Thursday, October 23, 2008

Training Camp - Last Year part 2

When we all woke up the next morning it was like a mini Christmas, new gear and a huge breakfast and soon the 12 or so of us were out the door sporting the new all white Harley kits. Cool, I have been off for all of these years and I am right back onto a real team again,

If you haven't been to Jay's Lost River Barn, it is on top of a hill with a really long climb on one side and a really steep climb on the other. I had not been in the hills since 1999 or 2000 or something, so on the first decent I was hella sketchy. I'm pretty sure I was more scared than my teammates who were passing my on the right and left every safe chance they got. When we got to flat land I was relieved. I have no problems descending now, just a little rusty at first and it is fun again.

We rode in twos for miles and dared not break from the very close-well organized formation or risk having Russ choke some one out for making the team look sloppy. With my sketchy decent behind me, everything was dandy as we rode along in formation with every one talking giving me a chance to introduce myself. Good times and then....

.....what goes down must go up. First we hit the gravel - which was no problem. I should have known bad things were in the brew when it got quiet and the pace picked up. We rounded a bend and wolla! a gravel climb. Who makes the first climb at a training camp a gravel one! At least it was pretty. About 20 feet into the climb I think I was maxed out. I watched EVERYONE disapear into the distance. My 187 lbs body (During the season I was mid 140s) lumbered up the climb followed by the sound of van tires. Tom and a mechanic were following us.

After I crested and begain the descent I passed three or four guys fixing a flat on the side of the road. They had everything and Tom was behind so I bombed the gravel desent knowing now it won't look like I was the last guy over. Most of the rest of the day was rollers and we rode through it pretty steady.

When we were getting closer to the cabin some of us were driving it single file, including Russ. I should have known something was up when Russ stopped pulling. I remember hearing him yell "go left here, the cabins at the top" or something like that. This is the climb everyone says to have a 27, or at least a 25 for. It is steep and long. After everone disapeared again, I think the only part of my body that got a work out was my arm - holding onto the van.

That was Day 1 ridding with the team, I can't believe they didn't kick me off!

8 comments:

  1. 187 pounds, wtf you were a fatty. I wish I could have weighed 187 at least one point this year.

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  2. Dude pace yourself with all this blogging, you don't want to get burned out!! (Just Kidding) True to Russ's form he gave you the "look" and then told you the wrong house to eff with ya, you survived Russ ;) It took me waaaaaay longer to get his style, worth it though, he is good peeps!

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  3. Kyle, Maybe 187 lbs is not that much, but to drop to 145 lbs is huge! Then, honestly, I was sucking - just plain out of shape.

    KML, yeah, you are right I am, and probably will, blog too much. I am like that with things. I really only have season left here in MABRA for sure, then who knows what the Army will do with me, so I plan on blogging a lot in this short amount of time. My mom also reads my blog, and you gotta keep mom up to date - and they never get tired of your stories. Right mom?...Hello, right?

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  4. Chuck you are an animal no doubt. I wish I could have gained the speed you have when I dropped 40 pounds. I must have only gained a couple mph. You probably added 10 mph. The one thing I am amazed with you is your rate of recovery.

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  5. I remember Lost River. That climb you were talking about...where you turn left to get back...is that the one with all the switchbacks?

    I have a (not-so) fond memory of Evan STORMING past me after I had a few-minute head start on him...he rode up it like a motorcycle.

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  6. Haha.. funny stories.
    187 down to 145.
    I don't know how you were able to do that. I only can gain about 10 pounds or so in the off season. However, I don't think I'll ever get to 145. I get to about 147 at the minimum weight then it fluctuates from day to day a few pounds up. I got on the scale today and I'm about 155 today. Must be all of that beer I had last night and sausages.

    You were looking pretty skinny like the "chicken" during the end of the season.

    Keep the stories coming!

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  7. Pete, I am sure we are talking about the same climb...OUCH! I can't wait to do it again with a year and a half of cycling in my legs.

    Mr. Fang, it is easy to get that heavy (FAT) if immediatly after getting a cast off of your broken leg, you break your arm followed by three months of prednisone for some weird sickness... I am sure you get my point, I was pretty unhealthy for a second.

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  8. That's the "backside" climb at Jays....that thing opened up dark parts of my soul that I'm not ready to return to..

    Kicked my @ss.

    Keep the posts coming...

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