Where are you at?
I don't mean physically, you could be in the bathroom and I don't want to know that, I mean are you ready?
We here at TwoUpSports have been in the throws of winter training. We took a break as always to recharge the batteries. Two seasons ago, this break happened around Thanksgiving with the family going to Florida for some needed rest. I can tell you that the Florida rest was the best post season rest I have ever had. We spent time fishing, eating, fishing, sleeping, fishing...Did I mention that we fished? You get the jist. I did not so much as look at any two wheeled transportation, and it was great. I was ready when we returned to start back, with my mind and body clear.
So now we are back to, well now. We have finished up the gym work (save your argurments about lifting and cycling for another day) we have done some good training thru the week and loaded the wood pile on the weekend. We had a bout of sickness, and we have had some bad weather.
The week after Christmas, off from work, I worked with my coach at Fascat to set up a week of training close to what I would need to do to be a pro....That time has passed, if not only for the age limit.
I digress.
So the week was split with two gym workouts along with some higher intensity on those days, and some longer days on the bike. There was a catch. My son was off with me, so getting a long away from home ride in was not going to happen. He is old enough now to be at home and take care of himself, but the Dad in me could not let myself be that far away. So, what to do?
I set out on a loop at the house that would allow me 30 minute laps and I tapped away the day, always being able to check back in on him periodically. Lap after lap.
I finished up that week with a large chunk of time and a great bump in fitness.
Well, work is calling, so I will have to cut this a little short.
Stay tuned for some updates on fittings and such, or any other thoughts I may have.

HUMP

Stacie and I took a trip at the end of October to an area where, if not for the classes, I would have never thought about visiting. We flew up to Saratoga Springs, NY. The area was beautiful, but we were not there to just be sightseers, I was on a mission. I say mission, because since I started cycling, I have been on this mission. I wanted to learn as much about fitting someone to a bicycle, so I started my search at a place that is world renowned for custom bicycles and the fitting philosophy behind them. This place is none other than Serotta, and more to that, Serotta International Cycling Institute. We were scheduled for three days, three full days of lecture and hands on fitting experience. Each day started much the same for, I would wake up, drive down to the coffee shop, grab a bagel and large coffee, and off to class. The classes would go into the whole fitting process, from start to finish with most days spent fitting each other. We had ten people, so we would split off into groups and fit each other.  The lecture time was intense, we would start at 8:00 each morning, and go until 6:30 each evening. All of this culminating into a written exam at the end of the class sessions. The experience was great, and this is only the first step. What sets the SICI fitting training from others, is that just taking the classes and taking the test does not make you a certified fitter, there is practical application in the form of ten documented and submitted fits, from the time you leave until four months after. That should be easy right? Well, it is harder than it sounds. Unless you work in a shop where people are coming in each day and you can sale them on this fitting, then you are working around your own schedule. That being said, once I finally received all the parts I needed, I got started right away with friends, so that I can get the ten complete quickly. I am scheduling them around rest days from training or evenings after training. With the average fit taking close to 3 hours, you can see that finding the right time is the main part in the whole equation. I had to post-pone one fit just yesterday (Saturday) because I would not have had the time, with another family commitment later that evening, to give the client the proper time and fit, so we rescheduled for this afternoon. I am really anxious about getting this certification, but I am more anxious to see how this will evolve into my full time line of work. I really enjoy doing these fittings, and it allows me to continually be within the cycling community passing on what I have learned to others.

HUMP

Sunday TwoUpSports attended the Bridge to Bridge Challenge with one intent, and that was to be the first person to the top. Short story, mission accomplished!
Long Story: Starting out the morning of, temps were cool, cool enough for arm warmers and a vest, but spirits were high, I was feeling great, the ride over to the start solidified what I had been feeling in training, and that was that the legs were there, now I just had to use them. Jae was with me for the early work, and the day before, I had spoken to teammate Reid Beloni and he and Andrew Raab were going to ride. Seeing those two roll up to the line was even more reason to be confident in what was going to happen. Some of you may remember two years ago we went up and did B2B, and Andrew by himself set the early pace to Hwy181 in terrible weather which set me up to be the first to the top, so having three guys who were willing to do the work was that much better.
Things started out much the same as last time with me slotting in fourth wheel and just letting the guys rotate in front of me, keeping me out of the wind and letting them set a very fast pace.
Andrew pulled off at around 45 miles to go get his car, while Reid and Jae continued to push further on. Reid broke his rear derailleur cable, so he now had only two gears. He still kept pushing the pace. Once he was finished, Jae took over to get me to 181. This road is a long, long climb, and this is where the group usually comes apart, and this day we did the same. Keith Gerarden picked the pace up and got a gap. I stand up and go over to him with Charlie Brown and Sunny Dyer in tow. We had our gap, and Keith and I continued to set the pace and once over the top, we continued to roll. Charlie and Sunny would kick in once we hit some flatter areas, and then on the hills, Keith and I would continue the climbing speed. The combination was working out well, until we got to the Shoals Mill climb. Keith got on the front and was setting a great pace, and Sunny came off. This left myself, Charlie and Keith to soldier on. Keith and I continued to trade pulls on the climb over to the parkway. Charlie then took over with some flat fast work that kept our average high. We were coming into the final run in toward the park and we were moving. Turning into the park, Charlie bid us farewell so it was Keith and I to go to the top. On the first of one of pitches, I stand up and Keith says he is coming off. I tell him to keep pushing, because he is going to have a great finishing time. I continue from here to push on, hitting the steeper sections of the climb. Once to the half mile to go mark, I could pick my speed back up to the finish. We had climbed out of the clouds to a blue bird sunny sky and warm temps. I turned to hit the finish with an official time of 4:51:40!! I could not have gotten close without the help of the three early workers, and then the guys that were in the break with me working so well together, not to mention my wife and my son giving me bottles along the route.

HUMP

We are meeting in the morning at 8:30 at FRED'S in Chesnee. The plan is to head out toward Landrum, then up to White Oak via Skyuka Mtn Road. I think we then will come back in down hwy 9, to mix it up a bit. The ride will be in the 4 to 4.5 hour range.
HUMP

Well, we had both of the Friday Night Fights this season, those are in the bag, and if you are like us, you have been racing hard and heavy since Febraury..Whew! This time of year, it gets really hard to get out on the bike, the temps are high, you may have worked all day, and the thought of going out in 90+ days to push out that next Vo2 interval is almost as appealing as running your nails along a chalkboard.
So, what to do? Well, there are still races on the calendar, and that is a viable way to get motivated, just race your bike. There is also another way, and it does not involve structure. What I am describing is the spirited weekly group ride. You can pretty much find one anywhere in the country on just about every night of the week. In our area, the schedules usually mean there is a ride on Tuesday and Thursday, sometimes on Wednesday. Most of these rides are ridden at race pace, or at least have attack zones that will get that needed intensity, but in a less structured way.  The addition of like minded riders makes it that much more of an effort, because we all know that you push yourself harder when you are trying to rip the cleats off to beat your friends.  It also makes the heat more tolerable knowing that others are there.
Weekends are a great way to get in good group rides, and if you can organize one where everyone gets up early, you can get in solid miles before the hottest part of the day. We have had a good number of group rides heading up thru the upstate into North Carolina throughout the year. The pace is always fairly high, and we have sections where we are climbing against each other or just generally pushing each other. There are store stops to top off fuel and drink.  We will be posting more of these as the season progresses, and also once the season is over and we start to think about the next season, we will start more, but on these it will be the thought of pack riding to keep warm as opposed to trying to keep cool.
Until next time, get out and ride!

HUMP

Oh Man! Round one of the FNF crits went off with a bang! The temps were up, but it did not deter us from drawing the largest competitor fields we have ever had. We fielded 81 entrants for the night, twice the amount of last years races combined. The Category 4-5 field was one of the largest we have seen, with a well deserved win coming from Jamie Lyton of (Hincapie-Green Creations).
The Masters field was large as well, with moves ticking off every lap until two of the local powerhouses, Chris Harkey (Hincapie-Green Creations) and Charlie Brown (Windsong Bike Shop p/b Cloninger-Dr Roy) got away, working together to stay away from the pack, with Charlie taking the win right ahead of Harkey.
 


Primes were the catalyst of the night, due in large part to the sponsorship donation of Nick's Muffler. I was called last week by the owner and he asked that each race get a certain split of the cash on hand, with the largest prime going to the Pro 1-2-3 race. Each of these primes were set out as Gambler's primes for each category, making for some exciting moments toward the end of each race, none more than the Pro 1-2-3 race when Adam Britton beat out all others to take the gamblers prime, and the win going to Julian Cabra (Metro-Reprographics) in a well timed and hard fought sprint. Second goes to new semi local Chris Uberti orginally from Michigan, who has been racing around the area now for a little while and posting some well earned results. I think we need to watch this kid, because from what I can tell, he is quiet in speech, but loud with legs!! Rounding out the top three was Johnny Mitchell from the low country, anyone who has been down to Myrtle Beach and raced the Tuesday night crit down there knows Johnny, and with a recent upgrade to the Category 2 ranks, look for Johnny to start putting in some results.
I hope everyone enjoyed the races, I know I did, it is major work, and all day affair, but I love it!! Until next week.

HUMP

This is a location that we picked due to numerous people we know being able to get to this spot easy. Access off I-85 is simple for those from Spartanburg, as well as the usual Gaffney riders. We typically always ride out the same way heading out the Assault on Mitchell part of Parris Bridge road but we turn off to head over toward Landrum and Tryon. If anyone is familiar with this area, there are numerous horse farms and lots of good roads with minimal traffic until you get near the town itself, but the people see cyclist so much, they usually know how to handle slowing and passing. 
The plan for the day was similar to last Saturday's ride, head out in the group, get to the Old Saluda grade and then split off between the guys that wanted to climb Saluda and those of us who wanted to climb Pearson falls. Since last week, this has become one of my favorites, I have to thank Tom Ball for mentioning it last week, since I had come down it numerous other times, but it never had dawned on me in the time I have been training in the area to go back up it.
Tom did not make it out, but we had a good group nonetheless.
It was hot! I know, anyone who follows any person in our area on twitter or facebook, knows that it has been hot here for a couple of months. Today started out very humid, as if typical this time of the year, we had storms last night, so I woke to heavy air this morning. The plan was to meet up at 8:30 for the group. I wanted a long one, so I left the house at 7:00 to go to Jae's and then ride over with him. I was soaked when I got to his house, the moisture in the air made me feel like I was pedaling in a jungle.
We made our way over and headed out. Ended up getting in over 5 hours today, with others getting a mix of 3 to 4 hours. The good thing about this ride, is the route out usually does not change, so guys or ladies who need to get back can go out with us and then turn around, we had a couple of guys that needed to get back who did just that at the store stop.
I encourage everyone to keep an eye out for postings of rides and come out so that we can have a larger group. I promise, it will cool off, and we make schedule stops to refuel.

HUMP

Headed to Elite National Championships in HOT HOT HOT Augusta, GA.

One more step to website Nirvana is having a blog, Am I right? Well, at least we can keep you scabs updated on things that we are doing.

Management

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