Don’t let the snow and below normal temperatures fool you…………..

…… because it really is March.  Like it or not the 2014 racing season is beginning. 

Still out of shape? Yes! 

Has your training been lacking? Yes!

Are you ready to race your bike anyways? HECK YEAH!!!!!!

Even with this crazy weather coming into March I am still enjoying it.  We got training camp the first week of the month followed by the first race of the season and McDonalds is once again selling Shamrock Shakes.  Yep, Life Is Good!                  

Although if I cut back on the shakes and got on the bike a little more I would probably be a little bit better prepared for the beginning of this season.  However, I decided to make this season a “race yourself into shape season”. 

My road bike has found itself collecting dust this winter.  In fact, I am pretty sure it has not been ridden since August.  No worries though because MTBing has brought a new found happiness into my life and into my family’s life as well.  This past winter we have all been hitting the trails and when the weather got really bad we would take a road trip to Rays Indoor MTB Park.  My daughter is very happy with her new Cannondale Trail 24er from Pathfinder.  I am very happy with my new Cannondale Flash 29er from Pathfinder.  And now my wife is asking me when she will be getting her new bike as well.  After looking at many different bikes we our still unsure what to get her.  So I am going to ask you all for help in this decision.  Please leave a comment on what you think she should get.  Arryn is 5’3” so even a small 29er could possibly be too big.  However, she likes the fact that a 29er would roll over terrain much better than a 26er.  So I then started to think maybe we could go with a happy medium in a 650B / 27.5”.  And now she is starting to think that maybe even a Fat Bike would be fun.  So what do you all think a 5’3” casual rider who wants to hit some easy to moderate trails strictly for fun should get? 

Hey Old Man Winter…………………I’m not a fan!

I have never been one who disliked Ohio winters.  However, in 2014 that seems to be changing.  I have always enjoyed building snowmen, going sled riding and all the other fun activities that one can do in the snow.  Including riding bikes!  However, 2014 is proving to be very hard to enjoy the snow.  For example, last week we get a nice snowfall of 6 inches which would be quite fun to go mountain biking in.  However, on top of the 6 inches of snow we get rain which makes cycling in fun white powder turn into trying to cycle through something similar to wet cement.  I actually drove 40 minutes to the nearest mountain bike trail, which is a 3.5 mile very flat single speed loop, only to find that nobody had been out on the trail.  I decided since I made the drive I would give it a shot.  I think I officially set the slowest lap time because it took me over an hour to do the 3.5 mile loop, which included a lot of “hike-a-bike” ing!  I have resisted the “Fat Bike” craze thus far, however, I see a Charge Cooker Maxi from Pathfinder in my near future.  The problem is that this winter has also been the coldest in a long time.  I normally don’t mind cold temps, but under 5 degrees even makes going slow in the woods a very cold experience!  I know, I know that Pathfinder also carries skis and snowboards, but I prefer to spend my money on bikes!  Well, I could continue on complaining about how I also hate to ride the trainer, but since I have already done enough complaining with this blog I think I should just wrap it up, or suck it up, get off-line and get on the trainer!

Cheers to all and thanks for reading!

 Billy