I saw snow on some cars this morning?

Well I was finally able to shake my airplane induced funk from my return trip from Ireland, and so I spent the weekend....yes...riding bikes!

I put some finishing touches on my newly built road bike Thursday night so after a day at the lab on Friday I took it out for about an hour through South Park and White Park, paved roads, gravel roads, mtb trails, yeah it can handle it all. Ran into Bala out bouncing around on his Giant hitting jumps and knocking around, so we rode together for a while before then heading home to get ready to meet the girls out for a beer.


Saturday morning I got my hair cut, picked up some new trail running shoes from Pathfinder and then Lemma and I set out for Big Bear. It was quite a bit cooler at Big Bear than in Morgantown, but that wasn't a problem, after a quick warm up we felt great, and we even ran into Forrest and Traci!

Sunday morning some of the cycling team guys and I were supposed to head out to Big Bear again to do trail work, but after an early morning call from Mark confirmed the large amount of rain from the night before had put a stop to any work for the day. However, if was beginning to stop raining in Morgantown and we couldn't decide to do with our newly open day...so in true "Team Rowman+" form we decided to ride bikes to Cooper's Rock. We left Liew's house around 11:30 and headed out the Mileground to Cheat Lake and up Quarry Run Rd and over to Cooper's. It's a stout ride out there, and after hitting the muddy rocky trails for an hour or so, we stopped to visit the overlook and cheered on some of the 10K runners passing by.


We decided then to make our way out on the roadside trail, and just before getting back on the trail, I cut a gash in my tire on a rock and instantly had a loud and definite flat! I had to put a couple bar wrappers in the tire as a boot to keep the tube from poking out! I got it fixed however and we were off and then back on our way to Motown. As Liew commented on the WVU Cycling blog, Bala was the King of the day as since he is "in between" mountain bikes right now awaiting delievery of SRAM team parts, he spent the day on my Karate Monkey single speeding his way all day....monster. And Liew is definitely still the stair master...that guy would ride down a ladder if he had the chance....We made it back and Liew presented us with a giant chocolate cake he had hidden away in his fridge....it was a good day. Oh and we made it back into town just as it started to sprinkle a little rain...yesss. Then I took Lemma for Mexican...mmm...I was hungry!

So, I went to Ireland...

So the trip was awesome. Ate a lot of stellar food, drove on the other side of the road, and drank plenty of stout beer! Lots of people on bikes there riding about for fun, and just for transportation. I wish I had mine when we were out in the country side, sooo many nice roads with no cars and ridiculous scenery.

My knee has now recovered about 90% from my recent Big Bear crash, so it will be back to riding bikes this week, yesss...

It's St. Patty's day, everyone's Irish tonight...

I know its not St. Patrick's day yet, but I'll be celebrating it all week. I'm off tomorrow morning on my trip to the Ireland, and in the spirit of things!

I realize, of course, this movie takes place in Boston....but, you get the idea.




Look - New Road Frame!





Back in a week!

One week till Ireland...

So since the 12 hours of Pandapas down in Blacksburg was canceled, I stayed in Morgantown for the weekend, which was an awesome weekend to be in town, the weather, the happenings, it was solid.


Lemma and I knocked off Friday afternoon and went down for a short hike on the Hemlock Trail on the other side of Cooper's Rock. I really like the section of this hike down by the creek because the water sounds nice, the rocks are big, and the trees are very very old and huge!

Saturday I headed out with some WVU Cycling team members to Big Bear Lake to do some trail maintenance and some riding. Liew and I cleaned the Canaan loop trail for a couple hours and then we caught back up with the others, ate some food, and went out for a nice long ride. I had a bad spill in one rocky section and hit my knee pretty good, it was sore and swollen, but I could still ride it. Later that evening after the ride home, it was pretty imobile so, after a couple beers down at Gibbies, I called it a night, iced the knee and watched some TV.

Note: Hands not in pockets...


Yes, I had a flat on Saturday - lame

Blood!

Sunday it was back to Big Bear! This time with even more folks. My knee was in good running order in the morning, so we started the day with some breakfast at L'il Sandies...mmm pancakes...and then rocked out a nice, and quick paced 2 hour ride before we set in on working. Zerbe and I were tired from the ride the day before, but we managed to hang on, and I actually managed to ride the big rock garden on the 24 hour course for the first time! I hit my bar on the tree at the end of it, and had it not been for that it would have been flawless. I'm counting it though! After the ride was over, we changed and began work on a totally new trail that is supposed to be super sick, nice technical and rocky sections, and some good speedy spots too. We had about 7 or 8 people in all working on the trail, and we got quite a lot done. This trail runs down at one point past some bear dens and Mark Schooley reported seeing a bear earlier in the day on the lower section.



By abotu 3:30 we were all pretty spent and hit the road back to Morgantown. Big Bear is one of my favorite places to ride, and it is really rewarding to ride trails that you know you helped clean up or build!

Notice Liew's hot Cannondale/WVU Cycling team frame behind mine. That is one sick bike he has!

Not on the bike or at the rec tonight, I need to rest from the weekend, and let my knee have a break. Got some good things going in the lab this week, and other than that I will be getting everything together to head to the Emerald Isle on Saturday. Woot!

Winter's Last Push

Well, it is Monday, and I'm tired from spinning, and somehow have ended up watching Harry Potter after eating some tasty home made pizza!



We went to Canaan for one last winter weekend and to visit the McLean's and some other excellent folks. Lemma, myself, and Burchy spent saturday morning checking out Blackwater falls, and walking a bit, and then met back at the house to head to the slopes of Canaan with Sarah, Liz, Pat, and Tim.


After a few days of warm, rainy weather, much of the base was gone, however it was well groomed granular, and very few really icey patches, so there was plenty of smooth and fast fun to be had. I even tried my hand at a few boxes, with not-so-positive results. I'll get it next year. I was able to master the ever-so-cool looking 360 spinning whilst going down a small section of slope. Its super easy, but it makes you look BA haha.

Afterwards, tired and hungry, we snacked, drank beer, and then went into to Davis for a beer at Blackwater, and then dinner at Siriani's. I love that place.



Sunday, Burchy and I slid out in the morning and went for a mountain cycle ride at the trails in Davis where Blackwater Bikes holds its race. After a fresh 2 inches of snow from the night before, the scenery was beautiful, and the traction was superb!

It was a sick weekend, and I was plenty tired last night. Scott was supposed to come, and he bailed....he missed out!!!

Busy week in the lab - which is good, feels good to get some work done! I'm supposed to head down to Blacksburg this weekend for the 12 Hours of Pandaps, though due to snow, and rain, and mud, they may cancel the race to save the trails - which would also go pretty far to save my wallet as well!

It's cold here, and suprisingly we didn't get any snow, which is odd considered Lynchburg, VA got about 8 inches! Frankly I'm happy, and I'm done with the stuff for the year...I hope tomorrow is the last really cold day of winter. It was a good one, I got a lot of stellar boarding in this year...its time for climbing, paddling, and what's that other thing I do??

oh yeah...bikezzzz

- I have a stellar video of Pat getting worked after hitting a jump. If I can figure out how to put it on here I will. Otherwise, youll have to see it at the Motown film festival.