NBM #4 The mall has it all!

Or does it?  I think Lynchburg has quite possible the worst mall in Virginia. The worst that I have seen anyway. Even when I came to this area in the mid 80's, it wasn't great, but it had decent stores and was clean and modern looking. Still nothing compared to the malls in Northern Va. Now, the same decor from 25 years ago doesn't fit well in 2010. Many of the popular brand stores are gone and only the same old tired names remain. Most of the newer stores coming in are super cheesy clothing stores or dollar stores. There's one saving grace, and I believe it's a last ditch effort to save the mall. They built a new, large movie theater. The old one was terrible, tiny theaters and uncomfortable seating. Now it's a stadium seating style theater. With not much else to offer though, I wonder how many more years the mall will survive.

#3 NBM ???

Wow, day 3 and I'm already getting stumped for topics. I have a lot I want to write about, but I want to save it for later in the month, when the crunch is really on. I guess I should make a list of possible topics. So today will be about the onset of Fall. It's my favorite time of the year. The air is cool and crisp and the leaves are so pretty, well usually. This year the trees seem fairly drab. The rain at the very end of Summer was not enough to make the colors as vibrant as usual. I still love it though. A nice jacket, a hot cup of coffee, and sitting on the porch. Which reminds me, I want to look for a new jacket. Maybe some kind of peacoat or something with some warm fuzzy faux fur around the collar and cuffs. :)

Day #2 NBM, Cyclocross

   Adding to the list of firsts for me in bike racing this year, is cyclocross. Cyclocross is a strange thing. You take a slightly modified road bike frame, put thin knobby tires on it, and go go race Criterium style through fields, mud, and rocky terrain. It's very intense and exhausting, with virtually no chance to rest during the 45 minute race. Of course I don't have a cyclocross bike yet, but I have borrowed one for a race( 4th place) and I've used my single speed mountain bike in one race ( 3rd place). Mountain bike races are still my favorite, but cyclocross is definitely getting my attention. Unfortunately the season only lasts 2-3 months. I guess I need to add a cyclocross bike to my want list, along with a time trial bike. :)

National Blog Month

   Ok, I'm back. I've let this go for too long. My dear friend has challenged me to blog with her everyday for the month of November. So this will not be just about cycling, but nything and everything I can think of. Since I'm blogging about blogging, this counts as day 1.

24 Hour Burn 2010

   The 24 Hour Burn us one of the largest mountain bike races on the East Coast. Over 350 riders, solo and on teams turned out for a full day of the pain train. Last I (Cliff) attempted a solo ride. I had to abandon after 9 hours with saddle sores. This year it would be a team race with fellow Dire Wolf teammate, Quinn. To round out the team we had Chris Willis and Ben Waren. We had a camp setup with 3 teams and 2 solo riders. Friday evening, we needed all those riders to hold down our canopies as a huge thunderstorm hit the area. Very strong winds and driving rain destroyed a lot of other teams canopies and tents. After it passed, the weather cooperated for the rest of the weekend.
    The race started at Noon on Saturday. It's a LeMan style start. A team memver has to run around the camp area and tag the first rider. Ben did our run and I was the first rider. After a trail mix-up that had us do the beginning twice, the first lap went pretty smooth. We would switch riders every lap and the times were all within 10 minutes from the fastest to slowest.
   When it got  dark we switched up and rode 1-2, 1-2, 3-4, 3-4 to try to get some rest. Of course the times got longer at night, moreso closer to morning when the dew made the roots very slick. On my 3rd lap, my battery died halfway through the course and i lost about 8 minutes.
   When the sun comes up in a 24 hour race, it rejuvinates you. Amazingly, we all started pulling times close to the ones at the beginning.  Our recovery surprized all of us.
   In the end we were in 11th place out of 50 teams, with 32 laps. We were within 15 minutes of the top 10.  It was tons of fun. Everyone had a good time. Special thanks to my wife Jess for cooking for everyone throughout the night and Richard for keeping us organized.  Someday i will go baack and try it solo, but the team aspect is so much fun!

Chesapeake Time Trial

   A couple weeks ago, I travelled to Chesapeake to participate in my second time trial. This one was shorter, only 12 miles, and was straight and flat. Friday evening, Jess and I drove to Yorktown to stay with Angee and Wayne, family from Tyler's side. We got to their house and went out for a great dinner at Quaker Steak "The Lube", a really cool restuarant. We had a lot of fun with them and will hopefully go visit again soon.
    The next morning we left around 6:00 am. After about an hours drive, we were close to the race, or so I thought. I drove around and around looking for the race. I was getting very frustrated and worried that I would miss my start time. After looking at a .pdf map of the area, I realized that my direction were way off and we were about 15 miles away. Now it was a race just to get there. Finally we found the race. We pulled in, I sent Jess to get my registration and race number, while I got the bike ready. Once I got up to the start area, I had a whole 4 minutes before my scheduled start time, so no warm up for me.

    As I got closer to the start line I saw that there was one water puddle anywhere in sight and they put the start line right in it! WTF!!!  When it came to be my turn and I took off, my back wheel spun. Luckily I didn't lose control or fall. As I got out on course, my legs were screaming from having no warm-up. After a mile or two, I got into a groove. I rode 6 miles, made a U-turn, and headed back. I had passed a few racers and was never passed by anyone else. I crossed the finish feeling pretty good just for making the race. When they posted the Cat5 results, I was shocked to find myself in 6th place out 32! Not bad for almost missing the race completely.

6 Hours of Warrior Creek

   This trip could not have started much worse. Jess, Tyler, and I were leaving on Friday afternoon, bound for Wilkesboro, North Carolina. We were actually ahead of schedule, but before we got out of Lynchburg, the front right brake caliper on the Jeep started sticking. So we had to head home and cram a Jeeps worth of stuff into a tiny 2 door Saturn. Needless to say, it was a long cramped ride. The rest of the evening was nice, I hung out in the hotel lobby with a bunch of fellow racers from Lynchburg and Roanoke.
    We got to the pit area at the race and set up a tent city, with all our friends. I went to get my race number and started to get worried. My number was 13! Soon it was time for the racers meeting and to line up for the start. Luckily Quinn suggested that we ease over to the start line. We ended up being just off the front for the start. When we turned around, racers were lined up down the road almost as far as we could see. The start was crazy, 250+ riders taking off at once. There was a very long uphill on the pavement. I was giving everything I had to keep up with the singlespeed. After about 2 miles, we finally entered the singletrack.
   The first lap wasn't too bad, except for all the traffic. The second lap was much better. Most of the racers had spread out. The course was fun and fast. It was fairly smooth and had high banks berm turns. Very enjoyable to ride, but it gives you no time to rest or recover. By the third lap, I was feeling the pain. The second half of each lap had a lot of short steep climbs. I was starting to walk a few of them. Lap four hurt even more. When I got to the pits, I had half an hour before I had to start my last lap, which meant that I had 2 hours to finish it. The fifth lap was extremely painful. I did have a little energy at the end to race a fellow singlespeeder to the finish line. I crossed the line about 10 feet in front of him.

    When it was over, I finished 5 laps in 6 hours and 16 minutes, putting me in 13th place in the singlespeed division. Warrior Creek is an awesome race. I will be back next year!