MOUTH FULL OF DIRT : Super D's Blog: Tour Tracking

Between Indy and Crossroads was a good time for being a cycling fan. The Tour de France is on every day and it was actually a good one to watch. There were some exciting stages. Chris Froome was always in command, but he looked vulnerable at times. There were more "off days" for guys when you could see them struggling. I hope that means some of the doping is getting out of the peloton. Nothing has tarnished our sport more than doping. I blame it for many of us riders not being able to find a sponsor. I mean, who really wants to sponsor a sport with so much negative attention surrounding it?

Not only did I keep up with the Tour daily, I also kept up with two of my friends who were racing in some of the toughest events around. Scott McConnell rocked the Tour Divide, a 2745-mile self-supported mountain bike race from Banff, Alberta in Canada to Antelope Wells, NM. The route is gnarly to say the least, crossing multiple climate zones as you pass through the Rocky Mountains. He experienced rain and snow, did some epic climbing, saw some crazy wildlife and met a bunch of new friends. Scott had time to stop and do an interview in Colorado for one of his sponsors, Moots Cycles, whose factory is located just off the race route. See the video here.

Scott McConnell ready for the Tour Divide

Scott out in Wyoming

Scott rocked the race, winning the Singlespeed class and finishing ahead of his goal of 24 days. He finished just under 22 days after riding throughout the last night to stay ahead of his closest competitor. The Divide is one heck of a race. You not only have to have crazy endurance, but you have to navigate and plan on your own. No help from family or friends is allowed, so you have to pack all the items you will need. Congrats Scott! It looked like a heck of a ride and I enjoyed following you every day.

I was also keeping tabs on Carson Beckett, who was up in Pennsylvania for the Mountain Bike National Championships. He had a great week, winning the Junior 15-18 XC National Championship. It stinks because they don't give a jersey to the lesser categories, but Carson still came away with a jersey before the week was out. The final day he also won the Junior Super D National Championship. Great job buddy! It was good to see a Wood-N-Wave rider doing well on the National scene.

Carson on the top step of the Junior Super D podium in his new stars-and-stripes National Champion's jersey

I had originally planned to race the Tennessee State Criterium Championship before Crossroads, but I opted out. The turnout at Tennessee races is too low and I hate it when they don't do any payout simply because they think you will come no matter what since it's a State Championship. That's crap. I think if anything it should pay more! I'm also tired of dealing with the attitudes of the officials that are in Tennessee. I didn't want to get pulled while still in contention like what happened in Cookeville, so I instead got behind the scooter and did some pacing. Shannon is now riding the scooter. She has no prior experience on anything motorized so we have been working mostly on just getting her comfortable with the speed and cornering necessary to pace me.

The first time out, we just rode together. She followed me through one of my hill routes while I did repeats on my favorite climb. The next day we did some pacing. She had difficulty doing 30+ mph through the corners, but it went well overall. I got in a great workout and we didn't crash! We did, however, lose a bolt off the exhaust when we crossed a rough bridge. The scooter got super loud after that. We definitely fit in with the redneck crowd now!

Shannon had the GoPro on her helmet for some of the rides. I'll post the video below once I get time to do a little editing.

The garden is growing nicely. All the hard work is paying off as now we are seeing the vegetables appear. We've had lettuce, kale, arugula and spinach for several weeks. Now we can add cucumbers and green beans to the list of eaten veggies. Shannon has canned many jars of pickles with the cucumbers and dill we have grown. We had some weird shaped cucumbers too. Even had one growing up under the edge of the carport.

Looking at the top half of the garden from the back porch

Green beans climbing the carport supports

Cucumber growing under the carpot

Another oddly-shaped cucumber

Banana peppers, onions, tomatoes and peas are growing, and the morning glories are taking over the house. The property really looks good. We've had just enough rain to keep everything really green and growing well. Enjoy the pics of what we have created on our little piece of home.