News and Record Article

A Great Article about my Leadville race is here at the News and Record Website. Thanks Jeri Rowe for a great write up.

LAF Challenge was awesome.

Ok, so I have been a little neglectful of updating the blog. I am sure I have a good excuse somewhere in my mind, but right now it escapes me. All I can think about is what a great time I had at the Livestrong Challenge weekend in Austin TX. Anna and I had an awesome time seeing so many friends and participating in all the events. We both enjoyed the city of Austin as well. I will be posting descriptions of different parts of the trip and the photo’s later, but right now I just wanted to check back in and say “ Thank YOU!” again to all the people that donated to fight this terrible disease called cancer.
I very much enjoyed riding with Rob and the whole Team Speed Bump! You all were great!

Leadville Talk tonight!

GVC-fat Tire Soc meeting!!!Dave Weins and Lance Armstrong were up front, but our very own DavidCaton was in there too, along with an elite cadre of Greensboro areariders. Come see & hear this presentation about this grueling event and have an adult beverage and even a meal..This coming Monday night, Oct 12th, if you like, have dinner downstairs at 6 PM and then join us all the way up on the third floor for the meeting & program at 7 PM. Everyone is invited! Come one, come all! Natty Greene's Pub & Brewing Company. (down town Greensboro) 345 S Elm St www.bigdraft.comRead MoreWelcome to Natty Greene's Brewing Co.Source: www.bigdraft.comRead More


Welcome to Natty Greene's Brewing Co.
Source: www.bigdraft.com


Yesterday at 9:07am · Comment · Like / Unlike · Share

Trip out west, some photo's to share.

Anna and I hiked a slot canyon called Antelope Canyon. It is an amazing place, so tight in places you have to go sideways to get through. In August, the light is in the right place in the sky to create these wonderful shafts of light that come down in the canyon only for about 45 minutes or so. Here are some shots I got of our hike.

Leadville , the race day details.

I have been very slack about getting the details of the race I promised up. No more, here they are written up for your reading pleasure. If you are thinking about doing this race next year, DO IT!

It all started with a 4:45 am alarm going off and me jumping out of bed to look outside to see if it was still raining. It was raining and a nice 38 degrees outside. The first thing I noticed was the nice size puddles still in the parking lot. I quickly got dressed and headed down to the hotel lobby to get some breakfast for my big day ahead. I quickly ate among the other racers and families staying at the hotel and got back to the room to get dressed in the clothes I had laid out the night before. Knee warmers, bib shorts, base layer / sleeveless, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers, sleeveless wind vest and long fingered gloves. I was dressing for a spring ride even though it was summer and even though it felt like winter outside. Welcome to Leadville I thought.

I put on a winter stocking cap underneath my helmet and pulled a very large rain coat over my camelback. My pockets had 10 or so gel packs, 2 packs of cliff shots, and 4 cliff bars. 100 oz camelback and a 20 oz water bottle on the bike with Gatorade was all the liquid I started with. I rode a cold, wet 1 ½ miles down the hill to the start area. My rear tire was a little low on air so I stopped and asked a guy using a pump if I could borrow it after he was done and he said sure.

I rode to the intersection of 6th and Harrison streets. There were already a bunch of folks lined up at the start and it was only 5:20 am or so, and the race start was not till 6:30am. I managed to get a place about the second half of the intersection near the outside and got checked in by a race official. I made sure to save room for both the David’s. Shortly after I got there, I saw David Phelgar and called him over. We both were wearing our Cycles de Oro kits. Both with the wrong years wind vest over top. We chatted about the weather and the fresh snow that was visible on the mountain tops near us. Then Anna found us, snapped some pictures and gave us words of encouragement.

There was already a lot of media around, but the helicopter coming at us with the camera nose mounted gave away that this was a really big race, with Lance Armstrong involved. It felt really cool being in a race with him and so many other top pros that you read about in magazines and on websites. I handed my heavy rain jacket to Anna and took off my stocking cap. I gave her one more kiss for luck, and then she took off to get some pictures from the front. I wished David good luck one last time, and then counted down with the race announcer. We are off. David disappeared so fast, moving up in the crowd without effort it seamed. I tried to hold his wheel, but the mass of cyclist shifted and moved so much it was impossible. The start was go fast, then stop, go fast, stop, then all the sudden the group was really moving. I saw 28mph on my GPS. We are really moving down the paved road all downhill. A beautiful rainbow on the horizon, oh that is so cool I thought. What I should have thought was, rainbow means rain up ahead. I warming up everywhere good, but my hands are getting colder and numb.

We crossed the railroad tracks and jumped off the paved road and started on the dirt road. Over a cattle grate and I heard someone blow a tire, BAM! Then someone is yelling for help for a downed rider, a woman lying in a ditch with several riders around her. Around the next bend and a huge cow is in the road, causing everyone to laugh, because we all felt like cattle in that crowd, being herded up the mountain. The next 5 miles is the first climb and riders are stretched 3 and 4 wide across the track at this point. It finally slows down so much the hike a bike starts and I am walking up the mountain with the big mass of riders all around me. I get to the top of St. Kevin after the riders start to break up on the climb and I can ride again. The walk was not that far, but it felt like wasted time. I blew through the first aid station as Anna was not meeting me there and its only 11 miles into a long race. Down the paved road again, now it starts to pour rain on me. I really am moving in this section, but getting good and cold. At least the traffic is opening up and I can go at my pace. Next the up and over Sugarloaf pass. Good grind, not to hard, but helping me warm up.

After a few more tough miles I reach the Powerline aid station. It was hard getting here it seams, my body fighting off the cold and not responding well. I see Anna on the right side of the course just before the race supported aid station; I pull out to see her and ask for a few supplies. I jump back in and take off to head over to the top of powerline.

The decent is steep and wet; the clay like mud is flying all over me and the bike. It’s so bad that I can’t see my GPS because the screen keeps getting covered. I make it all the way down, cross the creek and onto the paved road. This section is going by fast. I feel like I am finally getting going and warmed up. I race through the twin lakes, Anna is not waiting for me there, thank goodness because it’s a full on three ring circus. People everywhere, I can’t even tell what is an official aid station or personal aid station for people. The whole way thru I am trying to be really careful and not get taken out by all the people on the road. This is probably only a fraction of what a Tour De France racer feels like on those mountain tops, but it is really scary and cool at the same time. Everyone yelling out at you and cheering you on, it really gave me a rush. Another surreal moment in this section was when I was crossing the damn. Lance Armstrong was coming at me directly in my path. He was flying and he had a motorcycle following behind with a camera man on back. About 15 ft from me; he jumped to his right and flew past. He was on mile 60 something and I was on mile 40 something. After the race through twin lakes with no stops I kept going looking for the new aid station on the other side of a ranch where we cruised through new single track that was pretty cool. I saw Anna and had to signal to her, she was shocked I had gotten to that point so fast. I did feel good at this point, but knew I had a lot to go. I told her I loved her and took off to climb the biggest climb.

I started at around 9,400 feet and began the climb up Columbine Mine with a top out of 12,600 feet. The grade is not that bad, very good, gravel / dirt road with tons and tons of switchbacks for the first 8 miles or so up uphill. I settled into a pace I felt I could hold and climbed up and up. Watching lots of racers fly past, scanning them all for David Phelgar. Right before the tree line, I saw that familiar Cycles de Oro kit and yelled out, “Go Dave!” I heard a shout back. Next comes the really nasty part of the climb, very rocky and rutted. On and off the bike again and again, passing a few along the way and trying to stay out of the way of people flying down the other side. I watched a guy lose control and fly down the slope about 25 yards off trail, he finally got stopped and hiked back up. Then there I was, pulling into the Columbine Mine aid station at 12,600 feet with a 360 degree view. I was all business and handed over my camelback to be refilled, bottle too. They gave me a cup of hot soup and a PBJ sandwich. I ate fast and took off. I was very windy and snowing a little at this point.

The downhill was very fast. The first 2 miles above tree line was really challenging, with all the rocks and ruts and bikers still coming up on one side. Then I got to the nice grade gravel road section and was flying. I just let the bike go as fast as it could peddling a little when it started to get flat. I took a few corners a little too fast and almost wiped out a few times, but overall was very happy with the way this section went. Soon I was back with Anna in the aid station at the bottom, I gave her a quick kiss and told her I did not need anything, I knew time was pressing, so I told her just to go to the finish line and not worry about any more aid stations, if I needed anything I would just get it from the race support and with that I was off. Back thought the next little section and back at the crazy crowd at twin lakes. The crowd had died down here a bit, but I just hammered thru on my way to the bottom of powerline. The rolling mix getting over there was no problem I felt like my power was holding well.

Powerline on the other hand was waiting for me. Powerline going back is starting out at 9,400 feet and climbing back up to 11,100 feet in less than 3 miles. I crossed the creek on the bridge again and shifted to my easiest gear seeing the very steep, rutted hill before me. I tried, but did not have the power to stay on the bike, so I jumped off and began the push up the hill. False summit after false summit toyed with me. This is the part of the course that really plays with your head. You think that the next top you can see has to be the true top of the mountain, but no, there is another that pops into view as soon as you crest it. You get to ride for a few minutes and then it’s back to the hike a bike. At this point I was really feeling the brand new mountain bike shoes I had never worn except for this race. My right heel felt as if it had no more skin. I just pushed on. I was so happy to get to the top and back on the bike. I was happy with the nice flat fast section back to the powerline aid station, where I grabbed a coke and kept rolling.

A very fast paved descent led me back down to the paved climb back up St. Kevin. All I remember about this part of the course was doing my best to climb at my limit to stay on track, I pretty much rolled thru the last aid station here, with a volunteer telling me to push and the time was getting really tight. The downhill began back on the dirt and this was a really fun section. I was letting it fly, passing a few riders in this section. I watched as the numbers on my GPS were getting closer and closer to 100. Back over the cattle guard and onto the pavement that was supposed to take me to Leadville. But wait, I noticed my GPS was now showing 100 miles, I asked the guy next to me about it and he replied “no it’s like 105 miles total.” With 20 minutes to go, I was now growing concerned about missing the 12 hour cut. I put it into the big ring and put my head down and really started digging deep to push myself hard. The next surprise to me at least is that we are going a different way to the finish from this point in. A rolling dirt road called the boulevard. I wanted this bad. I kept thinking about how it would be to do all the training I had done all year, all that missed time with Anna and I could not let it go down without accomplishing what I wanted to do. I was not going to let that happen. Every time I felt myself ease up, I would shift down harder and push to keep the pace up. After getting off the dirt road, people were starting to appear on the side of the road, cheering us on, telling us it was just over the next hill. It was tight, so I pushed harder.

One last pitch up a paved road, I dug deep and pushed myself over it as hard as I could. Then I saw the finish line. Oh how sweet that sight was. I knew I had it and started to get really excited, but instead of sitting up, I put the bike in the hardest gear I could and gave up all the rest of the energy I had. I told myself that I was going to get it all and that way I could be proud of what I did, knowing nothing was held back. I loved hearing all those folks all the way to the line, yelling, telling me I had done it. I rolled up the red carpet they had laid out and just felt so happy. Anna came bursting thru the crowd after hearing the announcer call my name and gave me a huge hug just after a volunteer put the metal around my neck and told me congratulations. 11:56 was my official time, I had done it. Anna snapped some pictures of me at the line and helped me off my bike. Dave and Wendy appeared and helped me as well. I sat down on the grass and started to get really cold really fast. Dave and Wendy helped get my bike back to the hotel, while Anna helped me back to the car. A 2 hour hot shower got my temp back to normal and Anna went and got us food and a celebratory beer.

Party was a hit!

The party was a great time, with lots of people stopping by. We raised a good amount of money to go towards LAF and gave away a lot of nice raffle prizes thanks to our sponsors. A huge thank you goes to my wonderful, beautiful wife Anna who got all those sponsors to donate and got all the great food for the party. Thanks to everyone that came.

Big Thanks to all my Sponsors that are helping us raise money.

Your Invite!

I am throwing a “Celebration/Fundraising” party for my husband, David, for completing The Leadville Trail 100 Race Across The Sky. Get your tickets now, space is limited. We are also selling raffle tickets. If you’d like to buy tickets, you can make a donation online on the link below in increments of $5 or write a check during the night of the event. Please see the information below.

There will be lots of food, beer and wine to help celebrate and join in the fun! We look forward to celebrating with you!!
Thank you,
Anna Caton



Location: Loft above the Green Bean 341 S. Elm Street Greensboro , NC 27401
When:Sunday, September 20, 4:00PM to 7:00PM
Help share David's exciting experience with The Leadville Trail 100 Race Across The Sky. David will have a slide show and talk about his adventure.Enjoy music, heavy hor dourves, (from Chick-fil-A, The Fresh Market, Painted Plate and Pepper Moon Catering) wine and beer (from Natty Greene's).Cost: $25 per person or $40 a couple.Please make your donation, by credit card, to attend the party at the following link:
http://austin09.livestrong.org/davidcaton

Or, you can write a check made payable to Lance Armstrong Foundation Events at the party.

Raffle prizes will be awarded from Balance Day Spa, Coach Buxton, CYCLES de ORO, Maxie B's, Omega Sports and Proximity Hotel.Your $25 donation will give you 5 chances & $40 8 chances to win. For more chances to win, additional tickets can be purchased for $5.All proceeds benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation, LAF.David is raising funds for his friend, Rob Eubank, who is battling liver and colon cancer.If you're unable to attend, donations are greatly appreciated!!!
LET'S HELP WIN THIS BATTLE !!!

Map my Ride GPS 705 Data

I have uploaded my 705 data from Leadville to Map my Ride.

http://www.mapmyride.com/route//co/leadville/413125192454459701

Leadville the deal is done!

Leadville is over! It's in the books and I can say it was really tough. I squeaked out my sub 12 with an official 11:56. Whew! Here is a quick Photo recap that Anna took. I will be posting a more detailed write up later. Thanks again to everyone that supported me and all my sponsors. I also want to thank my number one supporter, Anna who crewed all day and was so helpful after I was done riding. You are the Love of my Life, thank you for everything.

Suffering was the face of the day.

The two David's at the start.



Pedaling away as fast as I can.

Very happy that I did it!

The reward - Belt Buckles!

A Chance to win Raffle Prizes for doing a good thing.

Starting today with the help of some wonderful sponsors I am holding a raffle prize contest for donations to Lance Armstrong Foundation. For each $5.00 worth of donations made to my LAF challenge page, you will get one chance to win some fabulous prizes given by wonderful sponsors. Below is a list of things to be given away. If you donate $5.00 you have one shot to win, if you donate $10.00, 2 chances, etc. This contest will be now through September 19, 2009. Please go here to make your donation. Each donation helps so much and is greatly appreciated. Please help us win against Cancer.

Balance Day Spa 3 Classic Manicure Gift Certificates

Coach Buxton.com Pre-Built Training Plan

CYCLES de ORO Cycle Computer, Pair of cycling shorts

Maxie B’s Cake

Omega Sports Pair of Running Shoes valued up to $100
2 Sport Tech Omega Sports Tees
2 Omega Sports Water Bottles

Proximity Hotel Weekend Night Getaway

I would once again, really like to thank all these great sponsors. Heartfelt thanks from me.

Fat Cyclist and Twin Six

Fat Cyclist
Home - TWIN SIX - Alternative Cycling Apparel

Fat Cyclist is a blog I have been reading for a few years now. He has always had a great way with words and a funny look at cycling. His family has been an inspiration to lots of folks dealing with Cancer and fighting it. He and his wife have rallied the troops and raised over $500,000.00 for Lance Armstrong Foundation this year. Elden's wife Susan passed away last night. I wish his family the best. I hope you will take a second to head over to The Fat Cyclist and leave a comment of support. I hope we can all raise enough money and beat this terrible disease called Cancer.

Twin Six has always supported The Fat Cyclist. They put a very nice tribute on the homepage today. I have a few shirts and socks from them, they make great stuff.

LAF had a nice blog post as a tribute as well. It's here if you want to see.

We should all FIGHT LIKE SUSAN!

It's getting close, Leadville on the horizon

The Shoes have been replaced! CYCLES de ORO hooked me up with a pair of the Specialized Pro Mtb shoes. These things look awesome and feel great. I might be suffering on the long climbs in Leadville, but my feet will be styling and feel good.

The bike, my Specialized EPIC has made the journey. It was received today by Cycles of Life, the highest bike shop in the country! They are building and tuning my bike before the race. Do you think the bike could get acclimatized for me?

Anna has gotten me some more sponsors to help raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I would like to welcome Chick- Fil-A, Painted Plate and Pepper Moon Catering. Thank you all so much for helping me raise money to fight this terrible disease called cancer.

Leadville is right around the corner. Someone has been pre riding sections of the course. Go here for video of the course. I’m getting ready to go, pre packing as best as I can. Very excited to be so close to a race I have always talked about doing and it’s almost here.

Leadville on the list and my teammate

Leadville has long been on my mind as a race that I would like to complete. To me it’s always been one of those “one of these day’s I will do that one”. Well for me that day is now barreling down on me like a huge freight train, that there is no way I’m getting out of the way of! In a few short weeks, I’m going to be lined up at the starting line, with all those crazy thoughts we all get at the starting line.

Did I train enough? Did I do everything I could have to prepare? Did do all I can to raise money to this point and fight cancer? Do I have the right supplies with me for the day? Are my clothing choices right? Did I choose the right food and liquid nutrition to carry? Is the bike good to go for the day? Why does my stomach feel like this? That guys looks fast, wonder if I can hang with him? That person looks out of there league, hope I can get in before them? I did ORAMM…. I can do this right????

Then “BAM” there is a start. For me, it shuts out those questions. It’s time to focus and do what you came to do. I know when it comes down to it, I need to drown out all those things and focus on what I can do. Still saying that and doing that are different things. Anna is always in my corner and telling me I can and supporting me and I love her so for it. She gives me such strength at times. She completed Ironman Florida in 2005. She raised a lot of money to fight cancer in honor of her father who lost his battle. Just in seeing her complete such huge task makes me know I can take on my challenges and come out better. She continues to show me strength and determination every day. I am so happy to have her on my side. She is a true teammate and soul mate. I would never have put my name in the Leadville lottery had she not given me that little push. She rocks. Anna, I love you and thank you for all your work and support. I hope to make you proud.

PS... congrats to all finishers of ORAMM this year. Results are posted here.

ORAMM

( photo credit Anna Caton )

The off road Assault on Mt Mitchell 09 is in the books. A lot of good lessons and training accomplished. 64 miles and 11, 000 feet of climbing done, I learned a lot about myself and that I can push hard to finish. My finish time was 9 hours and 28 minutes. Not my predicted time, but 2 flats tires and a few cramps induced by 92 degree temps added to my time. I drank so much fluid, 6 -100oz camel back bladders of water, 6 - 20 0z heed’s, and 4 cokes. But the heat was hard and took its toll. I am thrilled to get the miles, hours and climbing in, I think its perfect training for my next race, Leadville. So excited and ready to go.

Currently the Epic is being re braked (lost them at ORAMM) and boxed up to make the journey out west to Colorado at CYCLES de ORO. So the rest of the training is going to be tooling around on my road bike.

My brakes, two tires were not the only casualties of the race. My mountain bike shoes bit the dust. The soles wore away on the rocky hike a bike sections of the race. New choices being considered. Kind of scared I will be rocking new un tried shoes on race day in Leadville, but its really the only option.

Getting ready for the training race

I head out tomorrow to Old Fort to ride the Off Road Assault on Mt Mitchell. This will be my first endurance mountain bike event. I thought it would be perfect training to leading up to my Leadville Race in a few more weeks. I will be spending this evening going over my gear and bike making sure all is good to go for the race on Sunday. This race is 63 miles and 11,000ft of climbing. I will keep having to tell myself to keep the wheels turning and hold a good pace.

I will post when I get back on how it went and will announce some things about raising more money for the LAF to help fight cancer.

Wish me luck!

Lots of training and slack on post

Training is going well. I don’t feel like I’ve done any work unless I have 40 miles or so done on a ride. I got 220 miles in 4 days last week, so I feel like my base is pretty strong right now.

I took a few days off this weekend and spent the time with my lovely wife Anna in the mountains. We hiked and spent one day out on the lake cruising around on a big pontoon boat swimming and relaxing.

Looking forward to racing off road Assault on Mt Mitchell this weekend. It will be a good test of my fitness leading up to the Leadville race across the sky. I stopped by CYCLES de Oro today and got supplies for ORAMM. Picked up spare tubes, side wall patch, and some food / drink products.

Local News Story on the Battle Ride

This is a training ride I try and go on about two times a week. The Battle ride or Northside Ride is a great group and I'm glad the news did such a nice job with the positive message about cars and bikes.

Story Here on Fox 8's website

You can see a lot of fellow CYCLES deOro jerseys on this story.

Mountain Training Time

My trip to the mountains was good. I managed to get 2 rides in with a total of about 5 hours and 15 minutes of saddle time, with 52 miles of trail / road / fire road covered. I climbed about 6,008 feet between the two rides. No weird people out in the woods this time, but did see a lot of people out enjoying the wonderful weekend, boaters out on the lakes, fishermen in the rivers and streams and lots of hikers on the trail.

I managed to enjoy some good family time as well with my wife Anna and my parents. I ate way too much UN healthy food and had a lot of good wine and beer. So I need to get back on eating better.

I did enjoy some fireworks at the Sky Valley GA fireworks display. They had some great barbeque before the main event. I hope everyone else out there had a great 4th as well.

Mountain Biking in Mountains

Up in the Highlands area for the weekend and today rode some awesome trails at Jack Rabbit Mountain area. SABA built these trails and did a wonderful job if you are ever in this area, the single track is sweet. I only got about 1400 ft of climbing in and about 20 miles. Planning for a longer ride tomorrow. Anna and my parents hiked while I rode. Here is a shot Anna got of my parents and I when I came around one of the laps.

Mountain Biking Last Night

Rode mountain bikes at Bur-mil last night with Dave and Marty. We met at Dave’s place and rode the greenway over to the start of Owl’s Roost. I had forgotten how tough the little entrance to the woods there was, so I was slow going up but made it. Was very hot and humid in the woods; stopping meant being drenched in your own sweat, while riding at least gave some relief with your own breeze that riding makes.

We ran across several deer back in the woods; which did not seem to mind sharing the place with us and only stared as we rode by.

We rode Owl's Roost and then headed over to Wild Turkey. The trails are nice dry and fast right now. If your in the neighborhood its a good time to ride them.

Breaking the Trainer.

Is it a good or bad sign when you break your indoor trainer the first year you’ve had it? It’s been raining here a fair amount this year, no drought talk yet, which is unusual for us. So the trainer has seen its fair time of my backside since I want to be in good shape for my Leadville attempt. If I’m off the bike for too many days I start to panic about not doing all I can to be ready for it. I do hate to ride in the rain, all that spray that flies up from the road and makes the taste of motor oil most unwelcome in your mouth. Don’t forget the 2 plus hours of cleaning up and lubing your bike properly that always sucks. So the trainer has become my great training partner on those days. Right now my little trainer partner is being fixed. It’s over at CYCLES de ORO getting made all better. I sure hope it recovers from my meanness to it before another round of bad weather gets here or I guess I will have to suck it up and go outside in the rain and train.

More riding and big thanks to my sponsors!

Training is on track. I have ridden 117.5 miles (two days) so far this week. That includes a ride to Hanging Rock State Park and a climb to its top. I was joined by Eddie, Eric and Gary. Eric and I did the post ride beer thing at Bristo 150. That Fat Tire really hit the spot. Last Saturday was the Paceline A ride that was hot and miserable. Summer is in full swing here in North Carolina, with those hot steamy days happening. I drank so much water; I even carried extra bottles in my jersey pockets on the ride. We started with about 30 riders, but by the time we got back to town and I had 68 miles done we only had 7 or so left.
No more broken spokes this week, knock on wood, and the bike has been riding smooth thanks to the folks at CYCLES de ORO. I did however manage to break my indoor trainer, some strange clear fluid leaking out, but Dale at CYCLES de ORO wants me to drop it by so he can take care of it for me.
Anna has been doing a fabulous job helping me with the fundraising part of this endeavor. I want to thank all the Sponsors we have so far. Thank you Maxie B’s, Balance Day Spa, CYCLES de ORO, Proximity Hotel and Omega Sports. Thank you for helping me raise funds to fight Cancer. Please go visit these folks and support those who support me.
Coming soon there will be details on a raffle to win some fabulous prizes that these kind sponsors have given me to raise more funds. Please stay tuned.

Slack and post

Sorry it’s been awhile since I have posted. Rain, Rain, Rain is the word. Our area has been getting its share of afternoon thunderstorms. I don't have water wings on my bike so, I have either been riding inside, or racing storms back to town. Cars have floated from the flooding in town. I have gotten a few rides outside, but luck has not been on my side.

Anna has had to rescue me twice this week off the side of the road. The first, it was a perfect Saturday. I was heading on about a 70 mile ride heading south of town, to climb Caraway Mountain. I have about 8 perfect riding partners. We were cruising fast south of town, and I felt good, when the climbing starting, I was right to the front. Finished the climb in 3rd, still feeling great, and then it happened. I stood up and heard the ping that signaled my rear wheel spoke breaking free. I limped to the store and called Anna. I was 38 miles straight south of town, so it was awhile before she made it but so glad she could rescue me. A little later in the week I was on the Tuesday battle ride and racing a huge thunderstorm back to town, and I made it about 3 miles short of home and had to take shelter in a parking garage from the lighting and rain, and again made the call. She was there in moments. I can’t tell you how nice she has been about saving me. She is my true teammate in this year’s effort and I can’t say enough about how much she means to me.

She lost her Father to Cancer and I lost my Grandfather to Cancer so we both know how important raising funds to fight this terrible disease are. She has raised a lot of funds in the past, but is helping me to raise more funds, she is an amazing woman. We both want to see this Cancer disease defeated.

Along those lines I want to thank her with helping me find sponsors to help raise funds. I the near future we will be announcing plans for more fund raising things, but right now I want to thank sponsors now on board with helping us raise money. Maxie B’s , Balance Day Spa and cycles de ORO have all done a lot to help us raise money to fight Cancer. Please visit these wonderful businesses and show your support to people that have supported me. You can get to them by clicking on the names or on the links in the side bar.

Climbing Hills

The Bike Ready to Go!

Rode 77 miles with 6 great guys on Saturday. We Left the shopping center in Oak Ridge at around 8:15 am and rode the rolling hills to Hanging Rock State Park. Once we got to the park we started to notice quite a bit of other riders, we had merged in with the 3 Mountain Madness. I settled into a slow steady pace and rode all the way to the top. After a fast descent, we rode part of the course backwards around the backside of Hanging Rock towards Sauratown Mountain. We got on a long descent and had a little fun with the pace and a few attacks.

After we almost made it back, one rider was standing up on his bike making a turn and his crank arm of his FSA cranks sheared off. After he picked himself up off the road, assessed the damage to himself and his bike, he walked it to the car, lucky we where so close. We all shared a post ride beer at a Bistro. Was a great day.

Anna's Cheese Balls are still selling well. This picture shows the latest batch:

Please order one and support LAF! Please contact me if you want info.
Thanks to all those who have ordered them!

Cheese Ball Production Is UP!

Anna is making Cheese Ball's like mad. The orders are coming in. Please keep her busy. I really do appreciate those folks who have ordered, Thank You! 100% of the proceeds are going to LAF via donations to my Livestrong Challenge Page. Other's please buy one of Anna's Cheese Balls they are very good.

On a training note, riding inside on the trainer is not much fun, but I guess it beats getting rained and lightninged on.

Shots from the weekend.

Rainy since I have been home. I had to ride the trainer inside for the first time in months. I seem to go through more water on the trainer, and Anna is very nice when I yell out of the office that I have run out again and need more. What would I do without her?

There were lots of Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron in bloom on the ride, was very pretty to look at over the weekend.

Mountain Training

In the mountains training climbing hills this weekend. Rode yesterday for almost 3 hours and covered 29 miles. 4,000 ft of climbing in. Felt good and saw hardly any cars. Great fire road up here and the mountain laurel is in full bloom so lots to look at. Encountered a woman practicing yoga in the middle of the road, new one on me. Just a quick stop in to say Hi. Blue Valley overlook in the photo.

Cheese Ball Sales

The Cheese Balls are selling well. Should have alot more donations coming into the LAF site soon. I took a sample to my work. The sample did its job and quite a few people ordered right after tasting. Please email me at (davidallencaton (@) yahoo.com ) for details if your interested.

Here is a photo from the sample:

A package came from Leadville: The racer info COOL :

Rode 54.5 tonight. Felt ok, not great. All training has it's ups and down.

Tour de Lions and Cheese Balls

Today I did the Tour de Lions. I rode the 75 mile route and felt good till just before the end. I started with the front group and stayed with what was a pretty select group for the first 15 miles. They were averaging 26 miles an hour and the turns got to be pretty dangerous, I exited the group and spent the next 5 miles or so in no man's land. Then the second group came along. I stayed in this group for the next 45 miles. My average in this group was 22.5 miles an hour. The Tour de Lions has excellent rest stops, but the group choose not to use any of them. This I think was my down fall as the last ten miles were on my own with the tank starting to show empty. I limped it in and had a 20.6 miles per hour average over the whole 75 miles.

I think the training is coming along nicely. I have had several people who ride with me and know me say that they can tell a difference in my training this year. They say I am riding better than I have in a long time. I just hope I can keep this base going and reach a good peak right at the Leadville Race Across the Sky. I have made several trips to the mountains and spent a good deal of time climbing a 10 mile section of Forrest service road that climbs about 3,000 ft. It's a good climbing workout. The Tuesday / Thursday battle rides are great for the training. The average speed is up this year and I am getting as much as 57 miles on a week night after work which is great.

The fundraising is going well. $2,465.00 to date. I want to thank everyone who is donating to my Livestrong Challenge page, if you have not yet donate please help me fight the disease that affects so many people. We all know someone that has been effected by this disease. The link to my page is in the side bar. I'm not just riding the Livestrong Challege in Austin, but also trying to raise funds by challenging myself by riding Leadville Race Across the Sky.

My wife Anna has been doing lots to help me with training and trip planning. I could not do this without her support, she is a wonderful teammate in helping me raise funds in the fight against cancer. She is going to help even more by making her famous cheese ball. This cheese ball is so good that its one of the first things gone when put out during the holidays. Speaking of holidays Fathers Day is coming up, and this would make a great gift for dad. Please email me at (davidallencaton (@) yahoo.com ) for details if your interested.