Fall Racing!

Its been wayyyy too long since I've posted anything, but the truth is that I have not because I've been busy.

Some of this busy has been good (finally racing again) and some bad... (work).

The racing? Well, I had the opportunity to hit 3 cyclocross races and 1 six hour mountain bike race. Some good, some bad again, but thats the way things are in life. My wife would say, 'Life is not all butterflies and rainbows!'

The first race I hit was Cyclocrunk 1. Frankly, I went better than I expected, but it was hard. They even made the race only 30 minutes, but by the end I could taste blood on my breath. It was that hard.

Then I had the opportunity to hit the 6 Hours of Herb. I teamed up again this year, just like 2 years ago. My teammate, Brad, turned out to be a great relay partner (not that I expected any different!). The race started early in the morning with temps nothing above 50 degrees, and rain absolutely pouring down. Brad took the first lap and did well -then I went out.

My first lap was slow. Not terrible, but definitely not great. A bunch of things were against me on that one- I had not been on the MTB in months, and the slick trail made for sketchy riding. I did not go down, but that meant I was not pushing hard enough.

With my first lap in mind, as Brad rolled in, I rolled out hard. I flew across the dam and dove into the woods, and I really dove - face first into the trail at a very high speed. I taco'ed my front wheel and smashed my right side hard on the ground. I still have bruises from it 2 weeks later. It took me a long time to get up, and even longer to straighten my wheel enough to ride. Sure enough, 3 miles later, my back tire went flat - so much for the new Bontrager sealant, won't be buying that again.

When I came in Brad was definitely worried, but he went out and did a killer lap. While he tore up the course, I moped around a bit and then decided to straighten the bike and get ready. With the wheel straight enough to do the job, I hit the course hard, but this time I mean fast instead of painfully.

In Brad and my last laps, we pulled from 7 place in relay to 4th place, just a couple minutes off the podium. I really feel like we could have podium'ed if I had not laid the bike down!

Two days later, I hit Cyclocrunk 2. This time, I went as hard as I could and actually had a race going between myself and a few other racers! I have no idea how I did overall as they don't post results for a training race, but I know I did well and felt like I went fast. Unfortunately, I did manage to lay the bike down again, only this time as I tripped over a barrier. When I got up, I race for the finish and beat out another rider. Good race overall......

To be continued.

6 Hours of Herb Parsons 2011

This weekend, I hit my favorite MTB race of the year. I started racing MTB back in 1991 or so at Herb Parsons, so it was good to be racing there. I love the trail. I love seeing all my friends and I love the way the race is run.

So fast forward to a few days before the race, I kicked in a registration for a solo ride. I knew this would not yield me a potential placing, but that was Ok. This would not provide any chance for a place on the podium because at this race, they run age groups only. With that, I was racing against the likes of Hart Robinson and all the other fast guys in the area.

Based on my lap times from last year, I planned on running somewhere around 50 minute laps for the duration of the race. Good plan.

For pitting, I had my pit area set up with my cooler at one corner with water, gels and PB&J to eat on each lap. Turned out to be a pretty good plan as well.

After the LeMans start, it was all I could do to not latch on to the fast guy's wheels and hang with them. I know I can hang for 1 lap with some of them, but not for 6, so I stayed as patient  as possible and hung back. Eventually, I settled in on my Bill G's wheel and started rolling along well. That first lap was 47 minutes, which was a bit faster than I planned, so I slowed a bit for the second and hit a 50.

For my third, cramps started setting in so I downed some GuBrew in the pits and went back at it. Legs were feeling better pretty quickly.

Eventually, during lap 5, I must have burped a tire and ended up having to stop to pump it back up. That lap time was quite a bit slower than the previous as I had to stop for a while as I pumped up with that slow little pump.

Finally, a few miles from the finish, I heard Dennis G's cow bell ringing on his camelback and we rode in together to the finish.

6 laps
58 miles
4 PB&J's
2 flasks of Gu
Whole lotta fun!!!!!!!


Oh yeah.... I finished 11th out of 20 in my group. I also finished 1 place behind my buddy and sponsor, Chad (who I beat last year, so 2012 will have to be a matchup)

6 Hours of Herb 2010

This weekend was the 6 Hours of Herbs out at Herb Parsons Lake in Fisherville, TN. I grew up riding at Herb Parsons, and racing there from 1991 on. I love that trail, and I know it like the back of my hand.

In 2009, I missed the race because I was in Singapore. Long transit to make it to a race......

This year, I was ready. I made plans early to make sure there were no conflicts of any kind and then started practicing at Herbs. The race when finally announced was set to run clockwise around the lake. This is backwards of what most of us ride the trail, so we started practicing that way. After 2 months of clockwise riding, it was announced (the week before the race) that it would be run counter clockwise!!!! Surprise surprise!!!!

Somewhere in there, my buddy Ken mentioned he wanted a teammate. We're pretty evenly matched, and he's a great guy, so we had a team.

Race day arrived, and it was 43 degrees at the racecourse. Myself and the rest of my Journeymen Racing Team hit the site and managed to set up camp with a great pit area right by the start/finish line.

Ken and I decided to flip for the first lap and he won. That was good news for me, because I'm not a runner, and this race had a 100 yard run to a Lemans style start!

Ken rocked the first lap, and we had a great start.

I jumped hard at the start line and took off on my first lap. In that lap, I passed approx 15 people as I pushed hard around the course. Everything went perfectly for that lap. Kens 2nd and my 2nd were also great laps as we were consistently putting up fast lap times. We were also pushing the other Journeymen 2 man team of Zach/Kurt and leading them by approx 5 mins.

Ken's third lap went well, and the handoff was fast, so I sailed into my 3rd lap with a lot of confidence........ and a full bladder. I listened behind me for any other riders and there was no one near me, so I slid to a stop, unclicked one foot and watered the trail.... Phil Ligget would call that a Natural Break I guess.

2 Miles later, everything started to come undone. I heard some tinking from my back wheel and felt the bike jump a couple times under me. I stopped immediately and thought a stick would be in my spokes. 3 or 4 people passed me that I had just passed and I felt like an idiot. Then I saw the trouble... One broken drive-side spoke. To make matters worse, the stub of that spoke jammed into the back of the cassette and made my bike a fixed gear!

I finished the 2nd half of that 9 mile lap in fixed gear mode. When I got done with the lap, we still held a 4-5 gap on the next two teams. I'm glad I did not give up. Once in the pits, I found that the rear wheel was taco'ed enough to make the rear brakes rub a lot. No wonder my legs were burnt up.

With the Sugar out of commission, I pulled the cyclocross bike from the truck and aired up the tires. I had thrown the bike in the back as an afterthought. Turned out to be a good thought!

Unfortunately, I was not paying attention and Ken came flying into the pits early. He turned a great lap and I was not ready. As he hit the finish line, I managed to get my helmet on and the bike out of the repair stand. As I ripped onto the course, I could hear someone say 'Is he riding a road bike?'. I got a good laugh out of that.

In my hurry to get on the course, I did not get on my jersey, nor did I get my gloves on. However, that was all negated by the ability to freewheel! I rode the course just like I did all last summer on the cross bike and enjoyed everyminute of it. Zach and Darren from the two other teams were right there ready to start when I left for this lap, so I kept looking over my shoulder continually to see if they'd appear out of no where.

All my shoulder looking was no use though, as I rode into the finish with a hard sprint. When I got back to the finish line, a bunch of the fast racers asked if I had ridden that thing in the race and I told them I had. I think they were a little surprised.

In the end, Ken and I did not win, but we had a good time and I think we were in the top half of the teams in the race, maybe even the top 5.

'Til next year!



Getting a new guy out on the trail!

Today, I got my buddy Matt out on the trail for his first real mountain bike ride.

Matt is in great shape overall, but definitely not yet adapted to the mountainbike. He did great, no doubt, and I expect he'll be stomping my ass pretty soon. Next time I get a buddy into mountainbiking or cycling in general, I need to pick a guy that is slower than me!!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

This weekend started a bit rough.... I headed out after work on Friday to Shelby Farms for some MTB riding. Unfortunately, approx 2 miles in, I endo'ed hard and did a massive faceplant. I hit so hard I shattered my helmet. I finished the lap, but did not go for another as planned.....

After buying a new helmet on Saturday, I managed to get out on Father's Day for some riding. The wife asked me not to go out on the road because of the heat, so I decided to head out to Herb Parsons on the singlespeed. I rode 3 laps out there in the heat and had a dern good time.

I felt stronger out there than I have all year. I could not believe how I was able to pull through areas and climb on that single gear.... I was really happy with how it went!

Maybe 'cross season won't be so bad this year. Maybe I'll even not finish last!!!!!