Well, work got in the way of that.  Not in the sense that I've had to put in mad overtime and thus not have time to get to the gym...  But in the I'm emotionally destroyed and the idea of lifting anything heavy makes my heart cave in sense.  So yeah.  I love my job.  I love working with kids.  But sometimes it's too much to take emotionally.

(I'm a high school counselor by the way)

The other day I was thinking I would LOVE it if my biggest concern was that the wrong derailleur came in, or the part a customer wanted by today wasn't going to get here in time...  Not that that would be ok in anyway because I'd go nuts not being able to get the customer what they wanted... but still.  The bling on your bike isn't life or death...

Ah, well that eludes to the dream that Annie and I have of moving to Charlotte and opening up a bike-type store.  I say "bike-type" because we were thinking of throwing a twist in there to find our own niche in The Web... plus I would absolutely love to jet out to Oregon or Colorado to learn to be a bike mechanic.  Of course I'd find a way to work with kids, but bikes are cool - and they generally don't have an attitude or indulge in high school drama...

Back to the check in!

Shoe Jackman

I came on here to talk about my new shoes, but Michael beat me to it. Uncool.

*deep breath*

Ok.

So instead, I'll simply mention that my 5 minute "clip-in/clip-out" practice in the middle of my kitchen last night was a real eye-opener. Halfway through playing with my new shoes (if you'd like to see a pic of my new accessories then go ahead and visit my hijacking husband's last post), it dawned on me that I'm about to progress through a mountain biking "point of no return" that I may or may not be ready for.

Over the last few rides we have gone on (the Charlotte ride in particular) my feet have been sliding all over the pedals. Riding on the balls of my feet feels the best and provides the best performance, but within minutes my feet slide forward and I end up pedaling on my arches. The whole phenomenon has a ninja purity about it considering that I have no recollection when, or for how long, the arch riding has been going on.

Also, I have often felt the need to get more power by pulling up on my pedals as well as pushing down. I instinctively did this in Charlotte and ended up disconnecting completely from my right pedal thus slamming it into the back of my ankle. I'm fairly impressive when it comes to handling pain, but ankle slicing is completely beyond my discomfort threshold.

Therefore, I need to progress to the next level even if every time I think of riding clipped in I imagine myself coming to a complete stop, failing to clip-out and then just falling over like a domino.

To my husband: Please don't beat me to the punch when it comes to discussing shoes again. You know how I feel about shoes.

-A

new toys!

Late post - sorry!!  But yesterday was full to the brim with new bike stuff!!

The other day I bought myself a Garmin Edge 500 with wonderful tax return monies!!  I got it home, busted open the box and drooled over the gear I got.  With the garmins I got the heart rate monitor (something I've never had/used) and the cadence johnson (again something new to me).  So while the garmins was charging up I stuck the cadence junk on the HiFi. 

Yesterday I got to use the new toys (sans heart rate monitor) for the first time.  I took a ride from work to a local trail.  The ride was eh due to blow down all over the place so the trails were kinda crappy.  Plus, I think Charlotte spoiled me with their smooth, cleared trails.  More often then not I'm riding leaf covered trails that are at times hard to follow... nothing cleared nicely like you get down south.  But then again, it is rare to find mountain bike minded/designed trails around these parts - seems like we just ride what we have (hiking trails).  So anyway... I rushed home after the ride and plugged the bad boy in and YIPPEE!!  I got a whole bunch of data and a map of the ride - how sweet is that??  If I get out for a ride today - all depends on the possible thunderstorms - then I'll add the heart rate monitor to the mix.  I'm excited as all this extra data will only help push myself more during rides to ensure I'm getting the most out of it.  FUN FUN!!

Check it:



While we were in The Web I bought Annie some  bike shoes (2 shoes, one for each foot) for her birthday.  So last night after I played with my new toy I switched out the pedals on Annie's Wahoo and she got to practice clipping in and out.  Taking off pedals is a bastard... seriously.  I had to take a mallet to the wrench to get those platforms off!!  But ah well.  Now she's offical, and we'll probably be out at Wompatuck this weekend getting her practice and hitting up some singletrack.  She certainly enjoyed the trails in Charlotte, let's just hope she enjoys the New England versions.

Hodge Podge

Only got one ride in while down in Charlotte but it was FUN!!!  Although the weather wasn't horrible during our visit, it still didn't completely cooperate with my planned 3 rides over our brisk visit to the Queen City.

So where did we get to ride???  Settle down there, don't get overly excited.  And don't jump down our throats getting all twisted that we didn't even ride the "best" the area has to offer.  So we got into town on Wednesday and got to witness some fun times.  I even took some pictures.  I had planned on getting back to ride the trails there as I was very curious... the section we were at was very buff fast singletrack.  I asked one of the promoters about the trail and he did describe it as rooty and technical.  I really do need to see what "rooty" in NC means to "rooty" in NE... how do the two compare?  But alas, it rained the morning we were to experience Beatty.

So Thursday we got up and had an awesome breakfast before hitting.... drum roll please... USNWC.  Take it easy.  This was a good choice for our starting point of Charlotte trails in that it was 1. close by 2. clearly defined trail system with user ability labeled trails and 3. sounded like a neat little facility what with the whitewater rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, zip lining, canyoneering adventure land.  Annie and I headed out on the green loop.  This was the first all singletrack ride Annie was embarking on so I wanted to ensure it was a success (and figured any facility that was labeling trails with the green circle, blue square, black diamond system would be the place).  And as always, Annie took it down like a champ.  Well, she did want to vomit and that was my fault.  In my excitement for some southern hospitality I chose a breakfast place that loaded us up heavier than we needed to be for a bike ride... it was good, but too much.

North Carolina on my mind.

As Michael shared last week, we headed to Charlotte, NC with our bikes to do a little reconnaissance. Charlotte is on our extremely short short list of possible places to relocate. When choosing a new place to live, we have certain non-negotiable requirements. Charlotte already fit the bill (according to our endless sessions of googlestorming) for many of our specifications therefore a visit was of the utmost importance in order to make a well-rounded decision.

Here's what we found out:

• Requirement 1 - Mountain Biking Culture: The first day we got to Charlotte we attended a race, which took place about 10 miles south of downtown. We expected there would be about 20 bikers participating in this Wednesday evening race. Truthfully, we figured we were probably wasting our time. We were wrong! After we took the turn to enter the park, we saw around 50 cars parked along the street with many more in the parking lot. There ended up being over 250 riders registered for the race! We found out that this series goes on every Wednesday for 16 weeks and rotates between three different trails around Charlotte. Michael found a place to camp out so he could take some pics, and the people passing by us were extremely friendly and welcoming. Requirement full-filled, check!!
• Requirement 2 - Neighborhoods: Naturally, even though we are about a year out from actually moving from Boston, we are curious when it comes to the types of neighborhoods around the city. Prior to our trip - and thanks again to our googlestorming skillz - I had a list of addresses ready to punch into the GPS for our house hunting adventure. Michael and I are hoping for a nice bungalow or craftsman with about a quarter acre or more of yard that's close to downtown. After five years in Southie, we've had our fill of street parking and concrete so really urban neighborhoods need not apply. We were delighted to find so many places with exactly the feel we wanted! Basically, every neighborhood on this list was awesome. Looks like the "not hipster but still highly interested in biking and craft beer" couple will have many options!
• Requirement 3 - An actual city: So we may be ready to get a house with a picket fence, doggy door and a yard providing a justifiable reason to purchase a lawnmower -- but we ain't quite suburbanites yet. Unfortunately, the southeast isn't really full of metropolitan areas. You pretty much have Atlanta and...well Atlanta to choose from. So we decided a small city could possibly work as long as it had the amenities we loved (A major airport hub, professional sports teams, a major university, concert venues, multiple cuisines with many restaurant options, great hospitals and a strong arts district) without the ones we're completely over (subways, traffic, Chinatown I work right here, water issues, non-stop concrete and rodents). Charlotte, albeit small, has a beautiful downtown area with all the things we need. Looks like we're on a roll!
  

Our next step is to visit again in the summer to see how well we stand up to the intense humidity we keep hearing about. I'm thinking that adventure will be sans Treks, since taking our bikes will require us driving again. Not enough time has passed since our 14 hour ride home last Saturday for me to get excited over another possible road trip.


-A

rain can suck it!

Loading up this morning for our road trip to Charlotte.  We'll stop in Morgantown tonight to see the family there.  Continue on in the morning to Charlotte.
There is a threat of rain pretty much everyday we are down there... but we are bringing the bikes anyway.  I get to pick up the 4300 when we are in Morgantown (it's been there since I shipped it down for our Daytona trip in February).  It will be nice to have it back for my rides with Annie because on the 29er I end up just rolling away from her.

When I got back into biking the addiction set in pretty quick.  And now it's official, racing has me hooked.  I certainly have a long way to go to be considered any sort of a real threat, but I love it.  I loved the whole scene, I loved the personal challenge, and I will enjoy the training aspect.  I've really enjoyed riding, but I've never had anything pushing me on my rides... I just rode.  Still fun, for sure, but I never had that push to really challenge myself on rides.  But now I have that motivation.  For a person that isn't super organized/structured I really DO like scheming and planning.  I enjoy my workout routines I put together, and recording my performance (for no real purpose other than to keep it up) so I think having races in mind, tracking my finishes, setting purposeful training rides to push my limits and increase endurance and speed will be a fun new challenge.

Keeping my fingers crossed we get some riding in down in Charlotte... it will be nice for Annie to get more riding in, might get her some shoes while we are down there so we can get her riding clipless, and it's always nice to be able to explore trails in a different part of the country.  If we do end up in Charlotte it would be a huge plus to have nice local trails as I have to drive to ride living in Boston.  I would LOVE to be able to ride to a trail (or even multiple trails)!

I'm also looking forward to a nice vacation with Annie.  Get away from our jobs, enjoy some time together as we explore a new city and check out prospective neighborhoods.  Friends (and possible moving buddies) are joining us Friday down in Charlotte so I'll get to share war stories with Sean as he's already 3 races into this season.

No rain, and certainly no tornadoes!!