fun times with hipsters

Anthony may have gotten a brand new Team Scalpel, but I got a 1983 Schwinn Traveler 10 speed and a brand new beard. Here are some pictures from the warehouse race. It was a good time.

warehouse racin, no hobo's

So the stars all aligned that I stumbled across a link a couple weeks ago for a warehouse race in Lexington, seemed interesting. The Ateam's new Lexington insider, Turpin, also had the 411 on this event. Curtlo was informed and the plan was set. Neither of us (me or John) knew if this was gonna be a blowout or 12 dufuses standin around all trying hard to look like they didn't care about looking cool, like a reverse Zoolander walk-off. But there was the promise of beer, a chance to see turpins new digs and eat his food, that was enough right there. So I packed up old blue (the single speed) complete with 1.5 slicks and a citron colored front rim, Curtlo with his Schwinn fixie, and we headed 60 miles due east.

It was not what I expected, it was more. We arrived while the silly race (an oxymoron of sorts here) was goin on. My favorite was a Stingray with a 12" front wheel and road drops. Lovin it. I saw Bill Crank and a couple others from Pedal Power and Pedal the Planet and asked for a little direction on what we were supposed to do. After signing in, Curtlo raced in the second heat with Turpin (who went with the spandex option, nice work). The course utlilized 2 warehouses, a couple sidewalks and various bits of parking lot ending with a stair-step runup to the finish. It was a hoot, like a cyclocross race (minus the dirt) with music pumpin, beer flowin, and people hollerin. The difference being there was hardly a bit of carbon fiber to be seen, I bet pair of Zipp wheels would prolly match the combined price of all the bikes raced that night.

My first race was the 20 feet or so I did on Jims back for the tandem race, the distance pretty much sums up how well that worked. Then I raced the third and last heat of the "competitive" races (top 2 for each went on to the finals). Good start, givin that 39x18 single speed all I could, it wasnt enough muscle to keep up with some dude on his fixie. After washin out on one of the slick corners in the second warehouse, I conceded and rode it in for second (plus the breadbowl of soup, fries, burger, green beans and coffee I ate just an hour + before were threatening an upheaval). Once that was over, I sat and coughed up a lung (hardest effort I've done since October) while the non-competive class ran their five laps.

The finals were next, I still felt pretty gross, but I had to go. I gave it a good effort for 4 laps, then let fixie dude and Bill have at it, I didn't really want to barf and I didn't have the gears to match them anyway. The crowd def kept me goin as it all turned up to 11 for that last race, people were screamin like mad. I held on for 3rd and enjoyed those last 5 laps much more without trying to race. All in all, a pretty great event. Kentucky Ale provided a few kegs of free beer (which I assume really helped with the turnout) and they even gave out some prizes after at a sleezy little bar in the hood.

I was amused the next day to read on the race's forum "I know fixes aren't the coolest bike to ride this year but they're still pretty f'n fast- pro mtb man knows this now." OK, I guess he just wants to think he's on the fringe and has turned a blind eye to the fact that every hipster duffus is sportin a fixie. I suppose word of "who I am" circulated via the Pedal Power or PtP guys as I wasn't wearing a my usual "I'm a Pro mountain biker, kiss my butt" sign or even spandex for that matter. And I will also guess that being a pro instantly marks you – it says you should win and every start line is serious business; that my goal was to come, kick ass and give it 110%, even though my bike choice would kinda prove contrary to that. He makes it sound as though I had some doubts as to the power of the fixie. I thought about posting "I'm bringing my A game next time!" but I really dont care, I'd rather go back with the same bike and goal as last time, just ride and have some fun. Although...I may throw on a 14 tooth cog just to make it a bit more interesting...ha ha hah.

Yes I did

This is now mine. That means I will suck horribly this year as the correlation of good stuff to speed is as follows;



but who cares. its 22 pounds of carbon fiber, ceramic bearing eating noodles and beans to pay for it goodness.

you know what I heard

Anthony has something new.

the lust began

I think we were about 12, maybe 11. Andy had gone up to Thornberry's Toys and Schwinn authorized dealer (now St Matthews Schwinn) to shop for a new bike. He was sailing into uncharted and strange waters, he wasn't buying a new BMX bike, he was getting a 10 speed. Either a Schwinn or some new company, Cannondale, were the two final contestants. The Cannondales were like nothing I had ever seen before. Huge aluminum tubes with wild paint jobs that were cooler than words (I also thought bandanas looked good tied around the legs and breakin was an ok movie, so taste was relative to the date). For reasons that time has lost to me, he went with the Schwinn Traveler. Its was a strange color of mintish green (Bianchi calls it celeste, for copyright purposes, Schwinn called it something far less red wine and bruschetta).

So the point of this. Up until then, bikes were ridden through the woods and jumped off plywood and cinder-block ramps. The occasional big thrill, not to mention long and dangerous journey, consisted of the 4-6 miles over to Indian Hills for some big time gravity action on 20 inch, skidded bald tires - stem pad optional. Never before was a pure speed, sex machine an option or a consideration. Not sex machine in that we were gonna meet even one lady with it, sexy in a Greg Lemond Tour de France way. Sexy in a faster than we had ever gone on two wheels way. Sexy in a breathin hard doing sprints up and down the street to see who could go fastest (though I dont think we had any way of measuring said speed other than witness' eyeballs, or maybe a second hand on a watch). It was so cool how fast those skinny tires could roll and how hard that big gear was to turn.

Some years later, I discovered mtb racing and once i had become "serious," I was told I needed to train on a roadbike to get better. Funds being what they were, a road bike wasnt an option and the mtb with slicks wasnt fast enough. Andy still had the Traveler, so I borrowed it, slapped on some generation 1 spd's (spuds) and rode. This bike wasnt really my ticket into the uber-cool roadie world with its 5 speed rear cluster and friction shifters, but striving for acceptance, especially from dorks, hasnt ever been high on my list. Besides, getting dropped by, (or not dropping), a guy on an 80's 10 speed hurts a lot more than gettin schooled by a guy on a nice ride, at least then you can tell yourself "it's partly the bike that makes him better than me."

Then the time came, my first road race. Well, TT anyway. There I was, sleeveless jersey, visored helmet (once again I refer you to styles of the day) mtb shoes and 10 pound pedals. I ended up winning my class by a good margin, even besting most, if not all, the cat 3's. How awesome. That did get me into "their" world a bit, or marked anyway. A few months later, I purchased a "real" road bike and the Traveler was once again mothballed.

The Traveler came back around a couple years ago when Andy was cleanin out the basement and saw it as unused clutter. He passed it along and I kept it around for a while figuring I would use it as a comuter, but it mainly sat. So, I ended up donating it to a tenant who didnt have a car and I think he pawned it cuz it disappeared about a week later. Since I did give it to him, I didnt figure it was any of my business what happened to it. I just hope wherever it is now, it's still making a difference. Or maybe it served it's purpose already.

Americuhr F*#k yeah

All my depression over dopers in the pro peleton has been offset a bit by my excitement for team slipstream. http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13706.0.html I hope they're different and have some good results this year.

Also, looks like Gunn Rita Dahle-Flesja or whatever her name is, is over her stomach virus infection thing. Color me skeptical, but everytime I hear of a cyclist getting a viral infection I immediately suspect they got it from doping. I don't even know if the two share a relationship of any sort but that's just my suspesion.

p.s.

why does my yoplait always spit yogurt on me when I peel open the little foil lid?

pleasant surprise

I got in a beautiful 60 mile group ride around lexington this morning. I'm kind of surprised I could still manage 60 miles. About 30 miles into the ride we were cruising along and a squirrel came out of nowhere, plowed straight into my front tire, bounced off and then scurried on across the road. It was a little scary, if I would have ran over it then I may have taken a spill. I'm excited that there is such good routes around Lexington, no hills to speak of, but plenty of rolling horse farm country. If only I could remember where the hell we went today. The ride captain Alec, said they work it up to a century by Feb. or so. Too bad there isn't anywhere to ride a mountain bike around here.

i know ya miss me

I just watched The Flying Scotsman. I thought it was really good. If you haven't seen it check it out, I think it is even suitable for non-cycling-enthusiast viewers because its about the triumph of the human spirit.

I'm looking forward to a long road ride on Sunday around Lexington. I haven't done more that 25 miles since July. I hope I can still make it. Lately I mainly just ride my bike to school (5 miles to campus) and try to get out for a 20 miler or a bit more once a week. I get so stressed about school and find it hard to get myself away from the computer and books for 2 hours but the dumb thing is, if I wouldn't waste time taking breaks watching stupid t.v. shows (big fan of I luv New York) or trying to find nekid girls on the internet I would have plenty of time to take a 2 hour break for a bike ride.

I'm hoping to be a little less stressed about school next semester and ride a little more so that I can be back in shape by july or so to do some racing. Although July and August are probably my least favorite months to race.

On a side note, I've had this weird pain in my gut around my belly-button since monday. It feels like I have a huge fart that just won't come out. Wed. night it got so bad I was on the verge of convincing myself it was appendicitis but now that it has started to back off I'm hoping it will just go away and leave me alone. I'm one of those lucky people that don't have health insurance now that I am a full time student and only work about 12 hours a week.

Hope you're all doing well and if you missed the USGP cyclocross race in Louisville then you missed something special. It was an awesome event to watch. I'm sure I might have even gotten some goose pimples if I had been competing and there had been that may people cheering for me.

Ya'll take care (lexington living has gotten me in touch with my redneck upbringing)

USGP - the good, the bad, and its gonna get ugly

Driving out to grab some Indian buffett at Shalimar friday morning (curry=speed, really) when I saw the SRAM Volvos motoring down the hiway towards Champions Park. Thats when it all kinda hit me; we're having a fer-real national event right here. Awesome.

Friday. The course was open for pre-riding for one hour only. As I rolled into the lot, I got chills, it was an atmosphere like you find at mtb nats, and all these people gathered on our local practice course. So 3 dry laps (as dry as it gets after having 7 inches of rain mid-week) gave way to the sky lettin loose for one last little shower for 3 slimy turns around. It was good to see Treefarm again who hadnt had the privelege of beating me for a couple years, we used to do it on a monthly basis, and I missed the reminder of why I am "local pro" only.

Sat. Got to the race plenty early to watch the masters 35+ race. It was fun rollin around visiting and looking at some of the bling from SRAM, Cannondale and Mavic. But, that wasnt goal 1, I could do more of that tomorrow, I needed to get ready to race. After having to DNF the last 2 CX races due to lung issues, I had no idea how it was going to go. This was hardly the prep I was hoping for for the biggest CX race I have ever done, and being right in my backyard, I wanted to represent well.

My race was a who's who of the fastest guys in the country plus the starting field was in the 80-90 range. Shoot. Man, this was gonna be painful. I started around the 5th row, about 2/3 the way back, not too bad. The gun went off and I had a great start, seemingly just sliding up the inside taking spots by the handful. Then, once again, I got pinned right behind a crash, the first transition onto pavement took a few guys down leaving me no place to go. So I spent the next few laps chasing hard, making small goals of catching different riders and picking off as many as I could. Having someone shouting my name seemingly every 20 feet helped spur me on as well, a little hometown advantage I guess. Working up to around 35th was about as much horsepower as I could muster and rode with a group of 2-4 guys for the next few laps.

The last two laps, my back started to really hurt and legs started cramping up, given my lack of CX racing in the run-up to this race, I was givin my muscles a bit more than they were ready for. I started getting passed and just couldnt muster the energy to kill myself for a few spots up the pack-fill ladder.

Oh well, in the end I was happy to not get lapped and felt like I rode a decent race, all things considered.


Gritty, determined, focused...


and in pain, much pain

USGP Day 2

Some a-hole broke into the back gate of the 3rd street compound and stole my barely one month old Redline. I dont think I need to really say much about my feelings on this matter. Suck.

Goodbye 07

To quote The Jesus Lizard "Your body's achin,', you need a rest, your body's achin', take a rest I say" Well, OK then, I will. Right after this weekends USGP, hanging it up for 07. Man what a long crappy season it's been. Combining a record amount of illness this year and now some recent injuries, trips to the surgeon, pt and weightroom are all forthcoming.

Last weekends Bald Eagle/Race to the Canal was def the crippler. I was doin good for the first 20-22 miles tradin first and second place with some dude from Nashville, railing the downhills and havin a blast just riding, when I suddenly felt the curtain start to close. I tried to eat, but it was too late, my body is just worn out and the curtain was drawn and they were turning lights out. The next 12 or so miles took a long time to complete with several stops for food and other one long one just to enjoy the view of the lake with the wind blowing in my face. It's a pretty disappointing close to a race season that started out so good in the mountains of Georgia and hills of E-town, but all things in perspective, a bad race, or even bad season, isnt such a big deal.

So, one more big race that I really would like to do well in, (being the biggest cycling event Louisville ever has seen), but I realize theres a good chance that just aint gonna happen. But hey, one way the other, its gonna be a lot of fun and I'll hoist a pint to 08.
http://www.usgpcyclocross.com/

won't you buy me one

Will there ever be a day when I don't hear vehicles driving by randomly blasting "Freebird?" Somehow, this song does not seem to be something that the "reds" can get worn out on, sort of like me and vegetarian corn dogs.

cross and all that

so today was the harbin park cx race. it sucked. well, the race was well done and the course was nice, but it was the second race in a row i had to bow out of because i cant breathe. i had a good start, despite steve tillford crashing right in front of me dropping me back about 10 places. into lap 2 it became aparent that my lungs were not going to function right, and that was that. i spent the next couple laps jerkin around (i hope all enjoyed my nose-wheelie crash, i did it for the fans), then pulled the plug. very frustrating. so that and barry wicks is really fast pretty much sums things up.

Mexington CX

Today, I officially launch the movement to change Lexington to Mexington. If you've been there, you know. Calm down, not saying anythings wrong with it, just noting.

So me and Morgan wen to Mexington (rolls off the tongue doesnt it?) for the Masterson Station CX race. Fairly uneventfull. A big, bumpy, grassy course that was ok, not stellar, but it was what it was. So, we start hot (in every sense of the word), and I dont understand some people, this one squirrely dude (who we shelled) that seemed to think there was a first one to everything prime. Its an hour long wide open CX race buddy, settle. Anyway, 2 laps in, it was already down to three, then two. Third lap, I was leading out, go hot into a corner and hear the Bio-wheels rider behind me fold his tire and flat. Crap. Didnt really want to solo the rest of the 5.5 laps, but he seemed strong, which was bad for my winning chances, so his leaving wasnt a horrible thing, and we had already built a decent gap that I was able to keep building on it. I also gotta give props to my boys in the pit thrownin water on me and handing up some bottles, made a huge difference.

Felt good to really peg it and get the heart rate way up there. Next weekend will probably be a bit more of a barf inducing humbling race, but it was good to shake things out on the new bike in a smaller race.

Buenas noches.

I deserved that

To the guy in the big black Cadilac Escalade I saw in the park this morning, I am sorry and thank you. It was rude of me to gesture in a non-combative manner that you may want to cross back over the yellow line and drive on your side. It was not until you flipped me the bird that I realized how truely selfish I was being. Thank you. Next time, I will just keep my arms on the handle bars and, if I am lucky, give you a little smootch when I come through your windshield.

Do these jeans make me look fat?

Ah, the age old cliché question that can only be answered "No its the giant hunk of lard you stuffed into the jeans that make you look fat." I try to be sensitive.

The thing that just kills me, daily, is people bitchin about their weight, everything from "Work here long enough and you'll start to look like me" (I didnt know a workplace could make you look fat and retarded) or "Youre lucky to be so skinny." Either statement is usually made while wiping donut crust or sauce from the 20 piece chicken poppers with honey-chipolte-dogcrap-cherry-sauce from their face. Really? Its the desk job that makes you look like this? You sure? OK then. I've been working office jobs for almost 10 years now, I guess I'm gonna blow up like the kid in charlie and the chocolate factory any minute now.

Speaking of shitty food, ever notice that McDonalds, Taco Bell, KFC, etc, etc, commercials always star reasonably thin folks? How about some truth in advertising and throw in some of the normal wheezing buoyees and weeble-wobbles you see inhabiting these places? Either show me some fatties or the skinny 20 somethings hocking oreo pizza should at least have a bong sitting on the table cuz thats about the only way that food item could ever seem like a good idea.

The best is those who marvel at my "heathy diet." Guess what? I buy my food at the same Kroger/Wal-Mart/Wholefoods/Target that the general public is allowed to shop. Really, anyone is allowed to buy the same items at these retailers, I do not belong to a secret skinny healthy people club, I just make choices.

The point? Shut up and stop complaining about something youre willingly and knowingly doing to yourself. Stop blaming tv, your diet, the internet, george bush or whatever you claim is making you fat cuz I have my suspicions that none of those things are stuffing cookies down your hole.

you down with the ocp?

you know me, i love racing ocp. it has everything; rocky white-knuckle downhills, gut buster climb and just all out fast single track - a great power course. last years first lap ripped tire was a heart breaker for me so i really wanted to some retribution this year. things did not start well. during my pre-ride, my freehub body started freezing up. crap, it worked fine saturday. no time to do anything about it now as we were beginning to assemble around the start.

there was a pretty decent field on hand for the pro/ex race. the start was a grassy flat sprint with a hard right and then left into the woods. the dewy grass and horror stories of the first downhill and a new switchback allowed me to easily take the holeshot as i guess the others figured my mangled torso would make a soft landing should anything happen. the new section of the VOT trail rocks. super fast, flowy and fun which leads into the original section with an awesome downhill with some nice big rocks and a couple sweet, banked sweeping turns. i was riding and feeling great. the freehub was proving problematic though since it was causing my chain to wrap up and at times come off.

second lap, chasers were down to one and after aforementioned downhill, i was all alone. i kept the pace the same as i had first lap, feeling good. since my drivetrain was acting up, it was nice not to have somebody right on me, that way i had some breathing room in case the problem caused me so slow down or crash (i did have to stop to upwrap it from the cogset once and i came out of a few rough corners sans chain on rings - suprise, your freewheeling!).

so the VOT downhill was the star of the day since on lap 3, thats where i blew all the oil from my fork. i could hear the ti spring in there workin and i was feelin a bit nervous about some catastrophic failure that may come. well, that came one lap later when i stuffed the front wheel in a rocky section at speed and heard a "pop." i thought it was my tire burping air and also figured thats why my front end felt loose. in the end, i was 1 minute per lap slower on laps 3 &4 over laps 1 & 2 trying to ride less aggressive and keep the bike together. only after the race did i realize my frame now has a new bend in it and that "pop" was my fork actually breaking. good times.

after all the smoke cleared, i won and it felt great. this year has sucked pretty bad and to win against some decent compitition on a favourite (i forgot to be euro when i mentioned tire, er tyre, earlier so i'll make up for it with a favourite) course feels nice.

Crossin' up

I skipped the OtterCreek MTB race today to hit a Cyclocross race. I pre-rode at OC two weeks ago and had a bad day, primarily due to allergies, but I just didn't really feel it, probably because there's something about OC that I just don't care for. So when faced with the choice of riding my CX bike or MTB I went North up to England-Idlewild park in Burlington, KY and raced on skinny tires there.

Took 6th in the B's, better than I placed last year in CX racing on my Klein Hardtail, so I met my goal of finishing in the top half of the group. I know what I need to work on, so I'm gonna focus on that and see if I can improve.

Sorry to let my MTB fans down, but the CX crowd was appreciative. With the MTB season winding down and the CX heating up, I hope to see more than a couple of MTB'ers out on the CX courses this year.

Hello Darlin...

...nice to see you it's been a long time.

Now that i got you singing, well, maybe not. If you dont get the reference, you were prolly born after – I dunno – 1981, never had to hear songs like "Coal miners daughter" over and over and I hate you. Or maybe envy. Close enough to the same emotion. Lets move on to why I chose the title. I raced last weekend. First race in a month. It kinda sucked. I got beat by a guy who wasnt even born when Purple Rain was a big hit, another who wasnt born when Nirvana released their first album, and a guy with one gear (i guess if we need to make the musical analogy, he would be like a 45, or Dexys Midnight Runners). Yes albums, I am old. Why all the musicall metaphors? Why not.

The last Dino was at Town Run trails park in Indy. Know what the best part about doing anything in Indiana is? Leaving. So anyway, tight fast and flat little course. You may actually stop pedaling for, maybe, 40 seconds in the two hours. Ugh. The inch of rain on saturday made things slick for the first couple laps, just enough to take your wheels out from under you suddenly and quite unexpectedly (uh, so i heard from less skilled riders, yeah, thats it.), but by lap 4 it was packing down nicely. It actually is a fun place to ride, would be fun to do their TT race, but man, for a race course, its kinda frustrating; passing is not the best, you just start feelin dizzy after a while and start longing for a hill (up or down, somethin).

So, after all was said and done, Brad Nelson won his fiirst Dino, Ben Richardson played bridesmaid yet again, Jason Pruitt hammered the hell out of a full rigid (perfect setup for town run) with a 44x18 gear. I came blazing in lookin like I had some fire still in me (I think I fooled them) for 4th. Next weekend; retribution at OCP!

Oh man

Another sad day for enthusiasts of the sport. Stories like this scare the crap out of me and make me consider taking up other sports or just staying in the woods on a mountain bike instead of doing road rides. Here is the obituary for Sean Livesay. A link to his blog is over on the right titled "another mtber living in FL."

Bicyclist killed in Niceville was passionate racer

NICEVILLE — A bicyclist was killed Tuesday morning when he collided with a vehicle’s trailer while training.

Sean B. Livesay, 38, of Niceville, was riding his bike on Bayshore Drive when a pickup truck towing a trailer backed out of a residential driveway at 1733 Bayshore, according to Niceville police Lt. David Popwell.

The accident occurred at about 8:30 a.m., and Livesay was pronounced dead at the scene about 20 minutes later. He was wearing a helmet.

Livesay collided with the trailer, which was carrying landscaping equipment. The driver, who lives at the address, was on his way to work.

The driver will likely be charged with a traffic violation, Popwell said.

Livesay was traveling fast on his bike, but Popwell said he was going under the 30 mph speed limit.

An autopsy was scheduled for later Tuesday, mainly to “close the loop” and rule out possible medical conditions, Popwell said. The autopsy results were not available Tuesday night.

Livesay was a known cycling enthusiast who was often seen riding his bike in the area.

Livesay’s passion for racing sent him traveling across the country looking for new challenges. He documented the efforts on his blog.

“I've been doing a fair amount of training so far, and my fitness is far beyond what it was this same time last year,” Livesay wrote in one of his most recent entries April 12. “I had hoped to already have a race or two under my belt, but life kind of got in the way ... which happens sometimes.”

His performance attracted four sponsors. He started racing in 2002 and had been doing it in competitively since 2005.

Daily News Staff Writer Jill Nolin can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1445.

Great Day of Riding

I must say wednesday was as hot as a coon's bottom sliding down a hill. Man, crazy hot days, but you still gotta get your ride on. I did see Curtlo out there on a fixie, and to watch him ride through the WL was like watching Brian Botano ice skate. It was magical. No wonder he got the fastest lap at the 13 hours of howeveryouspellit....

Thursday was a bit cooler and a much better day for me. Tended to some bank business;), ate lunch w/ Goldberg, ran into an old friend, and then rode my usual loop at Cherokee.

I decided i was not going to hammer. The mountain bike messiah mike stevens appeared in my home earlier this week like an angel descending from the heavens, ok not really, he just kinda walked in w/o knocking. I remember the sage training advice that he gave me while riding in durango, co a few years ago. I took his advice to heart, and it seemed to work.

I rode pretty much everthing w/o getting worn out, and I don't beleive i put a foot down for nuttin. I helped a fellow mtb'er patch a tube and was reminded of the long forgotten days of working in a shop, oh wait, i never patched a tube, i always tossed em and just put a new one in. Probably another cause of global warming...sorry about that.

I am enjoying my 29er SS a lot. I can't say 100 % for sure that it is better than a 26er, but I do feel being 6'4, the frame does fit me better. I do like not having to raise my seat 20 inches out of the seat tube. I know, I know my old motto, well i got a new one, BC's skillz + 29 inch wheels = ? that's all i got, maybe you can give me a new motto!?!?!

Peace out!

And be sure to check out the hottest new forums, MTB Free. These things are blowin up and there is even some prizes!

Peace out again!

Betrayed

Like having someone you trusted lie to you, or cheat on you, or do any number of other bad things that are otherwise inconsistent with treating someone the way they desreve, I have been betrayed by one that I love. Though we were not always together, I ran to her when I needed comfort on a cool night or just had that special craving. It happened this evening when I ran out from work to grab a bite. My thoughts gravitated, I wanted her. Ten minutes later, I arrive and when faced with the question, I had a reply, oh brother did I have my reply.

"Can I help you?" she said
"Chicken molé, black beans" said I
"We no longer have the molé"

Qdoba, youve changed and I dont think I like what I see. Sure, mango salsa is nice, but when summer ends, I'm sure you will take that away too. I will continue to come around, but it will never be the same again.

Butler and the bridge

Butler was hot, but thanks to the efforts of Kymba, the trails were in pretty decent shape. I was tired, but in spite of myself and because of a lack of Ben Richardson or Brian Schworm, I won. So you ask "Anthony, you just won Butler, and its 100 degrees out, where are you gonna go now?" "I'm going to go stand in the sun on 2nd street bridge!" would have been my reply. Chips Chronan was killed on that bridge 6 weeks ago, the same one I ride on a weekly basis.

After racing and having to bust butt to get down there, it wasnt tops on my list, but Brad Swope had helped to organize and mobilize local teams to show up for the dedication of the right lane as a sharrow and memorial ride. Making a quick change and hoping on my road bike, my cramped calves agreed, they didnt want to go either. However, this was important. As usual in Louisville, positive change only happens with a cyclists death or a very near miss of the reaper, and it just seemed like showing was the right thing to do. I was glad I went. The fact 2k cyclists crowded the bridge on a sweltering hot day I think speaks volumes to the future of cycling in this burg. Hearing the Greek say "Clarksville Ateam mountain bike racing, come up here and roll out" made it worth it. So I have been riding to work this week feeling like a king in the right hand lane, mine, all mine! Well, until I hit the surface streets again and people continue to treat me with the same, or less, regard as a possum.

RIP Chips, I didnt know you, but Im sure youd be happy knowing you made a huge change in the city.

Our mayor for life, seen here sticking his finger in the wind showing his political decision making process.

Full story
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770812012

Butler

We showed up early and got a good pre-ride lap in. After shelling out $30 for my entry I headed back out and spun around, talking trash with anyone who would listen but mostly with Rusty and JoeDoba (sandbagger). At the starting line I realized I forgot to follow my normal pre-race routine but it was too late, no Red Bull for me. I also realized that I didn't have any GU on me. Oops. A camelback full of water and one bottle of weak gatorade was gonna have to be enough. I don't think it was an issue.

The dude says "Go" and I decided to step up my game a little. I went into the singletrack around 11th, which is a lot better than normal for me(I gotta change that). Things rolled well, my awesome Cannondale Scalpel flowed easily through the tight singletrack. I even rode the stupid off-camber stuff at the bottom without problem. I was around a couple of guys thru the first lap but pretty much by myself for the second. Coming through the start/finish at the end of the 2nd lap I was caught by Todd G. of Team Schellers. He was riding real well, and we were together for a while until I "let" him kinda ride away from me.

I did have a little problem on the third lap; I dropped my chain. Not just dropped it off the rings onto the bottom bracket, but completely off the bike. I was flying down the upper section that is out in an open area and started to pedal but there was no resistance. So I looked down and thought "Hmmm, I don't see a chain down there". So I came to a stop and confirmed that indeed, there was no chain there. I pretty much figured that my day was done at that point, but I remembered that I carry a spare quick-link, so I took my bike for a walk to find my chain. About 50 yards back up the trail there she lay. It turns out the quick-link had separated for some reason, but since I had a spare I put it back on the bike, connected it back together and I was in business.

As I was putting my camelback back on getting ready to get back in the race Anthony came flying by. Can you believe he didn't stop to offer help or inquire as to my well being? What a jerk. Just because he was in the lead of the Expert race he thinks he's too good to talk to me? I thought it was awfully rude of him. After I got over being slighted I jumped on my bike and managed to complete the race. I did catch & pass the 2 guys that passed me while I was making repairs, so it doesn't look like my breakdown cost me any places. I ended up 7th overall in Sport, 3rd in the my age group. JoeDoba (sandbagger) won the Sport class overall and the age group. I finished 3:15 behind Todd G, so I doubt that even if I hadn't had chain issues that I could have caught him. Either way, I'm happy with how the bike handled and how I rode except for the darn hills and the heat.

Oh yeah, my bike is WAY cooler than Rowbear's.

On that note, have you seen the 2008 Scalpels? Carbon frames, 100mm travel in the rear all for an additional $1000. Gonna be a serious awesome bike. But I'm glad I got mine this year, wouldn't be able to afford the new ones.

Waverly - tales from the back of the pack

What: Race at Waverly Park
When: This past Sunday morning
Why: Apparently because I'm dumb
How: Not very well

Showed up a little late, got my pre-ride on and decided it wasn't gonna be my day. Legs were dead and I was already hot. Went off with about 20 or so of my closest MTB buddies, hitting the singletrack somewhere near the back which was right where I wanted to be. Figured I'd get bottled up a little bit and that would help me conserve some energy early so I could get up all the hills each lap. That went according to plan.

Actually the start went well, I never really got too tangled up and was able to maintain a pretty constant pace up to the front of the park. Came across Canadian Greg from the Indiana Master's team sprawled out on the ground at the slippery bridge, looking like he really wasn't doing too good. He said he was OK, so I continued to ride. Passed a couple of guys going up Montana's and settled in to a sustainable pace. The rest of the first lap, all of the second and most of the third lap went well. I did try to crash on the slippery bridge on the last lap but managed to only bang my knee while keeping the bike upright. Then I managed to fall down on the big log crossing on the top by the golf course. I don't like that log crossing and did my best Cyclocross move to get over it on the first two laps. Worked great. On the last lap I fell down as I dismounted. What a moron. I thought I saw Trevor from the Scheller's team so I started chasing but could never close on him. Some other guy was chasing me and I figured if I could hld him off through the climbs up the new IMBA trail I'd be in good shape. I looked back when I got to the top and saw the guy, so I decided I was either going to beat him or crash trying. Fortunately I didn't crash and was able to hold him off to the end.

I had some cramping issues on the last climbs, but I was pretty happy with my bike handling for once. Maybe Butler will be better. I'm not sure how I placed overall, got 4th in the 40-49 class. Probably ended up around 10th or so. If the results were up by now I'd be able to tell you exactly how I placed. But they're not. At least they handed out medals and prizes at the race.

Edit: I placed 9th out of about 35. They finally got the results up.

Duane

Extreme Cross training

The video does this act of death defying feat no justice! this was bigger that 50 foot fall @ the x games.

i give you Super BC - extreme Kayaking:

http://picture.vzw.com/pub/share/guestMessage.do?invite=nEvr4D2d8zYzXLNYzky0

Wave Country - Ankie style

So, it was like a turkish bath back there in them south end woods. The rain did the trails a world of good, but the resulting steam was somethin.

I started kinda slow, first in the woods, but not killin it. My legs felt heavy and I was starting to feel a bit bummed as I am sick of fealin crappy on race day. But once over Montanna, they felt better, must have been the 15 minutes sittin on the start line. There was a problem though, my Hydrapak's hose wasnt connected = no fluids. I knew if I pulled over (at this point it was myself, Mike Stevens and Ben Richardson on top of Big Ring) Ben would get a gap that I probably wouldn't be able to close. But, if I didn't stop, no fluids would hurt a lot more. I was kinda affraid, given the heat, to really push it to the limit; if I went too far over and caught Ben, I might wind up cramping later. So I tried to just ride as high a tempo I could sustain and see what happens. I was able to pull Mike back at the end of lap 2, the one minute that I gave Ben held until the last lap where I was able to get it down to 30 seconds, but he heard me comin and dug a little deaper to keep the gap.

Oh well. given thats the first year I havent blown up at Waverly in a couple years, and I felt strong all the way through for a change, I was happy. Thanks to Barry and Mike who stepped up to help make this a great race. The new trails will make Wave Country an MTB destination fer sure.

robert's waverly

It was too humid for me to wear my glasses cause they kept fogging up. I didn't wear a heart-rate monitor either cause it said my heart was beating in the 220s or not at all.

I raced with the experts 4 laps so I was expecting a long day. I got in the woods next to last. Rode behind Rob Kendall for a while until I passed him on the side of the trail squeezing his tire. Then I caught a couple papa john roadies, mostly were stopped and getting ready go drop out. I was going pretty freaking slow because I knew 4 laps would be a challenge. At the end of each lap I wanted to quit and I finally decided to at the end of the 3rd lap. The rest of the day I've been sitting around wishing I had of finished it even though I would have been the last person out on the course.

first lap was a little over 37 minutes
second lap was something like 39
3rd lap was 43 minutes so I was at 1:58 and some change with another lap ahead of me. I think the thought of riding for over 2 hours and 40 minutes in that heat was what did me that plus I got super thirsty and just wanted to sit and drink and the fact that the whole front part of the course is unrelenting.

Good turn-out though. Good payout for the top 3 finishers. Those kymba boys did good work.

Shhhhh..........

Wanna know a secret? I raced my road bike this weekend. I'm a bad boy. Read Rowbear's log to see where I should have been instead. But don't tell anyone about this, it's just between us. Anthony will be mad if he finds out.

Rowbear's New Castle D.IN.O. # 5 (i think)

Trail was in really good shape they got some rain on friday but not as much as up. Laps were 10 miles a piece sport class had to do 2. Course was fun no big climbs just a lot of short ups pretty fast overall. I used big ring almost the whole way through the first lap.

We took off through a big open field down a small hill immediately out across the open and then up a grassy hill onto blacktop then into the singletrack. I got in about fifth or sixth because I was feeling a little too full still to push too hard. One guy got of the front and after about 2 miles me and the guy and front of me passed a guy so I was running 5th. We continued riding together and I felt pretty comfortable riding with the 3 other guys. The guy who is leading the point series was leading our chase group and I was happy to be there on his wheel. After about 4 miles his tire popped and it was pretty loud so he pulled off. That was kind of neat because I was looking for the opportunity to get some points on him. So then I'm running fourth. Some guy caught up with us but then after about a mile we started to drop him a bit. The guy in front of me attacked and moved up to second position. The kid in front of me is someone I've beaten a few times and I can usually hang with him in single track just on handling skills alone. He got a little gap on me though and when I started to pull him back I started to think about how if I passed him I'd be running third so I got antsy I guess and soon enough I ended up washing out in a right hand turn at a good speed hitting my head and cutting up my shorts a little in the hip region. I rung my bell a little so it took me a second to get back on my bike. My bar-end was straight up in the air. Before I could get back on the guy who had caught up to us but been dropped came past. I got back on my bike and started riding a little too timidly and it took a while to get my head out of my ass. So suddenly I'm in fifth again.

Finish the lap and in the wide open grass section I see the 4th place rider but he is way off. I start trying to get back to rolling like I was first lap so I put it back in the big ring and try to make my chicken legs do some work. At about 15 miles in I finally caught up with the guy running 4th, it was a gray goat rider who I mentioned earlier that I feel like I can handle in the singletrack. I got around him and start laughing about how once again I was going to finish fourth. But then, at about 17 miles in I was counting my loses but I started hearing the bike of the kid in front of me, it would squeak a lot when he stood up so I realized I was reeling him in even though I couldn't see him. I caught with him with about a half a mile to go and he let me around immediately. I though, "well, alright." He didn't really contest it and I got myself a 3rd place finish. After I saw the finishing times though, I was a bit sick because I was only 15 seconds off of the 1st place finisher for my age group. Probably the best result I've had all year but not necessarily my best ride all year. Won myself a new pair a socks everyone had already taken all the cases of hammer gel and the kenda tires they have this year looked like something I would never use and would be hard to sell.

Now I'm sitting at home pretty beat up from that wreck.

Ben richardson got 2nd overall for the expert/pro field
rusty broke a derailuer (again)
john hughson wrecked a few times and looked a little more beat up than me
blaine hepner got 6th in the sport open and sport overall, those guys were rolling he probably finished close to 10 minutes before me.

rowbears new prosthetic

he heard they were fast

The Return of the Mythical Beast

That's right. You read that headline correctly. After spending the 2 months in the gym and on my bike, I am on the road to wellville (I did have a small back injury, but I have healed).

I have put a lot of saddle time in over the last two weeks, riding nearly every day in some way, shape or form. I am still fat, but my enduruance and speed is returning. Monday night I rode with Anneken Skywalker and at the last moment I beat her in the great wilderness loop challenge of 2007 to become the unified inter-gender champion of the Wooooooorrrrrld. I did have a little help from a member of Team M.A.N.

But yes, my body is coming back, slowly but surely....maybe next year I will be racing again...who knows. I definately am wanting to venture back into endurance racing....that's where its at!

Even though I am no where near the finish, getting here hasn't been easy, I have had many challenges in my life...and not trying to sound like a whiner or a victim here, I finally have overcame some of these obsticles. It wasn't easy, and actually took some courage, but the rewards of being able to ride my bike without a headache and to have a happy life in general are so worth it....They are worth the challanges, obstacles, fears, and failures we may face and endure in life....That is your F.Y.I for the week btw! :)

I went for a ride last night, the rain, thunder and eventual lightening soon changed my plans. I saw justin and one of his friends out and we gathered underneath a small kiosks avoiding mother nature's wrath. After giving an uplifting report on Tina, Justin soon got a phone call and we headed off to the shelter house across the creek and met with Britt.

Even though the riding was limited, it was nice to sit down and catch up with old friends that I haven't seen, in what seemed like ages. Mountain Biking is much more than racing, it is a community that has brought many people of different paths together. Britt and I shared some stories of our lives over the past year, some good, some bad. Sharing stories helps one put life into perspective. Even though the riding was limited, the fellowship was not.

I look forward to running into old friends and new faces in cherokee and other spots as I continue my quest...so open your arms and welcome the return of the mythical beast!

Capitol View STXC

having missed the past couple of races for a variety of reasons, I was excited to get my awesome Cannondale Scalpel back on a race course. The Short Track format at Capitol View looked like my kind of race; short, no climbs to speak of and fairly close to home.

I arrived around 9:15, plenty of time to get signed in, changed and warmed up. The first two items on the list went quickly and soon I was rolling along looking like an advertisement for Clarksville Schwinn. My pre-ride went well, with a quick loop of the course to make sure there was nothing dangerous or super-tricky followed by some quick sprints and the like to wake my legs up. I rode the starting area several times to look for a good line before we hit the singletrack as I really wanted to get a good start and not get too far behind right away.

So 24 hearty souls lined up in anticipation of 45 minutes of round-and-round excitement. Danny Peake says go and I stomp it for all I'm worth. 200 meters down the road and holy crap, I'm in front. Can't breathe, but I'm definitely in front. We enter the singletrack with me in the lead and I'm stoked, as that went much better than expected and starts are one of the things on my list to improve. About 5 minutes in and I'm still in front and feeling pretty good, wondering how many guys are on my wheel. So I decided this is a good time to wash out on a tight right-hand hairpin and crash. This brought the group behind me to a halt and it looked like pretty much everyone was right on my tail. The adrenaline, combined with the fact I was blocking the trail, allowed me to bounce right back up and take off in the lead. Still not sure that absolutely EVERYONE was on my tail I decided to crash again, this time allowing them all to pass me while I stood idly by watching. I sure got a good look at them that time, must have been about 15 guys that went by.

Then I was in chase mode, which is normal for me, but not the preferred tactic for such a short race. I made it my goal to catch as many guys as possible, so I just put my head down and tried not to crash again. It was easy to see the guys that were fairly close which gave me that little extra I needed. I ended up catching and passing a few guys including Dan Delph and Jessie from Scheller's and Charles Garner from Team Louisville. Dan and I played cat-and-mouse the rest of the race, as I would get away from him on the open sections and he'd reel me back in on the twisty stuff. Charles joined the game a little later and it was me, Charles and Dan pretty much the rest of the way in. Don Parr of Team Louisville caught and passed us about half way through the last lap and I tried to chase but he just rode away. Don rode real well despite dropping a chain early on, plus he's just coming back from major shoulder surgery last year. Charles and I manage to gap Dan just a little bit on the last little climb before the finish and we rode into the final stretch with me in the lead. The sprint was on at that point but I tried to get to the big ring at the wrong time, and blew the shift. Charles got around me right at the end to take 7th overall leaving me with 8th. This translated into 3rd in the 40-49 category which was won by Brad Wunderlich who also took the Sport overall.

The race was well run by Woodson Smith & the boys and I'd recommend it. It was a nice peek at my pre-season cyclocross fitness. Hopefully I'll do better in CX this year than I'm doing on the MTB.

Barkley, the pleasure is back

And I looked just that smooth this weekend.

Lake Barkley and Cadiz KY now mean two things two me; the finest motor lodging available via some fine Indian folks (dot not feather) by way of the Super 7 Motel (not sure if that means its better or worse than a Super 8) and pain.

This race is always hot as an oven - it is strange how, no matter what, some races seem to dictate the weather, like rain and ft. duffield. This year was like an arctic adventure compared to last, but a sizzler none-the-less. And the course, like the heat, is relentless.

I skipped the chance to ride circles in a field with Nano (aka short-track) to try to save some legs for the 3 lap death march that was gonna be Sundays race. Nuts if it didnt work. I dont know what my deal is, but motivation is lacking. A lack of sleep may have been one culprit, but suffering was not on the agenda. Eric Pirtle and Myself rode 2 laps together, and then on lap 3, he jumped and got a gap when I stopped to load up on bottles and drop my camelback. I chased, but that guy has some skills. After closing on the first big climb, my motivation just left. The thought of redlining (or as some call it “racing”) for the next 7 miles was more than a bit unappealing. So I just rode it in for second. Nano, riding Turpins Scalpel since his Reba was "molnared,” came in 3rd to round out the Pro/Semi class.

The lake, as always, felt like pee but was still nice to float in post race. I'm thinkin some time off the bike before gettin killed at Mt. Mitchell on the 22nd and then Sugar Mountain Nationals the following week might do me a bit of good. Speaking of recharging, along with a trip to Charleston that week, it will be my fist vacation in years, yessssssss. In the meantime, if you have some motivation to spare, (meth, EPO, crack, whatever), send it my way. Thanks.

North Vernon XC

Woke up around 9. Noticed a bit of soreness in my hammies a reminder of the stxc from the day before. My hammies rarely get sore so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal for the xc race. I never noticed it during the race though.

The course was around 4.5 miles of fast twisty stuff, super-fun. A couple climbs but none of them are really leg breakers. The start was in a grassy section that went behind some concrete bathrooms and a horseshoe pit. Probably not more than 100 yards before we dumped left into a fast singletrack downhill. Then we snaked around for a second before going down a little more then making a sharp right up a steep hill that can be tricky due to the steepness and the rocks and roots on it. I was able to climb it in the pre-ride but knew it would be an issue on first lap when we were still all together. So i definitely wanted a good start.

On the line I look next to me and it's a kid with flat pedals and tennis shoes. I'm thinking ole crap, try not to get stuck behind him. There were probably 15 or more for my class. We were shoulder to shoulder on the line. Brian sounds the megaphone horn and immediately the kid on flat pedals gets out front. He got a bit of a gap on us all too. He was going so hard on that start that I didn't want to even try to get around him. He got in the woods first followed by a purdue rider I believe then or maybe a graygoat rider then me. I don't know but since the kid with flat pedals was in front I pretty much figured I was going to have to dismount on the steep climb. We get to it and I dump my gears but I didn't have anywhere to go and ended up bumping the guy in front of me so I dismount as guys behind me cuss and start running. I run past the kid with flat pedals as he gets back on his bike and slowly starts riding. he didn't want to let me around but I definitely didn't want him in front of me. So as I get around him I move up to only having one guy in front of me but by the time we make it to a section that I can see further ahead of me I notice that he already has 10 seconds or so. After a mile or two I let two riders around maybe more. One of them being the kid that has been winning all the 19-29 races. We started a little switchbacked climb and caught the tale-end of the sport open riders. At that point I got confused about who was where and it was much easier for some to slip away. They don't really get more than a few seconds away and I was kind of staying in contact.

I was riding on my own with a couple a few seconds ahead of me and a couple a few seonds behind me. Then I came around a sharp turn and there was a sappling right in my line some people had gone left around it and others right. I didn't do either. I just ended up running off into the brush and flying over my handlebars. I got up put my water bottle back in the cage and tried to collect myself as two riders came around. One being Nick. So I start working trying to get back on his wheel. Then we come to a road section and he attacked the kid in front of him. I'm still trying to close the gap and as we get back into the woods and go down a hill to a ditch full of sticks I hit a hole and bobbed my front tire so hard that I came off the bike again. The two in front of me get away and I never ened up seeing nick again. I had thought about DNF'ing quite a bit during the next lap especially since Nick was in front of me and I had lost contact with him.

Nothing much happened during the second lap except for me being frustrated and worried about saving a little for the finish. I did pass the kid who had passed me previously after my first wreck.

On the last lap with about 2 miles to go I started trying to pick it up and finish strong. I was happy with the way I finished and happy with the way I rode aside from the 2 wrecks and the sluggish way I rode the first part of the second lap. I ended up finishing 4th. Nick got 3rd by 28 seconds. It was a great ride for him and he no longer qualifies for advice from me. I'm not going to tell him about races or anything anymore. He can fend for himself now. :)

So, STXC 4th place and XC 4th place. Julia tells me I love 4th place. I'm thinking she might be right. My time was 1:24 :29 , last year it was like 1:32:00 but the course had to be faster this year. Last year there was only like one guy that finished below 1:20:00. This year there was a slew of sport riders that finished below that time. I'm starting to realize that people who have told me Sport class is the toughest class might be right. It's been hard for me to make any progress lately. I'm not down about it though. I don't think I'm ever going to be pro and I'm okay with that. I do want to make it out of sport class though.

pictures and North Vernon

While making faces for the camera Anthony manages to rub tires with some guy named Jacob that has big sideburns. Jacob finished 3rd in the STXC.

Here is anthony giving some sort of gang sign during the stxc race. I'm not sure what it means.

Here is anthony blowing a kiss. He always has time for his fans. Notice the heavy fork on the front of his bike. It's a loaner from the shop while his gets rebuilt. It didn't seem to slow him down though.

All these pictures are from the STXC by the way. In this one Jean Luc is out front. He and anthony had a sprint finish. It would of been interesting to see if Brad had something for the final lap but he washed out in a gravely turn a few laps early and had to settle for 4th place.

here is anthony on the wheel of 18 year-old Brad Nelson. He's a good kid and he's super-fast.

Anthony is leading the pro/expert field on this lap. It wasn't the final lap but he finished that one in the lead too. It was a bit of a sprint although after a few seconds of it Jean Luc seemed to sit up. While anthony had no idea and was worried about two guys in front of him blocking him from getting around. I guess they really didn't want to get lapped.

Anthony brought the Venture 1080 out for the weekend. It was my first time enjoying its luxury. Pretty awesome I must say. The campground was decent. There was a mastiv like dog at the campground across from us that was a bit of a pain in the ass and some hippies at the campground next to us. I think they dropped acid when it got dark. they had an acoustic guitar and tie dye shirts. That's how I know they were hippies and why I assume they dropped acid.

As for my stxc experience. I had fun. No pictures to document it though. Anthony doesn't know how to operate fancy cameras.

The race was 30 min plus one lap. I don't have much experience with stxc so I didn't know what to expect. First lap everyone was watching each other so I was in the front leading. I was okay with that because I figure as long as I'm in front I wont get dropped. On the second lap 3 guys came around. They were all sport open riders and I knew one in particular was going to be killing it. I didn't know however that I would get lapped by him and the guy on his wheel two times before the race was over. On the 3rd lap another guy came around. He got a good gap on me but never really got out of site. So I set my goal on catching him but I tried to remain patient and not blow my load in one lap. I kept getting within 20 yards or so of him then he would see me and pedal hard for a bit and increase the gap. I could tell he was getting a bit worn out by the end of the race though because I kept closing the gap a little without trying real hard. So on the last lap I came through and saw that he was closer than ever so I stood up and pushed as big of a gear as I could. laps were only around 1:30 to complete. Right before the last sharp left hand turn onto pavement I bridged up to the guy's wheel. I wanted to make sure to nail the turn and for some reason the guy conceded the inside line so I took it and got in front of him. It was all over from there as I mashed the remaing 15 yards up the pavement into the grass and a quick little up to the finish. That put me in 4th place.

The race director was impressed and commented on it the next day at the xc race as I came through for my second lap.

Ft. Duffield

I didn't go either. I had an appointment at the beauty shop.

Ft. Duffield Race Report

Got up, checked the weather, went back to bed.

Looking forward to DINO Muscatatuck next weekend.

I'll be there signing autographs before and after the race.
There will also be photo opportunities with my awesome
Cannondale Scalpel from Clarksville Schwinn. Mine is cooler
than Rowbears'.

can i get some presidential defeets?

reportedly taken before dubya's ride

Ferdinand

The race started out by doing a lap and a half around a field then we made a left into the woods crossed a creek and then started up a short technical climb which then mellowed into a long sustained fire-road climb that took a few minutes to get to the top of at which point we made a right onto single-track and began the steep quick descents which were followed immediately by quick ascents with a fireroad section thrown in every once and a while. There was one or two climbs that I think the majority of riders were dismounting and walking up and there were a couple other longer climbs on the course that really took the energy out of the legs. I think it's a really tough course and I was definitely worried about blowing up at the start.

So, I settled in for a long day at the start. Not really long so much as draining. I let 4 guys get away on the first long climb up to the single track. I was thinking that they would blow up and slow way down before the race was over. I wanted to take it kind of easy on the first lap (which was only half a lap), second lap was a full lap (10 miles or so). Problem is after the first half lap I was kinda over that trail system because there isn't much fun to be had and it just seemed so unrelenting. So on the second lap I didn't really step it up like I planned and found myself reverting to granny gear often. About half-way through that lap I basically gave up and began to not be able to give a crap whether I went fast or not. With a few miles left Trevor Stith came around me from the 30-39 group and I felt comfortable with his pace so I tried to keep him in eyesight. When I realized that the end was near I started to actually push the pedals again but it was getting a little too late. I caught one guy from our group that was in with the 5 that got away on the first climb. he was walking his bike, I'm guessing cramps.

So I ended up finishing 4th in my age group. I was beat on the starting line though so it wasn't a satisfying race for me.

Now was that so bad?

Yes, it was.

• 26th out of 50 in the Sport category.
• 4th in the 40-49 men. I could have been 2nd if I hadn't screwed around. I let the 3rd place guy in my age group pass me with about 3 miles left, and we both sat on the 2nd place guy for the last mile. I should have passed them both when I had the opportunity. That would have moved me up to 24th overall, but at least then I'd have been in the top half.
• I was doing OK for the first hour. I climbed well, descended OK, kept it moving. The last 45 minutes were in survival mode. Not a race to be proud of. I seriously thought about quitting, but never got around to it.
• Just like always....I'd gap guys on the the climbs just to get reeled back in on the descents. I need some bike-handling skills bad.

Ferdi's Bullets

So rather than a whole long report, the highlights (or lack of) -

• Eric Pirtle has 18lb Scott Scale. Pretty Cool
• He DNF'd
• Eric, Jean-Luc Serriere and myself led from the start (in that order)
• Jean-Luc passed Eric and attacked on a singletrack climb about 3 miles in
• Eric didn't respond and I was stuck behind him
• We got gapped
• I passed Eric when the trail opened back up
• I dropped Eric, but had no legs to chase hard and got beat like rug by a 41 year old with a cool name

Better luck next time.

hasta manana

about that entry I made a few days ago, yeah, I take it back. The ferdinand course is brutal and has no flow to it. I'm scared. I need Jens Voigt to sit me down and have a talk with me. I need coach Dave, www.everybodysbikecoach.com to hold my hand and tell me it's gonna be okay. :) Seriously though, I just hope I get up front early so I can dictate the pace.

yaaaay

Yay! We got our shorts back! Yay! My cheeks will be more comfortable! yay! Now we have a matching kit! Yay!

Ghost of Mohican

butterflies already?

It's crazy how much attention Curtlo/John Hughson is getting because of his accomplishments at the 13 hours of Fleur

So, big race this weekend for me at Ferdinand, IN. Big because I'm already getting nervous, I have the eye of the turtle right now. I hope I have it Saturday morning. What is the deal with me normally being psyched up to race a few days before but then come day of the race I don't have the desire? Ferdinand is a tough course but I'm anxious to try to push it to the limit.

I mainly just wanted to make a new post cause I've made a few subtle changes to the blog including a hit counter. Talk about exciting.

This one is cooler

why dont you people do this race? it rocks.

anthony leading the pack at Mohican 100

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtbphotos.php?id=/photos/2007/jun07/mohican100_07/mohican_100_07_start1

Mohican 100(k)

I am a sandbagger, but the promoter encourages me to enter and win this event, so I guess he is my enabler.

The dryest Mohican yet, (for me anyway since the skys opened up on part of the course about 20 minutes after I finished), saw a talented bunch battling for the 100 mile and the ultra-endurance series. Chris E, Tinker, last years winner Harlan Price and Mike from Bells brewing set a good pace to start. Tinker had his hands full not being real stable on the slick east coast rocks and roots, eventually dropped out. I stayed up with them for the first 14 miles or so until i decided I need to back it off. having just ate my huge mound of mush only 30 minutes prior to the start, little chunks of it were workin their way back up. So then it was just me and a local boy battling it out for the 100(k) crown. A week of sleep deprivation is no way to prepare for a race like this and may total inability to handle my bike was the result. About 18 miles in, over a series of 6 foot or so tall camel humps, i got all ass over ebows and managed to plant myself into the apex of the next little hill, face first. It was pretty good too, blood was oozing at a pretty good rate all over my stem and GU flask (which i later took a delicious shot of blood and chocalate outrage GU, perhaps count chocula's prefered mix, but not mine). I pulled over at a road crossing a mile or so later to have Garth check me out since I had no idea how bad it was (my lips felt like Rudy from Fat Albert, only bloodier). He called me somethin that sounds like wussy and got me goin again, thats my boy. The buckeye i was with took advantage of the situation and had attacked (good move btw, attacking 20 miles into a 65 mile race). I didnt care. I was bloody and tired, i was just gonna ride. If I was caught, fine. If I caught him, fine, but my motivation to go fast was gone.

Of course you all know the story; the tortise caught the hare. At aid station 3 I came around a corner to find buckeye doubled over with cramps. It seems his excitement to unseat me as the king of sandbaggers was his own undoing. So, I kept doing what I had all day and ticked over the pedals at a comfortable pace and came across the line with a decent margin over second, an expert riding for Rays MTB park in Cleveland.

The after was awesome; Kiersta and her husband popped by for a visiit then I sat up on the deck with some folks from the Cinci and Bio-Wheels crew. Got to meet some new faces and caught up with other old ones while the rain fell lightly off and on as we watched folks cross the finish line in a celebration of a hell of a day on the bike. As the afternoon turned to evening, we all drank way too much Sierra Nevada and Bells and stuffed our faces with the TON of food provided. Its a great event that keeps getting better, so next year, dont miss out. Who know, you may end up with a split upper lip the ladies think is sexy. ;)
http://www.mohican.net/100.alpha.htm

Brown County hates me

I guess it's understandable. I'm a pretty detestable guy.

Start of the race was near the entrance of the park in the flat grassy area where the trail dumps out, sort of near the pool. Laps did not come through the start finish area.

So we start out in the grass area hang a sharp right onto the pavement and immediately begin the really steep but pretty short climb which then flattens out and then kicked back up for a longer climb on the pavement towards the tower where we took a right at the top of onto the singletrack. About 50 yards into the woods was the connector and feedzone. It's all really fast through there and the first climb came after about a mile of singletrack, actually probably not that far but the first climb was pretty mellow, nothing i needed to stand up for. then we cruise along for a while on rolling fast trail down to an area were there is traffic going both directions at pretty much the bottom this area is normally wet, but not this weekend. Next we start the longest climb of the day, which is also not that steep but does seem to go on forever. We ride around on the ridge for a few miles and then go back down to the bottom, hang a left and go out on the double track we were riding on a few minutes before then up a little bit to some more fast stuff rolling along till we get to the split for lap or finish. Hang left for the laps and bare straight on for the finish. The lap trail takes back along on a trail near the road that then has a small up to the feed zone. The finish is the trail that goes fast down right behind the bathrooms on top of the hill all the way down and dumps you out in the area we started in.

Okay, now that you have that all straightened out.

Before the race started I was hoping everyone would chill on the first steep paved climb and new things would split up on the second longer climb.

We line up and it looks like a pretty good showing. I'd guess at least 20 in my class but I'm not sure since I didn't look around too much. We take off, make the sharp right onto the road and start the first steep climb. I get up front immediately with 2 or 3 others and gear down. Since I'm hanging on a wheel and noone else is coming around me I figure I'm going fast enough. At the top my legs are feeling it a bit. I noticed the other two in front of me didn't stand for the hill but I did. At the top noone immediately took off or attacked so that's good cause it would have been a pain in the ass. Things speed up and I get behind a kid that looked like he was taller than me and held onto his wheel the rest of the way up. On the last 50 yards are so before singletrack the guy in front attacked and got a gap. I was fine with that and I guess the kid in front of me didn't want to do anything about it either. I was worried someone else might try to come around me but noone did so I go in the woods third. Which I was fine with. I heard that our class had split up into 3 groups by that point but I didn't look back to see any.

Once on the singletrack I noticed that I wasn't having trouble keeping up in the fast stuff. I did feel like if the two guys in front of me were going to get away it would be in some of the climbing stuff. We stay together for a while and. Some short kid up front, then the tall skinny guy in front of me and there were probably 4 riders or so behind me. We had a gap on the rest of the group. I'm not sure how big or small though.

After about 15 minutes the trail opens up for about 30 yards on a bit of an up. #2 attacks and goes around #1. #1 responds to the acceleration and someone comes around me to get in the gap that opened up from the acceleration. The get about a 5 second gap on me and the rest of the group which is where it stayed until we are in the bottom section just getting ready to start the longest climb. On one of the last few turns I notice my rear tire feels squirrely so I ask the guy behind me if it looks flat, he said it looked a little low. so I stop as probably 3 riders come around, and put some air in, the tire didn't seal though because I didn't have enough sealant left in my tire. which is sucky cause the night before I knew I needed to put some stans in my tire but was feeling too lazy to deal with it.

Since the tire wouldn't seal, I have to take it off to put a tube in. Once I get the tube in I realize my CO2 is out and by this time everyone in my class has come around although I was surprised at what a big gap we had on the rest of the field. So I walk about half a mile back to a little feed/assistance area and borrow a pump. Then I cruise around the rest of the course and finish about 30 minutes or more after everyone else.

Last year when I raced at brown county I had some tire deflating issues too. That's why Brown county hates me, but I still love it. Story of my life

To heck with racing

OK, I don't really mean it. But my fork isn't back from Cannondale yet, so no racing for me this weekend. Good luck to the rest of you guys. Besides, it sounds like Ferdinand (2 weeks away) has so much climbing that I'd better start resting up now.

this past weekend

I got hitched. A pro mountain biker and semi pro showed up. Big country was there to document it all

http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/album.jsp?aid=768a5498cf40661d1500

LBL

i went, i destroyed a tire in the first 2 miles. i ran a long way. i fixed it and i still got some good laps/riding in. regardless, good to visit with my sister, brother-in-law and nephews, always a good time there. thats all you get.

and this

I felt like this blog needed a picture. Here is one of the way things are in the mountain biking world. Get used to it women, or men if your girlfriend is a mtb'er.

blah

I hope there is homecourt advantage down there at LBL cause I got my butt whipped, but then again I was the first person between the ages of 19-29 to finish the race in the 19-29 sport men category so maybe I technically won, regardless it was a bunch of juniors that got to take home the prize money.

Race at Lbl this year started in a different location down by the bridge/overpass. Start was up a paved road, right onto another paved road and then sharp left into the woods for a bit of flat rolling rooty stuff about a mile or so worth maybe a little more then a couple climbs, namely the twin sisters or whatever they call those two climbs that are back to back down there.

I felt like ass sitting on the starting line. Kept thinking I was going to vomit. My stomach hadn't emptied out breakfast yet. Judd says go, we take off and Bill (columbia cycling winner of chickasaw) gets out front and I'm fine with that cause I know he is real fast. He got a good gap going down the road but then backed way off once we hit singletrack, I was immediately behind him. Through the first section of singletrack I was surprised at how easy he was going and felt really confident, started to question about whether it would be smarter for me to try to pass and take off cause I knew he was going to have a strong second lap if he was pacing himself that well on the first lap. There were 4 or 5 people behind me, we were all staying together up front pretty well.

In a sharp right hander going up hill I leaned a little hard and burped some air out of my rear tire, turns out I wasn't running enough pressure. That was annoying since I let some out on the starting line. My tire was pretty low and I started to lose contact a bit so when we crested the climb it opened up. I pulled off to put some air in my tire. By the time I finished everyone came around. I hopped back on and took off trying to catch everyone, I think I got a little impatient and tried to pull everyone back a little too quickly cause there were a couple times I had to back off while trying to catch back up with nick.

So I worked my way up a bit before we hit the n/s welcome station but I knew there were at least still 3 people up ahead of me. I kept seeing a kid in a wood n wave kit. I thought it was t.j. gaines. I would catch up with him on the climbs but after cresting them he would take off and get out of site. I hope that is the home-court advantage because I don't think I'm that slow of a descender. Come through for second lap at around 55 minutes. By the end of lap one I haven't caught him nor is he in site any more. I ate and drank a lot during the middle of lap one cause I felt like I needed to, for whatever reason, cold chills of phantom cramps.

Second lap I catch up with a kid that was wearing a red jersey, he looks done. I get around him and try to resolve to make it back up to kid in woodnwave jersey. Part of me is happy though cause I think I'm in 3rd place. I wrecked in an open flat gravely section cut myself up a little and cussed a little. by that time the 30-39 riders were starting to come around. Around the north south welcome station on the second lap, the threats of cramps starts to get a little more serious and I have to try not to push my legs too hard. I drain the remaing fluids I have in my bottles and try to just keep it steady.

Roll through the finish line at around 1:54. Turns out there were three people ahead of me. One columbia cycling and two wood n wavers. Winning time was around 1:46. There is no way I could've done that time even on a good day.

long and the short of it, not a good race for me. Not sure why but I didn't have the legs for that length of time. could've been a ton of different things to cause that but I'd rather not worry too much about it.

Last weekend

Nothing happened.

friendly motorists in Louisville

We hear so much about angry motorist yelling at us and cussing us so I wanted to post a positive experience I had last night while doing the Tuesday night worlds.

Soon after we made the left onto River Road from Blankenbaker I hit a large hole pretty hard. My tire started hissing immediately so I pulled off on a larger piece of the shoulder and began to replace the tube. Out of the corner of my eye I see someone pull in the gravel near me in a silver BMW. A pretty lady gets out and starts walking towards me. I'm thinking she is going to scold me and tell me about how awful it is that we cyclist ride our bikes on the road. Boy was I wrong. When I looked up she said, "I was behind you guys and saw that you might be having trouble so I turned around and came back to make sure you were okay. My family rides so I know how it goes."

I told her that it was merely a flat and I had everything I needed and then tried to thank her as sincerely as possible.

A few minutes later I had to tell some fellow cyclists that I was okay and didn't need any help. The amount of helpful friendly riders in this area is almost annoying at times. Just joking.
I just wanted to share a positive experience with you all and if you know the lady I'm talking about, thank her again for me.

What if the world was covered in Peanut Butter?

So, as the title asks, what would it be like if the world was covered in a gooey, sloppy mess? I'm not sure, but I bet trying to ride the trails would be a lot like what I experienced this past Saturday at the Park Mammoth Mash.

For those of you with ADD, here's the Reader's Digest version: Rain, more rain, Mud, more mud. Sloppy, nasty, Kenda Karmas suck in mud. Nice day to take my bike for a walk. 3rd place Sport overall, 1st place in the Creepy Old Guy division (40+).

If the above paragraph didn't provide enough detail of my 2 hours of misery, you either need to get a life or are at work and have time to spare. So read on.

I finally talked my buddy Sean into racing this year. We debated going north to hit DINO Warsaw, but they had a risk of rain as well and we decided that we would rather drive 2 hours to not race than 5. So we meet at 7:30 am and head down to Park Mammoth. We knew they had gotten some rain, but it looked like it might be rideable so we took the chance. Besides, what else is there to do in Louisville on Derby Day? It actually looked pretty good most of the way down with some sun and light clouds. But as we got to the exit it started to sprinkle.

When we got parked at the race site it started to rain. But the area looked to drain OK, so we decided that the Folks putting on the race were a worthy charity and we ponied up our entry fees, just in case we decided to race afterall. While all this is going on some of the other Louisville characters show up and now we have to race, since we can't let them go out there and do well while we watch. All the while its raining. Sometimes hard, sometimes not so hard, but raining. Now this is where it gets good: Sean says "as long as it's raining it won't be so bad, the mud won't stick". And he was right. As long as it keeps raining the mud doesn't stick.

We go out and pre-ride a little bit and it already seems like a bad idea. The open areas are good, but the singletrack is slippery. Then there's the railroad tracks. A good portion of the race is run on a thruway for 18-inch wide railroad tracks for some little train. Gravel base, actually in great shape and fast. But the track rails themselves, when wet, are treacherous. OK, just stay between them and it'll all be good. So now we are completely soaked, our paper number plates have melted off the bars and we head to the starting line. An opportunity like this is too good to pass up.

So when the experts line up, the take a count and come up one short. 5 show on the list and only 4 are present. So they start yelling my name. Seems a little mistake was made on their behalf and I got registered as an Expert. So we all have a good laugh, and off the Experts go with me lining up with 20 of my closest Sport-Class friends. We get the standard pre-race talk, warned about the railroad tracks and the whistle blows. I try to get a good start and spin out. Mad scramble ensues and i get thru the gate and into the Singletrack around 10th. It's a short section and we pop out into a gravelly-roadish area and I drop the hammer to catch up to the leaders that are about 30 yards ahead. We hit the first section of railroad tracks and it's amazing how hard it is to hold a straight line. I guess everyone was paranoid about making contact with the rails. A couple of guys do and go down. So we work down towards the first real climb of the race. Unfortunately, there was some recent bulldozer action right at the base meaning soft, nasty red mud awaits. I saw this during the pre-ride, and planned to cyclocross it right from the beginning. This paid off as I took the tight line and was off the bike and running up the hill before most of the guys figured it out. I ended up in the lead at that point with Blaine Heppner, Sean and Mitchell K. The 4 of us managed to get away from the rest of the group. We stayed reasonably close together until Mitchell had some mechanical issues and dropped off. So the remaining 3 of us stayed pretty much together the rest of the lap and about half way into the 2nd. We caught up with Kiersta and that's when Blaine left us for good. Sean got away as I took a tumble on a slippery wood bridge right in front of Kiersta, forcing her off as well. It had stopped raining sometime before this point and the mud was really starting to stick. I caught Sean as he was having chain-suck problems and knowing he is a better bike handler decided to open a gap when I could, expecting him to catch up on the technical stuff. Around the end of the 2nd lap/early in the 3rd (I don't remember exactly) I was caught and passed by a guy from the Nashville MTB club. He caught and passed me so quickly I first thought he was the Expert leader, but he was in Sport and obviously handling the adversity much better than I was. I knew I had been in 2nd behind Blaine and was really content to get 3rd as the trail was getting worse and my mental state was going south as well. From that point on it was survival mode. A couple of guys got close but I took advantage of the open sections to maintain a good gap. I ended up finishing in 2:01, 3 mins behind Blaine who took first. Sean ended up DNF due to the mechanical issues.

This race was really tough for me, as it challenged my bike handling skills and didn't allow me to take advantage of my fitness. I pushed my bike up most of the hills as I just couldn't seem to get any traction and running/pushing was faster in most cases. I think I crashed about 10 times. My bike was a mess and I'll be surprised if it works right again. I rode it today and it's heading to the shop for some love. But I didn't DNF. It was the closest I ever came, it's a good thing I didn't know that Sean quit at the end of the 2nd lap or I might have joined him. I give lots of credit to everyone who stuck it out. Also, props to Andrew Llewellyn who won the High School championship race. His frame had arrived at the shop the previous day at 1 pm and was built late that day. Great performance on a new ride.