Author: admin

Getting antsy is quite the understatement.

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Just last week I posted up how I was feeling better, getting exercise, eating better.  Go figure that a couple days after that, I get taken down and out for almost a week with a cold\sinus situation.  Blame the weather, blame whatever, I dunno.  It’s only added to my growing desire to get back out on my bike and ride.

Typically during the spring\summer\fall I’m logging several hours every weekend.  I haven’t really ridden a bike since late November.  I realize that I’m not the only one in this predicament, and really it’s not a predicament per se.  It’s just annoying.  We’ve had one of the mildest winters that I can personally remember, and I have yet to log a single minute on a bike.  The more I contemplate that, the increasingly stupid it seems to be.  In all this time, the least I coulda done was gone to some empty field somewhere and worked on some basic techniques.

Thankfully the natural outdoor lighting has been staying on just a little longer each day.  The weather is steadily improving (for now?), and my bike is ready for action.  I’m just absolutely ready to get out and back on a bike.  I’m going to be at the equivalent of a rusty box of nails when I get back on the bike.  My only hope is that I have happen what I have had in the past.  Extended period off the bike has helped focus myself and I somehow return almost better at riding than where I was before I took the time off.

-Andrew

Preparations for the upcoming season.

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In my past couple weeks here I have really begun preparing myself for the upcoming District17 Enduro Season.  I’ve realized that with the wonky winter the Midwest has had, that my options for proper on-bike practice are quite minimal.  I can only expect to get real seat time every so often.  It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is, and I’ve come to accept it.

Normally this time of year, I’d find myself wrapped up in a pile of resource wasting projects that have deterred me from my goals.  Thankfully this winter I’ve really been able to buckle down with things and keep focused on my ultimate goal for this year.  Since riding can’t happen every day like I’d like, I’ve substituted with a few key things:

Exercise – Something I honestly didn’t do much if at all in the past and in the later portions of my races, I felt it.  My lack of body preparation in the past has really killed my overall results in races.  I can attempt to push it on machine, or setup, or whatever.  Fact of the matter is, I wasn’t at physically fit as I’ve needed to be and now that has begun to change.  My initial steps into exercising have been small, but progressive.  I haven’t begun dabbling yet in any sort of weights, or things like that, but begun getting my cardio in shape and getting some of the past excess, gone.

Nutrition – Since getting married, my nutrition habits had slowly progressed to the side of “healthier”.  My eating had slowly changed from random with occasional missed meals to something just shy of regular.  I had also cut out a large portion of eating out (or I should say fast food).  Despite the progression towards better, I had found that it just wasn’t enough.  Paired with a desire to feel better, and a strong desire to do better in my races, all piled with a healthy dose of reality from various reads online, I decided to jump into a paleo\primal food style.  I hesitate to say that I am 100% in the paleo\primal camp, as I’m sure I’ve violated plenty of their rules, but I can say that cutting out grains, sugars, processed things, etc, that I have felt worlds better.  Physically, and mentally.

Machine – I put a good amount of time into my bike this past winter to prepare it for the upcoming season.  Not much else needs to be said here, other than it’s ready to rock n roll.

I’m excited.  I feel as the upcoming race dates rapidly approach, that despite my lack of winter seat-time, I’ll be able to put in some solid performances right off the bat.  Really looking forward to what this season brings.

–

Andrew

AMA D17 Enduro Season 4 Months Away

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     Just over 4 months away, the AMA District 17 Enduro Season will be underway. Last season I had the initial goal of competing in the complete D17 HareScramble series, though after the initial excitement, it seemed an unattainable goal due to the sheer number of events throughout the year. Along the way, I managed to sidetrack myself with a brief (yet exciting) stint in the world of supermoto. I continued on with a couple more HareScrambles with mediocre success (bike changes, failures, etc) , before finally giving in and going out to try racing in an Enduro. I quickly realized what I should have been doing all along.

So here we are, January of 2012 with just a few short months to be completely prepped for the upcoming season. I’ve decided to set some short(er) term goals in concrete here. Without a clear goal in mind, I’ll never formulate a clear plan of attack. I’ll never win anything, without a plan. So here is my simple 2012 goal:

Top 5 Overall B D17 Enduro

 

That’s it.  I KNOW I have what it takes to get myself there.  I’ll have to push myself & machine for sure, but I am confident in what I can do.  It’s time for me to attack.  I’m taking the year off from swapping bikes.  I’ll campaign the BMW G450X for 2012.  That is final.  I’m excited.  You should be too.

 

We’ll see you on the trails.

Andrew –