Wednesday

Molson, Ange, Baker and I headed over to a trail near Mount Marcy to start the day with a trail run that took about 1 hour and 10 minutes. It was a great way to begin a busy day here in LP. I had a lot of last minute things to do before the Camp officially began, which was tonight at 4:30pm.

Later in the morning, Jeff, Baker and I headed out to ride a loop of the course. Ange waited for Chris Nook, one of the campers who flew in from Cleveland. We startred on the long, gradual 9 mile climb out of town, and I put in my headphones and settled into a strong pace. I wanted to get in a good solid ride today. The legs felt really strong as I made my way to the big downhill. I hit 51 on the downhill and then had a nice tailwind along the river on rt.9. This is where I received my first flat of todays ride. I changed it quickly and headed onwards, only to flat again, about 8 mile later. Same wheel (rear). I changed this one and again, got back into my rythm. I went through the 25 mile mark of the course in exactly 1 hour of riding time, when I suffered a third flat! I sat on the side of the road, having flashbacks of Hawaii 2002. Baker rolled up an gave me a spare and a CO2. I inspected the rim very closely as well as the tire, but couldn't figure out what was causing the punctures. I did use some plastic to reinforce some rough areas on the rim, changed the flat once again, and headed off. I ran into Angela and Chris on the out and back section and rode withthem for a bit and then attacked the headwind on 86 all the way back into town. I then high-tailed it to the bike shop and bought some new rim tape, a carbon-kevlar tire, and some new tubes. I should be good to go now, and hopefully got rid of all my flats for the rest of this camp.

The weather cooled off considerably since yesterday. We all met in front of the hotel at 4:30pm and did a short run around mirror lake. We regrouped at the beach and had a short discussion including introductions, camp expectations, blah, blah, blah... We have a cool group here. Everyone seems fun and ready to train hard, yet more importantly, have a good time.

After a nice dinner at The Boat House, we walked to Ben and Jerry's - you have to start camp out on the right note! On the walk over to B and J's, I ran into my wifes cousin who was up here over night on a business trip. Small world.

Tomorrow, the fun really begins, starting with a 90 min trail run! I'll keep you posted but until then, bye for now!

Cheers,

EH