Changes to God's Country and Bone Bender

I sit here on this Sunday morning working.  Little bit of everything.  I usually have my year all planned out by now, but this year I have really been contemplating several changes and I am behind. Most of these changes are in what I do for fun which is usually outside riding - bicycles, gravel, motorcycles, single track, snow, etc. It doesn't matter what form, I enjoy it all.  As you know one of my biggest passions has always been racing.  You need people to put on these races and this is why I have been promoting races for over 12 years now.  There are only a few that will actually step up and make an event happen.   I mostly do it to give back to the sports I love.

The first change would be to one of the first events I ever helped promote - God's Country.   Gerard and I put on the first God's Country Off-Road Duathlon in 2001.  The turnout was very low.  This was most likely due to the torrential storms the night before and that the course was very technical since it was at Clinton Lake.

 Back then I knew a change in location was required for this event to succeed.  We moved the event to its current home of the Lawrence River Trails.  Long and Short course options were also added.  These changes proved to be very successful with nearly 225 participants in 2002. To this day Anita will still not help with race day registration due to all the people we had signup on race morning.

A couple of years ago we changed the name of our event to God's Country Fat Tire Festival.  The plan was a weekend of fun with several events.  Last years duathlon was again a success, but the cross country race was not very well attended as in previous years.   Was it due to lack of demand for those type of events?  Is March too early for a traditional cross country race?  One very important thing that must be present for an event to succeed is passion for that type of racing.  Luckily there were riders with passion that did come out last year and this is the only reason I am continuing on with this event with a little change this year.  The festival will be reduced to one day.  Our two main events will be the off-road duathlon in the morning and a mountain bike time trial in the afternoon. We also have plans for a short track mountain bike race to be added in the future if demand for early season mountain bike racing increases.  There are a lot of people in this region that enjoy off-road running and cycling.  We just need more of them to come out and try racing.  Hopefully these format changes will encourage more participation.

The second change will be the format of the Bone Bender mountain bike race.  Traditionally this event has been a 3/6 hour mountain bike race with solo and relay teams. The demand years ago for these timed events was high, but over the last couple of years timed distance events have fallen in favor of distance events.   This was actually my original idea when this event was created anyway.

The 6th Annual Bone Bender Mountain Bike Challenge will be a 50 to 60 Kilometer race (depending on final course).  Heather and I decided on this distance based on past demand and how long it would take the typical mountain bike athlete to complete this distance on the North Shore Trails of Clinton Lake State Park.  We will have a shorter course option available for beginners.  I believe this change will be positive and allow participants to set a personal challenge to meet. Complete details with be coming out later this month. 

Motoring at Melvern

Round #11 of the Forward Motion Series was this past weekend.  It has been a long season, but I have truly enjoyed going to all the rounds, spending time with my family, riding new trails,  meeting new people and developing friendships.

The Melvern course is very fun, flows very well and is great for beginners.  One of the top reasons I like this course is it has an Endurocross course at the end that allows us to get some air time and also allows easy passing.  Hitting some of those jumps sure did bring back some fond memories.   We got rain on Saturday which made the course a little slick in the morning, but after a few laps the course was in awesome shape and you could really rail the corners - see below.

Jason Schupp got his new KX450 last week and joined in the fun at Melvern.  It is amazing how many of my friends (past and present) have raced or ridden dirt bikes.  Some never left and continued to ride while others are just now getting back into this great sport.

After we signed up we were all ready to get out and do a practice lap. If you are interested in how the course was, check out our recon lap.  I took an easy lap for the most part checking out any possible passing lines. It's truly a very fun course for beginners.

'ss
After our warmup lap we made fun of Jason for stalling, discussed the course and got ready to race.  The series has been going well so far.  If I won today I could wrap up the series title. Christopher is in a heated battle with Tom Younguist, Jeff Buckingham, Tony Toman and Steve Stickney. All have had good and bad days and the final rounds will decide the championship.  

Christopher and Jason lined up for the start of the Trailrider class.  35 riders in the class today.  Christopher said he had some great starting technique that he learned from some others in his class.  Hopefully it would work out for him.

I lined up with a straight shot at the first turn and used my patented starting technique.  Result was another clean holeshot. 

Christopher used his technique that some other rider taught him. Result was a terrible start near the back of the field.  I wonder who he needs to start listening to and getting his advice from?

I cruised out front and was able to run my own pace until I caught up with some 700 and 600 riders.  This little section above gave me fits all day long along with a few riders.  Most fellow riders allowed a quick pass, but there were a few that fought you like it was the Motocross of Nations and if they allowed me to pass their country would lose.  One guy actually stopped in a tight corner and leaned into me so I could not pass. Crap like that makes me want to walk away from racing all together. 

I feel the majority of the crashes happen when trying to overtake another rider.  That is sometimes hard and dangerous when on a trail.  It does not have to be dangerous however if riders would just listen to the race day instructions which state "move over when getting a 'gentle' hint from someone out of your class"  On the second lap I came up on a fallen rider who ended up needed medical attention.  When I see that stuff  it really makes me think hard about racing and end up really slowing down and riding totally within myself.  Now if only I could get by riders without them trying to take me down. 

I sure as heck do not want to end up having to wear a neck brace like Carl in the above picture.   I  hope Carl is just wearing a brace for protection and not because he is riding injured.

Christoper spent the day trying to work his way up through the pack.  He takes his time and only passes when it is safe which is a good thing.

Jason spent the day stalling and having to restart his big bore KX.  I had personal experience with this as I came up on Jason twice today and both times he was stalled.  With time I know Jason will be rolling along fine and doing great!

The Endurocross section was fun for me today.  The logs were not really that big and I now have the technique down.

The big tires are always tricky.  Again it is all about technique and respecting them.  Hit them too hard and off balance and you will pay big time.

The tires and whoops were the only sections of the Endurocross course that Christopher had down.  He has improved greatly from the first time he hit them over in Big Springs.  Each lap he would get better and move up in the field.

Like I mentioned above, the course was very fun.  Some cool features like riding through this old barn.

Christopher put his head down and really charged the last lap.  Actually setting the fastest lap of the day once he got a clear track in front of him.  A 21:41 lap which is just about my pace for the day.  Now if we could just get him to listen to his old man and get his starts down.

I was able to get a good start and ride out front all day.   In the end I got 1st on the day and it looks like I should be able to win the series championship with that this win.

When the checkered flag flew Christopher had worked his way up to 6th place. Jason took a 24th place.    Christopher is still in that heated battle in the Trailrider class.  Regardless of the outcome, I think he has had fun this year.  Hopefully he will remember all the experiences and learn from them.

Kansas City Cup Race Report

Sunday was the Kansas City Cup and a return to racing at Landahl. It has been several years since we raced there and I do miss it. A great trail system with a little bit of everything. I hope the event raised enough money and sparked a continued desire to have move races out there. Hopefully by the next event I will be able to actually ride at my ability level...

Riding like a little girl... The past weeks training went well. I felt good on the mountain bike and my shoulder is getting strong enough that I can even ride technical sections without too much pain - still some but not bad. After Thursday's pre-ride of the course with Rich I was pumped about racing the KC Cup on one of my favorite trail systems.....then mother nature sheds a few tears and turns our once perfect course into a slick little bastard. Usually I ride well on wet courses, but not the slick rocks of Rim Job. I was hoping by race time the course would dry out and most of it did. Rim Job did not and this was my undoing.....Doug Long called us to the line and I was surprised to get on the front row with my teammate Damian. Damian and I had just got back from pre-riding parts of the course and I felt good so I stayed there not really knowing if I had the form to keep up with the front runners. The question was answered very quickly as the horn was blown. The race was on and I sprinted along with everyone else to the first section of single track. Only my current sprinting pace is not at an "Expert" level. I quickly fell towards the rear but still kept the effort high enough to keep attached to the last rider. The experts were going 3 laps and my plan was to run consistent lap times and hopefully end the day well. Most everyone else did not have the same plan as I and soon there was a gap and a pack of riders behind me. After several minutes one of the riders yelled out "can we get by Cow Town?" No problem was my answer and soon a small group of riders including eventual overall winner Aaron Elwell went flying by. I settled down into my pace and even passed back several riders. In reality I was not riding that bad and as we exited Wills and heading up the double track I could see a dozen riders that I was hoping to catch up once we hit Rim Job. I usually fare very well there and was optimistic. That was until I hit that first slick ass rock on Rim Job and about busted my butt. I quickly have visions of another shoulder surgery if I was to crash. This caused me to ride really tight. My teammate Ashley Blum, who would go on to win his age division and the Missouri State Championship title, caught up to me at the end of Rim Job and said I was "riding like a little girl" and to relax. Let if flow he said has he went by on the way to victory. As for me, I continued to ride like that little girl and finished the day safely. Better to arrive safely and live to fight anther day.

Everyone likes to be in pictures....Carolynn took some pictures of the days action. Here finger was still hurting so she only took a limited amount.

KC Cup

Bone Bender Rocks Clinton

The 3rd Annual Bone Bender 3/6 Hour MTB Odyssey is complete. It was a lot of hard work, but it appeared most everyone enjoyed themselves. Well, except for that run up from the beach :-)

It takes a lot of help to hold top notch events and our crew did awesome. Heather and crew rocked the registration and results. Thanks to the Cow Town Cycling Team, The Wheel Cyclery, Lawrence Mountain Bike Club, Mountain Bike Patrol and the Kansas Trails Council/Clinton Lake State Park for allowing us to host our event on their trails.

What did you guys think of those trails? I wish I was able to race. They looked perfect. Thanks to Jeff Arnaud for designing such a killer course.

I really want to thank the cycling community for all their support. Without all of you events like the BB36 would not happen. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported mountain biking and our trails.

The last person I want to thank is my wife Carolynn. She busted her butt for several days getting ready to feed 300+ people. She did a great job I think. Also Thanks to Art King and Ann Pai for helping serve up the food all day long.

Results

Some pictures from today's BB36.

Bone Bender v3

Racing Begins...

...without me :-(.

One of my favorite events got the ole racing blood stirring last weekend. CIRREM was held up in Iowa. Over 60 miles of snowy gravel goodness and I was not even allowed to participate. A couple of my Cow Town teammates made the venture up with John Williams breaking into the top 10 with an 8th. Results and some pictures of the gravel fun.

The Swope Short track series got underway with Columbia's Jonathan Schottler taking the win over our own JP Brocket. Brett wants to know where the hell everyone was. I would have been there dude, but you do not have a class for a trike. If you did, I would be there...

Spring Flings began on Saturday. Results are in. I remember hitting this training criteriums over in Lawrence between 2001 - 2004. Some fun times if you have the early season fitness and like riding around in circles. This year marks the 16th year of these events. I don't know how Jim has kept his motivation to promote all these years. I am going on 11 years of event promotion and find it harder every year to put on events. Jim sent me the picture on the right once and said this is why he promotes - so guys like me and Adrian can race in the rain, suffer like dogs and then sprint for the win.

My second favorite sport kicked off on Sunday. The Forward Motion Hare Scrambles Championship round # 1 was over in Collins, MO. A nice course and a solid turnout as you can see in this video




Perry Road race series also kicked off this past weekend. If you like to climb then this is the place for you. The results show 151 starters with 49 Cat 5's. That is good for a training road race series. I even see some mountain bikers in the results including Life of LeLan. All the trails must be wet....

The UFD East series kicks off Sunday with the Leadbelt XC race down in Park Hills, MO. I hope to be back riding by the time the West series kicks off in Lawrence.

Cross Training

First a disclaimer: I am not the best self coached athlete out there. In fact, I may be the worst as I sit here all sore, bruised, cut and tired from a week of my style of cross training.....

After a couple of days off I got back to training with a MTB ride at Landahl. My plan was for an easy ride with my teammates (Tige, Rich, Ashley and Roger). This easy ride turned into a pain train down the single track of Landahl and lead to a trip to the emergency room for me. It turns out I forgot how to ride my mountain bike and ended up crashing on the easy section of the trail. I still think Ashley tagged my rear tire, but he says "I did no such thing..."



After a couple days off my leg starts to feel better so I come up with the bright idea to go ahead and run the 5 mile Wilderness Trail Run. I signed up for it several weeks ago and have always wanted to run it (Cross promotion for the past 10 years has always kept me from it) Carolynn advised me against such a feat as well as all my co-workers. But what could it hurt? If my stitches broke or my leg started to bleed heavily, I would stop. Besides, I have all but given up on this years cross season and basically am now just training for next triathlon season. I need to start my run base which Saturday's run did. I ran the 5+ mile off-road event is a blistering 42.58 which was good enough for 6th in my age-group and 48th overall out of 236. Yea I know I need to focus on my run for next season. Running is my weakness and I hope to improve for next year.

Sunday was Roger's Veterans Cross race on a new venue (private land). Like I mentioned above, my season is all but over and I am basically just using any race events to stay fit and do something over the winter months. Which is what cyclocross was originally designed for - training.

The course was in an open field with part of the course on a hillside that lead down to a pond. It is a perfect location to raise cattle or grow crops. After yesterdays run I should have stayed home and just worked getting ready for next weekends De Stad Cross Cup, but like I said, I am not the best self coach. I basically rode around for 30 minutes and came up with this brilliant idea - full suspension cyclocross bikes. I know what you are thinking, but with the latest crop of cyclocross courses one could really use a FS CX bike. I know I needed one today.

It was nice to ride the bike today and hang out with some friends. Even if it is not at the level I would like, I still have fun riding and racing. I hope to see a lot of my friends next Sunday at the De Stad Cross Cup. It is going to be a great day for cross on the University of Saint Mary campus.

Bone Bender 3/6 Hour MTB Odyssey Report

The Bone Bender was a great success this year with a record turnout of 267 racers.

There are many fine people to thank, some of which I did not even know before Sunday. They all came together and helped in making the Bone Bender a terrific event. Thank you to the Smithville Trail Group, Earth Riders Mountain Bike Club, Midwest Mountain Bike Patrol, ERTA, Cow Town Cycling and Special Thanks to Carolynn Locke, Christopher Locke, Gerard Arantowicz, John Williams, Ben Bolin, Neale Shore, Rich Bowman, Dave Wathen, Rich Anderson, Todd Possum and John Harter, all of which put in many hours before in the months leading up to the BB36.

You sometimes show up to an event and do not realize what it actually took to bring everything together. Well it is a lot of work, but thanks to a great group of volunteers it was made much easier.

It also takes sponsors who support what we love to do. These guys supported the Bone Bender and you should support them. Kuat Racks, Paceline Products, Hammer Nutrition, Pot Pie, The Wheel Cyclery, In-A-Tub, Volker Bicycles, Epic Bike and Sport and MultiSport Marketing.

Results with lap times are complete. BB36 Overall Results w/Lap Times

Videos:

From USA Cycling an interview and the start.

From Neale about 1/4 way into the single track

Pictures:

Eclectic Arts Images

Troy Nelson's

Michael Tarne's pictures from Bone Bender

Here is the first set of pictures from Dirt Works.

Bone Bender 3/6 Hour Pictures

Tour of Missouri

Great time today at the final day of the Tour of Missouri. Carolynn, Christopher and I headed down and meet Dave. Saw tons of old friends and got to see some great racing. I can't believe how fast those guys climb. After seeing Levi before the race started I now know why they can. Skinny!

I sure hope the ToM can happen again next year. There was a good crowd of fans along the course and I think it is great for our area. Hopefully they can find a title sponsor to make it happen.

Congrats to David Zabriskie for winning this years Tour of Missouri. Hey, Maybe Garmin will step up in 2010?

Here are some pictures.

View all

Get your own

Bone Bender ????

Things are not looking good for the Bone Bender this weekend. Check out this thunderstorm passing over the trails. Combine this with last weekends 5 inches of snow, Saturday's 2 inches of rain and it looks like mother nature has decided we need to move the Bone Bender to April 18th, 2009.

Some things are just meant to be I guess. April is a fine month for a 3/6 event and Damian and I need an extra month to train if we are going to take home that Duo title.....

3 More to Go!

It is hard finding motivation to line up for tomorrow's Cyclocross National Championships. If the event was not in KC I would not be toeing the line for sure, but because the race venue is only 10 miles from my house I really don't have a good excuse not to race.

I rode the course last weekend and let's say that I was less than impressed. Perhaps it snowed enough yesterday to make the course more interesting. It seems that if it snows and the course conditions are muddy/icy that's all it takes to make a "great event" or a "great course".

Packet pickup was today. I foolishly signed up for 3 classes earlier in the year. B Men 40+ Thursday, Master Men 40-44 Saturday and Single Speed on Sunday. On the way home I recalled how "festive" packet pickups are for events like the Ironman Kansas and even at the MTB National Championships that I went to a couple of years ago out in Sonoma, CA. The events made you feel like something special was taking place. Today's packet pickup had some tables and boxes....


Goals? Only two. Have some fun during the last cyclocross race of the year and not get lapped...

Smithville Cyclocross Festival Day 2 Report

Totally exhausted. That is how both Carolynn I felt this morning upon awaking. This might be the last two day festival event for us.

Race today went better for me. I almost did not race because I was just totally spent from setting up the course this morning and stressing over race management details. The decision was made and I got ready and planned to just race for series points. I am leading the Single Speed division, which by the way had a nice 13 rider turnout yesterday, and needed to finish in the top 10 to keep a gap on second place Bill Anderson.

As I line up next to Rich Anderson and the rest of the combined 53 rider Single Speed/Men's Cat 4 field, I had no energy and just knew that my streak of hole shots was going to come to an end. As the USAC officials do their thing and send us off, I roll away and settle into an easy pace up to the first turn. Somehow I find myself out front again. Either no one likes to lead or I just have way to may fast twitch muscle fibers :-) To the left is a nice pic that Cameron took of me while leading. Do I look fat?

Rich was behind me about 1/2 through the first lap and I wanted him to come around and lead and hopefully get a gap on the other Cat 4's. I settled into my race not really expecting much. I only had one speed today and planned to keep it at a steady temp and just gain points. I got passed by Andrew Coe on the first lap and knew I could not keep up with him. Just yesterday he got 5th in the Men's Elite 1/2/3 class. Today he decided to race with us Single Speeders on his new Specialized rig which is cool and make it hard on us old fat guys :-). By the end of the second lap Kyle Shour took over second place in the SS class and I was a solid third, but Dan Oldehoeft from team Crackanoon was fast closing in. On the last lap I was on the edge and put in one last effort to try and stay out front. The effort brought me up to Rich and a couple of the top 4 guys. I went past them and actually felt like I was "racing". Over the barriers and back on the bike. A quick look over to my left I see Dan right there. This going to be close. I hear Rich yelling encouragement. The legs start to go. I dig deep but still Dan bridges up to me. I decide to let him lead into the wind in hopes that I could somehow recover enough over the next 1/2 mile to be able to sprint past him at the finish. But it was not to be. He opened up enough of a gap on the final climb to the "Wall" to take the final podium spot. Still a good day for me given that I wasn't going to race 45 min prior to the event.

Christopher had a great day today. He rode much better than yesterday and looked really well against a solid junior field. Just like his dad he got the hole shot and I think lead until the same spot I has I did. I guess, as people often say, he takes after me. Joey Todd got by him on the first lap and never looked back. It is good to see a junior with so much enthusiasm for cycling. Joey put in two solid rides to win both days of the festival. About 20 minutes into the race he looked rough and was backing off the pace big time. I saw 3rd and 4th place catching fast and ran out to try and motivate him. I know first hand what he was going through and knew that he needed some help. I ran around the course trying to motivate him without making him upset. It seemed to work because he rode very well the last lap and put in some distance on 3rd.

Knowing When to Stop

I was all pumped to race this weekends Shawnee Mission 3/6 Hour with Tige Lamb. We were going to race the 6 hour Duo open class. After Wednesday's training ride out at Shawnee Mission I felt good, but the next day not so good.....

The past couple of weeks I have been getting symptoms of my Colitis coming back. I have been off medication for about 6 months and everything has been o.k., but I think I may have again done to much. With work, classes, getting ready for this years De Stad series, training, racing and a very long "honey do" list I have done what I always seem to do. Go too far and put my health at risk.

This morning I decided that if I had any blood that I would not race. Well, I had plenty and decided to call Tige and let him know that I was not going to race and it was time for me to take a break for racing. Especially in this heat. Tige was cool about it and decided to race the 3 hour solo class.

Carolynn & I went out to the race to hand out flyers for the upcoming De Stad Cyclocross Van Kansas Series and hang out with the members of Cow Town Cycling. We took some pictures on the first lap and then it was time for me to go has I was getting a little sick to my stomach and feeling very weak.

Black Locust Race Report

I was on the fence about going down to Springfield for the Black Locust Off-Road Duathlon. I could stay here and race the 3/6 hour (which could have been postponed again) or stick to my original plan I laid out in January and head down for my first multi-sport event of 2008. It came down to who do you support. The promoter who has worked his tail off to create an event that is sorely needed in the Midwest(i.e. an off-road multi-sport event) or the event that moved their event on top of his? Well I made a great decision and headed down South. I had a blast racing and riding some new trails. I did miss racing with my Cow Town teammates (who by the way kicked butt today at Spoke Pony), but I just love racing off-road multi-sport events.

Today's race went very well for me. First up was a 4 mile off-road run. When I say off-road run I mean it. We had to navigate 3 knee deep stream crossings (one was near waist deep) and had to cross this cool wooden swing bridge. There was a good size field of about 45 racers and I didn't want to get stuck behind too many of them so I tried my best to stay up front. I actually did really well despite the recent running setbacks that I have encountered. During the run we came up on the first really muddy section of trail that the race director warned us about. It was some really nasty stuff about ankle deep due to all the recent rains that this area of the country had received. Funny thing is I tip toed through the stuff not wanting to have my shoes get sucked off my feet when not 50 yards later the first water crossing comes up and I take a outside line trying to pass someone. That was a mistake because I went off the main rocky ledge and was waist deep thinking I might just need my swimming goggles. I pushed hard to keep up, but after about 2 miles the leaders were out of sight. I kept telling my self to push it and did end up bringing two runners back and ended up in 7th place after the run. I was however about 6 minutes out of the lead.

After a quick transition, where I actually made up two spots, I hit the bike leg hoping to have a good bike leg. For the first two miles I didn't see anyone and at one point thought I had gone off-course. Finally I saw someone and this gave me some more motivation to hurt some and picked up the pace. One good thing about multi-sport events is the racers are really nice and will let you by without too much trouble. I was soon up to 2nd place overall, but still about 3 min out of the lead. Carolynn was out on the course and gave me a lot of encouragement to try to bridge up. I put the hammer down the last last and got to within 45 seconds of the lead. I needed about another 2 more miles of the slick rocky sections to have won this event. Jim chose to use mainly easy trails, which I understand since this is a multi-sport event. On the day I won my age-group, set the fastest bike split and got second place overall winning enough money to pay back my entry, fill up my gas tank (at $3.05 a gallon) and buy Carolynn and I lunch. I am happy with my results and I am looking forward to next weekend's 60 mile event.

Here are some more pics of at http://www.flickr.com/photos/clocke/

Jim said he will have the complete results and pictures posted first of next week.

The Black Locust

The Black Locust Off-Road Duathlon is this weekend. Not really ready for it as my running form sucks right now. Cycling form is fine, but my running is not coming along too well. The last couple of times I ran last week, I got all dizzy and felt faint. I don't know what is going on. When I cycle or swim I am fine, but when I run I get this funny light headed feeling after about a mile or so. Maybe I am just not meant to run....

I got an email back from the promoter, John Montgomery, and he said the trails at SAC River are muddy, but ridable. What the heck does that mean? Anything is ridable right? The event starts with a 4 mile trail run on the Ritter Springs trails. Then we head out for 12 miles of mountain biking. The outer trails of SAC will be used for the MTB portion. SAC River has a lot of rocks so even with the recent flooding that they received down in Springfield the course should not be too bad. I think I am going to ride my single speed because I want to save my Anthem for next weeks Ouachita Challenge.

A World of Pain

Today I finally got out and officially started my 2008 Racing Season. First race for me was the Dam Road Race (a.k.a Perry Road Race). I was going to put in another long training day, but decided to go ahead and get things rolling for 2008. Besides I need to get some tires to Shad and wanted to watch him race.

I arrived late to race the Master's so I entered the Cat 3's. Good turnouts in both the Men's 1/2 and 3's. Even with two good groups they decided to combine the 3's with the 1/2's As I roll up to the line I am thinking "who's bright idea is this". I look around and see riders like Steve Tilford, Shadd Smith, Kris Tilford, Bill Stolte and Mark Smelser. I knew I was in for a world of pain today.

Race started slow. That lasted about 200 yards, then Kris Tilford and Joe Schmaltz took off like they were being pulled behind a truck. By the end of the first down hill they had a huge lead. First lap was fast, but I was o.k. That was until the big climb to finish off the 1st lap. I was hoping the first few laps up the climb everyone would go easy, but I was wrong as usual. I was gasping for air at the top of the climb well in back of the field.

As lap 2 began I got in a small group of riders that had also gotten dropped. We worked well together and were make some headway into bridging back up to the group. Then out of no where we get passed by Tilford (who had gotten a flat) and Katherine Walberg. Tilford was flying and I was lucky to get on his wheel. He lead for about a mile, then everyone in the group took one pull and it was back to Tilford as he did the rest of the work to get us back on. As I rode in a world of pain behind Tilford and Walberg, I thought it was cool to be riding with two current National champions as both of them won their respective championships at the National Cyclocross championships in December.

Lap 3 started just as lap 2 did. I got dropped just was we started to climb the big finishing hill. This time I did was not able to get on with anyone else and I basically rode the next 2 laps by myself. I was hurting badly, but kept the pace high and treated it like a TT. On the 5th lap I actually started to catch a small group of riders. I got on with them and finally could rest some. This rest paid off as I was able to finish ahead of everyone in my group taking 8th (basically mid-pack) for the day.

My teammate Shad took another win in the Men's Cat 4 class. He should have enough points to upgrade in the very near future. It will be fun to have another Cat 3 to race with.

Mud Memories

Watching last night's Daytona Supercross brought back some very fond memories. The first motocross race I ever won was in very similar, if not worse, conditions down in Homestead, Florida. If you ever talk to my brother Joey he has a very interesting story to tell you about an event that happened one early Sunday morning at this track. I am going to see if I can find some of those pictures from 83'. Congrats to my main man Kevin Windham for winning the Daytona Supercross.

I was looking for some muddy pictures and found the above. Last year's Lunatic Fringe Duathlon was held in some very muddy conditions. I remember Shad kicking everyone's butt by winning the overall title, I wasn't too far behind him on my single speed posting the second fastest mountain bike time. Gerard had a great showing which helped he and his partner win the relay division.


One of my favorite pictures is Damian and I after the 2004 Lunatic Fringe MTB Race. Hopefully tomorrow's Ride with the Devil is not a muddy mess. We wish Andy Schuette the best of luck in promoting the first event of the 2008 Fat Tire Series.