New sponsor and a Trainer

I now have a trainer!
Of course it's not that cold anymore but, I will use it for weekday riding in the morning. Three times a week I'll be on the thing for 50 minutes. Then on the weekend I'll be mountain biking and/or road biking. Hopefully that will be a good training regime.

This weekend I have race in Fontana NC. It will be the first race where I am not a beginner.

I now have my first sponsor Tennessee Valley Bicycles(TVB). I happen to race for their team as well. It's a great shop in the old city in Knoxville. Perfect for commuters, mountain bikers, and roadies alike.

3rd Annual No Child Left Behind Alley Cat

TVB put on another excellent alley cat this year. There was music and free Brats.
I came in 2nd overall and 1st place on fixed gear. I actually managed to score some spare parts that I will take on the GDR.
Drew came in 1st, and Will got the prize for "First Blood".
I've managed to rip my derailleur off twice now, so I will carry the Singlerator on the GDR, and with every ride.

The Whisky is gross, it's not even mentioned in my book about whisky.

This is a photo of three of my bikes(not counting the damaged frame in the window). I will be doing the GDR on the Gary Fisher Ziggurat.

New Wheels and New BB

New Wheels!
Chris King hubs, Stans ZTR 355 and DT swiss competition spokes. Hand built by Scott at Tennessee Valley Bicycles.

They are nice. 1040g for the rear with tape and valve stem, and 873g for the front.
I am not sure if that is considered light weight or not, but I am happy with them.

preparations

Maps are in. I have been typing up my own cue sheets. The cues on the map are too small and I'll have to constantly fold over the map to read them.

Scott at TVB, has my wheelset and will build them Monday. Chris King hubs and Stans ZTR rims.

A used Cyclops Fluid trainer should be on it's way.

I picked up a Deuter 25 liter backpack for $25 it was marked at 85! Some crazy sale.

Back to the maps and This Old House

GDR 09

I now officially have a month off of work for the Great Divide Race 2009. It's a race along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Banff Alberta Canada to the Mexican boarder.
I have a laundry list of things to do:
check my knees with the doctor
get my teeth cleaned sometime
order gear
buy plane tickets
read other people's blogs about the race
oh and train some time.

Right now I'm off to fax my transcript to the FBI(for a job) and get a poster board so I can make a template of my frame. More on that later