Satellite Surveillance

     I'm using a Garmin 305 as my heart rate monitor/cycling computer this year. It's my first try at GPS tracking. So far I love it! You can display up to 4 data fields at once, which is great for running and riding. You don't have to punch a bunch of buttons to see the data you want. It's a little big, but I don't mind at all on the bike mount and it's hardly noticeable when it's on my wrist. The biggest reason I chose it was its versatility with triathlons. You can use the quick release mount and quickly swap it from bike to wrist which is perfect for triathlons. You can also set it change settings when you press the Lap button. So I can program it to change from Swim setting to Bike when I hit Lap the first time, then it will go from Bike to Run settings when I hit Lap a second time. Too cool!

     It also comes with Google Earth export capabilities. I can export any ride file to Google Earth and get a satellite image of the course I used. Here's a few examples.

Race course for the Gainesville, FL SERC race.

Chickasaw Trace Classic race course. Very hard to follow the tightness of this course from the satellite.

SERC race course from the Tsali Trails in Bryson City, NC. 14 mile loop

     I have amused myself for hours with the Google Earth features. Its a cool piece of training equipment, definately worth looking at if you are in the market for a mulitfunctional GPS. And the price isn't too bad on Amazon either.

NC Getaway

     The first week of April brought significantly better weather and another chance to race on the dirt before crit. season got into full swing. Tsali has always been one of my favorite places to race at. I've missed going there the past few years, so I was anxious to get back and ride some of the best trails in the southeast. It was also another chance for Shannon and I to spend the weekend somewhere together instead of running around like chicken's with our heads cut off like we usually do at home. Not to mention I wanted a little redemption after the previous week's disappointment at Chickasaw.

    It was a big weekend for us as LDS church members. We have a thing called General Conference where the church leaders from Salt Lake City speak in several different sessions throughout the weekend. They talk about what we should be doing as church members and the state of the church. We were pretty fortunate to be able to watch a lot of it, as our little cabin in the Nantahala Gorge was equipped with DirecTV.

Our cabin's front porch, complete with ceiling fan

     The racing began with a Saturday afternoon time trial. Four miles of blazing fast fire road and singletrack to wake up the legs for the following day's XC, and a chance to steal a few points for the SERC series overall. We had 9 Pros wanting a few of those extra points. I am a very poor time trialist, so I knew I had my work cut out for me. It was nearly all power on this course and that is not one of my strong points. I gave it my best shot and actually had a really good ride for me. I was super smooth and stayed at 100% effort the whole time. My goal was to finish in 17 minutes and I clocked a 17:02. I thought that was a good time until results came up and I was 9th out of 9 Pros and 18th overall. My time was a full 2 minutes off the winner Robert Marion. It was a bit disappointing, but I was happy with my effort nonetheless.

     Sunday was the XC and it was a beautiful day. It was chilly during warm-up, but the temp was perfect during the race. My start was awful as I started from the second row and got caught behind a rider who apparently wanted to be last into the woods. The pace wasn't that fast, but I still couldn't hold it and was popped off the group on the first long climb. I just didn't have the legs and I struggled the entire way around the first 14 mile lap. I was caught by many of the riders from the Cat. 1 classes that started minutes behind us.

Pro riders on the start line

Me just squeezing into the picture to the left of Alex Ryan

     I would like to forget about my first lap forever. I was the last Pro out of the woods and too many minutes back to count. I crashed on the first descent of lap 2, cracking my knee hard on the stem. I had to sit for a while just to chill out, let the knee stop aching and let my frustration calm down. I rubbed my knee for a minute and managed to get some of my Leg Salsa on my gloves. I then wiped the sweat from my eyes as I remounted. That was followed by intense burning in my eyes and on my forehead for the next 15 minutes. I was a very unhappy rider at that moment. Somehow, my legs came back around and I was finally able to settle into a good pace. I caught a lot of the Cat. 1s that had passed me, but never saw another Pro. I think the most important part was that even though my day was crappy, I still had so much fun! Those last few miles were some of the best I've ever ridden on a mountain bike. I may have finished 20th, but I sure had a great time and can't wait to come back and ride there next season.

Unexpected Trail Running

    Race 2 of the season was in Columbia, TN at Chickasaw Trace Park. I kind of consider that my home trail, though I live 90 minutes away. I have made countless laps there and that is definately the biggest, most-attended race in our area. It was not part of the SERC series this year, but there was still a decent purse and so the Pro class had a good turnout.

      The past few years have been wet and nasty, so it was no surprise to see a dreary forecast for this year's event. Race day was cold and wet. Overnight rain had made the trail slick, but otherwise good. It was far less muddy than in recent years. The biggest problem for me was the temperature. It was a chilly 37 degrees when I arrived at the course, almost 50 degrees colder than the previous week's race in Florida. Talk about shocking the body!

     The Pro/Cat. 1 races were first this year, making for a tough warm-up in the cold and mud. I couldn't decide which bike to go with. I spent way too much money on my new hardtail to go destroy it in the mud. I did my warm-up on the Titus and decided the trail wasn't bad so I made a last minute bike change to the hardtail before the start.

Pro and Cat. 1/ 19-29 riders on the start line

     I was excited for the race and knew I would ride well in these conditions. A little mud always helps me out. Add in the new tight, twisty sections they have added in the last year and you could see why I was pumped. I had a good start again, something I have worked on the in the past year. Cory Rimmer was first to the woods and set a fast pace right away that got ride of the riders who struggle in the mud. I was sitting 4th after the first climb and we had already established a gap back to the group.

Pro start

Pros about to get to the singletrack just after the start

One of the Cat. 2 classes diving into the first turn

     I was cool and calm through the first section sitting on Craig Evans's wheel just making sure that the front two riders didn't leave us. Then I heard that awful hiss of air spewing from my tire. I cut my rear tire on something under the mud. It was too big for my Stan's sealant to seal so I had to stop just a mile into the race to put in a tube. The mud made for a slow change. I lost a good 5 minutes and was passed by the Cat. 1 30-39 and 40-49 classes before I remounted. That left me with a lot of traffic to deal with the rest of lap 1. I rode like a madman, but traffic kept me from gaining any time on my class. I actually dropped a minute to 6 minutes back after lap 1.

It was good to see Rick Harmon back in action today.

Kiersta Tucker (Wood-N-Wave) behind one of the other women racers

Me chasing hard early in lap 2

     I fell apart a little halfway through lap 2. I almost felt like I was bonking, but I think I was just feeling the effects of hammering the first lap with all the adrenaline. I finally cleared most of the traffic and even caught one of the Cat. 1 19-29 riders that I had started with. Still, the nearest Pro rider was 4 minutes ahead. I caught my second wind on the third and final lap, making big gains on the tiring riders ahead. I cut the 4 minute gap down to less than 30 seconds with 3 miles to go.

Me starting my final lap

Partway through my final lap

     There was a chance I could catch two guys by the finish, but then it happened again. This time a pinch flat on a rocky descent. I was bombing it and was too far back on the bike, pinching the rear on a big rock. Just a mistake from not being used to this hardtail yet. Can't put that much weight on the rear when you have no shock. Of course I didn't have another tube so I was forced to run the last 2+ miles to the finish. There was no way I was going to quit, especially since I have been running so much this year. Cycling shoes really aren't made for running and I was quite sore the next day, but at least there was no DNF by my name. Several people did DNF so I was rewarded with a top 5 finish, coming in 5th place. But like last week, it looks bad on paper as I was the last finisher. I always hate that, but again, I stress the word finisher. I was disappointed with how the day turned out, but sometimes things are just out of your control so there's no point in getting mad about it. Just go clean up and start preparing for the next race, which in this case was SERC #2 in Bryson City, NC on the trails of Tsali.

Rimmer

Columbia's own Duane Leach

Evans

Wood-N-Wave's Hailey Kell

Alabama Pro Will Fyfe

Steve Jeffords

Scott McConnell

Tim Baker

Definately not the way I wanted to end my day

Florida Sunshine

     Starting the year in Florida is always welcome. After this year's nasty winter weather I was more than ready to get out in the sunshine and do some racing on the mountain bike. I wasn't as prepared as I had hoped to be, but most of it was out of my control. There were a lot of good parts about those few weeks. I got to spend a lot of time with my wonderful girlfriend Shannon. She decided Florida sounded good too, so she hopped in the car and made the trip down with me.

    We tried to make it more of a trip and take our time going down, leaving on Thursday after work. I have driven down there on Saturday to get there just in time for a pre-ride, then race Sunday and drive back home. It's almost a 10 hour drive one way and that leaves you drained both mentally and physically. We made a trip over to Dawsonville, GA to go by the Pearl Izumi Factory Store. I needed some new shoes for trail running and for work. The staff there are always so great and they hooked me up with some shoes to my liking in a matter of minutes.

My new trail running shoes. Ready for another XTERRA.

     After Pearl it was on to Atlanta with a stop in Sandy Springs. Being the little Mormon couple we are, we had to stop by the newly renovated Atlanta LDS temple. It was really cool on the outside and we couldn't wait to come back in April to see the inside once it was complete.

Atlanta LDS Temple

Me and my Shannon had a lunch break on the Temple lawn

     We made it down to Gainesville on Friday night in time to make a little dinner. Saturday morning we slept in for the first time in forever! Then we cruised over to my favorite campus in the whole wide world, THE University of Florida. We caught a little of spring practice for the football team and checked out the always nice Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, as has been my tradition the past few years. Shannon is not a Gator fan like me so I was very grateful that she was so into going over and looking at the campus and field.

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the Florida Gators

     We made a stop by the Oaks Mall on the way over to the course. Shannon left with a pair of Gator socks. That's the first step in her conversion over to the orange and blue. :)

     We got to the course and decided to hike back into the woods and have lunch by one of the lakes. I have always heard there are alligators in the lakes around the course, but I hadn't seen one and really didn't believe it. Well I was proved wrong when one came cruising through the water right in front of us as we sat on a bluff overlooking the lake. I about flipped out of my chair trying to get the camera out.

One of the overlooks along the course at Haile's Trails

My first alligator sighting!

They are really intimidating the way they cruise through the water.

     We had a lot of fun on pre-ride day. I was excited to get my old number 13 back. 

     I did 2 laps to dial in the course. It was in the reverse direction of every time I've raced there. Then I took Shannon on a hike to show her some good spots to spectate.

The trail went through a section covered with Spanish moss.

The Spanish moss mullet was then formed.

Shannon chillin' on a rock overlooking the lake.

         Sunday was race day and I was excited to try out the hardtail in its first race. And I wanted to see how my condition was at this point. I had a good start and was in the battle the first two laps, staying wihtin 20 seconds of the top 5. I hung in 6th-8th spot battling back and forth until I crashed at the end of lap 2. I lost the lead group and never really made it back to them. The bike was awesome though. I made a few mistakes early, but after while I had learned its style and had a good time on it.

Chatting with Thomas Tunrer on the line

Pro start

    Shannon kept me pumped as I rode hard, trying to hold my 8th spot. I did well dealing with the heat the first 3 laps, but it started getting to me on lap 4. I had to back off some and finally lost complete sight of the riders ahead. I was holding off those behind and on my way to my goal of a top 10, but it was frustrating to be held back by heat and not by lack of strength. All my training rides had been at 50 degrees or less so it was no surprise that 82 started to get to me.

     I crashed hard at the end of lap 4 while trying to pass a very stubborn lapped rider. Got to love those kind of riders. Of course it happened right in front of Shannon too. I lost a good piece of skin on the leg and really banged up my knee which made me have to soft pedal for a mile or two, giving up 2 spots in the process. My last lap was bad. I never really got my rhythm back and ended up finishing 10th. I was heppy with a top 10, but it kind of looked bad on paper because I was the last finisher. It still amazes me how many people just give up and quit when they get behind.

Me hammering a hill behind a lapped rider just seconds before my lap 4 crash.

Last time up this dreaded climb in the sun

One of the Junior racers taking an off-camber section.

     We had a great time and enjoyed the break from the cold. I considered it a successful race and felt good about the following weekend's race at Chickasaw. More to come on that race...