Raccoon Rock, aka Hamburg Hole, aka Schuylkill River Cliff Jump, aka IQ Test

Thanks to Oscar's research and discovery of one of the best sites on the internet, swimmingholes.org, we were able to obtain knowledge that probably only a small number of locals even know about. Upon finding out that there was what seemed to be a pretty nice swimming spot in Hamburg, PA on the Schuykill River only like 15 or 20 miles away, we set out bathing suits in hand (well some of us anyway...we've been twice and Oscar somehow forgot his suit both times) to check it out. It did not disappoint.

It's hard to beat a good swimming hole in the dead of summer. I mean, I really don't think there's anything that can match the good clean fun that a swimming hole can provide to people of all ages during a blazing summer day. Of course not everyone keeps it good ol' clean fun. Every uncommercialized swimming hole has its share of people that bring beer and weed to the spot without fail, and this one was no different. It's sorta puzzling to me why impairment always seems to be a necessity, and all I can think of is that the druggies must simple be braver people by nature and must be searching for that extra bit of thrill. I guess free falling for 40 or 50 ft into a murky current isn't enough for them, but for me, completely sober I was scared shitless and had absolutely no trust in my own two feet as I edged out onto this peninsula of a rock; I can't imagine trying to keep my balance up there shwasted. But then again I would never back flip off this rock either. I guess its just one of those things that people, who are way more daring than I, do. Some do back flips off the 45 ft cliff, some do front flips, some do one-and-a-halfs, some do gainers, some dive, and some jump off it so blown that they can't see straight.

Anyway, we got there, jumped off lower rocks and swam around for a bit, staring up at the looming cliff as some poor 14 year old was being pressured into jumping by two of the more drunk 40 somethings. The rock looked intimidating but I knew I wanted to jump off it, but more than that, I knew that I didn't want to be fried alive under pressure like the 14 year old that eventually walked away without jumping after at least half an hour in the spotlight. Lucky for me, the old guys soon left along with much of the crowd, and the top of the rock was now ours for the taking. The first time I walked out on the little rock peninsula at the top was also the first time I had ever felt afraid of heights. Yeah it was just water below and I'd witnessed dozens of people jump and live to tell the tale, but I started feeling woozy at the sight of it. It sort of freaked me out that I was even getting freaked out by this. Usually when I jump off stuff its just my common sense that I have to argue with to convince myself to do it, but this time, my it seemed my body was giving me real physical signs that this was a bad idea. I still wanted to do it.

After convincing Thomas to do it if I did, my peer pressure then shifted to Oscar as I tried to get myself amped up more than anything. The O was not only resistant to my pressure (saying NO immediately), but he went further to say that "Neither you or Thomas is going to do it and we're just going to stand up here all day thinking about it, so we might as well leave now." Well jeez, I was sorta looking for someone to try to motivate me to jump, but Oscar was obviously not the one in this situation, he must be really scared of this jump. So Thomas and I did exactly as Oscar had predicted, danced around on top of the cliff squealing like little girls for at least a good half hour to 45 min. All of a sudden, fed up with our childish ways and wanting to leave, Oscar charges by me. I met his eyes but they were locked on something distant, his body was faintly quivering, and he was walking so fast that it looked like running would probably be more efficient. There he went, right off the edge of the rock, not even looking down until his foot had left solid land. Oscar hadn't wanted to do it at all so I was bewildered at the sight.

Oscar's survival from the jump paved the way for Thomas to do it soon after, and then me (even longer after). I guess I knew I would feel this way, but after the first jump and with the excitement over, I saw how simple and harmless it was and felt completely silly for making such a big deal out of it. But still, it was the highest thing I've ever jumped off of.

(I know it looks small in the picture, but I swear it felt really high)

The Velodrome

Since my return to Kutztown after my 2 week stay at home, we've gotten the opportunity to race the track twice on Tuesday nights. I don't exactly have any killer results to boast about, but we've held our own, every once in a while getting a top 5 in some of the races. Its about what I would expect, not because everyone here is in better shape than us, they are just in better track shape. After so much road racing, I can't expect my track legs to be as good as those of the guys that are here racing and training on the velodrome every week. The first week back, we got to do a madison which was pretty dang scary for me because the track was really crowded, unlike the races at Dick Lane which split up the moment Jeff says "GO." Oscar and I got 5th in this madison, here's a link with a few cool photos of us in action: http://www.cyclingcaptured.com/gallery/8822745_jYA9t#586780364_HJMM2

Tonight we're going to the track to do our first Friday night racing here. It's supposed to be the "pro race" by invite only, so that should be fast.

TOV; Stage 3

The fourth and final stage of the weekend was a crit held in Youngstown, OH, and as we pulled in to town, much of what Jim Behrins had described about the town unfolded before our eyes. It had definitely seen better days; I guess it was a booming area when the steel industry was thriving, but from the looks of it, most of the factories, warehouses, and other random buildings had since been abandoned. Granted it was a Sunday, but the city streets still seemed eerily empty to me.

With the box of powerbar gels having seemingly disappeared from the van (???), before the race got underway I managed to swipe a couple free Mountain Dews from the hospitality tent to fill my bottles with sugar. The fuel situation taken care of, the only thing left to do before the race got under way was go drop the kids off at the pool…. something I would NEVER DARE start a race without doing. I’m talkin, this is more important than any warm up or whatever other pre-race customs you can think of. So, to take care of business I followed the trail of riders into this supa fancy shmancy wine bar (I think it was called Rosetta Stone), the owner of which I’m sure was cursing himself for even getting out of bed that morning, much less being open and inviting to the cyclists. “The bathroom is all the way in the back? Oh, ok thanks. Back on the other side of that pristine, polished, hardwood dance floor you got back there? Alright, don’t mind if I do…” Yeah, no joke, I’m estimating that at least half the cyclists at this race used that bathroom, tromping straight across that wooden dance floor in their click-clackin cleats. Momma woulda been horrified at the site, and because her scolding me for walking across a wood floor in metal cleats was all I could think of, I couldn’t bring myself to look down to inspect the damage, as I tried to ever-so-gently make my way across the dance floor.

When it was my turn in the john, just as every other cyclist who had sat on that same throne that afternoon had done, I blew it up in there, flushed and made as quick a get away as possible. That brings up an entirely different problem that the Rosetta Stone management was also going to need to address…

As for the race itself, it didn’t quite unfold in picture perfect fashion, but it worked out nonetheless. With Jafer sporting the yellow jersey and a sizeable lead on all but one other competitor, all that ideally needed to be done was to lead Jafer out for the sprint, so he could win or at least place high enough to maintain his lead. Maybe a quarter of the way into the race, I looked up and found myself staring at Paul Martin’s butt (which is about at face level because the dude is so big) seconds before he launched an attack. Well that’s a no brainer, I’m already on his wheel and no one is getting away without us, so I follow him. We get a gap, I refuse to pull through as is necessary when trying to defend a jersey back in the field, but before I know it, Oscar has covered another attack and bridged up with 2 other Panther guys and another GC contender. I say hi to the O and all that’s left to do at that point is sit on for the ride, so that’s what we did; neither of us taking a single pull. I knew we were with a strong little bunch, but our gap hovered at only around 15 to 20 sec for at least half an hour, so I was sure we were gonna eventually get brought back. Well all of a sudden, in the last 10 laps our gap grew immensely. We weren’t getting caught at that point, and a Panther guy attacked with 2 laps to go. Oscar wasted no time in hitting the front of our little group for the first time all day to make sure this got brought back, and he did it with perfection. Oscar smashed the lone attacker’s dreams for victory just 2 or 3 turns from the finish, and peeled off to hang on for 4th. I then went into the last corner 3rd wheel, and sprinted to victory up the left side after nearly getting pinched into the barriers as 2nd-place took desperate measures to try to keep from getting passed.

After Martin’s complaint (he got pinched out and forced to take 3rd) about 2nd place taking us into the barriers, that guy got relegated to 3rd, giving Martin 2nd instead. It was a hard call for the officials, but I didn’t see much wrong with what had happened. Of course my opinion might have been different had I not won, but still, to me it seems like that sort of thing is just a part of bike racing. People get pinched, squeezed, pushed, and bumped in and out of position every day in races. Anywhoo, with the win and Martin in 3rd, I thought I had the weekend all sewn up with enough points to take the overall win, but with the officials’ decision to move Paul Martin into 2nd on the stage, gave him enough points to be tied with me in the overall GC. There were a few nervous minutes when I thought they would decide the tie by whoever did better in the time trial (which was him) but luckily it came down to which one of us had won more stages (which was me), with the TT as the tie breaker only if number of stage wins was a tie as well.

So, to wrap up this essay, I won the overall title, Jafer took third overall, and Oscar got fifth. A good weekend and decent paycheck for the boys.

TOV; Stage 2

Dont got much time, but Jafer had a great ride today. We did a road race that had a couple big hills and lots of rollers and he got in a break first lap that stayed away. He gobbled up both KOM sprints which earned him extra points for the overall, and he won the stage by attacking the break with like I Km or less to go. He is in the lead overall now and all we've got left is a crit tomorrow to defend his title. It should be good fun. Oscar and I are also sitting 4th and 5th overall which is good but top 3 is where most of the money is at so we're gonna go chasing it tomorrow.....gotta get that moooooooooooooollllaaaaahaahhhhhhhhhhhh

Tour of the Valley; Day One

I had a rather disappointing time trial this morning: Oscar got 5th, Jafer got 7th, and I got 8th, and the others were not too far behind. It wasn't all that bad, but for the competition, we knew we could do better. I don't know what's up with me and TT's, I think I just don't get along with my bike.

The crit went waaay better, we killed it, in fact. After following and making attacks for much of the race, everything happened in the last 6 or 7 laps when I followed Panther's Paul Martin off the front, just the 2 of us. While I spent a few laps working with him trying to figure out how I was gonna beat such a big dude, Oscar made the absolute smartest move of the race. I looked across this traffic island to the road on the other side where the course sorta doubled back on itself and saw Oscar off the front with just one other guy, and not a Panther guy either. I was set from this point on, I only soft peddled when I took pulls and then sat on the guy i was with for the whole last lap and a half. If Oscar caught us that'd have been to my and his advantage, and if not, no big deal cause the only way we were gonna stay away was if Paul Martin pulled more than me. We ended up not getting caught, and I had gas left at the end so I won the sprint between the two of us. Oscar beat his companion for 3rd, and after a lead out from Jafer and Mikey, Thomas and Anthony went 1, 2 in the field sprint. We basically won on all possible fronts and it was a good feeling.

Really quick recap with few details....

So a lot has happened that I havent quite kept up with since the last post, but there's no time for that now. Basically, we raced Nature Valley which was hard every day. I didnt really do as good as I wanted there, placing only 4th in best young rider instead of top 3 which woulda earned us some money. Then after a days rest (that began while we were still at the casino from the night before), we went to the Tour of Ohio which was an amateur only race and had a pretty poor turn out (45 or so) compared to previous years when there were over 100 racers. We were pretty worn out by the end but ended up with some good results, winning a 3 of 6 stages, and I wound up with the overall win and the sprint jersey.

Taking a break from racing, I headed home for 2 weeks during which time I went to the beach, swam in lakes and rivers, rode some, and raced the track. It was a really good change of scenery and activity.... not that the jjoe's crew is getting old or anything :)

Now its nice to get back to Kutztown and redirect my focus to training and recover.... I need sleep!