The dale is fast.  I don't think I need to worry about getting in shape.  It basically pedals itself.

PreRegistration

I need a seperate calender just to keep track of registration dates for races.  Its getting pretty crazy.  I just registered for the BTepic and its 11 months away.  Hope Im not busy on that weekend a year from now.  Leadville, Whiskey50, Ouachita, Syllamos, Chequamegon, Iceman, Dakota Five-0, BT Epic, Translyvania Epic....if you miss the registration you are out of luck as they fill up fast.  One of the trickier ones will be racing in Mena, AR and making a pit stop to get online to register for the Dakota Five-0 before it fills up.  There is a reason these races have early registration and they fill up fast.  They are fun.  They are great races that combine great trails, a great atmosphere, good fields, and a little after race enjoyment.  The ProXct series can learn something from events like these.  I havent come up with a race schedule for next year yet, but I guess the list above is a pretty solid year of bike racing.  It looks a little heavy on the epicness and a little light on the xcness so some adjustments will need to be made.  Sea Otter just dropped the UCI and changed back to the big loop xc course which is a ton better and then there is Sun Valley for the USA nats which I would like to give the Super D another shot and also Bend for the Marathon Nats....hopefully there will be a local series to add to that as well...

Reflectors

Every set of fancy carbon wheels should come with reflectors.  Its a safety issue really.  I plan on using them all season so that everyone can be sure to see me coming, or at least see me from the side if they have lights shined at me.  Ive never had a set of really nice hubs, well not since I had some Bullseye or TNT bmx hubs.  I first started to realize there might be a difference in hubs when I sold a set of Bontrager XXXL wheels awhile back and the guy emailed me that the hubs were in bad shape.  I informed him that they had been ridden less than a dozen times, which was true, and he should take them to a bike shop and see what needed to be done.  The Trek store informed him that the hubs were in excellent shape and that is how those hubs roll.  DTSwiss 240s are like butter.  They are lightyears better than anything I had been using.  I always just went with the lightest choice and now I see why people spend money on the good stuff like DT Swiss or Chris King.  Plus DT Swiss hubs are easily converted to whatever rear hub standard your bike may have.  On another hub related note... Chris King has a ringer for your iphone.

Superbikes

Early in the 2011 racing season is became very apparent that the new line of 29er full suspension bikes were excellent.  At one point I had only lost a few races and all of them were to these new "superbikes".  I doubt it was all because of the bikes, but thats beside the point.  A few years ago I remember saying there was no way I would ride a 29er dually.  Way too heavy and slow.  Heck I switched back to smaller wheels from a 29er hardtail because it was too heavy.  My first glimpse of the advantage of the big wheels and big suspension was climbing Blowout Mtn in Arkansas behind Wiley Mosely and his Epic 29.  If you have ever made that climb and descent you know it is extremely rough and rocky, and he just rode away.  Im pretty sure the bike had something to do with it as I would eventually catch back on when we got through the rocks.  Later in the year I had the chance to spend a little time on an Sworks Epic 29 and it was indeed awesome.  That bike was a bigger advantage than I had dreamed.  Then I rode a few hours on the Trek Superfly 100.  While maybe not quite as quick, that bike was soooo smooth and comfortable.  You just get up to speed and cruise through anything.  The only drawback to the Epic is the brain, which is also its best asset.  That bikes pedals extremely efficiently but the brain has to be adjusted before you go out and race.  Because you cant adjust it on the fly it seems like you might have it perfect for one section of trail but then it wont be perfect for another section so I lean back towards the Fox RP23 suspension.... The new RP23 is super adjustable.  It has three levels of propedal and then 3 levels of openness.  So you set your preferred level of propedal and openness and can flip between them on the fly.  This is exactly how I wanted my rear shocks to work the last few years as the "open" setting on the previous version was basically useless unless you were bombing down a mountain.  And I dont buy it that some bikes pedal well in open, this is only true if you like that super soft spongy feeling.  Anyways....the ultimate superbike is hitting the shops now and it light..

And my version is sure to be a few pounds lighter.... now if i can just get used to the odd sized wheels and half a fork....

Early morning thanksgiving ride.   Gonna be a great weekend of trail riding.

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Cold

Katie and I went out to ride today. It was ridiculously cold. My hands were frozen in no time. I guess its time to get out the winter riding gear. Yesterday was hot and today was freezing, only in Kansas.

Back in 1992 we went on a trip to Vail and I took my new Cannondale F1000.  That bike was pretty awesome for its time.  It would still be considered light by todays standards.  Must have been the sweet headshok.  I sold it a few years ago to a collector of Cannondales for almost what I paid for it 15 years earlier.  Harleys dont hold their value that well.  Cannondale was pretty advanced with the system integration back then.  It had a Cannondale fork, cranks, brakes, stem, bars, etc...  I think im going to give bar ends a try again this year.

Middle of November and the trails are perfect, I'm wearing shorts and sweating, and I seem to be the only one out here.  How could this be?  But I know it's awesome.

The Log

Its a 3" binder that has a record of essentially every day I have pedaled my bike since 2007.  5 years of riding almost everyday.  There is a lot of information in there.  I dont like keeping track of my riding but I do it anyways.  The great thing about it is that I can look back on my best races or periods of racing and see what I did to go faster.  Doesnt mean I can recreate it, but I can at least try to.  I have started looking into what I want to do next year for races and therefore have started looking at my past training to see if I can make it work.  I dont think someone who works full time can successfully stay fast enough for the entire mtb season without getting completely exhausted so its better to figure out what time of year its most important to be your fastest and build backwards from that.  My problem is that I seem to always be at my best the same time of the year no matter when I start training.  This year I felt like I was out of shape way too late into the year and only moved my main peak a few weeks back and it hit when there wasnt a lot going on.  So its back to the old plan and the idea is to find races that land in my peak rather than adjust my peak for races.  Makes sense to me.  We shall see, but first...more days in the log with no pedaling.