Tour de Tick - I Never Learn

The family and I went down to Neosho, MO for the Le Tour De Tick. We stayed with Gerard, Leonard and Neil at a nice line KOA campsite in Joplin. We opted to rent a cabin instead of camping out in the tent. Good idea because during the winds picked up and it sounded like a hurricane outside. It was a good time except for one two many beers and eating to much. More on that later.

This past week I finally went to the doctor for the pain in my chest I have been having. For the past month I have had chest pain, especially when I was stretching after a workout or during yoga. I was not to concerned, but Carolynn insisted I go get checked out. After a ECG came back o.k. an x-ray was taken. Appears I have a small fracture in my chest cavity. Must of been that crash back in February that I had forgotten all about. I shouldn't even be racing, but I guess I never learn..

I was glad the morning came when it did because I couldn't take getting up anymore. I awakened 6 times to 'relieve' myself. I guess I drank a few two many beers.....Carolynn cooked waffle's, eggs and sausage for breakfast. I usually don't eat much the morning of a race because when I do I always have a bad outcome. Well, I don't know what got into me, but I ate 3 waffles, 4 sausages and a 1/2 plate full of eggs. To top things off, I went ahead and consumed my normal pre-race meal: Cliffbar and my RaceLoad drink mix. Well I guess I never learn because I had a very bad event and fought off vomiting for most of the race. My stomach couldn't digest all that food by the 12:30pm start time. I rode as hard as I could without getting sick to my stomach. At one point a piece of horse shit (why they let horses on this trail is beyond me) flew into my mouth and I just about threw up. Which in hind site would have been a great idea.

On the bright side, Christopher and Carolynn both won and lead their prospective classes. Next Fat Tire round is Rhett's Run. Hopefully I will follow my proven pre-race plan and have a better day.

Lunatic Fringe - Mud Madness

Heather always seems to get the good weather. Well good weather for me, not a race promoter. The weather in April has been more like January weather with freezing temps and even snow on race morning. Some parts for the metro got 3 inches of snow. A perfect day for the Lunatic Fringe Duathlon :-)

As some area events were cancelled due to the conditions, the Lunatic Fringe went on as planned. About 70 racers showed up to battle the snow, rain, mud and each other on the trails of Smithville Lake.

I was feeling good this morning. Mainly because I didn't have much to worry about and only had to help setup the transition area, run course and finishing area. Usually I am so tired come race time that I have a poor performance. But today my legs felt good.




The first run I kept a good pace. I was about 30th overall, but I knew I would be faster that most in the muddy conditions. After a quick transition I started passing others. That was until I ran into the leading women rider. I should say crashed into. Leeann went down just as I was passing her and I t-boned her bike Ended up breaking a front spoke on her pedals.

After my little mishap I just put it on cruise control and slowly rode steady. The conditions were very slick and if you went to fast you went down. However you did have to ride fast enough to keep "on top" of the mud and not bog down. By the 1/2 point I had worked my way up to 5th overall. I still had about 4 min to close down on the leaders due to my slow run, but I was making good progress.






At points I was wishing I was on a geared bike. Every time we hit some double track or a short road section I was spinning like mad. I must have been over 175 rpm. I was still making progress and caught up to Tony Raboin at about the 6 mile mark on the bike. Once I got by him I set me sites on Juraj Trubiroha. I had just caught him when we came to a spot of the course that had been marked wrong. I had to stop and move the tape and open the correct trail. The first three riders luckily went the correct way, but I knew most others would not. This lost me about a minute of time. I went as hard has I could and finally caught Juraj in the rather fast muddy spot. As I yelled to go past he tried to block me and went down taking both of us with him. Man I was pissed to say the lest

I ended up finishing the bike in 3rd place overall. I had the second fastest bike split with a 54:27. Just 2 miniutes off Shad's fastest bike slit of 52:55. Give me back the time I spent fixing the course and Juraj taking me out and I may have had the fastest bike split. Speaking of bike spits. The course was hard. Some riders took over 2 hours to finish the bike leg.

Once on the run I put it on cruise control again. I had wasted my legs afterJuraj took me out (did I mention that before.....) trying to make up time and they were very heavy at this point. Both Juraj and Rabion was able to run me down during the final 2 mile run (Run was actually 1.8 miles but don't tell anyone). I still ended up winning the Male 40-49 age-group and taking 5th place overall. Not bad for an old man riding a single speed like myself.

Fat Tire Series Ends

The 2007 Fat Tire Duathlon Series comes to an end this weekend. It has been a long road promoting and racing these fine events. I've meet a few new friends and found out who my "real" friends are. I've spent way to many hours worring about details that I don't have any control over - will it rain, will the course be muddy, what if someone gets hurt, etc. Was it worth it? Hell no! Will I continue? I've already have the dates for 2008.....

The final event of the series is the Lunatic Fringe Duathlon. This years event moves to the new Smithville Lake MTB trails. If you have never ridden there you are missing some of the best trails in Missouri. Currently there is about 12 miles of trail. Saturday's duathlon will use all of the trails during its 2 mile trail run / 10 mile mountain bike / 2 mile trail run. Check out www.fattireduathlon.com for more info.

Short review of the God's Country events: Saturday's duathlon was well attended despite all the rain leading up to the event. The Lawrence River Trails, which were designed and built by the Lawrence Mountain Bike Club, were dry for the most part. A few "slimy" spots on the return trip, but for the most part in fine shape. Here are the results from the 6th Annual God's Country Duathlon.

Sunday's MTB race was a real scare. The trails were so fast and riders were riding in packs that it was more like an off-road criterium. The ambulance was called in 3 times. The first time they arrived it was for my good teammate Leonard Lastine. He was leading the Beginner Men 30 - 39 class by a good margin when he got a little "cocky" and hit this little jump at about mile 1 of his second lap. He went over the bars and hit his head good. He was knocked out and moaning in the woods when a fellow racer stopped to help him out.....the second call was for a lady who broke her wrist during a fall. She to got a little "cocky" and took a corner wide open.