The Cohutta 100, a race I have been eagerly awaiting for several weeks took place Saturday April 9, 2008. Diana and I traveled down on Friday so we could have time to look around and so I could preride the course. After arriving I hooked up with Van who graciously gave me a tour of the race course. Van and I rode ~ 2.5 hours on some of the best single track I have ever ridden. While at the venue I picked up my packet and talked with several other Ashevillians that were doing the race, Will Black (eventuall ss winner) and David Hall. It was great to see the familiar faces.
After the preride Van and I headed home where we had lunch and talked with Diana and Whitney. Good time spent with 2 great people. Van and Whitney loaded up and set for Atlanta. I set out for the porch swing. I was only going to rest for a while but ended up falling asleep for an hour or so, recovery nap! Woke up starving, I recalled seeing a Mexican restaurant on our way back from the venue so we made our back to the town and had a nice Mexican meal.
My best traveling buds(andy,cara) arrived @ ~ 9 pm. We sat and chatted a while and then it was off to bed with the alarms set for 4AM!!I slept really well which is very unusual for me on a night before a race. I am usually like a kid on the night before Christmas, nervous and excited.
Alarm goes off @ 4 am!! I am outta of the bed and in the shower. I feel great,I cook some oatmeal and roast some potatoes and eat my prerace meal. We load up the cars and it is off to the race.
We arrive at the venue in complete darkness, I fumble around and check and double check every thing. The race is about to begin. The 100 milers go off then the 65 milers then the 35 mile group which is the race I am doing. We line up and I am ready to go, my plan is to hit the 3 mile climb hard and fast. The whistle blows and we are off! I go hard I am doing well then a wave of naseau comes over me. I am going backwards a small voice says" you don't want me to catch you" I thought it can't be, no way but it was. Cara had caught me and as she pulled up beside me asked if I was ok, I am not sure of my reply but I am sure it was not my usual"this is going to be a great day" reply. I sped up and did not lose any more places on the climb.
After we crested the top of the climb we hit the single track. The lactic cleared from my legs I started feeling better and was very angry. I started attacking the course, accelerating out of the corners attacking the rollers and anyone that was in front of me. The course was awesome a little damp in places but a super course. I had no idea what place I was in, I just knew I had to pass as many people as I could. I saw a lot of carnage along the trail, both man and machine. Each time I thought hmm one more place.
My race progressed well as I had not been passed the entire race. Then came the gravel road decent. At the top of the gravel road I was the 6th 35 miler at the bottom I was 8th. I lost 2 places on the gravel road decent (it is odd what goes through your mind in a race but on the decent I was hoping a friend that had an unfortunate accindent on such a decent would make it down safely).Luckily there was a climb on double track after the decent which allowed me to overtake the 2 that had passed and put them into difficulty. I rode a hard tempo @ LT and put time into the riders that passed me. I needed this cushion in case there was another decent in which case they would make the time back. I do not go down hill very fast.
I held the 2 at bay and picked up one more place as I passed a guy fixing a flat. From here it was on to the finish line. An awesome downhill dumped me on to the pavement then over the bridge, up the road and to the finish. Wow, what a race.
I rode around to cool down and then went to watch for Cara to finish. While talking to Andy Johnson and waiting for the women riders to come in I heard that voice again: " I told you I would beat you" I looked around and it was Cara. I immediately looked for gauze, missing teeth, first aid tape a sling or some other type of first aid paraphanlia. Not seeing any of these I asked if she had a mechanical and the answer was no, she had watched a lady crash and did not want to experience the same fate and decided to call it a day. I thought this was a wise decision. You really need to have your mind in the right mode in a race of this calibre.
I rode to the campground, showered, washed the bike and came back to the car where I changed clothes and sat down to rest. I was very tired. I did get up and walk over to see the results. The posting took a while but this gave me time to eat, rest socialize etc. The results were posted and I had WON the 50 + category I was very excited,actually I still am excited,to feel so bad and end up doing so well feels really great.
Overall a great weekend, my only regret: I was to knackered to come back over to the course to see Andy and Jason finish. Sorry guys us 50 year olds need our warm milk and naps!
A great weekend spent with some very good friends, oh yeah plus a great breakfast with Amber my daughter on Sunday!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
"TSALI"
Tsali, the crown jewel of eastern moutain bike racing. What a great race! Diana and I headed over Sunday morning for a day picnicing and mtn bike racing, and socializing with some friends.
It was great to see Eric (cyclocross) and my old friend Martin Visser. I had not seen Martin in a "coons age" (thats a long time in southern terms). Martin told me he had injured his ankle and had been working on his house, hence the absence from cyclocross the previous fall. I thought hmmmmmmmm maybe he has not had time to train and this could be my chance to beat him. Needless to say Martin has kept his priorities in the proper perspective and has not let the injury or the house project get in the way of his training.
The race started with myself , Martin and some other guy off the front. Martin came around me closed the gap on the other guy and passed him. I closed the gap on the unknown rider and passed also. I stayed within sight of Martin for a while then Martin rode off and left me. Coming back around to the start line and with 5 miles to go I had a solid 2nd place, unfortunately I flatted . I had a heck of a time getting the tire off and by the time i was back on the bike I had lost 3 places. I pedaled hard hoping I could retake at least one place but to no avail. I finished in 5th place. Needless to say very disappointed, where's the cheetos?
After the race we all went down to the Lake to wash ourselves and our bikes. The Saturday rain made the course a bit tacky. The trails drain well but you have these huge mud holes you have to ride through. This tends to become very messy.
Nate had a similar race riding strong the first lap then having some mechanical issues but putting in a good finish. The Sycamore guys had a strong team putting 3-5 racers in the top ten in the pro/semi pro division. Sam rode away from everyone and won the overall.
All in all a great day!!!!
It was great to see Eric (cyclocross) and my old friend Martin Visser. I had not seen Martin in a "coons age" (thats a long time in southern terms). Martin told me he had injured his ankle and had been working on his house, hence the absence from cyclocross the previous fall. I thought hmmmmmmmm maybe he has not had time to train and this could be my chance to beat him. Needless to say Martin has kept his priorities in the proper perspective and has not let the injury or the house project get in the way of his training.
The race started with myself , Martin and some other guy off the front. Martin came around me closed the gap on the other guy and passed him. I closed the gap on the unknown rider and passed also. I stayed within sight of Martin for a while then Martin rode off and left me. Coming back around to the start line and with 5 miles to go I had a solid 2nd place, unfortunately I flatted . I had a heck of a time getting the tire off and by the time i was back on the bike I had lost 3 places. I pedaled hard hoping I could retake at least one place but to no avail. I finished in 5th place. Needless to say very disappointed, where's the cheetos?
After the race we all went down to the Lake to wash ourselves and our bikes. The Saturday rain made the course a bit tacky. The trails drain well but you have these huge mud holes you have to ride through. This tends to become very messy.
Nate had a similar race riding strong the first lap then having some mechanical issues but putting in a good finish. The Sycamore guys had a strong team putting 3-5 racers in the top ten in the pro/semi pro division. Sam rode away from everyone and won the overall.
All in all a great day!!!!
Monday, March 31, 2008
"Road Trip"
This weekend was the first road trip of the mountain bike season...well sort of if you do not count the Snake Creek Gap TT and oh yeah the 6 hour race we did in GA. Ok so it is not the first road trip of the year.Anyway the race(chickasaw classic) was held in Columbia Tennessee which is a 5 hour drive.Nate and I decided to drive down Saturday pre ride the course and stay the night and race on Sunday.
The trip down went well, no issues just a little rain. Once there we checked into the hotel and decided to head on out and preride the course. The course was ~ 15 minutes from the hotel which meant we could sleep on Sunday. Nate and I arrived at the venue picked up our race packets and went to check out the course. We decided not to preride after seeing other riders coming off the course caked with mud.We did not want to clean our bikes and ourselves twice. So back to the hotel where boredom and rain sat in. We could not connect to the wireless internet so we switched to a room with a hard wired connection. Nathan surfed the Net while I channel surfed. I was going nuts being cooped up in a hotel room with nothing to do.
Dinner time finally roled around and we were able to escape the confines of our room to go out and eat some great Mexican cusine. The best Mexican food I have had in some time. I believe the name of the restaurant was "Panchos". After dinner it was back to the room and prep the bikes.I put lithium grease on my chain and switched the rear tire to a Michelin "Wildgripper".
Sunday dawned gray and gloomy. We packed up, stopped at the Waffle House for breakfast and on to the race we went. The course was awesome, slightly damp but a well designed course with good flow. This was the first race I was at a disadvantage with running a single front chain ring. The start was ~ 1/2 mile of flat smooth double track and pavement. The guys that finished 1st and 2nd simply rode away from me at the start while I spun fevershly with my 32 tooth front ring trying to stay in contact. My tire choice was spot on. I only wish I could have found my other Michelin Wildgripper Mud tire. I put the one I had on the rear. The front tire was a 2.1 and it floated a bit in the mud where as the 1.9 wild gripper punched through to the hard surface and hooked up great. I also sprayed the drive train with lithium grease and had no shifting issues...Muddy conditions = Michelin Mud tire and lithium grease!!
I finished 3rd in the Masters 50+ expert/sport category.After finishing I clean up and went to watch Nates race. Watching a mtn bike race is rather boring, the lap times were ~ 50 mins and you see the racers ~2 mins. I tend to become rather fidgety during this time and usually call and bug people (diana,amber cycling buds etc) to relieve my boredom.Nate finished 3rd in the pro category and received a nice payout.
The trip home was uneventful and we arrived back at the house @ 11:30 pm. I have Monday off and will hopefullt get a ride in a some chores done.
I hope everyone has a great week and next weekend is Tsali!!!!!!!!
I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!
The trip down went well, no issues just a little rain. Once there we checked into the hotel and decided to head on out and preride the course. The course was ~ 15 minutes from the hotel which meant we could sleep on Sunday. Nate and I arrived at the venue picked up our race packets and went to check out the course. We decided not to preride after seeing other riders coming off the course caked with mud.We did not want to clean our bikes and ourselves twice. So back to the hotel where boredom and rain sat in. We could not connect to the wireless internet so we switched to a room with a hard wired connection. Nathan surfed the Net while I channel surfed. I was going nuts being cooped up in a hotel room with nothing to do.
Dinner time finally roled around and we were able to escape the confines of our room to go out and eat some great Mexican cusine. The best Mexican food I have had in some time. I believe the name of the restaurant was "Panchos". After dinner it was back to the room and prep the bikes.I put lithium grease on my chain and switched the rear tire to a Michelin "Wildgripper".
Sunday dawned gray and gloomy. We packed up, stopped at the Waffle House for breakfast and on to the race we went. The course was awesome, slightly damp but a well designed course with good flow. This was the first race I was at a disadvantage with running a single front chain ring. The start was ~ 1/2 mile of flat smooth double track and pavement. The guys that finished 1st and 2nd simply rode away from me at the start while I spun fevershly with my 32 tooth front ring trying to stay in contact. My tire choice was spot on. I only wish I could have found my other Michelin Wildgripper Mud tire. I put the one I had on the rear. The front tire was a 2.1 and it floated a bit in the mud where as the 1.9 wild gripper punched through to the hard surface and hooked up great. I also sprayed the drive train with lithium grease and had no shifting issues...Muddy conditions = Michelin Mud tire and lithium grease!!
I finished 3rd in the Masters 50+ expert/sport category.After finishing I clean up and went to watch Nates race. Watching a mtn bike race is rather boring, the lap times were ~ 50 mins and you see the racers ~2 mins. I tend to become rather fidgety during this time and usually call and bug people (diana,amber cycling buds etc) to relieve my boredom.Nate finished 3rd in the pro category and received a nice payout.
The trip home was uneventful and we arrived back at the house @ 11:30 pm. I have Monday off and will hopefullt get a ride in a some chores done.
I hope everyone has a great week and next weekend is Tsali!!!!!!!!
I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
!!! Great Weekend !!!
Wow what a good weekend! Spent time with family great friends and pets! What more could a person ask for. I am truly blessed!!! The weekend started with me leaving work 1 hour early Friday heading home and hopping on the bike. I was off to do my usual route and ran upon Mark and Reich. It just so happened they were just getting started on their ride. I hooked up them and we did 2 hours easy, great ride with 2 good guys. Mark and I have known each other for a long time, we coached soccer and also played soccer on the ABYSA adult league for several years.
Friday night Diana and I decided to go the movies and see "The Bucket List". A great movie; it was the 2nd time we have been to the movie in a month.A record for us,we usually only go once every five years. We got home at 10 PM, way past my bed time, the kids were worried that we stayed out so late!
Saturday dawned, I did some work around the house and called Cara to she if she would be interested in doing a road ride. We met at the house and went out on a gently rolling 3+ hour ride. I really intended for it to only be 2.5+ hours but I had not ridden the route in a while and my time estimate was slightly off. I feel rather bad that the ride was 3+ hours since Cara had done a difficult ride the day before with Andy on the tandem and was slightly tired. It was a great ride but I was tuckered out at the end.
After the ride I went and picked up my chainsaw from the hardware store and begin clearing the bank behind our house. Great upper body workout. I got half of it cleared and stopped to eat a great meal, burgers, potato salad and beans mmmmmmmmm good!
Sunday, Diana and I rolled out of bed @ 4:30 AM(!!!) to go to the easter sunrise service at Chimney Rock State Park, Lake Lure. This was the first time I have been inside Chimney Rock Park, great place. All I could think of on the way up was wow this would be a great climb on a bike!! Here are some pics:
Anyway a great weekend and the best of all was the mask my daughter got me while on her cruise. It is nice to be thought of when they are far away!!
Friday night Diana and I decided to go the movies and see "The Bucket List". A great movie; it was the 2nd time we have been to the movie in a month.A record for us,we usually only go once every five years. We got home at 10 PM, way past my bed time, the kids were worried that we stayed out so late!
Saturday dawned, I did some work around the house and called Cara to she if she would be interested in doing a road ride. We met at the house and went out on a gently rolling 3+ hour ride. I really intended for it to only be 2.5+ hours but I had not ridden the route in a while and my time estimate was slightly off. I feel rather bad that the ride was 3+ hours since Cara had done a difficult ride the day before with Andy on the tandem and was slightly tired. It was a great ride but I was tuckered out at the end.
After the ride I went and picked up my chainsaw from the hardware store and begin clearing the bank behind our house. Great upper body workout. I got half of it cleared and stopped to eat a great meal, burgers, potato salad and beans mmmmmmmmm good!
Sunday, Diana and I rolled out of bed @ 4:30 AM(!!!) to go to the easter sunrise service at Chimney Rock State Park, Lake Lure. This was the first time I have been inside Chimney Rock Park, great place. All I could think of on the way up was wow this would be a great climb on a bike!! Here are some pics:
After the service we returned home I cooked breakfast and we had a quick nap.
The nap was interrupted when Nate called and wanted to go mtn biking in Pisgah so I told him to come on over and we could go do a 3 hour ride. We had a great ride and unlike the ride the previous day my estimate was dead on, 2 hours 50 mins. And only 1 flat.
After the ride we returned home where we began the tradition of dyeing easter eggs.
The kids think I'm goofy, oh well. Oh yeah and someone snitched a piece of cake, see for yourself.
And the culprit, note the beady eyes, I am sure he snitched the cake!!
Anyway a great weekend and the best of all was the mask my daughter got me while on her cruise. It is nice to be thought of when they are far away!!
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