JB's Adventure Blog: October 2006

In the category of best Virginia races Tidewater IS the award winner! The course is sweet flowing single track, the weather always seems perfect. The race is affordable there are great T-shirts prizes are deep and smiles are broad.

My Trek/Volkswagen regional team mates Todd Helmick and Jeff Shalk were in attendance. And Steve the "Wonder Wrench" Hoover was there with the Taureg and Trek/VW trailer greeting the fans racers and family members.

I was amazed to see how dry the course was after an inch of overnight rain. Then I ran into Steve, he told me his crew put in 4 hours of emergency trail work raking and leaf blowing to get the course in top shape that morning! That is some dedication, a quick glance at his hands showed the calused and dirt to prove it. I told him he needs to get hired by the UCI to do all of there course design and trail work! That would be great because some of the course look like they went through a swamp with some course tape.

My fellow Trekie Todd Helmick put in an inspired birthday ride pushing me the whole 6 lap race! I counter attack with 2 to go on the steepest climbs. If I waited he could creep up or try to get me in the sprint!
It was encouraging to see him racing aggressive again. I wish I could have seen him put the winning moves on at the World Police and Fire Fighter Games in Canada! Stay posted as Todd goes to Australia to defend his title this coming March!! I have a feeling he can do it again.

After the race awards Erin and I went to a cool Mexican place with Chalie, Libby, Todd, his wife Nicole, Hoover and Jeff. We talked about the days excitement and how much we wish there were more races like the Tidewater Classic!

Next year will be the 20th year celebration. See you there.

Next: the last race of the season La Ruta de los conquistadores.

Happy trails:

Jeremiah.

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 9:47 AM 1 comments

Fall Fantastic

Today was one of those days that will surely be etched into my memory as a sweet one. Todd Helmick, Andy MacKeagan and I took on the Waynesboro to Front Royal direction of Skyline Drive, and it was amazing. The rain had ceased and a brisk cold front pushed heavy cotton and azure clouds through the deep aqua sky. The shade and warm golden light put the mountains alive with color and texture! I was concerned that my cold was going to make this too much but it seems the bug is all but gone. I was riding Todd's wheel a good bit in the first 55 mile and I was hurting. Andy seemed focused but handling the pace just fine. I told him to eat every 30 mins and I think it made a difference in his late-ride strength.
I was riding my mountain bike with 700 cc's so I had a good reason to be sitting on.

Thanks to Erin for running shuttle we got talk story about our adventure over some great fajitas at el Charro. The 6+ hour 115-mile ride on the glistening asphalt was the ride of the fall so far. It seems all riders in the mid Atlantic that are in the know pay homage to is Skyline Drive.

Next Stop; The Gnarly North Fork!

Jeremiah.

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 6:35 PM 1 comments

Brazil still?

No word on whether or not Sam Jurekavic made it out of Sal Paolo or not today. I am ringing Cramer as we type. .....

He apparently lost his pass port after our first flight with TAM airlines. That stands for teach all mountainbikers not to fly with this airline. They filled up on gas pick up a full load of passengers and even had a cleaning crew buz threw on our 10 min stop. The however realized that 10,000 gallons of fuel would put them over weight so they took all of our bikes and gear off the friggen plane in some strange airport!! They unloaded our bikes and luggage at our airport (bus stop) along the way that was not even listed on our itinerary. ?? I am screwed. I am going to keep my eyes on e-bay for my stuff.
Good thing the bike was treks and not mine anyway. :) Oh well at least I am home in Virginia.

So after our Columbian ass woopen it was confirmed that we are just on a off season points gather mission. That part was certainly a success. I think our USA ranking is up to 4 in the WORLD. Also hats off to Marry Mac for winning the big Pan-Am title. Nice. In addition to the chance to see another part of the World we also had the chance for some good Brazilian food and a few beers on the beach. The wear and effect of the whirlwind season was evident in our relief the last race for this years points had come and gone. Next years first race will likely be the same as we left off. Pan-Am champs will be in march in Argentina except this time will be good a recharged for it.

Later peeps.. good luck Sam.

Jeremiah.

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 5:57 PM 0 comments

Team USA in Brazil.

You

We don't have a big team here for the Pan-Am Championships but we are having fun. Our adventures here in Camboriu in south east Brazil have been pretty modest but nice. It isn't every day you get to race near a beach side resort. The city we are staying in is like south beach Miami with huge sky scraping condos "like 60 of them" on this beautiful crescent bay.

Our activities have included naps trying to talk to the local kids and walking to ocean front restaurants for dinner and of course riding our bikes a little.

I will keep you posted on how the race goes. We should have some good south of the border competition so it should be fun. The course has like 5 really steep climbs and finishes on the 4 cross course, good stuff.

Lata JB

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 6:24 PM 1 comments

The Growler Hour of Power.

Man that was fun!

Erin, Carpenter Trevor and I took to westover park for the Tuesday night hour of cross! It is strange to think I have to fly to the south of Brazil tomorrow. But anyway I am just thinking of it as a low key race, go fast, put the game face on for 2 hours and then just drill it with what ever is left in the tank.

The cross series, now that is important stuff! We were surprised to find out the growler was already filled so all we had to do was ride!.

The course was a composite of a few ideas I had and just linking together all of the yellow trash bins park benches and the holes of the Frisbee golf course. The plastic trash barrels had a cool rodeo effect if you cut the corner too close or get pinch up on one another, Cool.

Thank goodness the little Brazil trip has me getting back just in time for next Tuesdays race and the post race beer with friends.

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 7:17 PM 2 comments

PR!!!!! at Poor Mountain Hill Climb

Andy and I headed down for the hill climb today in the fog and mist of a rainy morning around 7:30 AM. The fog was in patches like heavy dark blankets over just sections of the valley. It turned out to be a beautiful cool and clear day and perfect weather for an all out maximum climbing effort.

For those who havent done this climb before there jaws probably droped as they took the exit off of 81 towards the base of the beast. This is a big steep mountain and kinda has a mount ventoux effect with all the towers up there giving scale to it. It is also and indication for how much up you have to have to bother putting all of your towers in ONE spot. The rule is you have to to ride a mountain bike since it is part of the Virginia Derailleur Series, lucky for me I have my 9.9 Trek super light race bike. Word is the promoters, Dick and Wendy are going to open the race up to bikes of any class for next year and it will be billed as The Virginia State Championships of Hill Climbs. Cool.

After a brisk lead out from a brave junior i slung into the steeping first pitches of the still wet paved road. I felt like i had wings today, it was really like flying; not effortless but a pace that I thought I could do for a while. Man time has a way of dragging on when your are suffering, my previous effort had been more pain than fun but this one was certainly a good feeling; the feeling of digging a sharp saw into a fallen tree. I was getting a good bite into the climb and covering some ground quick. Dick was watching in the Saturn of Roanoak pace vehicle just ahead to make sure I did't bum a ride on some one's Turag.

At the top after the final switch backs (true to hill climb pacing) you should be inside out! I was for the last 5 minutes. I had no choice I was in my easiest gear and just maxed out on the 18 % final strait. Wicked! The drool is usually a good indicator your pegged, Paul Buchi would have been proud. Maybe next year the C-Ville posse will come out to play. I heard the 2 skinny pro's have taken up to some sort of buisness venture that is keeping them in shape I will keep you posted.

After the race we all had a good time talking about how it hurt and how cool it was to do somthing different; like see how fast you can climb a 3,000 ft climb. For me it was 38:18. I was proud to come back for this one because this time last year my back was in a couple more peices than it is now. Andy rocked out 2nd place and took home some pride in his climbing. Maybe next year the C-Ville posse will come out to play. I heard the www.2skinnypros.com have taken up to some sort of buisness venture that is keeping them in shape I will keep you posted on developing gossip news and other useless junk.

See ya next time.

Jeremiah.

posted by Jeremiah Bishop # 4:13 PM 3 comments

Tide Water Mountian Bike Classic #5!

Fall Fantastic

Brazil still?

Team USA in Brazil.

The Growler Hour of Power.

PR!!!!! at Poor Mountain Hill Climb

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