Sunday, December 9, 2007

Whew!

Well, it's over for another year. MSG had a banner year with the largest turnout in the three year history of the event. I don't mind saying I'm very tired. It caught up with me in the final race Saturday. I had a great start and was running fourth or fifth when on the second lap, after the run up, I started to fade. Ended up seventh and was about to be caught by Darryl and Bill, and had it not been for more experience at remounting the bike and clipping in quickly I would have been ninth.

The end of the series is always bittersweet. I'm glad that the pressure's off and that the work is done, but at the same time it's sad that it's over and the camaraderie that has developed over the past three months is at an end until next year. A lot of folks that come out and race I don't see all year until cross season starts again. The good thing is I can concentrate on racing
in January and February and not worry about getting things done each week for the series.

The series final had to be the best one yet. Ironically I was joking with one of our local sponsors last week and he jokingly said "all we need is some rain, mud and cold temperatures" the forecast on Thursday of that week for Saturday was sunny and 60. Boy,
I'm gonna
become a weatherman since it's the only job I know of where you get paid to be wrong 95% of the time. Of course I was glad they were wrong since I like racing in the mud. Finally some semi Belgian conditions. As the day progressed the misty rain kept falling and the ground got muddier. Mud+Cross rider = crashes. Lot's of folks were eatin' mud pies as it got slicker. It was great.

The most fun of the day was during the Single Speed race. At the start we surprised the SS crew with a short cut option. The only drawback was, you had to eat a Debbie Cake before taking the cut which cut about 20 seconds of the lap. First lap, Andy Applegate came running over the barriers and grabbed an oatmeal cake. Almost every lap riders took the short cut, and It wasn't long until everyone fig
ured out that it was the Swiss Roll that you wanted since it was small and soft and it went down fast. Each lap, at the beginning of the barrier section the call went out "swiss cake, swisss caaaake!!! No one threw up but there were some jittery Single Speeders at the cookout.

The cook out was huge with over 100 people. Hot dogs and Hamburgers were flying ar
ound Meredith Pavilion. We had a raffle blowout too, with about 20 items, including a Reynolds carbon fork and the grand prize a Complete Redline Conquest bike. It really was a big year and just writing this I'm forgetting all the work and looking forward to the good times next year. I really appreciate all the herculean efforts put in by all the volunteers and my co organizer Eric, I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to all the folks who came from all over to race. Hope to see you all at MSG 2008.

PS: To see more cool CX pics click here and go to Bart Nave Photography.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Crossnut Crosstube

Here are a couple of cool cross sites that Darryl Muck found. You may already know of them if not click the logos below.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Mysterious Spirals Found at Steele Creek


On Sunday, November 4th, Steele Creek Park users were welcomed to an intriguing site, mysterious spirals found in a bowl of earth about 50' across. Observing the spiral and actually following it to the center and back out again caused dizziness and nausea.



Park goers are concerned that there could be super natural or extraterrestrial forces at work here. Sitings were made the day before during the late morning and early afternoon hours of colorful two wheeled object circling the ground in the vicinity. Strange humanoid creatures were also seen in the area.

Spooky Cross was Scary BIG....

MSG#3 at Steele Creek Park was another record. Each race of the series has had over 100 entries and #3 of 07 was no exception. 137 entires! That is the largest group of riders ever in the three year history of the series. Riders in Spooky Cross who wore a costume were rewarded for their efforts and racing in a cumbersome costume with 25 extra points toward the overall. Dummy me forgot my kilt and missed out on the points, but I was hyperventilating over get a very complex course set up in 2.5 hours. Thanks to Bart, Bill, Kingsley, Mike, and Perry we got it done with 5 minutes to spare. Thanks guys.

The most exiting and fun part of the course was the "Maxxis Spiraling Cyclone of Death", as it was eventually dubbed. Man by the time I got to the middle of that thing I was feeling dizzzzyyyyyy! Had to make a conciuocs effort to make the let turn and start back out. I say again, that's what's so great about cross, or should I say psclyocross.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Sands of Time

Sorry it's been a while since I updated the old bald blog, but my duties as race organizer for the Mud, Sweat and Gears CX Series are really keeping me busy. I have tons of help from the great volunteers in the club but there are things that I am responsible for during the week in preparation that I have to get done. I did finally find a couple of hours to service the Ole' Banshee. She is really starting to show some wear after 37 cross races. Speaking of cross races last Sunday at the USGP of Cyclocross in Louisville, Kentucky I completed my 45th CX race. That's pretty awesome to me considering I started cross racing in 2004. One would thing that after that many races a person would pretty much have it all dialed in, but that's the great thing about racing cross, it's fluid, ever changing, always something to learn.


The first race in Louisville on Saturday proved to be tough for me. The course was muddy, which I like, and there were 5 sand pits. The pits were all ridable except one long deep one that I just couldn't ride. Each lap forced a dismount, and the wet sand clogged up my cleats so that I couldn't clip in and my feet bounced of the pedals until I could finally get clipped in. Each lap I would get passed by more riders and chase back only to loose ground again when we made it to the sand pit again. by the end of the race I was pretty steamed, and was whining like a baby. I didn't have fun on the "non technical" course as Katie Compton called. Sometimes I take myself to serious and think I'm better than I really am. After a couple of hours and some hot coffee I realized that I should just be thankful that I'm able to enjoy a sport as satisfying and fun as Cyclocross.

Sunday was a beautiful day sunny, blue skies, flaming trees, and warm temps. Rolling to the start I felt so calm, more calm than I've ever felt at any other race. I guess the talking to I gave myself over getting upset paid off. I was so calm that I wasn't paying attention when the whistle blew for the start, missed my pedal and got gapped about 20 feet right off the bat. When we approached the deep sand pit I was determined to ride it and after watching the pro's do it the day before I figured it out. Instead of slowing down and braking at the top of the little hill going into the pit I put my hands on the tops, accelerated into the pit and pedaled like my backside was on fire! Made it through every time. I was happier about conquering that obstacle more than I was about placing higher overall. Looking back after a week I'm thinking about how much fun it was just being at such a big event.

The atmosphere was festive like MSG but magnified by about 40 times. I heard reports that on Sunday there were 4000 spectators for the Pro Race.
It was pretty cool that so many MSG racers were there, Me, Eric, Mike Seek, Mike Mefford, Nathan Wyatt, Dwight Wyatt, Cara McCaulley, and Andy Applegate, pretty cool. Of all of us though, it was Eric who was the most impressive. Finishing 8th on Saturday, and a very impressive 4th place on Sunday after leading most of the race.

I've got photo's and video posted on my Picasa album most of which were taken by my daughter, Samara. Have a look if you like. Gotta go, another CX race to go to tomorrow.
Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends...

Friday, October 19, 2007

Now I know I'm Crazy

I get so wound up when I'm promoting races that now I'm having nightmares. Sleeping well for me is about a once a week occurrence. Last night was no different. I meant to get up at 7:30 this morning so I could get all the prize bags stuffed for the COC tomorrow. Woke up around that time thinking I need to get up and do it. I ran the day before 3 miles and those running days always wipe me out so of course I fell back to sleep.

Anyway, while sleeping again I dreamt that I was at this school in the soccer field waiting for volunteers to show up, as it got later and later and I began to worry. The soccer field was filling up with soccer mom's and their off spring and I was running around telling them that they had to get off the field, so I decided to go to the trailer and start pulling stuff out and setting up the course. At some point somebody switched trailers on me because the one attached to my truck was a rusted piece of crab with junk inside it. I really started to hyperventilate at this point because at the same time I realized that I was at the wrong venue and it was only an hour till the first race. I yelled out while dream "this has to be a dream when will I wake up" of course in my dream I didn't wake up and the panic set in. I guess my mind must have became afraid and finally woke me up. I woke with a hiss of breath, my heart thumping and all sweaty. I looked around the room and at my dogs on the bed and thanked God it was only a dream. Stumbling off to the kitchen I made a strong cup of coffee and started stuffing prize bags. I've finally cracked.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Come Get A Steamin' Cup O' Cross


Okay everyone, as if MSG wasn't already great, this weekend is the big ole' Redline Cup O' Cross race. We're goin' 8 deep on the prize list with loads of quality prizes. Awesome 1.7 mile course with a sand pit, get ready to dig! Ladies and gentlemen! Do you want it? Do you need it?!
Come on out to Winged Deer Park in Johnson City and pedal till you puke!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

It's a Beautiful Day...................................

For some reason on days like yesterday at MSG #1 I think of that U2 song, not just because it was meteorologically a beautiful day, but because the whole cross thing was beautiful. All the cool people that I haven't seen since last December, all the cool bikes ( like Mike Seeks Big single speeder), the course with all the colorful tape billowing in the breeze, smiles and relaxed atmosphere, and all the little kids. When I got out of my truck that morning it was really beautiful to see all the volunteers there, best of all was my ole' buddy Bart standing there with a cup o Starbucks bold coffee with cream. Can't say enough about the volunteers you guys are awsome!

The battle of the day was the pro 1/2 race between Eric and MSG Sponsor Andy Applegate. There were only 7 that showed up and after Will Black pulled a Bookwalter and gapped everyone by about 2:00 I thought well this race is over. Not so, Eric pulled up to within a minute of the leader and had a huge gap on Andy. I thought Eric's going to take second, but slowly but surely Andy pulled back to Eric and with two to go they rode together. Exitment really started to build when the came through the turns behind the finish line. Eric was in a primo position right on Andy's wheel. I could see those big levers of Eric's twitching for the sprint. As they made the final turn Andy was still in front and winded up the sprint. Everyone was cheering their names (I didn't know who to cheer for cause I like them both), Eric started around Andy, they were neck and neck coming to the line and at the last second Andy through his bike taking the win by about a half wheel length. Thanks to you guys for making that one of the most exiting finishes I ever seen and showing us why you guys are Pros. Thanks to Bart Nave Photography for the awesome race pics like the one at the right.

There was a scary moment in the CX3, Masters race that wasn't so beautiful. Jeremy Chandler, a veteran MSG crosser, came into the barriers fast and tripped over the first one causing him to fall face first into the second one. When I came through and saw him lying their bleeding from the nose and saying his neck was hurting my hear sunk. Fortunately his dad John who is physician and his mom Susi who is a physician's assistant were there and did a great job of assessing the situation and getting him ready for transport to the hospital. Thank goodness he is okay. He fractured his wrist and busted his nose and thankfully there was no other serious injury. That made it a truely beautiful day. Can't wait to next week, promoting bike races is a lot of work but what I get from cyclocross is well worth the effort.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

MACDADDY: The video staring Wonderdog

Great video shot by otis. Eric and Andy get a lot of face time, and if you listen real close you can here the Mike's and me yelling at Eric.

Monday, October 8, 2007

The Crossman Cometh

Well, I finally feel like it's cross season. Andy Applegate hosted the MacDaddy CX Training race at Mars Hill College yesterday. The course was great except for the one big ass hill. It was unavoidable though and it would have been a shame to leave it out. I didn't do to well, (insert excuses here) last weeks pack ride was brutal, the wind was howling in every direction and since it was the last PR until April, everyone was riding as if this was their last shot of glory . The pace was extremely high, 28mph into a strong headwind. Then on Thursday we had the final of three TT's. I like our TT course although it's not for purists, with four turns, and three hills that get progressively harder it's a difficult course. I rode pretty hard and ended up with a personal best of 26.37 for 10.5 miles, my previous best time was 27.30. Anyway, getting back to the point I was pretty tired on Sunday for the MCD.

With the way I felt and that big ole' hill looming above us, s
tarting in the back was a given. I started slow not wanting to blow before getting to the the hill. We rode up a grade almost from the start until we turned into the hill side and it was to steep to ride. Then it was shoulder the bike and run or kinda shuffle your feet until you made the pavement at the top. The fun part of each lap was loosing all the elevation we gained, dropping fast, catching air over the lip of the embankments we rode down and then oodles of tight turns it was great.

Crashing didn't help my position much. I crashed in the same place on the first two laps, hit a tree root that was in the shadows. I think I took a different line through that turn then during warm-up. You should always do a hot lap at race pace before you actually do the race. Don't know where I ended up, but the second crash took the wind out of my sails and I pretty much rode in for the rest of the race.

Other highlights: Seeing Jason Morgan the NCCX champ face plant into the second barrier at speed (fortunately he was unhurt), watching this young guy bunny hop the barriers and the biggest highlight... watching Andy and Eric battle each other for two thirds of the race. It was awesome to see those guys, they are both gifted athletes. Eric finally gapped Andy on the descent and pulled away from him (big ring Eric) and was closing in on second when he ran out of road. Great job on getting third place Eric.

I'm pretty sore today, I thought that after all the CX practice we've been doing I would have been more used to things, but my spindly right arm is sore from lifting the bike so many times, and I'm stowed up from the crashes (feeling sorry for me yet?). Mike Mefford crashed too but was the best finisher of our group in the B race. Mike Patterson was like me when he saw the BAH, and used the race for training. The race served it's purpose for me though, got through the 45:00, got some crashing in, and I'm beginning to feel that tingle of exitment that is so special to CX.

Race entry fee: $10.00, 2 Crashes: sore body, Racing Cross: Priceless, The crossman cometh.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Sguirrels and Cows

You never know what you will see on a ride around here. Saturday's ride was in the mountains again (can't seem to stay away from them), we went from Erwin, over Tillson Mountain, Spivey, Indian Grave and back to Erwin. We had a great time. This time of year folks are more apt to stay together on rides and wait for slower riders. Riding along with guys you normally never see on rides was nice. It's amazing how as riders rotate around the different conversations you hear and are a part of. As we rolled along through Flag Pond we must have been interfering with the high paced lifestyle of the locals, since one of them in a big assed truck came around us with the angry roar that always seems to accompany accelerating loud vehicles. Looking to the left I saw a dog barreling down a bank barking at us on a collision course with the big ass truck. I cringed because I was afraid we were going to see a dog explode into a cloud of pink mist! Fortunately, the dog had good brakes because the big ass truck wasn't going to slow down for anything. That dog had to have grazed his whiskers on the tires of the truck as it went by. I guess the guy in the truck wanted to show us who was boss because he continued bloviating on down the road in the left lane till he was out of sight.

Tillson Mountain road makes a u-turn once you come off the main road, the first hundred yards rises so that you can see the road you were just on below you. As we were approaching the turn we heard a voice from above say " hello down there!" Was this the voice of god? I hope not because it sure sounded a lot like Bill Bridger and that's a scary thought. Once we topped Tillson Mountain and started down the technical top part of the descent Zach and I ended up in the front, as we rounded the last corner and started out into the flat there was a sight I'd never seen before. A beat up pick up truck was crawling down the road with a big black cow tied to the tailgate. I new what would happen as we went by but there wasn't a whole lot we could do at the speed we were traveling. There was no way to stop and I'm not sure that would have made things better anyway. We blew by the cow and it went crazy, bucking around and twisting it's neck, wild eyed like it was being lead to slaughter. Spun completely around the right side of the truck into the ditch. I felt bad for the farmer and his cow, but who transports a cow like that? Tillson Mountain had another animal oddity I'd never encountered before. We crossed the flat sections and started down the last down hill section when I looked up the road and saw what I thought was a pop bottle in the middle of the right hand lane. Zach veered toward me and I went closer to the center line in order to avoid it. As we got closer it began to look more and more like a squirrel. It was standing on it's hind legs, holding a nut in it's front paws, stock still. It just kept standing there. It must have never seen such contraptions before and suddenly realized at about 3 feet before impact that it should move. It zigged left, then right and off into the grass. I though for sure it was going into Zach's spokes. I don't think he would have fit through the forks when he went around.

The rest of the ride was sans anymore animal incidents, but was definitely hard since we raced off Spivey and along the Toe river where Zach and Perry handed out several fresh ones before we got to the store at Huntdale and regrouped. This is probably the one of the last long rides I'll be doing in this year. I'll miss the mountains till next spring, but now the real fun starts Cyclo-cross.

PS: I apologize for the butchering of the English language something which several people have pointed out to me. I know people who's native language isn't English and they do a better job than me. Oh well, I am from Carter County you know.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

The Mike Patterson MSG CX Camp

I've been kind of wondering who was going to be the first out of the gate with cross practice this year. Turns out Mike Patterson got the ball rolling this morning at Winged Deer. I showed up about ten minutes late (irritating guy in line at Starbucks kept adding things to his order, thought he was going to buy the whole pastry case) and felt a little let down to see only two other people. Plus, I was feakin' tired from the "ronde van hillengen" the day before. As I started dragging the barriers out of the truck and started setting them up people started trickling in, new comers and vets. Soon we had 10 people standing there eight of which had cross bikes, pretty cool. Eric and I made note of the fact that when he first started MSG it was only He, and I and my son Sean showing up for practice. Now cross is the shizzle (boy that sounds funny).

Practice was great, we looked like those little ducks going around in circles at the carnival. The ones
you grab up and look at their bottoms to see if you won a prize, except we were on bikes going around in circles jumping barriers. Really strange looks from the park goer's. Most of us were a little rusty but repetition like good techno brings it all back around, and after about 20 minutes it started coming back. Eric and Mike Seek paired off for about a 45 minute simulated race, man those guys are fast and smooth. The rest of us continued with skills for a few more minutes. Mike was very helpful explaining the finer points of mounting, dismounting, and clipping in and out to Jonell who will be doing her first cross season this year. For the grand finale we decided to ride a course so everyone would know which way to go and do a few hot laps before we packed it in. We were held up by an elderly man who couldn't understand why we just didn't jump the barriers on the bikes. He said he had a '59 Schwinn Panther with balloon tires that he could jump them with, and he was taking bets to do it. Anyway, man when we started it was like all thought went to the back of my mind and experience kicked in. Mike and I sprinted off the line first. I clipped in first try and started hammering. Rode two really fast laps. That charged me up I feel that cross excitement really kicking in , I'm ready to race. Like Eric said "this is to much fun" thanks for getting the ball rolling Mike. Cross season is here, baaaabeeee!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Roze Lint: Ronde Van Hellingen

We rode the 50 mile ride for the Pink Ribbon ride, which is coming up at the end of the month. I thought that this would be a pretty easy ride, 50 miles, no mountains, and ladies along on the ride. Boy was I wrong! One rolling hill after the other, short steep ones, shallow long grades, one hill after the other, some with about 20 feet of downhill to recover before the next one. Plus, Jeff and I racing to the top of each one didn't make it any easier. 2 hours into the ride we were averaging 18 MPH. The temps were in the 60's and it was overcast perfect weather, CX weather, perfect for CX training.

Oh! and remember the ladies, four of the strongest fastest ladies I know! Janine, Jonell, Nicole, and Susi very strong riders. We were all especially proud of Nicole since she rode ten miles further than ever before. Since the ride was a group ride with no drop we always regrouped at intersections (once we all figured out were everyone was when one group took a wrong turn) and I still ended with a 17 mph average. This ride is so hilly it's great for building aerobic fitness not to mention very scenic. It has been renamed the "Ronde Van Hellingen" what a great ride.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Baldman Blues

I hate running. As I mentioned before I quit running after discovering the bike. Athletics were never important to me when I was in high school. My career on the cross country track team we brief and uneventful except for my 4th place in the 880 (yards), then I quit when I found a job.

Backpacking used to be my thing and that's what prompted the reintroduction to running. In between backpacking trips I would do absolutely nothing and as I got older, strapping on a 30lb pack and walking 25 miles became increasingly difficult. So, running was my way of staying somewhat fit for backpacking. The challenge that I enjoyed from backpacking was replaced with that of cycling and so I said to self " self you are never running again, ever".
That was until I discovered cyclo-cross. Never say never.

Running still sucks and I suck so bad at it I get passed by toddlers and little chihuahua dogs. Yesterday was the first official day of CX training (following my excellent plan from Andy Applegate) I only had to run 15:00 minuites. Felt like a forced march by General Sherman on the way to Atlanta. My feet felt like lead weights and I couldn't quit looking at my watch "Oh' god it's only been five minutes". It's amazing at how specialized the body becomes. I can ride 5 hours at a good 18 MPH average, but 15:00 of running puts me down for the count. As my day wore on I actually bonked at work! Couldn't get anything done I was so glad when it started raining and I new the Pack Ride would be canceled. When I got home I was so hungry I ate anything available till supper was ready. Then I just sat on the couch staring into space. All over a 15:00 run. Today is CX skills / mow Grandparents yard day, tomorrow I gotta run 20:00 that's five whole more minutes and ride 1:30. Like I was told by Cara McCauley "You gotta work on your limiters" whoa is me.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

I Can Feel It Comin'..........

Cross is in the air folks, it's getting so close I've lost all motivation for anything else. Got the State TT next week and I don't even want to do it, and I'm one of the few who likes TT's. Plus I'm actually thinking about running, me the guy who hated running and quit when he discovered the bike! My friend in the video expresses it so well, click play and let my friend Jone's show you how I feel.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Paybacks

Paybacks are supposed to be hell, and I guess that depends on how your read it. Levi Liephimer stormed to victory with a 1.11 gap over the rest including team mate George Hincapie whom everyone assumed was helpin' out a team mate for the win at last years USPRO, but he seemed a little disgruntled afterwards. I won't bore you with to many details you can read those on the web.

Greenville, SC is a perfect place for a bike race. The city center is well kept and you can tell that the city takes pride in it's main street. Tree lined, providing a green canopy high above to shade the citizens below, wide side walks with manicured shrubs along the way, and brick pavers on the road. Great place to watch a bike race. The format of the race made it great for spectators to mingle through the downtown area. After 3 four mile circuits of the city the crew went out for four 21 mile loops across Paris mountain, so every 45 minutes the race would speed through town and go back out again until the final 3 circuits of the city. It was great to sit at a table along the side walk eating my lunch and watch the field come coursing through the turns right past me on their way through town. The finish was a monster with a climb of about 500m and an average of about 10%.

This race had a special feel to it, kinda like a hometown race and one that will live my memory. I guess it had to do with it being and American race with American fans, an American city, and 114 American racers. It was very special when the national anthem was sang and to hear the hush come over the crowd and the cheers go up when it was finished. It's great to be an AmeriCAN. I hope the USPRO Championships come back to Greenville next year.

Unlike other sports American cycling fans are participants, and understand the sport from a whole different perspective than other sports. Ever go to a football game and look in the stands. What do you see? Big-un's, acres and acres of Big-un's all living vicariously through some guy whom they couldn't get within ten feet of and probably wouldn't give them the time of day. Go to a bike race and what do you see? 90% of the people there are lean, healthy and fit, and enjoying a sport that most participate in at some level, be it racing or recreational riding. And the racers will actually talk to you.

There are a lot of negatives associated with the sport at the highest level, but there is more good than bad. I think American cycling is the place where the image can be restored. Why do so many Euro's want race in the US for less money? Because the pressure to dope is not prevalent as is in Europe. That's not to say all American cyclists are pure. There is always some rat fink dirty scum back cheat willing to do anything to win, and they should all be thrown under the bus. I'll put faith in the sport and which is still something worthy of our support. Judging from my experience in Greenville, AMeriCAN cycling seems very strong and I have hope for the future.



PS: look where the arrows are pointing in the pic. You can see my bald head above my wife's. We made the big time.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

TTT with the Diesel and Kamos

Tuesday nights are fun. There is a large group of us who meet down at Lamar for a handicapped group ride. the "A" group consists of accomplished racers, and fast recreational riders and the "B" group consists of beginners, rec riders, and accomplished racers who aren't quite fast enough for the "A" group. Each group is usually subdivided into three smaller groups ,the last in each group being the fastest. In theory that should allow everyone to come together near the finish line on the second lap.

This Tuesday anyone who is interested in doing the State ITT and TTT should come with TT bike in hand if (you have one) ,and get used to riding the distance in the TT position.
If you've ever watched the TTT on TV during a pro race it is a very elegant thing to watch and I've always wanted to participate in a TTT. As much as everyone loves to time trial I figured it would be just Perry, Kingsley and me and so it was. We decided to roll out early before everyone else so as not to interfere with the groups of riders not doing the TT, so we rolled out about 5 minutes ahead of everyone. I was a little apprehensive about riding with Perry and Kingsley since they are light years ahead of me in fitness and have done a whole lot more racing than me. As we started off we agreed that we didn't want to race but just get used to riding the distance in the aero position and riding in a pace line on a squirrelly TT bike.

Rolling down 107 was smooth like butta', it's such a nice thing to ride with other skilled riders whose handling ability you are sure of. The first half mile or so we rode with about two feet between us and as we became more comfortable with the close proximity we tightened up the pace line and cruised along at 26-28 mph each taking about a 60 second pull and made the 90 deg turn off 107 without falling apart. I began to think "okay this isn't to bad" " if they don't crank it up I can stay with them". I did just that all along the river and up the first hill. Halfway up the second hill I flatted. I waved them on but the turned around and rode back down the hill to give me time to affect the repair.

After one of the fastest tube changes I've ever done, and just as I was putting my wheel back on. the first "A" group went flying by followed closely by the last (fast) group of "A"s and then my TTT Teamates. So, we jumped on the back of the group. I fully expected them to leave us but on the downhill grade and flat section before the next hill the areoness of the TT bike made it very easy to stay up. Starting up heartbreak (a hill about 1/4 mile long and 5-6% grade) I was sure that they would leave us. Ending up on the front of our TT group I got exited at the fact that we were staying with them ,and rode way harder than I should have and used a lot of cake riding at 19 mph. Almost to the top I pettered out. Perry waited on me and we got back on at the bottom of the descent and got sucked up the next hill from the draft of the group. Perry went to the front of the group and thinking that he was trying get me and Kingsley back in line I accelerated down the right side with Kinglsey following. Went straight to the front and started pulling down the long grade at 33 mph. The three of us were lined up again on the front. Starting up the long grade to the finish line I swung out, then Kingsley pulled and swung out, and then Perry "the Diesel" pulled through.
Perry must have forgotten that we were TT practicing because he immediately gapped me and as I struggled to stay on I red lined. Letting out an explicative I swung out, toasted in the wake of the "Animal".

As I recovered I gained some ground but stayed about 1/4 mile back of the group. I could see the white jersey of Perry on the front dragging everyone down 107. I eventually started passing riders left by the pace. I was still riding very fast 29-30 mph along the road off 107 but it still wasn't enough to catch back up. Riding the TT bikes as a team was great while it lasted, we were a very smooth unit and I was comfortable the whole time. unfortunatley I don't think I'm the man for the job at the State TTT. Time is taken on the third man across the line. I felt kinda bad afterwords but I have to remember I've only ridden 2000 miles this year and raced only once since February. Besides, cross season is fast approaching and that is what my focus is. I always amaze myself at how I can rationalize anything into sounding better. C'est La Vie.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Turtle Intervals

Rode 68 miles today, hadn't ridden that far in about two months. Starting at eight in the morning meant getting up at 6:30. I'm not used to 6:30. Arriving at the start in Kingsport I was surprised by the number of people waiting to ride. 14 of us total, most of whom I've never ridden with before. I'm always a little nervous about riding with people I don't know, not because I can't hang on if need be, but what are their bike handling skills like. I hate to ride in a squirrelly group of riders.

The sky was not looking to inviting, dark, low clouds, with the rumble of thunder nearby. There was a small discussion about waiting it out, but most seemed ready to ride me being one of those. About 5 miles into the ride, just past the last building offering any refuge, the clouds dropped a load on us for about an hour. I didn't really mind though, I was thinking about the cross race I did in January in a downpour and 40 degrees, this wasn't so bad. Eventually the rain stopped and we moved along at a pretty good clip following a valley road on the way to Rogersville. As we started up a rise in the road I noticed a small lump in the road which turned out to be a Box Turtle. I really hate to see dead animals on the road, but there isn't much you can do to help a possum across the road but it's pretty easy to help a turtle out. "Helpin' a turtle out" means gettin' dropped by the group. Fortunately, things weren't rolling along at too fast a pace and I was sure I could get back. Which I did by riding an interval of about 3 minutes. I was almost back to the group when someone else decided to follow my example and "help a turtle out" I kept going and got back to the group.

Riding on a cool day as a result of the rain t
here is not a lot of sweating going on, but I still drink to keep the energy stores topped off. For me the this resulted in the Pee Interval. Rather than slow the group down I decided to ride off the front and get a big enough time interval to take care of bidness and then reintegrate the group. So, I told my buddy Jeff what the deal was and road off the front. I was hammering along and took a look back to see how I was doing and saw Mike Patterson trying to cross to me. He had covered about half the distance when I thought man he really must have to go. Finally finding a suitable side road I swung off, then I heard Mike yell "oh, sorry I thought you were going for a harder workout".

Once we neared Rogersville we had a pretty good hill to climb which broke the group up a bit and on the other side I found another turtle. This sucker was flat and fast, but I got him across the road. I think it was a baby snapper, maybe? Anyway Turtle Interval II commenced and I had to ride harder to get back than before. We were going slightly downhill, but I caught up as we started up a pretty good climb. When I got back one of the guys asked me if I "had seen the other two?" Crap how'd I miss two turtles? he said "no" with a good natured look of you idot on his face and said "no the two riders". I didn't realize there were two back so I suggested we pull off at the first opportunity and thought It was communicated up the group. Somebody didn't get the memo because we got all strung out on the climb and mixed in with a bunch of church traffic. Mike and I just hammered the climb to the top passing everyone till we reached the top and finally found a place to pull off where we finally got the band back together.

"A kind word turneth away wrath" or makes a redneck talk to you when he just called you a dumb ass under his breath. At the Rogersville pit stop a guy gets out of his car near me with his nascar hat on, makes the remark thinking I didn't hear him. That angered me. So, since the sun had came out and it had turned into a beautiful day I asked him just that. "Beautiful day isn't it" "yeah" he answered with a scowl. "Did you enjoy the race last night" with hint of sarcasm, "yeah pretty much" wouldn't even look me in the face. What is it about bikes and spandex that angers redneckeus east tennesseeus? They really don't know how to act when you speak to them and the realize you are a person going down the road.

After the pit stops we headed back to Kingport on road surface that looked like something from a disaster movie. As I topped another hill, low and behold I saw another turtle in the road ( why do they always seem to be in the middle of the road?) I swung off toward the center line to pick up my turtle when I looked up and saw Mike barreling down on me. All the sudden he clamped down on the brakes slides the bike sideways towards me with the "oh ****" look on his face. I braced for impact. He came to a complete stop in the locked and upright position, parallel to me about a foot way. Mr. Turtle was right in between us, blissfully unaware of the sitution above him. I wasn't sure if Mike was rushing to my aid, or was practicing sliding through a turn? Great bike handling Mike.

Not long after that we came onto some flat roads and got the train rolling, we covered a lot of ground pretty quickly, as we topped a hill near Yuma I sat up to wait on Mike who had dropped a chain. We started off the hill whippin it good when I made a left turn fast and out of the corner of my eye I saw a stop sign. Blew right through it at about 30 miles an hour. That was a pretty scary, couldn't see the sign for the all the tree limbs and weeds. I'm glad a car was coming down the road. I always try and stop at red lights and stop signs as we should since we are subject to all the same rules of the road as other road vehicles. I certainly wouldn't wittingly blow through an intersection.

On the way back on Carter's Valley road I was in the front thinking I new where I was going. coming down the hill I sensed that I needed to turn and looked back and saw someone giving the right turn signal. When I turned around I was about 30 feet from the turn and going about 25 MPH. No time to signal, tapped the brakes leaned steep into the corner and dove into the turn. I pulled that one out of my rear end. Couldn't believe I made the turn and stayed up. Quickly looking back I saw the ensuing chaos of the no signal, quick turn, folks spread across the road and some completely missing the turn. Don't let the guy who thinks he knows where he is going on the front. doh!

When I realized that I was only about five miles from the barn, I was ready to get this thing put to bed, so Jeff and I hammered the last few miles back in. Had a great ride with a good solid group of riders, plus it was made more interesting "by helpin a turtle out"

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Where No Cross Bike Has Gone Before.......Pt.2 The Benchmark

Well, someone else has probably ridden a cross bike at Bay's Mountain Park before, but it was the first time for the ole' baldman steed. Jeff and I arrived at about 1:00pm in the heat of the day. Tame deer are running around like dogs up there. They just walk right up to you and possibly out in front of you. Hope none of them wonder of Bay's they'll get nailed by a hunter real quick. I digress, It was freakin hot! In the nineties again as we started down the road and up th Azalea Trail. Very dry, and sandy but climbed pretty fast up to the road. The heat even permeated the woods.

Once we reached the road I was thinking about the last time I rode here which had to have been five years ago. It's unbelievable how one doesn't realize how much they have changed over a period of time till there is a bench mark. When I last rode here I was on a mountain bike with a 30x32 granny gear(I can eat a pizza of that rear cog), this time I road my Bianchi CX bike wit a 36x26 low gear. Riding up hills on my CX bike that I couldn't ride on the MTB was very gratifying for me. Descending skills have really improved as well. I've always been a good descender on the road but at the bottom of a MTB descent I used to have to pry my white knuckled fingers off the bars. Riding the rollers on Bays which is loose rock gravel, bigger rocks and sand I felt confident not terrified as before. The last descent on the north of the rim around Bay's is very rocky and rutted in places, again not a place one would think of riding a cross bike, but I descended it faster than ever before and without walking. All these things combined bode well for CX season. We only rode for about an hour, but I felt very good about how I'm riding. Hopefully, with the start of cross specific training next month I'll be a bald cross machine in October. Also,when October rolls around I'll have more cross specific stuff to write about. I never realized how much fun it is to talk about oneself. Stroke the ego. I guess that's part of what a blog is about. Isn't it?

Friday, August 24, 2007

Andy and Cara, still at Worlds


Here is a pic from Cara's Picasa site of Andy rolling down the start ramp at the begining of his run for an 11th place finish, which was 31 second's faster than last year. I think TCRC needs a ramp like that for our TT's. Read more posts from Cara here.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Glenn makes it to Brest!

Looks like Glenn Himstedt is plugging along, he's made it to the turnaround point in Brest. Keep riding strong Glenn.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

News from across the pond.

My friend Glenn Himstedt is currently participating in the 1200km (750 Miles) Paris-Brest-Paris ride in France. He's been training for this about 5 years now and all that hard work had come to fruition. In case you don't know, PBP is held every four years and is a distance endurance ride. Each rider has to qualify in rides called Brevets of lengths from 200k-600k and complete them in the required time in order to gain selection into PBP. PBP riders have 90 hours to complete the ride. If you would like to track Glenn's progress go here and enter his rider plate number which is 4808. As of 8:56 French time he was at checkpoint Villaines.

In other news MSG sponsors Andy Applegate and Cara McCauly are in Germany competing in the World Road Championships. Cara has already racked up an 18th place finish and has one a huge silver cup to show for it. She is posting to her blog here, so go and see how they are doing. Probably more interesting reading than anything I could write. To see pics like the one to right of Cara in leopard skin arm warmers go here.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Mountain! I dont need no stinking mountain!

Okay, a few posts ago I said I was through riding in the mountains this year. Of course when you live in upper East Tenn they're kinda hard to get away from. Today was supposed to be a flat to rolling sort of ride, but as we met at the starting point the other stronger guys were meeting there too and wanted us to ride with them over to Iron Mountain. I didn't want to go but reluctantly agreed.

Boy did things start to heat up about seven miles into the ride when the pace started to quicken. In the words of my buddy Bart "somebody started handing out some fresh one's" long and short of it I shot out the back like an exploding pustule. Three of us regrouped at the back and turned up Sciota Road. I was determined to get to the mountain I didn't want climb before the faster guys who went a hillier route. So I hammered (well it was hammering for me) down Sciota and up 107 to the base of Iron where Bart took over the pace making up the climb. The three of us rode at a steady pace wondering if we were ahead or not. At every turn I expected to see the other guys come screaming past us on their way down. Well, turns out we did get in front of them. Brad Price went flying by me about half a mile from the top followed by Jay Westbrook and Mike Stewart.

After regrouping at the top we did what I love best about mountains, descend. That's about the only thing I can do well enough to stay up with the faster guys. We went down the climb like a Peregrine falling from the sky onto it's unwitting prey. Going down fast, FUN. Regrouping again at the bottom, the screws started turning down HWY 107 (33MPH) somebody started handing out fresh ones and things blew up. I found myself and two buds Mike and Bart off the back again. Just as well they turned up Sciota and we went down the old Erwin Highway back to JC and arrived a few minutes ahead of the other guys. They are very strong.

It was a good ride , rode a little harder than I wanted. Bring on cyclo-cross, I don't need no more stinking mountains!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

What the...........!


Can you believe this contraption? Looks' like something out of a bad SciFi movie. I got this from the free About.Com Bicycling newsletter:

The operator of a Hyperbike uses a total-body climbing, swim-like motion to propel the Hyperbike, while balancing as if on a unicycle. The driver twists his torso, contracts the stomach and back muscles, and alternately extends the arms up and down as in a foot pedal motion, while coordinating with the legs to get the best push and pull from the lower pedals.

I'd like to try and control this thing coming of "Bald Mountain"Neyaaaahh!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Where No Cross Bike Has Gone Before.......


O'kay, I know yesterday I said that I was through riding in the mountains. Wrong, I meant on the road bike. My fellow CX'er, Mike Seek posted a ride on the message board for Sunday morning consisting of some fire roads he was interested in. Sounded like a good idea since I've ridden on the road since April. Might be nice to get out in the woods....

Evidently, Mike and me are the only ones who thought a three hour tour of mountain fire roads was a good idea since we were the only two who showed. My legs really weren't happy about climbing a steep rock strewn hill at 8:00 in the morning, still upset about hammerfest from yesterday morning. Seems like it took a long time before they were spinning somewhat comfortably ( could be old age ). The road wasn't to bad over the first three miles or so, rocky in places up to tater sized rocks, but as we started to climb in earnest things began to change.

Rounding a 180 bend in the road I wondered who put the creek bed where the road was supposed to be. No way were riding that It would have been tuff with MTB gearing. Baby head rocks sticks, ruts, ... the cyclists anathema walking became our only choice. After a nice 50 yard slog things leveled out. Consulting the map we began to realize that we missed our turn about two miles back down the road. Undeterred we decided to continue on up the "road" walking another 25 yards. We where rewarded for our persistence with a dark shady forest with pine needles, grass, and fewer rocks for a road surface. It was a blast flying down the road bouncing and skittering along. Descending on essentially a road bike with knobby tires on this kind of surface is a little on the edge, amazing what a CX bike is capable of. Got a little squirrelly when we crossed some water running across the road stayed up though. Just when I got into the descending zone we dead ended on the edge of a gorge. Not yet having our fill of adventure we rode a side road that got extremely steep and rocky as we went down. I wasn't really exited about the direction things were going, straight down, in the opposite direction of my car, so we pulled the plug before things got to crazy and headed back down the mountain.

With all the descending getting back was a lot quicker than going out and just as tiring. It was a real strech of bike handling skill to get down the creek bed section unscathed. Mike flatted half way down. I'm amazed that we didn't have more. The descending was so technical my calves and hands began to hurt from riding out of the saddle and feathering the brakes for a good hour. Finally the descending was over and we stopped to observe a burned out rusted Subaru suspended in some trees. How does that happen? Just a little more climbing and the final decent to pavement. I flatted 100 yards from the pavement, front wheel, flying down the road had to struggle to stay in control on the rocks and stop without crashing.

Two flats down, 15 miles of difficult riding, 2098' of climbing, and three hours later we finally returned to the Cheoa parking lot unscathed. Great ride, proud of our bike handling skills on terrain better suited to a MTB and how well a CX bike rides in MTB country. When I got home I didn't even make it to the shower. Fell flat on my face for a two hour nap.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Goat's be gone

Had a great ride this morning. Funny how many people show up when there are no 6 mile climbs in the mountains involved? Had about 17 guys. It was a little sad to see that the goat farm was gone about half way through the ride. It was the "Goat Farm Ride" after all, and I was all ready to strap on my goat dance leggings and do the goat dance. Little hot for those though and I didn't want to be the only one with a pair. Starting at eight in the morning cut down the heat but the pace hotted up after we crossed Susong Hill " this ain't a race boys!". Seemed wierd to be riding so fast instead of grinding up a mountain. I think I'm done with mountains for this year, built plenty of power and endurance, now it's time to work on speed leading up to CX in October. I just had second breakfast: bacon, biscuts w/butter & jam and coffee w/milk. Ain't being a cyclist great. Nap time.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Surface of the sun

Man it's hot! Me and my buddy Larry road today at high noon. 96deg (100 heat index), 90% humidity. The air was so heavy and hot it was hard to breath. Like breathing in the air from an oven when you open it to get out your pizza. We actually rode a cool, tree covered road up a mountain to get cool. I can't wait for fall and the cool cross weather. I used to hate the thought of winter coming, but since I've discovered cross I actually look forward to that wet, cold, muddy CX Saturday. Days like today make me look even more forward to MSG Cross. I've got to do a lot of prep work to be ready to keep from being last.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Why do people do this?

I've looked at several blogs over the past couple of years and I'm not real sure why people do them. What I have read on other peoples blogs is usually interesting and witty though. I am primarily doing a blog to talk about cycling and in particular MSG CX.

I'm sorry about the huge picture of me but every time I re size it it screws up the title font. Don't know enough about it to make work. This picture of me is my favorite taken by my
son who is an excellent photographer but has quit cold turkey. I like it because it shows me doing what I like best: going downhill, through turns, fast, on a cross bike. Look at the intensity in my eyes, that's CX.