The summer has flown by and I realized I have done nothing with the site since June. Most of my summer was consumed with riding the bicycle in order to train and compete in the races that I wanted to do. The season was a smashing success in the fact that I learned a lot about training as well as racing, traveled to some beautiful parts of the country and met some incredible people.

With all this I was also able to get some work done around the house as well as spend some time on the motorcycle. With everything going on it has been tough to maintain two websites. Most of my summer update were done to dougtrojan.com. I will probably start moving the content from this site to that address in order to have less to maintain. The plan is to move the photo gallery first and then restructure the other domain to organize all the content. That should free me up to write some more about things I am doing and projects I am working on. Some of the work I am doing on the motorcycles should have a how to, mostly so I know how to do it again.

This should also give me something to do in the "down time" I have since I got tendinitis in my knee. Sitting around is not really something I am good at so this should be a pleasant way to occupy my time.

Completed the Mohican 100. I should probably say I survived. It was a day of some of the worst weather I have ever been in. Glad to see the 44 degree training rides through hail were not for nothing. It was good to see my aunt and uncle as well near the finish. Overall a great experience and it makes me glad I decided to start endurance racing.

For a full report check out http://dougtrojan.com

Pictures: http://dougtrojan.smugmug.com/Competitions/2010-Mohican-100/

So far training has been going well. I did pretty well in my first event of the season taking a solid 6th out of 32 in the sport class at dryer road. Finally I feel like my endurance is where it should be and I can start to work on my speed. This weekend is marks the last weekend to do a long endurance ride prior to the Montour 75 road race and the 6 hour Highland Hex mountain bike race. Both of these races should be excellent preparation for the Mohican 100 in Ohio. I am also pretty excited that my uncle will be able to make it to the race. It will be good to see him since we don't get to see each other very often. Maybe next year I can plan some more Midwest races.

The problem with training is the problem with anything, time. I basically get up, go to work, ride the bike, eat and go to bed. It is kind of nice, but makes things difficult when little problems arise (like my brakes needing to be replaced). All in all it has been very fulfilling to be riding so much and preparing for events which I know will push me to my limit. I have missed being able to find out how far I can push myself and what I can accomplish with the right preparation and mental attitude. The mental portion, needs just as much training as the physical, since at some point a lot of these endurance rides are a mental test. Something about being on a bike for 4,6,8 or 10 hours that makes the brain stronger.

I will probably not post here as often due to time constraints, but am trying to keep a more up to date training log at the new website DougTrojan.com. I am also in the process of moving my pictures over to smugmug. The picture galleries will soon be hosted at DougTrojan.smugmug.com.

Realizing I have not posted anything in the last three months I have decided to get off my duff and write something. I have not been completely slacking for the past 3 months. Since deciding that I wanted to race mountain bikes next year I have been lifting and doing cardio work 5 or 6 days a week. I plan to race endurance mountain bikes which means most racing will be 6 hours or more on the bicycle. This is the first time I have ever really weight lifted and I can see why I put it off for so long. The one benefit it does have is it builds muscle much faster than just doing intervals on the bike. It also has the added benefit of letting me spend less time on the bike. While I do enjoy riding the bike, it is nice to have some variation and a break from the saddle.

While it has been nice getting back into shape it does have its downsides. Most nights I do not get home from the gym until about 7:30 or 8. Which means it is 8:30 before I am done with dinner. Sometimes this balloons out until 9. On nights where I will be ski racing it means going to the gym in the morning which means a 5:45 am wake up call. In the summer race weekends mean that I will be doing nothing but racing and possibly taking Mondays off from work. Monday vacation days will be a requirement for any 24 hour race since I will be in no condition to drive due to fatigue.

Hopefully I can get some race dates set and posted here. I figure racing will be a fun way to travel and see some of my friends in far off distant lands. All this will be better with some sponsors so I guess that is my next task. Once I get some race dates I will be able to send some letters to the potential sponsors. I will also post some of the pictures of the new bicycle which I am building. It should be light and will look very slick. Just a couple more parts before I will have it finished and ready to ride. First race is in May!

So the big news the past two months is that I bought my first home. I have not had time to take some decent pictures yet, so I don't have those to post yet. With all the excitement of moving and setting up the house and mowing the lawn I just have not had time to post. The whole home buying process is very interesting if you have never done it before. The worst part of the whole ideal is when the lawyers get a hold of everything. Lawyers apparently don't like to tell you anything. This also pertains to things which may be important to you, like say the date of your closing. My closing happened on a Thursday. I was informed of this on the Monday before the closing. For a major life purchase a week in advance would have been nice.

It has taken longer than I thought to settle in. This process also turns out to be about five times as expensive as it seems on paper. I am finished with most of the larger things that I wanted to change. The exception to this is the wiring in the basement. Since I will be putting my "office" in the basement I will need to rewire just about everything. I really only need to add a couple circuits but the wiring downstairs is a disaster so I will clean that up at the same time I am adding to the panel. Hopefully I can wrap everything up in the next month or so.

I was able to take some time and get out to Letchworth state park near Rochester this past weekend. What a beautiful place. It was also nice to be able to take the motorcycle out for the ride. It being October in Central NY there is not much more time to ride. It is always more fun to take the bike than the car, and the gas mileage does not hurt either. Make sure to check out the pictures from that adventure.