Road Riding + Running + Camping + Mtn Biking + Whitewater Rafting + Swimming + Hiking = One Good Weekend...and One Tired Body

    I had a very large training week involving a lot of different sports and disciplines, cramming in a lot of hours on the days between July 14-16. We had planned a whitewater rafting trip on the Ocoee River for July 16, so I scheduled my training around that. I started off with road riding and running early in the week, completing a 65-mile road ride Thursday evening. It was a great ride on yet another hot day. I rode out to Clarksville to meet with the Thursday Night group ride in Kirkwood. The group is basically the same guys from the Tuesday night ride in Sango. Lately they have been pissing me off by changing their start point and leaving early. It made me miss the Tuesday ride this week. The week before I dropped back to help someone that the group had been waiting on, but they decided not to wait once I slowed as they saw it as an opportunity to get rid of me. I'm not sure what I have done to these people, but they sure do try hard to avoid riding with me. So , I was out for a little revenge on Thursday and attacked like a madman several times early in the ride until I got a break going with Bryant Crabtree. He and I would pull away and finish several minutes ahead of the group. He was in the group that left me on Tuesday so I made sure to outsprint him at the end. My Dad had joined us on the ride and then let me draft the car on the way home. I was destroyed by the end of the ride. I needed it though. Haven't had too many hardcore days like that this year.

    Friday brought more training. Actually, it felt more like torture. We are starting a new sports performance program at our clinic and our head trainer, Blake, needed someone to run through his program and critique it. Basically, he needed a test dummy. I volunteered as I could use the sprint work. So we did NFL combine drills. He ran the crap out of me. Short, intense sprint after short, intense sprint. It was awesome! I got to do sprints pulling 75 lbs. on a weight sled and then push a 45 lb. plate along the turf.  The plate push was a long 5 minutes and it smoked my glutes. I was hurting after the 45-minute workout. We are getting in more equipment every day and the program is really starting to take shape. I hope I get the chance to work with some high-level athletes once the program is up and running.

We have tractor tires to flip over and over until your upper body feels like a noodle

     An hour after the workout with Blake, I had a patient come in to do some run training. We only ran 5K, but it was full of sprint intervals. I hurried home after work to load up the car for the drive to Ocoee. We had plenty of time before the rafting trip to drive down on Saturday morning, but I saw an opportunity to get in some camping and an early morning mountain bike ride on the Tanasi trails. We stopped along the way for some groceries and had a flat tire on the car in the parking lot. Then we got stuck in Chattanooga construction traffic. It was after midnight when we arrived at the Thunder Rock Campground and secured one of the two campsites that were still open. I was physically destroyed by the time we got the tent set up. Upon crawling into the tent, it was obvious I was going to wake up to some serious muscle soreness in the morning!

     My prediction was spot on. The morning was brutal. The glutes felt like plywood. I had to get up and move around for a while before I could walk normally. I grabbed a quick breakfast and then it was onto the mountain bike for some climbing. I got in 3 hours of riding. It was the first time I had ridden my mountain bike in several weeks and the first time in months that I've had a chance to bomb some fast descents. It was a good chance to brush up on my skills and get in some mountain climbing. We have no climbs like that at home.

A nice wooden bridge along the trail that parallels the river

The singletrack along the Quartz Loop on the top of the mountain was some of my favorite trail.

Climbing up the gravel roads was fun and good for training

     The trail was perfect and I had a great time. I got back just in time to get cleaned up and make it over to the Ocoee Rafting Company in Ducktown. They gave us the safety speech and loaded us onto a rickety old school bus for the drive down to the river. We were to raft the upper portion of the river, which contains a few Class IV rapids as you go past the Whitewater Center. That section was by far the toughest. It was used during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and features some man-made rapids that can be nasty if you hit them wrong. I got airborne on the last rapid, but managed to land back in the boat. We had a great time and nobody fell out of our raft. It's a good thing because those rocks will shred you like a cheese grater.

Rafts coming down the Ocoee River

    The last section was really cool. It's really swift and deeper than the rest of the river. The guide let us jump out and float the rest of the way down. The water really deepened right at the end and the current lessened. I took advantage of the opporunity to do some resisted swimming. It was the perfect current for my swim speed. I just stayed in place, like a swimming treadmill. It helped my aching muscles loosen up from the past few days of beatdown.

    After the rafting, Shannon and I drove up an old gravel road to hike the Quartz Loop trail around the top of one of the mountains. I had ridden it during my bike ride that morning. It was one of the more scenic trails in the Tanasi system so I just had to show Shannon. I had survived a fun weekend of dangerous activities and then found a way to hurt myself while hiking. I rolled my ankle about a half mile from the end of the loop. It made a loud "pop" and immediately hurt. I had some pain and swelling for a few days, but then it got better. It made me a little nervouse with the Music City Triathlon just a week away. We saw two black bear cubs climbing a tree during our hike. They were only about 20 feet from us. I figured mama bear was somewhere close and would appreciate us loitering around her cubs so we didn't hang around to stare.

     The weekend's activities really kicked my butt and let me know that no matter how I feel some days, I am far, far from being any sort of iron man. My entire body was sore for three days! That was one heck of a weekend. I guess I just enjoy beating myself down because I haven't had that much fun in a long time! And I can't wait to do it all again!

Melting On Pavement

   It was almost Wednesday when we arrived back from Michigan, so it was time to get ready for another battle at LP Field. July 6 was Race #7 of the Gateway Tire & Service NashvilleCyclist.com Crit. Series in Nashville. I have such a hard time getting to these races on time, but this week I managed to sneak out of work a little early and made it there with time to get in at least a partial warm-up. It was a super hot day with no breeze blowing like the week before. I was glad to see the course was the same for this race. The fast S-turn course is my favorite. It tends to be less conducive to breakaways and has a finish that suits me well. Not to mention that turns 2 and 3 are super fast and fun. They were a bit too fast during the Masters race. Troy Tucker and a Cumberland Transit rider took a hard fall in turn 2, with Troy looking pretty rough afterwards. He had a huge knot on his forehead almost immediately following the crash.

Masters race in progress

Masters come in to the finish

     I got to line up on the front row and I guess the mountain biker in me took over. I just have to try for the hole shot on the start. The bad thing is that my start seems to dictate the rest of my race. When I start aggressively, I tend to stay very aggressive in the race and usually burn myself out before the finish. I'm better off starting slow and then becoming aggressive near the end. I was first to the first turn and led the first lap. The trend continued. I was super aggressive the entire race, but managed to miss the big break. I tried to bridge several times, but just couldn't get into the right move or make it stick by myself. I hate being a marked man, but everyone knows what I'm out there to do so I would expect no less from them.

Pro/1/2/3 riders leaving the start

I grabbed the hole shot tonight

Andy Reardon off the front

A break of 3 begins to form

Race promoter Tim Hall tries to bridge with a Sonic-Treehouse rider in pursuit

Pro/1/2/3 peloton rolls down toward turn 2

The group comes through the chicane

    The break of 5 would finally get away and stay away. At one point I thought there were just 4 riders up the road, but one of the guys had crashed and apparanetly was allowed multiple free laps before rejoining the break. We fought it out in the group, making a lot of moves that went nowhere. I tried to get away, but just didn't have the snap tonight. The legs were still feeling the Marion Crit and the Fort Custer MTB ride. I followed the attacks the final few laps and wound up taking 9th. There was a big crash behind me with half a lap to go and I was glad to have just been ahead of it. That awful sound of metal grinding across pavement followed by the pop of them hitting the curb never gives you a good feeling.

Me trying to bridge the gap to the break

The break rolls through a turn as dusk approaches

The break that stayed away

Sonic-Treehouse came to the front of the peloton with a few laps to go

Barrett Krei makes the winning move down the backstretch on the final lap

Marion Classic

     It was time for more crit. racing to wrap up my June and start July. I put the rubber to the road at the Gateway Tire & Service NashvilleCyclist.com Crit. Series in Nashville. The series runs throughout the summer on Wednesday nights in downtown Nashville at LP Field. It's always cool to race in the shadows of a big stadium and city skyline. Race #4 of the series was my first time out this year. The first 3 races were held too early in the evening for me to make it because I get off work late on Wednesdays. It was a hot day, but a good breeze brought us a tailwind sprint finish. I was excited about that as I just had a feeling it would stay together tonight and we would get a bunch sprint.

    I arrived a whole 15 minutes before the race. I rode maybe 8 minutes before taking to the start line of the Pro/1/2/3. I was worried about the pace and my lack of warm-up. It takes me a while to get going so I figured it would be best that I stay in the back early on. The pace was fast, but nothing compared to Speed Week. My legs have still not forgotten the new level of pain I was introduced to that week. I never had a problem holding the pace and just bided my time. I started moving up after 30 minutes of the 45-minute race. Several breaks went off, but none lasted more than a few laps. NashvilleCyclist.com had a large number of guys and they looked like they wanted to keep things together. Then with 3 laps to go they disappeared off the front and let 4 guys get clear. I wanted to chase, but I didn't want to use up my sprint. It is so hard to be patient when you see the win slipping away. John Carr put in a big attack with 2 laps to go and I went with him, hoping he would take me to half a lap to go so I could launch my sprint. But he ran out of steam with one to go and I was left out in the wind.

The course is in the parking lot of LP Field, home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans

     There were still 3 riders off the front on the final lap. One of them fell off the pace and I pulled him back with 2/3 of a lap left. Then I made a big mistake that cost me the race. I just drafted up to him and didn't go around. I wanted to stay out of the wind, but in hindsight I should've used him as a slingshot. As I slowed down, the surge came by on both sides. I went from second wheel to 12th in one corner. Then I had to lay down my sprint from way back and managed to only get up to 7th. I had a great sprint and felt awesome, but that mistake cost me a top 5 and maybe even a top 3. Jason Tatum was in the break and just held off the pack to get the win. It was a good move at the perfect time. Nice job Tatum. We ended the race with a 25.8 mph average speed.

     The Nashville race was on the Wednesday before July 4 weekend. We had plans to go back to Indiana and visit Shannon's parents again to finalize some more of the wedding plans. South Haven, MI was also on the list of places to go for the weekend to see the fireworks and visit that part of her family. I found a race in Marion, IN on Saturday night. I thought the Marion Classic looked like a small town crit. It had a good payout, but I was not expecting a lot of turnout, especially in the Pro/1/2/3. Boy was I ever wrong! Texas Roadhouse, Bissel, and Jamis all brought their Elite squads. They each had at least 4 super fast riders. Just riding around the course in warm-up it was obvious that this was going to hurt.

Marion Classic Criterium course

Masters race

Masters riders topping the small rise after turn 3

Masters pack chasing a break with just a few laps to go

    The 70-minute crit. began in the late evening on a fairly flat course. There was a slight rise after turn 1 and another into the wind coming out of turn 3. We had over 65 riders and it was aggressive from the start. I didn't have the best start and was outside the top 50 the first few laps. The pace was fast! I couldn't move up at all. It was sprint your guts out after every corner. It doesn't take long for riders to start popping at that kind of pace. The gaps were opening on the third lap. I'm sure there were several Cat. 3s that were shocked by the way this race was going down! The big teams kept trying to establish a break off the front, but nothing was sticking. After 15 minutes I got caught in a gap as riders were popping left and right. I thought I was done, but the group slowed and I got back on.

The Pro/1/2/3 Men rolling off turn 1 in Marion

It was strung out by the 15 minute mark

     One lap later I got caught behind a crash in turn 3 that split the field. I chased hard for 2 laps, but the main break of the day was forming and this time the pace didn't slow down. I finally popped after 22 minutes. I was crushed to have been dropped so early, especially since I had a lot of the Toney family there to give me support. I felt like I made them drive a long way just to see me get smoked and then pulled. But miraculously, I did not get pulled. I was the last rider to be dropped and there were just 30 of us left so they let me stay in. I couldn't believe it! I got lapped and then jumped back in the group.

And he's off!...the back!

     The break off the front had 9 riders in it with all but one of the large teams represented. The pace was slower until they lapped us. Then Texas Roadhouse proceeded to do a 10 lap leadout at 30+ mph. We were rolling up the small climb into the wind at 34 mph for several laps. I was tired, but I hung in there until the end. It was a good opportunity for me to feel the speed of the finish of a big race. Since I tend to be a sprinter, I will definitely have to be able to hold that pace at the end. Bissel picked up the tempo in the final few laps and took over the leadout. The last lap was so fast! I was doing 35 mph down the back stretch and couldn't believe it when I saw that the group I was in was getting gapped. Texas Roadhouse's work was rewarded with the win and also 3rd. Bissel would have to settle for 2nd. I was in the back at the sprint, taking 30th place on the day. I just tried to hang out and stay out of the way since I was lapped. We ended with a 26.6 mph average speed. Not bad for a windy day.

Bissel powers the leadout with a few laps to go.

One lap to go!

Finish video clip

     After the race on Saturday, we got to relax a few days in South Haven, MI and enjoy some fireworks on the beach along Lake Michigan. It was a good show, but I questioned whether it was worth it once we sat in traffic for 2 hours to get home.

Lots of peeps at the beach

Had to throw in a quick pic that had something to do with bikes. Swiftwicks at the beach!

Rocking the iPod as I wait for the fireworks. Yeah, that's the best band ever. Sevendust! And the song is telling you the best way to ride.

The sun sets behind the lighthouse.

The glowing ball sinks into the lake.

I absolutely loved the colors in the sky at sunset.

The fireworks pop over the pier at South Haven.

South Haven 4th of July fireworks

     Monday morning I slipped in a mountain bike ride at Fort Custer Recreation Area in Augusta, MI, which is located between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. The trails there were nice. It was sandy which ruined a lot of the fast turns, but there were some cool obstacles and features along the loops. The 8.1 mile Red Loop was the best. It was the more advanced trails and had some really cool sections on it.

The sunrise while driving I-94 towards the trail

The GPS view of my ride at the Fort Custer Recreation Area

Doubletrack trails started the Green loop

A rooty section

A log pile along the Green Loop

Singletrack amidst tall weeds

A pond along the Green Loop

The Red Loop at Fort Custer

One of many burmed turns in the early part of the Red Loop

A nice log pile option between the forks of a tree.

A North Shore-style ladder bridge over a downed tree

There was a pond full of lilypads along the Red Loop

     I got in a good 3 hours before it was time to make the long drive back to Tennessee. Shannon got some wedding plans finalized and I got to race and ride in a new place so it was a great trip.