Crossfire

    After feeling like my big gear hampered me in the singlespeed race at School of Cross, I got myself a new cog. It was two teeth bigger, bumping me to a 42x20 gear now. The second consecutive week of racing cross was coming at the Crossfire CX in Franklin, TN and I did not want my gear to be an excuse again. I have only managed to win two singlespeed races on my big All City since I got it in 2010. Too many races have slipped right through my hands.

     The new cog required a special tool for removal which I did not have. Once it was installed, it was on there until I could acquire a tool. I was ready for the easier gear, but I have raced Crossfire before. It features minimal climbing so I was a bit nervous that the gear would be too easy, but I was willing to risk it.

     We were treated to some beautiful December weather, quite the opposite of the previous week's rain and cold. It was a sunny morning with clouds building in the afternoon. The temperature started in the upper-40s and raised to the mid-60s by the end of the race day. There was a slight threat of rain for the final race, but it held off until several hours after racing wrapped up.

    The Crossfire CX race takes place on a farm just east of Franklin. The course is mostly grass with a little bit of dirt path thrown in amid some trees. My favorite part of the course has always been the barn we go through at the start of each lap. It's a fast course with minimal climbing and few technical features, best suiting those riders with a lot of power that can hold a high pace for the full race distance. As far as obstacles go, other than a few sharp corners there was little to slow us down other than a pair of barriers, one small log and an off-camber bank. The biggest challenge I saw was that the course looked to have been mowed very recently through some thicker brush. Half of the course was grass, while the other was a mix of pasture weeds. I saw lots of sharp stobs in the second half of the course and more thorns than I could count. It looked like a scary place for skinny cyclocross tires. I was just hoping to make it through the day without a flat.

     Singlespeed was the first race of the morning. There was no real path on the grassy sections yet so we were riding on a fresh, soft course. We had a stacked field with all the local hotdogs of singlespeed cyclocross on the start line. We had seven starters, including Michael Edens and Paul Gates who both got the best of me last weekend. Also on the start line was Justin Lowe, who rides more than any man I have ever met. He was talking about how slow he is feeling lately and how he wasn't ready for cross. If you have ever been to a bike race you have heard this kind of talk from at least one person before the race, and chances are those people smoked everyone during the race. That's just the way it goes. So, of course, I was watching Justin.

Emerging out of the barn on lap 1 of the Singlespeed race

photo by Mark Keranen

     I had a much better start than last week, making it to the barn in second behind Edens. Justin came flying by me a few corners later, but he and Edens then sat up in the first open field stretch. I came flying up on them and went straight past, putting in a good dig to try to stretch things out. On the next rise, Justin came to my right and we had a drag race to the top of the hill. We were bar-to-bar all the way up the rise before he pulled past me as we started down the descent. He spun like a mad man down the following hill while I decided to slow things down a bit and settle into my rhythm. It was a pretty intense start, made even more crazy by the fact that they were actually still out taping the course as we came around the first time.

     Justin got a bit of a gap that got bigger in the worst section of stobs where the barriers were. The scruffy ground felt like sand and it sapped my speed making my gear feel no better than it did before the cog change. I lost three spots and a big chunk of time in this section the first lap.

     On lap 2, I pulled back up to 4th, only to lose it again in the stobby section where I just couldn't turn the gear. I had to run the off-camber bank every lap, but one as I just couldn't turn the gear over in that slow of a section. The riders ahead of me were able to ride it and pulled away from me every lap. Halfway through the 30-minute race I secured 4th and set out after Michael Edens. The Juniors started just behind us and Harrison Klapheke was able to pass his way up toward the front of the Singlespeed race. He kept giving Edens a tow in the open sections where the wind was a big problem. I could close down the gap in the first part of the course, then maintain on the open sections where Harrison was pulling, but then I kept dropping time to Edens at the end of the course. I worked hard all the way to the end, but never could close down those last few seconds on Edens. I may have been pushing with all I had, but I did take a second to swipe a powdered donut off a stick that someone was holding out into the course on one lap. That was my first ever powdered donut hand-up in a race. There were some kids holding out sticks as well, some with donuts on them and others with marshmallows. I tried to take a donut from a little girl, but ended up missing and shattering her stick. Ooops!

     I finished the race in 4th. Justin was long gone and finished way out front to get the win. It was a good course for him and he picked a good gear. So much for being worried about having too easy of a gear. If I hadn't changed to the bigger cog I would not have even been able to ride that last quarter of the course.

     I ran my GoPro handlebar cam during the Singlespeed race. You can see a clip of the donut hand-up directly below, followed by the full handlebar cam video.

Video: Powdered donut hand-up

Video: Full Singlespeed race from my handlebar cam. Exciting first lap!

    Dina raced the Fat Tire class on her mountain bike, which raced at the same time as Singlespeed and Juniors. She ended up 4th in a combined male-female category. She also raced the CX 3/4 Women's race later in the day, taking 2nd in a really good race that saw lots of positions change during the race. I had a great time cheering her on, snapping pics and watching some really good racing as I waited for the Pro/1/2/3 race which was the last race of the day.

Dina leading the CX 3/4 Women's race

CX 3/4 Women podium

CX 4/5 rider

     The highlight race of the day for me was the Masters event, which saw a large group together the first few laps before the torrid pace and flat tires whittled the group down to four. Justin Lowe made that front group despite getting gapped several times due to mistakes in corners and over the small log jump. If that guy ever gets good skills every cross racer around here better beware! The Masters race ended with a good sprint finish taken by Alessandro Zanetti over Zdenek Fiebinger.

Nago goes over the barriers

Lawrence Czarnecki

The ageless Tom Gee

Dave Richardson

Chris Cooper hops the log

Cooper

Lee Clayton

Dave out of the saddle

The leaders pass by the pond along the course

    The Pro/1/2/3 race was late in the afternoon. The opportunity to shorten the race was there due to darkness so of course we were shortened. My fellow riders were good with changing to 45 minutes. Actually, they were asking the official to shorten before he even brought up the daylight issue. I did not agree with them, but arguing is pointless when you are the only one that feels the Pro field should race a full hour like the flyer said. To me, if you don't want to race the scheduled distance then don't come. Fifteen minutes in a Pro race is a long time. The outcome of a sprint or attack after 45 minutes is very different compared to one after guys have 60 minutes in their legs. If distance didn't make a difference then every category would race the same distance. A short race does me no good because I am preparing for a season of XC races around two hours long.

     I got a good jump off the line on the start. I was three-wide with Justin Lowe to my outside as we came through the finish line. Justin and I both slid through the sweeping left turn as we headed up to the barn for the first time. I was into the barn in the top four out of our seven riders, still battling for third with Justin. As we came out of the barn with a sharp right turn, I felt the back tire roll out. I had a flat! I must have found one of those thorns on the way to the start and it leaked as we sat on the line. That's why I slid through the first turn. It had a little air in it, so I was able to limp through the first half of the lap to reach the pits, which saved me a lot of time compared to running. By the time I reached the pit and changed over my Garmin to the singlespeed, I was over a minute behind the other six riders. It was not impossible to catch back up, but it was going to be really hard to do it on a singlespeed, especially considering how much I struggled on this bike earlier in the day and the fact that our race was now just 3/4 of the usual length.

     I had a lot of adrenaline flowing when I got back on the course. The line was much more rode-in than in my first race of the day, so my lap times were better. About halfway through the race, I caught Josiah Lightle and moved up to 6th, but that was as far up as I could get. I gained some time on 5th, but not enough to really make a dent into a gap that big. My legs were destroyed by the time I got to the end of the official race at 45 minutes, but I kept going for three more laps to get in a full hour. I bet the guys tearing down the course thought I was nuts still out there hammering laps after the race, but I know I need it to be ready for the real races next year. Darkness was not an issue. Even with the clouds that had settled in overhead the light had not dimmed much at all. We had so much light left that I was able to finish my 60 minutes, change clothes, load the car and drive all the way back to Nashville before it got dark.

Josiah Lightle

Hopping the log on the singlespeed bike after a first-lap flat

     A group of three stayed together for a sprint finish on the final lap, which was likely on a course this fast with little technical features and such a short race. Travis Werts wound up taking the win in a close sprint over Ian Umstead. Shannon Williams took third. My result was nothing to speak of in either race, but I got in another good workout which was my main goal. Video from the full day of racing shot by both me and Dina is posted below.

Leaders at the log

Me at the barriers near the end of the race

Video: Crossfire CX

     I've been working hard to drop some weight prior to the holidays. We had our work Christmas party the day after Crossfire and I fell off the wagon a bit. I had to work late that night and wasn't able to ride until 9pm. It was late to be on the trainer, but I knew I needed to ride off some of that big meal. I had great legs despite being so tired the day before following the racing. I was settled in on the trainer which never happens so I just kept going. I ended up burning off all the extra calories I consumed plus some, clocking three and a half hours on the trainer before getting off at 1am. It was a new record for me as far as length of an indoor trainer ride. It feels good to be motivated enough to mentally last that long in addition to having the legs to ride that far after two races the previous day.

     There's one more cross weekend to go next weekend, and then cross is over for the season as far as official races. But you can count on us having some home races for training over the next few months as we just have so much fun riding cross at home in the winter time. More on that in the next blog as I struggle to get caught back up on my posts.

Give It Away

   
     I finally got back on the road near the end of November. I have spent all my time on the dirt lately, so it was exciting to be out on the road with the cooler air blowing on me as the weather is finally starting to cool down.

I often find my way to the woods on road rides too

Fall road riding scenery 

Sulphur Fork Creek

Sulphur Fork Creek at Port Royal State Park near Clarksville

    If it wasn't for sports, there would be no need for any sort of television in the Greer house. There are very few shows that we watch. That is partly due to lack of time and partly due to the current crop of shows just not catching our interest. I do enjoy NCIS (the original only) and the occasional old Seinfeld episode for some laughs, but most of the time I'm watching cycling, motocross, auto racing or football. It happens to be football season right now. Our only TV in the house is a really old and really heavy one that sits out in our sunroom where we ride our indoor trainers. I finally decided it was time to get a nice TV for the living room and set out to buy one on Black Friday. Before I could get to the store, Shannon had a patient at work that gave us a really nice TV that was a little over a year old for free. That same day my Dad came home with a projector that was being trashed where he works. The projector was fully functional and not very old, but they were replacing it anyway. We sat the projector up first and it provided a clear 109-inch screen on our biggest wall in the living room. After watching football on it all afternoon and evening, there is no need to hook up that new TV in the living room. I'm thinking it'll look good in the garage and this 109 inches can stay in the house.

109-inches of football goodness. Go gators!

     We had a dry and hot Fall, but the break we were looking for arrived to start December. What leaves were left on the trees finally changed colors and quickly fell to the ground. The warm weather allowed for an extended growing season so I was still picking produce until the very end of November. People couldn't believe we were still producing tomatoes, beans and peppers on the farm. The ones picked late in the season were probably the best tasting of the whole year. I managed to sell another batch of peppers to my usual buyer. I had a lot of people say they wanted to buy some from me when they saw what I sold to him, but when I would show up with peppers they wouldn't buy them. Some told me they would just get some at the store later. Colored bells were selling for $2-3 a piece at the local grocery store, while I was selling them for $1 each. I thought for sure I could sell some at that price and with the convenience of having them right there so you wouldn't need to stop by the grocery store. After a few days of everyone turning me down, I tried to give away what I had left and couldn't even get anyone to take them. We froze what we could hold in our freezer and fed the rest to the worms. I guess I still have a lot to learn when it comes to selling veggies. If I can't figure out how to give them away for free, then I'm going to have a really hard time selling them! We tried some winter crops again this year, but so far the deer are eating more of them than we are.

November green beans and Lunchbox peppers

Ripe habaneros

     I finally got my Brain shock back from Specialized. MOAB handled that for me and fixed an issue I had with my front hub. I cleaned the bearings and then had a tool tip break off in the tiny bolt head that holds the hub cover on when I was reinstalling everything. We got it drilled out and a new bolt to hold things together. Dina had to get a wheel repaired at the shop at the same time due to a crash while riding with my Dad at Montgomery Bell. She fell on the derailleur and it took a few spokes out with it. We have her back up and rolling now too.

     Dina's bike was fixed, but I couldn't talk her into racing School of Cross in Nashville. It was the first race in a set of three race weekends in December that ended the cross season in Tennessee. I hadn't been interested in cross at all so far this season, but the cooler temps and lack of racing over the past two months finally had me itching to dust off the cross bike.

     We definitely got cross weather for this race. Winter was finally arriving. It was a 44-degree day with steady rain. Like the name suggests, the race takes place at a school, Fall-Hamilton Elementary to be exact. Ride For Reading founder Mathew Portell is now the principal at Fall-Hamilton, so he got permission for Michael Edens to host a race on the school grounds. It wasn't a big piece of land, but it had several cool features, which Michael took full advantage of like he always does. It was a twisty course with some tight turns, a giant spiral, one long climb, a hop over a playground bench and several transitions from pavement to dirt and back. The rain made for some slick mud and made those surface transitions very tricky.

     I signed up for both the Pro/1/2/3 and Singlespeed races. Pro/1/2/3 came first. I got a terrible start out of nine starters for the 60-minute race. We started at the bottom of the big climb of the course so it was a tough start just by the terrain, but it was made even harder by some good cross riders on the line with me. I was in the back up the hill and then slowly started to pick my way up through the turns. By halfway through lap 1, I was up to 5th. The leading four had a gap already so I set out to close that down, but I was doing it smoothly. I knew I didn't have the legs and lungs to just stand up and cross a gap on the first lap. It's too fast at that point and I would blow up for sure.

    I was feeling good and started to push the corners near the end of the lap. My legs were strong and it was the first ride since Race to the Canal that my right knee wasn't sore. I have fallen on that knee so many times in the past month. It's like I have a magnet in my patella and every now and then I pass over a piece of ground that has the matching magnet buried in it and the two must connect. I must have passed by one of those buried magnets. I took a tight S-turn too quick and caught one of the stakes on the exit of the turn with my brake lever. It locked up my front brake and I went over the bars in slow motion. I was coming down on top of the stake so I tried to roll off to the left to keep from being impaled. The tape suspended me long enough for me to spin a couple of times before I hit the ground. I was wrapped up in the tape and couldn't get up. It was wrapped around my leg and my bike. I had one loop around just my leg and another loop actually taping my leg to the frame. I couldn't do that again if I tried it a thousand times. I flopped on the ground for a few seconds before John Carr came by. He saw that I couldn't get up and stopped to help untangle me. He gave up his own race to help me out, which I greatly appreciate. Not only did I lose a lot of time with that incident, but I came down hard on my right knee yet again.

     I spent the rest of the race steadily working my way back up with my sore knee. I ended up getting back to 5th by the finish and nearly caught 4th. I had been over a minute behind with three laps to go and came in just 10 seconds back. John got up to 6th, so we both ended up finishing exactly where we were when the crash happened. The transitions claimed many people in this race. Several hit the ground rather hard. Muddy pavement is slick so you have to take the corners wide and not get on the brakes or back into the power on the pedals too quickly. There was a nice concrete curb on the exit of one paved turn that I used as a berm every lap. I didn't see anyone else using it, but they should have because it was much faster and also safer.

     I had a few minutes to get cold before the start of the 30-minute Singlespeed race. We had six riders signed-up for the race, but only four started. They started us just ahead of the Juniors, who looked like they were going to eat us up on this course. As usual, my gear was way too big, especially on the big climb so I got smoked on the start. I was 4th and off the back of the other three until we hit the bench hop where I started to gain some time. By the end of lap 1, I was in 2nd and chasing down the leader Michael Edens. I was able to crank my gear up the big hill each lap, but not as fast as Edens and Paul Gates could turn their gear. I lost 2nd to Gates on lap 2. Edens pulled away, but never really got out of reach. I yo-yoed with Gates the rest of the race. I would catch him in the turns, then he would pull away on the hill. The last lap he was able to hold a few bike lengths on me through the turns and I had to settle with third. I was tired in this race, but I actually think I rode it better than the Pro/1/2/3 race. I just need an easier gear! My knee was feeling better by the end of the day and we kept the Juniors at bay so it was a good, fast race.

Singlespeed and Junior start line photo taken by Justin Lowe. He thought the school sign was perfect for our races.

photo by Sunny Izreal

photo by Sunny Izreal

Singlespeed podium

photo by Sunny Izreal

Mathew Portell took this picture on Monday after the race. Cross bikes make cinnamon rolls in fields.

     Look for more from the other two cross weekends in December coming up in the next posts.

Dry & Fast

     I'm wrapping up one of the busiest times of the year for me, both with work and training. I'm finally getting time to update the blog and wrap up the end of 2016. Now on to November...

     My Fall was spent mostly in the woods. I got in a lot of time on the mountain bike on our shortened XC course at the house. Our established loop was less than two miles long, but it is very fast and fun so making several laps on it every day was not mentally difficult. At first I missed the long lap times, but after a while I actually enjoyed the change to a shorter course and making multiple laps. Our course offers some power sections and a few short, steep hills so it sort of felt like a World Cup with 12-minute lap times. We are still in a major drought so trail conditions have been dry and fast.

     All the mountain biking motivated me to start cutting new trail directly behind our house. We have some land of our own to work with now, plus the section of the neighbor's land that backs up to it is relatively young trees so it is safe from the logging for the most part. The logging that would take "a few weeks" is still going on. Last I heard the target finish date is Thanksgiving. It can't come fast enough for me. I'm ready to start cutting trail and stop hearing the constant sound of crashing trees.

     After a few days of work, I got 0.3 miles of flowing singletrack added behind my house. It's a hillside so I didn't have a lot to work with, but I think it turned out really well. It's fast and fun with a few jump options and plenty of quick elevation changes. I love it, but everyone else in the family thinks it is too slow, too hard and too rough. It's as fast as anything else we have so I don't understand the complaints on that. It is rough for sure. The ground is so dry that it feels more like concrete than dirt. I attempted to smooth out a few sections, but it was tough going with hand tools. It was so dry and loose after I worked on it that Shannon and I had to carry a water can around and spray down the loose spots so the dirt wouldn't blow away in the wind.

     Despite all my mountain bike time recently, I still feel like my form has slipped away. I have been slacking off the bike and I can feel it. The legs feel good, but I can tell I'm hauling around a few extra pounds. PRs continue to fall at the house, but I feel a lot of that is due to the blazing-fast trail conditions more than my actual fitness. I have been working hard on my skills, trying to improve my cornering and flow while at max effort. I want to be able to flow over the terrain faster while recovering rather than it taking so much energy to ride aggressively. I'm definitely riding more aggressive than I ever have before thanks to the Epic eating up the trail. I am making gains all the time, but it has also put me on the ground several times recently. I've had two pretty big falls since Race to the Canal. My right knee took the brunt of both of them, the same knee I busted at the Canal. I don't bruise very often, but lately I have been covered in bruises on my legs. It's just one of those things that comes with pushing the limits.

     By the middle of the month, I had overdone it with mountain biking every day and had to take a week off. I wasn't doing any structured training, just getting out and having fun riding my bike. But it still takes it toll on the body and you must rest periodically. With feeling fatigued, not in great shape and with the weather conditions still being warm and dry, I just couldn't get motivated for most of cyclocross season. When trails are this good, I'm going to spend my time mountain biking, not riding circles in the grass. I decided to skip the Tennessee State Championships for this reason and also the fact that there was no payout. I do not support the trend of offering no payout to any classes just because a race is the State Championship. To me, that should be the biggest race of the season in Tennessee. It should feature the best racing from the best racers in our area, and they should be rewarded with the biggest payout of the year in addition to the medals and jerseys. Just my opinion...

      It was hard to take a break from riding, but I survived it and was back on the bike at Thanksgiving for our annual Tour de Turkey races at home. The logging wasn't finished and the neighbors allowed deer hunters in the woods all weekend, so we were limited to my parents' property and just over one mile of trail for four races. It was a good time despite the short loops. It was the first time I can ever remember dry conditions for Thanksgiving weekend. It was warm for all of our events except the night short track race we did on Black Friday. I just got a new Maxxis skinsuit that I got to test out in that short track. It's an old aerosuit designed for time trialing for the Maxxis-Shimano team. It fits a bit weird, but it feels fast. Just make sure you don't eat too much before you squeeze into an aerosuit. They are beyond form-fitting. It's another hand-me-down extra that I was able to get my hands on. I got it for a good price and am happy to have some new kit for next season, providing Maxxis continues to sponsor me for next season.

     Speaking of sponsors, First Endurance has already agreed to continue sponsoring me for the 2017 season. They didn't even hesitate in offering me their Pro deal. I am very grateful to be working with them. This will be our eight year working together. I have tried to secure more sponsors for next year, but so far I have been striking out. I was hoping the SERC title would help me get some notice out in the cycling world, but I have been ignored thus far. And I really mean ignored. I wasn't even considered by one single company or team I applied to. Most of them never even responded to any of my attempts at contact. Looks like the privateer life will continue in 2017.

http://firstendurance.com/

     November ended on a bit of a sour note in Tennessee. The drought got pretty bad and brought on obvious burn bans across the entire state. Of course, there were people that were still having brush fires and throwing out burning cigarette butts which caused multiple fires all over the state. Tossing cigarette butts is annoying on a normal day. It's litter. Put it in the trash. Throwing it out into the grass when everything is dry is just stupid. I watched one of my neighbors toss butts out in front of my house almost every day as they came driving by. I can't believe people lack the sense to know they could set someone's yard on fire and maybe even burn down a house just because they couldn't wait another 30 seconds to throw their butt into the trash at their own house.

     All the small fires were controlled without much damage, but finally the big ones got started and turned into full-on forest fires. They began in western North Carolina in the mountains and burned several parts of not only that state, but also east Tennessee. Then there was a big fire in the Great Smoky Mountains that made it's way down the mountains to the town of Gatlinburg and did a lot of damage. The fire burned over 17,000 acres, nearly 11,000 of which were inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. When the fire reached town, 2,460 structures were burned, many completely destroyed. Fourteen people lost their lives and 191 others were injured. Thanks to the 800+ firefighters that came to the area from 40 different states, the fire was stopped before all of the town was destroyed. It is estimated that Sevier County sustained $500 million worth of damage.

Gatlinburg Fire

photo courtesy of  Facebook/acesoutheast

photo courtesy of CNN

     As usual, the volunteer state has stepped up to help everyone. Most of the town has reopened and those in need are being helped. That is what I love about my state. People always help others in need which is something you do not always see nowadays. Google "Gatlinburg Fire" if you want to read more about it. There were some pretty insane videos of people escaping the area as the fire moved in. They have suspects in custody for possible arson charges. The fire was bad enough, but knowing it was likely set on purpose just blows my mind. When we were in Utah this year, there were several fires burning and a man was arrested for arson. He was seen setting at least six fires and turned out to be a former firefighter.

Aftermath of the Gatlinburg fire

photo courtesy of CNN

     More about December and finally finding my motivation for cyclocross coming in the next post. Thanks again for reading and being patient with my belated posts!