Thanks to all for a successful event.

As I drove away from the great town of New Bern, I was tired, cramping, sunburnt, mentally drained, slightly sick, yet... had a huge smile on my face. The 2009 MS Bike Ride was truly an awesome event to be a part of.

I really want to recognize everyone that made this past weekend possible:

• Everyone with the MS Society that made this event a success - excellent job all around.
• Ben Harris - Many props for putting the team together and making this happen.
  
• Shane "The Train" Johnston - Your extremely generous donation of your bike made the whole experience possible and helped to achieve many goals. I can not thank you enough.
• Team Skidmarks - You guys killed it. Thanks for the laughs & good times.
  

I would also like to give a HUGE shout-out to all those who sponsored me:

• Carin "Sug-Boog" Spotz
  
• Mom Spotz
• Mom Wolf & Pop Wolf
• Heather Wolf
• Jim & Maureen Wolf
• Jamie & Parish Lee
• Terry Kohl
• Mary Samuels

I truly appreciate your kind donations and I am proud of you guys for contributing to such a good cause.

Looking forward to the next conquest!
Nate

105 miles later.

We did it! The ride was actually a lot of fun. We rode miles and miles of great countryside, met interesting people from all around the state, ate some great food and drank like fish when the ride was done. Thanks everyone for your support. I especially want to thank my sponsors:

• Mom and Tony
• Dad and Donna
• Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bill
• My sister Leah and her husband Joe
• Matt "Me arm hurts" Skopal
• Jamie and Parrish Lee
• Sarah's Aunt Sharon and Uncle Randy

I could not have done the ride without you guys. I offer a sincere thank you. And you helped out a great cause in the process!

SATURDAY'S STATS
Distance: 75.97 miles
Time Moving: 4:51:19
Average Speed: 15.6 mph
Max Speed: 26.4 mph

SUNDAY'S STATS
Distance: 34.41 miles
Time Moving: 2:04:38
Average Speed: 16.5 mph
Max Speed: 23.8 mph

Here are some pics from the ride. Ryan took some pics and videos too so more will be posted soon.

FRIDAY - set up camp


We had waterfront property.




sunset


SATURDAY - 75 miles


Awake at sunrise. They were playing Metallica at 7am.
















There's something to be said for kickstands.
















I passed by this amazing creek and had to stop and take some pics.






and stepped on a nest of fire ants... They are QUICK!


Rest stop at 42 miles.




Lunch at 50 miles. The food was so good and we were starving.




Nate went the full 100 on Saturday... this is him right after crossing the finish line.


SUNDAY - 30 miles




They closed off a major highway for the bike race.. it was interesting riding your bike on an interstate with no traffic.




Jeremy getting his priorities straight.






Heading back home. In Puerto Rico, the middle finger is a sign of respect. Thanks Tito!

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Completed 50 miles in the last two days. I must say, I'm a little concerned about my physical condition and reaching my goal of 100 miles for MS on September 12th (gulp).

Monday the 7th I completed a 30 mile ride from the Umstead Park entrance (near Crabtree Park) to the BB&T building in downtown Raleigh, then back. Pretty cool ride & I highly recommend it.

Last night, I completed the remaining 20 miles of my 50 mile - 2 day goal by staying on Umstead Park trails. It was rather grueling due to recent rain which created a much softer surface. This ride was probably 2X more difficult than Monday's ride. 11 miles in I popped my chain and ended up crashing on the side of the road when I could not release from my foot straps. To add to the experience, I had to complete the remaining 5 miles in the dark due to poor time management.

During the final portion of last night's ride I was slightly freaking out, trying to avoid potholes, tree branches, snakes, deer, axe murders & of course ninjas - I felt quite vulnerable. When finishing out the final 2 miles of the ride, I kept seeing distant lights at the clearing where I had parked. It seemed to take forever to reach this clearing, but finally made it (Legend of Sleepy Hollow style).

At the end of the ride I couldn't help but to think that this ride may foreshadow how September 12th may go... extremely long, exhausting and fearful of death, while trying to reach that light at the end of the tunnel.

1 week til race time - Ben

Today, I went for my first long ride in over a month. The frame on my Trek (aka Sarah's bike) got damaged and I had to scramble to find a new frame. I finally got it in working order 1 week before the race.. It rides great, but it is not the most comfortable ride. The frame forces you to put a lot of weight on your arms and hands. After 40 miles, my fingers were getting numb and my triceps were BURNING! The best I can do before next week to help fix it is to adjust the handle bars, get some new gloves.... and hope for the best.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. After 35 miles, the climbs become very difficult.. So much so that on the last 2 climbs, I was getting light headed and had to stop. This ride made me realize how difficult 75 miles in one day is going to be.

STATS:
Distance: 45.79 miles
Average Speed: 12.3 mph
Max Speed: 25.2 mph
Time moving: 3:41:54

Breath it in...

The Schwinn Le Tour is back from it's REI renovations, and boy, does it exude sexiness! Notice the slick lines and yellow paint job...pure sweetness!

40 miles! - Ben

I reached two milestones today. The main one being that I beat my own distance record and went a full 40 miles! It was fun and I was feeling pretty good for most of the ride.

The last 5 miles were tough. The worst part was that I was probably about half a mile from home and I realized that I still needed to ride for 2 miles to meet my goal. It did cross my mind to call it a day and say that I almost made it to 40.. but it would have been a shame to make it that far only to fall short of my goal. So I went around the neighborhood a few times.

THE SECOND MILESTONE is that I had my first significant wipe out. It was around mile 10, on a section of the greenway that isn't well maintained. The path was a little damp from the storm we had yesterday and I hit a patch of mud, or moss or something and my wheels just fell out from underneath me... I wasn't even on a turn. The path was completely straight at this point.

I was going over 15 mph, so I slid a good 10 feet or more on the pavement. To prove how slippery it was, my shirt and shorts didnt rip at all.. slid 10 feet and no rips? crazy.

I got up and this guy who saw the whole thing came up and offered some help. My handlebars were out of line, but I was able to fix them. Other than a few brush burns, I was fine.. a little shaken, though.

Stats:
Time Moving: 3:09:46
Distance: 40.31
Average Speed: 12.7 mph
Max Speed: 31.2

Break Over! - Ben

For various reasons I haven't been on my bike in close to a month. Getting back on after an absence like that isn't easy.

This week I went on two very different rides. The first one was an off-road ride with Nate and Nick. They invited me to Lake Crabtree Mountain Bike Park for an after work ride. I hadn't been on a trail ride in at least 2 years, and I'd never been on one with two other cyclists who were WAY more comfortable with the trail than I was. We ended up doing a very intense 8 miles in a little over an hour(Nate, correct me if I'm wrong). All in all, I think I handled it okay... I'll prob ride a little harder next time now that I know that my body (and my bike) can handle it.

The second ride I went on was a 20 mile road ride. It was over 90deg out and it felt even hotter.. the air was suffocating. I wandered around downtown for a little while (I tend to mix riding with house hunting lately), then headed up to Umstead park and back via the art museum trail. Here are my (not so good) stats:

Time: 1:44:30
Distance: 21.28 miles
Average Speed: 12.2 mph
Max Speed: 29.4

30 more miles - Ben

My Route (click to enlarge)

I rode solo today. Ryan had a bowling induced butt injury and Nate's bike is in the shop. I decided to take the opportunity to try a new route. I started on the Art Gallery/Umstead route and then jumped over to the greeway. It was very hilly until I got on the greenway but I felt pretty good for the majority of the ride. The heat was intense... training is going to be a challenge in the summer months.

Distance: 29.32 miles
Average Speed: 14.2 mph
Max Speed: 31.5 mph
Time Moving: 2:03:52

30 miles (and then some)

Our Route (click to enlarge)

We've been riding too much for me to post every ride.. so here's a recap of some recent Skidmark's training sessions.

Sunday 5/24 – Ben and Ryan go 30 miles (see map)
Distance: 30.22 miles
Average Speed: 13.1 mph
Max Speed: 30.4 mph
Time Moving: 2:18:30

Thursday 5/21 – Ben, Ryan and Nate go to Umstead and back
Distance: 16.3 miles
Average Speed: 13.1 mph
Max Speed: 29.1 mph
Time Moving: 1:17:32

Saturday 5/16 – Ben and Tito do the Greenway
Distance: 17.55 miles
Average Speed: 13.5 mph
Max Speed: 31.8 mph
Time Moving: 1:17:40

20 Mile Mark!

Went for a great ride Sunday, once again on the Greenway. Ben & I met up with Kostya at Crabtree and ran the length of the Greenway in a little over an hour and a half. The weather conditions were even better than Thursday...including a nice lack of reptiles. Beginning at Crabtree, we rode west until the Greenway ended, then headed back past our starting point and rode to the other end about 4 miles farther.

The level terrain of the Greenway lends itself to a more even ride and is a better representation of what the eventual race course will have in store. Ben's endurance and speed seem to both be improving, while I still seem to have some issues with early rides as opposed to our evening sessions. I'm going to attempt to change this with an improved breakfast regimen. All in all it was an GREAT ride and Team Skidmarks achieved the 20 MILE MARK! Hells yeah!

Stats:
Time Moving: 1:38:03
Distance: 23.09
Average Speed: 14.1 mph
Max Speed: 25.6 mph

Bikes and Bugs - Ben

Our Route (click to enlarge)

Another after work training session. This time, Ryan and I met up with Matt at Crabtree Valley Mall for a ride on the greenway. The greenway is much flatter and has less stops than the art gallery/Meredith College greeway trail. So we were able to ride for a longer time without stopping.

The weather was perfect for a long ride.. but the bugs were out of control. I got my daily dose of protein in the first mile... Plus we saw a huge snake at the end of our ride.. it was interesting.

Mad props to Ryan for stepping up from the last time we were on this trail. We went farther and unlike the last time, Ryan wasn't bitching the whole ride.. (jk buddy). I think after the ride through the art gallery and to Umpstead, this ride was easy... 75 miles in one day is looking more and more realistic every day.

Stats:
Time Moving: 1:23:56
Distance: 18.84
Average Speed: 13.4
Max Speed: 24.6

Umstead and back - Ben

Our Route (click to enlarge)

Ryan and I got together with Tito, a member of our rival team, "Team Merkins," for a ride on Saturday. We decided to do the same ride we did on Thursday with the whole team but to continue the ride all the way to Umstead Park. Here are our stats:

Distance: 15.4 miles
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Max Speed: 31.1 mph
Time pedaling: 1:11:11 (wow! all 1's... that must be good luck.)

Go Team! - Part Duex

Our Route (click to enlarge)

The entire team got together for a ride today. We went about 9 miles and finished with a ride up and down the parking deck at work. It was a great ending to our first training session. I think we pushed a certain team member to his limit.. I'm not pointing fingers, but someone might need to play a little catch up. Jk, I'm sure after a few more rides, we'll all be about level.

Go Team! - Ben

Our Route (click to enlarge)

The Skidmarks had their first "team" training day on Sunday. I met Ryan and his friend Kostya at the Crabtree Valley Mall entrance to the greenway. This was Ryan's first time on a bike in a long time so he wasn't sure how it was going to go. Overall I think we had a great ride. We ended up going about 13 miles in just over an hour.

Here are our stats:
Time pedaling: 1:01:23
Distance: 12.9 miles
Average Speed: 13.7 mph
Max Speed: 105.2 (sometimes the computer gets confused about max speed.. this prob threw off the avg speed too.)

back on my hog - Ben

I took a week off since I went home last weekend. I think I put on about 5 pounds on my trip to Buffalo. From now on, I'm going to start getting serious about training. My goals for the months to follow are:

April and May: 40 miles per week
June: 50 miles/week
July: 60 miles/week
August: 70 miles/week + at least 1 100 mile 2-day trip.
Sept: 70 miles the first week with the race happening the second week.

I went for a ride today with the following stats:

• Distance: 18.85 miles
• Average Speed: 12.2 mph
  
• Max Speed: 26.3 mph
• Time Pedaling: 1:32

So I need to ride about 21 miles before next weekend to meet my goal.

-Ben

Fine-tuning

Last post was March 23^rd, and since then there has been miles of road and trails experienced. Over the course of the past 3 weeks, I've received multiple sunburns, been smacked in the face a number of times with tree limbs, head bunted a tree at 15 mph, been through two front tires, 1 bike, 1 minor crash and basically rediscovered the "stoke" that mountain biking can provide.

Big ups to the Bicycle Chain for the full suspension Trek loaner, which has proved to be an excellent tool as I continue to train for the big event. I was able to use this bike over the course of two weeks, and have fallen in love with full suspension, discovering why the higher price is justified.

The Cannondale F4 has finally been fine-tuned. Big ups to Cannondale, who has corrected the fork problems by providing a brand new fork and a lifetime guarantee on both the fork and the frame.

During these past three weeks, I have tackled local Morrisville roads, Umstead State Park and mountain bike trails on the east side of the Haw River in Bynum. Within the next two or three weeks I plan on exploring Crabtree Park's trail system and further discovering my endurance limitations.

Keep on livin & keep on ridin!

Nate “the chain” Spotz

Training - Ryan

Continued my running regiment this weekend by running roughly 5 miles. Working on building my legs, endurance and overall breathing ability. I hate when people try to photograph you while you're trying to tune up!

Training Week 3 - Ben

My Route (click to enlarge)

Went for a longer ride this weekend... but I think I overdid it. My knee is sore and it stopped being fun for the last half hour of the ride.

I hooked the bike computer up to Sarah's road bike. Here are my stats:

Distance: 30.85 miles
Average Speed: 12.9 mph
Max Speed: 31.2 mph
Time Moving: 2:22:33
Time Total: 2:34:42

Went for a 10 mile ride during the week. So that brings my total to (about) 66 miles. By the end of this, the plan is to be riding more than that in one day... ouch.