I am extremely excited about my 2 newest sponsors.

1- Planet X Grassroots racing program.  Thanks to US distributor ZedSport.  Check out the sweet animated gif on my main page.  I can't wait to campaign the Planet X jersey for the rest of the season atop my Jack Flash.  Yes, you can race an aluminum jump bike frame in XC.  Can you say "efficient power transfer"?  It helps to have an iron rear end, though. 

2- Crank Brothers. Is there any moving part on a bicycle more reliable than a pair of Eggbeaters?  I can't believe I got hooked up with the people who sponsor Kabush and Peat.  The 2 biggest names in mountain biking as far as I'm concerned.  Too cool for school!  I had to go on a celebratory 3 hour training ride.  Felt great, despite wearing a black long-sleeve jersey in the early summer Tulsa heat. 

Okay, no entries since late November.  I have been back on the bike since January doing long training rides about every Sunday as weather permits, which isn't often enough.

Anyway, I'm really excited about moving up to Sport class this season for the Oklahoma series, especially considering the expanded schedule for this year which includes 2 six-hour endurance events.  Thanks to SDG and ODI for sponsorships this year.  New parts are on order and eagerly expected.  Hmm, I've noticed a pattern.  Maybe I should apply for sponsorships from IBM and the CIA.

Here's the rides for 2007:

March 13- Training has moved largely to the road thanks to poorly timed rain showers the last few weekends.  No biggie.  I'm feeling stronger on the climbs and my endurance is coming up.  Final preparations have started for the first Tour de Dirt series race of the year, Turkey Mountain, here in Tulsa.  My first foray outside of beginner/Cat 4-5.  It's gonna be a blast.  Hopefully the trails will survive the last set of showers.

February 27-  The race bike has lost a few pounds this winter to go along with the 15# I've dropped.  I'm looking forward to a season of better power and more endurance.  I've already felt much more climbing power during my first early season road rides.  Now the trails are really starting to dry out so I'm planning on doing road rides after work during the week and nice long XC rides on Sundays.

Total milage for 2007- ?? Computer still broken.  Who cares.

I`ve decided to start using the news section of my site to post a training log for my sponsors and any anybody else who cares to read. The large majority of my rides are at Turkey Mountain in Tulsa, and I feel lucky to have such a great set of trails only 15 minutes from my house. I like to do 12-15 mile rides on the Turkey race course, usually twice a week, with the occasional 8 mile sprint or 20 miler thrown in. The highpoints of this year have definately been competing in the Tour de Dirt series for the first time and my Memorial Day weekend trip to the Womble trail in Arkansas.

Most recent ride of 2006:

November 26 - 5 hours.  Felt strong all the way through.  The Oklahoma weather hasn't turned too nasty yet.  I'm surprised how quickly my body has adapted to these long rides.  I can still push hard during the 4th hour without feeling out of control or sloppy and then take it easy to cool down the last 15 minute loop.  The toughest thing is finding the right foods to eat in the morning to have the right fuel for the ride. 

November 12 - ?miles.  Who knows.  Computer is still dead.  I'm riding now just to ride instead of doing mileage.  Did a personal best 4 - 4.5 hrs at Turkey.  Not fast, but steady.  Stayed pretty chilly all day because of 20 mile winds, so I kept the long-sleeve Fox jersey and 661 2x4 pads on the whole time and just changed my gloves and socks after 2 hrs.  Felt great except I only had 2 packets of GU and didn't eat enough breakfast. Couldn't find the Hammer Gel flask.  I was chugging Gatorade Endurance but hunger pangs are still better than nausea and puking.  Just got a new sponsorship from SDG.  Looks like its time to retire the old WTB seat and Thomson post.

October 28 - 15? 20? 25?  miles.  Not sure.  I was at Turkey for a good 3.5 hrs.  The old Sigma computer gave up the ghost a few rides ago after getting the wire caught on one too many branches.  I'd already spliced together the wires once.  Anyway, back to the ride.   Definately the most amazing combination of perfect weather and perfect trail conditions I've ever seen out there.  It had rained lightly for several days the week before.  Temps were mid-60s in the am and warmed up to mid-70s by the afternoon.  Perfect to start out wearing full arm pads and change after a few hours into a new jersey and peel off the pads for a little more ventilation.  New tires are rolling lightning fast.

August 31 - 10.5 miles. Obviously haven`t been posting all my rides recently, but with the alternating heat and mud there hasn`t been much to report. Yesterday was much better and I`m looking forward to the cooler temps this weekend.

August 6 - 16+ miles. Oppressively hot and dusty. Didn`t get started until 9am so I had the trails to myself when I finished around noon. The new fork felt great but it was so hot I didn`t feel the desire to go hard. I just survived. I`m going through two bladders of powerbar drink or gatorade endurance and 3-4 squirts of PowerGel or Hammer Gel during the average long ride in this weather. Plus a quart of cold water to dump over my head after the first long loop and another quart for the ride home. Roid like Floyd!!

July 27 - 10 miles. First ride after learning how to rebuild the rear hub. It still works! Had a great 7:30-9pm ride after work. Heard the news about Floyd the Roid this afternoon and just had to go ride and sweat out that feeling like you just found out Santa Claus is a drunk. I really hope it works out for him. Anyway, I went double hard tonight and felt freakin great despite upper 80 temps. Felt like ripping off the legs of anybody who tried to stay with me. Talk about roids! Endorphins rock. Maybe it was the Clif Shot Blocks I was trying. Caffeine is tasty! Wished I had 3 more hours of daylight and two more full Camelback bladders. I just wanted to attack every jump and drop, despite the slipperiest and sandiest trails we`ve had in the 8 years I`ve been here. This is getting ridiculous. Six inch deep sand with the consistency of powdered Teflon covering large areas of trail. Hopefully we`ll get a downpour tonight. Yep, it`s pouring. Yippee! May get in a ride Sunday night when we get back from Kansas.

July 22 - 15+ miles. Got to trail at 9. We got a break in the 104 degree summer heat today - temp was about 85 when I finished at 12:30. Awesome. I rode with friends and then refilled the pack and went out for another solo training loop. Turkey has again dried out completely after the downpours of 10 days ago. It`s again sandy and crazy loose in spots.

July 19 - 5 miles. First attempt at early morning weekday ride to avoid the heat. Got there at 6:30 but could have been a half-hour earlier and still had good light. This will be an ongoing experiment.

July 15 - 7 miles. Short late-night one hour ride. Got really dark around 9. Temps are still 95 at 8pm so early AM is the only good time from now until late August. May have to get a headlamp.

July 9 - 15 miles. Felt good getting back on the trail after a week off. Took me 2 hours, so the pace was pretty leisurely. I started before 9 so it was only 83 degrees by the time I finished. My nephrology fellowship is taking up a lot of time, as I knew it would, but I`ll try to cram in as many evening and weekend rides as I can.

Mileage total since last season: 1423 (closer to 2000 because of a faulty computer)

The Planet X race bike is finally finished. This build started 14 months ago, but as any rider on a budget will understand, it had to be bought and assembled one piece at a time. Now that the new Reba fork is installed, it now has every piece that I wanted when I started building this frame. Thanks to Midtown Bicycles in Tulsa for lots of tips and assistance. See my picture gallery for updated photos. Here`s the complete build sheet:   (recent upgrades noted in parentheses)

Planet X Jack Flash with hydroformed aluminum Easton RAD tubing

Rock Shox Reba Race Dual Air disc-specific 100mm

Chris King NoThread headset

Avid SAAGO stem - 100mm

Sigma computer   (busted)

Nokon brake and rear shifter housing, silver

Avid Speed Dial Ti brake levers

Avid BB7 disc brakes, 160mm rotors

SRAM X-7 trigger shifter, rear only

Easton EA50 riser bar, 25.4 dia  (Changed to an On-One Mary bar 11/06)

ODI Ruffian lock-on grips

Dangerboys Components Maltese Cross Bar Plugs

Thomson Elite Seatpost - size very long

WTB Laser V SL Comp saddle

Maxxis Larsen Mimo Tires 26x2.0  (Changed to Scott OXYD 2.0 12/06)

Maxxis Ultralight MTB tubes

Truvativ Hussefelt crankset w/ bashguard, 175mm, innermost ring removed

Spot Brand chainring guard replaced the Truvativ bashguard 12/06

Truvativ Gigapipe SLLT bottom bracket

Blackspire Mono Veloce 32T chainring, anodized black

SRAM PC-991 9speed chain, solid pin  (Replaced with the stronger Wippermann stainless steel 9-speed chain)

SRAM X0 rear derailleur, long cage

SRAM 990 11-34 cassette, anodized aluminum carrier

Deore disc hubs, Sun DS2+XC disc specific rims   (Replaced with Mavic 317 rims built on DT Swiss hubs in 12/06

Hope skewers, stainless steel rods, gold ends

This update was started in April 2006:
Finished my first clydesdale race in second yesterday. Didn`t get the prime at the top of the starting hill, but the guy that did flatted and DNF`d. Oh well. There`s 54 points towards the TDD class championship to go with my 20 from 12 Miles of Hell. Looking forward to the Osage Hills race coming up. The OK City guys not traveling to the Tulsa-area races is really working to my advantage. Thanks, guys! Be sure to skip the Turkey Mountain race too!

Now it`s June and the season is going well. I`ve missed a few races but have been fortunate to avoid serious mechanical troubles and finished every race this year. I should be in third overall when the updated standings come out. The Osage Hills race was ridiculous but still fun, in a mud-bath sort of way. The Turkey Mountain race was very hot as expected so they cut our division back to one lap. My second place finish was disappointing since I do so much training out there, but everyone knows that Mark Luker is a very powerful rider and he knows the trails just as well as I do. No more local races until the summer break is finished in mid-september, so I`m looking at the Fat Tire Festival in Eureka Springs, AR next month which is supposed to be a big deal.

I`ve been able to control my diet better the last few months and I`ve lost enough weight that I don`t think I`ll qualify for the Clydesdale class much longer. That means I`ll go to the Master age group which is always much larger and more competitive, but it should be fun. See you in September.