Dismal Dash

    I had to get up at 4:00am on Sunday morning, the 14th. To make it worse, it was the night of the time change, so I lost an extra hour of sleep. I gather my stuff and was off to pickup fellow teammate John Tardy. Three and a half hours later, we finally arriveed in Suffolk, VA. There we met up with Eric, our other team member racing that day. Cat 5's were going to be the third group to start. The course was a fairly flat 12.5 miles out and 12.5 miles back. I was the first of our team to start. Heading out, I was immediately hit by a steady headwind. It made the first half very difficult, but coming back was much easier. I had saved a little bit of energy to push hard over the last 5 or 6 miles. I even passed one of the hardcore time trial guys that had passed me on the way out. These guys have dedicated TT bikes with full carbon fiber wheels, teardrop helmets, and do TT's all the time. When I finished, I was surprised how tired and sore I was. It's hard to pu out constant 100% effort for an hour and 9 minutes, but that time put me in 14th place out of 49 racers in my class. Eric came in at 26th and John was 40th. Everyone had fun and even with the wind, the weather cooperated, keeping the rain away. I think I am going to do more TT's. There's another flat TT in Chesapeake in April, the Mill Mountain climb TT, and the Wintergreen ascent.

Bedford MTX finals

    Last Sunday was the final race in the Mountain Cross series. After two races, I was in 5th place overall, 19 seconds from 3rd. The weather was perfect. 60+ degrees and sunny. The course was also longer, with more singletrack than the previous races. And most of it was actually dry! As the race started, I knew I had 3 people to keep an eye on. Dave Tompkins in 3rd overall, Mark Zhu in 4th, and Warren, who was right behind me in 6th. Mark raced in Sport class, so he had a 2 or 3 minute head start. Dave and Warren were in my class. The first last, Dave and I went fast and furious. It would be our fastest lap by 30 seconds. After that, we got into a pattern. Dave would pull away on the flats on his geared bike and I would catch him on the long grassy climb with the singlespeed. On the 3rd lap, we caught Mark. Starting the 4th, Mark tried to pull away on the paved part of the climb, Dave hung with him and passed at the top. I had to sit back and watch, I was maxed out on the ss. Half a lap later, I had them back in my sights. Warren had faded a bit, so these two were my only focus. On the last lap, Mark was looking tired. Once I got past him, he fell off quick. I could see Dave about 50 yards ahead, but there was no way to catch him. We were both maxed out. In the end, he finished about 20 seconds ahead of me, in 3rd place for the day. This is how we finished for the series too. I got 4th, Dave 3rd, Scott Fitzner was 2nd, and Paula Schimizzi was the overall winner. She deserved it. She gets out there and puts her heart and soul into her races.
    I can't wait for this series next year. It's always a good time with good friends. Kenny Palmer does a great job putting on these races. Now on to the rest of the racing season.

Bedford MTX #2

   Ok, just a quick note about last week's race. I've been slacking and not blogging this week. The super wet trails at Falling Creek Park meant that much of the course would be on pavement and grassy feild. There was on section of very nice, dry singletrack. The race started at 6pm, meaning everyone needed lights. It also meant that the temperature would be around freezing. The race went great for me, I felt good and pushed hard. I ended up in third place. I was very happy with that. Now, in the overall standings, I'm 19 seconds out of third. Tomorrow is the final race of te series. The course should be about twicw as long as the first race and have a little bit of every type of trail. The weather will be perfect. Sunny and close to 60 degrees! Last week I rode Quinn's Raleigh singlespeed 29er and I will use it again tomorrow. I really like that bike. A 29er ss will be in my future this year!

Bedford MTX #1

   Finally, the 2010 race season has begun. Even though the Bedford MountainCross series is more of an early season training gauge, there's still plenty of intensity. MountainCross is a blend of pure XC and cyclocross racing. The race is technically one hour long and start times are based on a handicap system, where less experienced riders go first and the more experienced have less time to make as many laps as possible.
   The course for the first race was about one mile long, but the conditions made it feel like 5! Other than the paved loop around the park center, the trail was a narrow track of snow, slush, and mud. Lot's of mud! By the end of the race, nothing but mud, the consistancy of wet concrete. There were no barriers to hop over this time, but there was a steep run-up, about 6 feet tall and the final slippery climb cause a lot of walking.
   I was in the Veterans Expert Class, along with my Dire Wolf teammate, Quinn. A quarter way through the course was a nasty double track downhill, littered with rocks and roots. Mud was slinging off my tires all over me. About halfway down on the first lap, a big chunk of mud flew up under my glasses and derictly into my right eye. With riders in front and behind me, and nowhere to pull off, I had to try to blink as much of it out as I could. there was no way to let go of the handlebars with one hand to wipe it out and not crash. Once I got to the bottom, I felt that I had gotten enough out to keep going.
   I ended up following Quinn throuhout the race. He pulled away a little on lap three, but I managed to pull him back on the next lap. We passed other riders here and there, and of course we were passed by Gordon about halfway through. On the last lap, I got a little caught up behind another rider. There were very few places to pass clean. Quinn was gone. He ended up about half a minute ahead of me. I saw my friend Warren up ahead on the last climb. I tried my best to catch him, but could not do it. He finished about 10 seconds ahead. Nine of us ended up with 6 laps. I was in 8th place. Covered from head to toe in mud.
    Everyone had a great time. These races are always fun and the weather was perfect. It was great to see all my cycling friends. Next week will be a night race. Hopefully the trails will dry out some before then.

   

Countdown

   T-Minus 6 days and counting...  until the first race of the year. The first race of three in as many weeks at the Bedford MountainCross will be held on Sunday. The conditions are not looking good. All the recent snow and cold temps have kept all the local trails covered. But these are "postal" races, they are run no matter what the conditions are. I hope it does not deter too many racers. I doubt there will be much singletrack in the first race, I know Kenny Palmer does not want to totally destroy a great trail system. To help get ready, I am riding to and from work all week, and hopefully a lot more from now on.
   It's going to be a fun race and series, no matter what!

   It's been a busy week. Monday was my furlough day from work, so I decided to get some riding in. I left my house at 8:15am, temps in the low 20's, on my singlespeed mountain bike. I rode to Candler's mtn. I rode around the house on the snow before I left and found that I could ride on top without breaking through. When I got on the trails, I found the snow and ice a bit softer. There was no way to ride this snow. The front wheel would immediately break through and dead stop. The first trail had been beaten down by hikers, so it was ridable. But if I strayed by a few inches, an endo was likely. I did this once alond a steep bank and ended up sliding down a 30 foot hill on my back.

    Most of the trails ended up being hike-a-bikes. I was glad to finally get back to the roads and head home via downtown.

   Tuesday brought more snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Just a dusting during the day. But enough of a coating overnight to make Lynchburg side streets very slick.

   Thursday was Jess's 35th birthday. We were able to get Tyler an extra day and went to her parent's house for dinner. My parents were also there. Jennifer always cooks awesome food. We had country fried steak in gravy, creamed potatoes, mixed veggies, and cheesecake for dessert. I had to turn off the nutrition plan for a day, but it was worth it! Everyone had a great time.

   Friday was fairly uneventful. We did finally watch Inglourious Basterds. Good movie, a bit cheesy at times, but classic Tarentino.

Snow Ride 2.0

   Well I did get to ride in the snow yesterday. Davy from Blackwater Creek Bikeshop got some  riders together to explore the streets in Boonboro. Davy, Allen, Scott, Quinn, Phil, Brent, and I met at the Kroger on Rivermont. All the streets seemed to be clear and just wet. We all had single speed mountain bikes, except one with gears and one single speed cross bike. Once we were a couple block off the main roads, we found the snow. To ride in it, you had to stay in the tire tracks. Getting into the untouched, heavy snow would strip all momentum away. We eventually made our way downtown, with a rolling snowball fight down Rivermont! The fight was continued in a bank parking lot for about 20 minutes. By this time, everyone was getting cold and wet. It was getting late so we made our way back to Kroger. Scott put it best, that it was like being a group of hooligan kids again, roaming the neighborhood. Good times!
   In a stroke of incredible luck, my friend Chris and his son Cashion were coming out of Kroger while Allen and I were loading up the bikes onto the back of the Jeep. We talked for a minute, then he mentioned that he had a huge plate of fresh baked, made from scratch, brownies that his wife, Morgan, had made. They tasted so good and were still warm! Perfect after two hours in the cold and wet.