Wow, finally pulled off a successful double race weekend.  Adventure race on Saturday and a sprint tri on Sunday.

Woke up to skies threatening rain Saturday morning.  I no sooner had the car packed and was on my way to the race when the thunder turned to rain.  Lots of rain.  We got to the race and decided to roll with it any.  How much more could it rain?  Wrong question at the wrong time as we soon got our answer.  The rain started getting heavier as we prepared to launch into the bike portion of the course.  A couple of hills and lots of rollers later (sliding as we went on the non paved sections) we passed the only other couple out on the course in our division and managed to stay ahead of them for a while.  As we got into the canoe, the rain started falling even harder.  We had already had plenty of rain that week and the lake was high - high enough that we made hellacious time getting to the turnaround as there was a quick current running - that made me laugh.  As we were coming back in from the paddling section we saw the other couple/team heading out.  Switch to run/jog/walk mode and made the last bit of the course in good time - knocking 5 minutes or so off last year's time.  And, we weren't last.  One race down.

Sunday greeted me to cool air, overcast skies, but without the look of rain like Saturday.  The river was moving along at a good clip from all the rain as well.  While warming up for the swim, I pointed myself upstream and just stayed in place while I swam - like an Endless Pool thingy.  Had a great swim, knocked 9 minutes off my best time.  Had a good bike, but there was a big headwind and when you're built like a sail, you go a little slower than what you'd like.  I think I managed 12 mph on the way out.  On the way back however, I could do almost 20mph with hardly a pedal stroke :)  So the bike was about 10 minutes slower than record pace.  The run/jog/walk/crawl/cry wasn't as bad as I expected (seeing as I've done suqat for run training this year).  I had acutally beaten by record for this course (and this year the run was 3.1 miles, not 2.8 miles).  Even with the longer run, I crossed the finish line feeling really good mentally and physically and only a minute and change behind my best time for this course - even with the longer run.  Yeah!

OK, now that the endurance nonsense is over for a while, it's time to get my butt to the BMX track!  Many thanks to my sponsors, MotorTabs, ODI Grips, SockGuy, Lipz Panelz, Live Wire Energy, SteelMX Optics and Holmes Cycling and Fitness!

What a spring!  Ended up being ill for February and a good chunk of March.  Things got busy at work in April and now it's the middle/end of May!  Where does the time go??  Time to reset my focus and get back on the bike.  BMX is in full swing, my first and probably only tri for the season is a month away and with work and band gigs getting busy, I'm not sure that I'm going to have a chance to go anywhere for DH/DS races this year.  I did however just order up some Crank Brothers Mallet 1 pedals, so we'll see if they have the mojo to make me forsake Shimano pedals after a decade and a half since I first went clipless (and never looked back).  Also excited to check out the ZEA:K MTB saddle from fi'zi:k - I love their road saddles and it's time I put them on my MTB/BMX bikes.  Well, that's all for now.

So you've probably heard me go on about LiveWire Energy Chews and how much more I like them than the run of the mill, sugary, bloaty energy drink. Well, here's your chance to try them out with a little help from LiveWire! Go to their website @ www.livewireenergy.com and use the following promo code when you check out for a 15% discount of your total order - LiveWireL3 (yep, case sensitive). Now here's the part where you help me out for letting you know about this discount. In the notes section of your order, fill in my name, Frank Aponte, so that I get credit (and love) from LiveWire. Chew 'em up!

I just got the proofs for my 2009 number plates from Lipz Panelz! As always, Lipz’s has been great to work with and they put my sponsors and nickname on there are well.

Well, both Lebanon Crankers and Bumps-n-Berms got rained out on opening day this year.  I think that happened last year too.  Gotta' love living in South Central.  Four seasons - Ice, Mud, Fire-Watch and Wind :)

I'm proud to announce that all of last year's sponsors have offered to support my racing endeavors this year and I have accepted.  MotorTabs fluid replacement system, LiveWire energy chews, SockGuy socks, ODI Grips, Lipz Number Plates, SteelMX Optics and Holmes Cycling and Fitness.  Also a new sponsor for 2009 - Kill It Clothing!  They have some really awesome designs and I can't wait to start showing these threads off at the track!  Thanks again everyone, here's to a great 2009 - Race Hard, Race Fast, stay healthy and have FUN!

-Frank

Well, I haven't gotten the official rankings from ABA yet, but it looks like all of the races are in.  In the Cruiser class it looks like I'll be riding district plate number 36 (out of 43).  Down a few from last year, but definitely not at the bottom of the lisdt which is cool!  For Novice class, I'll be riding district plate number 122 (out of 154).  Not too bad for my first year in that class.  Actually, I'm really proud with how I did riding against Expert class racers half my age who are REALLY good. And FAST.  Another season down, a whole lifetime of racing to go!

Anything energy related seems to be taking over the market place. One of the latest companies to enter the energy market is new comers LiveWire Energy. They've managed to squeeze an entire energy drink into a small and tasty soft-chew; no liquid to fill you up. With two fruit flavors focused on sustained energy and two chocolate flavors focused on a potent caffeine kick. Can LiveWire manage to get the attention they deserve?

Read the rest of the article, including what they think here:
http://www.reviewbusters.net/foodanddrink/review.aspx?id=1687

OK, endurance racing stuff is done for a while, time to go play in the dirt!

The mother of all road trips!  The three amigos (my three dogs Otis, Milo and Trixie) and I drove to Alaska and back as a final hurrah to my "year" off.  Trixie does OK on the main roads, but gets a little squirrely behind the wheel on the back roads, so Milo drove most of those miles while I napped and barked orders.  Time to start my "new/old" job, get my bikes out of storage and hit the track and the trails.  Many thanks to my sponsors for keeping my feet comfy (SockGuy), hydrated (MotorTabs), my eyes less squinty (SteelMX Optics) and awake (LiveWire Energy) on my trip.  I suppose a shout out to ODI and Lipz Number plates are in order too - the monster big ODI sticker on the short bus started many conversations on the road.  See you at the track!



-Frank