Precision Bikes Racing Training Camp

From Road Biking in the South East

This weekend the road team I just joined had a small training camp in New Roads, LA.  Which is just a ferry ride over to St. Francisville, LA a great place for road riding here in Louisiana.  One of the teams members family owns a nice camp on False River so we were lucky enough to have free room & board.  On Saturday morning the team had a 20 mile loop that we were going to ride 4 times to put us at 80 miles and giving people a chance to peel off if they had enough.  We started with good weather on the first lap, good enough to go with just a jersey but half way through the loop the weather dropped about 20 degrees and a nice mist developed.  So we decided to head back to the truck and grab some more clothes to complete the ride.  

From Road Biking in the South East

On the second lap we had our first victim due to the hilly terrain, Saul dropped back and we rode off without him.  The weather was getting pretty nasty at this point so we decided to do only 3 laps but on the third lap add a little section on it to get us about 78 miles.  A few of the other members were having problems too and we slowed the pace down to allow them to catch back up.  When we reached the truck we were all pretty frozen so we quickly loaded the trailer up and headed back to the camp.

From Road Biking in the South East

The next morning was much of the same weather wise as a fine mist was prevalent but our ride was going to be only about a 50 mile ride doing the loop we did yesterday twice backwards.  On the first lap 3 of the 8 had to drop off as the CAT 2's up front were picking up the pace a little bit.  At the start of the second lap we lost one more to knee pain so it was me a lonely CAT 5 with three CAT 2's.  I was doing a good job keeping up with them even when they picked the pace up even more but the last five miles they really started hammering and were attacking each other when I decided to let them go.  It was a great weekend and Im looking forward to some road racing this year.

Golden, CO

From Golden, CO

This weekend I headed out to Golden, CO for the Blue Key Honor Society Convention at the Colorado School of Mines a great little university of about 4,000.  I was seriously jealous of the students there as the campus was very well kept and the class sizes were small.  They also seemed to be happy and were taking very interesting classes, such as one where they built a canoe out of cardboard and actually floated it down the local river.  I was hoping to ride my bike while I was there but the days were filled with speakers.  So this was about the closest I got to riding my bike.

From Golden, CO

It was a great small town and the trip only cost me $75 dollars for my ticket and food for the weekend.  I just wish I was able to spend more time there as the biking looked great and I didnt even get to venture into Denver.  Im excited though as this weekend is my road teams camp down in New Roads, LA and there is about 15 people going so it should be a fun weekend of riding and socializing.

Victory Lap

This will be my last undergraduate semester here and it shouldn't be all that tough of a semester either.  The only course that will require some hard studying should be my Electromagnetic Theory class or as its commonly referred to E-Mag.  Not only is the material arduous but its also taught by the toughest professor we have in EE, Dr. Huner. 

From Blogger Pictures

Im also going to have a big season of riding this semester, as I have decided to join the road team here and compete in a few road races as well as the three big mountain bike endurance rides I have entered with the Cohutta being the big one at 100 miles long.  I decided to get a training plan for it as well as I have never race my bike over that kind of distance. Hopefully I will be able to follow it as planned and not stray from it to far.  I have been just riding for fun mostly now and did a few rides this weekend one being a 43 mile mountain bike ride in Alexandria at a easy pace.

From South East Mountain Biking

I felt fresh after the ride and could of done a bunch more miles but it was all my two other buddies had that day.  This had also been my fourth straight day of riding and my legs weren't as trashed as I thought they would be.  They actually felt quite good even though I had taken the SS out and from the trashing the Ouachita trail had given me.

From South East Mountain Biking

Ouachita Trail Thru-Bike

From Ouachita Trail

This week with months of planning in advance set out on my bike camping trip along the Ouachita Trail.  I started out from Queen Wilhelmina a state park that has a lodge and restaurant that I thought would be a good place to leave my car and a good place to return too for some food as I was doing a out and back on the trail.

Gear List:

Ultra-light Backpacker A-Sym Hennessey Hammock

Mountain Hardwear 20 deg down sleeping bag

Alcohol Stove and Fuel & Anti Gravity Gear pot windscreen and koozie

SteriPen Adventurer Handheld Water Purifier

Leatherman Multi-Tool

Custom Epic Designs Frame Bag

3 tubes and patch kit

Random bolts for bike

Crank Bros Mini Pump

Petzl Tikka Headlamp

Garmin Vista HCX GPS + extra batteries

Chamois Butt'r

Clif Shot Blocks x3

Hammer Endurolytes

Freeze Dried Food

Moist Wipes

Sierra Designs Rain Jacket

REI long underwear (top & bottom) 

REI Wool Socks (for sleeping)

2 pairs of Pear Izumi cycling shorts

2 pairs of cycling socks

Small First Aid kit

Olympus 850 SW Camera with Gorilla pod.

Total weight:

10 lbs 6 oz on bike

18 lbs 13 oz in backpack (Osprey Talon 22)

From Ouachita Trail

It was cold starting out, so cold that I thought of bailing out on the trip or at least postponing it for a day or two as the ice storm had covered everything with a thin layer of ice.  This made the going really tough as the rock gardens were now even more unrideable.  The first 2.5 miles were the worst as I had to hike all of it as it wasn't a bike friendly trail.  The next section was a little easier with me having to dismount quite a few times due to rock gardens and downed trees that had fell with the increased weight of the ice.

From Ouachita Trail

As the day wore on the temps got above freezing and the ice began to melt causing the sensation of rain from the trees above thawing out.  At this point I was getting pretty wet but kept trucking along as the trail was more and more rideable.  

From Ouachita Trail

I decided to setup camp at about 4 giving me an hour or so of daylight to cook and put on some dry clothes.  I cooked up some dinner and headed into my hammock as the cold was starting to get to me.  After sitting in the hammock for an hour or so I couldn't stop shivering and was worried about how I would fair when the sun dropped.  I made the decision that the 20 degree temps were too cold for me in my hammock and decided to make the push back to the lodge for the warmth.  I knew most of my journey would be in the dark so I hurried to pack up and use what available light to bike as much of the trail as possible.  About an hour into my journey back it got dark so I pulled out my headlamp to help light my way back.  It worked well but I was pushing its limits on my bike.  A few times I lost the trail and had to use my GPS to find my way back.  I made it back to the lodge around 11:30 at night frozen to the bone with no feeling in my hands or feet.  I jumped in the bathtub to warm back up but just couldnt seem to get the water hot enough.  I then jumped into bed and shivered until I fell asleep.

From Ouachita Trail

Lessons Learned:

1. Ditch the Sidi's for something with a flexible sole for hike a bike.

2. Bring my gaiters as my legs were a bloody mess at the end of this trip.

3. The way I strapped my sleeping bag to my seat needs work or just order this.

4. 20 degree temps are too low for my hammock.

Chicot Cabins

From Chicot Cabins

This weekend we headed out to Chicot state park, a place I have been a few times once for an adventure race and a few other times for paddling and biking.  Its a great park with an 18 mile trail around the lake.  This time we weren't going for those things but to have a nice weekend in one of the deluxe cabins the park has.  Of course we still brought the bikes but we weren't going to do anything too serious.  

From Chicot Cabins

Most of the weekend was spent drinking wine, eating, and playing board games.  On our short bike ride we were caught in a thunderstorm that got us all drenched.  It didn't put a damper on the weekend though as the cabin was equipped with satellite tv and plenty of wine.  We quickly brought Cranium out and me and Sarah came out with a win.

Celebrating our Win.

It was a great weekend spent with friends and it would be nice place to come back to.

Rouge Roubaix Recon

To start the year off right me and a couple of my cycling buddies decided to head over to St. Francisville a town just a few minutes north of Baton Rouge.  The area around St Francisville is famous for all the antebellum plantation homes in the area and probably has the best road riding in the state due to its hilly terrain (for Louisiana), low traffic and great scenery.  Its also the home of the Rouge Roubaix, the biggest road race in the state that attracts roadies from all over the south.  It covers a 100 miles of some of the finest and not so finest roads in the area.  The race contains three gravel sections on the course with the second two containing the most difficult climbs.  I am planning on entering it this year, using it as good training for the Cohutta.

From Road Biking in the South East

The three of us set out on the course and initially I felt pretty good dropping my friends on most of the climbs.  After the first gravel section I started feeling a little twitch in my legs so I decided to stop at a little convenience store on the side of the road where some hunters were admiring there new year score.

From Road Biking in the South East

I picked up a nutter butter and a gatorade for some sugar as there wasn't much selection inside.  We headed out and when the course dumped us out on Hwy 24 (a very smoothly paved road) a head wind picked up making the going tough.  My legs were going downhill fast and knew I was going to be in trouble when we got to the second gravel section.  As soon as it pitched up the cramps started and I was forced to walk the initial steep climb.  My other riding partners were feeling much spunkier then I and were waiting for my at a little store on the top of the climbs.  At that point we all were pretty spent so we decided to bail out on the 3rd gravel section and just head home.

From Road Biking in the South East

From Road Biking in the South East