Storm Chasin, and Bike Racin.....

Yep- wild weekend. We set off from Chattanoooga at about noon on friday. Typical race weekend, my wife with no sleep, van full of bike stuff and kids and a caravan (spread out as it was) between Aj, our group and Strad.

We get out of the nooga" a bit later then palnned but it's ok as we will still get to Franklin early and get to pre ride the SOTO course with our juniors to get in some much needed recon.

so we're on the road and getting close to Murfreesboro, it's starting to rain but that's fine, we aren't made of sugar and will just be hard men and take the ride as it comes.

Then, I get a call from AJ- he's about 10 minutes up the road- he says, "man, we jsut saw a tornado!!!" so, at this point, I'm like "o.k. that sucks"

so we keep driving and get on 840 towards Franlin. That's when it became apparent taht things were going poorly. With STrad driving behind us we get a glimpse off to teh left of a system forming, and when we get even with it- FULL BLOWN TWISTER!!! Wide and coming towards us. There's people on the side of the road stopped, my wife asks "why ar ehtose people stopped" my response- they are stupid and want to die!

so we're hittin it up the road as fast as I think we can stay on the road and get away from the monster.

so that's the start to the weekend, it had to get better from there. AJ tells me, "seeing the tornado made this trip worth it" man, the thought pattens of a 17 year old- would be nice to have that much of a lack of concern again, I envy that attitude.

so we actually get ont eh bikes at the SOTO course int eh afternoon an dit's warm but horribly windy, we get the ride in, with the wind moving us erratically left and right but it was a good ride.

We also made it to Birmingham saturday to get in the 1/2/3 race against some pretty solid regional competition and a handful fo young pros. Cinthia got 2nd int eh womens race and the guys good expereinece- Blair, Strad and AUbrey rode hard and well, I suffered a bit but rode aggressively and feel good about the effort. ofcourse it ended in a mad dash to the line of 40 guys and without AJet or TY, it's simply a futile attempt for us to combat that.

all in all, a great weekend. But one that I won't forget soon....

carp

Nice Job Guys

Last weekend the HIncapie DEVO squad took many results- from our domination in Rome, GA withthe 1/2 riders to our girls with cinthia finishing 2nd in an open womens race and Angela winning top cat 4 womens honours to Blar and Strad cleaning up the cat 3 race in SC-----



I take some side joy in this in that they are both KingdomSports.net coached athletes.

great job to all

carp

Happy St Patricks Day!!!

Yep- I'll have a few this evening. Enjoy responsibly and have a good time.......

and for musical selections throughout the day; U2, Oasis, The Pogues....to name just a few.

RIder Down

I should have posted this last week but did not. Chattanooga and the world lost a truely good person last week when he was hit by a box van while commuting to work on thursday morning. David was a Husband, Father, Frame Builder, Cyclist, Adventure racer among other things. He was a freind to all on the bike in many ways and his life was shortened by what appears to be at the minimum inattention at the worst criminal. There is one individual who knows the truth but that doesn't bring this beautiful person back. I wasn't in his inner circle but he was always exceptionally approachable even though that wasn't the case.

We could have all learned more from him and I feel for his family. The outpooring of support in Chattanooga and the feelings of loss are incredible. It makes you think and fear that as a rider you will be uligized in a public forum, I hope this never happens in our city again but I am a relist and know that it very well may.

Lets all be careful out there......

the Season is upon us

so, the season is here. Started racing (or atleast I'll call it racing) in Greenville this past weekend. Saturday didn't go bad but mostly I sat in and just worked on moving around in a field again, Sunday was horrible with strong winds and me missing a gap that formed early- no worries though, I'm a bit further along this year then last so I'm ok with it. it's tough when you take the first few angry pedal strokes each year, but it gets better.

on another note, our team bikes are here- the Scott Addict complete with SRAM Red- they are SWEET!!!!! corner very smoothly, seem to descend nicely (only taken it down 2 so far, both with hard cross winds so I can't make a full assessment- but good initial vibes on it). plus, it weighs 15 pounds!! actually 15.18 pounds of pure fluid artwork is what I call it right now.

so, all is good, looking forward to the season and hopefully to regaining my previous climbing abilities

carp

The Greater Good.........

Sometimes we don't think about why things happen the way they do. Why ceratin teams come out on top, why soemtimes people fail. But then sometimes, we see the result of that outcome. And in this case, it is definitely for the Greater Good......

When Santonio Holmes made that incredible catch in the Super Bowl a few weeks ago it just looked like another great athletic feat. Now, it is so much more then that.

http://www.cmarket.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?vhost=reebok&cm_re=1-_-Gloves_Constellation_Icon-_-Gloves_Auction

Gets you thinking on how you can give back........

carp

DOPERSSUCK.COM

check this out- click on the word "aim" under "recent posts"


DOPERSSUCK.COM

Dopers SUCK>>>>>

yeah, dopers suck. With the news of A-Rod testing positive in 2003, it got me thinking.

It's well documented that sports organizations like MLB, the NFL and the NBA have minimal testing programs and even less sanctions when then actually do (most likely accidentally) catch somebody using banned substances. On the other hand, we hear about cycling's "drug culture" and it being a "drug ridden sport" but nobody is putting things into perspective at all on the matter.

So- here's a very simple 2003 statistic.

In the news it is now being said that 104 MLB players tested + in 2003. That is out of about 1,000 players. NOW, compare that to the USADA statistics for ALL Olympic sports (except Baseball obviously)- there were 7448 tests (in and out of comp) performed by USADA in 2003 and there were 52 findings- yeah, only FIFTY TWO!!!!! And that is not in cycling but in cycling, swimming, track and field, weight lifting, skiing, triathlon, yada, yada, yada.........

Keep in mind these are US tests- the WADA (world anti doping association) in 2003 did over 5000 out of competition tests and only 28 adverse findings- (I couldn't find in comp results)

so, over 10% of athletes tested positive in MLB in 2003- and this is assuming that ALL players were tested- they were probably not testing everyone.

Here is the problem-

MLB penalties for steroid use
First positive: Treatment
Second positive: 15-day suspension or $10,000 fine.
Third positive: 25-day suspension or $25,000 fine.
Fourth positive: 50-day suspension or $50,000 fine.
Fifth positive: one-year suspension or $100,000 fine.
Note: All suspensions are without pay

Yeah, tough penalties for sure-

oh, what are cycling's penalties-

First positive: 2 year ban
Second positive: lifetime ban

yep- that's it, one and you are out for a long time, 2 and you're done.........

And that's just the comparison of MLB. The NFL and NBA aren't any better.

Wake up people, cyclists test positive because they are actually tested often. And the rates at which they test positive is very low compared to other sports.

I know my opinion, hopefully more people will start to look at what really goes on in professional sports and put the pressure on other governing bodies to clean up their sports.....

CARP

Goat Path.......

Rode what I think it THE toughest climb in the Chattanooga area today-

the Rockly Lane climb on Pigeon Mountain. It's 4K of miserably steep chip and seal in the middle of nowhere and goes even more into nowhere.

(see the link- note that I'm not the most ocmputer savy individual- I would like to actually learn how to embed this)

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=34.661028,-85.364113&spn=0.02718,0.073042&t=h&z=14&lci=lmc:panoramio

As I'm riding it I have the thought, "why in the hell did I do this climb in February?" This climb is beautiful but is most definitely my nemisys. After the 9 switchbacks of bouncy pseudo pavement, gravel and black ice wheel spinning good time, I stopped and caught my breath before I embarked on the way back down.

You see, when you get up to the top, you have 2 choices: 1) descencend the cliff you just climbed 2) ride the non paved-mogul filled rock and dirt path 8 miles to Daugherty gap.

This is the granddaddy of the road less traveled trainign series that I hope to ride again sometime this spring.


---carp

New Kits

here's a peek........

The Road Less Traveled Training Series

Took a bit of a diversion today- didn't have much time to ride but hit one of my favorite unpaved roads- this one is about 10K into the River Gorge RR course. Slygo Ridge Road......

I have a few roads that I think I can connect into a single endurance ride soon- Sam, you in for some off road diversions?

see you (off) the road

carp

Team Kits

Just got a sneak peak at our 2009 Hincapie-Barkley Development Team kits. SWEET!!!!!!

can't post as per orders of Bake, but you'll see them soon enough.

C

life changes

lot's going on in the Carp household right now, job transition, trying to advance the coaching business and have an exciting but nervous potential with a friend on a business proposal.

the cool thing is I have had more time to figure out the Ipod thing- just got one for my b-day last fall but now am figuring out the cool uses such as putting all the pictures on it that I took on my work phone over the past few years (a phone that I will now be returning in a week).

So, nervous, anxious and excited describes the Carp at this time in his life (yeah, sometimes you gotta go 3rd person)

see you on the road

carp

There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.......

It’s mid-winter. That means riding in all weather conditions and making the most of training time. That also means figuring out how to deal with the poor conditions and what are your individual limits/needs for those conditions. Basically, your individual time-temperature curve.

First, let me say I ride in ALL bad weather here in Chattanooga, I do not however ride if I feel the weather is DANGEROUS. The difference to me is in visibility, icy conditions and thunderstorms. The coldest ride start I have had this year was 2 Saturdays ago when it was 7 degrees (Fahrenheit) when I rolled out the door. 3 ½ hours, one climb and a coffee stop later I was still fine when I rolled back in the door.

THE key to me is dressing right. You hear of layers but exactly how do you layer. Here are my key points: Good base layer (especially wool or synthetic fibers that wick away moisture because if you get wet, you’re in trouble), arm warmers on the OUTSIDE of long sleeve jerseys (so you can take them off before a climb- and not get wet!), good gloves and shoe covers (the importance here is that if you wear to many tight layers on your extremities they will get COLDER due to lack of blood flow), a solid chest cover (wind resistant vest or jacket that can again be pulled off if needed), a solid head cover that fits under a helmet (yep- I don’t recommend going without a helmet just to wear a hat- get something that fits under a helmet).

We on the Hincapie Development team are very fortunate to have availability of the best made clothing in the world, I recommend to everyone to compile your winter gear as needed season after season, piece by piece if budget doesn’t allow a big one time purchase

Some Ghetto techniques are plastic bags between shoes/shoe covers, toe or hand warmers, a hot water bottle or warm camel back to make sure you have available water and it can add to the heat retention in the ride, and a “rescue layer” which is basically plastic (rain jacket, bag, etc) you can put on if you run into trouble being wet in a wind.

The recommendation you will hear anyone that rides in cold weather make is you should be cool but not frigid when you leave because you will warm up just from increased heat production from the work. So, if you are warm the first 2 minutes you may get cold later due to sweat.

See you out on the road.

Carp