MOUTH FULL OF DIRT : Super D's Blog: Dirt and Spider Webs

We've had a few weeks at home now. I've taken advantage by getting the XC trail all cleaned up and perfect for riding. As a result, I've been mountain biking a lot. It has felt great to get back on the dirt. I've been craving it for a while, but haven't had anywhere to ride. Now that the trail is back up and running, I've been getting a dose of dirt and spider webs several times a week. Eric Boarman and Keith have been over a few times to help me ride it in. I finally conquered the Hill of Doom last week and Keith made it up with his YBB unlocked for the first time. Shannon has been out on the trail with me a few times, as has my Mom. The trail is wicked fast and my legs have improved a lot since the last time I turned a fast lap. I have now knocked another 90 seconds off my personal best, cranking it down to a 19:50 lap time for the 4-mile loop.

Shannon almost made this rooty section

Me playing around on one of the new sections

Me riding the roller coaster section in the very back of the property

I have continued to run and swim to get ready for some upcoming triathlons. I met with the swim trainer a few more times and tweaked my form. Now it's just about improving speed and endurance. I'm up to comfortably swimming 1/2 mile and uncomfortably swimming 3/4 mile in just a few weeks. I've been playing with the GoPro in the pool. It works well under water and is a good way to analyze your swim stroke.

Many, many laps in a tiny pool

Underwater shots from the GoPro are pretty good

Placing the GoPro on the bottom is a good way to check out your swim form from the underside

The camera transitions well from above water to underwater

My main goal is to get up my mileage on the bike. I've had very few rides over 60 miles this year and that just doesn't cut it in the Pro peloton. I want to actually feel like a Pro and log in some major miles. I have picked up the length of my rides, both on the road and on the trail. I have this tough loop that I like to do when I need a torture ride. From my parents house it was 113 miles. From my house now it is 122 miles. I attempted it last week with Adam on my day off work. I had taken off so we could go to Oklahoma and race the Tulsa Tough crits, but the race budget is not allowing for big weekends like that. We need some sponsors bad!

I was afraid of holding Adam back as I knew that I don't have the endurance for this loop. There are a bunch of short, steep hills along the loop and most are concentrated near the end. It turned out that he was the one that had difficulty. I think he was dehydrated when we left the house. There's no way to recover from that. He was already feeling it at mile 10. Then we detoured around mile 40 to hit a gas station so he could get some food.

Hitting the gas station in Adams, TN

Package of cookies sticking out of my Camelbak. Go fuel!

My bike and gear

The gas station stop didn't help at all. He was weaving by mile 57. We took a 45 minute break and that helped him recover enough to ride the 18 miles back home. We didn't make the loop, but we made it home. I felt great, but Adam wasn't looking so good. He threw up behind my barn a few times, then slept on the cool concrete of the back porch. He got sick at a gas station on his drive home. I felt bad for him. But he is a freak and made a quick recovery, winning the Cat. 1 race at the White Lightning XC at LBL just two days later.

Break #2 under a shady tree near Springfield

Adam was very salty for a day that wasn't very hot. He's got the dehydration coach.

I made another attempt at the loop this past Saturday and failed yet again. I went solo this time and got a weird knee pain at mile 3. It wasn't bothersome at first, but once I started climbing it quickly worsened. It only hurt on the upstroke of pedaling. I went ahead a bailed out after just 21 miles. I surely don't want to start something serious at this point in my season. It seems to be due to a tight, irritated hamstring. I have been neglecting my stretching lately so it's completely self-inflicted.

Following Shannon on a late-afternoon road ride

We went to the lake later that day and I was able to swim 1/2 mile with no knee pain. It was great to get out in open water rather than swimming a ton of laps in a tiny pool. Then Shannon, Amber and I went tubing behind a friend's boat. He had a wakeboard and it didn't take much persuasion for me to try it out. I've always wanted to get on one. I was able to get up on the second try and actually got fairly comfortable on the board after a few runs. Amber did it too. Shannon and I also rode around the cove on my Dad's kayaks. They have pedals and paddles so we moved around with the help of both. We had a good time out on the Lake Barkley.

Paul getting air on the wakeboard

Paul

Me wakeboarding

Me getting slammed

It was Amber's first time wakeboarding as well

Shannon and I shared a kayak on the way back to the boat ramp

Tubing and wakeboarding on Lake Barkley

I discovered recently that I am allergic to red onions. Shannon made a sweet and sour chicken that she has made several times, only this time she added a whole red onion to the sauce. Apparently, this is the first time in my life that I had eaten that much red onion and it tore me up. I was sneezing constantly, then my neck and face began itching. Then my nose and right eye became swollen. Benadryl took it away, but it was crazy. I have never been allergic to anything. At least anything that I knew of. To add to my eye difficulties, I now have poison ivy/oak in my eyes. I'm guessing I rubbed my eye at some point while mowing the trail last week. My contacts have been a life saver. It feels like I have rocks in my eyes when they are out because the bubbles are on the under side of my eyelids. The lens provides a buffer between the eyelid and eyeball which is the only thing that has kept me from clawing out my eyes. They itch a lot, but are getting better.

The best part about early summer is that berries are beginning to come in to season. I like all kinds of berries. My family has never been as crazy about them as I have, but Shannon is. We have literally filled the freezer with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. The strawberries and blueberries came from local pick-them-yourself farms. We have picked the blackberries from bushes on the side of the road. We have tried to pick them by bike, picking on road rides and also while mountain biking. We literally have pounds of them in the freezer.

Blackberries are starting to ripen

Freezer full of berries

Shannon on our home trail

Snoop!

Next race for me is this Saturday, June 23 for my first triathlon of the year. It will be at XTERRA Scales Lake in Boonville, IN. I'm not running or swimming as well as I'd like to be, but I think I can be competitive. Shannon has been working on my hamstring all week and I think it will be fine. the knee pain has been gone for a few days now. I know one thing...I am pumped to hammer on my mountain bike!