Epic HD Action Cam in the hizzy!

Just got my camera! Totally stoked, excited, geeked, happy, etc.... I'm pretty shocked at how small and streamlined it is. Gonna look good on my handlebars and helmet. Pretty snazzy if I do say so myself. The only gripe I have, other than the fact that the company didn't get back to me after I sent them an email last week, is that an additional mount I ordered didn't come in the same package as the camera. I'm assuming that the two items shipped seperately, but it would have been nice to have been notified of this. Just a small complaint, otherwise I'm really psyched to fire this thing up and get some cool vids. Unfortunately with the snow storm we got today, it might be a bit before I get anything mountain bike related, but for now I'll try out for some road shots and vids... Here are some pics and a little movie I recorded while goofing around with it-emphasis on the word "little".

Tiny...might actually mount it underneath the nose of the saddle, just have to watch out for "Thunder and Lightning" getting in the way:)

Pay no attention to the bike gear on the kitchen table...or the painting Anne made for me...need to hang that up!:)

Right...I'm not James Cameron, but I promise to have better content than this! It was only a 'test' shoot!!!

Aww F*ck...

Woke up today to 4 inches of snow. Damnit! Just when things seemed to be headed for an early spring, we had to go and get hit with another batch of white mess. I'm still optimistic about the warming temps later this week. I really thought that was it for winter, but I guess it'll still be a little while before getting out on the trails regularly.

The Epic HD cam is on the way and I should have it by tonight. I'm hopeful that I'll get a chance to use it tomorrow, provided the roads are decent enough to get a ride in. Time will tell...

Dirt!!!!!

There was dirt! Dirt I tell you! It was unreal!

Got my first ride on the dirt today since Christmas day. I guess it technically was the first time I've been on the mtb this year. There was still a lot of snow on the trail, and some mud, but most of the sections I rode were frozen enough to still ride fast. By the end of about 2 hours, I spent approximately 60 percent of the time riding, and 40 percent of the time hiking. Didn't matter though, because it was just AWEOME to get out and on the mountian bike again.

The forecast for tonight is some snow, followed by rain developing after tomorrow morning. It's gonna be a little sloppy, but after Tuesday, the temps rise again, and then rain will be on the way Friday, hopefully washing whatever accumulation we get away and finally getting the trails clean of snow. They'll still be quite muddy, but it's better than not riding at all!

It was super refreshing to get out there today, and it's really given my training mojo a good shot of 'get up and go'. This has really been the first week in a while I was able to put together what I feel was a solid week and one that I can be proud of as I drink a beer tonight.

I'm feeling stronger than I ever have on the bike. My fitness isn't quite there yet (and it shouldn't be), but as far as sheer strength and force applied to the pedals, I'm really hitting homeruns. I really think I can thank 'cross for this jump in strength. Surely I need to incorporate it every fall going forward.

Otherwise things are good. I'm missing Anne tremendously, but what else would you expect:). I should be getting delievery of my Epic HD Action Cam tomorrow (provided that the UPS tracking service is correct-I wasn't given a tracking number from Epic, so I had to use an "alternate" way to track the package), so I'm really looking forward to playing around with it and getting some cool biking footage. Apparently you can extract still shots from the video it records, so there should be a lot more "wallpaper" on this blog in the near future. Anyway, Spring is just around the corner and I have a feeling I'll be a much happier camper in the coming weeks. From then, who knows!? Maybe I might not be in New York for the Summer:)

Windy, windy, windy

Riding today, I was glad I had that extra bit of winter weight left over from eating too much around the holidays. I don't think I've ever seen wind this bad on Long Island before. I'm not exactly sure of the actual speeds, but it was the kind of "blow you across the road" wind out there today. I managed to stay upright though, and get in some good miles, although my face and any other exposed skin is still red and burned. All in a good days work!

Not much else on the day. Just training and now relaxing. Time to take a shower and take my mom to the movies. Tomorrow is more training and with the change to slightly warmer temps and no snow, I'm SUPER motivated right now. The temps are suppossed to go below freezing tonight and warm up later tomorrow morning...which means...hopefully the mud on the trails will freeze and I can get a FURLY ride in on the dirt for a couple hours before it all thaws out. That would be the icing on the cake! I haven't been on my mtb since Christmas day!

So close...

Spring is in the air! Today we hit temps in the 65 degree F range! Only went out for a short ride though, but it was super refreshing to wear only long sleeves and kneewarmers. Nothing on the hands; nothing on the feet; nothing on the head (except my helmet of course). It's not quite "tan line" weather, but definitely close to getting warm and nice enough to ride that way all the time.

Temps are suppossed to dip in the next few days, but still stay above freezing for a while. Maybe an early spring? I'll take anything as long as it's above freezing and it doesn't snow anymore.

I drove by the mtb trails this afternoon and it'll still be a few more days (provided good weather) before they're ridable. I mean, technically, you could ride on them, but the mud and slop wouldn't have you getting very far. An unbelievable amount of water has saturated the ground with the melting of the snow, so it'll just take some time to dry up. Can't wait!

Gritty Snitty

Gritty....That's the only word that comes to mind when thinking about my riding lately. The roads need a rain like Lindsey Lohan needs rehab. My poor drivetrain is screaming to be cleaned (which I just accomplished prior to sitting down to write this), and washing my bike after every ride is starting to get old. It's not that I'm complaing. On the contrary, I'll take riding outside over riding inside anyday, but it just gets to be a bit of a hassle when every time you ride, regardless of how long, you have to spend a half hour cleaning your bike-and that only gets it halfway clean!
This evening I spent easily another hour taking my drivetrain apart, cleaning my chain, cassette, and chainrings, and then putting it all back together. Then, because I had all the cleaning stuff out anyway, I decided to do a little more cleaning and did just about everything else. Satisfying, yes, but I know after the next ride it's only going to go back to being gritty and sandy all over again. Such is life...
I'm still looking forward to getting my Epic HD cam in the mail one of these days. I've been waiting anxiously for it and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it'll arrive tomorrow, though I know that by just having said that it'll be another two weeks before I see it. On that subject, I'm a little disappointed with the customer service they offer. Maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit, but I sent them an email asking for a tracking number for my order a week ago and haven't recieved any sort of response. It's a little thing, and again, maybe I'm being picky, but when you send a company a request, you expect some kind of response within a week, right?
Anyway, time is moving along and I'm looking forward to a weekend of good weather and maybe, just maybe, getting out on the trails by Sunday or Monday. Today was Spring-like and we're suppossed to get more of the same tomorrow before the temps settle in the low 40's/high 30's. Regardless of the temperature drop, it'll still be above freezing which means snowmelt...all good in my book! Hell, it could stay in the 40's for the next two months as long as it means no more snow and open trails!

Today was a good day...

Ice Cube said it, "Today was a good day/and I didn't even have to use my A.K." Well I don't have an A.K., but I'm sure I wouldn't need to have used it today if I did. I got a TON of sleep yesterday (somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 hours!) and it's all but gotten all of my illness under control. I'm feelin' so much better, and training on the bike today actually felt pleasant! Add that to some great weather with temps in the "warm enough to melt the f*cking snow" range, and you have all smiles from this guy!

In the end I got out for about 90 minutes on the road bike. Easy warm up with some quality intervals thrown in there for a nice, neat, and tidy little workout. I was tempted to do more and go harder, but being that I'm feeling better than I have in about a week, I don't want to tempt fate. Besides, I'm hoping to log some good time on the bike this weekend, and if the temps hold out and the snow melts I might get some muddy enjoyment out on the trails! Fingers crossed that Spring is finally here!

Have to say that one of the nicest parts of today envolved some fine beer brought to me by one of my favorite clients! She knows I'm a huge fan of all things beer, and particularly the Belgium style beers. Soooo, when she showed up for her appointment carrying this...

...I nearly jumped out of my skin! Five beautiful bottles of Belgian Beer all for me! Man, I wish I turned 30 every year! Honestly though, all my clients have been so generous with me, not only for my birthday, but in all the years I've been working with them all. I work with wonderful people every day. I imagine most people can't say that.

So that was it for today. Heading in the kitchen soon to cook up some tuna, rice and veggies, then off to another early bed time. Looking forward to the good weather and being healthy again!