A Typical Ride

A caravan of five Porsches pass by and interrupt my few of hogs grazing on the hilly countryside. I also saw a dead deer, multiple opossums, and a raccoon. I saw Shetland ponies and donkeys. I'm not positive, but I think I saw a baby buffalo too. He was wrenching and squeezing his neck between two strands of barbed wire fencing to reach the grass on the other side. Of course, I saw the usual horses and cows, hawks and crows, goats and sheep, streams and ponds.

I saw the land still devastated by the tornadoes that swept through in April. I saw the work that had been done, the work being done, and the work that needs to be done. The countryside is still a mess even though many homes have been rebuilt already.

I explored new roads and revisited old ones. I climbed mountains and got to overlook valleys for miles and miles. I got chased by three dogs and avoided attacks on all three accounts. The sun warmed by back and the wind chilled my face as it swept through the sparsely placed hairs of my beard. I shot snot rockets and ran stop signs. The wind slowed me down to single digit speeds at times and I cruised down descents at 48 mph.

It was a pretty typical ride. It was an amazing ride. It was why I ride.
The saddle, it is probably my favorite place in the world and where I am most at peace.

Grad School Update

Wow, it's been quite some time. I have neglected my posting for "higher education" and "more important" endeavors. Not sure I agree with all those terms. I really miss racing right now and writing about the great times I had. Since I originally said this blog would be about my racing and my schooling, I guess I need to include some posts about graduate school.

Far too many things have occurred since my last post and the beginning of semester to attempt to summarize the trip it has been, but I can say it has been busy and very informative. Just this afternoon I had my hands in a man's chest and cut out both of his lungs. Yes, we are doing cadaver dissections in my gross anatomy class. That class is where 78% of my attention and studying has been going over the semester. I have done exceptionally well so far. Well, except for the most recent test. Not a great showing for me, but it will do. My dissection group is great. Thankfully, it consists of three amiable girls that let me do all of the fun, nasty parts of dissection. It also means that we have great gossip around the tank and get to discuss who looked super cute that day in class. We started on Bobley and then moved to Betty Sue. Betty Sue is textbook perfect and was a great time. Tina was not as easy to handle, but we ended up with a very easy dissection for her. Now wrapping the semester up I got to use the bone saw last Friday to cut through ribs, sternum, and the clavicle to reflect the thoracic cage. Lab has been an amazing tool to help me understand the body and get a very firm grasp on muscles, nerves, vessels, fiber orientation, fascia, and of course subcutaneous fat. My mental visualization of muscles in people and the workings of their skeletal system is at such a higher level now.

Occasionally, we have to leave lab and learn other subjects. We've learned how to walk with crutches, do wheelies in wheelchairs, and how to do posture assessments. I learned how to do a back tuck for professional communication and I mastered how to make a powerpoint for evidence based practice. In kinesiology, I've learned that TR (a.k.a. Trent Richardson) can squat 600 and bench 450. My teacher still wants to be him when he grows up.

I've taken the things I've learned in the classroom to my everyday life too. Trying to be more like TR to ensure an A in Kinese, I started uping my weights when I do squats. I've been trying to hit the gym every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I've been making some progress now that I'm really trying. Last week I did 20 reps of 315, 15 reps of 405, 14 reps of 455, 20 reps of 315, and then 25 reps of 315. Then I went upstairs and busted out 100 lunges with 25 pound dumbbells. Watch out TR; I'm coming.

I applied the anatomy of the hand in my most recent set of injuries. I've come up with the diagnosis of a torn posterior joint capsule of the first MCP. I finally got into the doctor so I can get a referral to the hand surgeon and see what he says. Radiographs from this visit pretty much confirmed my suspicion and also showed a subluxation of the first CMC joint and a possible dislocation of the capitate bone. Should be a really fun office visit next week.

I did manage to have a little fun the past two weekends. I went fly fishing with the school (we saw a whooping 0 fish the entire trip) and went camping with some classmates. This has been the extent of my outdoor excursions since I have not been biking in such a long time. It's hard to go when I'm so tired once I finally get home from school everyday and the weekends have just been occupied with other things. It's an insult to my bikes to be neglecting them like this. I must do better.

Quite a few of us have also picked up rock climbing. We've spent several afternoons taking study breaks at the bouldering wall in the student rec center. It's a fun sport that is pretty challenging. It's always good to be humbled by a 110 lb girl that scales the wall you've been working on for 20 minutes.

All in all life is passing. The sun rises and the sun sets. I'm trying to make the most of it and include as much as I can in every day. I don't always succeed, but that's what tomorrow is for. Like I said, too much has happened to include it all, but that's what I got so far.

Some Spare Time

I haven't had as much time to ride as I would like since school has started. I hadn't ridden at all in a week and a half and it had been 2 weeks since I had ridden hard when I went for a nice Sunday stroll a week ago. The temperature was great and it was awesome exploring east Tennessee. I ventured through Georgia to get to an area I've biked previously. When I came to the "familiar" turn signalling the escape from traffic, I didn't recognize the place. I have ridden this route several times last year when I was preparing for Ironman Louisville. When I got to the T intersection, it looked completely different. The area was still devastated from the tornado that struck this past April. Fields were cleared and tree tops stripped, houses mangled and new ones under construction. It was strange to see so many things still destroyed and the lack of progress that has been made over the past few months. It was sad. Not nearly as bad as the places I saw in Alabama though.

The ride went well though. I turned around at a small church where I got water from a well. The cows were mooing really loudly too and I think they were talking to the cows in the pasture across the street. The sun was starting to go down and my legs were getting really tired. I kept pushing on to make it back home. My legs began cramping and the pain grew stronger. I was so happy when I finally made it home. I laid down in the floor under the fan while my legs still throbbed. They felt like they were still cramping as I got up and got into the shower. The pain lingered. It was as if my body couldn't flush the lactic acid out of my legs. I laid in the tub for a while and the painful sensation finally left about thirty minutes after the ride ended. It was a weird phenomenon that I can't recall ever having experienced. I think that means it was a good ride though.

I didn't get back out on the road again until yesterday. It was a scrambled ride. I had planned on getting up early Saturday morning and getting a good ride in. Even after my 3.5 hour nap on Friday after school, I slept for 10.5 hours Friday night. I ended up not getting on the bike until almost 1 so the ride was going to have to be shorter than I wanted. It was really nice weather though and I was determined to enjoy a nice ride before settling in to watch Tennessee play Florida.

The first cool thing that happened was the staring contest I had with a beaver on East Brainerd. He was right at the edge of the road and it surprised me at how close we were. I couldn't believe how calm he was. When I finally broke my gaze and turned back to the road, I had already run off the first two layers of the shoulder. I stayed calm, went all the way off the road and managed to get back on it with the bike still upright and no flats. Winning.

Later, I found a different road that takes me into Georgia for some good riding. I plan to make several trips back to this area. I also found an arena that has barrel racing ever first Saturday of the month with free admission. I know what I'll be doing October 1st. I'll fit in wearing my cowboy boots, wrangler jeans, chewing Redman, and pounding a 6-pack of PBR tallboys. It's going to be a good time at the Heartland Ranch. Soon after this I found an entrance to a neighborhood off this main road that has the steepest incline I've ridden in quite some time. I tried attacking it and it kicked my butt. I barely made it up and then was still out of breath the whole way back down. All in all it was a good ride. Too bad Tennessee didn't win later on in the day. That would have made it great.

The passageway to Georgia

The hill of death

Race Report: River Gorge Omnium

What a weekend it was. Obviously, the highlight of the weekend was my crit win, but other exciting parts included catching my 30 sec guy in the time trial, my left crank arm ripping out of the bottom bracket of my TT bike, the 22 year-old stud that solo'ed off the front and won the Pro/1/2 race, and the brief time that I lead the cat 4 road race leading up to the Raccoon Mountain climb.

Saturday morning I headed up to the TT start on top of Raccoon mountain. Quickly grabbing a parking spot, I set up my trainer and got about 8 minutes of warm-up. Not exactly ideal, but I got a little distracted talking to some other guys and did not have as much time as I though I was going to. Thankfully, I made it to the start line on time and took off as planned. The first few corners didn't seem as bad as they were during the pre-ride. It might have been because I was used to the stiffness in the wheels by this point or the wind might not have been blowing as much. I was feeling good until I really got into the little climb before mile 2. I was right on my 30 second guy at this point, but the poor performance here kept me from catching him until almost the very end. Being pretty winded from the climb, it took me a bit to gear back up on top and start my descent. I didn't hit 47 mph like I did in my pre-ride. I stayed steady over the dam and then was ready to push once I made the right hand turn. I felt really good making the right hand turn and heading for the finish. Once I got to the curves I caught my guy and passed on the inside. After I crossed the line, I checked the clock and it was just after 8:50. Pretty good since I was expecting to go around 9:10 to 9:20 for the four mile time trial. My trip back to the car was not as pleasant. This is where my crank arm fell off. I knew it was loose and coming off, but I was hoping to make it back to the car where I could find some tools to tighten it down. Well, when I got to the first incline to ripped out and jacked up the drive side crank arm. I haven't been able to get it completely off yet, but I'm thinking I crushed the bearing, broke the c-clip and will need a whole new bottom bracket. Oh well.

So I came back home and switched wheels and brake pads to get ready for the crit race later that evening. I must say, I think the Tarmac looked awesome with the 808's on it. I, on the other hand, was quite nervous. The crit was going to be a field of 84 guys racing around a .8 mile loop in downtown Chattanooga. I had never ridden with a field this big let alone race in one. I lined up middle of the pack and was determined to do my best. I was told that the field would probably go really hard the first 5 to 6 laps and then back down. They did. It was fun zipping around the corners at such high speeds so close to each. Fun here equals exciting, daring, and dangerous. There was one crash behind me, I could hear the carnage but didn't see it until the next lap around. I did rub wheels with someone. I did get shoulder bumped and helmet tapped. I did get yelled at for my cornering at one point. Screw that guy. Anyway, I tried to go off the front for one of the primes and realized that was a bad idea before even half way through the lap. So at this point I decided to not try going for any of those and just focus on positioning for the finish and saving my legs for that. Coming around one lap to go I was still sitting nicely in the front of the group, probably about 12 to 15 riders back. We made the turn to the slight uphill and I jumped up a couple riders and moved to the outside. We began to take the slight left hand bend and I'm not sure if I was speeding up or if the field was slowing down, but I quickly found myself at the front of the group on the inside. About 25 meters later, I crossed through and intersection and expected to see the field right on my wheel. They were not. At this point I knew I had to go for. I cranked down and headed for corner four fast. I took it wide and barely braked. I ended up almost in the opposite side gutter once I came out of the corner. Before I could even really get the bike under control, I stood up to start my sprint. The bike was flying all over the place and I still don't know exactly how I made it all come together so perfectly. Cresting the slight rise in the finish chute, I looked back and the field was way down the road. I turned back and gave a few more sprints and checked again. I was about to win. It was awesome. I threw my hands up and enjoyed the moment across the line with the field quickly closing in. Once again, it was AWESOME. As I settled down, I began to get passed by other riders as I was taking my cool down lap. Talk about building up an oxygen debt. I was sucking for air so hard and it took about the whole lap to just get my breathing back. I then stopped and hugged all my friends that had come to watch including my mom. First cat 4 crit was a huge success.

I wish I could say the same thing for the road race on Sunday, but I am not a climber. Why did I enter the only two races in Tennessee that have climbing in them then? I have no idea. Maybe I'll plan my races better next year. I can say I did stay with the lead group the whole way and did make a jump on the descent into Raccoon Mountain hoping to go off the front and start the climb by myself. I went a little too early and didn't reach the speeds I anticipated. Therefore, I started the climb with the pack and quickly went to the back. I was getting in my groove and then started picking a bunch of people off that had obviously started too hard. Ended up finishing 28th for the road race which got me 4th place overall for the omnium. Not a bad showing.

Overall results can be found as links underneath the race information here

Here is a video of the part of the finish. I guess I sat up to celebrate a little sooner than I thought. You can just see me sit up and throw my hands to the helmet.

I guess I wasn't as close to the front as I thought I was during most of the race.

Take Two

It was a great first Friday in Chattanooga. After orientation was over, I met up with my best friend Brandon Wright and took another spin on the River Gorge road course. The course didn't seem nearly as hard or long as it did on Wednesday. Not sure if it was just because I had seen it once now or if my legs were shot from my 4 hours in Memphis on Monday. The climbs passed a lot easier and I knew where to get water this time. On the steep descent into Raccoon mountain, I was able to hit 53.5 mph this time. That's pretty close to my all time high speed I set back in 2007 in Colorado. It sure is fun descending these mountains. I also managed to make the last climb to the finish in 21:30. That's the cat 3 and the cat 5 climb to the lookout. I wasn't killing myself, but I wasn't taking it easy. Hopefully that bodes well for next Sunday's race.

I did run into some mechanical issues though. For some reason my Sram Red front shifter has been freezing up. It doesn't seem to be catching and gets stuck in the big ring. This happened twice and after enough fiddling with it and pushing on it I got it to drop back down. If that happens in the race and I have to do some of those climbs in the big ring it sure will hurt. Let's hope things go smoothly.

Now it's back to preparing for the first week of classes. The physical therapy department has already put the fear of God in us here and it's kinda unnerving. On top of the regular classes I have to prepare for, I am having to study 22 chapters of medical terminology. I never took a course in undergrad, so now they are giving us the option to clep out of it by taking the final exam this upcoming Friday. I finally found the book online yesterday and started going through some it. It's going to be one heck of a week. I really hope I don't start out behind, but I also really hope I don't have to add another 3 hour undergraduate course in the spring because I fail this final exam.

So, I might not be able to get as much playing done here as I thought I would be able to. Kinda disappointing.  I thought I was coming here to bike and learn how to climb...

East Overlook on Raccoon; R.G. RR finish

Views from the visitor center on Raccoon

Finally In Chattanooga

Well, I finally made it to Chattanooga. This will be home for at least the next three years. I plan on making it awesome and really taking advantage of everything that there is to offer in the surrounding area. Today, I road the River Gorge road race course. This was my first full day here and I don't know all the roads very well, but I don't have very many free days to do a ride like this. It was a lot more climbing than I expected. I haven't climbed like that since Fall of 2007 when I was in Colorado. I think I left my climbing skills out there too. The mountains kicked my butt today. The ride included five category 5 climbs and two category 3 climbs. It also included the climb that I did on the steep slopes of Brow road which wasn't part of the course and the category 5 climb in the TT course. In between climbs four and five a wasp landed on my shorts and stung me. That sucked. Almost as bad as not being able to find water and having to deal with some really hot water from the back of a run down hotel.

The ride did take me on a nice tour of the country side. I went to Georgia and did some miles there before heading back to Nickajack lake and riding along the river for a while. Then I headed into Raccoon mountain. The descent to the base was thrilling. I topped out at 50.2 mph. It felt great. BUT, then I had to start the cat 3 climb back up out of the valley. It was long and arduous on my tired legs. I saw a snake sliding down a concrete ditch at one point. It's that steep. After I made it to the top I had to keep going to find some more water before I could try to make it back to my car. Thankfully, I found someone that was practicing the TT course and asked him how to quickly get back to my car and where to get water. The descent back to the car was pretty fun too. The road was narrower and not as smooth so I couldn't risk as much as I had done before, but I was still cruising at 43 to 46 mph. Fun stuff.

I haven't had a ride that I sweated so much and had so much salt deposits on me. My new helmet had huge salt crystals on the straps from my head sweat. My sunglasses had a gooey film around the edges made of salt and sweat. My shorts and jersey both had big white rings on salty sweat deposits. It was a hot day. I hope the race is not as hot. I also hope there isn't a break because I know I won't be able to go with them. I only hope to score points in the road race. This omnium is definitely a climbing race and I am not a climber. I'll give it my best though and hope for great finishes in the TT and crit.

Here is the map of the course: hardest 40 mile race

Entering Raccoon Mountain

Last bit of the Cat 3 climb to Raccoon Mountain

Head Sweat

Race Report: Oak Ridge Velo Omnium

Well, I confirmed my suspicions; I can descend, TT, and sprint. My climbing on the other hand is quite deficient. This past weekend I raced my first serious road race. All in all it was pretty fun.

I got 9th in the road race. I didn't expect the front of the pack to attack so hard on the first climb and especially didn't expect them to stay away the whole race. I paced myself and started picking off some of the people that started to hard on the early slopes. I blasted down the other side in hopes of catching back onto the group: no luck. Only me and one other guy were willing to work with the group and to try to pull back some time. I yoyo'ed a few times when we hit a few different hills, but consistently got back on. Approaching the finish, I was with two other guys. We had been together for a while and just recently dropped 3 or 4 more guys. I could see two more guys working together about 100 meters in front of us. I wanted us to catch them, but it didn't look promising, no one was wanting to pull this close to the finish. The last one kilometer was a climb to the line and I started putting in some effort at the bottom of the slopes. I looked back and the other two riders were gone. I broke them. I now turned my focus onto the two guys in front. It was going to be hard to bring them back. I turned it into high gear and started my sprint. One of the guys turned back and saw me approaching, he hollered to the other guy and tried to stand and sprint as well. I blew past both of them as I peaked the climb. Twenty meters of flat and I crossed the line in ninth. Come Sunday afternoon, I was very thankful I made up those four positions; the points really helped.

I wasn't really happy with my road race finish, so I was looking to do damage in the TT and gain back some confidence. I showed up right on time and was ready to suffer. As the official let go of my seatpost, I started out hard with a standing sprint. Once up to speed, I settled down into the extensions; my legs were feeling that burst of effort. I buried my head and kept going. I passed one guy, then another. I had passed three or four guys when I came screaming into the turn around. That could have gone a lot smoother and faster, but oh well. It was a fast ride; I averaged 25.6 and did the course in 18:12. It earned me second place in Cat 5 and was the third fastest time in the Cat 4's. The guy that won the TT for Cat 5 beat me by 12 seconds. Supposedly, he is pretty good and solo'd off the front of the road race for the victory. Third place in the TT was over 30 seconds back from me. I felt pretty good about my performance.

Sunday morning was the crit. The one part of the race that I was actually pretty nervous about. I've heard horror stories of Cat 5 crit's and didn't know how it was going to go. I didn't know if there would be crashes, breaks, or if I would be able to hold on. Fortunately, there were no breaks and the laps went by pretty smoothly. A few people attacked, but the were countered quickly. We played the hesitating/"no one wants to pull so let's swerve all over the road" game a few times when we hit the head wind coming down the finishing straight. Nevertheless, I was feeling good as we circled around and Frank rang the bell signalling one lap to go. Since it was the last lap, I figured I should go ahead and shift into the big ring. I had been riding the whole race in the 39 tooth: higher reps and saving my legs for the upcoming sprint. I had been focusing on number 516's wheel since he was currently leading the omnium with me in second place. Not sure where he went to in the last straightaway though because as we entered corner 3 I was sitting in third place. The two riders in front of me bumped elbows and heads. I saw the younger guy on the outside fly over the curb, through the grass, and into a parking lot. A short incline and I was coming through corner 4 in second place. Once we were soundly on the straightaway about 60 meters out from the finish line, I launched my sprint and buried my head. Approaching the line, I looked back to see the gap. I had opened up about four to five bike lengths on second place, so I sat up and cruised through the finish line. I won!

With that finish, I clinched the omnium win, won $125 dollars, and got upgraded to Cat 4 ahead of schedule. Pretty awesome day. I was pretty pumped and pleased with myself for such a good finish and smart racing in the crit. I am excited for the upcoming races in Chattanooga now. Riding Cat 4 will give me a shot at prize money for each discipline. This will make things more interesting and give me more competition.

Bring it on.

Old Hickory Classic MTB Race

What a great weekend of racing. The course at Lock 4 is so fast and fun: several rock drops, switchbacks, amazing single track, burbs, and a few jumps. It's quite a thrill. I knew after the Lock 4 Blast triathlon that I was definitely going back to do this mountain bike race, and it lived up to my expectations.

Saturday, we did a 2.4 mile time trial. I won the CAT 2 men's category with a 9:26. I would have gotten third if I had been racing CAT 1. I probably would have had a faster time too if I hadn't dropped my chain on the start line. I still have a cut and bruise from where my right calf smacked the big chainring. Oh well, it didn't take too much time to get it back on and get to racing.

Later that afternoon, we came back to the park to do the short track race. A .75 mile loop around the end of the peninsula with lots of turns and climbs. It was fun and I quickly jumped out on the front. I kept building my lead the rest of the race. After 20 minutes and my third lap, the race was over. I took home the gold medal again. Under pressure from the race director and Craig Evans, I was contemplating trying to ride with the CAT 1 guys. They had already given me a hard time about racing CAT 2 and both thought I could hang with the CAT 1 guys. I didn't think the USAC official would let me CAT up that quickly with this being only my second mtb race, but in between the end of the CAT 2 ST and the beginning of the CAT 1 ST, I CAT'ed up and was now racing CAT 1. I jumped back in the field and was ready to race another short track race. Only about 15 to 20 minutes of rest and no calories in between, I knew it was going to be tough. The race started out quick and I was surprised with my position. I was sitting third for the first two laps right behind pro Craig Evans. I even asked him what he was doing at one point, because I knew he should be way out in front. He was looking for Omar who was having shifting problems and took off quickly after he figured out what was going on. I held on for what I could having already raced all out for 27 minutes. Going into the second to last lap, a guy passed me. Halfway through the last lap, I hollered to some other racers on the sideline to watch this: I told them I was about to pass him back. Coming into the last bend I sprinted past the Biker's Choice guy. We took the 180 degree turn hard and I was back up out of the saddle giving it all I had. I beat him. Sprint finish. That gave me 6th in the CAT 1 open ST race. Just missed the money in 5th place. That would have been cool.

Sunday morning, we headed back out to the park for the main event: the cross country race. Now racing CAT 1, I was set to ride 3 laps totaling 27 miles. The race was going great. I have never railed corners so fast and hit burbs with so much momentum. They say the yellow jersey in the tour makes a man ride like a beast and like two men. Well, racing CAT 1, I was riding like a beast. I don't remember any time when I have ever raced that smoothly or fast. I was having a great time.......and then....I took the jump at the end of lap two and burped my rear wheel on some rocks. I tried to keep riding it, but it was getting lower. I was sliding and hitting the rim. I had to stop to fix it. The CO2 cartridge wouldn't work with my air chuck. Not sure what was wrong, but no air would come out. I had to run and walk it out as I was getting passed by all my other competitors. That sucked. Once I broke back out of the woods, the official confirmed what I had suspected. I can't take any assistance, so my race was over. I was somewhere around 3rd or 4th in the Men Cat 1 15-29. I was set to podium and make some money. Things just didn't work out. It sucks. That's the second xc race that I've had trouble finishing properly. Oh well, looking for more races to do now that I had to buy an annual license to be Cat 1. Haven't found much so if you know of anything let me know. I'll be in the Chattanooga area by the middle of August so NC, SC, GA, AL, and TN races are welcome.

The results page

Cat 2 TT Podium

Cat 2 ST Podium

Race Report: 3 Legged Dawg Mtb Race

The next day was the 3 Legged Dawg mountain bike race on the same course. I was going to race CAT 2 since I hadn't done any mountain bike racing and didn't have an annual license. The course was rough, but since I did well yesterday and I was already there, I decided to go for it. Some of the kids sprinted right out of the gate on the road to the trail. I wasn't all about using that much energy right out of the gun, so I settled into about fifth position as we hit the trail. One guy stumbled over the rock garden and I rode past him. Picked another one off pretty quickly too. Keeping on, I came up behind a guy and asked to get around. He said I was in his age group so he wasn't going to let me. So about 20 feet ahead I surged and passed his slow ass on a rocky section. Stubborn kid. There was one more guy in front of me and I closed in on him pretty quick and just followed him for a while. I yoyo'ed a bit but mostly set on his wheel for a while. I didn't want to use too much energy this early in the race to get in front of him and just give him a reason to go faster. We were starting to pass the single speed guys that started in front of us and some unusually slow CAT 1 guys. As we approached the back section of the course, my section of the course, I passed the CAT 2 kid and two more CAT 1's in a wide corner. We were on gravel path for a bit and I was keeping my lead. I gave the three of them the look back. I guess I really like doing this and giving people the challenge to follow me. While it wasn't intended to be a hard-ass move, it was. I wanted to check the guys number plate and make sure he was a CAT 2. He was. We hit the dirt single track and I was gone. I began pulling away and really establishing a lead. I came through the first lap well ahead of the entire CAT 2 field, dropped my bottle, grabbed two more, and headed back out for lap 2.

Lap two was more of the same. I knew I was leading so I didn't push as hard or take as many risk as I did on lap 1. I still had my lead and knew that I was the fastest on the back section of the course and could win it there even if someone did catch up to me. They didn't though. I was still catching and passing CAT 1's. That felt pretty sweet. I caught and passed Boomer who won yesterday's race. He was on a single speed, but he is seen as a great rider and one of the great Memphis Xterra athletes when I first started and I looked up to him. I was feeling pretty sweet and untouchable on the bike. I was closing in on the finish and getting ready and visualizing zipping up my jersey and riding across the line, hands in the air, dominating the field. I was also really looking forward to finishing so I could get some more water and cool off.

About half a mile before where the finish was supposed to be, I somehow got off course. I dismounted and trekked through the woods to where I thought the trail went. It wasn't there. So I trekked up to the road that I could see ahead. I saw a marshal and an entrance back to the trail. It was the wrong section though. As I started riding it, it looked really familiar. Too familiar. I came up on some more CAT 1's and asked if this was almost back to the finish. I knew it wasn't but I didn't want to face the truth yet. I was doing my third lap on the second half of the course. CRAP. I rode up to another section that I could see a gravel road from. I left the course and started trying to find my way back to the finish. Completely out of water by this time and really getting hot, this was hurting, both physically and mentally, searching for the trail that I had already ridden. I found my way back to the last section of trail before the finish and began to embark on the journey again. Little deja vu. I was approaching the finish this time and made the right turn. I don't know where it was or how I missed it the time before. It's just how it goes I guess. Really hurting by this time, but I found it in me to sprint past two guys in the finish line chute. After which, I collapsed and laid down under the sprinklers for a while. Very frustrating race, but for a while there I felt on top of the world. I felt fast, two days in a row!

Anyway, Live on to race another day and improve next year. Next race is in Gallatin on July 17th. I like that course so it should be a fun time. Look forward to that.
Finished 3rd in the CAT 2 19-29 age group.

Race Report: XTERRA Dawg Dayz

Venturing over to Little Rock for my fourth race of the season was a little rough. I had gone out the night before and was still feeling it on the car ride over. Thankfully my mom was driving and I could "rest" in the passenger seat. The effects were obvious when I was pre-riding the course. It was a sloppy ride, but I also wasn't the biggest fan of the trail. It was really dry and dusty and had many off camber sections with loose rocks. Combine this with the dust and mountain sides and it gets a little hairy. I slide out a few times and dropped my chain twice. The ride could have gone better.

Pre-ride done and packet picked up, I was headed to Luke Porter's house in Conway. He so graciously offered to let my mom and me stay with him for the weekend while we were racing. What a house! His family was very welcoming and made the trip a really good time. Everything I needed was taken care of and it was great. Dinner was awesome and the concoction of powdered peanut butter, almond milk, agave, banana, and oatmeal was a delicious post dinner/ pre race snack.

Up at 5:15 and we were ready to race. I managed to still get a good spot in transition even though I only got there an hour before the start. Having set up, kitted up, and hydrated, it was onto the warm up. I started by pre-riding a section of the run course. There was a pretty good hill at the beginning that would later come back to haunt me. Anyway, it was race time. Treading water for about 7 minutes while the race director talked wasn't the best way to start out, but I still managed to get off a good swim despite my lack of swim training since Southeastern's over a month ago. I came out of the water right behind my friend Steve Coal. I gave him a pat on the back and helped push him up the boat ramp so we could get out and onto the second part of the race. Running into transition, I saw Boomer Leopold putting on his shoes and getting ready to ride out. As I ran passed him, I gave him a slap on the butt and told him "Let's get after it." He made it out of T1 before I did, but as he went to mount his bike, his shoe stayed on the ground. He had to stop and re-lace the strap. I was off. When I covered the mile on the road and was hitting the trail I could see two people behind me and I asked the marshals how many were in front. Only One. Sweet deal. I started the ride out pretty hard and settled into a good pace. I had sections of fast pumping and sections of recovery. I could see the dust fill the air on the corners and knew I was closing in on the guy in front. I passed him before half-way through and was then just building on my lead. I knew the guys behind me were gunning for me though. There were several sets of switchbacks and I could hear and see people closing in at different times. It didn't matter. I kept them at bay and managed to have the fastest bike split of the day. More importantly, I accomplished my objective. Mission: keep the bike tire side down was a success. Amazing how fast you can go when you aren't stopping on the side of the trail to put yourself back together. I came into T2 by myself and headed out on the run in first place.

Starting out on the run was rough. It was hot and I was getting dehydrated. When I approached the first aid station at the top of that long climb, the person working the station was sitting in his chair across the road telling me which way to go as I was yelling at him where was the water. I had to grab my own cups and fill up my own water. The same thing happened at the next aid station too. Wasn't very happy about that. I kept trudging along though. I was suffering though and stopped at all the aid stations and dunked my head under the coolers and drank a good amount of water. I was over-heating and crashing. My lead was dwindling quickly. About 2 miles in, Boomer passed me. He was running well and I couldn't. I was starting to have to take walk breaks. I hadn't had a run this bad since Southeastern's. As I continued to get passed by more and more runners, my hopes kept dwindling. After I got passed by three people and I knew I wasn't going to podium, I really started slacking. It was hot and this was just not my race. I killed it on the bike and it killed me on the run.

I ended up finishing 5th overall. Not my best, but not terrible. I had a 36 minute run. That was pretty awful, but I felt like crap. I really have to focus on that if I want to be a contender in the future. This year just wasn't a good year running wise for me. I need more winter base miles and to not have surgery that takes me off my feet for two months in January.

After treading water for about 7 mins...

Not too shabby on my form

Riding side saddle

Host and competitor, Luke Porter

Race Report: XTERRA Lock 4 Blast

Lock 4 BLAST is absolutely right. I feel pretty confident saying this was the most fun I've had doing a race. Mostly because of the thunderstorm that occurred during it, but also the great trail systems and just having an all around good race.

Saturday I got off to a late start and didn't leave Cordova until 3:30 pm. I was pushing it to get there by 7pm for packet pick-up. I made it. Barely. I almost peed myself twice. After packet pick-up, I changed in the porta potty and headed out for some pre-riding. I felt kinda bad because it had been raining and I was expecting the trail to be pretty muddy. It was, but not as bad as I was expecting. It was fun to slide out in corners and in switchbacks. The few rock drops were a blast and super cush riding on 25 psi. I rode the bike course and the run course so I could refresh myself of what to expect. I rode up to my car at about 8:15 and was ready to load up, clean up, and grub. Damn.....I checked my saddle bag and it had come unzipped and my two gu's and my keys were gone. I usually carry my keys in my jersey pocket or leave them under the car, but I figured to be safe I should zip them in the saddle bag. Wrong. I started riding around the peninsula and looking for the white rubber keychain that held only two keys. It was quickly getting dark and I was getting desperate and about to panic. No luck, I headed back to the trail to start riding the first part again in hopes of finding them. About .5 mile into the trail I found my first gu. My hopes grew. I kept riding and searching the ground. About a .25 mile later, I found my other gu. Hope is rising. At this time it is too dark to ride and look, so I begin walking my bike leaning over the bars so I can see the ground as best I can. I kick or touch everything that appears white on the trail. I'm not going to miss them. As the music goes off at the race site and he is packing everything up, I finally find my keys. I am thrilled and so relieved. I start biking back out which at this point is night riding without a light; somehow, I was successful. I got back to my car just after 9 and began to load up. I washed the ridiculous amount of mud off my arms and legs with the water from the spicket of the water buffalo the director brought since there is no running water on the peninsula. Having done this, I stripped down by the car, dried off, and put my clothes back on. That was my shower, and I was off to Subway for some dinner.

My great pre race night of sleep was going to consist of whatever hours I could grab sitting in the front sit of my car at the entrance of the park. I had a friend I could have stayed with, but I didn't realize he lived an hour away from the race site. It just wasn't going to be worth the drive and getting up that much earlier for a real bed. I brought my camping stuff, but the place I was at had high grass and was already wet, more thunderstorms were supposed to be coming in too. So I leaned the seat back and turned on the ipod. Sleep didn't come easy. Between the heat, uncomfortable position, car headlights that tried to get into the park after hours, the storm that came through and having to get out and pee twice, I somehow got enough sleep to still race well.

I was up before 6am with the sunrise and the director coming into the park to get things rolling. I loaded up my stuff and headed down that way. I was the first one in transition. SCORE. Huge perk of sleeping right there at the race site. I took care of my pre race business and was set to go. About 30 minutes before the start, the director announced that the swim was going to be wetsuit legal. Score again. I hurried back to the car and grabbed my wetsuit. The rain was good for something at least. As the morning storm was approaching, the director hurried through the pre race meeting and got us into the water in hopes of finishing the swim before the lightning and rain started. It worked. I had a pretty good swim with the wetsuit. Saw just a few people beat me out of the water.

Now it's on to the bike. Being a wet trail and trying to ride too aggressive, I went down....quick....hard....and several times. I laid my bike down pretty hard 3 times within the first 1.5 miles. I would pass people only to crash and get passed right back. I eventually passed them all back except for one, supposedly he's going to be racing for the US team in Switzerland for World's. Who knows. So, after that last crash that moved my shifter and brake lever to the underside of my bar as I hit a tree and almost fell down into the lake, I decided to cool it and not break my bike, save something for the run. Well, I still went down two more times on that lap, but not quite as hard and mostly just because of the water and mud. On lap number two the storm was really hitting. And it was AWESOME. It was like being a kid and playing in the water and mud. The trail was flooding in some sections and it was just a blast. I went down once on the second lap in the same spot I went down the last time on the first lap. It was a tight, slick corner.

Anyway, coming into T2 I see another racer right in front of me. He enters before I do and I can hear him talking as he is changing shoes. "You're moving slow. You're moving slow." I'm pretty sure he was talking to himself. I hope. I beat him out of T2 and lead him on the run to the trail. At which point I expected to start losing it and watch him run on by. He didn't We kept running and splashing through the mud and twisty trail. As we exited the first lap, I was shocked that he was still right behind me. I don't run this well. How am I pacing this guy? We are side by side on the pavement to transition when I asked him who he was. Casey. Yes! I was hoping this was the famous Casey Fannin. I was pacing a great Xterra athlete the whole way on the first lap. I didn't expect it to last though. I figured he would run off around the peninsula and leave me behind. He didn't. We stuck together. We saw Craig exiting the woods and heading for the finish as we were heading back up the hill to hit the top of the trail for lap two. He was pretty far ahead. Casey and I chatted a bit and decided we were running for 2/3 behind Craig. What a race. Somehow I was still pacing him and he never made a move. I tried to play it smart though and hit some parts hard, climbs some hills fast on the balls of my feet, free fall down some hills, and slack and recover on certain sections. I wanted to have enough to out sprint him at the end. We splashed through puddles all the way out of the trail. I was beginning to feel confident. I had felt my quads starting to go towards the beginning of lap two and thought that was going to be it. It wasn't. I felt my right pinky toe begin to blister and the skin rip off. I thought that was going to be it, but it wasn't. I was running awesome. As we closed in on the finish line I began to pick it up. I looked back and asked him if he was ready to go. He didn't have it. He said go on and take it, so I did. I sprinted up to the finish and was uber stoked.

The final results: I won, well not really. I thought I was going to be, but Craig beat me. Officially he is a pro and doesn't race in my category, but not having a pro cat at this race, I consider him winning. On the podium it was Craig, me, and Casey. Great podium. I'll have to wait for another race to try for the ever fleeting overall win. Second for the second time this season. It's okay though. They didn't end up having a cash purse or even any special awards/plaques for the overall winners. I did win a free pair of Xterra trail shoes though. All in all, it was a great time.

Shout out to Blake Amos and his family for hosting me for the afternoon and feeding me. It was some great family time with someone else's family for the Sunday afternoon.

Back on the Horse

It's been a while since I've ridden my mountain bike. She has been neglected since the Southeastern race: over three weeks! However, it was a great time riding Azriel today. I also tried something new. I road with 5 fewer pounds of pressure in the tires than I ever have. It was pretty weird at first. It felt really squishy, but I was really digging it by the end of the third lap. Not sure if it was my time away from the trail, or if the lower pressure actually made me faster. Either way, there were times it felt like I was flying through there. Definitely, will stick to this pressure on future rides and see if my times improve; cornering felt a little more stable too, but then again I didn't push it too hard, i.e. I didn't crash.

I will note that I might have been poisoning myself on the ride just in case I get sick later tonight. The camelbak I took with me had been just as neglected as Azriel. I hadn't touched it since I brought it home from the race in Alabama. It was still sealed up with the remaining HEED I drank that day. I didn't see any large spots of mold in it, but for good measure I rinsed it out a few times and then put some bleach in there. After shaking that around for a minute, I began rinsing it out again. I don't know if it was the stagnant condition, mold in the bladder or bite valve, or too much bleach left in the bag, but it tasted pretty funky. I didn't care though. It was cold water and it was hot. My clothes were soaked and after three refills and a Powerade I still didn't have to pee.

And as always, I take note of the animals I see. I can't help it; if I see a snake on the trail, then I always get off and play with it for a bit. I saw two turtles in the middle of the trail too. The second one was as I was coming around a corner and had to pull some quick maneuvering skills to avoid him and not crash. On my "run" I saw a rotten out turtle shell and eventually a tick. The tick was lodge into my right thigh. I let him get his fill while I traveled back home, then I roasted him and picked his dead body off with some tweezers .

After the great training I fired up the grill and made some dinner. Uber success. The grilled squash and zucchini brushed with extra virgin olive oil, season salt, and fresh crushed pepper was amazing. The fish was pretty good too.

After I fried him with the lighter. Hair was collateral damage.

I like the head wind

Heat acclimatization put up a great fight today, and finally got me to cramp in the last 15 minutes of the 3 hour ride. I had run out of water at this point though. In the end, I made it my bitch.

After a relaxing morning, I settled into the saddle around 12:30 for some warm training. I need to be able to ride and race in the heat and this seemed like the best time. The winds and travelling over 19 mph really helped keep my body cool. By the end, it wasn't helping enough though. It was getting hot. But like I said earlier, "Today, I will get tan lines. If it doesn't hurt, it doesn't count. Should be fun" Well, it counted. My legs still feel weak and shaky. It's a great feeling I haven't had in a while. I also accomplished the tan line mission. It takes hard work to look that good. 


I also found out that the fire station is not the best place to stop and refill on water. They were pretty unwelcoming and never said a word to me, just stared. I think I'll stick to stopping by churches where they asked me to come inside and cool off and drink from the fountain. It was a nice break. 


A ride is never complete without some encounters with nature. I love when bright, blue finches fly in front of me. It's fun to follow their colors through the trees. I also saw a large hawk gliding and blue bird. The snake was most fun though. Doing a second lap on a road, I noticed something black laying across my pathway. After entertaining me for a bit, he finally dashed off into the shrubs before I could take his picture. 

Why I Need More Days Off

Today was another great day off. I woke up at 5:26am; my alarm is set for weird times. The clock is also set about 7 minutes fast; nothing is precise in there. After turning the coffee on, Scrappy and I went out to breath in the morning air. Breakfast done, I was on my way down to the U of M pool for an early morning swim. The swim could have gone better. As I noted earlier: "My shoulder joints feel like they are filled with mud and my arms are moving through sand, not water." But the day goes on. I traveled down to the American Red Cross to begin my CPR / 1st Aid training that I need to complete for PT school. The program went a little long due to some recent changes with the Red Cross and a lack of updating the website. 


I managed to make it back home in time to head out to the Millington Navy Base; although, lunch consisted of pretzels, peanut butter, and nutella eaten in the car on the way out there. I made it close to on time for my eye doctor appointment. After an hour there and having my eyes dilated, I headed over to the Millington DMV. It was a challenge trying to read my phone or fill out the forms at the center. I had to hold the forms out at arms reach to try to read it, but I still had to wait an hour or so before I could manage to squint to make out all the words and fill out the form completely. 


I got home after 6 and really just wanted to sit down and take a nap. Instead, I went out to the garden to improve my cucumber situation; they are growing all over the place. I set up some more frames and tied up some of the plants. It looks better. I also found two decently sized cucumbers. They could have grown more, but I couldn't hold back. I had to pick them. The first one was delicious and the whole back yard now smells like cucumbers after working out there for over two hours. 


I went for a four mile run to get in a little more mileage and then cut my hair on the back porch. Maybe now I'll get around to eating another solid meal; probably just another cucumber and then some sauteed squash and zucchini. The garden is flourishing!


Only one thing could make today even better.....