tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70317770823518127212012-02-02T22:26:23.169-05:00Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.comBlogger1601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-4688638371023172822012-02-02T22:19:00.002-05:002012-02-02T22:26:23.181-05:00

So far this season has been great and the temps have been making base miles pretty comfy. The trainer is still a big part of the training but at least at this point it's only once a week. Hopefully it can stay that way, or at least until I can afford some rollers. Anyway, the riding has been going doing another century Saturday so that's a century in December and now January and maybe I can

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-40403068358748106752012-01-25T21:48:00.003-05:002012-01-26T07:05:23.207-05:00

So far so good. My initial goal was to be at 165lbs by the end of January. Well last week's average was 164 so that goal looks like it was surpassed and I'll keep working on February's goal. The goal for the end of Feb is 160lbs. Hopefully in a week or two I'll have that one on the horizon. Motivation is key and I'm already signed up for 3 big races in 2012 and that's helping. It also

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-20349995677423860662012-01-17T11:49:00.003-05:002012-01-17T12:01:00.652-05:00

With our lack of a winter, this year is going to be hard to not burnout it seems. Everyone has been riding a lot and I've been putting in some good time as well. I've been out in the good, the bad, and the stupid. That 4 hour ride Sunday (with single digit wind chill) definitely qualifies for the stupid category but it really wasn't that bad with proper layers. It's been exciting as my riding

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-3110107089899662902012-01-08T15:42:00.002-05:002012-01-08T15:57:13.551-05:00

The past two years have been pretty crazy and I'm ready for a nice progressive good year. With my PE in 2010 and my father passing in 2011 I'm looking ahead and keeping my fingers crossed for a year with promise. A year with great potential. A year with bigger goals. A year with more success, happiness, and miles. The off season has been nice as I've done a bunch of good riding either solo or

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-27879892338717718642011-12-11T22:28:00.003-05:002011-12-11T22:31:29.026-05:00

Time to make room for some new rides. Up for sale is my 2011 Trek Superfly Elite Carbon Hardtail and my 2009 Trek Madone 5.1 Carbon Road Bike. Both are in amazing condition and need new homes. Check them out via the links below(copy and paste):http://www.ebay.com/itm/130616245515?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1012wt_1084http://www.ebay.com/itm/130616245515?ssPageName=

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-46123098243486350052011-12-05T22:06:00.002-05:002011-12-05T22:13:36.126-05:00

Well as you might have thought/feared - my dad passed November 19th just after 10pm. It was the worst day of my life. I lost my best friend and the best father anyone could have ever had. It's been a struggle to do anything since really. There's not a day that goes by where I'm not thinking of him or talking to him for comfort or asking advice. He's always been there for me and always will.

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-45068119636075829162011-11-18T07:14:00.004-05:002011-11-18T17:27:32.674-05:00

So my world has been turned upside down with the recent decline of my father's health. He has been fighting lung cancer for a few months now and it's getting the better of him. While he's done really well and fighting pretty fiercely, it's taking its toll and he's losing the fight. With a few complications from the disease, he has been in really bad shape and we've almost lost him twice.

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-86848051617037020952011-10-31T09:56:00.002-04:002011-10-31T10:02:10.754-04:00

I don't know why I got out of bed for this one. I knew the conditions were going to be bad but I was not prepared for this. For the first thing it was my first foray into the UCI Elite mens cx field and they are rediculously fast. It's fun racing the 1/2/3's locally but this is a totally different animal all together. I took off fine with the group and fumbled a bit in the conditions. I knew I'd

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-91272296067706118762011-10-23T19:01:00.002-04:002011-10-23T19:04:11.652-04:00

Earlier in the week I was going to preregister for the race and I logged into Bikereg and found out that the race category I wanted to participate in disappeared. The race itself was still on but no Mens A 1/2/3 category. So I emailed the promoter and they said they cancelled the race as no one signed up. They had no idea that most of the A racers wait until the last minute to sign up. Anyway

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-9528071945596498522011-10-22T17:09:00.001-04:002011-10-22T19:07:43.676-04:00

The race went pretty well today. My goal was to not get lapped by the big guys and beat someone - not really I just wanted to beat everyone but a few of those guys weren't going to let that happen. I wasn't sure how it would go as it was the first cx race of the season. Especially since I was on my personally glued tubular tires that I tried for the first time this past weekend. If the tires

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-90890722806728835122011-10-10T21:43:00.004-04:002011-10-22T19:44:28.635-04:00

Ok so I said MTB season was over but almost. This race was a cross type race on the MTB bikes. 40 minutes of an all out effort with a field of ~36 racers. It was good since it would tell me how my engine was going to handle this type of intensity. I knew through the rest of the season my endurance was good but going this hard for this short of a time period usually takes some time to get

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-70329884294850760692011-10-10T21:37:00.002-04:002011-10-10T21:43:50.791-04:00

My race strategy was pretty simple. Try to not kill it off the line and ride consistently smooth through the rough stuff and see what time I could make up in there. I took off and sat comfortably in 5th of 11 through all of sitting bear and the white trail up to the lake. Just after the lake I was trying to manage killing all those nasty puddles and finding an line(if it existed)and I see John A

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-37319315557891209812011-09-22T13:49:00.002-04:002011-09-22T13:59:42.741-04:00

After preriding the Thursday before in the rain and slop I wasn't quite sure how good the conditions would be on race day. The days preceeding the race the weather was clear but cool. So I figured the course would be a bit slick but in much better shape than on my preride. I was pretty much right on with the conditions and my course inspection the day of confirmed this. I was ready to roll.

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-44376953825364033922011-09-13T20:53:00.002-04:002011-09-13T21:07:42.836-04:00

In the middle of the SM100 I wanted to give up my racing career and sell all my bikes and take up basket weaving. This still sounds kinda nice but I need to get serious and get my head back on straight. The season is just about half over race wise...seriously. I usually end up doing somewhere around the 20 mark and I'm a little over half way there. CX season is on the horizon(yea I know for

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-82511425658278938172011-09-08T00:46:00.003-04:002011-09-13T21:33:00.255-04:00

This past weekend I headed down to Harrisonburg VA and got ready for my 3rd attempt at the SM100 and I had high hopes of a new PR and a good day in the saddle. My prep was good it seemed and this time I shared a hotel with my teammate in hopes that would add to my prep and make this race even better. It was nice having a real bed and not deal with any camping woes. The bad side is that it put

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-14099228751884022922011-08-31T18:21:00.002-04:002011-08-31T18:32:53.018-04:00

It's officially the Wednesday before the race. 4 days till race day. This is a good sign. At this point I'm recovering from CO and the RC50 and the efforts I've done this past week have been solid and I'm really feeling hopeful for the race. On top of that I have both tires sealed up and fully tubeless and I should be able to actually have better control of my race prep than for two weeks ago

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-39691690989585682802011-08-23T20:38:00.003-04:002011-08-23T21:13:37.991-04:00

Well after a hectic weekend, nothing I had in my mind to setup for the RC 50 went the way I planned. I wanted a nice warmup on Saturday followed by the drive out to camp for an early bedtime. Then the next morning I'd wake up late after a good night's sleep and put on the number, warmup and roll. Yea.....not exactly. Life got in the way Saturday and I rolled home Saturday night with a lack

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-42789220507143396842011-08-01T17:32:00.001-04:002011-08-01T17:32:42.755-04:00

Well this was this years Heerschap throwdown as my brother flew out from Durango Colorado to have a rematch. He destroyed me in 2007 at the marathon nationals in Breckenridge, CO by 28 minutes and this year I was ready to return the favor and hopefully not by minutes but hours. This year it was my turn to race on my turf at the 101 and we agreed that there was no game plan to stick together -

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-15766771100130957292011-07-22T15:06:00.003-04:002011-07-22T15:16:51.177-04:00

With a larger than usual pro field the 18 of us lined up and were ready for a fast paced start. The whistle went off and I tucked myself nicely in the back and figured I'd would fight for positions later on and see how the field settled in. It was a VERY warm day and I know the heat would take it's toll. I was in probably 15th or so into the singletrack and just staying on the wheel in front

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-70967528345455482011-07-03T17:31:00.002-04:002011-07-03T17:53:35.135-04:00

VICTORY!!!Another one in the books. Rob P. from mtbnj and I cruised down to Quantico VA Friday to hit up the 12 hour race Saturday. Everything was set up well for a great race. Timing should have been perfect to get the camp, do a warmup and then let it fly Saturday. Nothing went as planned. Traffic was horrendous getting there, we got there too late, one of the tents had missing poles, and oh

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-86303820905268184052011-07-03T17:30:00.001-04:002011-07-03T17:32:52.700-04:00

My race went off well in the beginning. It was Gordo and myself at the front into the first turn and he didn't want to lead so I went. I felt I could ride it better with a clear view so why not. I would be able to moderate the pacing anyway. So through pumphouse I just rode it clean and got to Bruce by the first turn onto cherry ridge and there was only the eventual winner(Mike T.) and me. I

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-28246486643962552772011-07-03T17:29:00.001-04:002011-07-03T17:33:17.229-04:00

I didn't have any real high hopes of doing well this race. I had a tough Friday/Saturday as I've been coming down with a cold and lots of congestion. Didn't know how that would play out or if I'd be able to breathe at all. I did all I could to stay hydrated and just keep good thoughts and ignore my sickness. I felt ok but unsure. So with less than optimal sleep Lucky and I headed up to Stewart

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-39267549885000735222011-07-03T17:28:00.001-04:002011-07-03T17:33:35.430-04:00

It was a good race and a bad race all at once. The mechanical monster crept up and made it tough but I persevered! For the first lap I toned it down a bit and put the pedals down smoothly to try and not make my eyes bleed off of the line. I was sitting towards the back but feeling like lap 2 I could pick it up a bit and stay consistent through lap 3 and pick off some guys. It was all great in

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-54265682341030604762011-07-03T17:12:00.003-04:002011-07-03T17:35:51.615-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted here but that's for a great reason. Life has been good. It's gotten more complex than just training, racing, and working. Besides the normal daily routine, I picked up some side work tutoring, and have been enjoying every minute of spending time with my girl Antonella. She's been amazing and the past 6 months with her have been great and I forget how life

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-65780284658354761992011-05-03T21:42:00.006-04:002011-05-03T22:09:35.858-04:00

Alrighty, so it's been a few months and now I'm back getting into the race season once again. It's been an odd off season as there has been a lot of good training but I feel like I'm lacking some early season efforts to prepare me for the season. Usually by this time in the year I have a couple of good endurance races in that prepare me for the repeated hard efforts that XC brings. The early

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-31474839820159759142010-12-16T18:34:00.003-05:002010-12-16T18:48:31.396-05:00

So CX is officially over for almost two weeks and I'm already going through a bit of withdrawls. I guess my illness in early October kinda set me back a bit and I feel like I was racing better and better through the end of the season. Truth be told I wish I was racing until mid-January but 2011 is on the horizon. As it sits now I'm debating next year's schedule. So far I'm thinking of 4 NUE

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-23431004759595912202010-12-02T12:45:00.002-05:002010-12-02T13:02:54.172-05:00

It's been a crazy up and down for the past 38 weeks but this weekend is the end of my 2010 racing. It'll be 25 races done and a lot of great memories. 5 road races, 7 CX races, 3 Endurance XC races, and 10 XC races. The road races were entertaining and just fun with some good training thrown in. The XC races were a lot of fun with some great competition and just a fantastic season. The

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-75199891665113394562010-11-27T18:50:00.003-05:002010-11-27T21:36:32.740-05:00

November 21st and November 27th were two of the most anticipated races in the NJBA CX Cup, mostly because my team helps put them on with Skylands cycling. It's been a very similar course for both races with the only difference being that the barriers were put in different places. It was definitely a power course as there were some turns but extended pedaling sections that really helped open up

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-53874224190539659862010-11-16T18:47:00.004-05:002010-11-16T19:04:24.778-05:00

So a lot has been going on in my cycling world with everything from upgrades to recovery. I'm finally feeling a bit like my old self and albeit a few pounds heavier than mid summer race shape I feel I'm doing pretty well. I was 153 for the early season and right now I'm hovering around the 161 mark. Something the inevitably happens when the riding load goes from 13 hours to 6 and daylight goes

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-88308081302556214082010-11-13T18:52:00.003-05:002010-11-13T19:06:32.141-05:00

Today's race was at the Central Park of Morris at the old Greystone psychiatric center. It was a great venue and a really fun course. It was also one of the bumpiest courses I've encountered. The straightaways were murderous as the bumps just stole the momentum from the legs and made it hard to close gaps. Anyway here's how the race went. It was a HUGE field...5 - yep - 5 of us toed the line

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-73404332718768027142010-10-31T20:50:00.002-04:002010-10-31T20:53:38.344-04:00

Holy crap was it a beautiful day for HPCX. I got there in time to get in a course inspection in street clothes just after the C race. As I rolled down the one sharp down - up, my front tire catches hard and I go half assed OTB. That was odd...I look down to find 12" of my tubular rolled off the rim and collecting grass....wonderful. So I popped the tubie back on the rim and finished the lap

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-48249511585902793762010-10-30T11:02:00.002-04:002010-10-30T11:12:13.389-04:00

Wohoo! The long awaited cross season is here(for me at least). I should have had 2 or 3 races in but the end of the MTB season killed the one race and the next two I had to miss since I was in the hospital. Fast forward 3 weeks and I'm feeling much better and ready to get back into this whole competition thing. I've done some good efforts this week and the legs don't feel amazing but they

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-34332186371520379752010-10-27T21:31:00.002-04:002010-10-27T21:47:42.397-04:00

So there has been a pretty steady group getting together locally to do some night riding at an undisclosed location. This past Tuesday was no exception but a bunch of riders were put off since there was a possibility of rain in the forecast. For me, it was supposed to be a relaxing off day, but looking at the forecast for Wednesday I thought this ride might suffice for Wednesday's workout. So

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-17684371193283861032010-10-22T17:48:00.002-04:002010-10-22T18:04:25.474-04:00

Alrighty then. So it's now been almost 3 weeks since the last race at Ringwood. It's also been 12 days since I got out of the hospital after what the doctors think was viral meningitis. Things are looking up. I'm back to the swing of every day life. I would say though that I'm not fully recovered from the hospital visit but I'm getting there. The daily chores are fine once again, I just

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-52517558499804442732010-10-13T08:30:00.002-04:002010-10-13T08:36:05.941-04:00

I know it's early but I'm getting some preliminary dates and I'm thinking of going long again next year. I have some unfinished business in the long races and the usual races have me intrigued:Cohutta 100Mohican 100Wilderness 101Fools Gold 100Shenandoah 100This past season got cut short and had some heinous weather so I'd like a little redo on some of those. Then there's some others I would

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-59692092952184870652010-10-13T07:51:00.003-04:002010-10-13T08:29:57.195-04:00

The 2010 season started out with a lot of promise and the usual goals. I wanted to do as well as I could in the NUE 100 miler series. The secondary goal was to do as well as I could in some of the races in the H2H series. This past winter was very solid as the base was much better and I had a pretty good season in 2009 to build on. So early on the season was a great indication of what was to

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-2205460131778534242010-10-11T18:09:00.003-04:002010-10-11T18:31:23.376-04:00

As the title says, instead of enjoying my first double weekend of the CX season thrashing myself all over the Westwood course, I instead found myself in Morristown Memorial Hospital with some bug thrashing myself internally. After last weekend's race at Ringwood I knew I was tired but as Tuesday went on I was really exhausted and then started to come down with something on Wednesday. Enough so

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-91903373857026395722010-10-06T17:19:00.003-04:002010-10-06T17:30:38.402-04:00

So my MTB season is officially over and as I was saying previously that I would submit my race resume and see if USA Cycling would approve my request or deny me. I put all of my qualifying races as well as all my NUE finishes on my upgrade request(even though I know they are not USAC sanctioned - but figure it could help). So as of 4pm yesterday I sent it in and looked for a response...about 10

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-18496742005239006692010-10-03T21:07:00.005-04:002010-10-04T20:19:50.968-04:00

My recap is for my first ever crack at the Pro race. ***Note to self - these guys go FAST!!!***So from the gun it was hot and fast and somehow I found myself in 2nd spot drafting behind Aaron Snyder... not the place to be. I kept the pace up but before the initial climb I needed to tone it down and think about the long haul. So I pulled to the side and let the gaggle through. So up the first

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-73259873469914697622010-09-28T05:58:00.002-04:002010-09-28T06:07:01.322-04:00

With my series win locked up in the Cat 1 30-39 H2H series this year, I made my decision with what to do with the last MTB race of the season. I'm going to test the waters in the Pro/Cat1 division. I figure next year I'll be doing some of the Pro/Cat1 races so why not get my feet wet now and see how it goes. 4 laps at Ringwood is going to be an interesting task for sure. 4 times up those

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-28732449842470910562010-09-22T21:00:00.003-04:002010-09-22T21:10:41.299-04:00

Thanks to my solid race season thus far in 2010 I've been presented with an interesting opportunity. As it sits right now I've been fortunate enough to lock up the local H2H race series for the win with 7 of the 8 races completed. This gives the great opportunity of what to do for the last race. Let's see. The options are:Sit it out and enjoy the series win...yea like I have the will power to

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-49558705174336529612010-09-19T21:28:00.007-04:002010-09-20T19:56:49.839-04:00

Today was a great opportunity for some power to be laid down and a race with a lot at stake. Beside being another of the 8 H2H races, it was also the State Championship and a key race in the overall series. As I was waking up and making breakfast this morning I peered out the window to see what a magnificent day it was. It was truly nice out - almost a little warm at race time. So as we roll

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-6953823898320439822010-09-13T19:04:00.005-04:002010-09-13T19:17:26.400-04:00

With fingers crossed and mud fender in hand, I rolled up to Blue Mountain to take on the Chainstretcher course. It was a wonderfully techy course that was surely an advantage to bike handlers. I got in a good warmup knowing that it was going to be a long race and knowing the lines was going to be key. As the race went off I was in a nice group of 5 that had broken away from the rest of the pack

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-29436979269403597462010-08-29T20:47:00.004-04:002010-08-29T21:13:19.771-04:00

My day started at 2:30 am with a nice alarm and a restless night's sleep. By 3 my pancakes were made and by 3:15 the car was loaded. By 4 I met up with my teammate and his girl and we were off to worlds. Our race was at 8 am and we needed to get there to pick up our numbers and transponders and warm up to take the line. We arrived at 6 with plenty of time to do all of the above but somehow

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-9686300724951438992010-08-20T20:52:00.002-04:002010-08-20T21:00:58.666-04:00

This past week of normalcy has been nice except for the normal part. I got a lot of work done and a few good rides. It felt pretty good to get back into the swing of things - except for the work part - as I need to start paying some bills. I'm eagerly thinking ahead and starting to look ahead to next weekend. This weekend I'll be doing some workouts and getting some good saddle time in to get

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-40918853432798216172010-08-16T21:03:00.005-04:002010-08-16T21:20:15.877-04:00

With the doctor telling me to resume normal workouts and such and feeling pretty decent prior to the 909 race, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and give it a go. I didn't know how my top end would be with a full race effort but I wanted to feel normal again and get out there. My plan was to give it what I had and if my body gave me any ill effects I would pull the plug and pedal easy to

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-50705626512023022682010-07-29T17:01:00.003-04:002010-07-29T18:30:56.591-04:00

July 24th at 3 in the morning I awake gasping to find some air and can't find it. I try to relax and go back to sleep or find a more comfortable position just to get some more air in and no good. I end up pacing back and forth for about an hour debating what to do and then I say F it. Time for help. So I had to wake my brother and sister in law up since I was staying with them. Off to

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-78375789901563523352010-07-11T19:32:00.003-04:002010-07-11T19:56:44.534-04:00

I know it's been said that sometimes it's better to be smart than strong. That may have been the case today. It was a rough week leading into today's race since I will be leaving to go visit my brother in Colorado tomorrow. I had to get a lot of things done and I wanted to do some things that didn't necessarily give me the absolutely perfect setup for this race but what can you do...life

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-40689513106807274912010-06-27T22:46:00.001-04:002010-06-27T22:50:48.927-04:00

Today was a good and bad day for me. Thanks to Geoff and all the Marty's guys that did a great job with organization and timing. The race was cool and fun as expected but there was some interesting unexpected stuff for me for sure.Off the line I take 4th wheel and have John A. in my sights as he gets a small gap and I know that I need to watch him. At this point it was(I think) John, then Steve M

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-62612684215667677352010-06-20T21:45:00.003-04:002010-06-22T21:23:56.786-04:00

It was an amazingly hot day today! At least the storms held off but they were threatening right at the start. It was good to see 4 of my teammates show up as well. During my pre-ride I had flashbacks to the last time I rode there which was in 2006 when the race was in the series. It was good stuff and a true mtb course. I forgot how tricky some of the sections could be. There were sections where

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-39129038880001517952010-06-08T21:41:00.002-04:002010-06-08T21:49:34.796-04:00

After a close look at the bike in the aftermath, I see a few things that bit the dust. #1 - my fender :-( This thing was a LIFE SAVER - it's totally light and worth keeping the grime out of your face for as long as possible. Since I have to get a new one now, I'll probably get two just in case. #2 - my brakesOf course they got destroyed but the amazing part is that I had about 3/4 pads on the

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-9502622611853710572010-06-06T10:44:00.002-04:002010-06-06T11:11:48.784-04:00

I had previously posted that my time goals were as follows:Aid 1 - Mile 20 - 1:55Aid 2 - Mile 34 - 2:55Aid 3 - Mile 46 - 3:50Aid 4 - Mile 72 - 5:40Aid 3 - Mile 80 - 6:35Aid 5 - Mile 92 - 7:10Finish - Mile 100 - 7:55Here were my actual times:Aid 1 - Mile 20 - 1:53Aid 2 - Mile 34 - 3:23Aid 3 - Mile 46 - 4:30Aid 4 - Mile 72 - 6:32Aid 3 - Mile 80 - 7:30Aid 5 - Mile 92 - 8:08Finish - Mile 100 - 8:

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-37351185716856908312010-06-06T09:43:00.005-04:002010-06-11T21:51:47.919-04:00

The weather preceeding the Mohican 100 was downright miserable. From the Wednesday before the race it had been raining pretty much non-stop. The weather forecast said that there might be a clear day on the friday before the race and sun so hopefully it would dry things up a bit. Well...that didn't happen. Lucky and I rolled into town Friday afternoon heading to do a preride at about 2pm. As

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-51713334552780561162010-06-03T20:05:00.002-04:002010-06-03T20:19:07.978-04:00

I sit here packing all my gear and reviewing former write-ups and data and try to plan for what's to come Saturday morning. I remember the course pretty well as it really fits my riding style. I think I can go pretty hard consistently and do well if there's no really long extended climbs. That describes the Mohican to a T. So I figure I need to set my game plan. Here's what I figured:Last

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-29635555377859804452010-05-23T19:35:00.008-04:002010-05-24T16:27:12.722-04:00

Today was the Tymor Park Challenge in Lagrangeville NY. It's always a race that is a little crazy since they have a great choice of hills to throw in and the rain there always makes the course a disaster. So with this one coming up I wasn't sure how to prepare but I was just hoping for the best and heading up ready for anything. And to sum it up in one word - AMAZING!!!For those of you that

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-76918807031072979082010-05-16T20:45:00.002-04:002010-05-16T21:09:58.846-04:00

Two more days of cycling are officially in the books. Yesterday and today my teammate BL and I went up to the land of cheese to compete in the Giro de Cielo. It was originally designated a women's event in its inception but has grown to include a CAT3 and CAT4/5 race. Me being the road racing NOOB, I entered the CAT4/5 as this weekend would be what's needed to officially get my 10 mass starts

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-9379063152106604802010-05-02T22:39:00.009-04:002010-05-04T19:35:19.475-04:00

I went into the first race of the H2H race series today with a few questions to be answered. How was my recovery going from the Cohutta 100 last weekend? How well would I deal with the rocks and techy nature of Waway as it's one of the roughest courses that will be seen? And finally how well would my body deal with the 90+ degree heat? It would all be played out soon enough. On my preride I

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-77586105093410750132010-04-27T16:02:00.004-04:002010-04-27T22:21:33.063-04:00

What more could you want for a prerace dinner than some good calories in the form of a HUGE Mexican dinner. Nick, Geoff, and I hit up the El Rio restaurant in the middle of Copperhill and got probably the largest item on the menu. I think it had 8 or 9 separate parts and I couldn't finish it all. It was so good and just the ticket for the hard effort that was to come the next day. A great

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-9941801276023094842010-04-13T17:27:00.003-04:002010-04-13T17:44:16.800-04:00

...of training is finally over. Ever since I did the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek I've been riding steadily. As a matter of fact, including the 6 hour race, I rode 11 days straight. Of course this was including active recovery and whatnot. For the most part it felt good. There were some poopy days in there for sure but overall a great training block. Something over 250 miles on mostly dirt and

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-87671934314936209152010-04-04T09:22:00.003-04:002010-04-04T09:27:50.044-04:00

Greetings from North Carolina and Happy Easter! Yesterday Aaronasaurus and I took to the hills of NC and the W. Kerr Scott trail system and attempted to lay down some nice miles and show them how the Bulldogs roll. The race was a 6 hour format with an 11 mile lap of tight twisty bermy hardpacked climby goodness. It was like a rollercoaster the entire way. So from the gun Aaron and I got in the

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-50171494247502996642010-03-30T13:15:00.002-04:002010-03-30T13:23:43.878-04:00

In preparation for the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek I decided it's time to get my you know what in gear and do this thing right. Bike is getting all prepped tubeless and tweaked out so my position is spot on. And I broke out the magical Bonk frame protecting adhesive strips to ensure that my ride stays in nice shape. That stuff is great as any little abrasions or scrapes that would normally mar

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-91153359783036904152010-03-28T17:08:00.006-04:002010-03-28T17:28:36.790-04:00

Hopefully not literally illin - but it's very possible at this point. I met up with my coach this morning with a few teammates to administer a lactic threshold test to see if any of my numbers should change for this year. We all did the same test on the same loop and with the same process. Go ALL OUT for this 10 mile course that was almost totally flat. You start out hard and discredit the

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-88643851260542242962010-03-24T13:02:00.003-04:002010-03-24T13:10:56.921-04:00

After Saturday's two races I was admittedly exhausted, so what better thing to do than a Sunday century! It seemed good beforehand but not exactly afterwards. I knew I had this cold coming on and thought it would just be a hinderance but it seems it's more than that. I started out Sunday with my legs feeling a little sluggish - which was to be expected. As my teammates and I started wandering

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-22893501686792997722010-03-20T17:43:00.002-04:002010-03-20T17:50:28.789-04:00

Earlier in the week I was chatting with my coach and we discussed a road race in Branch Brook Park in Newark NJ. They had a nice early 4/5 race that sounded good, and as we got to talking, we decided that there was a second 4/5 race I could do. So why not do both? Sounded good in theory right? That is until I woke up this morning with not enough sleep and feeling like I was hungover. And I

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-32423678994548237022010-03-16T21:33:00.002-04:002010-03-16T21:41:06.207-04:00

And all I can say is WOW. My Madone has been sitting pretty on the wall for the past few months as I was decided what to do with her. It's been on Ebay twice and just not getting the response I would have liked so she's still here. I've been riding my heavy steel Lemond Reno for the last - who knows how many months. I jumped on the Madone to see if it's all ready to go for my first race(and

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-6083876031313131322010-03-13T08:55:00.003-05:002010-03-13T09:19:12.918-05:00

So with three weeks to go until Warrior Creek I sit here debating what to do today since the monsoon has hit. The snowstorms were nice since I could still get out and ski or ride through the snow but rain just blows... There's no way of getting around it. My weekend was supposed to be a 5.5 hour ride today and a 2.5 hour ride tomorrow. In anticipation of the rain I did get out and rode extra

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-5307983009825412082010-03-04T06:11:00.002-05:002010-03-04T06:22:49.724-05:00

Well now it's just under a month away (Apr 3) and I'm getting really psyched for this event. In the northeast we've been BURIED under a sweet blanket this year so I've been relegated to the roadie and hitting the slopes. I'm not complaining at all as it's been great. The dirt would certainly be nice to get back to though. And with all of the storms the east coast has I know NC was not spared

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-23466955590164675352010-02-24T23:40:00.002-05:002010-02-24T23:50:19.742-05:00

I've posted over the last few months that I'm curious as to how my weight and body composition will be changing and what effects it may have on my racing. All I know is that February is typically a rough month and I eat like crap and don't get my workouts in. Somehow this month - I've been getting my workouts in, eating well, and am more disciplined then I ever thought possible. This has

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-56717157207274936512010-02-16T14:38:00.005-05:002010-02-16T15:07:44.388-05:00

A few weeks ago my coach and I were talking about doing a training weekend in Blacksburg Virginia. This was supposed to happen this past weekend, and with the weather and personal schedules that were conflicting, the trip never happened. We elected to stay home and put some time in anyway. The idea was to get 3-4 hours in on Saturday, 5-7 on Sunday, and 3-4 on Monday. Leading into the weekend

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-83458800045544667822010-02-11T21:45:00.003-05:002010-02-11T21:53:35.702-05:00

"We deeply regret that we were unable to accept your application intothe 2010 Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race. We really wish wecould accommodate every interested rider, but we simply can’t. Ourgoal and primary obligation is to offer every racer the nation’shighest quality athletic experience with the utmost degree of safety,medical care and racer support. The ever increasing numbers

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-34670355159696864742010-01-23T15:22:00.003-05:002010-01-23T15:37:17.802-05:00

It's now getting towards the end of the month and things are looking up for the 2010 season. Today was an opportunity to get some nice miles in with a few teammates and wander around the Mendham area. The hills were good and so was the company. It's soo much easier to get through a nice day in the saddle when you have people to suffer with :-) 5 hours 10 minutes and 80 miles seemed to just

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-66843719466118973122010-01-11T22:01:00.002-05:002010-01-11T22:14:33.825-05:00

Or something like that. Anyway as my first post of the new year I figured I'd just do a status update. I had a blast with my trip out west to start the new year. 3 days of biking in chilly St. George Utah was amazing. The desert terrain was a nice change from the eastern rocky/rootyness. The following 2 days of skiing Alta and Brighton were also amazing. Such a change from the eastern crud

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-39868243611671594722009-12-28T23:22:00.002-05:002009-12-28T23:34:49.988-05:00

Christmas came and went and with the dawn of the next day came a nice adventure. Nice depends on your definition. My buddy Bob was in town for the holiday and had this crazy scheme of moving an old MG B that he had acquired out from NJ to his new place in Salt Lake City UT. The problem was that he couldn't move it alone since it would be far too long of a road trip. Hence, here's where I come

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-31644762342280213722009-12-19T12:46:00.000-05:002009-12-19T12:46:53.520-05:00

Got out today for a nice spin before the impending snow storm is about to hit. I was bracing for the storm to hit as I was out riding and was pleasantly surprised to see that it held off for the entire ride. Now it can snow all it wants. And it looks like it will be doing just that. We are supposed to get 12-18+ as the latest update on the news. Sounds fine to me. Make it the nice fluffy

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-79421537176933269082009-12-05T18:31:00.006-05:002009-12-13T20:21:20.061-05:00

(Photo courtesy of Viviana Epstein)The last race of my 2009 season is officially in the books. I know I should be happy and relieved but I'm kinda bleh... I've had a great season and it seemed that I got stronger each race for CX and now it's over. I guess I'll have to use that motivation to push me harder into the 2010 race season. As it is, the calendar is already shaping up and once I

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-51436605575514283402009-12-03T19:00:00.002-05:002009-12-03T19:09:51.174-05:00

This has been a LOOOOONG season. First race was March 15th and the last race will be this Saturday, December 5th. 7 road races, 5 100 milers, 7 xc races, and 8 cross races with 1 cross left to go. Saturday it will be all or nothing as it'll be my last chance to blow up and lay down some smack! I hope my legs show up. It'll be fun and as of now it's supposed to be cold and snowy! Bring on

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-29852600815862336912009-12-01T06:09:00.002-05:002009-12-01T06:17:35.531-05:00

Today is December 1st 2009. As of December 1st 2008 I officially started my training for the 2009 race season. I am not training yet for 2010, as that will start this coming Sunday. The exciting part that I am seeing from my weight log is that this day last year I weighed in at 175.2. At that time in my life, that was actually good, for that point in the season(surviving the turkey bloating)

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-79005709437017783892009-12-01T06:08:00.005-05:002009-12-01T16:12:19.504-05:00

What a great venue! Today was an amazing day weather wise and what a perfect setting. I really was unsure as I was putting my bike on my car and heading TOWARDS the city!?!?! That faded away as I pulled in and geared up for my preride. Some sweet flat fast sections, a heinous long DEEP beach run followed by stairs and then some more fast sections leading to a MTB like section. It was pretty cool.

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-52784356277961562312009-11-28T17:30:00.004-05:002009-11-28T17:58:47.045-05:00

Thanks to mother nature holding off the showers the course was delightfully dry today. That was the best part. It was windy and cold to start the day. Thankfully by the time it got to my race, it warmed up and was pretty spectacular. To make it even better, today was my mom's 66th birthday and she decided to share it with me as she officially spectated at her first cyclocross event. So with

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-36354127995953442792009-11-22T22:28:00.005-05:002009-11-22T22:42:51.494-05:00

Today was round #1 of the two Augusta races that my team (Team Bulldog) and Skylands Cycling put on and it was a blast. The course was fast and fun and everyone seemed to have a great time. I had some struggles as the miles and schedule of my previous weeks seemed to catch up with me. I just didn't have the normal top end that I had so I knew it would be hard to do really well. I gave it my

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-14778705439223203932009-11-14T15:19:00.004-05:002009-11-16T15:17:23.049-05:00

Today I took the drive south to the Mercer County USGP of Cyclocross. I only entered today for fear of having two horrid days in the mud. Although I should have registered a little earlier as my starting spot was a good place to spectate from, but not for racing.I started out about 70th? of 86 starters. Off the line it was hot as usual but with a little carnage. As it heated up a rider comes

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-88267212720327067582009-11-12T18:48:00.003-05:002009-11-12T18:54:18.384-05:00

I decided to take a little time and explore Stephens/Deer Park State Park on my singlespeed. My teammate Kris and I rolled around on trails we've been on before and a few that we haven't been. It was a nice cool cloudy day that turned out to be quite nice. It didi sprinkle a little bit but the leg burning made us forget about that. We took in the leafy goodness and had a blast out there.

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-84297007813390689272009-11-09T20:03:00.003-05:002009-11-10T19:35:46.227-05:00

Wohoo! The end is in sight...well the end and the beginning. As 2009 is slowly coming to a close it's been a great year and a VERY long season considering I'm still at it and trying to be competitive in cross racing. It's good though. It's weird to not really be invested in something and still be doing OK. This 5th place that I got Saturday startled me. I didn't think I could do that well

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-59356976706672145922009-11-08T21:03:00.004-05:002009-11-08T21:08:03.547-05:00

Great course and even better weather for sure.For the B race we had a pretty good turnout as 21 guys toed the line. Off the start I got in an ok position and was happy holding 10th. I think it's just me but the B races seem to take off the fastest of all the groups...anyway... Through a few turns I was feeling pretty good even though I raced yesterday and moved up to 7th. I was hanging with a

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-76637784174914434042009-11-07T19:35:00.005-05:002009-11-07T19:46:15.570-05:00

Today was a gorgeous day to have a bike race. It started off VERY chilly but it settled in to be a little warmer and a nice temp for racing. It was so tricky as I actually changed clothes 3 times and my number 3 times till I was finally confident with what to wear. What is this - the prom???Thanks to a call up for the NJBA Cup points I got a sweet spot right on the front row but in the middle

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-16707972985522799492009-11-03T17:12:00.005-05:002009-11-09T06:11:10.088-05:00

(Photos courtesy of Ilya Cantor)Sunday I traveled down to Jamesburg NJ for the HPCX race. It was a bigger race - 0r so I'm told and I guess so as 73 people toed the line awaiting the gun to go off. As the call ups began I got further and further back on the starting line. I guess I probably started off in 55th or so. I had a LOT of people in front of me and as I'm usually cold the first lap I

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-50933651769222221572009-10-30T06:05:00.002-04:002009-10-30T06:08:19.940-04:00

The weight battle that is. As previously stated I want to try and maintain 160 or below going into the next season so that I may race next year 5 or so lbs lighter. I raced at 158 for most of this season and 152 sounds a little better for next year. If I can maintain it over the winter I'll be very happy. I've had a few heavy days due to parties and some awesome food but at the moment my

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-15168911083966757912009-10-26T20:27:00.000-04:002009-10-26T20:37:32.849-04:00

I was just looking back at my training log and realized that yesterday's race was ride #11 on the new CX bike. Nothing like getting acquainted before beating your brains out on a new bike :-)This was my first real CX race since I was on a CX bike. I did one other CX race in 2007 on my Trek hardtail but the feel just wasn't right. And for comparison the numbers are interesting. That race in

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-3077060366671899202009-10-25T22:59:00.001-04:002009-10-25T23:10:12.898-04:00

After having a few hours to finally let the race from today sink in I may actually be able to describe what happened. First thing was I didn't get as much of a warm up as I would have liked. I was a little too casual about this race and well I didn't really care what happened. So I nonchalantly went about warming up and getting to the line and all that good stuff. So not only was I cold on

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-68032735331808872222009-10-23T20:11:00.000-04:002009-10-23T20:20:33.672-04:00

Base training is going to start in late December - early January and the battle is for the weight to stay low until base training starts. Then it should be easy to shed any extra pounds. With the dwindling daylight it seems tough as always to stay motivated, training, and just active in general. Looking back in my log I was maintaining a 175 lb weight into December and then it reached 184 at

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-47552009304606184662009-10-18T13:23:00.000-04:002009-10-18T13:29:17.753-04:00

With this oh so lovely weather, it's hard to not get depressed and want to lay on the couch and get fat. On the other hand I have too much pride or rather foresight? to not do that and get off my lazy butt and get out and do some riding. So out comes the CX bike and I rode this route that I normally do in the winter time. It's a nice mix of dirt, road, gravel, singletrack, doubletrack, you

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-8022464662309681202009-10-12T21:20:00.000-04:002009-10-12T21:41:35.702-04:00

This past Saturday was my 3rd attempt at the Tour de Lake as my previous bests were my 2nd attempt with a finish of 10th of 19 and in a finish time of 2:12. That race went off pretty fast so I thought that my finish time would hopefully be around the same time and maybe a little quicker. Well here's how it went. First of all I was still trying to drain all of this wonderful mucus from my head

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-71242456722703817212009-10-11T20:18:00.000-04:002009-10-11T20:21:45.669-04:00

As the cliche goes, I guess it's true. I just looked through my fart sack(seat bag) on my bike and needed to use my multi-tool for something, so I figured I'd check out how all of my stuff is doing since I haven't really thought about it much. Well I guess it's good that I looked in there. I pulled out my spare links and piece of chain that was rusted and frozen. And the best part was that I

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-19690365167299846562009-10-09T12:49:00.000-04:002009-10-09T12:54:13.089-04:00

I've been doing a little social racing and talked to a few informed sources and figured that the Cat 4 races would be ok and probably fun since I'd do well, but the consensus was that Cat 3 races are where I should really be for CX. So I did a little research and it seems that if you are a Cat 1 XC racer then you can upgrade your CX cat to match or something like that. So I figured that I'd take

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-87881386362870095232009-10-07T12:59:00.000-04:002009-10-07T13:07:12.232-04:00

In anticipation of this fall's CX races, I got together with a few fellow riders and did a little practice dismounting, mounting, shouldering, and running some barriers. I have completed one CX race on my mtb so I am not that unfamiliar but a few of the little uncertainties had me curious. I never realized that I was so awkward going through the barriers and the fact that I wasn't quite

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-41097255320257264252009-10-04T20:19:00.000-04:002009-10-04T20:23:10.632-04:00

As I awoke this morning, my head cold had traveled into my lungs. Not a great feeling to wake up to. I still did contemplate the thought of racing as I may move a trivial spot or two in the H2H standings as the battle for 13th place was getting hot - not really. So in smart move to kick this cold and get better for next weekend's road race and the upcoming CX season I bowed out and played

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-79742325001351996932009-10-02T12:49:00.000-04:002009-10-02T13:04:17.519-04:00

With training over the last year I've noticed many changes. My body for sure as I went from 184 lbs. around X-mas time(due to the time off since the old _____ hit me with his Nissan) to hovering in the high 150's. At one point probably the lowest I saw was 155. That's a tremendous change in one season and something I'm really going to try to maintain over the winter. I know I've gotten

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-10832399949909685162009-09-29T20:24:00.000-04:002009-09-29T20:28:30.224-04:00

It's been a long MTB season and it will be all done this weekend. The last race of the season is the Ringwood Leaf Blower. Hopefully it will be a fast dry course, although thus far the weather is not indicating so. Either way it'll be fun to get out there and wrap it up. I did just find out I've got some work to do as I was going over my bike and found a frozen derailleur pulley that needs to

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-88742547264134905122009-09-27T21:30:00.000-04:002009-09-30T20:31:45.718-04:00

It was a tough course today. Definitely for those who can handle a bike. I had a decent start but was sitting deep behind a Bulldog train. So I figured that I'd put in an effort and see if I can get to the front before the nasty stuff started. Shifted to the big ring, locked the fork and dropped the hammer. I went from sitting 8th or so to 4th getting into the singletrack. Steve went by me not

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7031777082351812721.post-13192454617485981712009-09-23T21:36:00.001-04:002009-09-23T21:40:57.068-04:00

DENIED! Well at least I gave it a shot. I was thinking that there are some nice road races to try next year but you need to be CAT4 or above and I'm still a lonely CAT5. By the rulebook it says you need 10 starts. I've got 6 and a pretty extensive resume of CAT 1 MTB and a pretty decent Endurance resume so I tried to ask for an upgrade based on what I've done so far. I guess all that matters

Heerscrapplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06060421123472727951noreply@blogger.com3