tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110578792011-04-21T23:04:09.496-05:00Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.comBlogger811100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-514496421902046912008-09-05T10:07:00.003-05:002008-09-05T10:20:20.854-05:00

Great job to all who rode/raced on Sunday.This was my best 100 yet. After four times riding this race, my focus for the fifth ride was on the fun- try to ride with folks, and keep myself out of the pain cave. Going into the race I had no agenda and no time goal, rather I had a strategy to ride within myself and not suffer by chasing anyone or getting too close to the 'red zone.' With that in mind

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-70505638480467405722008-05-15T08:13:00.002-05:002008-05-15T08:30:33.380-05:00

Raced my first road race of the year last night, the Greenbelt "training" race. It's a good experience in concept. Ride out to the race- nice 30 min warm up, race for an hour, ride home for 30 mins for cool-down.I could be grumpy about some of the riding etiquette in the race, but really it's not worth writing about.I came away with somewhere around 10th place, although the 'official' standings (

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-2291582394695507942008-05-01T12:13:00.005-05:002008-05-01T13:09:40.007-05:00

Time to capture this while it's fresh in my head. On Sunday I raced in the Men's Expert 30-39 class at Potomac Velo's annual NMBS Greenbrier Challenge. This race looms over me every year for a few reasons. It happens early in the season and my slacker ass tends to be less than ready for the hurt that this course pours on, and more importantly the competition that the it attracts. I've flatted at

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-40255333836376235092007-11-28T16:14:00.000-05:002007-11-28T16:34:55.419-05:00

Over Thanksgiving, we flew to Minneapolis to spend the holiday my in-laws. We flew on Northwest Airlines. Northwest, formerly known to me as 'Northworst,' did an excellent job with pretty much everything. We arrived 5 minutes early on Tuesday night prior to Thanksgiving - not super impressive as that wasn't the 'rush' day, but on Sunday, we arrived back in Washington 30 minutes early, which to me

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-61439468633181753452007-09-26T12:41:00.000-05:002007-09-26T12:47:04.948-05:00

Lots to blog about, but little time.One thing I should mention is that our team is organizing a 'cross race in DC. In fact it will be held in my backyard, almost literally.DCCX 2007A Day of Cyclocross Racing in Our Nation’s CapitalPresented by DCMTB/City BikesU.S. Armed Forces Retirement HomeRock Creek Church Rd, NW & Upshur St, NWWashington, DC 20011Registration is open for DCCX! The race will

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-83779422822036497422007-08-08T14:58:00.000-05:002007-08-08T15:13:33.201-05:00

First, I rode an 82 mile Mass-Sky ride in Saturday's heat. Sunday was the Cranky Monkey dirt crit. It's a full gas effort for 60 minutes plus one lap- a.k.a. 70 minutes.I was carpooling with Steve (teammate and neighbor who lives behind us). At about 10:30 we realized the race started at 12, not 1. Neither of us had our bikes in any working order. His BB was pulled and in pieces, my bike hadn't

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-91017551663638523572007-06-18T17:00:00.000-05:002007-06-18T17:01:55.592-05:00

I came into this race with the hope making a top 5 finish. I had suffered badly at the 24 Hours of Big Bear the weekend before and spent most of the week resting and doing recovery rides and fighting back a sour stomach and general badness. Thursday and Friday’s rides left me feeling ready for some hard efforts and I wanted to get back some dignity and see how I would do in a sprint, which from

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1167674880417735852007-01-01T12:18:00.000-05:002007-06-13T09:05:56.480-05:00

Happy New Year!Before going on to blog about the trip I am currently on, I must first give an update on the trip up to Natz with Evan, Judd, Kyle and Josef. The trip began on a rough note for me. Although I planned ahead and packed, my company had it's Christmas party Friday night (the night before we left). I truly meant to not drink too much, and chose to drinkt wine thinking I would avoid

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1166803403562084252006-12-22T10:38:00.000-05:002007-01-26T12:43:37.173-05:00

A friend sent me this interesting and frustrating piece on the WABA website:http://www.waba.org/new/issues/NPSMallStudy.phpIn a nutshell, this draft Environmental Assessment for the Visitor Transportation Study for the National Mall and Surrounding Park Areas failed to take into account the thousands of visitors and commuters that bicycle in the National Mall. But they did include Segway users.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1166202556471588502006-12-15T11:31:00.000-05:002006-12-15T12:41:55.776-05:00

An article in The Washington Post today Some Metro Riders May Reach for Car Keys discussed reactions from Metro riders to the potential plan to raise fares in order to meet Metro's budget shortfall.The Post included angry quotes from riders who are upset about the fare increase. While I don't agree that the increases should be as high as proposed, and it is likely that the hike will be lower in

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1165346315053200082006-12-05T14:08:00.000-05:002006-12-13T09:34:39.193-05:00

What would a 'cross weekend be without having a good evening of drinking before race day?Again this happened, again, it paid off.A brief recap since the Lower Allen race. I did two other 'cross races, the Richmond Ciclismo 8th out of 20 in the Bs, and a race over the Thanksgiving break up in Sterling, MA, 59th out of 89 in the Bs. The Richmond race consisted of a relatively sparse field, and I

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1165344542525576952006-12-05T13:17:00.000-05:002006-12-08T12:30:15.436-05:00

As usual I have posted far fewer blogs on the 'cross season than I originally hoped. It's been a great first season though.At most of the races, I was accompanied by Evan and Judd. Judd and I made our way up through the C's over the season. Evan, in a whole different league, beat up the Bs for the better part of the season.Each race had its own highlights, but things really started getting

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1159837564511118702006-10-02T19:00:00.000-05:002006-10-03T15:22:08.380-05:00

I don't have too many words to say, I will say that I had a blast. I started at the back- 3 people off the back to be exact - out of around 65 or something and I only had use of the big ring after lap one. That said, combined with no training since the SM 100 I was pleased with my performance- 5th.I'd been planning to do 'cross since late October last year. But one thing or another got in the way

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1157473565204314172006-09-05T10:22:00.000-05:002006-09-06T21:46:45.253-05:00

It has been a while since I've posted, and the laziness seems to continue. However it is less laziness than lack of time due to home improvement projects, work and biking. In any event, there are several half-finished race reports in draft format that will appear at some point. In the meantime the biggest update is that I rode my 4th Shenandoah Mountain 100 this past weekend. Cycling news has a

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1154012202321267572006-07-27T09:54:00.000-05:002006-07-27T22:34:05.266-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14059185/I really hope this is simply a natural occurance. Is it possible for someone to have elevated levels of testosterone randomly? What about elite athletes? Is their body chemistry such that it can have strange levels at times?This is an interesting post on an MSNBC message board. http://boards.live.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=42774What I get out of this

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1153768425261212902006-07-24T13:53:00.000-05:002006-07-24T14:13:45.316-05:00

I wrote up a little report from last week's Wednesday at Wakefield race.It's posted on our team blog/site www.dcmtb.com.I am working on a report for this past weekend's racing, 2 big races, Girro di Coppi and Michaux #2 The Curse of Dark Hollow.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1152630755808605402006-07-11T09:20:00.000-05:002006-07-11T10:12:35.866-05:00

After a frustrating day of home improvement on Saturday, I was granted a permission slip to skip out on kitchen rennovation duties and head down to Front Royal for a big road ride.I joined Evan and Judd for the ride, and we left DC at 7:00AM on the nose. The weather was good, sunny, warm but not too humid. We started in Front Royal, headed down the Fort Valley past Elizabeth Furnace to Luray,

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1151637297334383832006-06-29T22:04:00.000-05:002006-06-29T22:14:57.353-05:00

It's a popular blog topic this week, but the end of the monsoon June is welcome to many. I rode through monsoon, each day, mostly short rides and thus didn't meet my workout plans.Yesterday I joined the Wednesday Coppi ride in Clarendon/Arlington. Always a good group, and a great hill beating.John B was there leading the pack as usual. Some other regulars as well as new folks that I hadn't met

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1151447605318227762006-06-27T17:33:00.000-05:002006-06-28T18:15:40.983-05:00

I actually got out for a ride this AM. Dodging the rain showers and started doing some hills, was up by American University since everything in Rock Creek is a total mess- roads closed, trees down, mud and debris all over the place. It's been a while since I've seen the Creek that high, the waterfall at Pierce Mill wasn't there- in that, the water is so high, the existence of the falls caused

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1151076956825427392006-06-23T10:15:00.000-05:002006-06-23T10:35:56.850-05:00

I'd intended to do the first Wednesday @ Wakefield race this week, but work kept me late for the first half of the week- 8AM-8PM days Monday through Wednesday, so W@W didn't happen. It's a bummer as I'd really hoped to do the whole series this summer. But never fear, I'll be there for the remaining 3 races. There's always another race.This Sunday is the first Cranky Monkey race of a four-race

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1150310642820302712006-06-14T13:30:00.000-05:002006-06-23T10:15:19.616-05:00

This was my 4th and best 24 hour mountain bike race. Why best? read on. These events are so huge, it's hard to focus a blog entry without going off onto multiple tangents. There's getting to the event, which was particularly special this year as I rode co-pilot with Mike in the 1970's era ? Grumman Curbmaster that is the "Meatwagon" or, our City Bikes team truck. There she is hiding behind the

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1149651010361191552006-06-06T22:27:00.000-05:002006-06-14T13:56:40.260-05:00

The team is set, and the weekend is around the corner.Check out the team site.I'm a little bummed not to be doing the Coppi ride tomorrow, but coach JB says to do a shorter zone 3 and then rest up for Saturday's start.To all the folks on the Wed. hill ride, hope it's a good one, and see you next week.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1148654265044057492006-05-26T09:03:00.000-05:002006-05-27T15:07:30.256-05:00

Fellow City Bikes team member, and Chain Reaction Director, Eric Welp asked me to put up a link to Chain Reaction. www.shawecovillage.org Chain Reaction is re-opening on June 1, at their new location- check out their site to learn more.This photo/art/image is taken directly from Gwadzilla. I could not have set it up better, so there it is.Gwadzilla also added a comment relating to my wife's bike

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1147732831182554652006-05-15T17:25:00.000-05:002006-05-25T21:47:41.093-05:00

A huge thank you to the neighborhood kids. I'm totally impressed, thankful and happy.The same kids who saw the non-neighborhood kid steal my wife's bike showed up this evening with it. In my last post I mentioned that three kids were playing basketball when some other kid, who they didn't know showed up and stole the bike.When it happened we asked them if they knew who it was. They said they

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1147491533277450672006-05-12T22:20:00.000-05:002006-05-15T08:35:39.726-05:00

Be on the lookout!My wife's Trek was stolen tonight. We were about to leave and she had to run back in the house for something, I stepped in to get a phone call, and when we came back outside my wife caught a 12-14 year old kid riding down the alley on her bike. I was still on the phone, she started yelling, I came out and jumped on my bike, but the kid had obviously picked the right way to run,

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1147199758570200802006-05-09T13:14:00.000-05:002006-05-25T21:50:51.656-05:00

The 12 Hours of Lodi Farms is a race of firsts for me. Four years ago it was my first cross country race ever. I did duo with my buddy JB. While there is no race report for that one, I'll say that it was the greatest physical effort I'd ever done at that point in my life. On top of that it poured for the entire race. We stuck it out and finished 3rd? in beginner probably because the rest of the

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1146513979452879142006-05-01T14:55:00.000-05:002006-05-09T22:22:35.153-05:00

My first race of the season is in the bag. It went OK... 6th out of 21 starters. The pisser of the day was flatting on the third and final lap. It happened near the top of the final downhill less than a mile from the finish and cost me a few places. There were lots of CB team members on hand at the race, and also lots of flat tires. A full race write up to come.This photo sequence of me turning

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1146153690514035622006-04-27T10:32:00.000-05:002006-04-27T20:13:25.140-05:00

The first race of the season is Sunday, Greenbriar AMBC. As far as training goes, at this point, as my coach JB likes to say, "It’s all in the barn." Whatever I do between now and then isn't really going to make too much of a difference. I've remained reasonably consistent with my training for the past 4 weeks. Obviously the training has been going on for much longer than that, but as a lead-up

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1145054024442524362006-04-14T17:21:00.000-05:002006-04-15T17:43:50.106-05:00

I wasn't sure how to title this entry. But the main idea is to indicate how bad I feel for my buddy Joe who crashed and broke his clavical this week. I don't yet know the details of the crash. The how's and why's are not that important. Joe's a dedicated cyclist. He's our team's co-captain, he is a big MORE member. He rides in group rides regularly, his presence welcome and looked forward to.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1144346978295621772006-04-06T12:50:00.000-05:002006-04-26T09:05:16.726-05:00

OK well, it was only a spring classic because of the strange weather. Similarly to last season, I resolved this season to make it out to Clarendon once a week for the Squadra Coppi's Wednesday hill ride starting at the Java Shack. It's a somewhat tough to commit to this ride as it begins at 6:30 AM which means a 6:05 departure (at the latest) from home. That's early. I tried to get a few fellow

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1143575088591260042006-03-28T14:43:00.000-05:002006-03-28T14:44:48.606-05:00

More of a note to myself, but possibly helpful to others: http://more-mtb.org/forum/showpost.php?p=22171&postcount=8Great ride this past Sat. with Foley at Patapsco. Fast and furious. Joe flies.The new bike is treating me right, a full review to come after a few more rides.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1142524846049222742006-03-16T10:24:00.000-05:002006-03-16T12:58:13.896-05:00

I'm approaching nearly a week of not being on the bike, and nearly a week of being sick. I did put in some solid hours last week, but this week has been empty. Each evening I go to bed hoping that I'll be able to rally in the morning and head out for a long commute in. Each morning I wake up with a raw throat, hacking up lung butter and decide against it. This virus, I've named it "the fever" was

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1141841672870872422006-03-08T13:09:00.000-05:002006-03-08T13:14:32.883-05:00

I woke up today at 5:30 AM with the goal of getting out to Clarendon VA for the 6:30 Squadra Coppi HON (Hills Of Northern) Virginia ride. Amazingly I actually woke up and got out my door at 6:05, which is cutting it close to make it to the Java Shack in Clarendon, but doable. I made it, but no one was there! Not only that, the coffee shop wasn't even open yet. So I did the ride by myself, and

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1141676074606444132006-03-06T15:11:00.000-05:002006-03-06T15:14:34.620-05:00

A friend of mine sent me this link today http://www.torontocranks.com/wp-gallery2.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=3242&g2_page=1. I guess living in Canada leads to such crazy cycling activities. I can't tell if these people are running studded tires? They must be. Some are leaning WAY to far to maintain an edge on the ice. Check out the photos and see if you can tell. I can't say for sure.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1141672118268283322006-03-06T13:38:00.000-05:002006-03-07T12:50:08.716-05:00

The weekend was all planned. Big plans, lots of things to accomplish but all within reason, so long as things went smoothly...Saturday went as planned. My wife and I demolished our kitchen and dining room- we're remodeling on a somewhat large scale. We got it all wrecked and down, and even carted the detritus off to the dump in our neighbors' pickup. Having neighbors who are willing to lend their

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1141242880515732772006-03-01T14:39:00.000-05:002006-03-01T15:08:49.566-05:00

I've been trying my best to stick to a regular training schedule over the past couple of months. It's a challenge. Getting out there on those cold mornings is tough. Getting the right gear together for the temperature means constant changes in layers and gear choices. One thing that deffinitely helps is having neighbors who ride the same commute. Knowing that someone else is waiting for you to

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1139251408448247152006-02-06T13:37:00.000-05:002006-02-28T13:53:02.380-05:00

Yes, I just had to post this. Looks like Lance and Sheryl have split.On to a more relevant topic, training has begun! This week, the 4th since I've begun, promises to be the longest yet, with the possibilty of a road race on Saturday. Yikes. I really need to tune up the road bike if the race is going to happen.City Bikes Team meeting at Joe's place tonight. 7:30!

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1137611822090337142006-01-18T13:55:00.000-05:002006-01-28T20:43:57.153-05:00

After 5 or 6 years it is time to retire the old back pack. It's strange that it has been that long. I remember getting a new school bag every few years, as old ones wore out from carrying around so many books, or as the book load got larger. My current backpack, an EMS 'Where 2' has lasted a long time. Interestingly, it is backed by a lifetime warranty. Would it be right to go and ask them to sew

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1137100618051994012006-01-12T16:15:00.000-05:002006-01-12T16:16:58.066-05:00

This is a neat tool to map out a bike or running route and see the mileage.http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1136843215413253492006-01-09T16:46:00.000-05:002006-01-10T20:15:13.833-05:00

So I opted to start up training on Sunday. What a way to open the season. Without getting too far into detail, the holidays were bad for me. The ride was a sweet route with some folks from the ODBC team. My kind neighbor, SV, drove out and led the ride. We took the W&OD trail out into some Loudon County dirt roads. Ideal terrain for the tricross. It was supposed to be just over a 3 hour ride but

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1136303857310765352006-01-03T10:54:00.000-05:002006-01-04T10:06:09.673-05:00

A quick post. Happy New Year!I read an editorial this morning. It very much articulates a lot of what I feel about Iraq and our administration. Have a look.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1135005482927733032005-12-19T09:58:00.000-05:002005-12-27T10:31:45.290-05:00

After about a 1.5(?) month hiatus, I did my typical long commute into work today. This takes me up along Oregon Ave, along the fringe of Rock Creek Park, to the Capitol Crescent Trail, just south of the Mormon Temple. Holiday parties and the short rides into work have definitely knocked me off my game. The climbs along Oregon Ave hurt way more than they should have. Of course I was pushing hard,

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1133904885361971062005-12-06T16:23:00.000-05:002005-12-27T10:36:44.663-05:00

Got a real live response from the HD people today. Did I get bought off? Will something be done? Who knows. But I think the gesture is helpful, and if they have someone there answering these emails then it's likely that something happens. The corporate feedback measurement machine puts another checkmark next to the NE DC Home Depot location stating that more training is need for management or

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1133793565610250252005-12-05T09:33:00.000-05:002005-12-05T09:49:28.920-05:00

So in response- the Home Depot Customer Care server sent this kind message to me.Hello,Thank you for your feedback- listening to our customers is very important to us. The Home Depot strives to offer all of its customers the most pleasant shopping experience available. Home Depot's Customer Care Department has received your information and a record of your feedback will be created and utilized in

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1133739393396853962005-12-04T18:18:00.000-05:002005-12-05T10:13:04.820-05:00

I don't usually get angry about bad customer service. I find that DC often has fairly poor customer service, particularly in the retail areas. But tonight I had a particularly bad experience at Home Depot.Here is my letter to their customer service department explaining what went on:Dear Home Depot Customer Care:I am a frequent customer at your Washington DC store. As a recent buyer of a fixer

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1133361671917644362005-11-30T09:34:00.000-05:002005-11-30T09:41:11.943-05:00

OK so the holidays are here. I've been a bit lax on the blogging, and on the biking for that matter. Still commuting by bike every day, but more often it is the short 3 mile downhill to the office vs. the 20 mile loop out to Bethesda and back into DC. Furthermore, I have not attended one 'cross race. Even after getting that spiffy S-Works Tricross. Lame. So what have I been doing? housework, home

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1131487481079860712005-11-08T17:03:00.000-05:002005-11-08T17:04:41.090-05:00

Interesting what a little music can do to change the mood of a horror movie trailer. A colleague of mine at work shared this beauty with me:http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/30/the_shining_if_writt.html

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1128732290122559432005-10-07T19:43:00.000-05:002005-10-07T19:50:48.426-05:00

Amazingly I have been on hold ong enough to log in here and make a blog entry. We're ordering from Sala Thai, U Street location.Sooooooooooooooooo long. Well at least they're busy.Hang up. Call again, on hold again.It's going to take at least an hour to get here.At least we're watching U2 on Conan O'Brien.Finally, made the order. Pad Thai, spring rolls, chicke fried rice, Panang tofu.Hour to an

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1128692135950340972005-10-07T08:28:00.000-05:002005-10-07T08:37:24.156-05:00

I didn't bike to work today. It's the first day I've commuted by metro in about two months? Maybe more, I can't remember. I'm glad that DC has a metro. If it didn't exist things would be very different. I hope it expands and gets better. I think more people should ride the metro. That said, I have grown an aversion to riding metro. I think that this can be attributed to riding a bike most of the

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1128653962566685612005-10-06T21:58:00.000-05:002005-10-06T21:59:33.373-05:00

Intersting blog search site: http://www.technorati.com/

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1128607120827735852005-10-06T08:20:00.000-05:002005-10-06T09:41:41.306-05:00

So I decided to buy a cyclocross bike. A Specialized Tricross. Any decision to buy a new bike is tough due to variety of bikes available, cost, questions of 'need' etc. This bike is planned to have a duel purpose; commuting and 'cross racing. I've never raced 'cross before, but it looks like a pile of fun. This blog by Fat Mark has some excellent 'cross racing entries. The gang at City Bikes is

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1127745965584863942005-09-26T09:43:00.000-05:002005-09-28T09:15:19.950-05:00

I headed up to the southern boarder of PA on Sunday to race in the final Michaux race for 2005, The Terror of Teaberry. An overcast day, it seemed like it would rain at any time, which would have made things difficult on the rocks of Michaux. Driving through the town of Fairfield I witnessed the set up for their Annual Pippinfest, something to do with apple picking and fall. It was all very

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1127250060382455912005-09-20T15:27:00.000-05:002005-09-20T16:07:17.950-05:00

My friend and coach, JB, suggested this new summer classic. Ride from Boston to Montreal in 4 days on the road bikes then drive back. It appears that our spouses are both attending the very same conference in July in Montreal. It would be a heck of a stage race. We agreed we would stay at B&Bs and do it "right" for speed- i.e. at least 100 miles a day.And my SM 100 report is still coming... it's

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1127184696924682732005-09-19T21:51:00.000-05:002005-09-23T14:54:09.853-05:00

I’m not sure if it was a good idea to wait a so long to write this report. I’m certainly rested and recovered. After reading the other race reports from the team I felt I needed to get on the ball and put this together, but I just kept putting it off. So here it is finally.As the previous posts in my blog indicate, the Shenandoah Mountain 100 is something that I, like many others who ride it,

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1127182287986871532005-09-19T20:58:00.000-05:002005-09-19T21:38:08.326-05:00

We drove up to Lake Sunapee New Hampshire. It's a long drive from DC, even longer when you leave around 4:30 AM and hit rain in Vermont that slows the drive down to a crawl. We got in around 2:00 PM.The bikes got drenched on the roof, but there wasn't much to do about it but keep going.Katie and I spent the first day and a half with my grandfather. It was great to see him, and spend some time

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1125973769283675472005-09-05T21:24:00.000-05:002005-09-05T21:29:29.290-05:00

My legs and ass are sore but I'm happy. Another incredible Shenandoah Mountain 100 in the books. I met my goal of finishing in 10 hours and 30 minutes or better, it was close, I managed a 10:22. Big day, spectacular weather, great people, it's the mountain biking the event of the year. I'll add more after a nice recovery night.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1125361392980569772005-08-29T18:55:00.000-05:002005-08-30T09:07:51.286-05:00

There is less than a week until the Shenandoah Mountain 100 mountain bike race. I am totally psyched for this event. Similarly to others with whom I ride and race, Joe Foley, Gwadzilla, among others, this race serves as a sort of seasonal landmark, benchmark? I suppose I can use that biz-speak term.I've ridden in this race twice, the first time in 2003, turning out a time of 13 hours 10 minutes,

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1124982721276364732005-08-25T10:00:00.000-05:002005-08-25T10:12:01.283-05:00

After reading this article Giving the evil eye to cars from the Chicago Tribune (August 21) by Jim Sollisch, I wondered how many others feel this way about cars. Does this article speak for more than a few? Is anyone thinking about this?Since graduating from college I have never commuted to work by car. It's either bike, or when the weather stinks, it's Metro. I've also rarely considered how gas

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1123554145742262382005-08-08T21:22:00.000-05:002005-08-08T21:22:25.750-05:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 1px #000000; }.flickr-frame { float: right; text-align: center; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Brian, originally uploaded by mdonahue.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1123554112878309402005-08-08T21:21:00.000-05:002005-08-08T21:21:52.926-05:00

.flickr-photo { border: solid 1px #000000; }.flickr-frame { float: right; text-align: center; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Ezra, originally uploaded by mdonahue.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1123176433899193742005-08-04T12:03:00.000-05:002005-08-04T12:27:13.910-05:00

It's starting to get close to the Shenandoah Mountain 100. For me, this race is the big one for the year, kind of a goal race. There are other races out there, but the 100 has a special status as it comes toward the end of the season and is the longest, toughest race on the roster. I'm starting to get really psyched, the training plan is switching over to longer rides and fewer sprints. Heading

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1122673728495000092005-07-29T16:48:00.000-05:002005-08-02T09:27:31.140-05:00

Another late race blog... but here is my report for the second race of the Michaux Mega Series, The Curse of Dark Hollow from July 24th. After a sweltering week of mid 90s and high humidity (heat index in the 100s) Sunday dawned dry and cool, perfect upper 70s low 80s. Katie came to the race as well which was totally cool. She gave me great support, took some photos of me and enjoyed the

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1121727708111707582005-07-18T17:56:00.000-05:002005-07-18T18:15:11.100-05:00

I was a bit nervous about this race, it being my first road race. I had also ridden the course the weekend before and been pretty surprised at how hilly it was. You can check out the course and it's profile here. Advice from my road-racing friends was to stay near the front at all costs, "If a group leads out, follow a wheel." I took it seriously and staying focused on that advice; it is probably

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1120692029751061142005-07-06T17:57:00.000-05:002005-07-06T18:21:34.246-05:00

This is a quickie- my DSL is down at home and I feel guilty writing long entries at work, so here it is. I rode stage 1 of the Tour de Burg on Saturday (see this for a description of the MTB stage race).Joe, who wrote a great report, and I headed out there and rode it together. The most remarkable thing about the weekend was getting my butt kicked by Joe. I don't know that I've ever seen someone

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1119531832254074932005-06-23T08:02:00.000-05:002005-06-23T08:03:52.260-05:00

This is a hilarious and creative way to finally understand what Eddie's talking about.http://homepage.mac.com/jeffgarden/ledbetter.swf

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1119291465233387672005-06-20T12:57:00.000-05:002005-08-08T21:48:48.856-05:00

There's lots to say about this one! In a nutshell: MONKEY! Ten Pound Monkeys were a great team, great friends, great course, great weather and a 10th place finish to boot! It was great hanging with the other City Bikes team memebers as well, pitting with A Team With No Name and talking to the folks from U.S. Postal, The Big Meats and Innuendo. Ezra Ten Pound Monkies, originally uploaded

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1119009454843250072005-06-17T06:44:00.000-05:002005-06-17T06:57:34.846-05:00

Heading out to Big Bear today! The weather is insanely nice, although there are predictions of showers in the area near the race. I think they need to come up with a 24 hours of Rock Creek or something. After a long night of wrenching Jamie's bike, it appears that it's ready. He had a string of bad luck this week regarding the bike, an Intense Tracer. First, his rear shock blew up and stopped

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1118587580855068492005-06-12T09:27:00.000-05:002005-06-12T09:50:08.376-05:00

The 24 hours of Big Bear, formerly known as the 24 hours of Snowshoe, is rapidly approaching. The event is next weekend!We've got a great team this year, the Ten Pound Monkeys. We're in Men's Sport, which seems to be by far the biggest class at the race with 43 teams. It seems like an awefully big class.This race features a really neat online live update time-keeping system so you can follow each

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1118411771755325832005-06-10T08:38:00.000-05:002005-06-10T09:05:11.983-05:00

Last night I went out to see Off Road to Athens, a film about top level U.S. Mountain bikers and their struggle to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. Without revealing too much, I'll say that it was an emotional look into competitive mountain biking. A truely candid view of the inspiring men and women who compete in the sport. Amazingly there were many twists and turns to the film (not just

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1116276614012578892005-05-16T15:49:00.000-05:002005-06-14T15:45:30.710-05:00

This race report has been sitting in the draft hopper for weeks! (I am finally publishing on June 12) The race happened back in May, it's been several crazy weeks of travel, weddings and other events since then, all of which distracted me from putting this up, here it is.My team mates Joe and Lee wrote great blogs about this event as well. Here is Joe's report which should give some more insight

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1116076107154007952005-05-14T08:03:00.000-05:002005-05-14T08:08:27.156-05:00

Heading out to the 12 Hours of Lodi Farm today- it's a 12 hour bike race, midnight Saturday to noon Sunday. This will be my third year, the past two were with JB as a duo team, this year is something new, a three man team, with Joe and Lee. This will probably be my most prepared year at this race- so I'm stoked for seeing how things go.Regarding pancakes, this is strange: http://

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1115923302903968372005-05-12T13:39:00.000-05:002005-05-12T14:35:18.616-05:00

I thought I would share a few tidbits from an email conversation that started among a few friends of mine following yesterday's rogue Cessna scare in Washington. The first inkling that something was amiss was when I heard a fighter jet roar over downtown DC. We never hear jets in downtown DC as they are not allowed to fly over the city. Since my office is three blocks away from the White House, I

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1114386201593911502005-04-24T18:17:00.000-05:002005-04-26T09:11:13.073-05:00

I spent the better part of the day in Michaux State Forest, just north of Gettysburg PA. The morning started a bit rough. I woke up on time, but had to mount some new tubeless tires since my existing ones were worn, and the front was running with a tube due to a puncture suffered at Gambril. The process went far faster than I expected, but I needed to be at the race venue before 9:30 and it was

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1113234008273296822005-04-11T09:50:00.001-05:002005-04-11T10:47:04.343-05:00

It was really a multi trail slow ride on a single speed. My first time taking the Karate Monkey off road with big tires and the correct gear ratio was totally cool. The ride was Saturday afternoon at Schaeffer, with amazing weather- high 60s sunny and dry!A few observations: 29" wheels roll over roots, rocks etc. more easily than 26" wheels. On several occasions the physics? of the situation

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1111071002197326122005-03-17T09:32:00.000-05:002005-03-24T16:24:52.443-05:00

Whew. I'm nearly through my first week of official training. Tonight is the big work out- big intervals, at race pace. Happy St. Paddy's day! I suppose I'll need to quaff a few pints of Guiness after tonight's session.In the spirit of St. Paddy's day, I offer a look at the sweet lass who is Miss Ireland.Last night, during training, and after, I watched "The Day After Tomorrow". It's a fun movie

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1110554239852378092005-03-11T09:48:00.000-05:002005-03-13T08:11:06.286-05:00

So it's been a week of biking decisions... after two great rides last weekend one out at Greenbriar with Joe and a 4+ hour road ride on Sunday, I came out of my winter stupor to realize that I'm out of shape and that make this a strong season I've got some work to do. The first decision was to see about joining the City Bikes Mountain Bike Team. Joe filled me in on the idea during the car ride

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1109818129765610702005-03-02T21:31:00.000-05:002005-03-02T21:48:49.766-05:00

Finally got on the bike this week. I was able to turn out a 40 min session on the trainer while watching stage 16 Part II of the 2004 TDF. Watching the Tour while pedaling is pretty neat. The frequent use of the motorcycle camera angle creats the feeling that i'm riding along with the racers. Yes, I'm in my basement and watching a tv, but it helps. I suppose anything that makes trainer riding a

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1109740792185966302005-03-01T23:23:00.000-05:002005-03-02T16:44:30.296-05:00

Katie and I saw a great show last night- we stopped at Polly's on U Street for burgers and beer before hand - cozy place but their beer selection was decimated, they were out of everything accept Sierra and Anchor Steam, it could be worse. After eating we headed over to the 9:30 Club to see Flogging Molly. The Riverboat Gamblers, followed by Hot Water Music opened the show. I wasn't too impressed

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1109611895611898142005-02-28T12:21:00.000-05:002005-02-28T12:31:35.613-05:00

Talking to Jim and DT this weekend, we discussed the idea of starting a brew club that Brian and I had tossed around a while back. Anyone interested? The idea would be to meet once or twice a month, well who am I kidding, once a month! Each meeting would consist of brewing a batch and sharing beer that others have brewed. We could share recipes, brewing ideas and even make use of equipment that

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1109554614218447642005-02-27T20:28:00.000-05:002005-02-27T22:05:47.310-05:00

Was it too cold to go for a ride this weekend? Well, no, not really. It definitely was not warm and the wind would have demanded warm attire, but a ride would have been possible especially with it being dry and sunny all weekend. But as is often the case other plans pushed, extended and out-maneuvered the biking plans. I went into work on Saturday morning at 8 AM. A server upgrade was needed and

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11057879.post-1109270101615605852005-02-24T13:29:00.000-05:002005-02-24T13:35:01.616-05:00

I thought I'd get a blog started. After reading several others over the past years, it only seems fair to make one of my own and share, spew? some thoughts into the web.I frustratingly chose to order a steak sub for lunch today. Frustrating because I am trying to remain somewhat in shape for the impending cycling season. I like bikes, riding, working on them, reading about them and racing them.

Matt Donahuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16229811529917220103noreply@blogger.com0