Peninsula Cross

     Moving is complete now...at least moving everything from the old house over to the new is over. There's still plenty of boxes stacked in every room that we will have to unpack, but I'm glad to have all the heavy lifting behind us. I have been doing some afternoon runs around the farm. There's lot of paths through the fields and some woods that I will explore soon to add some singletrack to my new backyard. The first day I was wearing all black and running up and down the hill by the pond. The landlord saw me as she drove by the house and thought I was a burglar. She pulled a U-turn in the road and came flying back. When she realized it was me, she laughed and fussed at me at the same time. She said she should've known better with knowing how crazy I am (she's a runner too). She was planning to kick my butt once she ran me down. It was a funny way to start our stay here.

Moon rising behind the shed at the old house

One last campfire at the old place

Sunset behind the pond at the new house

    We took full advantage of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals to stock up on bike stuff for next year. We were in desperate need of new mountain biking gloves and Shannon has been wanting her own helmet for quite a while. I also scored some good deals on replacement parts for drivetrains. Got to love all the wear that racing, mud and long rides puts on your bikes.

    We spent Thanksgiving moving the rest of our stuff and house-sitting for Keith and Misty. I have done this several times for them and for some reason this time I was allergic to both Lucy and Vivian. I sneezed my head off the whole week. It was still a good time though, as I got to take Lucy out on the trail with Snoop twice that week. They had a good time running together, both on the trail and through the pond.

Lucy

Snoop

Time for a drink

My tree-climbing dog

Lucy wading through the pond

     The symptoms of the dog/cat allergies hung around the next week and ended up developing into a sinus infection complete with sore throat. It really hit me on a Friday night as I was doing my first commute home by bike to the new house. It's a longer route now, going up to 27.0 miles from 21.9. That'll be good for me to squeeze in a few more miles each week.

    I felt worse the next day. I was supposed to get up early and do the Jingle Bell Jog 5K in Clarksville, but I felt like I had been hit by a bus when I woke up, so I went back to bed. Later that day, I tried to mountain bike on the backyard trail. That didn't go well as I felt awful and weak overall. I ended up bailing early on the ride. The last Cross the Way race was the following day so I felt it was better to stop early to get some rest instead of running myself into the ground.

Shannon and Snoop after a lap on the trail

Colorful sunset on the farm

     My throat was feeling better on Sunday. Shannon and I went out for an early spin and the exercise cleared my sinuses right up. I was hopeful for a good day at Lock 4 for Cross the Way #3. The race was originally supposed to be held at Two Rivers Park in Nashville, but they had to change the venue to Lock 4 earlier this week.

      It was a warm day for cross racing. That has been the theme of this cross season though, warm and dry. I felt good during warm-up. The course was faster than previous cross races at Lock 4. The course is fully on the peninsula of the park that juts out into Old Hickory Lake. The grass was deep in several places along the course and the mountain bike tires just seemed to be too fat to roll good. I actually felt faster on the singlespeed in practice.

Cross the Way #3 course on the Lock 4 peninsula

CX 3 Men

Shannon Mathis during the CX 1/2/3 Women's race

The wind shuffled the leaves around covering the bikes in the pit

Mike Edens

     I made the call to start the CX 1/2 race on the singlespeed, which went against my original plan. It was a poor choice. I got smoked on the uphill start, dropping off into the grass last in the line of 9 riders. I liked the initial set of tight turns, but it was a mess in traffic. The singlespeed is only fast if you can use momentum. Stop-go riding just makes the big gear work against you and that's exactly what we were doing. It was deja vu again when Jeremy Nagoshiner washed out in a corner right in front of me. That's three times in three races. Lucky for him, I had time to swerve and not run him over.

     Jeremy's crash put a gap in the line. I made another quick pass to move into 7th. The group was about 5 seconds ahead of me already just halfway through lap 1. Andy Reardon was already off the front and driving the pace high. I just didn't have to legs to keep the singlespeed going, so I opted for a bike change after lap 1. I had a quick exchange in the pit and was now on the mountain bike, which was much faster through the turns.

CX 1/2 group on lap 1

Reardon out front after the first set of barriers

Boomer Leopold

Me on the singlespeed the first lap

Jumping the small barrier

     I thought I could catch back up, but the sickness was taking its toll on me. I couldn't reach my normal high heart rates and just couldn't match the pace of the lead pack. I tried my best to get back up there, eventually crashing in the same corner that took Jeremy down. I busted my knee and hurt my back, which was finally starting to feel better after straining it two weeks ago during the move. I was forced to back off the last 20 minutes of the race, but held onto my 7th place. I got lapped by Andy before the end. It was a tough race, but I was surprised by the outcome considering how little I've trained lately.

Matt Schupp stayed near the front on a mountain bike

Swiftwick's Michael Crouch

On the mountain bike now

Grabbing a drink

Reardon way out front

The three-man chase group

Leopold and Jeremy Chambers chasing Reardon

Shannon Williams

Chambers outsprints Schupp for 2nd

    I had a short break, then it was time for the Singlespeed event. Again, the position on the singlespeed bike is much more relaxed and doesn't aggravate my back pain at all. I had a better start, dropping off the pavement in 6th out of 9th. Again, traffic made the big gear tough, but I hung in there with the group. It usually takes me a lap to get going in the second race, then I always move up.

Junior rider

Matt Thompson and Jim Simms battle for 3rd

     The Juniors started 30 seconds ahead of us and that made for some slower traffic for us to negotiate at the end of lap 1. It's hard to pick through Junior traffic. Some of them go really slow and you don't want to interfere with them when you go by. They're always trying so hard! I got held up behind them for almost the entire second lap. The gap from me to the rider ahead went from 5 seconds to 45 seconds before I could blink my eye. I was tired from the previous race and there was no hope for closing down a gap that big in just 2 laps. I did my best to cut off some time and to also maintain my 6th. That was my worst finish in Singlespeed since my 7th place at the TN State Championship here at Lock 4 last year. I added 2 teeth to my rear cog, but it's still not enough on this type of course. Or maybe I'm just too weak! I was glad to see Pump Track Jim Simms outsprint Matt Thompson for 3rd. Jim is riding well now and deserved a good result.

A Junior followed by the two SInglespeed leaders

Junior climbs up to the pavement

Ouch say the legs

Photo by Rick Harris

Video highlights from Cross the Way #3

     Shannon and I took the scenic drive home, exploring some new roads for future road ride adventures. Next event for us is another try at a 5K. It'll be next Friday night at Rudolph's Red Nose Run 5K in Nashville. It's always a fun and huge event. We can't wait!