TWAF ready for Le Tour

So the news from France just keeps getting worse, now Vino won't be starting either as his entire team (Wurth) has pulled out. This sucks. So the top five last year: Lance, Basso, Jan, Mancebo, Vino- all out. The only one who didn't get booted- Lance. But you know what the top finisher to start- Levi! Add to that that Beloki aslo got booted then Kloden and Bobby are the only two podium finishers to start (I think).

You gotta lover the USA's chance at staying on the podium, even if it's just do to attrition. Hell at this point we could see an American sweep- it's not that crazy of a thought! You've got Cadel Evans and Simioni that might have a shot at the podium- but with Floyd, Levi, George, Bobby, Dave, and Chris all toeing the line there is a somewhat realistic shot they could do it. Discovery also has a real good shot at keeping a spot on the podium with George and Popo- so who knows what's going to go on.

Either way Team Weak and Feeble is just waiting for the call to head to France and get this party started. We'll be the riders who look like real people and will be asking for a beer at the finish at each stage- that and we'll be asking for early start times so we can finish before it gets dark.

How long until all the excess EPO shows up on E-Bay?

Get out and ride.


DEA

I'm in shock

No Ullrich, no Basso- who the hell is going to be racing in this years tour? This Spanish investigation is going to shake cycling to it's core. If this keeps up Team Weak and Feeble will be asked to go race in the Tour!

more at

Cycling News

I'm totally bummed and not really sure what to think of this whole thing. I guess I can wish best of luck to the remaining Tour riders, and hope this serves as a major shot across the bow to those dopers out there that the sport is sick of it.

DEA

Looking Forward

It’s an odd thought when you realize that you are at the age when a lot of pro athletes start thinking about retirement. Does that mean my best athletic years are behind me? I’m hoping not and I look to people like Tinker, Ned Overend, John Boyer, and even my Dad who are all still fit and fast well past their “prime”. The truth is I’m in the best shape I’ve been in for the last 10 years, and I know that I’m still improving and not ready to say that I feel “fit”.

Jay is looming on the horizon, yet if feel more and more like a stepping stone then it does the final stop. My hope is that Jay goes well and that (assuming I finish) I come away from the event with a better understanding of what I’m capable of physically. The sick part is I know on July 31st they’ll be a discussion among TWAF about “what’s next”- that conversation sort of scares me.

We’ll have the 24 Hours of Great Glen coming up a couple weeks after Jay, and we’ll have a few Red Jersey Summer Series races left, as well as the entire cyclocross season- but I’ve got this gut feel that TWAF will be looking for something bigger for 2007. I’d guess we’ll race Jay again and add a 100 milers in there somewhere (although I’d love to do a 100 miler with LESS climbing then Jay). Only time will tell.

That’s it at the moment, time to do some work. See you out on the trail.


DEA

Thanks for the call, Team...

Well I did not get the call or memo about the morning ride up the access road to Redtail. I was on my own, I'm sensing a theme here, maybe I should check into this, are they trying to tell me something? So I swapped out some brake pads and have not gotten rid of the drag yet. In fact the wheel does not spin, will not roll on its own and in fact pretty much stays put. Under power it moves and stops great. Just not so efficient to ride until I get it burned in or adjusted better.

Anyhoo I decided the best way to work in the brakes was to ride in to work, since I wasn't privy to the other TEAM ride. I took the usual rout, except as I was riding near the beaver damn I went under a tree that the beavers had chewed through and it was leaning and my pack hit the tree as I went under it. Just as I cleared the tree there was a loud crash as the tree let go and came crashing down. That was close, I coulda been beaver food, or smushed or something. Well I made it the rest of the way in and the drag has lessened some. Maybe its a good thing I didn't try to ride up Cranmore today.

JJ

Hurt so good...

So DEA bails on NK and I this morning, probably to catch an early glimpse of himself on TV. Probably hit refresh on their site until it appeared. So NK and I hit the Cranmore access road for a grind to the top. Not sure on time, NK has that info., ask him. Ride the connector to Red Tail then down. Almost to the bottom when I slide on a root fold the front under and go ass over teapot over the bars. Minor but mildly entertaining.

As for the climb. Goes something like this: No Legs, Insane Bugs and mind was not in it. Felt dizzy and light headed for some of the climb and the descent as well. had a burst to get through the nasty sections but it was short and hurt. I guess you need days like these to get through. Hopefully this isn't what I'll feel like at Jay, that wouldn't be good.

So with just over a month to go Nikki is telling me to get out and ride as much as possible. Apparently she may be "concerned", not for my safety but so I finish. Who's up for a ride?

A1

WCAX TV spot

Our TV debut is up and on-line. It aired last night in Vermont and can now be seen at

WCAX TV

you can read the transcript and if you want to check otu the video it's there as well.

enjoy.


DEA

Long solo ride

We had a previous engagement so I was not around to participate in a TWAF training ride this weekend. As a result I was left to my own devices. We were to attend a party in Concord Saturday evening so I figured I would leave a little early and ride my bike there while the Boss drove down with the kids. The weather, as usual was wet. In fact it started raining during the night and when I woke up to get ready there was a consistent drizzle. I saddled up and got moving about 7:30 with a goal of riding there in about 5 1/2 hours. I figured it was about 80 miles, but I was solo. No one to draft behind, pull me along or keep me motivated. It left me to the music on my MP3 and the screen on my Garmin Edge 305.

I made it to my first pit stop in Moultonboro (32 miles) in good time and I was happy with how I felt. My next planned stop was supposed to be at the Irving in New Hampton. Instead at about the 47 mile mark I ran across a scene of an accident and they did not do a good job with the clean up. What I initially thought was small bit of fresh black top was actually a bunch of little pieces of tinted auto glass. I thought I made it through and then I felt that familiar wobble in the back end and knew I was flat. It was still pouring out and I was loving life. I pulled off the side of the road and stared to change the tube and reinflate the new one. After about 10 minutes I was back rolling along. As an aside I have now had 2 flats with the Continental GP2000 tires and while I like the way they handle they appear to be prone to flats.

I was only a few miles form pit stop #2 in New Hampton at the 50 mile mark. I hit the bathroom and spent a few minutes trying to clean up from the tire change and clean a little road grime off me. I got another Red Bull, topped off the water bottles with some more Gatorade, had a power gel and I was rolling again. This put me about 30 miles from the destination. I rode over to Rt 132 and headed South and the rain subsided. It was nice and as I moved south the roads began to dry off as well. The terrain was nice and hilly and the road was just redone.

I was still feeling pretty solid as the miles ticked off. AS I hit the 70 mile mark and figured I was in the home stretch I came upon a sign I did not like. DETOUR ahead. What did that mean? I wanted to ride up to the construction site and see if I could sneak through as I was afraid I would end up with a lengthy additional stretch I was not really excited about. I called the support team and asked them for some help and they checked the map and told me that the road I was looking at for the detour was not on it. GREAT!!! Well I figured I might as well start riding and hope for the best. I was pleasantly surprised after about 3 miles when I connected with a familiar road that took me back to the planned rout. Probably only an extra 2 miles out of the way. At this point I was only 4 miles til the end. I was looking at the GPS and starting to run numbers in my head. How far was this and how fast was I averaging, etc...so as I pulled into the driveway in Concord I was pleasantly surprised with the ride and the results.

For 81.57 miles, I had a total time from door to door of 5:15 with a rolling time of 4:32. I averaged 18 mph and climbed 5,363 feet. Not bad as I did a little better speed wise than the century we did a few weeks ago and I was alone this time.

Another long one in the bank and only about a month to go.

JJ

Another weekend behind us

Well TWAF didn't really connect at all this weekend, seemed like a good time to rest and maybe do some individual prep. Rumor has it JJ rode to Concord, NK played in a rugby tournament, A1 put up about 700 tents, and I took a spin up at GGTOC on Sunday.

Next weekend we'll be looking at a big one- what should it be? 100+ pm the road or see how far we can get with eight to nine hours on dirt?

We'll just have to see how the week plays out.

So Skid Mark has his latest design ready for all to see- he was playing with the designs on both a yellow t-shirt as well as blue- check it out.

That's it on my end. time to get some sleep.

over and out

DEA

TV and Leg Speed

The past couple of days have been interesting for TWAF. On Wednesday the TV crew from Burlington came over and shot their story on TWAF. It'll be interesting to see how that comes out. It sounded like it'll be airing next week, we'll keep you posted.

Then yesterday was race one of the Importech and Red Jersey summer series up at Bear Notch. Depite loving the course up there I've had my share of issues racing there in the past and yesterday wasn't any different. On my warmup lap I came into one of two water crossings on the course and my front wheel went out from under me and down I went- completely underwater. So my "warmup" started with a nice ice bath. Needless to say my confidence was shaken on that water crossing and I ran them for the duration of the race. I think that turned out to be a good idea as everyone I saw trying to ride them would end up falling about halfway across, or at least they'd loose traction and you'd watch them fight with their bikes and expend a lot of energy.

The fields weren't huge and TWAF was only represented by myself and NK, but we took 2nd and 3rd in our division. During the race I pretty much stayed well within myself only putting in big efforts when I was trying to pass, my first big effort came on the first lap and I was quite proud of myself as I blasted by three people on one of the logging roads. With good speed going into a piece of single track and began to set my sights on the next group ahead and putting a bit of distance on those I had just passed. A momentary lapse in concentration and I blew a corner and slammed into a tree. As I was pulling myself out of the weeds the three I had passed a couple more that must have been just behind me when I made the past sailed by me. One of them was NK himself. I got myself put back together and chased back to that group and sat at the back until we got to another passing zone. I was able to move up the group slowly, finally reaching the rear wheel of A1's old hard tail (Dr. Laracy)- that SOB is strong and that was effort #2 staying on his wheel. I rode behind him for the rest of the first lap and part of the second before he began to fade a bit on the climb. It was then off in pursuit of Mike Geldermann. He took a while to catch up to but soon he and I were trading off on who would take a pull. Some of the roots were getting a bit slick and Mike was having a tough time keeping the bike upright, but every time I'd get in front of him he'd crush himself to pass me on the logging roads. On the final lap I put in big effort #3 and passed him for good and tried to get enough of a gap that he wouldn't come back. It was then off to see if I could catch Jean. I was slowly pulling her back and knew that I should be able to get her on the final climb but that I'd have to catch and drop or else I'd risk towing her in and we'd have to duke it out in the finish sprint (did I mention Jean is damn strong and I'm pretty sure all she does is ride and workout in the gym- sign me up for that deal!) Effort #4 hurt the most as it was a good 400 meter all out uphill sprint, but it worked and I rode the remainder of the lap easily and came in 2nd in my catagory. We then hung out for the good wraps from Grind'n'Gears and the awards. In the raffle I won $25 to Shannon Door and a new pair of shades- it was worth the quart of blood I lost to the mosquitos (remember to not only look to see if you have bug dope- but check to see if there's anything left in the bottle!) NK won some goods as well, and once our numbers had been drawn we bailed to the safety of the car.

Next up will be the first race of the GGTOC series on July 6th. The season is here, and Jay is just over a month away- yahoo.


DEA

Course question

So we asked Dan the race director a few questions about the new course, this is what he had to say and he asked we share so here you go:

"Yup, your little adventure is now turning you in a famous group. Well, let me try to answer as much as I can.

Fell Free to post my answer on your blog.

Contrarily to common belief, I am normal and a good guy.Well.. kind of.

Northern Vermont is Very Rugged and requires knobby tire. If you try to go semi slick you will bike the equivalent of over 100 miles: NOT a good idea.

All our course is on Private land and I therefore cannot afford posting the course on the Net in respect to the land owner. What I can tell you is that the last 24 miles are all New. The course has been measured on map only so far at 65 miles with approximately 12,500 feet of Climbing.

The last climb is 2000 feet on a loging road with no shade what so ever. If it's a hot day, you will cry for your mother,If it's a rainy day you will cry for your father. I am not joking. YOU WILL CRY.Litterally either way. You can quote me on that one.

I have been following your blog, You seem to be riding 6, 7 hour ride with 4 to 5,000 feet of gain. I think you are doing good. Just keep in mind that this is going to be an great adventure with lots of Mud, water climb and awsome scenery.

Once trained properly, a good sense of humour would be your best asset. Our race has gained a reputation to be a killer only because most do not like to believe the warning on the web site. You seems to have done your homework, congratulation. You will not regret all the hours that you have put on that saddle.

You will love the race and I promisse you that it will leave you with lifetime memories.

Keep up the good work, ride safe and keep in mind that no matter how hard you train,it will hurt.Just get use to the idea


Dan"


SO TWAF will try to stay hydrated so we ensure enough water in out system so that we still have tears to cry on the last climb!


DEA

TWAF on the rise

How did this thing get so out of control- in a good way. We've had coverage on about 20 endurance/adventure racing websites, we've got WCAX out of Burlington coming over to do a story, our local press is doing stories on us, RSN tv asks us to do trail condition call ins on our morning rides (thus far it hasn't worked- cell coverage in the back country can be spotty). Plus we know have some cool t-shirts and jerseys on the way- (you can buy your own TWAF t-shirt for $15 or two for $25)

So as all of this goes to our heads (Bell or Giro- are you reading- we can use 5 XXL helmets now)- I just hope we remember to train!

We'll give you a post on how the TV deal goes today, it should be fun.

On an equipment front my bike is undergoing a slow overhaul as I work on a piece (or try to- grrrrr) then put it back together so I can ride it the next day. This has been and I'd guess will be an ongoing process through the season. It's amazing how much you can beat up your bike on 6 to 7 hour off road rides. Any disk brake pad companies want to sponsor us? We are all running hayes and are blasting through pads!

So that's where the world stands at the moment. Now I've got to go grab some water and try to choke down these vitamins from Animal Pak- I hope WADA isn't doing any testing cuz anything called Animal Pak has gotta have something questionable in it!


ttfn

DEA

Nice chart

Looks like my donut consumption between the hours of 7:00-10:00 am.

Anywho, beat the rain/thunder/lightning home last night. Mike joined me and sat on my tail for the ride home. Good sprint, minus stopping for the two red lights we caught. Little afternoon delight with the fellas today, all the groupies are waiting outside to catch a glimpse of TWAF in lycra.

A1

Lunch time alone...

Well our date with the TV folks got postponed so I had my bike and was ready to ride so I decided to see if I could round up some folks for a little lunch time adventure. I tried at my office and had no takers, then I send an email over to the other TWAF fellas and get 2 no's and one yes, well maybe, make it a no. So about 1pm I head out and up 16 to Hurricane Mt Rd with the intention of riding to the top then hittin the Black Cap trail over to Redtail and down. About half way up I stopped and realized I had no phone with me. So as I continued my climb I decided it might not be wise to be doing the DH on Redtail without a riding buddy or at least a phone. I made it to the top, not in record time, but not that bad either. Stayed on the middle ring and it was steamy. My legs are still not 100% from last Saturday's ride. THey definately are short on snap. I hit the top and circled around and I came back down Hurricane. About 2/3 the way down I headed across a bridge into a clear cut and onto the lower singletrack. I hit the bridge and cleaned the rock garden and hill side. Much better than Saturday when I was flailing like a fish on the dock. Trail was a little slick but in descent shape. All in all it was a good ride in the heat which I figure I need to get used to. I think I am going to need to adjust my fluid intake as I have been used to the cooler temps. So I got 1350 or so feet of climbing in about an hour and a little singletrack to boot. A good trainign ride but it woulda been nice to have some company. Maybe next time.

Ride on...

JJ

It was nice out

Woke up this morning to beautiful sunshine and a nice little breeze. After last nights storms I'll take it. So Nikki says you should ride to work. OK, being that I always listen to my wife off I went. 23 minutes into the office which included stopping traffic so Mama Duck and baby ducks could cross the street safely. And also included carrying the 30ish lb. backpack. So the ride home tonight is looking like an "electrifying" one. Clouds rolling in and thunder in the background. Maybe I'll get home in under 20 then, probably not.

Morning ride around Peaked anyone?

A1

cross-training

well, unfortunately Korea the Slim couldn't join the rest of the boys at the crack of dawn for the sidewall-busting jaunt saturday morning, because i had some prior arrangements - like playing four rugby matches in two days and beating the crap out of some good friends. there's nothing that brings people like controlled violence on the rugby field, i say, and we did a damned good job of it over the weekend.

but i was hot - so hot i saw guys in orange suits burst into flame! well, adrian cronaeur i'm not. two days in over-eighty degree temps running your ass off will make you quote old movies, however, so sue me.

i just wanted to concur with A1 that i can't go 30 minutes or more without thinking about jay, but i found my one source of peace from the madness of jay is playing rugby. violence is cathartic, apparently!

well, rugby's over until late summer. bring on the heavy training!

korea-sunburned-slim

Holy Hot Batman

So yup, great ride Saturday. Nothing like getting up at 4:15, heading out the door at 4:45 then riding for about 2+ hours and blowing the rear tire. No tube would've helped, it was blown out on the side wall. So long ride over...

Today, got out for about 4 hours. Of tent work that is. Then headed to the river with the kids this afternoon. Did a little kayaking and swimming against the current, doesn't count as a workout but since I had a few Coronas I'm calling it one. Anywho, early am ride planned for myself. Few hours before work. Funny how I caught myself realizing today that not 30 minutes goes by without thinking about the Jay. Is that good or bad?

A sun crisped A1.

Happy Father's Day

Ah a beautiful Sunday morning, I can relax in bed and rest sore knees before getting up and eating a good recovery breakfast. Oh wait, it's Father's Day which means my two girls will be up with first light to come in and wake up my wife and I with cards and lots of ear piercing shreiks of excitement. Ok maybe it wasn't quite like that but I wanted to stay in bed so any noise and attempt to wake me up was met with lukewarm appreciation. But they are my kids so we got up, and down to the training table we go. Emma wants to have pancakes (of course she does) so I say I'll mix up the batter and Elizabeth can cook them- out of whole wheat floor, ok well so much for any nutritional value. White flour it is, half way through mixing the batter Emma then descided donuts are a much better choice- so off she and Karen go to Levitts for donuts while Elizabeth and I continue on with our white flour cakes of death. Needless to say I've eaten a good deal of white flour and sugar this morning and not much else- yeah my legs will feel great this afternoon! I wonder what Lance did on Father's Day mornings for breakfast?

Hope to get out for a spin this afternoon on the road bike, nice and easy. Hopefully I can get A1 and JJ to join me.

Later- DEA

A dry ride?? How could that be...

Well we got lucky, we finally got to ride and see the sun. I have been getting used to riding 6+ hours in driving rain so I was not sure how I would react to warmer/dryer temps. So we all met up at 5AM and had a good ride and did some exploring around Crt Conway and Conway Lake areas. We headed over to Redstone and I wasn't able to remeber how to get to the top of Redstone Ledge so after a riding around there a bit A1 needed to make a pit stop for some lube as he was getting bad chain suck. He didn't have a lot of luck but they did have some 3 in 1 oil and he proceeded to squirt it everywhere. I think the EPA was there this afternoon doing the cleanup. Well from Redstone we headed to the powerlines and up and across Peaked Mtn. at the bottom A1 blew up literally, well his tire did. Turned out none of us rocket scientists had a spare tube with us so he was walkin. DEA and I continued our trek over to Cranmore and the Access Road to the top. That climb was different as we usually do it first. I was definately feeling it after riding for 2+ hours before hitting it. We made it to the top a little off our usual pace but as we headed across the connector trial to Redtail I was feeling very poor. Maybe I was bonking or just had not eaten enough. I started eating some and once I made it to Redtail we began our descent. The trail was in nice shape considering the rain we'd had on the top 3/4 of the trail but the bottom section has seen better days. The trip down gave my legs a chance to recover but my hands and arms were screaming by the time we were done. We heard from A1 that he was not going to meet up so we headed over to Whitaker Woods and then to refuel in N. Conway. After snapping into a couple slim jims, a red bull, some gatorade, a power bar, some peanut-butter crackers and some H2O I was feeling a lot better. We made our way to Echo Lake and then worked our way over to Cedar Creek for some fast single track. After a spin there we started climbing the forst road to the Mineral Site and that was a pretty good climb considering we had been riding for quite a while. We then took the Mineral Site trail across to the High School trail. SOme more climbing and a fun downhill. At the bottom we dd another loop around the single track before we stared back to N. Conway and our trip home. We did sticks & stones at a not so fast pace missing all the stunts and elements. Odd way to ride it as I'm usually trying to ride over something to hurt myself. Once back on the power lines we cruised back to 302 and the hammered back home. THe number on th day from the GPS are: about 7 hours on the bike, 48.86 miles, 5,174 feet of climbing, averaging 8.3mph. So we had a productive training ride, the weather was perfect, the views from Redtail were supreme, someday I'll remember a camera, and we learned a little more about our crew.




JJ

A long one

The morning started out with A1, JJ and I meeting up at 5am for a spin. We had a bit of fun getting lost out near Conway Lake, eventually ending up on Stark Road. From there we hit 302 and jumped on the Rec path and came out by the new school. We then hit the trails that wind around in Redstone for a bit before heading down the power line to climb the Peaked loop. On the descent we heard a loud sharp bang, JJ thought someone was shooting at us, I thought JJ had flatted, the only one who knew what had happend was A1 as he had a flat rear tire. It was more then just a pinched tube, he had a blown sidewall, his ride came to a close.

JJ and I continued on with the idea being we'd ride the access road and connector to Red Tail and the hook back up with A1 after he got all squared away. But it wasn't to be and we got a call from A1 letting us know his bike was out of commission for the day. JJ and I ripped around in Whitaker for a bit before hitting the big apple for a reload. After about four trips into the store (that last one for a staple to fix my glasses) we headed out for Echo Lake where we rode those trails as a way to get over to Cedar Creek. JJ lead the charge and we climbed for quite awhile before dropping down a long switch back filled rip of a trail that I don't think I'd ever ridden before. At the bottem JJ and I had a discussion about the remaining portion of the ride- we did another loop in CC, bumping into the Red Jersey group (looked like they had great turnout!), we then hustled back into town to ride Sticks and Stones and the powerlines back to Redstone. From there it was a road ride in the big ring until we got back to Center Conway. There the pace became a bit more humane and we did the trek up Davis Hill. There waved Dennis goodbye and cruised home.

All told- 50ish miles and 7 hours of saddle time. Two big Gatorades, 3/4 of a gallon of water, 1 red bull, three cliff bars, two powerbars, and a bag of salted peanuts. Good times. Can't wait to see the garmin report from JJ!

DEA

So we ride...

Looks like the long ride for the weekend is on dirt leaving promptly at 5, AM that is. We'll be rolling out from Center Conway near the town beach and then begin to work our way towards North Conway for some more climbing perhaps and a refueling. Then we plan to head over to Cedar Creek and the Mineral Site trail area. Plan is for a nice long ride, maybe til 11:30 or so, get in 40+ miles and some good climbing. Any care to join us, get to bed early.

JJ

time

do any of you people work?!

a challenge!

you wound my credibility, sir.

nK

NK off the Deep End

NK's post script about WCAX needs both an explanation and abuse. First the explanation, a sportscaster from WCAX contacted us to do a story about TWAF. WCAX is the Burlington VT, CBS affiliate. Since NK and I both spent a number of years in Burlington we are familiar with the station, however I have to challenge NK's statement about "I turned to WCAX news each and every night for my news. It was comfort food for my current-events-starved brain", cuz I've heard stories about NK's days at SMC and I find the image of him sitting with baited breath watching the evening news to be a bit fanciful and nauseating. This isn't a rip on WCAX, instead it rip on NK and his questionable ethics when it comes to portraying the past.

With that being said TWAF looks forward to a bit of media coverage, we hope to represent the slackers and weekend warriors everywhere. Fifteen minutes here we come!


DEA

backing the doctor

since saccharine, sappy sweet posts aren't my trademark - and since the dr. so eloquently spilled his sentimental guts all over the blog, i'm going to have to give DEA his props here.

he's right - whether we admit it or not, since we've began training, i've at least noticed a change in not only my body, but my mind. there's been some steeling, there's been - dare i dream - some discipline gained? let's not get crazy, but i can say that fear of not only failure but of razzing by one's teammates is a tremendous motivator. stuff's better than smack!

this event has changed my outlook on things - i've never had a singular goal like this before, and i've never had people who share that goal with me - and i've never enjoyed my time on a bike more. things are all going to look a whole lot different on july 31st... and i'm not sure i'm willing to give up the way the world looks right now, because i've got a pretty good view from here.

so, to the dr. you big sissy, i salute you.

n-to the-K

p.s.
WCAX in Burlington, VT is a fine source of unbiased, hard-hitting, insightful news. I salute their brand of journalism and wish that all media outlets would strive to reach their level - for the four years that I spent as an undergraduate at St. Michael's College I turned to WCAX news each and every night for my news. It was comfort food for my current-events-starved brain.

I'm getting all misty

Dr Evil is getting awful sappy on us this morning. Maybe he's hormonal or something. Either way he needs to work on his math a little. I hope he was just looking ahead when he said there was only 38 days to go. I count 45, but I ani't no math major either.


Ride on...
JJ

Good point

I just read JJ's post and he made a good point, that tomorrows are becoming rare. That's an interesting way to look at the fact that the Jay Challenge is coming right up, in fact July 30th is only 38 days away. Wow, that's not very many days my friends.

I feel in many ways this event has become all consuming, but in a good way. What started as a conversation about "this sick race up in Vermont" turned to a conversation about registration being open, and before we knew it we were all signed up and calling ourselves Team Weak and Feeble.

But now we're marching towards the real thing. Each mile pedaled, each foot of vertical climbed is being done to reach a goal, and a lofty one at that. I'm curious how the other competitors look at the event. I wonder if they are as intimidated as we are by the amount of climbing as well as the distance. I wonder if any have read the story about us and think we don't stand a chance at finishing, or do they think that we've busted our asses and have a great shot at finishing. I just don't know. I do know that I'm in the best shape I've been in for a real long time. In fact I'm looking forward to continuing in building upon this base. I know I've had a chance to log many hours in the saddle with what started as good friends and now I consider great friends. I know that I've gotten very used to seeing the world at 4am, and it no longer feels strange to be out on my bike at 5am knowing that I won't be back until sometime between 11 and noon. I've got more usernames and passwords at various online bike shops, nutrition stores, blogs, and who knows what else. I've had more conversations with our local LBS's about tire choice, trails, and how crazy this whole thing is (along the way talking Ron from Bob and Terry's into doing the race as well- he'll finish a couple of hours ahead of us!)

Is it to early to say this is a life changing experience? I don't know. I do know that all the people who have said that we are crazy and that they never could do something like this are very wrong. They can. The five of us are just regular guys, we have families, full time jobs, second jobs, maybe even a third job, we drink beer, we aren't afraid of donuts on Sunday's or McD's on a road trip. What we do have is a collective drive that has pushed all of us to rider faster and farther then we thought we could.

Team Weak and Feeble isn't just about us- it's about all of you who dare to dream.


DEA

Morning interrupted....

So I decided to ride home yesterday from work and headed down the powerlines to find mud. Lots and lots of mud. It was fun but I got sorta dirty. I think I left some sediment in the tub after the shower. It rained all night pretty hard so I decided my ride to work in the morning was going to be on the road. I headed out trying to go fast, well fast for me anyhow and about 5 miles into the trek I'm rolling along at about 20 and all the sudden I'm ona jelly real wheel. I look down and I have flatted. Doesn't it figure that I didn't bring a pump. SO here I am, half way to work and half way from home and a flat rear tire an no way to inflate. I grabbed my phone and called my support crew (wife and 2 kids in a minivan) and I was rescued. Well so much for my morning commute. Time to head to the Red Jersy to buy a couple of tubes, some lube and a bucket of chamois butter. I never did get in the mileage I was hoping today. I guess there is always tomorrow. Unfortunately there are not as many tomorrows as there was yestserday. In fact they becoming more rare by the day.


Ride on...
JJ

Press

From L 2 R- Abe Wrobleski, Nick Lebel, Sven Cole, Dennis Morgan, (Josh Mac is missing from the photo)

Jay Challenge Becomes a Mission

New Hampshire’s Team Weak & Feeble Prepares for Months

Jay, Vermont – It began as a challenge among friends, to prepare for and race in the Jay Challenge 2006. And since January, the self-named “Team Weak and Feeble” has spent thousands of hours getting ready. What began as a challenge: “First one who complains buys beer for the team after the race” has become much more serious.
Team Weak and Feeble has documented their preparation on the Internet. The daily diary with postings by the team members shows the intensity of their mission, and the ups and downs they have faced in getting ready.
Their autobiography speaks to the stereotype of extreme sports enthusiasts: “We are a group of morons who hang together, ride together, ski together, and share tips on marriage and being parents - well except for Nick on the marriage and parenting and Josh on just the parenting. We live in the White Mountains (except for Josh). Abe Wrobleski, Nick Lebel, and Sven Cole work in the advertising world in North Conway, Dennis Morgan is a lawyer, and Josh Mac owns a steel yard in Rutland, Vt.”
The blog (jaychallenge.blogspot.com) is entertaining and revealing. Team member, Nick Lebel writes, “Honestly and truly, I like nothing about what we're setting us up for. I see this becoming one big Lord of the Flies situation, where someone's chain tool becomes the conch that we all vie for in order to communicate, we all revert back to primal instincts, and instead of the first person who whines having to buy beer, we simply devour them and continue on our way...”
During January and February, the team reported its initial steps, and mis-steps at training for the Jay Challenge. Between watching the Olympics, skiing in the White Mountains, and chiding each other, training was not always serious. On February 22nd, team-member Sven Cole reported his daily training log: “Woke up and slammed my elbow in the doorway as I stumbled out of the bedroom, spilled hot coffee on my lap, slipped on a pair of shoes at the top of the basement stairs and I'm quite sure I broke my big toe (or at least it feels that way!)- but I did ride into work so I can feel like I've done something.”
In March the tone started to shift. With warmer weather, training became easier, but the calendar is closing in on Team Weak and Feeble. Sven wrote: “With only 120 days until Jay, I wouldn't call it serious. Maybe, or maybe it's reality or insanity. I really would like to make it through Jay and not just finish.”
Nick reacted: “Do more than just finish?!! You're nuts. NUTS. loco. however, the big problem with me is, I'm competitive. so if you want to all the sudden up the ante and ‘do more than finish’, I'm game. which means I'm going to have to get SERIOUSLY serious.”
April and May took on a whole different level of preparation for the team. The ribbing between members was replaced with lengthy reports on rides and debates about whether 15-18 hours of weekly training was enough. By the end of May, with the time to race drawing ever closer, Nick wrote: “The closer we get to Jay, the farther 70 miles and the higher 12,000 feet seems. I'm bound and determined to make it through, and really have no doubts that it's going to be the hospital or a dirt nap for me, but this is going to be the most difficult thing most of us have ever done.”
As the race draws closer, the mission is clearer. It is more than a physical challenge. It is mental. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of this course,” reported Sven on June 2nd. “I am scared, or very respectful or both. The good news is that knowing I'm scared makes it easier to get up at 4 am tomorrow morning to drag my sorry self around on my road bike for 100 miles - likely in the rain.”
Sven reflects on the experience. “I've got to say it's been a long time since I've had ‘teammates’ like this, where we really were out there pushing each other. Good things happened then, I think it will again. If nothing else we'll learn a great deal about ourselves at the Jay Challenge.”
On July 30, Team Weak and Feeble will prove to themselves, their families and their fans what they have been able to accomplish. They have no illusions about winning the grueling mountain bike event. But they have leaned upon each other, goaded each other, and built on their inner personalities to prepare themselves for a memorable event. And if no one whines, then perhaps it will be the appreciative fans who will step up and buy the first round.
In all, over 1000 racers will participate in the 2006 Jay Challenge (July 28-30, 2006) consisting of a 26-mile open craft water race from Magog, Quebec to Newport, Vermont, a 30-mile bush-wack marathon on wooded trails and streams, and a 70-mile mountain bike race that starts with a climb to the top of Jay Peak.

Contact: Gerry Hunt gerry.hunt@verizon.net

Reservations are made

So I finally received the confirmation for our rooms for Jay, I'll get the address out there as to where we're staying so all our adoring fans can send beer and cheese curls to us.

Had the kids off to school duty this morning (Nikki had to go to work early, someone has to make money to pay for a new bike) so I missed DEA and NK's ride. Was able to get out last night for an hour and a half or so. Did some laps on the Pine Tree loop, moved some trees that were down and most importantly tried out the new ride which I may just be sporting in Jay. Thanks to the lovely Misses for suggesting I need a new ride for the race, I wonder what she's setting me up for?

Sounds like a few painful long rides are taking shape for the next few weeks. So if anyone reads the press release and checks us out here and plans on buying us beer, I like PBR. My wife likes Blue Moon she deserves one for the support and hall passes too.

One and a half months away, I think I'm going to be sick.

A1.

Ramblings

NK and I had a good ride this morning before work, up the Cranmore access road and down Red Tail. We stopped at one of the clearings and NK said, "yeah, time to move to the city." We both laughed and rode on, I was thinking about how beautiful it was and how lucky we are to be able to do things like this before work.

To back up a bit, last night I tore the blur apart to do some spring cleaning, in the process I tweaked the BB, found a bad bushing in the rear shock mount, a spent middle chainring, junked cartrige bearings in the front wheel and an odd tightness in the rear freewheel. Normal wear and tear but now that I'm not tied in with a shop I'll looking at FFR on parts- ouch. Oh well, maybe it's time to get a PT job working in a shop! Then after the ride while my bike was sitting in the office the sidewall on my rear tire let go and sent people diving for cover- now that was pretty funny.

A1 has a theory that my bike is pissed that I've been lookng at the Cannondale Rush- he may be on to something. However, I'm not the only TWAF member to have a flat today, JJ got a flat on his road bike this morning- it happens. Speaking of bikes anyone out there looking to hook up TWAF with new rides? It's worth a shot!

TWAF is getting a touch of media play right now as Gerry Hunt, the media coordinator for the Jay Challenge did a release about our band of merry men. It's kinda cool to think people might read about us and maybe get fired up to go do the event or at least get out and ride. That's all we do, we get out and ride- a lot. I hope nobody has the impression that we are "athletes"- far from it. We're going to get smoked by 95% of the riders at Jay, but we're fired up to go and participate and have fun and hang with the other 5% that are like us.

That's all I've got this morning- sorry no photos of myself this morning ;)

Get out and ride.


Dr. Evil

Racin' Pics

So the shot of JJ under the Dakine tent (thanks Mike) at the GGTOC Summer Series got me thinking about the summer racing that is coming up. The GGTOC summer series starts on July 6th and runs Thursdays- go check it out

GGTOC

Then the Red Jersey/Importech Summer Series gets started next week on Thursday (June 22)- first venue is Bear Notch- go check it out

Red Jesey

Wanna go uphill? Newtons Revenge on July 8th- climb 4000+ feet in under 8 miles- ouch! Go to Bike Reg and search Newtons-

Bike Reg

Wanna do a stage race? In November the 2nd Annual Porky Gulch Classic is taking place- I've posted a couple race shots- one from the cross race and the other from the Story Land Crit- soooo much fun!

Porky Gulch Classic

So there you go- a bunch of racing to enjoy! Hey there may even be slots left in the Jay Challenge!

over and out


Dr. Evil

More pics

 
At least this is sort of a bike racing pic. 

photos

Skid Mark wants more photos. So a photo of Skid Mark.

Powder Jew Melts Down

can you beliveve it?! he's finally figured it out. i've now offically blogged. somebody get me a cigarette! i'm spent! sooooo..... for those of you who don't really know me that well let me start by saying that since a very young age i found myself trying to impress not just my friends but also myself. that could include feats of athleticism as well as feats of shear stupidity. looking back it appears that rarely have i backed down from much. (short of eating entire blotters of primium acid followed by heavy drinking during a rather long college career!) so here i am a little bit older maybe a little less stupid possibly a little more wise but still looking to impress. after an very very long heart to heart with my brain and my body i have made the difficult decison to back out of the jay race. suddenly i feel like kenny in south park about to be ridiculed from every angle. i can almost feel the razzing travelling through the computer from you guys to me. the harsh but true reality is that i have a super hard physical job which includes long periods of time spent with not just my father but my very jewish mother so not only do i get to beat the shit out of myself for 12 hours a day but my mom gets to help! over the years my back has just gotten worse and after the physical therapists, doctors, chiropractors, etc. im no better. my back just wont take that much time in the saddle. all that coupled with some really shit weather and i have the perfect recipe for failure. im just not physically able to do what i want which mostly is not just finnishing but finnishing with some style. not dragging myself across the line by my lips! like i said before maybe a few years of growth and maturity have given me some inner knowledge. its time to let go of my pride and ego a litte and accept some reality. i cant really party or ski or ride like i used to but i can still go out and have a really good fuckin time with my friends. even if they are faster! i feel like a real shit for letting you guys down like this and i really cant belive what an effort you all have shown in terms of trainning for the race. my shoulders are broad so let the insults fly! i am ready mo fo's! good luck to all of you. you are better men than i
the weakest and most feeblest powder jew

one thing real quick

after reading the previous post made by the honorable Judge, something hit me. we'd finished my leg of the ride (which at that point was a limp for me).

when the good doctor and JJ decided to keep riding (not just riding, but CLIMBING), i had two serious issues. ISSUE NUMBER ONE: there's no way i could keep climbing and keep any kind of pace with them (unless it was a push-the-bike contest, in that case i'd win, hands down). ISSUE NUMBER TWO: the shocking realization that i'm completely out of my league when it comes to the impetus of this entire blog and experience - the aforementioned (ad nauseam)Jay Challenge. would that i could keep up with them - it would help me sleep better at night.

it'll be great to see them show up at our Jay crash pad once they've successfully completed the challenge and i've had four hours or so to make burgers for them after i've had time to recover from bowing out early.

the Jay Challenge: It's Failure-iffic!!
korea not-so-slim

Saturday's Ride

Well NK, DEA & I got in a pretty descent Mt ride. Climbed Cranmore via the access road and went over the connector trail and down the Hurricane. We then dropped over the back side of Hurricane for a fun and fast ride down. I love disk brakes. We rode the road for a bit til we found part of the snowmobile network. My drivetrain was clean til then. We encountered a little bit o mud to say the least. Looking forward to testing out the trail bootey I found, how could someone leave "The Best of Snoop Dog" laying on the trail?

Well we didn't make it all the way back to Redstone via the snowmobile netowrk but eventually found our way and took the power lines over to Sticks n Stones where NK headed home for some needed rest & recovery. DEA and I headed up Peaked a ways and ended up coming down near Artist Falls and eventually by the access road. We wanted to get in some more mileage so we went over to Whitaker Woods and cruised around there til we were done. Overall we got in about 6 hours on the bike, 36+ miles of riding, and 4,368 feet of climbing.

My knees are a little sore but the legs still had a little bit of life left. Hopefully we are on track for Jay. I would like to try a long ride on a day where it didn't rain the entire 6+ hours. Guess that's just fantasy though. Well fellas, where we going next weekend?

JJ

version Three

i dig the second one...

however, i'm crushed that my gorgeous visage was immortilized in such a way.

...although, in real life i'm still that hairy.

nK

Jersey Designs

Ok folks, the day is coming near where Team Weak and Feeble needs to make a call on our jersey design. A world renowed designer who goes my the nickname "Skid Mark" came up with the design, and is now an honorary member of Team Weak and Feeble.

Let me know what you think!


Dr. Evil

Race day- hope for rain or sun?

I haven't been keeping a training journal this year, I wish that I had cuz I'm curious about how many rides have been in the rain. It's gotten to the point that I just assume that I'm going to be riding in the rain and when it's in the dry I get very confussed. Here is my question- do I hope for rain or sun during the Jay Race? I just don't know, of course it doesn't matter what I hope for, mother nature is going to do her own thing- but with just a few weeks left till the race this is one of the issues I'm wrestling with.

Rain will make the course slick, my clothes will weigh a ton, my shoes will feel squishy, my drivetrain will make noises that keep companies like SRAM and Shimano in business, and I'll constantly have visibility issues. However I know that I can best regulate my body temp in the wet. If it's sunny it'll be hot, have to deal with sun burn, heat stroke, dehydration, and energy sap- the trail will be in much better condition and the sun in general keeps me in a better mood. So what to do? I guess I'm hoping for a mostly cloudy day, temps in the lower 70's, low humidity, and only a light breeze. Can anyone out there order that up for July 30th?

Ok time for coffee, as I'm not sure anything I just wrote made any sense!


good morning-

Dr. Evil

i'm back! (and i'm soggy)

i've been a real slacker on the pedaling front lately. still been active, still been running and playing rugby like a fiend, but very lazy when it comes to getting in the saddle.

however that all changed sunday when i went on a solo tour of red tail, down to cranmore. could've done more, certainly had the legs, but it just wasn't that much fun of a day alone... but that was my own fault.

anyway, started the ride from home, down to sid's for some power bars, and then over the power lines (see how that ties together?!) and then up hurricane mountain road to the trailhead. by the water tower i passed by a gentlemen who'd been hiking with his dogs, and as he emerged from the woods, i passed his two dogs and said, 'how's it looking?' he said, 'good! considering...'

the 'considering' part was since we'd been deluged and soaked to the bone saturday, sunday brought forth running water down the trail, wet, slick rock and some slight washout action. not a big deal. what WAS a big deal was the fact that the super-technical sections that always existed became flat-out not rideable, and other sections that were typically tricky became serious challenges.

it was one hell of a ride in that respect. that, and i FOUGHT with my derailleur the entire time, although i managed to not chuck anything (least of all the iron horse). not that it was all bad, though! since i was having 'issues' with my derailleur, i rode 90% of the trail in the middle ring, since granny gear just wasn't working. it was an advantageous equipment issue, but it's going to have to be fixed by jay. and by fixed i mean replaced. and by replaced i mean not by me, because i'd break it.

from trailhead to the top took just over an hour, and i was really happy with that - all alone, with only my own meager motivation to keep me going, and it felt good! the cruise over to cranmore was a bit sloppy, with the trees being so weighed down with rainwater the branches leaned deep into the trail, and basically bitch-slapped you as you passed by. oh well, it cleaned me off.

then, once i hit cranmore, it was a break-busting downhill (you could hear the brakes steaming - i love disc brakes!) back to the parking lot, and although i seriously considered turning right back around and doing it again, i went home and watched mythbusters instead.

here's to being in over our heads!!

north Korea

I need a towel

So training comes before smarts. DEA and I did 100 in the rain. He set it out pretty good in his retelling of the ride. I have to say the idea of bagging it was running through my head most of the way to his folks house. I was wondering what would be a good excuse that didn't sound like me just wimping out. Unfortunately I never came up with one and before I knew it we were in Bethel. By then it didn't matter as it was half way. Evans' was a good climb, neither one of us wanting to let the other get the better of us. Fortunately with only a little left in the climb we wised up. After a controlled descent it was time to watch the miles tick off and hope we could get the 100 without adding too much. Well it worked out perfectly and I am quite happy to say I have my first century in the books.



JJ

Wet Century

JJ and I met at 5am on Saturday for a 6.5 hr tour in the rain. At 4:58am it wasn't raining, at 5am it was- oh well. I've got to be honest, I wasn't sure that we would actually go the distance as early mornings, no coffee, rain, and cool temps, don't actually come across as a high point on my wanna ride radar. I was hoping JJ would start the whining and wanna bag the ride, but no he was fired up to ride his first century- so off we went.

We rode out through Fryeburg and then to Lovell and then to North Bridgton where we stopped in at my folks house for our first reload on water and food. Mom was surprised to see us at 6:30am soaking wet, but then again maybe she wasn't surprised. Then it was off towards Bethel. Taking advantage of each others draft was tough as there was a lot of water on the road, so often we were riding either side by side or had about a ten foot gap between us, this didn't help our recovery but it did keep us from drowning. We eventutually got to Bethel where the woman at the Mobil station said that she hoped we didn't have far to go, when I said that we had to ride back to North Conway she looked at us like we were nuts, when I told her we started in North Conway (or close enough- I think Center Conway would have thrown her off!)I think she just plain stopped believing me. The trip on Rt. 2 back to Evans was a touch dicy, not much road, poor visibility and big trucks- not may favorite combination. Once we were on Evans I think we both felt better and the pace got ridiculus, with the first 3/4 of the climb done at about 18mph. We just flew up the Notch, I'm not sure why but we did and I have to say it was fun. The trip down wasn't as fun. It was cold and the road was dodgy so we took it pretty easy.

From there home things were pretty mellow. I started feeling my mental approach to the ride break down once we hit 90 miles, I just wanted to be done- but we had to add a bit of a loop to hit our 100 so we headed down East Conway road and then came back up 302 riding right past my driveway, then it was up Davis Hill here Dennis finally shouted out the magic number (which I didn't hit until I rode back to my house). I think both of us felt pretty good considering it was a sub 6 hour ride time, 6.5 hr total time, and all done in the pooring rain.

I felt good the rest of the day, much spent on a stool installing ceiling fans- fun.

It's sunday morning now, just got done at RSN and now thinking about a ride- anybody up for a ride?


Dr. Evil

If he looks bad...

Sad truth is, if Dr. Evil looks that bad after 2000 feet of climbing, think of how bad A1 and I looked. Good thing there were no cameras around to capture that. I'm sure we'll have smiles on our faces the whole time at Jay.

JJ

If I look this bad

after only 2000 feet of climbing what the hell am I going to look like after 12,000 feet of climbing?


Dr. Evil

Course details

I'm looking forward to meeting this Dan character. He obviously has a sick sense of humor, which I like. So when the race director tells you you're going to want to quit after only a short portion of the course you have to admit the glove has been thrown down and now you want to prove the bastard wrong!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared of this course. I am scared, or very respectful or both. The good news is that knowing I'm scared makes it easier to get up at 4am tomorrow morning to drag my sorry self around on my road bike for 100 miles- likely in the rain. JJ's going with me so we'll have plenty of time to chat about the race, cycling, and why we love this sport so much.

I've got to say it's been a long time since I've had "teammates" like this, where we really were out there pushing each other. Good things happend then, I think it will again. If nothing else we'll learn a great deal about ourselves at the Jay Challenge and be in good shape to put in a good showing at the 24 Hours of Great Glen. So who's up for a trip to North Carolina in Sept? I'll led A1 fill you all in.

Dr. Evil

Good test

So this morning I got up 4:45 and headed out to get some tent things. Finished up a little after six, headed to the office geared up and was on the trail by 6:30. Decided to test the stamina and legs. Starting from the sign on the north end of Sticks and Stones, headed up Peaked Mtn. over the traverse and then down to the beaver dam over sticks and stones to the sign. First lap, 27 minutes. Repeated, second lap, 26 minutes. Still had plenty of time before heading to the office, third lap, 23 minutes. It's certainly doable in 20 minutes. I wasn't hammering the entire ride. On my third lap I cleaned the loop which made a difference and made it from sign to river crossing at the top of the climb in 7:01, fastest climb of the three laps.

It was a good test, now I have a gauge of legs and stamina for a sustained 1:16 of close to race pace. Felt good...didn't even come close to distance and climbing of Jay. Ouch.

A1

MTB course final touches

The course is on paper 5 miles longer than last year with much more interesting features.

Post from Dan, course designer:

I have eliminated the two way traffic on the Single track section in Montgomery

Their is a completely new 21 miles on the course ;Yes 21, this is 1/3 of the course completely re design.

I have also added a swearing section. This is the only word that I could come up for this type of section. You will be on it at mile 16, it will last about 1 hour and it will give you good sense of adventure.

The race is only starting and you will already wanted to quit.

See you next July and please no baby bitching how hard the race is.
_________________
Dan
The Jay Challenge, Race Director