Chocolate #9

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to bring you an update on the best "energy gel" I've ever tried.

At the beginning of this year the Cycleyouth U23 team was lucky enough to get hooked up with John Sample from Chocolate #9. He graciously hooked us up with quite a few chocolate gels to train and race with. Here is my long-term take on them, using two criteria:

1. Does it work for training?

2. Does it work for racing?

Training:

I got my first few Chocolate #9s right before a big training weekend in the Pisgah National Forest. I was excited to have some to take with me on this weekend, because a big weekend in Pisgah involves multiple long, steep uphills, super-sick rocky and rooty trails, hike-a-bike, and killer downhills. All in all, it's easy to bonk here. Nutrition is key to having a good day on the bike here. I was a little concerned about Chocolate #9s key difference from other gels: the low glycemic index agave sweetener. Normally when I take a gel, it is because I am bonking at the end of a ride and need something to spike my blood sugar to get me home. It's the same reason I sometimes carry gummy bears on long rides. I just told myself that I would have to be smarter with my eating. I didn't have anything to worry about. At the top of the 2nd big climb of the day, I opened my first pack of 9. It was a cold day, 45 degrees or so, so the gel was a much thicker consistency than it had been at room temperature. It was amazing. The first slurp was a heavenly sensation of an almost chewy chocolate flavor. It tasted far better than any other gel I have ever used. I dreaded that moment when the packet was empty, but I ate it as fast as I could. I definitely didn't need to worry about the energy boost. I felt strong after eating the gel, without the extreme boost and crash you get from other gels. There are not many products out there that do exactly what you say they do, but it is awesome when something does.

Racing:

At the first race of the season I loaded up a gel flask with 4 gels and a little bit of water, as I always do with my race gels. I hate using packets during races, as it always ends up as litter on the ground and precious seconds lost trying to get the top open. I just did my thing, took a few shots of gel during the race, and that was that. I didn't feel very strong, but it was more of a leg speed thing and not a nutrition thing. My energy never faded, I just wasn't very fast. It happens sometimes. However, I did notice the one and only thing I had a problem with. Halfway through the race, after going anaerobic up a steep climb I realized I needed to begin eating something, so I broke out the flask and took a shot. The gel tasted awesome, as usual, but I had a hard time swallowing it. It kind closed my throat up the slightest bit, but as soon as I drank a little bit of water it went away. I learned to take my gels on places where I wasn't breathing as hard, and that little problem went away. It's that easy with Chocolate #9.

To cap this review off I would definitely recommend trying some. The organic agave with a dark roast Belgian style cocoa truly make the tastiest gel treat I have ever had. It's a Low fat, vegan, organic, and gives lasting energy. Perfect for riding or racing. Glycemic Index of 46.

For those of you who are locals, I would recommend picking some up at Hampton Trails Bicycle Shop. He is the only local bike shop I know of who carries it.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories 70 Calories from fat 10

Total Fat 1g

Saturated fat 0g

Trans Fat 0g

Sodium 75mg

Total Carbohydrate 15g

Fiber 1g

Sugars 13g

Protein 1g

Iron 6%

Ingredients: Organic Agave, Breakfast Cocoa processed with alkali

www.Chocolate9.com

Making the Donuts... part 1

So it's been a fairly hectic race season so far, with lots of travel to Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and everywhere in between.

I've managed to pull out some fairly decent results so far, this being my first year as a "pro".

I've managed two early season top 10s in the SERC series. I was fairly happy with those results at the time, I felt good and rode with some of the guys in the front group during the races. After those races was the Dirt Sweat and Gears race in Fayetteville, TN. The guys who are part owners of Swiftwick Socks are also the same people who put on this great event. They have a huge purse and really know how to run a race, I was impressed with the way everything was handled. Not to mention a nice reward at the end of the day. It is really nice to be rewarded for your hard work, specifically almost 7 hours on the bike and a big win for the Kenda/Cycleyouth duo team of Andy Johnston and I!

Not pictured: hard work and suffering

Then at the Mellow Johnny's Classic race in Texas, I managed to outlast the brutal heat to what I felt was a solid 23rd place finish out of about 80 racers, after having started back in about the 63rd start position. I felt pretty strong and lots of other guys were just withering in the heat so again I was satisfied with the result.

A very low quality picture of me finishing. Exciting.

After a quick trip home to do laundry, it was off to the Bump N Grind race near Birmingham, Alabama. This race has been going for 16 years now and was a great event with cool people. The racing started off on Saturday with a short track style event called the Turn and Burn. I decided to do this race at the last minute. I had been hesitant to do it because I didn't want to be tired for Sunday's main event, the XC race, but I find it hard to turn down any racing!

We all lined up for the start and Bruce Dickman, our announcer, yelled: Ready, Set, STOP!! Turn and BURN!!!!!!!!!!! TURN AROUND!!! We all looked at him, very confused, until we realized he wasn't joking, at which point it was a mad scramble to turn around and begin to pick our way through the racers who started behind us. I had a very good start and ended up 2nd going into the 2nd lap, leading out a very strong group of pros behind me. I was feeling very strong, and I decided to go big or go home. I had a good race and ended up behind Robert Marion, but I held off a charging Travis Livermon for 3rd. To end up between two very strong southeast pros was a huge confidence boost going into the XC race the next day.

Also, I got interviewed, which was cool.

For the rest of my most recent racing adventures, stay tuned tomorrow for Making the Donuts, part 2

So I realized as I started writing this blog that it really feels good to get your thoughts and daily experiences down on "paper". Really it's obviously not the paper that does the mind good, but the process of laying down your thoughts into an easily digestible format of words, sentences, and eventually paragraphs.

Wow, I got all philosophical and stuff there. Interesting.

Anyway, I got moved in here at Union on Saturday afternoon. "Moving in" consisted of grabbing my bags and bikes, throwing them into a corner of the room, then walking into town to get pizza. I would say it was a success.

Today was also a great success, with my first bit of riding/training for the week going in on the trainer. Me and Zach Winn, my canadian friend from school, set up our trainers next to the TV so that we could compete in a heated match of Downhill Domination. For those of you that don't know, Downhill Domination is the best mountain bike game to be released ever. Even though it is highly unrealistic, with your character going of 500 foot cliffs, bunnyhopping over trucks, and riding through lava floes, it really is the closest thing to real mountain biking you can do on a video game. Definitely not a good substitute for the real thing, but it will get you by when there are dangerous patches of ice and snow on the road and you're a pansy. I will always feel like a pansy when I see the conditions J-Stamp has to ride in sometimes. I don't think I could take it.

As a plus, we used old textbooks for wheel-leveling blocks. Perfect. I didn't like spanish anyway, and it only cost me 3 dollars. Heckova lot cheaper than most commercial ones you find.

Good night bloggers.

New Things

So... quite a few new things since my last blog post. And for all of you that have been sitting out there, waiting and hoping that I would start posting again, I'm sorry. To all of my loyal fans, I'm sorry. So basically I don't apologize to anybody. Haha.

Anyway.

- I attend Union College now

- Our team placed 2nd at Collegiate Nationals

- Cycleyouth has morphed into a U23 Pro team sponsored by Kenda/Thomson/Giant/Hayes/Manitou, etc.

- If you want to support us I can sell you some really good Going Pro Coffee or some Vermont peanut butter. Let me know.

- I grew several inches

- I got a new bike, cracked it, rode it the rest of the season, then went back to my old bike.

- I went to Germany for a usacycling development camp. That was cool.

- I got a slackline for christmas. yay!

As I write this list I realize I'm too lazy to go in depth about how my summer and fall was. It's the college kid in me. Although I should have plenty of interesting things to write about once I get back to Union for the second semester. I have this sinking suspicion that one of my friends is a superhero, so if that plays out the way I think it will it should make for an interesting story.

Good Night to all!

oh, picture from nationals that made it into Mountain Bike Action. The article was about how to fall correctly. Caption: "This Rider does a good job of tucking and rolling after slipping on a root." I endoed, no root. Oh well:

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Untitled

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"Barvull"

I had been thinking about selling my Specialized Bighit downhill bike for a while. Normally it's against family policy to sell bikes. Instead, we usually ride them into the ground until they break or we upgrade/replace them. However, I had really been wanting an upgrade for my new KHS that's going to be coming later this month. I finally decided to sell my bike so I could by some nice shiny bits. Well I talked to my friend Brad Nelson up at Union College in KY. He said he wanted to buy it. He sold a few pieces parts and then called me back a few days later saying he had the cash moneys. Well I had been wanting to go up and take another visit to Union College (where I would like to attend school), so I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and take the bike up to him while getting my visit in.

I left Saturday about 2 of the clock. It's about a 2:20 minute drive, so I cranked up some music and got comfortable. Unlike most people my age, I am not a huge fan of driving. I also have this REALLY bad tendency to get sleepy all them time. That didn't turn out too well for me once. So although two and a half hours may not seem like much driving, it felt like forever to me. It was cool though, its all back roads and it goes over the Cumberland Gap. Its a nice drive.

I pulled into Barbourville, KY. Time for a geography lesson. Barbourville is a little Kentucky town near the Cumberland Gap. It has a very small population, I don't know the exact number, but probably a bit smaller than Erwin. Barbourville is situated in the middle of a dry county. It is the home of a small college named Union College. It is also home to a large number of meth labs, moonshine-making operations, and marijuana patches. Almost everyone owns a four wheeler, so ATV trails criss-cross the woods around town. There is a group on facebook about this here "Barvull". Its quite an interesting place, and I really like it.

So I pull into Barbourville. I pull up to Greg, Nano, and Brad's apartment. It is a really sweet place. You walk up the steps and on your right is a large moose head. You walk in and there are 10 bikes leaned against the wall of the apartment. Old forks, number plates, and wheels grace the walls and windows. I brought the Bighit upstairs. Brad rode it around inside for a while. Savoring the 14" of total travel. Good stuff.

Then we all went for a ride on the new trails they've built. They've taken some of those old ATV trails and made them into bike trails. These trails are characterized by steep ups and downs, technical drops, and trailer parks. They're brave, that land very well could have a pot grove on it. But the trails are fun, and they'll get better as those guys ride them.



One of many jumps.



One of the many (steep) climbs in the woods around Barbourville.



Brad after hitting a jump too fast and going into the bushes. Split his ear. Nice.

Well the real fun began that night. 6 of us loaded up and went to Barbourville's finest eating establishment. Pizza Hut. Nice. We demolished 3 pounds of pasta, a large pizza, and 20 chicken wings. Excellent.

Then we went down to the local supermarket. Perfectly normal, right? hehehe...
People here in Barbourville LOVE to cruise. Every Friday and Saturday night, they cruise from the supermarket to the town municipal building (right in front of the cops) and then back. 30-40 times in a night. At least. Over and over and over. Doing burnouts and drifting as much as possible, of course. It's not enough to waste gas by cruising, they also have to floor it every couple of minutes. These people are crazy. Actually, a better word is stupid. The people are so stupid they are entertaining. Incredibly so. Well, we watched these people cruise for a while, then we headed back to the apartment. One of the coolest things about the apartment is that it overlooks the town square, right there where everyone cruises. So we got out of the cars and chilled there and watched the people some more. The next logical step was to get the bikes out and do a lap ourselves. When we jumped on the bikes and started our lap, the people didn't know what to think. The locals started calling out at us unintelligible things so redneck I wasn't able to understand them. I did hear one guy tell me to change the fluid in my bike because my "light was blinking". Whatever that means hahah... This little trip turned into an urban assault session where we jumped around ledges and curbs and stuff. It was good fun, it lasted till 11:30 at night.

The next morning we woke up and went to the trails in Daniel Boone National Forest. Lots of pisgah-like trails, with less climbing and a little more hike-a-bike. Still they were a heckuva lot of fun. I'm getting kind of sleepy, so maybe I'll talk about it a little later, but for now I'll just appease you crazy blog-readers with pictures. Enjoy:



I actually rode down this later.



German Leonardo Bermudez, aka Nano railing the corner.



Yours truly riding up and out of one of the many creek crossing. The Union guys gave me a jersey to wear for the day. Hopefully I'll be able to wear it a lot come next fall.



I was not, unfortunately, able to ride this little segment. That would make for a neat picture though.


Peace out guys. Don't do drugs.

I'm definitely just using this to save my German translations. Yuck.. But I will have a post about my interesting weekend in Barbourville, KY, aka redneckville, soon

In einem Tal bei armen Hirten
Erschien mit jedem jungen Jahr,
Sobald die ersten Lerchen schwirrten,
Ein Mädchen schön und wunderbar.

Sie war nicht in dem Tal geboren
Man wusste nicht, woher sie kam,
Und schnell war ihre Spur verloren,
Sobald das Mädchen Abschied nahm

Beseligend warihre Nähe,
Und alle Herzen wurden weit,
Doch eine Wüde, eine Höhe
Entfernte die Vertraulichkeit.

Sie brachte Blumen mit und Früchte,
Gereifet auf einer andern Flur,
In einem andern Sonnenlichte,
In der glücklichern Natur.

Und teilte jedem eine Gabe,
Dem Früchte, jenem Blumen aus,
Der Jüngling und der Greis am Stabe,
Ein jeder ging beschenkt nach Haus.

Willkommen waren alle Gäste,
Doch nahte sich ein liebend Paar,
Dem reichte sie der Gaben beste,
Der Blumen allerschönste dar.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ofu9YEzyiEoC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&dq=In+einem+Tal+bei+armen+Hirten+Erschien+mit+jedem+jungen+Jahr+Sobald+die+ersten+Lerchen+schwirrten&source=bl&ots=TluF6jgxqA&sig=tjTrq5OCUzjOqhDwxcfSuUVLkH0&hl=en&ei=iXW2SbLrI-PetgfskKGmCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA38,M1