Global Warming...I want some

Well, it looks like we MIGHT hit an average high temp (~60-65 degrees) 1 time in the next week or two. First, we need to finish out a stretch of 2 days straight of rain followed by 2 days of 20-25 degree below normal temps and a possible record low for tonite=)

Seriously though, riding on Saturday was one of the more miserable experiences on bike that I have had in a while. For the first 1.5 hours, I rode strait into the wind. Then I headed south along the ridge of the Valley down by Jordan...it was CRAZY! I had a 30-40 mph head/cross wind... I was leaned into the wind about 30 degrees. How do I know the wind speed? Well, on the way back with the tail wind, the wind was still going faster than me. My spin out speed on a mtbk is in the 30-33 mph range. In the end, I limped home with a cold wind-driven bonk. I feel bad because I greeted Jen with a scowl when she asked how the ride was. However, one toothy smile from Tegan later, all the pain I was in disappeared.

Ok, I am done whining. It could be worse right? Yep, I am sure up at Maplelag, Jay and the boys are wondering how they are going to ride in all that snow!

On the bright side, as of last Thursday night we live in our new house and really like it. There is so much space that I was able to claim entire room (unfinished basement area), a guest room closet, and a wall of the garage JUST for bikes and related gear. I should probably order a new one up soon (madone or super six??? that is the question), as there are a few open hooks=)

Onward and Upward.

The Fishers

Yeah, I know it has been a long time since my last update, but things have been very busy in the Moore household.

First and foremost I want to congratulate Chris and Jen Fisher on tying the the knot! It was a wonderful wedding and reception and Jen and I were honored to be in the wedding party. Now Tim and Pat can't give Chris any crap at the Buck Hill races...well at least about that=)

We had a bachelor party for Chris combined w/ Wenk's birthday down in Kato last weekend. Wenk, Fisher, Danno, Pattycakes, Tom, Paul, and I headed out in 30 mph N winds and 35 degrees. It was a great ride complete w/ attacks, suffering, cursing, and bonking. We followed the ride with Mexican food, beer, corn whiskey (see below), mojitos, beer, darts, pizza, beer, sleepy (in that order).

Yep, read the label...corn whiskey in a mason jar

Tom and Dave after taking a shot of red bull and corn whiskey...disgusting!

The big news at our house is that we are moving (those that read Jen's blog know and those that don't can see pictures there). Moving is NOT fun until it is done. We have been packing with almost every spare moment.

So between moving, being in a wedding, working, and being a daddy/husband I have been training. I think I am doing ok fitness wise, but it is always tough to tell until the first race. Today I hit dirt for the first time (other than Singapore) and the new bike felt great. I had to make some minor adjustments, but I was quickly and comfortably at home on it by my second lap at Harmon....I even got to ride w/ the newlyweds on their first day as a married couple=)Racing wise, I am probably headed down to Decorah for a time trial this weekend. After that, we will see if Paul and I hit up Iola or not. I am still hoping for the local Hillside Park race that weekend to avoid driving so far. The spring cup (MNSCS #1) is the weekend following that.

Zoom Zoom

It has been a while, but I was traveling again... I was gone most of March actually. This time it was pure leisure in Marco Island FLA. Tegan, Jen and I had a great time w/ her family down there. I was happy to be away from this crappy spring we are having=)

The view from our condo:

My little buddy stretching w/ me: =)

Me and my Sweety:

Now on to the juicy stuff:

The new ride is in full effect as Vanilla Ice would say. It is a Trek Fuel 9.9 SSL.

Mostly stock except:

Bonti Carbon Riser Bar

Selle Italia SLR XC Saddle

Small Block Eights of course

and the coolest change....the Industry Nine ultralite wheelset....yeah, check out the red spokes!

I have to thank Maury, Deb, Matt, and Charly for their support and help making this dream ride a reality!

I will update on the new look hardtail soon too.

Oh, BTW, if you were wondering about the weight, it is 22.5 lbs on the nose...with pedals.

Word to your mother...

I like Carrots

I thought I was done blogging from Singapore, but here goes one more....I set out this morning thinking I would just do a reasonable tempo on my last day...but there were too many expensive carrots here.

You all know the feeling (Fisher, you get it on almost every ride)... you see it, you HAVE to catch it.

First I saw a group of roadies...so I decided to move things up from tempo to threshold (BTW, I have NO idea what, speed, heart rate, wattage, or otherwise that corresponds to, I just know how it feels). They didn't like the pace so I was alone again.

Then I caught a group on tri bikes...and the biggest carrots of all, TTX, BMC carbon racer, litespeed among others. We played together for the rest of the ride...really nice guys and one of them was good friends w/ the guy who runs Eco Seagate (my New Zealand trip a couple years ago). Its a small world.

What I learned? They had computers, and I need a bigger ring if I want to go any faster than 49km per hour=)

Homesick...but homeward bound

I am starting to get very homesick...3 weekends have gone by without seeing my family. I am sure my little dude has grown up a lot. The good news is that I leave here ~6am Wednesday and arrive home around 11 am Wednesday...22 hours of travel, but backwards over the date line.

Either way, it has been a great trip, and assuming I ride tomorrow morning I will have ridden every day. That will be 17 days straight of riding...some hard, some not.

My bike has kept me sane when I really start missing home.
Thanks to Rochester Cycling and Fitness for the breakaway fuel idea (Matt) and for helping me out with the bike (Deb and Charly)! I won't have to leave home w/out it now.
Thanks to Jen Meyer for letting me borrow her rear shock (the one on the bike blew up after the first ride).
Thanks to my wife for letting me buy yet ANOTHER bike=)
Thanks to my son for being my motivation.

Circumnavigation

Saturday, I headed out w/ the goal being to circumnavigate and entire country in 1 day. Well, it only took 3.5 hours in the end and was 65-70 miles. About 2 hours of the trek was in the driving rain, which takes its toll.

I was planning on mountain biking Sunday, but with the humidity here, things take for ever to dry out. Instead, I found the biggest hill in Singapore and climbed it multiple times. After that I proceeded out to Sentosa Island (a resort island just off the Singapore coast). I pretty much was just cruising and exploring at that point because I almost tossed my cookies from the hill sprints. Again, it started to pour. I don't think it has been sunny since I have been here.

This morning, I rode easy because I could barely turn over the cranks....I never dreamed I would be riding this much or this hard here.

Pictures:

What I see every morning...no cars

A better view of the skyline from my hotel

How humid? Hill sprints in 80 degree dew points....

View from highest point in Singapore

I don't know what this means

Sentosa Coast

Training and More Training

So you are probably wondering why Seagate would send me to Singapore...well, the answer is training. No, not bike training, work training. I am here deploying and training the Singapore team on a new piece of metrology that a co-worker and I developed. It started out as a skunkworks project based on some ideas he and I were kicking around, but has quickly exploded. We now have sent replicate testers to Colorado, Singapore (duh), China, and Thailand, and more are being requested every day. I can't really talk about what it is or does because it is very confidence IP. I can tell you that it is being accepted well and the training is going better than we anticipated.
If the post project reward is as expected we may be getting another carbon family member...although my basement is getting full=)
I am getting a lot of the other kind of training done too...I started to get carried away and am forcing myself to rest today, so I took a easy 1 hour spin along the SE coast this morning.

I will update with this weekends activities...gonna go exploring on 2 wheels.

Singin' In the Rain

This morning it poured...but it was warm and I was up at 4:30 AM (hey it feels like 2:30 PM to me) so I rode in the rain. I passed another biker that was riding along with an umbrella...and he was singing=) I ended up riding along the coast for a good long while. It was quite pleasant.

When I got back, I took a few shots of the view on my room's balcony. I am staying in the tallest building in Singapore (or so I was told) on the 34th floor.

The skyline

The hotel pools

The equator

I am writing from far far away.
I am off the southern tip of Malaysia in Singapore.
My training/travel fuel is with me.
It feels good to hammer w/out hurting my lungs.
I found 20 miles of super sweet single track and rode myself silly on Sunday.
I still can't sleep much at night so I rode at 5:30 am this morning...dropped it in the dog (big ring and smallest cog) and raced some cabbies.
Now, I must work...updates and pics will follow eventually.

Breaking away

Who needs a break away frame?

I thought I did until the Rochester Cycling and Fitness Czar suggested I get an travel Fuel instead. Well, it worked like a charm, and now I can bring a replica of my race bike along WITHOUT paying the absurd airline charges.

Why do I need a travel bike now? ...to avoid over $400 in airline charges over the next month. I am headed on a business trip to Singapore for two and half weeks (leaving in a couple weeks). They wanted me to go to China and Thailand too. I opted out for now, but I am sure I will be going to one or both in the next year at some point. Following that, Jen's dad was nice enough to fly us down to the condo they rent down at Marco Island Florida. Basically, I am gone for the month of March and am hoping to return to more reasonable weather.

Oh, and a teaser...it is here, the new race rig. Details to follow in late March when it is complete. Charly "Jo Mama" is still helping me gather and assemble all the secret weapons=)