If some pain is good, more is better....

Ok so I literally decide just a scant few hours before the start of the 2010 Tennessee State Criterium Championships held today in Johnson City, TN to pin on a number and have a go. Nevermind the fact that I haven't raced a crit in a year, nevermind the fact that I haven't raced a bicycle period since January at the TN State Cyclocross Championships. I am not known for good decision making.
I got interested when I went with my little sis to a 5k race she was running in yesterday and then we drove to Carver's Gap on Roan Mtn to see the finish of the Roan Groan. I have been not that interested in racing at all this year and have been riding my bike just to be riding my bike. The fitness I have comes from a pile of fairly easy endurance miles with some tempo along the way but very little intensity. So I do the smart thing: I register for Cat 4 and Masters 30/40+ thus guaranteeing myself 80 minutes of redline, on the rivet effort. That is provided I could hang with the group and not get pulled (by being lapped).

Cat 4 was first so I rode around downtown JC for about 40 minutes before the start to warm up. I lined up with somewhat decent expectations of finishing in the group. Sitting on the line I looked around and saw about 60 Cat 4's and got a little nervous. I hate crashing and I hate crashing more because somebody causes me to crash. With a field that big, a crash was almost assured. We started and I tried to go to the front but the pace was kind of slow and everyone bunched up there. Ther was bumping and pushing in the corners for the first few laps and I wasn't interested in doing what it would have took to stay up there and out of trouble. I drifted to the back of the pack and stayed there for the most of the race. A nasty headwind on the front stretch really slowed me down when I lost touch with the pack and with 9 laps to go, I got pulled.. Crap!

The Master's race was an hour away and I barely had enough time to re-pin my numbers and eat a Cliff bar. I lined up after taking a look at the revised course (a section was removed from the earlier races because of cars parked on the course). I really liked the new section. It had a few left turns and was narrow and technical and very spectator friendly. On the starting line, I noticed I was waaaay out of my league with quite a few Cat 1 and 2 racers there but I didn't care. To ride faster you have to ride with people faster than you. The start came and the first lap was brutal, about 30mph. I was worried that I wouldn't be around for 2 laps if that kept up but the pace slowed to about 25-26mph and I was able to hang on for a little while anyway.
I lost touch with the pack and hooked up with a smaller group of about 5 and we tried our best but the end was swift and inevitable. We got pulled after 15 minutes into the race....meh.

My goals for the race(s) were to A: have fun, B: not crash, C: finish in the top 20. I made good on A and B and even C in the Masters but missed it in Cat 4. I was 16th out of 20 in the Masters and 39th out of 54 in Cat 4. Not bad for not training any for a race like this...

If You Don't Break A Sweat, You Are Doing It Wrong...

I will begin this blog entry not with some lame excuse about where I have been for the last two months, nor will I whine and complain about having a hard time, fear over pork futures, uncontrollable diarrhea, erectile dysfunction and/or mental defect or reason of insanity.

Nope, none of that. I will get right down to business. Unless you are as unfortunate as my pal George in Vermont or my punk sister high in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, Spring has basically sprung and riding is once again good. I have changed up my typical spring this year. In years past, I would ride my ass into oblivion, throw in a few 6-12 hour death-on-a-stick training races and try to be somewhat fit for the summer and early fall primetime racing months. This year, I have no spring races scheduled and have been focusing on just riding my bike. I started riding my bike 20something years ago because it is fun (plus I was tubby) and I found myself getting away from the fun aspect and that is just wrong. I have been doing 2-5 hour endurance rides, mostly on the road with a mix of terrain but still somewhat climb heavy because I like pain.

I have enlisted the services of Varinka Williams, a friend, riding pal and she has become my psuedo-personal trainer. She is helping me straighten up my crappy eating habits and helping with my motivation. The goal: the 2013 Cyclocross Worlds in Louisville KY. Yep I am focusing the next two years of my racing "career" on going to the Cross Worlds in the best shape I can be in. I still will be doing some endurance off-road stuff, just not anywhere near as much as in years before.

Speaking of Kentucky, Varinka and I went to London last Saturday and did the Redbud Ride. 104 miles of rolling hills and pretty Kentuckyness via bicycle.

Look closely and you will see how hamburger is really made..

No blog post would be complete without a pic of me taking a pee..

Tricycle derby.... fun times..



I got layed by some lady at the church sag stop.... Uh, that didn't come out right.... oh well.

We were supposed to do 104 miles but that became 107.5 when we missed a turn (wasn't my fault I swear) and we rode around for a bit until it just didn't feel right and we turned around and found our way with the help of a few others that were lost too..

Fun with food...




Varinka "chicking" a dude on one of the few 20% grades we found in eastern KY..

It was a really fun event and just what I needed right now. I feel like I am right where I want to be right now. Many thanks to the organizers and volunteers that made the Redbud Ride cool and to Varinka for telling me about it and hanging out with my sorry butt through 107 miles of east KY wilderness..

Before I go, I want to show you my new bike. This one is a bit different than the ones I normally ride:

I got a sweet deal on this 2006 Honda 599 "Hornet" from my buddy Mark Prince. I have always wanted a street bike and just never got one.

As much as I love bicycles, this thing freaking rocks!


Don't mess with Scotland...

Redrum, Redrum, Redrum...

Poor Jack Torrance all holed up in the mountains in Colorado with a ginormous amount of snow, Olive Oyl on his case all day and his kid running apeshit wild over the place. It's no wonder he went nuts. One thing can be said about this winter in North America, all the Meteorologists, Almanacs, Wolly Worms, groundhogs, and old people with their gout acting up were right.

This winter has been a doozy.

It has been tough to be an athlete in this stuff too. I have been on my trainer more than I have been outside and now that my days are temporarily free due to being unemployed, I have a lot of time on my hands. This can be good and bad. I am used to being really busy and my mind doesn't do downtime very well. I have been planning how I am going to spend the rest of my life both on and off my bike and looking at options like school (hmm, wonder if I can get a mountain bike scholarship...hmm...)

Now that Cyclocross season is over (for me. There's a few races I could still hit but cash is an issue right now) and it continues to snow every few days, my riding is gone to base building mode and I have managed to get some good rides in depsite everything else. I have even been in the mountains some which is something I don't normally do in January.

Slick roadie tires and snowy mountain roads make for a haaaaairy combination!

Steep!

I went with my buddy Bob Lamberson to Tsali a couple of weeks ago and we were blessed with a great day to ride:

Really, even though I am making the best of this like everyone else in the country, I am over winter. Instead of Groundhod Day, I am going to make Save This Kitten Day. That is, if I don't see Spring soon, very, very soon, I am going to shoot this kitty.

Ready, Set, Slop

The 2009/10 Tennessee State Cyclocross Championship Race rolled, er, slid its way into Winged Deer Park this past Sunday amid what was touted as the "Storm of the Century". Overnight, rumours ran rampant about massive snowfall amounts, enough to lose Gary Coleman in. Bread and milk shortages, random senseless acts of senselessness and up to but not including total anarchy.

I woke up Sunday determined to stay snowed in. My January so far has been total shit and there is no way I was going to take a chance on having fun on the last day of it. My fate was sealed when I turned on my computer to watch some of the live coverage of the Cyclocross Worlds going on in the Czech Republic. After watching that for a bit, I loaded up my Vassago Optimus mountain bike ( I figured there was a better chance of taking it with the conditions than there would be on my cross bike) and headed out.

I got there in time to get registered and ride a few laps of the totally covered-in-snow-and-slop course and at that point almost went back home. It was tough. By normal standards it was nothing too technical and would have been fast. Add 5 inches of snow and it was like riding in deep sand and someone ran the Pamplona Bulls through with a bad case of diarrhea. I talked myself into staying and chatted with some of my friends until time for the race to start.

I got a crappy starting spot and came off the line in nearly last place. Fighting for a good position before we entered the course off of the starting straight, I managed to get a decent spot. There was zero places to pass. I went out in the deep snow, out of the racing line (if you can call a shit colored wet line in the snow a racing line) and ohboy that was tough. There was absolutely no settling in on this course. No place to recover. By the second lap I was so far deep in the red zone, I thought I was going to puke. I had made it up to 7th behind my buddy Rich Kidd and had brief moments of thinking about challenging him. Rich is strong and a good bit younger than me so I doubted I could make a pass stick but I still tried to get close enough.

I dug too deep too long though and settled in somewhat in the last half-lap and cruised on home in 7th.

I was happy that I did go out and try. I had fun and that's something that I really needed.

Many, many thanks to Dwayne Letterman and all the volunteers that work selflessly to set-up and take down the courses and all the other myriad of tasks that go into putting on a MSG race.

Racing Age - 44

I renewed my USAC license this week. I paid a fairly large sum of cash so I could pay more large sums of cash all through the year to travel all over the durty south and punish my body in various and sundry ways most of which involving a bicycle. One of the unique items on my USAC license is my "racing age". It isn't my current age or my DOB, it is listed as the age I will be on December 31, 2010. Obviously it is assuming I do not die in a firey plane crash or by being run over by a Buick full of blue-hair old ladies on their way to the Golden Corral any given Sunday after church.

My racing age is 44. It's a good thing I am not sensative to such things. Obviously USAC is not operated by women (no offense ladies) because you would NEVER see age on the damn license anywhere. It's more likely run by mean, older brother types. You know the ones that like to snap towels on your ass and push you down stairs and stuff like that. I wonder why they stopped at racing age? Why not have racing weight? Skill level? Riding ability? Special requirements?

Mine could look like this:
Racing Age - 44
Racing Weight - Fat
Skill Level - not the best
Riding Ability - Some days I suck, others I rock.
Special Requirements - I need a cold beer at the end of every race that lasts up to 2 hours. One beer per racing hour after 4 hours up to 12 hours. If I win, I need 5 or 6 more beers and maybe an Irish Car Bomb or some Tequila to celebrate also I will require someone to cart my fat, alcohol reeking ass back to the motel, RV, tent, et cetera from which I came so I can sleep it off. I need a massage before and after any race and at Cyclocross races where the ambient temperature is less than 50 degrees, I need a hot towel at finish and some hot cider with a shot of spiced rum.

Hmmm..... I can see a flaw in that system. Maybe we should just stick with racing age.

Merry Christmas and Thank You

I wanted to take a moment to wish all of my friends, family, and wonderful sponsors and supporters a most heartfelt Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2010.

I have taken some time this holiday season to reflect on 2009 and in particular what I can do in 2010 to make the world a better place for me, my son, my family, my friends and everyone else that I may encounter. 2009 was fairly hard for me but in retrospect it was nothing compared to what could have been. There are no bad days really... Just good ones and great ones. People have come into my life this year and others have left. Some stayed only for a few minutes others remain still. I am thankful for everyone. For my friends and family, you guys are awesome! You have been there for me when I needed you and that is the greatest gift of all. I am thankful even for my enemies for you have challenged me, pushed me to be better, stronger and more resilient. Thank You.

My association with Vassago will continue for 2010 and I am thankful to have such a cool bunch of people supporting me in something I love to do so much - race my bike. 2009 is what it was and I am only looking forward to 2010 and I'm currently looking at the events I plan to do. There will be a mix of 6 and 12 hour endurance races along with some shorter XC events, some road events and of course Cyclocross.

Up next for me is the Tennessee State Cyclocross Championships at the end of January and the very next week my mountain bike racing begins with the Snake Creek Gap TT Series in Dalton GA. I am working on building fitness and hopefully will have the form I want to have by the time the "A" races roll around in April and March.

Livin' La Vida Fuerte

I don't know where I am going but I am making damn good time!

While I continue down that path that most athletes travel every winter (unless you are fortunate enough to follow summer around the globe or live in a place where it doesn't get cold and dark at 4:30), I am defiantly trying to hang on to the fitness I gained this year. After my first cyclocross race last week, I got a good look at just how much I suck after just a few weeks of reduced activity.

I have been here before and I know like the Swallows of Capistrano, my legs will return. Still, knowing that doesn't make it any easier to take. I am not the naturally fit kind of person. I have to dig and fight like hell for any kind of form and if I stop training for a week, it's all gone. Depressing, yes but it's the life of any single-parent, 40something, 40 hour a week working, weekend warrior athlete.

I am already looking at 2010 races and waiting for dates to be posted to start figuring out what I am going to do. The rough draft is 12-20 races with a mix of endurance, XC, Cyclocross and Road races. So far I am confirmed for the Snake Creek Gap TT series in North Georgia in Jan, Feb and March and the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek in April. On my short list are:

Knobscorcher, 12 Hours of Tsali and Dirt, Sweat and Gears, Discburner.

There will be more but for now that's where I am planning on going. I don't want to do the long trips that I have done in the past couple of years because driving sucks and I am trying to stay relatively close to home so I can have more time with my son and we have a few trips planned for funstuff too. We'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I have about 6 cyclocross races to keep me mentally and physically on the right track (and Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to blow it all to hell).

Guilty by reason of insanity or mental defect.

Today was round 3 of the Mud, Sweat and Gears Cyclocross series in Johnson City, Tn. I missed the first two rounds and with it my chance at doing well in the series overall. That combined with my life story of late kinda resembling a screenplay for a new disaster movie and consequently

me spending a lot of time off my bike in the last 5 weeks set me up for what was sure to be a real hum-dinger of a sufferfest. There was also a chance of rain which meant that it was going to pour at some point... it just does. Still, I loaded up bikes and gear for the deal and headed out for Winged Deer Park and a day of self-inflicted punishment. Being that it's Halloween and Spooky Cross, I decided to do something a little special

The first race was at 10:30 and the field was huge. I got a good start, 4th or 5th going up the hill and into the first turn but I knew I wouldn't be able to stay there for the whole race. I started feeling my inactivity real quick and began to fade to eventually finish 16th - still in the upper half of the field though so I was happy.

The course was really tricky with a sandpit with three turns in it (didja ever try riding in deep sand and changing direction?) plus several really extreme off-camber parts that were slick even when dry much less if it got wet.......

The rain came and was cold and steady making the course evil. Several people went down, some of them really hard (one guy probably broke a collarbone). My next race was on my singlespeed and it still had fat mountain bike tires which would serve me well. I usually ride good in slop which was another positive. I hate being cold and wet at the same time though and that was nearly a deal breaker. While I waited for my race, I looked through the car for my balls plus all the warm clothes I could find. An hour, One arm warmer and two knee warmers later, I headed out to get wet and try to get my mind right for the next 30 minutes of my life that were gonna be a bit uncomfortable. I had to ask myself why do I keep putting my body through this kind of torture. I mean days like today are exactly why couches were invented. Hmmm..... Think I'd rather suffer like a dog for a half-hour in a muddy and cold field than get fat on the couch.

I took the start for the singlespeed class and we got about ten feet off the pavement before I got a money-shot of slop right to my face rendering me blind for the next hundred or so yards. I think I got passed there and when I regained most of my sight, I was in 4th right behind my friend Mike Mefford. I felt like that was a good place to be and tried my best to stay there but kept getting crap in my face and messing up my contacts. The course was really slick and the off camber sections were pretty much a free for all. I even crashed once and slid to the bottom on my stomach, fun times.....

I ended up 6th and happy that I stuck it out. I knew this race was going to be particularly hard on me and I wasn't disappointed. Still, it was fun and after a hot shower and some food, I forgot about all the pain. Maybe for the next one, I can take some fitness.....

Hmm..........

Sometimes you gotta swing for the fence.....

I have been debating whether or not to write this blog entry but I thought why the hell not, I am among friends right?
On Sept 11 (oddly enough) my wife and I decided to end our relationship and go our separate ways. This was not a decision that was made in a few minutes or even an hour or two. The decision to part came after 5 years of counseling, trying to work it out and eventually facing the reality that "It just ain't happening". The details thereof are really not important and I am exceedingly happy that we can remain good friends and make the best of a bad situation.
It was a hard decision in the begining but as things went along, I realized it was the only decision I had to make and in the end, I truly believe that the lives of me, her and our son will benefit in a positive way.
For me, my job now is to focus on single-dadhood and give my son the best of me. I am excited about it and plan to face it like I do any challenge I have ever faced - Wide Fucking Open. I only know one way and that is to throw all I have into it.

I intend to continue racing and riding bikes although at this point I am not sure what next year's schedule will look like..... I am not really worried about it. Bike racing is and always has been something I do for me. I have fun with it and am fortunate to be associated with some really cool people that make some really cool bike stuff. I will continue with them as long as they want me around. Bikes and racing will always be there. No worries.

For those of you that have sent me notes and messages of support.. I thank you.

Rock on good people....

Upside down and backwards.........

I went to the 12 Hours of Dauset last weekend with my buddy and longtime teammate/racing partner Bob Lamberson and his wife Anet. The weather was perfect, the course was well groomed and pretty damn sweet. I had great legs and felt like it was going to be a good race. Approximately 2 hours into the race however, things went to hell quick and left me wondering if I was even going to say anything about it or just pretend it never happened.

Here's how it unfolded.

I arrived at Dauset trails in Jackson GA Friday night under the cover of darkness, kinda like a trail ninja, yeah that's how I roll. After putting the Honda into RV mode I got some sleep. Saturday morning greeted us with a perfect day for racing. After breakfast, me and Bob took off for some riding and looking at the course. The trails at Dauset are typical middle Georgia: sandy over hardpack with plenty of roots and rocks here and there. While you don't have the 30-45 minute climbs that you find further up the Appalachians, there are a lot of little climbs and rollers but this course, by way of comparison to some of the others I have ridden recently, was really tame. I heard a 1000 feet of climbing per lap and I am sure that was true, it just didn't feel like that much.
My back had been bothering me for the 2 days prior to the race, so much so that on Friday I wasn't sure I'd be able to race. Oddly enough, it felt fine while I was riding. Walking or sitting around caused problems, riding, no problem. Soon enough it was time to start. We agreed that Bob would go first and then me. I was fine with that since my back was bothering me and I hate running anyway (all Goneriding races begin with a LeMans start, another reason to hate the French!). After the start, I had about 40 minutes before I needed to be in staging waiting on Bob. I figured he'd do about a 45-50 minute lap and when he rolled in at about 47 minutes, I took off. Judging from the riders I had seen come through before him, I calculated that we were around 15th overall and most likely either leading the Duo or at worst in 2nd. Not really a big deal with 11 hours of racing to go but nice to know at any rate.
I felt great! I immediately passed two people that had left a bit before me and that felt good. I tried to lay down a fairly solid lap time but not kill myself in the process. In a lot of ways doing a Duo race is harder than just going solo. You tend to ride faster than a solo pace and you have only enough time between laps to get cold and stiff. You recover a bit maybe but it ain't easy by any means. I rode fast enough and came in without any problems in about 48 minutes.
I refilled my water bottle, ate some grapes and that's about all I had time for before it was time to go back to staging. Bob's 2nd lap was about the same as his first and I went out for what I assumed would be another great lap. What I didn't see coming was the freight train that would end my day approximately 2 miles into the lap. What happened exactly, isn't important. I had a major mechanical failure. The type that could happen to anyone at any time. The reason I am being tight-lipped about it is how in this day and age people bash everyone's stuff and that just pisses me off. I love my sponsors and they make good stuff and they have been good to me. Shit happens and what happened in Georgia was just a thang.
Having said that, I have gone for about 5 years without even so much as a flat tire so I was kinda pissed off that my day was now over. I had 5 miles to go to the end of the lap and I could ride my bike (albeit slowly and very carefully) way faster than I could run so I did. I got back and made the hand-off to Bob and he knew my day was done. I returned to the pits and considered my options. I could sit there and stew for the rest of the day; I could take my cross bike off the car (I had my cross bike instead of a spare mountain bike because I was planning to do a cyclocross race the next day back in Tennessee) and give it a try; or I could go home.
I actually did try the cross bike but that wasn't going to work so I headed home. I set out for a great weekend of racing but ended up back home before the damn race was even over.
Bob went on to finish the race and due to his efforts "we" ended up 7th in the Duo class. Anet won the Female solo in Viking fashion, she killed everyone! Great job Anet!

After a five hour drive home with some of my favorite music and a three hour mountain bike ride on Sunday, I was back in a decent mood by the end of the weekend.