A Day at Slaughter Pen

While we were down in Belle Vista, AR enjoying a fine weekend of mountain bike riding I recorded some video.  Below is my first attempt at video editing and combining my Go Pro files.  I think I can get the hang of the program I am using and look forward to creating some cool movies from races, gravel grinders and life...

Down and Out

The family took advantage of some dry single track and milder temperatures up in Smithville today.  We all really like the trails up there and usually have a very fun ride.  I know the trails like the back of my hand and at times I seem to push the pace and ride on the edge because I feel so comfortable out on the trails.  Today I went over that edge.

Things started off a little slow for me today, maybe my age is starting to show.  Christopher on the other hand was out of the gate and attacking Lakeside Speedway like it was a race.  His new Anthem 29er was just floating over the rocky sections of this part of the trail.   He actually had to wait up for me a couple of times.  Once we got through Neal's we took the pavement back up to join into Posson Trot (basically we were running the old Bone Bender course).  By then I was really warmed up and passed Christopher and started to pace us.  I wanted to do a tempo ride anyway.  Once we crossed the paved trail and bombed down to the creek bed Christopher got a stick in his rear wheel and had to stop.  I continued on and actually picked up the pace because I really enjoy this part of Posson Trot.  Well, I guess I got carried away and ended up going down really hard and hitting my head.  I do not remember everything, but I do remember wheeling over the large log and beginning to lift my rear tire over to clear it.  I guess I started pedaling a little too soon and clipped the log which catapulted me into the air and over the bars. I hit the right side of my head really hard.  I have a nice big dent in my Rudy Project helmet to prove it.  Luckily the helmet did its job and protected me from serious injury, but I was unconscious for about 20 to 30 seconds.  I think the last time I broke a helmet  and was knocked out was during the Branch Oak 12 Hour Mountain Bike race up in Nebraska.  You can see the results from that crash below.

Back to today.  Christopher catches up to me after he removed the stick from his wheel set. When he gets to me I am laying flat out on the ground.  He thinks I am playing around and asked if I was "Taking a break"  I am starting  to come to at that point and slowly get up and check to see if I have any serious injuries. I did not, but what if I did.  I asked Christopher what would he have done if I did not get up.  He said he did not know. He would most likely move me to the side of the trail and then go get help.  What if I had a broken neck I said?

What do you do?  Heck, I do not know either.  It has been many, many years since I attended any CPR/First Aid training.  As I started to feel a little better we continued on with the ride.  We met up with Shane and Cliff and stopped for a few minutes.  Cliff asked me if my eyes where dilated.  Cliff is a Trail Patrol member so he knows a thing or two about first aid.   After we left them I decided that I was going to become a Trail Patrol member this year.  With some of the stuff we do I need to be able to handle emergency situations and be able to administer first aid to a fallen rider, especially if that fallen ride happens to be a family member.  

MTB Winter Training Camp

The family took a short trip south this weekend for our annual winter "MTB Winter Training Camp".   Not  many better places around here to ride than Arkansas, especially in the winter.

Christopher just picked up a new Giant Anthem X29 from The Wheel Cyclery.  He has abused my old Anthem 26er for the past year and it was time for him to get his own rig.  He absolutely loved it which was painful for me.  I honestly could not keep up with him on the up hills and when things got really technical. 

He wasted no time in testing to see if it would hold up to his abuse.  He hit every drop off Slaughter Pen had to offer.  Me, I took the Sally line most of the time around these drop offs.  It is very funny to him that I will not ride off and/or jump my bicycle, but will jump just about anything or drop down near vertical wall on my motorcycle.  I do not understand it either.  All I can say is I feel in control on a motorcycle.

Saturday was spent riding Slaughter Pen.  We got in several hours of great training for our first big MTB test of 2013 -  The Ouachita Challenge. 

At the suggestion of my friend Tim Greene, we headed to the Blowing Springs Mountain Bike Trails on Sunday.   What a great trail system.  The trail has great views and a wide variety of terrain.  Carolynn had a blast and rode well the entire weekend.  We might have to sign her up for the OC instead of having her work the sag crew. 

If you are ever down in Bella Vista, AR, be sure to hit the Blowing Springs trails.  We plan to ride them again in April on the way down to Oden.  Here is the complete Slaughter Pen and Blowing Springs photo album.

Old God's Country Results

Found this old report with results from over a decade ago while recovering data from a hard drive.  I remember that day very well and also remember some of the below names.  Good times....

The 2nd Annual God's Country Off-Road Duathlon was a huge success.  With over 150 racers this year.  Everyone enjoyed the cool weather, fun course and great food. 

In the short course, Tim Fisher opened up a large lead on the first trail run.  Chris Locke, riding a single speed,  used his knowledge of the Lawrence River Trails  to close to within seconds of the leader.  Both were in the transition together and stayed close on the run until Fisher used his good running form to take the win.....On the women's side, Jean Lucas used her strong biking skills to open up a large lead on Dawn Clements.  Dawn was able to close it down to within 30 seconds at the end.

In the long course,  the fastest time of the day was turned in by the male relay team of Bill Marshall & Lance Sulzen.  They were closely followed by the overall men's winner Tige Lamb.  Lamb easily won today's event over Nicholas Baldwin.  Glenda Taylor makes it two years in a row.  Taylor, who also is a masters racers, used her cycling fitness to her advantage to win over Laura Cheek.  Cheek ended with second overall - 1st 30 - 39 Female.

Complete results can be found at:

http://multisportmarketing.tripod.com/  or

http://www.transitiontimes.com/localnews.cfm?local=Missouri

Race #	Name	Time	Age-Groug Place	Course
139	Tim Fisher	49.22	1st Overall Male	Short
2	Chris Locke	50.08	1st Single Speed	Short
157	Thom Leonard	53.49	1st 50+ Male	Short
133	Allyn Smith	55.17	1st 35 - 39 Male	Short
138	Carl Bruggeman	56.04	2nd 35 - 39 Male	Short
36	Tony Layton	56.16	1st 40 - 44 Male	Short
112	Jean Lucas	58.06	1st Overall Female	Short
134	Dawn Clements	58.23	1st 25 - 29 Female	Short
150	Mike Lacy	59.10	1st  45 - 49 Male	Short
28	Kevin Henderson	1.00.15	3rd 35 - 39 Male	Short
72	Cody Barnett	1.00.27	4th 35 - 39 Male	Short
29	Peter Henderson	1.01.01	5th 35 - 39 Male	Short
77	Nathan Curtis	1.01.06	1st 20  - 29 Male	Short
132	Allison Adams	1.01.12	1st 30 - 39 Female	Short
128	Steve Obermueller	1.01.15	2nd 45 - 49 Male	Short
122	Brad Storm	1.01.35	3rd 45 - 49 Male	Short
126	Nicole Kirby	1.01.38	2nd 25 - 29 Female	Short
161	Larry Kietzman	1.01.44	2nd 50 + Male	Short
141	Elizabeth White	1.02.01	1st 20 - 24 Female	Short
34	Lance Lane	1.02.24	6th 35 - 39 Male	Short
46	Charles Newton	1.02.38	7th 35 - 39 Male	Short
40	Mike Lynch	1.02.42	4th 45 - 49 Male	Short
47	Karen Owens	1.04.14	2nd 20 - 24 Female	Short
73	Jonathan Bubalo	1.04.48	2nd 20 - 29 Male	Short
24	Zach Hagan	1.04.58	3rd 20 - 29 Male	Short
5	Chad Babcock	1.05.22	1st 30 - 34 Male	Short
140	Christopher Mesekewren	1..05.25	8th 35 - 39 Male	Short
57	Buzz taylor	1.05.59	5th 45 - 49 Male	Short
63	Mark Wolff	1.06.49	4th 20 - 29 Male	Short
52	Judith Russell	1.07.00	1st 40 - 49 Female	Short
129	Clarie Brook	1.07.07	3rd 25 - 29 Female	Short
121	Dave Shultz	1.07.25	2nd 30 - 34 Male	Short
119	Brandi Resa	1.07.38	2nd 30 - 39 Female	Short
6	Jody Bailey	1.07.41	6th 45 - 49 Male	Short
42	Ron Marah	1.08.12	7th 45 - 49 Male	Short
30	Shelly Kampschroeder	1.08.46	3rd 30 - 39 Female	Short
32	Vickie Lamb	1.08.47	4th 30 - 39 Female	Short
75	Jill Chalupa	1.09.53	5th 30 - 39 Female	Short
146	Charlie Stein	1.11.06	9th 35 - 39 Male	Short
65	Brain Wyman	1.11.13	2th 40 - 44 Male	Short
144	Ian Lyles	1.11.15	10th 35 - 39 Male	Short
39	Dale Lybarger	1.11.36	3rd 50 + Male	Short
105	Marti Gooch	1.11.47	3rd 40 - 44 Male	Short
152	Ted Colbryn	1.13.10	4th 40 - 44 Male	Short
108	Katie Helwig	1.13.17	3rd  20 - 25 Female	Short
115	Larry Munger	1.13.18	3rd 30 - 34 Male	Short
59	Brain Weese	1.17.04	5th 20 - 29 Male	Short
153	Scott Mills	1.19.05	11th 35 - 39 Male	Short
107	Julio Grapa	1.19.50	4th 30 - 34 Male	Short
70	Jill  Aleman	1.21.17	2nd 40 - 49 Female	Short
69	Stephan Aleman	1.21.18	8th 45 - 49 Male	Short
51	Alan Robertson	1.22.56	5th 30 - 34 Male	Short
155	Carrie Maclellan	1.23.00	4th 25 - 29 Female	Short
23	Gloria Griffin	1.23.17	6th 30 - 39 Female	Short
151	Nicole Litten	1.28.06	5th 25 - 29 Female	Short
154	Laura Hogue	1.28.07	6th 25 - 29 Female	Short
43	Jean McGuire	1.29.58	3rd 40 - 49 Female	Short
156	Maisie Gibson	1.29.59	7th 25 - 29 Female	Short
89	Bill Marshall/ Lance Sulzen	1.30.24	1st Male Relay	Long
33	Tige Lamb	1.35.47	1st Overall Male	Long
83	Rikki Hacker/Craig Sullivan	1.35.59	2nd Male Relay	Long
80	Mike Goodwin/Gerard Arantowicz	1.36.18	3rd Male Relay	Long
137	Nicholas Baldwin	1.47.39	1st 25 - 29 Male	Long
3	Damian Almanza	1.47.48	1st 30 - 34 Male	Long
76	Mike Classen	1.40.02	1st 40 - 49 Male	Long
142	Greg Dunlap	1.40.09	2nd 25 - 29 Male	Long
120	Hector Rios	1.41.03	1st 35 - 39 Male	Long
145	Eric Nelson	1.41.20	2nd 35 - 39 Male	Long
163	Lyle Riedy	1.44.11	2nd 40 - 49 Male	Long
9	Rich Carstensen	1.44.17	2nd 30 - 34 Male	Long
79	Paul Freeman	1.45.47	3rd 30 - 34 Male	Long
124	Ken Welsh	1.45.58	3rd 35 - 39 Male	Long
27	Rob Hays	1.46.18	4th 35 - 39 Male	Long
78	Jason Fife	1.47.14	3rd 25 - 29 Male	Long
123	Thomas Trusdale	1.47.43	1st 50+ Male	Long
90	Sid Dening/Dave Burnett	1.49.44	4th Male Relay	Long
68	Glenda Taylor	1.49.57	1st Overall Female	Long
147	Ken Giefer	1.50.06	2nd 50 + Male	Long
17	Jason Elsenraat	1.51.33	4th 25 - 29 Male	Long
88	Liz Hellmann/Roland Varga	1.52.36	1st Co-ed Relay	Long
55	Rick Smith	1.52.38	4th 30 - 34 Male	Long
38	Aaron Luffman	1.52.41	5th 25 - 29 Male	Long
86	Nissa Perry/David Pitt	1.53.05	2nd Co-ed Relay	Long
114	James Meeks	1.53.55	5th 35 - 39 Male	Long
50	Mike Robers	1.54.25	5th 30 -34 Male	Long
106	Deron Graham	1.54.56	6th 25 - 29 Male	Long
81	Kevin Allen/Don Austin	1.55.54	5th Male Relay	Long
12	Rober Cordray	1.55.59	6th 30 - 34 Male	Long
10	Laura Cheek	1.56.09	1st 30 - 39 Female	Long
7	Mike Burns	1.56.10	7th 30 - 34 Male	Long
162	Todd Koch	1.56.53	8th 30 - 34 Male	Long
127	Dan Carter	1.57.04	3rd 40 - 49 Male	Long
25	Jeff Hall	1.57.06	4th 40 - 49 Male	Long
136	Chris Joseph	1.57.28	1st Single Speed	Long
8	Wayman Caldwell	1.57.33	9th 30 - 34 Male	Long
158	Dwight Davis	1.58.30	7th 25 - 29 Male	Long
53	Hugh Ryan	1.58.46	10th 30 - 34 Male	Long
143	Richard Johnson	1.59.16	11th 30 - 34 Male	Long
87	Debbie Speer	2.00.04	1st 20 - 29 Female	Long
117	Ed Nelson	2.00.25	6th 35 - 39 Male	Long
31	Steven Carney	2.00.36	7th 35 - 39 Male	Long
135	Eric Struckhoff	2.02.55	8th 35 - 39 Male	Long
84	Phil Kelsey/Paul Small	2.03.28	6th Male Relay	Long
91	Tucker Kelsey/Trent Kelsey	2.03.50	7th Male Relay	Long
11	Jim Christian	2.05.06	9th 35 - 39 Male	Long
62	Kent Wilson	2.05.10	5th 40 - 49 Male	Long
37	Frank Long	2.06.46	8th 25 - 29 Male	Long
74	Casey Caughron	2.07.47	9th 25 - 29 Male	Long
66	Nikki Browning	2.07.51	2nd 20 - 29 Female	Long
110	Brendon Jenks	2.08.15	12th 30 - 34 Male	Long
82	Katherin Mountain/Jamie Boring	2.08.21	1st Female Relay	Long
71	Jeff Allen	2.08.27	10th 25 - 29 Male	Long
45	Ted Moore	2.09.41	13th 30 - 34 Male	Long
149	Bill Longergan	2.10.08	10th 35 - 39 Male	Long
125	Paul Yurchak	2.10.25	11th 35 - 39 Male	Long
19	Ed Fonner, Jr	2.10.56	3rd 50 + Male	Long
56	Jefferey Sutton	2.11.35	6th 40 - 49 Male	Long
15	Tony Dorrell	2.15.01	12th 35 - 39 Male	Long
160	Jay Claussen	2.16.07	14th 30 - 34 Male	Long
148	Christy Longergan	2.16.22	2nd 30 - 39 Female	Long
20	Scott Freeman	2.16.23	7th 40 - 49 Male	Long
113	Kristopher McGinley	2.17.47	11th 25 - 29 Male	Long
61	Graydon Wilson	2.18.21	13th 35 - 39 Male	Long
44	Todd Miller	2.21.13	14th 35 - 39 Male	Long
118	Ron Peterson	2.23.43	15th 35 - 39 Male	Long
159	Mike Laurie	DNF
49	Brent Radke	DNF
41	George Macgregor	DNF
109	Eric Hill	DNF
111	Eric Kirchhofer	DNF
116	Eric Nelson	DNF
4	David Andrews	DNF
13	Kimberly Cowen	DNF
14	David Culkin	DNF
18	Susanne Evers	DNF
21	Jason Gerke	DNF
22	Colleen Gerke	DNF
35	Kirsten Larson	DNS
26	Brayan Hayes	DNS
54	Mark Sims	DNS
58	Sherri Wattenbager	DNS
64	Mathew Woody	DNS
100	Phil Gronniger	DNS