The first week of 2012 has seen me riding at least one hour every day. I am going to try and keep this up for at least the entire month of January.

Went to Salisbury, NC for the next NC Cyclocross race. I was still working my way back up to speed, but felt good.The course was a blast and the weather was good. I had no problems and was able to ride hard, but didn't come home with the results that I was expecting. 38th for the day.

Ouch

Great ride with my wife at Bent Creek at the beginning of this week. Unfortunately she took a little spill, needs a few days off of the bike.

Bent Creek

Bent Creek

Bent Creek

Bent Creek

9 hours in Conyers

Last weekend was the 9 hour race at Conyers. I felt good when the day started, but I still have yet to adjust to the 9 hour format. The course was superb and the weather was good. Brought home a 6th place for the day.

Endurance Series Finale

Chainbuster Finale
This past weekend was the finale for the Chainbuster Endurance Series. The race was held at Jackrabbit recreational area in Hayesville, NC.

The weekend began Friday evening as my road teammate Adam and I went over to set up. We arrived at the venue and made some small talk with other racers and Kenny, the promoter. We set up the tent and hopped back in the car to get a good night’s rest back in Franklin at my friend’s house. We arrived at Pam and Dave’s house and had some awesome homemade Lasagna and some brownies for dessert (Adam liked them). They had an entire room ready for us, and made a pre-race stay away from home as good as it can get (thank you so much).

Adam and I both got up early and got ready, Pam made us some turnovers for breakfast and some homemade mochas. We headed toward the venue and arrived around 8:30 where my mom (pit crew) and Erica were waiting on us. We unloaded the rest of our stuff and started with the whole pre-race routine (getting numbers, getting changed, warm up, etc.)

The weather was a little cool at the start but not too bad. The race had a .5 mile start on the pavement to try and open things up before the start, so we started like a crit, yay! There were the usual bottlenecks when we first got to the singletrack, but things kept moving. I stayed steady m first two laps and felt good. I had it in my head that I had to finish no worse that 4 spots behind 4th in the overall to keep my podium spot. I was calm about that though because this course would favor me and I hadn’t had to worry about finishing that far back too much all year. But on lap 3, it all started coming apart. As I was cruising around for another lap, I went to pass another rider and destroyed my entire drivetrain. I stood on the pedals and busted my big chainring, I couldn’t believe it, I shifted into the small ring to keep rolling, but now the chain and cassette decided to not work, WHAT ARE YOU KIDDING? I limped in on the bike for the last 3 miles and grabbed my single speed to just try and hold on for the rest of the race. Now, I was starting to panic. I had fallen to last somewhere between laps 3 and 5 and felt my overall slipping away. I then learned that 4th in the overall (Robi) had moved up to 2nd. Now, I was really panicking. I knew that on a single speed on this course I would be losing time every lap to the leaders, but I didn’t care about that, I was cheering for Adam more than anyone else (if he held first I would be safe, even if I didn’t move up). I pedaled the next few hours until my knees felt like they were going to pop; I needed to just spin for 1 lap, but with a ss that wasn’t possible. Darkness came and so did the countdown to the end. I was back up into 5th, but still did not feel safe at all. Somehow my chain managed to work its way off (REALLY, ON A SINGLESPEED, COME ON, GIVE ME A BREAK), and I was feeling like my spirit was getting beat up every time I thought things might go my way for just a minute. I rode my last 2 laps with all that I had left and looked forward to just finishing up. I saw the last mile marker and a big feeling of relief came over me, then I was upside down rolling down the trail, of course that had to happen today with less than a ¼ mile to go, I had to be bloody to finish off this race. (Did I mention that during the race that I was stung on my forehead and my right eye wanted to swell shut?)
Somehow I held on to 5th and Adam won in dominating fashion, which kept me securely in 3rd for the overall. It made the whole day worth, even though I didn’t think that I would survive the race, much less be able to worry about position.


It has been a great year and I want to thank;

My wife Lindsay
Mom and Dad for their part time pit support
Pam and Dave
My Velosports team mates
Chumba
American Classic
Kenda
Race Face
Crank Brothers
First Endurance
Honey Stinger
ESI Grips
Rudy Project
661
Albabici (Selle SMP)
Hayes / Manitou

Chumba takes 3rd at 12 Hours at Conyers

This past weekend was the 12 hour race at Conyers, GA. The race was the 3rd race in the Chainbuster racing series.

The weather was going to be extremely hot and humid, making it a day for survival. I got down there with my wife ( #1 pit crew) and my friend and teammate John and his wife Ashley. The temp was in the 80s at 10 pm Friday with high humidity, this got me really thinking about the temps when the sun would be out tomorrow.

We got up Sat morning and had a great breakfast and started loading up with the ice. We made our way to the race, saw Adam and Dave on the way, and got there in time to get a good spot in the shade away from the crowd ( for the dog). Registration was fast and I was being uptight about everything being perfect on my bike. The heat was firing up already, and I was starting on my hydration heavy already with my EFS. The top 3 racers in each category got call ups, this let me start up front for our parade lap.

Started with the front guys, but got pinched out by an abrupt change to the trail, losr about 30 places immediately, but it made no difference. I rode a steady first lap not worrying about other riders, I had a plan for the day to ride for 6 hours and race for the last 6 because of the heat. I felt good, but hot. The 1000 ft of climbing in the 7.5 mile lap was going to be a test by the end of the day. I stayed steady for the next few laps just making minor adjustments to the air pressure in my tires and fork on my bike, while drinking all I could and putting ice in my helmet to stay as cool as I could through the first part of the day. At the first placing check that I got, I was 10 out of 12, ugh! I kept my pace, then felt some rain move in, yes! It rained for 5 min and just raised the humidity, ugh. I kept steady until the 6 hour riders started finishing, then I started to feel pretty good. First and second put a lap on me already and I could see 3rd coming. I decided it was time to lift the pace, I put in a hard lap, the the lightning, thunder, and rain came right as I finished my lap. My wife decided I should wait for the storm to lighten a bit before I went back out, as soon as it did, I left. I was stopped and told the race was neutralized, so I went back to the pits. Meanwhile, everyone that was out was making up time on me. I took off as soon as they let me go, now Adam was on my wheel after getting 15 min or so back becuase of the rain. I got a little frustrated because the time gaps were all closed on me, because I just happened to come in at the wrong time. Adam got by me and we rode together. I was feeling really good and decided that I had to go. I lifted the pace and got back by. I put in a 3 hour charge to see what I could do. I found out this put me all the way up to 5th! The effort drained me, but I stayed out of the red and knew that I had enough to finish the last few hours of the race.

My wife and friends were motivating me every lap, so were all of the "GO CHUMBA" screams I got every lap from neutral support and many of the campsites along the trail. I kept pedaling steady, trying to keep enough energy to finish, and to possibly put in attack if needed. I came through after about 9 hours and saw Adam sitting down. This meant that I had made up my lap on him and moved up one spot. This added a little more motivation. I rolled out another steady lap on the Chumba, and came through tho find out that the other guy in front of me quit, now I was in 3rd, sweet! One more time around I went, and got stopped by the scoring table to check on my position, I had just been lapped again by first and second, so I knew exactly where I was. I also found out that Adam found the strength to go out again from some other racers (thanks guys). So I got some fresh EFS and rolled out again. My rear tire started sliding but looked ok, also the fog was rolling in, so the dark spots in the woods were hard to light up for any type of distance, oh well, I wasn't setting the trail on fire at this point anyway. I came across the line at 9:03, and learned that everyone behind me had shut it down. I could relax because was not going to be able to reel in the top 2 today.

I found out later that the lightning had fried the timing chip system, that is why we had to make sure we were all in the correct places. The promoter did a great job with a very trying day, and my pit crew (Lindsay, John, and Ashley) were awesome. It was a super tough day, but all worth it to get on the podium!

12 Hours of Tsali

This past weekend was the 12 hours of Tsali. I was originally going to do this as a team, and do an xc race on Sunday. But, I was talked into only racing on Saturday by my lovely wife, so I decided to do it solo.
On the way to the race, it poured. John and I looked at each other and just laughed, it was going to be a soggy day. We got there early, had a great pit spot, and had time to get ready. I was calm at the start, but still just wanted to get the first lap over with. My run went great, and I was able to take a pretty easy pace up the 3 mile road to the trailhead. My first lap was smooth and I felt great. That didn't take long to change though, on lap 3 the temp soared and starting sucking out my energy as fast as I could make it. I slowed way down and waited for my body to turn it around. After 3 more hours I started feeling better and the temp started cooling, by this time I started to see other racers in street clothes, they were done. This gave me some motivation to keep going strong, this lasted until about 8 hrs into the race, then I was empty. I crept along and just tried to survive. I made it back and decided that was all I had ( I had trouble getting out of the chair).

All in all I had a great day, 0 mechanicals, 0 crashes, 0 cramps. I just didn't have anything for the podium guys today, but I finished 5th. Best time I have had at a race at Tsali in a long time.

Tsali

This past weekend was the Tsali xc race. It was on the national calendar and would probably be the biggest race in the Southeast. I was excited and ready for the race, the weather was perfect, I had support there (mom, Pam, Dave, Phil, Karen, etc.) and Clayton from American Classic was there to demo some wheels.

The start was a few minutes late, but no big deal. I had almost zero nerves for the start, I was totally calm. I was looking forward to the new route and dry conditions. There were 25 people in my class adding to the hype of the race.

We started up the road and people were sprinting like it was a 1 mile race. I let them go knowing that I knew the trail, where to catch up, where to pass, and where I could recover (if ever at Tsali). We hit the singletrack and ran into a small bottleneck meaning some of the guys sprinted for no reason. I let one of the guys that I usually race with know that I knew the trail and I would take him with me, he let me go by and I hit the gas. I caught 3 more guys within 1/2 mile, 1 looked like he already popped (shouldn't have sprinted). I could see the next 5 guys and it was on. I was keeping a steady but fast pace and was closing the gap to the next rider, on the first hill I closed half the distance and on the next little one I nailed the gap shut, I knew where I could go around, so I followed the guys downhill.

When I got to the bottom, I saw a puddle. I was going too fast to try and go around, so I tried to bunny hop it, bad mistake. It was deeper than I thought and I cased the backside of it. My handlebars snapped and I was on the ground. My day was done. I walked back to the start and tried think of the positives, but was truly disappointed. Super fast and nothing to show for it, except 30 or so scabs, 4 giant bruises and a broken bar. It was an awesome 2.5 miles though.

12 Hours of Santos

12 Hours of Santos 2/20/2010

I made my annual trip down to Santos again this year. The trip this year provided some perfect weather to finally get some good riding and a chance to really get some good miles on my new Chumba. I didn’t have the geared on finished yet, but since the geometry is exactly the same for both bikes, I looked forward to riding the single speed down there.

My wife and dad came down for support again, and this year I was doing a team event with some friends of mine, Pam and Dave Forshee. We got to Santos early in the afternoon on Friday, we had plenty of time to set up and get in a lap or 2 of test riding. The weather was perfect (around 70 degrees) and the course was nice and dry. The test lap went great, it seemed easier this year than it did last year, and felt really good on the new bike. I was running a 32 x 16 and actually considered putting a 15 on the back, but decided to wait and see. Pam had a little difficulty with the really technical sections, but did great on the course.



On Saturday I was a little late getting to the race because the GPS wanted to take us on a sightseeing route from the camper. Pam decided that she wanted to do the run and the first lap, which worked out well for me too. She took off in the middle of the mob and held position on her lap. I took the next 2 laps and I wanted to see what I had at this point. The first 2 miles or so are very technical and did not give me a lot of room to pass riders, so I took what I could until the trail opened up. When I got to the open section, I got to a pace that I could keep for a few hours if I needed to, but could still gain time. I passed my wife, taking pictures, about 5 miles in and let her know that I had passed 29 people so far (it turned into a game for me). I was spinning like crazy on a couple of really open spots on the course to keep my speed up, the bike was perfectly stable and stuck to the pine needles and sand like glue letting me keep all of my momentum with almost no drifting. I was having a blast!


Dave went next, the Pam again, and I knocked out 2 more laps. When I came in to hand off to Dave, Pam let me know that she was done for the day and Dave would only be doing one more. I was okay with that, we decided before we got there to do it for fun and do as much as we wanted too. I was just hoping I had enough left for the last 5 + hours. I got in one more lap before the night laps and could tell that I was already a little slower, but I still felt good. I put on lights and had a good first night lap and I was stoked that it was still warm enough to ride in shorts. On my next lap, I started to feel cramps on the really steep stuff, but tried to take it as easy as I could on a ss in those areas. I got to the flats and just kept it smooth, some of the faster geared guys started getting around me now, but gave me a good update on my pace. When I got to the last part of the course, which is also very technical all muscle strength had disappeared. I piled it up on the first really steep section and offered some skin to the trail as a sacrifice, then scraped a tree really hard on the way back down and gave up a little more skin. After my 4th time of testing the firmness on the ground I decided to pull in to the pits and call it a good day. The race got me really motivated for the rest of the season!! The new bike was awesome on both the really technical and really flat stuff.

First Race

I got to hit the starting line for the first time in 2010. I would be trying a double today at the short track races. I would be racing the single speed and pro/expert categories. I knew the day was going to hurt, because getting any real riding this winter has been tough and gym miles only get you so far.

Last year I had trouble with my top end speed, but could ride forever. So, I wanted to see what I had right now. I went hard off the start and led through the first turn, I checked my sides after that and saw that I was clear, this let me take the hole shot into the woods. I kept the gas on because I could hear at least one rider on my wheel. I kept the gas on through the woods and up the hill to the clearing, I heard one of the guys say that we had a gap, but I couldn't believe how big it was until I turned around. There were 3 of us with nobody in sight already. I fell back some on the easy part of the hill, but really struggled when all of the muddy gravel and hard dirt was replaced with grass and super soft mud. I had on dry condition tires and slipped all the way back to the start finish line. I lost about 10 spots in that little section. I also felt a little winded after such a hard start but I felt that I could recover. My pace slowed on lap 2, but got faster on every lap after that. I just kept losing time on the soft/slick spots. I looked for the rockiest lines I could find to try and keep traction and power, but could't get what I needed.

The race hurt, but I felt good with the speed that I could produce. The Chumba was amazing through the muddy bumpy singletrack and helped me to make up time in the woods. I felt good considering that this was my first opportunity of the year to really try and kill it.

I pulled out of the pro/ex race to save the Orbea (to be sold) and because my legs were starting to get toasted from climing in the mud. Good times!

Here is a link to the pictures: www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30598667&id=1083131804#/album.php?aid=2050392&id=1316798690

First Rides

The first couple of rides on the new bike have been good and bad. The bike feels spectacular and I do like showing it off, but the snow is deep and crusty, which makes it almost impossible to flex the muscles of the new ride. There are also tons of trees that are either down or sagging that it looks like some of the singletrack rides will be on hold for a while.

Chumba

New Chumba

Woops

I can't believe I haven't edited this since May.

French Broad River Festival

I felt goo up th e climb (if you can). The small guy passed me, which gave me someone to pace off of to the top. It worried me a little, since I didn't know the course or the rider. I kept him within 15 seconds of me, and when we hit the gravel road, I chipped of second after second. We hit the first downhill and even though I almost completely blew the first turn, I caught the guy in about 1 minute. I got around him and hit the gas for the first of 3 laps on the singletrack/doubletrack loop. The top single speed guy caught me at the end of the first lap, so we rode together and talked, keeping a descent steady pace. He got around the gate a little faster than I did, so I stayed a few seconds behind him on lap 2. He stopped after lap 2 at the tent ( Iguess he had SS rapped up) so I chilled on lap 3, to save gas for an attack if I needed it and some gas for Sun(which I ended up bailing on because of the rain), plus the loop was getting a little soft because of the rain. He decided to do a 3rd lap also, so he caught me towards the end of the lap. we rode together again, and when we got to the gate he attacked. Since I felt like I had 1st overall wrapped up, I decided that maybe I should finish first overall. I hit the gas on the last part of the loop. I couldn't make up any time going down the gravel road because it was all coasting and gears gave me no advantage. When we hit the pavement I sprinted to the top of the hill to get speed for the way down. SS gut had about 800 yards on me at this point. I pedaled as fast as I could to hit 41 mph. I coasted as long as I could until I got down to 33 mph, then I sprinted again. The gap was closing slowly and I kept hoping a car would pass to give me a draft, but it never happened. The road finally started flattening out, and I pulled right up on his wheel, we immediately turned into the campgound and had to dodge people a 4 wheeler and some cars, but I shifted up and blew by him to cross first. I then got to see Jess come across as the next racer to take the tops spots in the Hardcore race for Velosports. Next year we will know to stay so we can get on stage if we repeat.

Grind on the Greenway

This past Saturday was the 6 hour Grind on the Greenway in Fort Mill, SC. There were heavy rains the day before, but Saturday was looking good. I got to the race about an hour and a half before start. I had time to get set-up, checked in, and cut up with Andy and Stephen. Just before the race I noticed I had almost no back brakes left. Oh well, I guess I will have to not use them. The race started off at 11:00, with a perfect temperature on a sunny day. I decided to not worry too much about the start, most of the field was solo, and there was a a pretty good distance before we had to funnel into the single track. I started well, and worked through traffic nicely on the first lap, with the exception of the guy with two headphones in (loser). I started lap 2 feeling great and just wanted to keep a consistent pace, I kept working my way through the field. I wasn't paying too much attention to numbers at this point, I had 4+ hours to go, so I just rode. I took a short break after 2 hours for a bite of a sandwich and wet lube for the bike. The trail was not too bad, mostly dry, with the mud only in sharp turns, technical sections and the bottom of climbs (how does that happen? haha). I was staying at my pace and trying to find people to ride with. I felt good until 3:40 in (yes, I looked at the clock). I was hoping that I wasn't crashing (internally), so when I came back around I downed the rest of my First Endurance EFS and some COLD water. I also changed clothes, this seemed to work I was ready to go for lap 5, my wife (and pit crew that did a perfect job for the race today) let me know I was in 6th. I started paying attention to numbers, but that wasn't helping because I was lapping other riders in my field. I got on the gas with all that I had left for my last lap hoping I would move up. When I looked at the results , I had pulled in 7th out of 25 ( I know I passed #768 on the last lap). I was happy with the result and felt good with my performance.

Next week, Columbia!!

Uwharrie

This past weekend was XC race #2 in the Southern Classic Series. The race was in Uwharrie National Forest. There had been 4 days of rain to the race, but I figured the course would drain. I was wrong. I left my dry conditions tires on and was about to get an education in drifting.

The weather was great for race day. But, as soon as we took off, the mud was everywhere. The front group started off all together with just enough room to let the mud spray between riders. Two guys were off the back at the start. I knew this was going to be a hard day when I realized I was working harder and going about 10 mph slower than last year. The mud was negating all of my power and making me sit and spin up every climb. I settled into 6th place and rode for a while. One of the guys behind me at the start went by, but I didn't want to change my pace. I made up one spot and felt ok. I was hoping that my flat feeling that I had before the race. The leaders of the next class caught me and I tucked in behind on the road. The technical section was a welcome change on the second half of the course, with only a few bad spots. I finished the first lap and was hoping to feel stronger as the race went on.

On the second lap I was feeling ok. As I got closer to the top, conditions were getting worse on the trail. Climbs were getting slicker and small wet spots were getting stretched out. This was starting to take a toll on me. 7th place caught me on the small climbs on the back half of the course, I decided to stay on his wheel to pace and to try and get him to make a mistake. I stayed really close, this helped to take my mind off of the suffering and I could see he was having trouble in the technical/rocky sections. I rode his wheel as close as I could all the way to the bottom, he messed up and had to get of his bike. I went by and started to attack. I knew he was going to do all that he could to stay with me, so I kept it steady. We made it out to the second road section and he passed me back after a few minutes. I was getting really tired, so I just tried to keep sight of him.

I was trying to eat and drink as much as possible, this didn't help. When lap 3 started I was cooked. I knew I had to push through it. I kept going and hoped I could take 6th back on this lap. I was struggling up what had become a mostly mud course now. The mud was thicker and slicker for the last lap. I didn't see anyone for the first half of the lap. As I continued through the technical section, I saw 6th. He just flatted and had to make a quick stop. I rode by and checked on him. He was ok, so I pushed on. I wanted to to the technical sections as fast as possible to keep distance for the last road section. I was alone until the last mile when I thought I heard a bike, I climbed with all that I had and sprinted to the finish. I must have been imagining things because no other riders came in for about 6 minutes. I was happy to be done for today. Now I can spend all week cleaning up!

12 Hours of Santos

This past weekend, I decided to go down to Ocala Fl and ride the 12 hours of Santos and spend some time with my wife and parents. I would be racing in the 6 hour solo open class.

On Saturday, race day, I arrived at the venue in plenty of time to get set-up and warm up, no stress. My parents showed up as I was putting my bike in the staging area, giving us some photo time. At this point, I had no idea that there were 97 total 6 hour riders, 76 in my class! I went to the start line to join the mob to do the "LeMans" start. We were not doing the technical part on the first lap, I figured that would let me take it a little easier on the start. I WAS WRONG! It was the biggest log jam I have ever seen in an endurance race, we weren't just off of the bikes, we were standing still! I knew this was going to cost me massive amounts of time, so I settled into a very up-tempo rhythm, but nothing too hard. I was catching people groups at a time, with the slow guy on the front of each group being dumb about letting people go, I mean come on, we have at least 6 hours more of this, 5 seconds to let some of us go is not going to hurt your position. Anyway, I passed about 50 people on the first lap, through the middle (easy) section, but I stayed with my group through the technical section at the end of the lap.

As I started lap 2 I was feeling good, but I hadn't figured out the technical sections at the beginning and end of each lap, this let a few guys close on me, and some got around me. I was patient and did not worry, I caught them on the middle section, put some time into them and made up some more spots. This went on for almost 4 laps.

This is where it went a little south, I didn't eat like I was supposed to (got too cocky) I started feeling week, even though my legs felt good. My right thumb was getting raw from not wearing full finger gloves and having to move my hand so much. I stopped in the pits to get taped up and eat a bite (too late). My wife did a great tape job, but unfortunately, it stiffened my thumb and caused my hands to cramp from having to white knuckle the grips with my four fingers. I finally couldn't take it any more and decided bleeding thumbs would be better than cramps. Now I had glue from the tape on my right grip!!! This made my thumb stick to the grip and very difficult to shift. (come on!!) I went back to the pits and put on some full finger gloves and tried to hold my spot. I lost 10 places on the end of my 4th lap and beginning of my 5th, but I didn't want to lose anymore. I never got back the energy to run those guys back down, but I didn't lose any more spots. I putted home with 7 laps and 25th out of 76 places.

I loved the course and felt good about my fitness for the race. I need to listen to my wife/pit crew, about eating, maybe I can nail down a top 10 next time.

Short Track Video

Short Track #4

This weekend was a good one. Not only am I finally starting to get some speed and move up, but I had a chance to race/talk with Jeremiah Bishop.

First for the race, The temp was 73 and sunny (perfect. I felt ok for the start, but got better as the race progressed. After lagging towards the back for the first few laps, I finally started to pass some guys in the field. I worked up to 11th looking for 10th and feeling good. As the race got closer and closer to the end, I realized that 10th was too far ahead and the 12th place rider was on my wheel (we were together for 25 min). I knew that he was saving some energy for the last lap and I was losing some snap with 2 to go, but we stayed together with one to go and I tried to attack before the last run of the singletrack. I didn't create enough of a gapand we were back together on the trail coming out of the singletrack. He attacked hard for the last 500m or so and I had nothing left to challenge, so I wound up in 12th, but felt awesome that I have started to get speed back. (peak is not until June) Also, I didn't break anything today.

Next for Jeremiah, it was awesome to line up with an elite for a race. Although I didn't see much of him during the race it was still pretty cool. After the race I had the chance to get some pictures with him and talk to him for a few minutes. What an awesome guy! He gave me some posters for our youth cycling program and some souvenirs to bring home. He took time out for everyone it seemed, telling us "this is my job, it is the best job in the world." Jeremiah turned out to have pr skills just as good as his riding skills (that's saying alot!) He was just as motivating to talk to as he was to ride with and he is a definite asset to our sport. It was hard to believe that someone that rides for a living could be so passionate about it. He truly is a class act and could probably recruit just about everyone on earth to ride mountain bikes if he spent about 5 minutes with them. He definitely gave me some more motivation. Thanks Jeremiah! I'll be pulling for you!

Pics from ST #4

Pics from ST #4

Pics from ST #4

Pics from St#4

Pics from ST#4

Ray Billings
Neal Boyd
Me coming up the short hill
Jeremiah and Robert racing it out.
Ray chugging along

Pics from ST#4

Pics ST #4

Pics from St#4