Super Dave One . . .

. . .is on the road now. My very own custom built and custom painted road bike courtesy of Jake Kane at www.kanebikes.com. Check that bad boy out. Isn't that one of the sweetest looking bikes you have ever seen. I know it is one of the best I have ever seen, and it's mine. Complete with Ultegra SL components in the NEW Ice Grey finish. Makes the bike look just a little sweeter. It's an aluminum frame with a carbon seatstay and chainstay, as well as a carbon fork. It's bold blue with polished aluminum tribal designs in the top and down tubes. And, of course, it's got the builders logo embedded throughout the frame. Best of all, it is personalized just for me, Super Dave. It is one extremely awesome bike and it is SUPER FAST.

Thanks for the great looking bike Jack.

What a week of riding

This week turned out to be pretty good and pretty tough. it was raining Monday so we took a much needed day off, plus I was exhuasted from Sunday's race and 6+ hours of driving. Tuesday started off fairly pedestrian but we still had a good four laps at the Golf course, much of it into a steady wind.
Wednesday was the first of a couple of days of seriously hard riding. We headed out to Courthouse Bay with the winds again pushing us around, but this time we pushed back as hard as we could. It was a hard trip out and actually a tough trip back without as much tailwind as we thought we should've had. We managed to average 240+ watts for that hour of riding.
Thursday we again headed over to the golf course, but this time there was only a light breeze and for the most part, at our backs. We did some of the hardest intervals that we have ever tried. We hit the rollers at 22+mph on the first lap, 24+mph on the 2nd and 26+mph on the final two laps. We finished fast enough to put in an extra lap, much easier before heading to Stone St for a strong finish. Unfortunately, my legs were done by the time we hit the final climb.
I had the day off from work Friday, so I got to join the DEC weekday crew on their Friday ride. The day started off good, because I was able to put in nearly 12 miles to get to the ride start. I met up with the 6 regular riders and set off with just a light breeze at our backs. However, after 930 the wind really started blowing and once we made it out to the half way point, the trouble started. There was not an easy mile after that. We all worked as hard as possible pulling and pushing the group to the end. Once we finished the ride, I still had to get home. Thankfully the wind was at my back for most of the ride home. 52+ miles, 18.5mph avg, Not bad for a really windy day.
The best part about Friday was that I picked up my new Jack Kane custom bike. Stay tuned for more to follow on that subject.
Ride On!
-Super Dave

Map My Ride / Fitness Training group

Anyone interested in joining the East Carolina Riders & Runners training group as part of the Down East Cyclists, Map My Ride and local runners in Jacksonville, NC area, go ahead and visit this site.

Join the East Carolina Riders & Runners Training Group

Tell me what you think.

Time Trial at Iron Gate Winery

I have to tell you that the members of Tricyclists put on a GREAT Time Trail. Three of the riders from Down East Cyclist(myself, Larry Morton and Steven Walker) made the drive up to Mebane to race and I, for one, had a great time and an excellant race. I'm sure we all enjoyed ourselves, because we talked about the race and course for an hour afterwards. The race was a bit harder than we expected, but we knew that the lack of hills in the J-ville area would be a decidingly big factor. We all had to work hard from start to finish and I was nearly rewarded for my efforts. I covered the 10.75 mile course in 27:46 and finished 4th in my age group, with Steve just 5 seconds back. Larry started much later than we did, so he had the advantage of being well informed about the course. He had a good ride too, considering that he rode 70+ miles at the Tour de Pickle in Mount Olive the day before.
The race course was awesome and the support staff that they had was super. There were race marshalls at the start and finish and at each corner and they even police support. Thanks to the riders of Tricyclists for the awesome race. I already plan on going back and improving on my time and place.

Being sick SUX!

I spent the first half of the week suffering with a bad sinus cold that had my head pounding. Monday, Tuesday and early morning Wednesday I just felt like crap. I missed a couple of training rides that I needed to get ready for the Time Trial at Iron Gate Winery Sunday. The good news from Tuesday was that Michael loaned me his TT helmet hoping that it helps me out for the ride. Wednesday I finally got back to riding. I did an easy 20 miles with Michael around the golf course. We kept it under 20mph because I still had some breathing issues.
Thursday, I did a solo TT on Lyman Rd. The wind was supposed to be minimal, but it was gusting crosswind and played havoc on my ride. I had to work hard to keep my tempo high and stay relaxed, which was made harder because of the fact that I still had some chest congestion. I did manage to keep rolling and not tighten up and actually had a decent time. 28:11 would have gotten me second place in the DEC Time Trial, last September, easily besting everyone but Patrick.
Friday, I got to do some good spinning on the Colnago, trying to keep the legs from tightening up any. It'll be an easy day on Saturday and then off to the TT Sunday. Steve and Larry should be joining me, and hopefully one of us will be bringing home some hardware. Details later!!!

What a wicked end of week and weekend of riding . . .

. . . but neccessary to get ready for next weeks time trial. I did some sprints on Thursday on the Colnago to get some hard riding in my legs. Friday was a nice hard trip around the Brig trail(MTB). Then after work we all headed down to Michael's for a ride and dinner. The girls did an easy, enjoyable 13 miles , while Michael and I pushed close to 20 miles in and around Hampstead, NC. Followed by an EXCELLANT seminar at Bike Cycle (Wilmington) on Motivation. Rachel learned a lot and hopefully this will help her out with her triathlon training.
Saturday was a hammerfest and I wasn't feeling 100%. About 9 good riders headed out for a strong run to Hubert into a stiff headwind. I lead out the entire route, but the return was too much for me to handle and the last 7 miles I got dropped HARD. Thankfully, I had a little company to assist me. After 1/2 mile or so I made an attempt to bridge the huge gap and got within 50 or so feet before the winds stopped me. After that I was done and I had to limp back on my own, a distant 6th. Took a much needed rest day Sunday and I'll be starting fresh next week.

Ride On!
-Super Dave

Two more days and two tough . . .

. . .rides. Again, the wind continues to blow like mad. The last two days Michael and I decided to take it easy and do a couple of laps at the golf course. Yesterday near the end of the second lap we ran across Chuck Long riding a Lemonds. He rode our last two laps with us and then opted to ride a few on his own. Hope to see him out riding in the future. Today we were blessed with Myk's presence on the ride. We haven't seen him out in a few months and it was good to have him riding again. Looks like with the colder months being left behind more riders will be out there.
Hope to see more riders on the next ride.

Ride On!
-Super Dave

Today's ride was a . . .

. . . tough lunch ride with Michael Clay. I didn't quite make it to the theater when I met Michael. I turned and we rode down to River Rd then through French Creek and out to Sneeds Ferry Rd. Past ASP and down Marine Way until LZ Egret where we turned around and rode the reverse route back. The winds seemed to be blowing from all directions. It was a tough ride out to the LZ and after we turned it was just as tough riding past the ASP. I pushed as hard as I could, trying to keep the pace over 20 mph at 105 rpms. Michael and I both worked hard and put in a great ride. Hopefully the wind will lighten up some time soon and we can enjoy some near windless riding.
Oh well, all we can do is keep riding.
Ride On!
-Super Dave

Riding 5k

Just starting this bike blog and wanted to start on a high note. Today, 10 April 2008 is a significant bike date for me. Today was the day that near the end of a 23 mile lunch ride, with a couple of friends, my bike(computer) and I flipped over 5000 miles together. I've been riding the bike just about every other day for about 14 months(I bought it on 4 Feb 07).

The Bike is a:
CANNONDALE SYNAPSE CARBON SL (17.5 lbs)
A 53/39 Crank & 12 - 25 rear cassette
Ultegra components and a Dura-Ace rear derailleur
Flightdeck 10 Cycling computer

Ride On!
-Super Dave