2023

Time to get current. Posts from 2023 will be posted below while I work on 2020-2022 on the main blog page. Newest posts will be up top.

Good Run of Bad Luck (Part 2)

Posted Date: April 23, 2024

     I want to start this last post of the 2023 season with a memorial to one of my best friends. During the fall, we lost our beloved Snoop. She was by far the best dog I have ever had and the only trail dog I ever had. We had snoop for right on 15 years. She was a stray that my Dad brought home from work one day. We have no idea how old she was then as she was already fully grown. She has been in poor health for a while and I think she was beyond ready to move on. I am glad she made it long enough for the kids to meet her. She taught them how to be gentle, often at her own expense. I will miss all of our time together in the woods. She was by my side for almost every mile of riding and every trail work hour on our backyard trail for most of those 15 years. Some days we would go to the garage and I would ask her if she wanted to go on the trail. She would run over to my bikes hanging on the wall and jump up to tap her front paws on the wheel of my mountain bike. She knew which bike she wanted me to get down off the wall. I will miss her constant stretching, climbing trees, harassing of the squirrels and tracking sessions where I would run into the woods and hide then she would follow my scent and find me. I know there are many others who will miss her too as she has greeted and ran with every bike rider that has come to our house. See ya later Snoop Dog.

Didn't matter the weather, she was always ready for some trail time.

I have never seen a dog climb trees like Snoop.

Strapped the GoPro on my seatpost one day so we could see Snoop in action. Such fun memories of the D-O-G.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqpUPckIoBs

     There wasn't much cross racing within six hours of home the rest of October and November. I planned to keep working on cross at home and do some gravel racing to prepare for Cyclocross Nationals. The final weekend of October I planned to catch the nearby Natchez Libre Gravel Grinder and then do the Gravel Grovel in Indiana on Thanksgiving weekend to finally dip my toe into the gravel scene.

   I had a sore throat early in the week leading into Natchez Libre. I thought it was just allergies and trained through it. It did not affect me at all at first. I continued to do damage on our local group rides. But by Friday I was feeling much worse with a cough developing. I felt like I could still do Natchez Libre, but I wanted to race it hard and not just try to survive it. After a lot of thought, I decided it would be best to miss yet another race. It wasn't worth derailing my form over this one race. So far, my fall is not going anything like I had planned. 

Sitting on the front porch with Kellen. He loves snack time sitting on the bench.

Fall double rainbow

Great Fall colors this year

Got to ride with Shannon one afternoon which is rare these days

Getting in a little gravel time in southern Kentucky prepping for some gravel racing

It's a good day when you end the ride and the bike still has a fresh coat of white gravel dust on it

     I was forced off the bike for almost two weeks due to a persistent cough. Kellen was also sick so we were not a happy household around Halloween. The only local cross race this year was Cross the Harpeth down in Kingston Springs. It was announced so late that I hadn't really placed it within my training program. I finally felt like a human again the day before the race. I had ridden a couple of times since being sick, but I had felt drained even with riding at a slow pace. On Saturday I felt like I had some energy.

Kellen showing off the pumpkin he decorated

Salem refused to look at the camera while showing her pumpkin

Salem was a skeleton and Kellen a farmer for Halloween

Kellen even had a little tractor for when we went trick-or-treating

One of our local customers, Susanne Crow, uses our Carolina Reaper peppers to make a super hot chili each year for the biggest Halloween party in town. She invited us over and we were able to try some of the chili and meet her family. The chili was definitely hot, but also very flavorful. It was super cold on Halloween and the chili helped warm my insides as we walked the kids around to the houses in Susanne's neighborhood. Thanks for choosing our peppers Susanne and for all the wonderful plugs on the local social media groups!

We took Salem out to the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway for the All-American 400 in November to let her experience some racing and support the track.

The track gets all the drivers to park on the front stretch before the race and allows everyone to walk onto the track and meet the drivers. Many signed autographs and several gave away things to the kids like coloring books, stickers and shirts. Here my Dad is taking Salem up to meet Ty Majeski who drives full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year. Ty ended up winning the overall for the ASA STARS National Tour later in the day.

Salem was very serious about the new shirt she got from Michael Hinde Racing. They gave us one to take home to Kellen too

Video: Start of the All-American 400

    Race day at Harpeth was Sunday, November 12. I signed up for both the Masters 35+ race and the Pro/1/2/3. I was still scared of my back, especially with the long set of stairs you have to run up on the course and the steep climbs. I hadn't had my heart rate over about 120 bpm for two weeks so the warm-up was a shock to the body. The Masters race was first and the pace on the start was even more of a shock to the system. Turnout was low which was surprising considering Nationals are so close to us this year in Louisville. I thought everyone would be excited to race cross and take every opportunity that had to tune the engine. We only had four in the Masters group. I was third the first lap just trying to get into some kind of rhythm and adjust to the pace. It was my first real cross race in over two years.

     I moved to second place at the end of lap 1. Paul Carter was already long gone, but I tried to bridge to him anyway. I got to within five seconds of him on lap 2, but ran out of steam. The legs were kind of stale and lacking, pretty much like I expected after nearly two weeks off the bike and recovering from a sickness. He put 7-8 seconds one me per lap the rest of the 45-minute race, most of which I felt was lost on the stairs. I took it easy on them to not aggravate the back since I was racing again later in the day. I shouldered the bike to keep the torque on the back as low as possible. It took more time to shoulder the bike as the stairs are narrow with a hand rail that will hit the bike if you fully shoulder it across your back. The dismount coming into the stairs is on pavement. You have to slow down more to shoulder the bike than to hold it to the side or your shoes will break traction and slide out on you. I ended up second with minimal fatigue in the back. I would say that was a successful start to the day.

Only one picture from Cross the Harpeth. This was from the Juniors race.

     I felt a lot stronger during the 60-minute Pro/1/2/3 race that began an hour after we completed the Masters race. The legs seemed to wake up a little and I was more comfortable on the new bike. We had six starters. I was last off the line, but moved to fifth after a couple of turns. It took me the rest of the lap to move into fourth. The course had two sets of barriers in addition to the stairs for a total of three dismounts per lap. I started hopping the first set of barriers as they came just a few meters before the stairs. If you dismounted you got back on the bike for about 10 seconds before you were off again for the stairs. It wasn't faster to hop the barriers as they were very tall, but it was easier for me. Running was harder on my back and also caused my heart rate to go up higher. Hopping gave me a little more juice for the stairs and the climb that followed them. I couldn't get across to the top three. Again, I was losing most of my time on the stairs. I faded the last three laps as the legs started to fatigue. The official pulled me at one lap to go despite me still being fairly close to third and well ahead of being lapped by the leader. I went ahead and finished my last lap. This has happened so many times to me. I do not understand why they pull anyone when they still have a shot at gaining positions, especially positions that involve the podium and payout. A lot can happen in one lap. I know first hand when I lost a race years ago by crashing on the last lap and damaging my front wheel while way out front looking like I had the victory in the bag. Officials should not be doing anything to dictate the outcome of the race. 

     Cross the Harpeth brought me back to life. I felt awesome the day after. I love it when racing wakes the legs up like that. I was excited as I still felt like I had time to prepare for Cyclocross Nationals and could still get a good result despite all these hurdles that have popped up over the last two months.

     But the hurdles weren't done popping up yet. On Tuesday morning, two days after Cross the Harpeth, I crashed on a morning mountain bike ride before work. I was just cruising on my first lap here at home when I clipped a sapling with the left side of my handlebar. This new Epic has a wider bar and I have hit it multiple times this year, always on the left. Every other hit has been way harder than this hit, but this one took me down. Instead of bouncing off the tree like I usually do, I got hung on the small sapling. The tree bent and then rebounded, ripping the bar clean out of my hands. It sent me down hard on my right side and I landed on the side of my head first. The helmet surely took a lot of the impact, but it felt like it all went to my brain. It was a double thud, the first when I hit the ground and a second on the inside that felt like my brain slammed into my skull. I knew immediately that this was a serious hit. While I didn't black out, I did clearly have a concussion. I had light sensitivity almost immediately and was wobbly when I stood up. I was only 10 minutes into the ride, but it was clearly over for today. I took myself straight home as I knew I wasn't right. I ended up having to take over a week off the bike as I was a little dizzy when my heart rate increased even slightly. That pretty much ended my season as I knew there was no way I could survive another setback in my training.

Made the most of the time off the bike to take the kids fishing with my Dad.

The kids were catching these small Bluegill about as fast as we could take them off the hook.

Kellen and I built a few new trail features during my down time even though he is very scared of the drill right now.

     I was feeling better by Thanksgiving weekend. I could ride without any symptoms, but I could tell I was not 100% and could not risk another crash. I decided that Gravel Grovel was not worth the risk of getting in an accident early in the race when the group was packed up. Instead, I did some mountain biking at home for our annual Tour de Turkey training camp.

Salem took a few laps during our Black Friday Night Short Track during Tour de Turkey

Kids trying out the new ramp

     After yet another gap in training I was shocked to still feel like I was in pretty good shape when December rolled around. I had made the hard decision to scratch Cyclocross Nationals off my goals list with the concussion, but like Marathon Nationals, I started thinking the week of the race that maybe I could still do it. But it was not to be as I got sick yet again. I did not try to train through it like last time. I took a few days off and waited until I started to feel better before getting back on the bike. Again, I developed a cough, but it was much worse than last time. I did one ride and it made me significantly worse. I felt drained for days and had a hard time breathing before I finally started to see some improvement. Then I got worse again. Then better. I kept thinking I was over it only for it to get worse again in 2-3 days. Every time I was about to go see the doctor I would get better. This continued the rest of the month. It seemed to be worse at night. A few days before Christmas I finally hit the point to where I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't sleep and it was literally hard to breathe. I had to cancel our yearly Christmas Light Night Ride around town as I literally couldn't breathe enough to walk, let alone ride.

Kids rode their bikes to see the neighbor's Christmas decorations so I guess maybe, in some way, the Christmas Light Night Ride lived on.

Salem making her first dish. She is much more into Halloween even though it's almost Christmas. This is her Graveyard Pudding, complete with dirt and headstones.

Ashland City has a Christmas Tree decorating contest at the city park where local companies and organizations decorate trees and place them on display along a path called the "Mistletoe Trail"

The Mistletoe Trail is only a couple of miles from where I am working right now so we took the kids one night after work.

One of my current patients made this tree with his wife to represent their floral company.

     We went up to Indiana to spend Christmas with Shannon's family. It was the longest drive of my life. I hadn't slept much in two days and couldn't get comfortable in the van. I was worn out after two hours of driving. I could barely walk up the stairs when we got the their house. I knew I needed to see a doctor and couldn't wait until we got back home in five more days. Thank God for telemedicine and how easy it is for us to speak with a doctor through our insurance's app. Within a few hours I had met with a doctor and had a prescription ready. He seemed to think I had gotten a respiratory virus that then turned into a bronchial infection. He gave me some antibiotics. He said it would take about three days for me to see a difference and if I wasn't getting better by five days to call back or see a doctor in person. That night was rough again, but the next night I was more comfortable and able to breathe. After the three days I could tell a difference and was able to go walk with the kids so they could get outside on their bikes. Two days after we got back home, I finally felt that I could try riding again. I felt awful and coughed up a lot of really nasty stuff, but I was pedaling again. You don't know how much riding means to you until it is taken away. I felt so bad for so long that I honestly wondered if I was ever going to fully recover and race again. I have had COVID twice and it had nothing on whatever virus this was. Multiple other people around work had a similar sickness and all tested negative for everything the doctors tested for so we have no idea what it was. It seemed to hit me harder than everyone else. It was another two weeks before I truly felt like I was training again instead of just surviving short rides on the indoor trainer. 

Finally able to go for a walk after my meds kicked in while in Indiana. Kellen was loving the outside time.

Of course he found the one mud puddle around

Christmas Eve with Grandma Toney, our only grandparent left. She is awesome.

On Christmas morning, Kellen was super excited for clothes with construction equipment on them. He had to try on every single piece of clothing as soon as it came out of the box. He loves cranes almost as much as tractors.

The Toneys always do a puzzle at Christmas. Somehow I had always missed them doing this, but this year I was able to help out. It made my brain hurt at times, but gave me something to do while I was sick.

Shannon's Mom bought us a giant bar of chocolate. Salem could barely hold it up.

     During my sick time we had several tornados come through our area. One missed us by about a mile. Some of my friends weren't so lucky. While they had a lot of house damage, thankfully they were not hurt. My old mountain bike buddy Adam Queen recently moved back to Clarksville from some time in Germany only to have his new house take a direct hit. His wife Sarah was at home, but came through without injury. My other friend lives in the same neighborhood and also was at home and took shelter in a hallway closet. That ended being the only room in the house that didn't take heavy damage. Their roof was ripped off and walls fell down, but photos propped up on their end table didn't move an inch. I hate it that I was so sick as I wanted to go help them clean up. It hurt to be stuck on the couch knowing your friends need help. Several people did lose their life around Clarksville and later on when the storm hit Madison and Hendersonville, so I am very grateful that my friends were ok. Houses can and will be fixed.

    What a way to end 2023. 

Video: Dash cam footage from someone driving through Clarksville when the tornado hit

Video: TDOT Traffic Cam Footage of the tornado going through Madison and Hendersonville with several explosions. We were watching this live on the news as it happened thanks to the generator we fixed up after the wind storm back in March. Our power was only out the rest of the evening.

Video: Another shot of the explosion in Madison as the tornado hit a power station

Good Run of Bad Luck (Part 1)

Posted Date: April 8, 2024

     Following Gateway Cup, I shifted my focus back to the dirt. That has been pretty common for me over most of my riding life, but this time would be different as my priority was on cyclocross instead of mountain biking. I also hoped to do my first gravel race to see what all the fuss is about. I spend a lot of time seeking out the nastiest roads in our area on my long rides. That's probably one of the reasons I can't find people to ride with. The local groups think of a smooth chip-and-seal road as the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix so getting them onto gravel on a road bike is pretty much impossible. I love the Classics-style courses. Races of that type are few and far between these days, so gravel looks to be the next best thing.

Not one of the nasty roads, just a nice country road through southern Kentucky.

The appropriately named Bean Road. On this particular ride, I put in 100 miles and saw a total of eight cars. That is why I ride to the north of where I live.

    Last year, I was so busy with work in the fall that I didn't get to ride much at all. I was determined to not let that happen this year. It was not an option if I wanted to be ready for Cyclocross Nationals in December. Bike time is good for me mentally. I always knew that, but it really proved itself true when I wasn't able to ride last fall. I do have to get in work when I can get it though. Things have always been come-and-go with my jobs, but it's been even more unstable and inconsistent since COVID. But I also realized last year that there is a limit. For the first time in my life there was no room for more. I literally did not have enough time in the day to get done the things that were required. I got burned out in every sense. 

     I thought I had things all set up, then I had the rug pulled out from under my feet at my main job, which I wrote about in the last post. At first they said I was no longer needed and out of a job completely, then came back with an offer to move clinics at the last second. I was happy to have an option to keep working in physical therapy, a field in which I love, but at the same time I was perturbed to say the least. Anytime the company has a plan that doesn't absolutely require my services they treat me like I am the worst employee and they have been doing me a huge favor by keeping me employed. Then as soon as the situation changes and they need someone to help they come to me talking about how great I am and how I have so much experience. This cycle of "love" has been happening for years. The cycles seem to be getting shorter in length, with the extremes happening more often. It has become a bad relationship.

     I got placed in the new clinic with a staff that has a lot less time in the field and business than I do. The "experience" they supposedly wanted me to share has been useless so far as the other clinicians already think they know everything. And I mean everything, PT-related or not. They didn't have a desk for me to be able to move my laptop around the clinic, so I was forced to spend several weeks using a makeshift table that came to a height about half as high as I need. It led to some major headaches most days after work because I had no choice but use awful posture. Thankfully, Shannon's clinic had an extra desk and were willing to let me use it until they finally buy one for me at my new clinic. At least someone cares for me, even if it is because of my wife lobbying for me. So far the borrowed desk has just given them one more reason not to get me a real desk. I have tried to be nice and give them a chance, but my patience is wearing thin. I have been putting up with it for this long only because I have big races plans for the rest of this year and for 2024. Got to build up the funds.

    On the other side of my work life, things were busy but going much better. While I feel unappreciated in PT, I feel wanted and actually liked in the fundraiser job. I got a nice raise and often get some input when something in the company is about to change. We have had one rep the past few years that has hassled my Mom and I relentlessly with his ridiculous demands, but he decided to go out on his own this year for his ordering. It made our lives so much easier. The other reps grew their areas and sales so we stayed at about the same level of work even without him. I wish this job was big enough to be full-time for me, but it probably never will be as the other areas of the company are running at about max capacity so I don't see things growing enough for me to ever get that many hours or benefits. Those benefits have become essential now that I have a family.

     Our pepper business continues to grow. I worked hard all fall to pick everything I could and sold nearly ever pepper that ripened. We didn't produce as much as we had hoped thanks to a combo of the weather and problems with animals, but we got enough to make it all worth our while. An early frost cut the season a little shorter than the past few years, but I was getting tired of picking every single day and needed a rest. Again, I wish I could make this my full-time job, but we don't have the contacts right now to make that happen. If you know of anyone that would like fresh peppers please pass along our info to them! We can help individuals and would love to get hooked up with a restaurant or grocery store.

This is my favorite pepper that we have bred. It's a peachy-purple version of the Devil's Tongue. The peppers start out purple with most of the leaves on the plant being dark as well. The pepper then ripens to a beautiful peach color with a little bit of the purple remaining. It reminds me of the inside of a juicy peach.

Our first yellow Butch T Scorpion. Very hot.

The popular Ghost peppers came in heavy at the end of the season.

One of our staples is the orange Habanero

Big Red Savina peppers. I actually added this variety for myself. I had some hot sauce last year that was made with Red Savina. It was so good I had to try to make my own.

Salem was very proud of this tiny Thai pepper that she found. It was the smallest ripe pepper I have ever seen.

They don't call these Joe's Long Cayenne for nothing.

White Ghost peppers

My minions running through the fields

     One of the best things about the farm is that I get to do it with the kids. It is a major challenge to get that much work done with two little ones running around, but I am making it work...somehow. They now enjoy making runs to the post office because there is a playground right across the street. We drop off our packages and then go play for a while.

Salem at the playground. Hard to believe she just turned 3!

Dad had to show them how to use the monkey bars. Ripped a callus right off my hand about halfway through. They may never try the monkey bars after witnessing that.

Ever looked into an okra blossom? They're pretty cool.

Picking in the dark after work to get as many peppers as I could before the frost came. I squeezed every second out of this season.

The first frost of the year ended the pepper season.

     As far as bike life went, I was on some killer form about two weeks into September. Gateway Cup sent me to a level of strength I have never seen before. I felt like superman on hills for the first time in a couple of years. I have been too heavy to handle steep grades, but this new strength combined with a little weight loss had me feeling like a mountain goat again. I even rode off from the local group ride on a fast night. In the past, I would often miss the break when the strong guys showed up. Most of the time I wasn't strong enough to make the split, let alone stay in it. I finally got some sustained power last year and started making the breaks, but I was always just trying to hang on for a sprint. If anyone attacked I couldn't follow or do much to bring them back. This year I have been able to bring people back, but now I have been the one going solo. All of a sudden I was the one turning the screw. That kind of high pace always hurts, but it hurts a lot less when you see that everyone else is hurting more than you. I was able to work people over and then ride off at will. I have waited a long time to be able to do this.

     As if I needed any more confirmation that I was on good form, I went out and beat that one-lap TT record I wrote about in the last post. The record on the road closest to my house had stood for at least 12 years. I could tell I was on a good lap the entire time, but the last mile I had so much strength left in the legs and I pulled away from my PR by 10 seconds. Finally! The old record was made using my TT set-up from triathlon with aero bars and wheels. I did this one riding Merckx-style with no aero equipment. Boom.

     I mentioned in previous posts that I had decided against going to Marathon Mountain Bike Nationals at the end of September due to not getting in enough mountain bike time and feeling like my endurance just isn't there. But the new form had me thinking maybe I should give it a try. A few days before the race I woke up with a sore back. I hopped on the trainer before work like I do almost every morning. The back was stiff, but ok. Once I completed my hour I tried to get off the bike, but couldn't stand up. I had my first "old man moment" as my back was jacked. I couldn't stand up straight or bend further over to take off my shoes. Shannon was able to work on me a little before we left and I was able to make it to work. I had a lot of pain in my lower back all day, but made it through the work day. I had lots of muscle spasm that Shannon worked on that night and the next day. Her efforts helped me to be able to function, but the problem wasn't going away. I woke up the third morning still with a lot of pain, but I had an idea. I've had several patients with pelvic rotations that torqued their lower back. We checked my alignment and sure enough, I was rotated forward on one side. There is a quick technique where you can correct the rotation using your own muscle force. It's called a Muscle Energy Technique. It's one of the most valuable tools I have in my therapy toolbox. When that is a person's issue you can literally make a significant improvement in their pain level in a matter of seconds. For some reason, in my experience, hip alignment is often overlooked by whoever is treating the patient. I think people just get focused on the back and don't think about what can put pressure on the back. This particular MET was taught to me by a great PT early in my career and has been invaluable to many patients over the years. I look for it with anyone that has back pain that isn't changing, but I didn't think about it when treating myself. 

     The MET worked for me, but I had irritated my muscles so much that it took a few more days for the back to start calming down You can correct the pelvic rotation, but strengthening is then required to maintain the correct alignment. It is usually weakness, tightness or a combination of the two that causes the rotation. You have to fix those deficits or your pelvis will go right back to where it was. Mine happened so suddenly that I didn't look for it right away. Sudden rotations usually happen with some sort of forceful trauma. Most rotations occur slowly over time. This seemed to come from out of the blue, but looking back, I can see that I had some deficits that likely caused this rotation. My left hip flexor has been tight. While I have been working on it, I am still too tight. My core strength has felt ok, but I think I was just strong enough to mask the weakness of my deeper core muscles. My core was not strong enough to hold off the pull of the hip flexor and it rotated the left side of my pelvis forward which put a huge amount of strain on the right side of my lower back.

     After a few days, I was back on the road bike. Surprisingly, the bike was quite comfortable even when the back muscles were still very tight and sore. I only had to hold back on the steepest climbs. I was able to keep riding and started to work on my core to be able to maintain correct pelvic alignment. I had to do the MET a few more times until my core stability improved. Needless to say, I did not go to Marathon Nationals. Thankfully, I had not signed up yet or made any travel reservations.

First time riding this road near Greenbrier

Foggy morning down by the Cumberland River

    While the road bike felt decent, the mountain bike and cross bike irritated the back for several more weeks. I felt it mainly on descents when I was in a lower position with my arms stretched out in front of me. Pumping the bike seemed to fatigue the back and eventually caused increased tightness. I pump the bike a ton when I ride singletrack so it really slowed me down on the mountain bike. I couldn't carry the bike yet, so cross was out for a few weeks. 

     My first cross race was supposed to be in early October at the UCI weekend in Indianapolis at the Major Taylor Cross Cup, but I was still much too sore to try that. I was feeling better the following weekend and decided to hit up the Lock 4 Trail 40, a new local race at the fast and fun Lock 4 trails in Gallatin, TN. There used to be a really nice six hour race at Lock 4 every October, but it has been absent for several years now. The main trail loop is now up to 10 miles, so they decided to make it a long XC and do four laps for a 40-mile race. I expected the back to hurt in a race this long as the mountain bike was still aggravating it. I had a great start and hit the woods in second. The leader let me by just a minute or two into the race and I quickly had a good gap. I put in some effort, but held back as to not aggravate the back. One rider came across to me halfway through lap 1. I was good with him being there at first, but then I started to feel the back with a couple of miles left in the first lap. Lock 4 has a lot of flat trails, but there are also several short, steep climbs and descents along the edge of the lake. It was those little descents that were hurting the back. To throw in another wrench, my legs were already feeling some fatigue after one lap. Not good. That form I had before the back injury was not here today. The first lap was still completed in 43:57. I said before the race that this was going to be a fast race as it would be just a slightly long XC. Everybody said I was crazy that it would be over four hours to do 40 miles and that I needed to ride it like a six hour. Lap times confirmed what I expected.

     Jorge Amaya was the rider with me. He let me lead early in lap 2, then finally passed me and rode away. My legs were fading quickly and I knew I had to back off the pace to be able to make four laps. There was nothing extra in the tank to pick up the pace. I struggled a little with the trail as it was much rougher than last time I raced here. Similar to how I felt earlier this year at Chickasaw, the lines I knew were not usually the best ones and I had to relearn the trail. Several sections of the trail have been completely redesigned and were literally nothing like they were the last time I rode here. It was like I was in a different park altogether in those sections. Jorge put 2:13 on me by the end of lap 2. Ouch. I slowed slightly, but he picked up 1:30 from his first lap. On lap 3, I dropped almost a minute while he ran a lap within seconds of our first lap. I hooked on the back of a team rider for the final lap and we ended up having a friendly battle until he dropped his chain about 10 minutes before the end of the race. I know I was having an off day, but I think Jorge may have had my number no matter what. Dude was rolling. He had over seven minutes on me by the finish. I managed to pace myself to bring home a second place while feeling like trash. That's the best I could've hoped for today. Third place was another nine minutes behind me. My back got worse, but never to the point of being a real issue. The pelvis stayed lined up so at least I am maintaining the alignment now. I just haven't been able to work out the damage the initial rotation did to my other back muscles. Total race time was just slightly better than the predicted four hours at 3:03:39.

    The best part about the race at Lock 4 was getting to see Tom Spence. He and I used to ride and travel together a lot when I was in college and went to most of the races with the Columbia Crew in Kenny Marhsall's van. Spence moved away when he joined the military. He has been involved in some pretty crazy special operations since then. I really wasn't sure if he was even alive at this point. The only things I ever heard to tell me he was indeed still alive was occasional updates from Rick Harmon. Then a few months ago I got a random text from Spence. I thought it was fake at first. Turns out he got stationed at Ft. Campbell and had moved to Clarksville. He did a group ride one day and was asking about me. I'm happy that somebody gave him my number and that he contacted me. We had been trying to meet up for a ride for a couple of months, but I was always gone racing somewhere when he had time to ride. Finally, we were able to meet together and catch up on things. Francis Fessler was also there. I hadn't seen him in a long time either so it turned out to be a throwback kind of day. They are both some of the coolest dudes I know and have both been great friends over the years. I needed that as I don't feel like I have friends in the bike community anymore.

     The week after Lock 4 was another UCI cross weekend in Cincinnati. After the back issues at Lock 4, I did not feel comfortable with three straight days of racing cross. Spence went, but I stayed home and worked on cross. I was definitely not ready for three days of racing, but I was getting better. I still haven't had enough time on this new Trek Boone cross bike to ride it fast. The disc brakes are going to kill me. I am so used to hard braking with always having rim brakes prior to this. I have almost gone over the bars a few times going into tight corners. I've had a big issue with the seatpost slipping down while riding off-road. Spence also had this problem as he bought the same bike. One of the Trek guys at the Indy UCI races showed him which carbon paste to use on the post to keep it from slipping. I got myself a tube and it fixed my issue as well. 

    The lack of legs at Lock 4 was the odd day out of my training. The legs bounced back a couple of days later and I was back to riding off at the group rides. Somehow through all the back issues and decrease in riding volume I dropped more weight and was still on pace to make all my goals for Cyclocross Nationals. The challenges of this fall were not done yet though...

Streets We Call the Zoo

Posted Date: March 25, 2024

     The goal for the week and half period between the DINO finals in Indy and Gateway Cup was to try to hit my peak form. I have been riding good all year, but I have definitely been missing a little snap in the legs for most of the summer. My max power in sprints lately has been about 200 watts less than when I am really on good form. I did several short, intense rides with a few days spent working solely on my sprint. Gateway Cup races often come down to sprints. I would have to be on my game if I expected to mix it up at the finish this year. 

     One of the efforts I did was try to break my one-lap record on the road closest to my house. One lap is 10km long. The lap is pretty flat, but does have a couple of false-flat drags and two 180-degree turnarounds at either end of the road. It's an odd layout, but is great for training. My record time for the lap has stood since my triathlon days a decade ago when I was really working on time trialing. I don't even remember what year I did the record. All I know is that it needs to be bettered. Last year was the first time in years that I was close to it, missing out by just 7 seconds while having to wait for a car at one of the turnarounds. I went for it about a week before Gateway Cup and missed by almost 25 seconds. The legs didn't feel great so I will try it again after the long race weekend. 

     On Tuesday of race week I did the local group ride, cranking it up twice for short periods. I was able to hit the numbers I was looking for in my sprints and felt really fast. There were two problems though. First, I was super tired after only two short efforts. It felt like I had hit a new level of speed, but it was taking a lot out of me to do it. Second, I slipped a chain on a climb in the middle of the ride and destroyed the power meter on my right crank. The chain slipped off the outside of the big ring and ripped the cover, battery and internals of the meter clean off the crank. Good thing I have dual power and will still be able to get data from the left side meter.

Full moon on the ride home from the group ride

     More drama happened on Thursday, the day before the racing was to start in St. Louis. I finally had time to look over the front derailleur which obviously needed some adjustment. It had been getting a little hard to shift up to the big ring so I assumed a new cable and housing would fix it right up. I inserted the new cable into the shifter and did a test shift only to feel the lever snap internally. Upon closer inspection, one of the teeth that engages the lever had snapped off. The shifter was toast. I couldn't find anyone with a spare, nor did I really have time to go pick one up and install it before we left on Friday morning. My only option to make this race was to pull out my old Jamis Xenith and get it ready to race. It has been on the trainer for the last year or so. I got it cleaned up, put on new shifter cables and installed my race wheels. My newer stuff is all 11-speed and the Jamis is outfitted with 10-speed. You just need the correct spacer to make the 10-speed cassette fit on the 11-speed hub. I didn't have one, but was able to piece together a few thinner spacers and make it all work. It was a little hectic, but I got it all put together just in time to get in one ride Thursday night to at least make sure everything worked well enough to handle a race. 

     This is not my first issue right before Gateway Cup. Two years ago I had to replace a shifter cable a couple of days before the race and had a really hard time with the internal cable routing. The Specialized Allez has some tricky routing with the tiniest hole made for the cable to exit the frame. It's too tiny to even use any of the tools in my Park Tool internal cable routing kit. I almost lost my mind, but managed to get the thing changed by sucking a piece of thread from the tiny hole up the frame to the larger entry hole near the head tube using a vacuum cleaner and an extra set of hands from Shannon. We glued the end of the cable to the thread and pulled it through the frame. After a few broken threads and doing the vacuum trick again, it finally went through. I have also had issues at Gateway Cup that threatened the weekend, most notably a broken cable stop on the rear brake of my Jamis before the third day of racing on The Hill in 2019. I was able to rig that one up with some strategically-placed zip ties and several feet of electrical tape. It worked well enough to continue racing that bike through the last two races. On the bright side, my real fix for that cable stop has held up for almost four years now and has kept this bike in working condition and able to be pulled out in this type of situation.

     I also got notified in the last two weeks that my physical therapy job would be changing. They decided they didn't need me in Clarksville anymore, where I have been for several years now. They were hiring someone to take my place, which is frustrating because I have tried to get in full-time several times and been turned down. Now they act like they didn't know I wanted to be full-time even though I have interviewed at that very clinic for this job in the past. At first I was told my hours would be reduced for a while, then all of a sudden they said I was out completely. I was a bit mad that I have helped out for so long and not only was passed over for this job, but also was being completely cut out of all work with very little notice. Thankfully, there is another clinic needing help in Ashland City, which is also near where we live. They think they could use my help so I will be headed there when we come back from St. Louis. I'm not happy about the way it went down, but it beats not having my primary job at all.

     I was happy just to get on the road when Friday came. I was ready to move on from work drama and go put this Frankenstein bike I just pieced together on a race course. You never know how the body is going to feel when you line up, but mentally I was ready for this one. We got to St. Louis in time to go by our rental house for the weekend before heading over to the race. The kids got a break from the van and we were able to unload things we didn't need for tonight's race. We had a little more baggage than normal as we planned to stay a few days after the race to see some of the sights in St. Louis. We have been up here many times, but never have time to do anything other than race. This year, we made time for exploring. After a couple minutes of rest, it was back to the van and over to Lafayette Square for the Tour de Lafayette. Evening races have always been my favorite. There is just something about racing under the lights that makes it more exciting and makes you want to go that little bit harder. While that feeling in the race has not changed, everything else about an evening race is more difficult with kids. I am getting ready at their dinner time so they are hangry after traveling all afternoon. Their bed time is during my race so they are forced away from anything resembling their normal schedule as they get wheeled around a busy city street full of rowdy people while bikes fly by every couple of minutes. It's rough on Shannon especially. Her parents were coming to stay the weekend with us like they have done the last two years, but they didn't get to leave Indiana until after work so they couldn't make it in time for this race.

     The first two days of the four days of racing are my favorite with flat, wide courses. They both are very fast and usually come down to bunch sprints. We started our 50-minute race in Cat. 2/3 a bit earlier than in past years so we really didn't race at night this year. Instead, we had to deal with an awful sun glare all the way down the start/finish straight and into Turn 1. Thankfully, there was sunshine and not rain like we have seen in some years. It was an absolutely beautiful evening for bike racing.

     The course at Lafayette Square is like the name says, a square. All four turns are 90-degree lefts. There is a slight decline into most of the corners and slight inclines upon each exit. Overall though, it is a flat speedway with nothing to slow you down. 

Tour de Lafayette course map

     I didn't get the best start spot and was pretty far back the first few laps in our group of 66 riders, which is pretty small for this race. Usually we are at or above 100 riders each day. Since I was on my retro bike, I pulled out an old skinsuit. I have lost a few pounds recently and was able to squeeze into my old black Maxxis skinsuit. I miss skinsuits. I haven't had one in several years. They make you feel fast. I worked my way up through the group and stayed near the front early. The pace was a little higher than I expected with almost constant attacks at the front. I was very near my max heart rate for much of the opening 20 minutes. The bike felt a little weird at first. It is shorter than my Allez, which makes it feel like a rocket sprinting off the turns, but also had me feeling like my weight was a little too far forward when cornering. It wasn't bad, just different. I realized I have also missed the stiff feel of carbon. It felt like it rolled faster than my Allez. Maybe it was just because I felt every little bump on the course. All I know is I was feeling good out there once I got comfortable in the corners.

Cat. 2/3 early action

Shot of the sun in our eyes down the start/finish straight from my GoPro.

     I started to have some shifting issues as things finally calmed down a little. In all the rush to get the bike ready I forgot to pre-stretch my shifter cable. It was stretching and already starting to ghost shift. This bike has an adjuster on the down tube, but it was seized up so I couldn't do anything to help my issues. The nose of my saddle was also dropping down every time I hit a bump. I have had that problem on this bike in the past so that wasn't too surprising. I kept bumping it back up only to have it immediately tilt back down.

     I knew I had great legs and did not want to waste them. My bike wasn't looking like it was going to be up for a bunch sprint, so I went for a cash prime just before halfway. I positioned myself well between Turns 1 and 2, then followed a big attack off Turn 2. I was fourth wheel with nobody behind me in Turn 3. I punched it out of 3 just as the rider in second wheel went. I went left and he went right. We sprinted all the way to Turn 4, staying about dead even while being on opposite sides of the road. I looked over at him once and he was looking at me. He had the most serious look on his face and it made me smile. I almost laughed. This was fun stuff! He edged me a little as we approached Turn 4 and our lines started to come together entering the corner. I felt like he was going to pinch me so I eased off a bit and grabbed his wheel into the turn. I tried to come out of his draft before the line, but didn't have the legs left to get him, rolling in a bike length back. Close, but not quite. I had a great acceleration, but felt like my legs went out after 30 seconds or so. I hit my max heart rate for the entire season. I was hoping for a little break to come across to us after the sprint. I'm not sure why as I don't think I could've joined in a break after that big of an effort. It didn't matter anyway as the whole group caught us just after Turn 1. They didn't seem to be letting anything go tonight.

Going for the prime. Couldn't come around to get it.

photo by Dan Singer

Video: Clip from my GoPro of going for the prime

     I dropped back in the group and tried to recover. It took a while to get the heart rate back down. The legs never really recovered. I could move back up, but couldn't hold the pace necessary to stay up there and catch a little wind which is what it takes to stay in the right spot. Just like on the group ride Tuesday, I felt like I got tired. That is not usual for me, but then again going for primes in a national-level crit isn't either.

More sun glare from the GoPro. It was pretty bad in the second half of the race.

Trying to recover riding next to Eli Wemyss

photo courtesy of Eli Wemyss and his crew

     The last two laps I let myself drift back as things were getting sketchy and I clearly was not going to be fighting for a top spot tonight. The race did end in a bunch sprint. I ended up 58th. It wasn't a great finish position, but I was happy with how good I felt. The result rarely tells the story of how the race went. My speed sensor had some issues tonight, but the files of other racers showed we ended with a 27.9 mph average speed. I had no power data to really be able to analyze the effort compared to my training as I don't have a power meter for this bike. I would have loved to watch the Pro races, but the kids were turning to gremlins quickly so it was back to the house to get them in bed and then help Dale and Renee get settled when they arrived.

     Saturday morning I was up early working on my bike. It took literally seconds to stretch my shifter cable a little more and then readjust it. Then I took apart the seatpost clamp and regreased everything which has stopped my slipping issues in the past. We were staying pretty close to Saturday's race course at Francis Park so we went over for a morning charity ride called the Ride to Unite. Shannon and I were going to ride together and then take Salem for a lap, but Shannon forgot her helmet. I gave her mine and then kept Kellen while she accompanied Salem for a full lap on the course, which is a pretty long way for a kid on a push bike. That was definitely the farthest she has ridden at one time. We did a little grocery shopping on the way home, then watched some football until it was time to head back over to the park for my race.

Kiddos riding in the parking lot before the Ride to Unite

Shannon and Salem riding a lap

Ride to Unite at Francis Park

Salem finishes her lap

     The Tour de Francis Park is way up high on my list of all-time favorite race courses. It can be boring at times, but when we are hauling at the end of the race it is so much fun. It's super wide and another square with all left turns like Lafayette. But there is some elevation change here. There's a slight rise from the start line to Turn 1, then it's flat all the way down to Turn 2. Out of Turn 2 is a fast downhill to Turn 3 where we hit speeds of 42-43 mph pretty easily in the group, sometimes faster. Turn 3 is definitely the scariest turn as you hit it at higher speed. It is also full of bumps with several manhole covers clustered together in the middle of the turn. They're marked pretty good with bright paint. One of them even has a smiley face on it. That's probably the one that will rip out your patella if you go down. It's then uphill for a couple hundred meters, topping out a couple of blocks before Turn 4. A slight downhill starts the sprint with the road turning slightly upward again in the final 100 meters. Francis Park is much bigger than Lafayette Square so the course is much longer.

Tour de Francis course map

Statue of a mermaid reading a book in the pond in the center of Francis Park

     I didn't feel as good as yesterday in my warm-up. The legs just felt a little off. On a positive note, shifting was now perfect and the seat was not tilting. I also felt much more comfortable on the bike today as I have adjusted to the position. The weather was beautiful again with lots of sunshine and a slight breeze to keep the 90-degree temperature reading from feeling too hot. 

     It was another 50-minute race in the Cat. 2/3. We had a few more riders than the previous day at 73 starters. Here, you can afford to line up in the back because it is so wide you can move up anywhere in the early laps. Races were running a bit behind today. We started even later when the race before us, the Cat. 3/4 Men, had a big crash just before the finish line on the final lap. Several riders went over the bars and took hard hits. A couple of them went into the barricade, sending it sliding back into the crowd. I was sitting just a few feet from where they hit the barriers as we were lined up waiting to be let out onto the course. A few guys got carted off and it was quite a while before we finally got on the start line.

Cat. 3/4 crash starting

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

     Everyone must have had stale legs after the long wait because we started a little slow. I felt bad for two laps and then suddenly my legs decided to show up. A serious break got away about 15 minutes in. It was looking like the group was not chasing them as hard as last night so maybe a break could pull it off. I started following moves in an attempt to bridge. I went several times over the course of about three laps. We never really got a gap or cut into the gap to the break. I could tell I wasn't going to cross a gap that big so I dropped back a little and hoped some team would come to the front and pull them back. 

Break forming up in the Cat. 2/3 race

Me to the left of the tree in my normal black kit with the white sleeve

     Our race was shortened about 8 minutes to help get the races back on schedule. That may not sound like a lot, but everybody in this race can already easily race hard for 50-minutes. Taking off a few more laps just makes the finish that much faster. The break had built up a 30-second gap as we saw the lap cards come out. The last seven laps were hard as we chased after them. We had a 27.9 mph average speed at that point, but raised it up to 28.5 mph by the finish. My legs were fading and I had a hard time moving up in those closing laps due to the speed. I had an opening at one point inside of two laps to go, but only moved up a few spots before the guys in front of me got together and nearly crashed. That forced me to slow and I fell back in the group. A rider then cut over on me as we took the bell, nearly taking out my front wheel. It was sketchy. I was at the back exiting Turn 1 on the final lap and could only pick off those who were dropping off the back. I held 34 mph up the climb that last lap and got gapped. They were too fast for me. The pack caught the break coming off the last turn. I ended up 53rd. I had to face the reality that I had great speed, but no endurance for a 50-minute race. Unless something dramatic happened in my body, I was not going to be in the running for a good finish the rest of this weekend as I was not going to have the legs in the closing laps when it mattered. It was a bummer as I know I have killer speed, I just can't do it for very long.

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

The kids were having a great time waving sticks and leaves at us as we came by

           Right next door to our rental house was a pizza place called Pizza-A-Go-Go. We heard nothing but good things about it. Several of the reviews on our rental house said you have to go next door and get pizza. It's carry-out only and cash only. We ordered pizza for the night and watched football again. It was great except that everyone ate more than expected. Kellen decided he now likes pizza and ate most of mine. Shannon had a headache and wasn't feeling well so she went to bed early and I took care of getting the kids fed and into the bed. She woke up later and was feeling better, but now her mom, Renee, was feeling bad. She has some newly discovered diabetic issues and had not been watching her blood sugar. She was crazy low and had a really hard time getting it back up even with eating very sugary items. We stayed up until 1am before she finally stabilized at a reasonable level. Shannon got up a few more times in the night to make sure her blood sugar levels weren't dropping again. I was definitely feeling that long night the next morning.

     Renee still wasn't feeling great when she woke up on Sunday. We stayed home in the morning and continued to work on getting her blood sugar levels back to normal. I really didn't think she would feel up to going over to the race, but by the afternoon she was ready to go which really helped Shannon with the kids and allowed me to focus on the race. 

     The Giro della Montagna takes place in the neighborhood known as The Hill. It's an Italian area that is pretty tight-knit. They really enjoy hosting the race each year. There are parties going on all around the course. As the name of the neighborhood and race imply, there is a big hill. There were plenty of people at the top as usual, but more than in past year hanging out around Turns 1 and 2 which is sometimes a dead zone. The course is a rectangle with four 90-degree left turns. It is flat from the start line to Turn 1 and across the short stretch to Turn 2. The road turns up slightly on the exit of Turn 2 before rounding over and descending a little over the next block to the start of the climb. There are several manhole covers to watch out for in this fast section of the course. The back stretch continues uphill for the next three blocks or so before Turn 3 onto a very narrow street. It's flat again across to a bumpy Turn 4. From the middle of Turn 4 to the finish line is downhill. I have hit 42 mph off this downhill in the race. We usually come down just under 40 around 37-38 mph. It's a super fast finish that is great for a big sprinter, but you have to be able to climb the backside hill to be in the right position. The course is much narrower than the previous two days of racing and that makes it much harder to move up. They have a big Italian flag painted on the road at the Start/Finish line which is pretty cool.

Course map from the Giro della Montagna

The Italian flag from Google Maps

     By the third day I usally have a fair amount of fatigue in the legs and have a hard time getting going in my warm-up. Not today. I felt great pretty much immediately. Hopefully this would be the day I could push it for the full race instead of getting tired before the finish. 

     It was a hot afternoon around 90 degrees again, but with less breeze than yesterday. I got a good start spot, taking off for the 50-minute Cat. 2/3 race from the second row with around 80 starters again today. The start was a little hectic with several riders slipping pedals in the first few feet which ended up causing a crash right behind me entering Turn 1. I heard it, then saw the riders coming out of the pit over the next several laps. The pace up the hill was slow the first three times up, then the pace ramped up considerably. It did not let up the rest of the race. We were single-file from front to back on the long straights for the majority of the race, then bunched up from curb to curb in the corners and short straights making it nearly impossible to move up. I was strong again today, but these guys were stronger on the climb for sure. The tightness of the course had us leaning all over each other at times. I got pinched hard in Turns 1 and 3 more times than I can count which pushed me further back in the group. Then I hit the biggest manhole cover on the backstretch two laps in a row, knocking the nose of my saddle way down. The work I did on it had it tight enough that I couldn't get it to move all the way back up and ended up just having to ride the rest of the race with it pointed down.

Good start spot today

It was curb to curb packed with riders during the few times we did slow down.

I tried riding the gutter a few times up the climb but it was rarely open.

     As with the past few days, fatigue started to creep in after the 30-minute mark and I found myself on the back of what was left of the group. We had maybe 60 riders left with 15 minutes to go. There was a slight slowing at three laps to go which I used to move up just after the descent. I was able to get into a decent position, but the effort took a lot out of me. From that point on I was slowly backsliding within the group. They really turned up the pace the last three times up the climb. I finally got gapped off the back about halfway up the climb on the final lap. I picked off the others that got dropped and ended up being the first rider off the main group to finish in 49th. The result was disappointing, but this was another one of those races this year where I would've been dropped and pulled at 20 minutes in past years. This race was hard and constant with no let-up. I was pretty surprised that I was able to go that hard up that hill for that many laps. Average speed was 27.5 mph. I saw the best average heart rate and max heart rate I have ever seen here, which backs up the feeling that my legs were good today. I wish I had power data to look at because I feel like both my average and max would've been some of my best ever. 

Sprinting up the hill at The Hill

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

Video: Topping the climb and going through Turns 3 and 4 onto the descent with 3 laps to go

     The kids were getting restless again as soon as I finished so we didn't get to stay for the Pro races. I needed to get back to the house anyway. I brought some of the first cookie dough orders to kick off my school fundraising job for the fall semester. I had hoped to do a little each day, but with the racing Friday night, repairs Saturday morning and drama Saturday night into this morning, I had not had a chance to touch them yet. We were staying only about two miles from The Hill, so I was able to ride back home for my cool down and do a couple of laps around the neighborhood before starting an evening full of working. I did get in a little NASCAR Southern 500 at Darlington to keep me going until I hit the sack for a much more peaceful night.

     On Monday morning, Shannon's parents packed up and headed home. We thought they were staying at least one more day to go to the zoo with us, but her dad said he had too much work to do. They left out well before time to head over to the race. That threw a bit of a wrench into our plans for the rest of the trip. For once, we weren't in a hurry to check out just to go sit for several hours waiting to race. We were able to stay at home and at least get the kids fed. Kellen refused to take a nap and was a bit of a grump when we got over to the race at the Benton Park Classic.

      A couple of dark clouds came over just a few minutes after we arrived to Benton Park. The first rain of the weekend began to fall. It rained just enough to get the course wet, causing all sorts of chaos in the Cat. 3/4 race. The course at Benton Park is long. I'm not even sure that it rained on all parts of the course. The last two corners were definitely wet and they claimed victims several laps in a row before the cloud moved away and the sun dried the pavement.

Cat. 3/4 carnage when the little bit of rain fell

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

     For the fourth consecutive day of racing, I felt pretty good warming up. This course is not my favorite. Actually, I like the course. It's technical with more turns that the rest of the weekend, but it seems more often than not the race blows apart here with everyone finishing in small groups. That's the part I don't like as I rarely finish those type of races. Benton Park is almost two crit courses in one. It's laid out kind of like a Figure-8 made up of two rectangles. The course begins with a climb, then continues slightly uphill from Turn 1, a 90-degree left, through Turn 2, a 90-degree right passing by the two-way pit. The course then crosses a bridge over I-55 where crosswind is common. Turn 3, another 90-degree left awaits on the other side. Another climb comes out of this turn as the course parallels the gates of the Anheuser Busch brewery. The road flattens for just a smidge of a break before Turn 4, another 90-degree left that takes you back over I-55 for more crosswind. Another left follows into a narrow street that is more like an alley. At the end of a long straight comes a quick right-left chicane onto another long, narrow stretch. Speed picks up into Turn 8, a 90-degree right that goes back by the pit. A slight uphill drag comes out of this fast turn before a long, gradual descent down to Turn 9. This 90-deg left is the tricky turn as it slopes away from you and has a curb on the outside of the exit of the corner. The course continues down slightly before rolling back up into the final turn, Turn 10. This 90-degree left takes riders back onto the finish straight which is fairly long and flat with some pavement bumps to dodge in the tire tracks of the road. Knowing where those bumps are is critical for the final sprint. 

Benton Park Classic course map from my Wahoo

     This is another race where moving up can be difficult as there are so many corners and the pace is usually fast. I tried to get to the start line early to get a decent start spot. It seemed that everyone else had the same idea. Early wasn't early enough. I ended up starting on the back row in a group of over 60 riders. Today's race was scheduled for 55 minutes, so a little bit longer than the other days. Frankie Andreu was our commentator and asked us on the line if we wanted a prime in the middle of the race or at the end. Most of the group yelled, "Early!" So, Frankie hit us with a first lap prime. I would've gone for that knowing the odds of me making 55 minutes with this group on this course would be low, but I was in no position to even think about trying for it. As expected, the start was insane. It didn't end when the prime was handed out. Lap 2 was just as fast. I could only follow wheels and hope nobody let a gap open up ahead of me. I moved up maybe five positions from the start through the first few turns of lap 3. 

     The pace then backed off and I was able to get 10-12 more spots and try to rest a little. The next lap was the fastest I have ever done here, even in the years when it was a Pro/1/2 race. I was hurting bad. So was everybody else though. I just tried to suffer for longer than everyone around me. Gaps started to open early in lap 5. I crossed one gap, then immediately was faced with another. I didn't make it across that one. I wasn't alone in getting gapped, but nobody wanted to work together to chase which is dumb. Most of them blew up and I found myself chasing solo. I felt strong so I kept pushing hard to see how long I could go before getting pulled. 

    Eventually, I was caught by a small group of five that did want to work together. We rotated for a couple of laps before being told we had one lap to go before we would be pulled. Year after year the officials at Gateway Cup are the best I have ever experienced. I've never witnessed an official on a power trip here or felt like they were pulling people just to make things more convenient like at so many other races I have been to. They gave us the opportunity to race it out for even the minor placings. 

     There were a couple of attacks early in that final lap, but then the white flags went up. We started to joke about the sprint and someone threw out the idea of doing a little gear sprint. We all agreed to sprint from the final corner in our easiest gear. I was good with that as I have always been good at higher cadences. I really didn't believe they would all do it, but when we hit the final turn everybody shifted and the super spinning began. They took off quicker than I expected, but soon I was gaining ground and in second. The first rider was fading and I was able to pick him off just before the line to win the little gear sprint, my consolation prize for the weekend. The old bike came in handy here. The 10-speed cassettes have less range which makes for a smaller big cog. The cassette I had on was specifically for crit racing so it was smaller than normal. Most of them were using compact cranks as well with 36-tooth inner rings, whereas I had the 39-tooth traditional little ring. It wasn't easy though. I still had to spin at a sustained 150 rpm to get the win. The "win" gave me 47th place. While my finish positions were not what I had hoped for at any of the four races, I was happy with the progress I saw this weekend. I rode aggressively, felt strong each day and survived some very difficult races that would have murdered me in the past.

Video: Little gear sprint from my GoPro at Benton Park

     I want to give a big shout out to Patrick Harkins on his win at Benton Park in the Masters 50+ race. His race happened before we arrived so I didn't get to watch it. I realized he won when I was looking through some pictures later on that night and saw him posting up after winning a two-up sprint. Nice job Harkins!

Harkins at Benton Park

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

Harkins getting the win

photo by Carrie Zukoski (Velo City)

     I ran the GoPro three out of the four days. I actually had it on at Francis Park, but I forgot to replace the memory card so we got no footage. I posted a few clips and photos from the videos here. I'll try to do a full highlight video from each day when I get a chance so check back later on this post for that.

      We were still craving pizza Monday night, but Pizza-A-Go-Go was closed for Labor Day. We still managed a solid dinner and I got a lot more work done as the kids were much better than in previous nights. Like I mentioned earlier, we were staying extra days to do some exploring. We started out with the St. Louis Zoo on Tuesday as we have heard it is one of the city's top attractions. It is supposed to be one of the best zoos in our region and is located in the beautiful and historic Forest Park. Zoos are always good things for entertaining kids. It also helps the parents as the zoo is free to enter. That's right, free. You have to pay for parking if you want to park right across from the main gate, but Forest Park has hundreds of free roadside parking spaces, many being a short walk to the zoo entrance. We got there early enough to get one of the free spots so we could have more to spend inside the zoo on fun things. Strollers are also welcome which makes all the difference for having an enjoyable day with small children. You can save their strength (and yours) and pack plenty of snacks. 

     The St. Louis Zoo did not disappoint. It was everything we had heard and then some. There are plenty of exhibits with interesting animals from all over the world. And it is full of other fun activities to keep the kiddos smiling like a carousel and train ride through the park. The train takes in some nice views of the park that you can't see any other way. You get to see the back side of some of the animal enclosures and got through a couple of tunnels. Kellen has recently picked up a love for trains so he was pretty pumped to make a few laps throughout the day. He also loved the monkeys and did his best to communicate with them. Salem seemed to like the polar bear and penguins the most. They have a really nice penguin exhibit with many different kinds. You can get quite close to them. 

Walking through Forest Park to the St. Louis Zoo

Checking out ducks in the wetlands area

Kids enjoyed the polar bear

The penguin exhibit was nice.

     As always, I enjoyed the reptiles and insects. Shannon and I both really enjoyed the Mary Ann Lee Butterfly Wing where you could go into a dome full of butterflies that were freely flying around. They fluttered by constantly in all sorts of sizes and colors, some occasionally landing on your shoulder. You have to get checked on your way out to make sure none hitch a ride on your clothes to the outside world. The hippos were also pretty cool. I don't know that I have ever seen a hippo up close. They are huge. We spent the entire day there, leaving just in time for dinner. You could probably guess that we ordered a pizza on the way home and walked next door to pick it up. Finally, we got the full amount we had been wanting on Saturday night and scratched my pizza itch. It was worth staying in this neighborhood just for Pizza-A-Go-Go.

Inside the Butterfly Wing of the Insectarium.

Video: Butterflies in the Butterfly Wing

Big hippo

Video: Hippos

Asian Elephants

Kellen on the train

Salem liked the train too.

Video: Train clips

Pizza-A-Go-Go and a Fitz Root Beer

     We had half of the day to do things on Wednesday before we had to start the trip home. Everyone had such a fun time at the zoo that we decided to go back and check out the few parts we had missed. We were able to see those places, but the kids were bummed that the penguin exhibit was closed, no bears were out and our pass for the train rides had expired. Salem ended up having a major meltdown on the way out that continued into the car before she finally fell asleep. Too much excitement for one long weekend I guess. Thanks for another great trip STL!

Wednesday at the zoo

Red Panda

Salem doing her tiger impression

     Once home, it was time to get to work as peppers were finally starting to ripen. Orders had to be picked and prepped for shipping. I was finally able to take a deep breath and stop wondering when they would finally ripen. I can finally start paying myself back for all the things I had to buy earlier in the season. 

Kellen in the garden

Our first yellow Moruga Scorpions

Two colors of the Dragon's Toe pepper this year

First ripe Ghost pepper

Anaheim chiles

Bucket of Jamaican Scotch Bonnets and red Habaneros

Working late sorting and cleaning peppers

     When the next weekend came, we decided to start having regular family bike rides. Shannon doesn't get to ride that much anymore. She sacrifices her ride time to keep the kids so I can ride. Most of the little bit of ride time she has gotten has been on the trainer. With the bulk of race season now behind us, I wanted to make sure she got the chance to ride outside. I miss riding with her. I tell her that all the time, but she still has no idea of how much I really mean it. The kids aren't always nice to each other sitting shoulder to shoulder in the trailer, but we get them out there anyway. I refuse to give up on showing them how to enjoy activity and the outdoors just because it is hard or frustrating at times. There may have been a few threats issued along the way, but we had a great opening road ride together as a family. Hopefully, there are many more to come in our future.

Dina Brings One Home

Posted Date: January 21, 2024

     The DINO Series finals came just two weeks after the race at Griffin Bike Park. I spent that time between the two races working on longer road rides. I explored some areas in southern Kentucky that I had never ridden. I have now ridden pretty much every road within a reasonable distance from the house. If you can get to it and back without passing 135 miles roundtrip then I have been on it. I had to start farther from the house to check out some of these new roads, finding a few cool ones that I will be back to visit again soon. All of them were lightly traveled roads through farm land. My kind of riding.

Rainbow at home after one of my rides

Foggy sunrise ride

     My endurance has been lacking so I officially pulled the plug on Marathon Mountain Bike Nationals. I was still on the fence after finally getting my new bike dialed, but I just don't think I am ready. My fitness just feels off and I still feel like I haven't spent enough time on the mountain bike lately. We planned multiple trips down to preview the race course at Chewacla State Park near Auburn, AL, but something happened each time and prevented us from going. I just don't feel prepared enough to spend the kind of money it takes to race Nationals as a Pro. It sucks, but the season is not lost as I do have some good speed in the legs ending the summer, which should bode well for the upcoming Gateway Cup crits and cyclocross season. My other big target for the season is still Cyclocross Nationals in Louisville in December.

     As I wrote a few posts back, we would not be pre-riding at Southwestway Park the day before the DINO finals. We usually stay in Indy with Shannon's cousin, Sarah, but did not do that this year. The kids have just been too crazy to stay with anyone. We do not want to be an annoyance, especially in a tiny apartment. It was cheaper just to camp at Brown County again, so we rode there instead of driving an hour each way to Southwestway on Saturday. The trails at Brown County were ripping. We had a lot of fun and got a few laps in on next year's DINO race course so really we were already prepping for next season. I need a lot of help with racing at Brown County so extra prep can't hurt. We learned from our last camping trip here where our tents ended up in a puddle when a line of thunderstorms moved through. When we left, we made note of some of the better sites. We were able to test one of those out on this trip and it was awesome. Plenty of space, good water drainage and closer to the showers.

Dina on the Pine trail

     On Sunday morning, we were up early to make the drive up to Indy. There was an unexpected shutdown of I-69 for construction that caused a bit of panic. We had to find an alternate route, which was not easy in the hilly area around Martinsville. The road we ended up on was crazy. It was narrow and twisting. We had fun, but also thought we might die a few times. We were a bit late, but arrived at Southwestway just in time to get ready for the race.

     My warm-up was shorter than I would have liked, but it was enough to tell me that I didn't feel great. My legs felt strong, but I had that weak feeling that I have complained about in the past. It usually comes from dehydration. I had tried all week to hydrate for this weekend knowing it would be hot. I felt like I was sweating too much and was too hot for the temperature at this point in the morning. It was nowhere near hot yet and not really that humid. It was only 73 degrees when I first got on the bike.

     It's always so hard to tell the points situation coming into this final race. You have to figure out what two races are being dropped by riders who have done all of the series, but yet also be on the lookout for a rider that has done three of the five races so far. If they show up then they can still be in contention. Without something crazy happening, Rick Mezo was going to win the series. I was in second and wanted to stay there. I was mainly watching Jake Fiddler, who came in just three points behind me. But there were others that could sneak in depending on how the placings fell on this final day. The easiest way to hold your position is just to ride as hard as you can and try to beat everybody. That was my plan.

     We had 12 riders in the Pro/Elite class, which is pretty typical for this round. With the race being in Indy, it draws in lots of fast racers. Riders attending Marian Univeristy are also coming back to town with classes about the start. It's always a stacked field. It makes for a situation where plenty of points can be lost in the battle for the series. 

     This race course is not my favorite to race on, but I do really like the layout and how spectator friendly it is. There were a few small changes to the course, but overall it is pretty similar to last year. The start is a mad dash on a grassy down grade before a right turn takes riders onto the main climb of the course. It's a gradual climb in the grass up along the parking lot before going into some wide singletrack for more gradual climbing. The trail then gives you a slight downhill break before a sharp left starts the big climb up Mann Hill, the highest point in Indianapolis. The climb is not that tough. It's relatively short compared to some of the climbs at Brown County. It gradually increases in difficulty as you go towards the top. The speed at which we hit the climb is really what makes it so hard. Once at the top, a flow trail takes you quickly back to the parking lot. There are several fun berms to rail and a few jumps as you bomb down the north side of the hill. More gradual climbing follows before a section of bluff where the trail is benched out with exposure to your left. This section is fast and there are spots where it would be easy to run off the trail and get yourself in some real trouble. Once at the bottom, the trail tightens up into some true singletrack along the White River. This my favorite section on the course as it is tighter. It has a fast flow up and down the river bank.

     After you leave the river, more climbing awaits to take you back up towards the parking lot area where the feed zone is located. This climb starts steeper, then backs off at the top. A quick doubletrack descent follows to take us back to the river bottom where we get onto an old levee for a long, straight, fast, power stretch. It's like riding a gravel greenway for a couple of minutes. The final part of the course is some tight singletrack. It starts with a short climb as you leave the levee, then rolls back and forth on a hillside as you move toward the start/finish area. The hills are all short. There are several technical areas hidden in this section, made up of both roots and rocks. You need to know the lines through here to be fast. There is definitely a speed limit in this section and riding above that limit just causes mistakes and costs you time, especially if you don't know the lines. Traffic can also be an issue in this area. Laps here are short and the speed difference from the front of the Elite class to the back of Sport is huge on a course like this.

     I ended up on the second row on the start line. I picked my spot well. The rider in front of me got a good jump and I was able to follow him, but I pulled my foot out of the pedal after a few feet and lost all of that positive momentum. I ended up sprinting the rest of the grass just to be on the back of the group as we reached the woods. All I could do was smile as I saw Dina entering the woods. That's the way starts have gone for me this season.

Pro/Elite start line

photo by DINO

Off we go

photo by DINO

Front of the Pro/Elite group about to enter the woods

Like I said above, all I could do was smile as I reached the woods on the back of the line.

     I like being farther up in the group so I can drift back on the climb up Mann Hill and still be on the back at the top. The sprint into the climb was furious. I knew I could not hold that pace so I settled into my rhythm, which saw me quickly out the back of the group. Once over the top, I picked up the pace more on the flowy descent and the following singletrack where I knew I had more chance of gaining time. I didn't see anyone in the first few sections which was deflating, but I kept going hard. By the time I left the river I was hurting pretty bad. I was over my limit. By the time I topped the next climb I had to back off as I was overheating. My rib started to hurt, which is annoying as it didn't bother me at all at Griffin when I was going just as hard. I did catch one rider but was losing time overall as I alternated riding at my limit with backing off the recover. That one rider was significant though as it was Fiddler, the one I was most worried about in points. He had blown up while battling to stay in that leading group. I violated that speed limit in the final singletrack section and made lots of mistakes. I just rode poorly, there's no other way to put it. I ended Lap 1 of four in 11th with a first lap time of 24:26.

     I rode alone all of Lap 2. I still felt overheated and a little weak. I was still making too many mistakes. I just felt off my game. My lap time dropped to a 26:07. Not good. The only thing that helped me mentally was that I was still ahead of all the Experts. Usually, I get caught here even though they start two minutes behind us. I just stink at this place. But today, I was holding them off while not feeling great.

Chris Bowman throwing out some style on the flow trail after the Mann Hill climb.

photo by DINO

I got some air, but nothing like Chris.

photo by DINO

     Mann Hill sucked every lap. I had no fun on that part of the course the first three times up. I was still alone until the top of the climb to the feed zone when the leading Expert finally caught me. I hopped on his wheel, hoping to find some kind of rhythm. He drug me down the levee and into the singletrack. We could see several other Experts about 20 seconds back trying to cross the gap to him. He was smooth through the tight singletrack and it helped me to find my rhythm and quit making dumb mistakes. I recovered through that part of the lap and felt better entering Lap 4. My time for Lap 3 was a little better at a 25:48.

     I expected to get dropped up Mann Hill as this kid was flying, but I had the legs to stay on. I actually enjoyed the climb that lap and it didn't feel like it broke me. I had no issues with the heat or rib pain this time up. There were no other Experts in sight as we reached the top. We worked together on the faster sections of the course with me doing quite a bit of pulling on the flats. He led up the climbs. We were helping each other. He was pulling away from the chasers and I had gained two spots up to 9th. We even had a second to chat in the last section. His name was Matthew Marsh and he was actually a Junior Expert from Winona Lake. The kid is fast. Not just for one lap, but all four. He had good skills too and was very nice to lapped riders. I was impressed. We sprinted at the end and I took it, but he beat me on time by two full minutes. I beat all other Expert riders on time today. I don't think I have done that here too many times over the years. Matthew took the Expert overall by almost 2 1/2 minutes. Even with the chatting I picked up my lap time by almost a minute to a 24:57. Ethan Jedlicka topped the Elite bunch yet again this week. The dude is flying right now.

Robbie Seal hitting another jump on the flow trail

photo by DINO

Photo by DINO

     I was pleased with the way I ended the race, but really it was a crappy day. My average heart rate was super low showing I just didn't have it today. I was 9 bpm lower on my average than at both Potato Creek and Griffin. I have no idea why I felt so off. If that weakness was from dehydration then you think it would've gotten worse, not better. And how did my overheating just go away when it was getting hotter with each passing lap? My stomach was pretty messed up after the race, but I think that was just due to racing hard in the heat.

     I thought I did enough to hold second in the series points with Fiddler finishing behind me, but after the points were all totaled up I ended up in third place. For some reason, I was thinking Chris Bowman missed three races this season so I wasn't really paying any attention to him. Turns out he had only missed two so this race made him have four races for the series. He had a solid day on his home trail and finished in sixth. Points are handed out based on your combined Elite/Expert ranking so I got tenth place points. That allowed Bowman to beat me by just two points. So, Rick Mezo won the series for the third time in the last six years. Bowman got second and I was third. Kevin Broadstreet almost made up enough points in this final round to take my podium spots, finishing just three points behind me after an eighth place finish in this race. He too was one that only did four races total so it was hard to tell where he was in the points coming into today. I was the only one there for the podium. They handed out the series champions jerseys right there at the race. The entire Pro/Elite podium got jerseys. I thought that was cool, but I also don't feel like I deserve one for third place. I will wear it at home, but you'll never see it in a race. That privilege belongs to Mezo. I guess I'll still be rocking that #3 plate again next season. I wanted to upgrade to a #1 or #2, but #3 ain't bad either. I'll still be representing ET3, Eli Tomac, and doing it for Dale!

Alone on the series podium

photo by DINO

     Dina had a rough day as well. She also felt a little off and is not super fond of this course either. The Expert Women had a good field of eight riders. Dina ended up in eighth, but her points cushion was still more than enough for her to take the series title! At least one of us will be wearing a champs jersey next season. She now has won the DINO Series both in Sport and Expert. Congrats to all the champions and thanks DINO for another great year of racing!

Expert Women on the start line

photo by DINO

Dina hitting a berm on the flow trail early in the race

photo by DINO

One of the ladies throwing out some style

photo by DINO

Photo by DINO

Dina on the podium as the Expert Women's series champ

photo by DINO

All the series champs with their new champions jerseys

photo by DINO

     That evening, Dina and I were restless and ended up doing a short hike around Strahl Lake at Brown County. I had checked out the lake with Salem back in June, but we didn't go on the trail that circles the small lake. It was only a 1/2 mile around the entire thing but had some nice scenery. There were some cool reflections and interesting trail features that made it a fun hike. It helped us stretch out the legs before bed.

Strahl Lake trail

A tree down on the boardwalk made for a fun obstacle

Bumpy roots

Loved this reflection

Nice fire back at camp

     We stayed the night at the campground so we could get in another ride on Monday morning. I did a few miles early before meeting Dina on the north end of the park for a little more race recon for next year. I then did one more big loop of the park with another jump run down Hobbs Hollow. This time I felt comfortable on the jumps. I'm starting to not only understand this new bike, but actually like it. Now to just get more time on it and make it feel like an extension of my body. It was a hot day, but super fun flying through those woods one more time this summer. We sure have spent a lot of time in these woods this year.

     One off weekend followed Southwestway before it was time for the best crit races in our region at Gateway Cup. More on that in the next post!

Dirt Bag

Posted Date: January 19, 2024

     There was only one off weekend between the fourth and fifth rounds of the DINO Series. We only had a week and a half by the time we got home from our long weekend trip that included riding Southwestway Park and Brown County after the race at Potato Creek. I got a little good news during this time with peppers finally starting to ripen on the farm. They weren't the ones I really needed, the ones people are waiting in line for, but it's a start. It has been hard to explain to people that I can't control everything, especially the weather. And that peppers in Tennessee don't ripen at the same time as peppers in California. I hope they ripen soon as I am ready to end the stress of the near daily messages from people who think I forgot about them. The hardest part about farming is that you have to spend all your money up front and then wait to see if you will make it back with a good harvest. We spent a little extra in the winter on new grow lights and UV bulbs, and replacing worn out seed pods. I am more than ready to start paying it back.

My first Dragon's Breath pepper. This pepper is hotter than the legendary Carolina Reaper, but hasn't been around long enough yet to produce consistent heat ratings, shape and color. We are trying to help in the Dragon's Breath development and are interested to see what we get this year.

The tasty Dragon's Toe pepper that we use to make our sweet Dragon's Toe Pepper Jam. You eat these before they ripen to red. We have been able to breed a yellow variety that has not been seen elsewhere.

More summer wildflowers

Bumblebee visiting a passionflower

     The penultimate round of the DINO Series changed locations this year from Versailles State Park in eastern Indiana to the far west of the state at Griffin Bike Park near Terre Haute. We raced here as part of the series in 2017 when I won the overall series title. This wasn't my favorite place as it was very open and fast like a road race course for most of the loop, but I also didn't hate it. I got 2nd that year by winning a sprint with Chris Bowman as we battled for series points. The open areas weren't my cup of tea, but the singletrack sections were quite fun and rolled up and down giant ridges of dirt left over from past coal mining operations in the 1950s and 1960s. Griffin was then replaced on the schedule by Muscatatuck Park for several years. Now it's back. I like that we are going back, but I hate that it is at the expense of Versailles. I love Versailles. It was the most technical of all the trails DINO races on. I always seem to race well there, getting good finishes and being in contention for the win even when I had bad legs or was not on good form. I enjoy having a series made up of races on diverse trail systems. I wish we could race both as both would provide unique trails when compared to some of the other stops in the series.

     It was another sketchy weather forecast for the weekend. The highest chances of rain came on Saturday. It was looking much like what happened the weekend of the race at Muscatatuck Park one month ago. The rain looked to be arriving in the middle of the day and continuing until the evening. Dina and I decided to go for a morning ride at home on our trail. We knocked out several laps on our short loop and got the van loaded up just before the rain started. The kids are still loving the frequent showers we have had this summer and are always ready for a run in the rain. They were having a good time as we started the drive north to Terre Haute. Shannon stayed home with the kids again this weekend as we were camping in a tent and didn't want to have to coop the kids up all afternoon and night yet again.

Kids in the rain

     The rain was in two areas. We were quickly out of it as we entered Kentucky and were treated to beautiful sunshine for most of the drive. The radar showed more rain near Terre Haute on the other end of our drive. We could see the dark clouds in the distance as we got closer. The rain appeared to be staying south of Terre Haute which is where Griffin Bike Park is located. We hit the rain before we arrived, but it didn't last long and stopped about a mile before we reached the turn to the park. To our amazement, the road was completely dry!

The Big Peach in Bruceville, IN

We stopped for the Big Peach market, but I was more interested in what looked like an abandoned speedway next door. With lights.

     We pulled into the campground at Fowler Park to find dust in our campsite. The people camping next to us said it only rained lightly for about five minutes earlier in the day and that the rain wasn't even enough to wet the road. We set up our tents and decided to get the bikes out for a pre-ride. Sure we had already ridden, but both of us wanted to see if the trail was as dry as our campsite and get a look at the layout to refresh the memory.

Our campsite backed up to Ruble Lake

     Griffin Bike Park is directly across the street from the campground at Fowler Park. They have added a trail since we were here last that connects the two, so it is even easier to ride over now. I was very glad we decided to pre-ride. The course layout was similar to what we did in 2017, but in the opposite direction and a couple of different connector trails. Thankfully, a couple of the new trails split up the open doubletrack sections. It was completely dry. So dry that dust was piled up in most of the corners. The morning rain must not have been hard enough to even break through the tree canopy and reach the trail. This was not at all what I was expecting so I had to change my mindset from mud run to super-fast speedway. I brought both bikes in case it was super muddy, but clearly the new Epic was getting ridden this weekend. The trail was crazy fast. We were scheduled for four laps. I easily rode a lap in under 30 minutes just chatting with Dina. It was going to be a very short race and likely very intense with the amount of open power sections. 

A feature on a side trail in the bike park. Let's put that on the race course!

Dina back at Fowler Park post-ride.

     With us running in the counter-clockwise direction around Stryker Lake, which sits in the middle of the park, the fast sections would come first and the singletrack later each lap. The singletrack did not end the lap as more dirt road awaited just before the finish. The start was uphill on a gravel road. In subsequent laps we used a new trail to bypass the gravel road. Doubletrack started things off once in the woods. It was very fast with multiple lines and scattered boulders sticking up from the ground. The trail then opened up onto an old fireroad before another short connector trail took you to the edge of the lake for some blazing fast, rolling doubletrack. Only one tiny piece of singletrack split up this long power section that felt more like a crit course. A long, gradual descent on another old fireroad took us to the first real singletrack as we turned into the giant dirt ridges left behind by the old coal mining. It is a series of short, punchy climbs as you sprint up one ridge, across the top, then ride the roller-coaster down into the valley between the ridges before the next climb up another ridge. This area only took a few minutes to get through, but it was really fun. It dumped you out along the opposite side of the lake onto another old dirt road. The final mile of the course was on this dirt road. This open section had a few steep climbs thrown in to sap the legs, plus a couple of very fast rocky and rooty sections. A short, but fast descent on singletrack took us back to the finish line where there was no option for a sprint. You had to settle the race before the dirt road ended. After seeing the course, I was both excited and nervous the night before the race. It was going to be fun to go that fast, but man was it going to hurt!

     I had good legs in my warm-up on Sunday morning. We had 10 riders in the Pro/Elite class. For once, I got a good jump off the start line which allowed for me to drift back a little near the top of the gravel road climb when I was hurting. With the wide nature of this course I was not at all worried about what spot I took into the woods. Ethan Jedlicka was probably the pick of most people on the day, but he had a problem just a few feet into the race with what looked to be a chain issue. We were already down a rider in the group by the time we reached the woods. I went into the fast doubletrack trail in eighth place.

     The nine-man train flew through the first lap. It was a dusty blur. I literally could not see the trail as we rolled through the doubletrack next to the lake. There was a cloud of dust that seemed to hang a foot off the ground, blocking all the roots and rocks from view. I was flying blind. All I could do was try to move over a little if someone ahead of me hit something. I was eating a lot of dust too. The pace was high and I was breathing in a lot of dirt. My bottle was coated so even taking a drink didn't help rinse out my mouth. There were a couple of small gaps within the line early in the singletrack ridge section, but we all came back together before the end of the lap, shelling two riders off the back of the line. First lap time was 23:17 with a 16.2 mph avg speed, which is pretty fast for a mountain bike race. 

     I was last man on the line still eating dust as we started lap 2. We were already lapping riders just halfway through the second lap. The pace seemed to slow a little and I was much more comfortable. The hardest part for me so far was sprinting the final dirt road section after we exited the singletrack. It was a 100% effort for 2-3 minutes just to stay with the group. Our lap time slowed a little to a 24:03, due mostly to the difference in the piece of trail at the start of this lap compared to the gravel road on the start.

     Early in lap 3, a rider joined onto the back of the line to make it a lead group of eight. It was Ethan Jedlicka. He had run two laps by himself and bridged back up to the front group despite the high speeds. Clearly, this guy was the favorite today. After a mile or so of following, he began to move up in the line. I tried to follow him, but was unsuccessful in moving up. Nobody really fought with Jedlicka when he pulled out of line, but they did not want me getting up there. Everybody wanted his wheel. I took a few elbows before deciding I would wait and save my aggression for later. 

     The battling for position really kicked off before we hit the singletrack for the third time. The dust didn't seem to be as bad and I could see some of the trail even being at the back of the line. Maybe we blew all the dust off the trail by this point. From looking down at my arms, it appeared that I was carrying all the dust from the trail on my skin. It was the most tan this guy has ever looked. I did well on the ridge climbs again this lap, but made a critical error as we came to the end of the section. I tried to anticipate the sprint out of the singletrack onto the dirt road. I entered the final bermed turn hot to try to carry a ton of speed out of the corner, but I pedaled too early and clipped a root with my right pedal. It kicked my rear end out and I came to a crawl as I tried not to crash. I hit the dirt road about 10 seconds off the back of the group with no momentum. The road is so fast and twisting that I could barely see anyone as I chased, just a cloud of dust up around every corner. I went deep and did manage to get them in sight as we ended the lap. Our lap time was 20 seconds slower than lap 2. 

     I was five seconds off the group starting the final lap. This first trail had the most flow and I used it to close the gap. I had about one minute to recover before the attacks started as the trail began to widen. Jedlicka was on the attack with several others fighting to stay with him. I was doing my best just to follow the acceleration. As we entered a short tight section through a rock garden, the rider ahead of me let the gap open up. There was nowhere to pass so I had to wait until the following fire road. I tried to sprint across the gap, knowing I had to get there now before we reached the fast doubletrack along the lake. I cut the gap in half, but couldn't finish it off before the doubletrack began. I was on my limit and could only watch the top six disappear into the dust as I slowly started to fade. I kept chasing with what was left in the tank, hoping to catch anyone that fell off the lead group and get away from those behind me.

     Entering the singletrack, I could see two riders up ahead. I set my sights on them, riding as hard as I could in the ridge area. I sprinted every climb, but couldn't get any closer than seven seconds. We were also in heavy traffic which made it even more difficult to make up time. I got held up several times, but I'm sure those ahead of me did too. I could see three riders up ahead at one point. They were starting to split up. I just couldn't seem to close those last few seconds. We were all so even today. At least most of us were. Jedlicka still had plenty left in the legs after his two laps of sprinting to catch up. He rode a 22-minute final lap on the way to the win. Chris Bowman was also flying today and came in second at 0:53 with Jesse Smith on his heels in third. I chased all the way to the line, but came up short of catching anyone. I took home seventh, 2:32 back. I was happy with that. This kind of course is not my kind of racing, but I did well to stay in the leading group and be in the fight late in the race. I feel like things might have turned out different if I hadn't hung that pedal at the end of lap 3, but I feel like I had to push that corner and I would do it again if given the chance. 

Coated in dust at the finish. Kind of thought the dust on my face and beard made me look a little like Peter Sagan. Maybe I still have too much dust in my eyes. If only I could ride as fast as Sagan...

Photo by David Odle

Post-race, feeling like an M&M in my candy dust shell

     The race length was only 1:36:25 for me which was way short. I think we should have done another lap. It was another one of those races where everybody acted like I was crazy for saying we were going run in a pack and turn really fast lap times. Guess I need to do another 200 races before I have enough experience for people to listen to anything I have to say. After the race, I talked with DINO promoter Brian Holzhausen. He brought up the course before I even had a chance to. He knew what I thought about it without me having to say anything. He said the race was too short and that we need more singletrack next year. I look forward to it as there are some sweet trails that I saw just off to the side of the dirt roads and doubletrack we were racing on. Thanks for being willing to make adjustments Brian. That is one of the reasons why we love the DINO Series so much. I wouldn't want to do this type of course super often, but man was it fun to go that fast through the woods in a big group. It's the only race that has reminded me of the old Tour de Wolf races that took place down at Shelby Farms in Memphis years ago. Seventh wasn't great for series points. I'm in second with a race to go, but it would take a miracle at Southwestway for me to win the series. We all know that is probably not going to happen. Thankfully, as long as I don't have a complete bomb of a race I should get on the series podium yet again. I will do my best to fight for a #2 number plate for next year instead of the #3 I am running right now.

     Dina was the lone rider in Expert Women today so she took home the victory by default which gives her the lead in the series heading into the final round. She might be able to get her first series win in Expert after missing out by a single point last year. Bring it home Dina!

Dina finishing

Photo David Odle

Dina on the podium

Photo by DINO

     The bike clean-up after this dust bowl of a race was like cleaning up after a mud race. Kellen helped me as he is always ready to play with both dirt and the hose. 

Kellen trying to get as dusty as my bike.

Washing off Kellen's dust

     A race report from the DINO finals coming next!

Feel Like a Monster

Posted Date: January 17, 2024

     By mid-July, I was getting a little nervous about our farming efforts. This year's crop of peppers was way behind where we normally are at this point in the summer. Last year, we were starting to harvest many types of peppers and the harvest continued well into October. We barely have little green pods forming right now thanks to a combination of setbacks. Spring ended with some cooler weather that really slowed down our transplants. Most of the veggies we planted from seed didn't come up. Many of the ones that did sprout stalled out in the cooler temps and eventually died off when things got hot and dry in June. We lost nearly all of our squash and tomatoes, plus every single zucchini. Those aren't veggies we try to sell, but it still hurts as we not only lost some summer food, but the freezer didn't get packed with veggies for the winter. Thankfully, the peppers did not die off, they just were stunted. Drought in June further slowed things. 

     Then we got invaded by deer who ate most of the blooms off the plants. We basically lost an entire harvest cycle and had to wait several weeks for the plants to recover enough to make new blooms. We have so many deer in our area now that it has gotten ridiculous. Less people are hunting and more people are feeding the deer with backyard corn feeders. They come through the area almost every night in a big pack munching down everything in sight. I have tried many things to keep them away and so far none have worked for more than a few weeks at a time. The deer only ate my green beans and corn when we first started farming. Then they moved up to okra and squash leaves. Now they've added peppers to their buffet list. Fencing has gotten outrageously expensive so we have only been able to fence off a small area of the things we know the deer will devour on their nightly missions. Even fencing isn't a sure thing as most of the commercial fences are not even close to tall enough to stop a hungry deer from leaping over. We have to get something figured out as I literally have people in line waiting for us to start shipping fresh peppers.

Green peppers finally starting to make an appearance

We were able to stock our freezer with berries after a day of picking blueberries and blackberries at a patch near Springfield. The kids had fun and left itchy.

    On the flip side, we now have all kinds of interesting flowers growing around our property that bring in the bees and butterflies. I started planting them originally for something to look at, then realized the benefit to my veggies of having more pollinators around. Now, I love it that the kids get to see all the things that hang out around the flowers. I had never seen a clearwing sphinx moth until two years ago when we had one show up to feed on our bee balm. I only saw the little guy a few times that year, then much more often last year. This year we had three of them frequenting our patch! Clearwing sphinx moths are interesting creatures. It's a moth that is striped like a bumblebee, but moves like a hummingbird. It's a weird combo. They hover in front of the flower like a hummingbird and drink the nectar out of a long straw-like appendage. Check out some pictures and a quick video of one of them posted below. They move fast so they're a bit tricky to catch on camera.

Coneflowers

Clearwing Sphinx Moth showing off those clear wings as he feeds on bee balm

These little guys are tough to keep up with on closer pictures as they dart around like a hummingbird.

Video: A couple of clips of the Clearwing Sphinx Moth feeding

     July is always a great month as a cyclist with the Tour de France going on most of the month. We had another good one this year with plenty of action and aggression taken out on nearly every stage. The new generation of stage racers and their advanced fueling and recovery sure is making for some exciting racing. Watching the Tour always motivates me to get out and ride. I was pretty tired after all the very fast Music City Crits races so I did a lot of slower rides and just tried to feel some snap in my legs again. I'm not losing any overall power from fatigue, but I feel like I'm missing that acceleration and snappiness in the legs that I had earlier in the season. A few nice afternoon cruises with beautiful summer sunsets helped both the mind and the body recover before we headed back to the DINO Series. That's one thing I miss from our old houses. We currently live in a hole beneath some giant oak trees so we can't see the sunrise or sunset. Thankfully, the bike provides a chance for me to see both.

Zwifting to the Tour TT on a rainy afternoon

Lots of nice sunsets on road rides lately

Plenty of interesting clouds around in the afternoons

Very rich colors near home just before dark

     The next round of the DINO Mountain Bike Series came on July 23 on the northern end of the Hoosier State just to the south of South Bend at Potato Creek State Park. This is always one of my favorite places to race so I was excited to get back to the Tater. It was looking like a long vacation trip wasn't going to happen this year. The kids are not tolerating camping or driving well, and we have spent more time off and money than expected with the recent funerals. So we decided to make this weekend a long weekend and add in more fun stuff than usual. Shannon has always wanted to take me to the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, one of the largest county fairs I have ever heard of. It's bigger than our state fair in Tennessee. They have loads of shows in addition to the typical fair rides and livestock competitions. Most years the music names are big. We always seem to miss the fair by a week or so when we come up to race in the summer. This year, the dates finally matched up.

    We started our long weekend on Friday early in the morning, knocking off a chunk of the drive while the kids were asleep. Dina joined us for the full trip and helped keep me company up front in the van while Shannon dished out snacks and entertainment to the kids. We pass by the Grissom Air Museum in Peru, IN every time we come up here. It's one of those places we always say we want to stop at, but never have time. Finally, we had time. The kids loved seeing all the planes and helicopters. Originally called Bunker Hill Air Force Base, Grissom was a base during the Cold War, always on standby in case of an incoming nuclear strike. Fortunately, they never had to activate that part of the base. It's now an Air Reserve base.

Griffin Air Museum

     The museum tells all about activities at the base and showcases lots of Cold War relics. There's everything from aircraft to weapons. They have interesting displays describing Cold War missions and nuclear weapon development. There's an old helicopter and fighter jet cockpit you can get inside. The kids loved all the switches and controls. I thought we would never be able to pry Kellen out of the old Huey. Outside there are numerous aircraft on display with detailed descriptions of missions flown by each. It was fun and very informative. Definitely a good place to stop.

Kellen walking by a C-47. These planes were used to drop paratroopers during the invasion of Normandy in 1944 and dropped supplies to surrounded American forces during the Battle of the Bulge. This particular plane was in service at Wheelus Air Base in Libya. The plane was brought to Grissom in 1959 as part of the 305th Bomb Wing and has been on display inside the main gate since 1967.

Just a couple of kids checking out some bombs.

They have a Lockheed D-21 stored under a cover. The D-21 were unmanned aircraft, early drones commisioned by the CIA. They were launched off of an M-21 aircraft and flew across a target for aerial recon. The photo film was then ejected and caught midair by a C-130 before the D-21 self-destructed. It was a great plan, but most of them crashed or the film was not recovered. They stopped using these craft in 1966, but they still don't let you have a really close look, even at a museum.

You can climb the old lookout tower. The kids loved it.

F-100 Super Sabre

Salem liked the teeth on the MiG

This is a Boeing EC-135 Looking Glass. These aircraft were used as command posts in the air, providing communication around the globe in the event of a nuclear strike. One or more of these aircraft were in the air continuously for over 29 years from 1961-1990 as part of the Looking Glass program, then on constant standby until 1992. This particular plane served in the Looking Glass Program from 1970-1974. It was also involved in many missions during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm before being retired in 1992.

     This part of Indiana always makes me chuckle as every town is named after some other place. It starts with Atlanta before you see places like Nevada, Kokomo, Galveston, Miami, Peru, Mexico, Denver, Plymouth and Rochester. That stretch gives you many, many options for making bad Dad jokes. As for Peru, we've been told by some older folk that you don't pronounce it like the country. It's "PEE-ru."

     After a stop at an Amish grocery store for some treats, we reached the Toney house to hang out with Shannon's parents. Dina and I were up early to get in two laps at Potato Creek for our pre-ride before the triathlon event got underway. It was a good pre-ride other than I smacked a tree with my right shoulder on the second lap coming out of a turn. The morning sun shone through the trees right into my eyes and I couldn't see for a second. I saw the silhouette of the tree right before I hit it. The perils of early morning rides. We needed to get done early as we were taking Salem to the fair that night. Saturday night was monster truck night. Salem absolutely loves monster trucks. Kellen is also starting to show major interest when he isn't talking about tractors. The guy doesn't say many words yet, but he can clearly say tractor and he says it often. We had time before the monster trucks to check out all the livestock and watch the pig races. This fair is very popular and brings in people from all over the country. We saw draught horses from South Dakota and pigs brought in from South Carolina. It was like no other fair I have ever been to.

Kellen with a tiny shopping cart at Harvest Moon Foods

Chickens on display at the Elkhart County Fair

Video: Pig race clip

Salem loved her cup of ice cream

     The monster trucks were obviously not anything like what you see on Monster Jam, but they were still good, especially for $10. The trucks can do Monster Jam things, but they did not have the room. Salem had a blast and now she wants one. There was a 16-year-old girl driving a truck called "Funky Monkey." Salem is now her biggest fan. I thought it was cool to see the original Bigfoot truck in action, a truck I grew up watching but never thought I would see in person. One driver, Allen Pezo, is from our area in Brentwood, TN. He drives the truck called "Pouncer." There was also a diesel truck that gave the show a bit of a different sound. After the monster trucks were done, we were treated to a drone show in the sky celebrating the 150th year of the Elkhart County Fair. Traffic leaving was awful. They had three parking lots to unload. Somehow, our lot was picked to unload last rather than slowly draining all three. It took us over two hours to get out of the parking lot and make the 15-minute drive back. We got home after midnight. Not exactly the kind of night I wanted before a race, but Salem's excitement convinced me it was well worth it.

Salem being like the monkey on the "Funky Monkey" monster truck

The OG, Bigfoot

Pouncer and Bigfoot during the race portion of the show

Video: Clips from the Monster Truck Show

Overlooking the fair

Racing pigs during the drone show

Video: Drone show clip

      The morning came early, but I was excited to race. With last year's modification to the course where they had us race on the paved bike path instead of the trail due to heavy rain, it felt like I hadn't been here in a couple of years. I was glad coming into the weekend that rain chances were minimal and later in the day so we wouldn't have to worry about the course being modified again. But when we woke up, there were storms all over the radar. They looked like they would roll in just before the race start. Great. I am all for riding in the mud, but it doesn't seem like the park or local club here will ever let that happen again. It made for an uneasy drive over to the park as we were staring at a massive line of black clouds the entire way.

     We scrambled to get ready in the dry, before the thunderstorms rolled in about an hour before the start. I waited a few minutes to start my warm-up, but the rain continued, and I was forced to head out in the wet. I stuck to the road initially, then ended with one run through a piece of trail near the start to find it covered with standing water, but still firm underneath the puddles. The trail had been dry prior to the rain and is very sandy so it handles heavy rain well. I had great legs during my warm-up. Some days you just know you are good from the first pedal stroke. But Super D can't be feeling that great at a race. That would be too convenient. A wrench was thrown into the day as the start was postponed for one hour due to the rain. They wanted to allow the trail to drain before sending us in. I was upset because I wanted to go. I was ready and feeling great. I look forward to those sloppy conditions. But I was VERY pleased that they were willing to postpone than change the race course to that treacherous paved bike path like last year. That thing was slimy and dangerous. Not only was it so slick we had to ride at 80%, but there were people racing in both directions on a narrow path. I think we were just asking for a major accident and were fortunate to not have one. My wish last year was that we waited so I was pleased this time that the postponement option was used. Thank you DINO and everyone at the park!

     I tried to stay warm while hiding out from the storm, getting back on the bike about 15 minutes before the start to get the legs going again. Doing two full warm-ups would have been a waste of my good legs, but it's hard to know just how much you need after sitting for so long. Of course, I did not feel like superman this second time, but I was still pretty good and excited to get to the trail.

     As expected, the race distance was reduced from four laps to three. I understand that change as this race is typically right at two hours anyway. The speed at Potato Creek is very high and adding mud to the mix would slow us down dramatically. We only had four starters in Pro/Elite. Numbers are always lower when the weather is questionable, but I think we would have had more were it not for last year's greenway fiasco. I doubt very many guys in my class want to drive all the way to the northern end of the state to race on pavement on their mountain bikes or see the race be canceled.

     The rain had passed now, and sun was peaking through the clouds as we took off. The start here is a weird one, quickly going from a short grass straight through a ditch onto the pavement. The pavement then turns left onto the main park road for a short sprint to a 90-degree right turn through the grass onto a dirt/gravel road before splitting off to the right into the singletrack. It's a medium-to-long-length start, but very fast and quite busy with all the turns and different terrain transitions. My plan was to go out hard and take advantage of the course being as wet as it was going to be all day. I was last off the start line but did that purposely so I could draft on the road section. The plan backfired as a truck was on the main park road as we rounded the corner. If the truck had continued on we would have caught them just as we turned off onto the gravel road, but they panicked and stopped, forcing us to go around them. The chaos took away my passing opportunity as I was less concerned with making a pass and more worried about hitting a stopped vehicle. I was unable to gain any spots and entered the woods in fourth.

     Rick Mezo, the series points leader and defending series champ, quickly got a gap in the mud. The rain had stopped for only about 15 minutes, but the puddles were already lowering compared to when I came in an hour ago. I felt strong on the climbs and was riding easy on the other parts as I was on cruise behind the other two. They looked to be struggling with the mud, but they kept getting back to Mezo. He would open a gap and they would slowly crank him back. I decided to stay patient as long as the gap didn't open too much. 

     Halfway through lap 1 they seemed to be slowing down so I made a move up to 2nd to be behind Mezo. I felt like he was holding back so I attacked him with about a mile left in the first lap. I went as hard as I could for the next three miles until my rib started to hurt from the intensity. That thing still bothers me from time to time when I go that hard without a break. I was able to open up some small gaps and the guys behind changed positions several times, but I never really got away from them. Once I had to back off, they were quickly right back to me and the four-man train continued to roll on through the mud. I kept the pace as high as I could without getting the rib to hurt the remainder of lap 2. The trail was significantly drier in the final sections of that lap. I realized my advantage was literally drying up in front of me so I attacked again in an attempt to get a gap. They were able to answer and we began the final lap together. I picked up the lap time about 20 seconds on Lap 2 as compared to Lap 1.

Leading at the end of Lap 1

photo by DINO

Video: Me leading at the end of Lap 1

Video: Going hard as I lead us into Lap 3

     Mezo attacked on the first uphill on lap 3. I was hurting from my own attack and thought I couldn't follow, but I mustered up the strength to stay within a few bike lengths of him over the climb. Jake Fiddler was in third at this point and stayed right on me. Mezo kept pushing the climbs and eventually I started to lose a little ground. I let Fiddler by in hopes he could pull me back across, but he got a small gap on me as well. In one of the faster sections, he was able to clear a lapped rider on a descent. I did not see the guy until we came out of the left turn at the bottom and he was sitting in the trail. I went right to miss him but caught his back wheel and went down into the embankment on my right. Jason Kloptowsky was just a few bike lengths off my wheel and also had nowhere to go. He went left and went off the trail into a bunch of saplings. His crash looked a little harder than mine. We both got up quickly, but the lapped rider was still blocking me so Jason beat me back to the trail. Jason was nice enough to let me back by him as we remounted. By this point, Mezo and Fiddler were long gone. 

     I gave all I had on the next few climbs to get back across to Fiddler, but I couldn't get him in sight. The mud was almost all gone now. On the longest climb of the course Jason came by me and put in a big dig. I couldn't follow and had to settle back into my own rhythm. We caught Dina as we approached the "Enchanted Forest" section. She told me Jason was less than 10 seconds up and Fiddler was less than 30 seconds ahead and struggling. That spurred me on. I knew was riding well today and could not settle with fourth place. I could see the gaps myself in the forest section as there is no undergrowth in this unique section of woods. I saw Jason go by Fiddler and could tell I was closing quickly. He was cramping when I got there. I put in a big dig to get away from him as I went by. The effort worked. Jason was still only 10 seconds ahead so I dug very deep the final few miles in an attempt to catch him and set up a sprint finish. I got to within a few bike lengths at two miles to go, but he was too strong to stay there. I faded some at the end today, but nowhere near as much as I have in recent races so I still had some good speed left at the end. Jason obviously had more left as he extended the gap again. Mezo powered it all the way to the line for the victory, with Jason coming in second at 39 seconds back, with me a further 12 seconds back in third. After three laps the top three were separated by just 51 seconds. Jake Fiddler came in fourth at 1:54 despite his cramps. What a fun race! I just wish it had stayed wet for a little longer and the race was a little longer. I definitely think waiting helped preserve the trail more, but this place proved that it drains well and holds up great to wet riding. I was very pleased with my effort. My legs were strong and I didn't fade much. I dropped about a minute on my last lap, but still felt like I could have done another lap at a high pace. My average heart rate was the same for each of the three laps and I hit my max at the finish showing there was still plenty of leg left. I was just missing a little snap to handle those repeated accelerations.

Mezo on his way to the finish

photo by DINO

Video: Top 3 Pro/Elite riders coming through the finish line

     Dina had a good day in the mud yet again. She finished fourth out of four in Expert Women, but she rode well and is improving her mud skills and getting her laps times more consistent. Check out the picture below. She has almost no mud on her legs at the finish. That shows you how well the trail held up today.

Dina about the reach the finish

photo by DINO

     The weather was beautiful by the time the Kids Race started. Salem wanted to race again. I let Kellen join her by mounting up the Shotgun seat and we followed Salem during her race. She was a little less distracted this time, so maybe we are making some progress. She was a bit bummed that the course was all grass. It was soft where everyone had ridden into the finish and it made those all those little shredders work! I took both of them for a quick run through the paved trail before we left so they could feel the wind in their hair on the Shotgun. There were still riders on the course so we couldn't get out on the singletrack.

Salem comes to the finish line

photo by DINO

     We went back to the Fair on Sunday afternoon. Sunday is free entrance day so we got in for free. Shannon found out several months ago that Skillet would be performing on Sunday night and got us tickets for just $10. That's right, $10 concert tickets! You cannot beat that. Her mom was willing to watch the kids so we had a night where the only screaming was up on stage. We picked seats further away under the canopy in case of rain, but there really isn't a bad seat at the fairgrounds as the seating area is pretty small. I have always liked Skillet, but they haven't been a band I really sought out to see in concert. Man, have I been missing out! They tore it up! I was very impressed by the entire show. They sound as good live as on their records. I wish the sound quality on my videos was better because it does not do them justice at all. I learned some of their older songs that I hadn't heard before. They really have made some good music over the years and have just released new songs to go with their most recent album that came out last year. With them being around for so long you really get a wide age-range in the crowd. There were all kinds from little kids up to grandmas. What I learned the most is that the band members are good people. We need more people like them in this world. They play some heavy music, but it is all with a positive message, something the world really needs more of. I had a great time and am now a true fan. I got made fun of by people when I said we went to see Skillet. They are billed as a Christian Rock band, which is true, but not in the way would think. People act like you're Ned Flanders if you listen to any music that mentions anything great about having God in your life. You people are really missing out and probably the ones that need positive music in your life the most. I introduced the kids to Skillet's music this weekend and they loved it. Darn, I guess I'll have to go see them live again in the future so Salem and Kellen can experience some great rock & roll. See the setlist they played here. If you like rock music, be sure to give Skillet a listen. We also had time to take in the other parts of the fair that we didn't have time to see the previous night. And take in some fair food since the race was now behind us. Nothing like a little fried food at the fair to give you a good bellyache. Thankfully, the traffic issues from last night were fixed and we got out of the lot rather quickly.

Cutout of one of my favorite characters. Uncle Super D wants you.

Skillet up on stage

Video: Skillet playing their song "Legendary"

Lead guitar player Seth Morrison

Video: Clip of one of my favorite songs called "Back From the Dead"

Lead singer John Cooper pointing at us on cue with his wife, the bass player Korey Cooper, up above him.

Video: Playing their latest single "Psycho in My Head"

Korey and John

I had a hard time seeing drummer Jen Ledger which is a bummer as I love watching drummers. She also does back-up vocals to John. She's the female voice you hear in the songs. I think the quality of their music really went up when she joined the band.

Video: Perhaps their most famous song, "Monster"

Video: More "Monster"

Video: Encore song "The Resistance"

     On Monday, we departed the Toney home and headed south, but it wasn't time to go home yet. We had plans for more mountain biking. The plan was to stay the next two nights at Brown County. On the way, we stopped in Indianapolis to hit up Southwestway Park. I need all the practice I can get here as this round of the DINO Series is always a challenge for me. It was looking like we may not get to come up for a pre-ride before the race next month so this would likely be our only chance to see the trail before we hit it at full speed. Dina and I got in a couple of laps, then I took the kids out for a little time on the Shotgun seat. Salem and I are getting more comfortable on the flow trails. Kellen still has some difficulty with head control so the quick changes of direction get him off-balance, which translates into me as well. I almost pitched him off once as he has a habit of taking his feet out of the foot straps, which he did just as we went over a hump. Thankfully, he held on and I was able to cradle him and get to a stop without anything happening. It scared him, but he still wanted to ride so that was good.

The kids having fun at Southwestway Park

     We had our normal night of little sleep the first night of camping. The kids just can't wind down when we are anywhere outside of home. If I can channel even 20% of the fight they have against going to bed into something constructive they are going to change the world. They are testing me and Shannon to our limits right now. Dina and I got in a good ride on Tuesday, taking in most of the trails in the park. I can now say that I have a bike set-up that I like. It was like night and day compared to when we were here in early June. I still tweaked a few things, but overall it is very close to perfect now. That's the great thing about Brown County. The park is full of all kinds of trails. You can work on flow and jumping, then a few minutes later hit some tight, technical singletrack and then climb to your heart's content. I like where I am with the tight singletrack and climbing. I still need to work on the jumps, especially the bigger ones like on Hobbs Hollow. But this time I was able to clear almost every jump and feel in control. I even started to use my dropper post a little. John Carr has been talking to me a lot about using my ankles to pump and jump over the last year or so. I thought I did, but I didn't really understand what he meant until this trip. I felt that ankle motion get me more traction in the corners and provide a little more spring to help with takeoff on jumps. It was a skill I never needed on my other bike as it easily flew off the ground. The different geometry on this bike has forced me to make a change. It foiled me for a while, but now I am getting things figured out. This bike needs a little help to get off the ground, but it can do it. I had already decided that I probably won't do Marathon MTB Nationals in September as planned as I just haven't had enough trail time this summer and don't feel comfortable enough on this bike. But this trip had me thinking maybe I should reconsider.

Of course, I had to take Dina down Bobcat. She didn't think the climb out of there was as much fun as I did.

The mandatory Hesitation Point picture

     I had never ridden the Pine trail at the north end of the park. We don't go down the hill to that north trailhead parking lot very often, usually only when riding the race course, which doesn't use Pine. This trail has some gentle climbing to get around the steep road climb used at the start of the DINO races. As you might expect, much of it is through a pine forest where the trail is covered in pine needles. It was a perfect spot to take the kids on the Shotgun seat and still get in some training for me with the climbing. After a few laps though, the kids got cranky and we had to head back to our campsite. I was hoping to give Shannon some time to ride as she doesn't get to do much these days, but the kids did not cooperate the rest of the day. To make things worse, storms rolled in just before dark so we were confined to the tents. The storms continued throughout the night and into the next morning. Our site wasn't the best when it rained so we woke up with ponds around the tents. No leaking though. We took our time packing up, hoping things would dry a little before we put them in the van. Dina and I went on in for one more ride before we headed home. Despite all the rain, the trails were just damp with hardly any mud to be found. The roots were slick though and made for some good skills work on the descents. I loved it. Dina, not so much. I think she had already had enough mud and slickness for one weekend.

     It was a great little mini-vacation, giving us a break from work and just being at home, while giving us plenty of time together, fun experiences and ride time. August was quickly approaching, and the home stretch of the DINO Series was in sight. More mountain bike racing coming in the next post!

Daisy blooms waiting on us when we returned home

We love the Zinnias we planted this year. They bring in the butterflies and hummingbirds for the kids to watch.

Muddy Dud

Posted Date: January 9, 2024

     We have been thinking about a new refrigerator for a while and finally decided to do some real looking in July. Our old fridge is for sure old, but still works well. We could use a little more room with having the kids' food, but the main reason for getting a new one was to make room for peppers. We have gotten much better at shipping fresh peppers and have learned how to pick and store them to make them last the longest. The later fall harvest last year totally filled up our fridge. We can't afford to do that now with the space that milk bottles occupy, nor do we want to be that cramped with our food again. So we started the hunt and quickly found a model that we liked at a local scratch and dent store. The dent was so minor that you can only see it if you stand in just the right spot with the light shining just right. Yeah, I'll take 40% off for that. The place just happened to be running a sale on refrigerators for the Fourth of July so even more savings. Perfect!

     The day we found the fridge we were supposed to be racing the DINO Challenge Short Track in North Vernon, IN at Muscatatuck Park. Heavy rain and thunderstorms were not only still hammering our area, but they had also moved into all of southern Indiana. It was looking like a disaster of a race. We weren't even sure if they would have it, so we decided to go fridge shopping and then go up later in the evening to camp, hopefully after the storms had passed. A nasty storm rolled into Clarksville as we left the scratch and dent store. We stopped for lunch at Popeye's to let the storm pass and ended up there for a while. Lightning and wind knocked out the power. There was a lot of storm and hail damage between us and home, but we managed to miss the worst of it on both ends.

     DINO did have the short track, but it was an absolute mess with only one rider showing up for the Expert race, so I really didn't miss out on anything except getting soaked and having to clean a bike before bed. There was also supposed to be a Downhill race as part of the festival weekend, but it was canceled due to the weather. Our hope of waiting out the rain did not work, but we did manage to arrive in a gap between storms and were able to set up camp beneath a pavilion and fix dinner before the next storm rolled in. The pavilion provided many anchor points to tie down the tent and kept us mostly dry. Shannon and the kids stayed home with the dismal forecast.

     I decided to bring only the old Epic, leaving the new machine at home hoping to keep it from getting destroyed by the mud. The rain had passed by sunrise, but the trail was very wet with standing puddles in many places. Thankfully, the standing water began to soak into the ground quickly. A slight breeze added to the drying efforts. I spent my warm-up just trying to get comfortable on my old bike. I thought the new bike still felt like an alien, but going back was even worse. The old Epic has a much lower stem and a narrower handlebar which made for some different feels in the handling department.

I enjoyed the chalk graffiti left under the pavilion where we camped

    Our race distance was reduced from four laps to three due to the conditions. They expected lap times to slow significantly. As like most of the times in my life when I line up for a muddy race, I was disappointed to see the race length decreased. I like those longer races where it puts your fitness, skills and mental toughness at the limit. This, however, didn't look like one of those days as the trail was drying quickly and had held up well in the sections I checked out in my warm-up. I didn't expect lap times to slow very much, so I was thinking this was about to be a really short race.

Mud and tire tracks where the start enters the woods. This portion was used in yesterday's short track.

     We only had six starters in Pro/Elite. I'm guessing the weather ran off a lot of people because this park is a really good venue and is close to Indy where most riders in the series reside. After bombing in Race #2 at Brown County with sickness, I needed a good run to move me back up in the series points standings. The start here is fast and gently downhill. It's a quick sprint to the singletrack. You can't afford to make a mistake because there is no time to make up for it. I missed my pedal on the jump off the line and was last as we got up the speed, but I got a great run down the right side and pulled myself back to third as we entered the woods. The course is very hilly in the first third with several climbs, most being steeper. This group of climbs is followed by a more mellow section in the middle with only one long climb. The final third gets hilly again, but the climbs in this portion are not near as steep as the climbs in the opening section.

Pro/Elite start

photo by DINO

Video: Quick clip of the Pro/Elite start at Muscatatuck

    I knew I had a good position within the group in the first section and it allowed me to be a little more conservative on the climbs. The first few miles were very slick. I could afford to give up 5-10 seconds on the climbs as I could ride back across the gap on the descents by being smooth. I have had an issue with blowing up in these hills on the first lap nearly every year I have raced here, so I tried to hold back and be steady for three full laps.

     About halfway through the lap, the trail reaches a road crossing at the park campground. From here, the trail hits a long descent to the bottom of the campground, before a long climb takes you back up the hill along the opposite side of the campground. I let loose on the descent, moving up to 2nd with the leader, Rick Mezo, being up ahead with a gap. I wasn't strong enough to shake the three riders behind me on the next climb, or close the gap to the leader. The second half of the course was a lot more wet, with standing water in more places than we saw on the slick first half. I paced myself well, but couldn't have gone much faster as I was at my max for what I could sustain in an XC race. My first lap time was 32:20, only about two minutes slower than what I ran in the dry last year. Mezo was about 40 seconds ahead at this point.

     The three riders in our group stayed with me until the final climb of the opening set of climbs on lap 2. The mud was changing now with thicker mud in this opening sector. I missed my line near the top of the climb and had to put a foot down. I couldn't get going and had to dismount and run the rest of the way to the top. I lost all the spots and got gapped off the back of the group. I lost 20 seconds to them in the blink of an eye. The second half of the lap was not nearly as saturated the second time around and it made for an easier ride. All riders ahead of me rode faster. I tried hard to chase, but lost time as they beat me more up the climbs this lap than I could make up on the descents. I ended lap 2 in fifth, some 40 seconds behind fourth and over a minute behind second and third. My lap time was over two minutes slower. Some of that was due to the thicker mud in the first half of the lap and some was due to me slowing on the climbs.

     I could see that lap time difference when I hit my lap button. I could also see my average heart rate had dropped seven bpm. That made me mad as I was pacing myself well and shouldn't be seeing that kind of fade at this point in a race. It fired me up starting the final lap. The mud was even thicker now in the opening climbs. There is a technical climb after a tunnel under the road that features some slick rocks, root step-ups and a switchback. The mud was very thick and greasy, but I managed to clean it which just spurred me on. I quickly caught fourth, going right by him near the top of a climb and then out of sight on the following descent. My lap time was still slowing due to the thickness of the mud, but I could tell I was riding better. I finally felt one with this bike again.

     At the campground road crossing, I got a time check that I was 40 seconds off third place. I knew I was rolling right now and 40 seconds was still possible for me to make up on a wet course. I ripped the next descent and then gave all I had up the next climb. Again, this half of the course was drying quickly, almost looking like a normal trail now which took away a lot of my advantage. I got third in sight as we started into last set of climbs to the finish. I carried my momentum beautifully into the first one and was right up to his rear wheel by the top. He was spooked and quickly took off, asking me where had I come from. I was able to follow the first acceleration, but then we got in traffic at the same area where traffic cost me a win here in 2016 in my first ever DINO Series race. Just like in 2016, he cleared the traffic before the next climb while I had to be a bit more conservative as there just wasn't enough room to get by safely. He put in a good dig on the final climb and I didn't have enough left in the tank after the effort of this entire lap to close the gap again. I would reach the line a few seconds back in fourth with way too much left in the legs. I felt like I could have easily gone another lap. One of the Expert riders beat us both on time so I ended up fifth overall on the day. Mezo took home the win, his second of the season. It was a fun day, but I can't say I left satisfied after feeling like I didn't leave it all on the course today.

     Dina slogged around to get in a good workout and some good practice as she hasn't ridden too many muddy races like this. There were only two riders in the Expert Women and she took home the #2 spot today.

Expert and Sport Women on the start line

photo by DINO

     After the race, we took the backroads back to Louisville, stopping in Madison, IN for some ice cream just before we crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. The town was packed. We realized as we were leaving that it was because they were having powerboat races on the river. I wish we had known as we would've been down there watching rather than sitting in an ice cream shop eating away our muddy sorrows from the day.

A little bit of ice cream from The Red Peppermint in Madison, IN

     Dina was off work the following day so she helped me go pick up our new fridge in her truck. There were no storms today and it was sweltering hot as we unloaded it onto our front porch. It was a tight fit to get it in the front door. I ended up having to take the door off the hinges which gave us just enough room to slide it inside. The new fridge is now in place. The old one is moved around the corner and is waiting to be filled with fresh peppers in a few weeks. Dina came back the next day to celebrate Independence Day with us, bringing some small fireworks for the kids.

Look out! Salem has sparklers.

Kellen being festive with his love of dinosaurs

     It was a crazy few days as we were together again on Wednesday, July 5 for the final race of the Music City Crits Series. It was bittersweet. I absolutely love racing out at the speedway every week and am sad that racing is over for the year, especially since some of the biggest races of the year are still over six weeks away. I would love for the series to drag on a little longer to help hone the form for the big crits that wrap up the summer. I was also kind of glad the series was wrapping up as the races have been super hard and I am getting tired. 

     Like last year, we all wondered if this would be the last race we would ever have at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, as the future of the track is still up in the air. The finale would likely be a crazy one as everybody viewed it like the last opportunity to ever win here.

     I didn't feel like I had the legs to do the Fat Tire race that is held at the series finale each year. I spent my time before the race riding with the kids. They had a huge Kids race. This time Salem wanted to do a full lap on the course rather than just riding the inner oval like we did at her first ever race back in May. I put the Shotgun seat on my mountain bike so Kellen could join us in her full lap. Salem was again very distracted, but did manage to make it all the way around the track before the next race started. 

Salem ready to race!

Kellen on the Shotgun seat

Rolling to the start line

Big group of kids

Video: Salem in the Kids Race

Kids podium

     I finished my warm-up on the road bike and lined up with 27 other riders in the Pro/1/2/3. It was a stacked field and sure to be another fast one on the kidney bean layout. Like last year, I viewed this as possibly my last chance to win at the place I love so much. I was nervous on the line. I knew it would have to come down to a bunch sprint for me to have a chance, but very few races have turned out that way this season. I also felt some pressure to do well as my parents were at the race. They never come watch me anymore. They don't get excited about any of my racing, even when I'm doing well. They came more to watch the kids ride, but I wanted to prove to them that I am decent at road racing. I was glad they would see how fast we go nowadays as it is so much faster than what they watched years ago over at the Titans stadium. The legs felt good in my warm-up. I was ready for this one.

     I fumbled around with my pedal on the start and was way back, but I sprinted through the group at the end of the lap as I feared sitting in the back tonight. I've learned the hard way too many times this year. The pace was high for the first 20 minutes with very few let-ups. When we did slow down, it was only by 2-3 mph for about 15 sec, then right back to wide-open. I slowly drifted back as the pace had me at my max. I ran very close to my max heart rate for the year for 10 minutes straight. Ouch.

Early race action

photo by Matthew Trask

     I hadn't drifted all the way back when things started to blow apart. A few riders in front of me let a gap go. The speed was so high that I couldn't get across and ended up blowing up. I found myself alone off the back as a break of six went off the front of what was left of the group. I was the only one chasing as all the other riders that got gapped were quickly pulled or dropped out. The officials left me in and I was able to rejoin the main group when they lapped me. The break ended up lapping the entire field, coming by me for the second time. Three riders from the break went off the front again. It was the most powerful break I have ever seen on a Wednesday night crit in Nashville. The trio were Jeremiah Stoller, Jonny Brown and Cooper Johnson, who has been in Europe racing most of the season. From my perspective, it looked like Johnson was doing seated accelerations almost every lap, but couldn't shake the other two. It came down to a final lap battle with Stoller getting the better of Johnson and Brown.

Close finish between Stoller and Johnson

photo by Matthew Trask

     I was quite comfortable within the group the rest of the race. I tried to stay out of the way with me being lapped. A cash prime came late in the race and they made it a point to tell me at the finish line that I was eligible. I was a bit too far back to go for it, but felt like I had the legs. I rolled to the finish in the middle of the pack to take 16th. I had great legs tonight and felt like I wasted them. If only I had been a couple of riders farther up in the line when things exploded. 

     I was consistent all season, but consistently too far back, landing me 7th in the final standings. Props to Michaelee Bowes for taking the overall title. I was pretty disappointed with the night. It was a waste of good legs, a disappointing showing to my parents who will probably never believe me again when I say I am riding well, a series finish much lower than I wanted and maybe the end of racing at this venue. I hope and pray that this facility will stay open and that we will be able to afford renting the track for races again in the future. This speedway means so much to the cycling community and has helped to build up one heck of a deep field of racers that call middle Tennessee home. I hope the track owners got to see how much we all love getting to race here.

     Michaelee had his camera rolling during this race as he made the first break and stood atop the series podium at the end. Check it out here.

Video: Final Music City Crits race as seen by Michaelee Bowes

Melon Man

Posted Date: January 1, 2024

     The second half of June seemed like a continuous series of storms. Every day I went riding I was nervously watching dark skies. Too many days I had to sprint home, not so much trying to avoid getting wet but rather out of fear of getting struck by lightning. We had some major lightning that snuck up on me several times. One afternoon in particular, I was riding laps on the road nearest our house trying to stay close to home. I was constantly watching the radar on my phone, which was clear for several miles all around me...until it wasn't. Literally, in one five minute radar update I went from being in a gap between two storms to them linking up right over my head.  Two lightning strikes hit in the fields on either side of me less than 100 yards away. It was too close for comfort. I sprinted home like I was in a prologue TT at the Tour. I can only think of a couple of times in my riding life that I was in a situation that serious and in one of those instances another rider actually got hit by lightning just a few yards from me.

Too many days recently where I have raced this home

One of the farms close to the house seems to have gotten a camel. He wasn't very happy about having his picture taken.

     The few times lightning wasn't present during a downpour the kids were out in the driveway running around like a bunch of savages. There is something really fun about a summer rain. I tried to keep them out the first few times, but it was pointless. They were determined. It was fun just to sit back and watch them splash and giggle.

Running in the rain

Of course they had to lay down in a puddle

     We had another off-weekend from racing to end the month so we took advantage with a trip across town to watch the NASCAR events at the Nashville Superspeedway near Lebanon. My cousin, Josh Berry, got a ride for half of the season in the Xfinity Series driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr. back in 2021. He did well enough to get a full-time deal the following year and continues to drive the #8 car for Jr Motorsports this year. We have been fortunate enough to be able to go watch him race in Nashville each of the three years.

Cousin Josh

photo by Fronstretch.com

     Watching Josh race is a fun day as many of my family members show up. It's nice to see that the family supports at least one person that races something. Josh's immediate family gets pit passes so they watch from inside the track. The rest of us had good seats up in the stands for both qualifying and the race. Salem already loves racing so she has come with us every year, even in 2021 when she was just nine months old. Kellen can't handle loud noises or sitting still for longer than 15 minutes yet so he stayed home. Cole Custer was the top qualifier. Josh had a disappointing run to qualify in the 23rd spot. He has four teammates at Jr Motorsports and they all qualified pretty far back for their standards, with the best managing just 15th.

     Once the race got underway, the JRM cars moved up through the field. A lot of it was due to carnage ahead of them. It took three tries at the start of the race before they made a full lap without a crash. Josh picked up several spots just by being patient. We had radios and could hear his communications with the team. He held back anticipating a few of the incidents and it helped get him through unscathed. 

Tuning into Josh's team radio on the scanner

     Ty Gibbs led the race early, taking the win in Stage 1. Gibbs was then spun on the restart to begin Stage 2, collecting other cars and ending his day. Josh's team made some adjustments to the car during the pit stop between stages which really improved his speed through the corners and he moved up into the top 10. Chandler Smith led most of Stage 2 and collected the stage win. Josh seemed to be on a rollercoaster with the car adjustments. One pit stop the changes made the car better, then on the next stop they made the car worse. He just couldn't seem to move up into the top 5. AJ Allmendinger got to the lead with about 45 laps to go despite a spin early in the race that sent him to the rear. It took two restarts in overtime to settle the final positions after a few late incidents brought out the caution. Josh had a good final restart and ended up taking 5th behind race winner AJ Allmendinger. Riley Herbst came in for 2nd and Josh's teammate Sam Mayer took 3rd.

     Salem did pretty well with the race, even though it was a long one with 11 total caution flags. In total, 21 cars of the 38 that started were involved in a crash at some point. We have had an issue with Salem not wanting to keep her ear protection on in the past, but this year she knew what to do and never took her headphones off. Dad also learned that snocones and frozen lemonade help keep a toddler both cool and happy. She must have been pretty comfortable as she took a snoozer near the end. 

     If you want to watch the full NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 you can do it here. I even spotted us in the crowd at one point thanks to my uncle's big straw hat.

Video: Tennessee Lottery 250 full race broadcast

     The midway around the speedway can be just as fun as the races. We enjoyed everything from looking inside race cars, to eating snacks from race sponsors and even riding a mechanical bull. They also had a group doing mountain bike trials shows that were pretty entertaining. Two of the riders were some of the top ranked trials riders in the country and live near Nashville.

     Josh is the real reason we come to this race track each year, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to see the Cup Series race on Sunday. I managed to find some reasonably priced tickets for me and my parents near Turn 1. My parents usually get the really nice seats high up on the start/finish line. I couldn't afford those and really I don't like to sit that high up. I like to be closer to the track and feel the rattle of the seats when 40 cars go flying by. The seats I got were small, hard and crowded, but man did we get all the feels. My parents now know how the poor people watch the race. 

     This year, the Cup race started late in the afternoon, finishing after dark under the lights which made it that much better. It didn't rain like last year and the later start made the temperature feel much more pleasant than when we baked in the sun the previous day. We again had radios so that gave the race a totally different feel. I scanned through the various drivers and even spent a while listening to the officials channel where they directed the track cleaning crew during cautions. I would highly recommend getting a scanner radio of some type if you go to the race. You can rent them from the track and the price is totally worth it. I actually had two feeds going into my ears at all times with the radio broadcast from PRN playing through my headphones and a single earbud running under the headphones with the driver channels playing. 

Cup cars on track for pace laps

Ally 400 underway

     The race was great with more lead changes than in past years, though this track still tends to spread the field out with not a lot of passing going on 5-6 laps after a restart. It's just a one-groove racetrack for the most part. But it's much better racing than the first time the Cup series came here in 2021 when I wasn't sure if I wanted to come back. Ross Chastain wound up taking the win and we got to see his signature watermelon smash as he celebrated the victory. I was able to video chat with the family at home, allowing the kids to see some of the racing under the lights. Salem noticed a small girl sitting near me wearing her headphones, so now she thinks it's cool to keep her headphones on. After the race while returning our scanner radios, I got mistaken for Dale Earnhardt Jr. It must have been really dark because I don't think we look alike. We do have similar voices though and that is what I think actually made the lady at the radio booth think I was him. Traffic was an absolute nightmare leaving the track. We were prepared though, whipping out the grill and making a bunch of burgers. By the time we finished eating and packed up, the line was gone and we cruised right out of the lot and onto the highway.

Chastain burnout

     Check out the full NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 broadcast here.

Video: Ally 400 full race broadcast

     We also got some good news while at the track. Josh will be moving up to the Cup Series in 2024 to drive the #4 car for Stewart-Haas Racing, taking the place of the legend Kevin Harvick who will retire at the end of this season. I guess next year we will only have to buy tickets for the Sunday race!

     The Wednesday after the NASCAR weekend was another crit race at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway for Race #10 of 11 in the Music City Crits Series. We were back on the 180 course for 60 minutes of eyeball-popping speed with 30 riders toeing the line in the Pro/1/2/3 event. My race did not start well, with me feeling a soft rear tire the first time we entered the right-hand 180. I thought I was crazy at first, but it quickly worsened. I had a leak and was forced to go to the pit for a wheel change. It ended up being a leak from the valve stem.

     I got inserted back into the race in a good position as the pace was going flat-out. I just tried to settle in and hold my spot in the line that was now single-file from front to back. Riders were dropping off the front. I just held the wheel in front of me and ended up off the front with two other riders. I didn't really want to be off the front this early, but the gap was there and I wasn't going to sit up. Jonny Brown was leading the three of us around, not asking for any help. I quickly saw that he was too strong and going to blow me right off the wheel and probably clean out of the race. I decided that sitting up was actually probably the best thing to do in this situation, even though I absolutely hate to do that. I was able to drift back to the main group and settle into a good spot near the front. 

     Jonny was off the front alone. Attacks started to come out of the main group in an attempt to bridge. I slid back with the increase in pace and started to dangle at the back, especially in the sprints off the 180-degree turns. Just before halfway, I finally got popped off the back. I chased hard, but the pack was disintegrating ahead of me. It split into three groups with lots of others falling behind the third pack. I passed by all the stragglers, but was unable to rejoin any of the groups before being pulled. I ended up 16th. The three groups fell apart even more, with only six riders making it to the finish line tonight. It was a rough one for sure. Jonny went solo all the way to the finish. Beast mode.

     As usual, there were several cameras capturing footage during the Pro/1/2/3 race. Michaelee Bowes' footage is posted here. He made the front split and took 3rd on the night. Check out David Howe's video here. He was also in the group with Michaelee and ended up 5th. Logan Gauthier also provided some footage that is posted here. Full results can be found under the Music City Crits Series tab on the Raceday Results website.

Video: Michaelee Bowes' onboard footage

Video: David Howe's video footage from the night

Video: Logan Gauthier race footage

     Up next is July and back to the dirt.

So Long, Goodbye

Posted Date: December 30, 2023

     We had a Wednesday night off following the DINO race at Brown County. I was feeling back to normal and fully over my sickness. I took advantage of the off-week and a following off-weekend from racing to get in some good quality training rides. I hit the backyard trail and tried to dial in the new Epic. I got the suspension pretty close to perfect in a couple of rides, but the bike just felt unstable, especially in the air with jumping. I gave that short stem a try, but it had my weight much too far forward. A quick swap of the stem with my old Epic totally changed the feel of the bike. I went from running some quick laps to throwing down multiple laps faster than my all-time PR. Now I just need some time on this electronic shifter to stop shifting the wrong direction and the accidental shifts when hitting bumps. 

Look close: That's a newborn deer lying in the trail. Scared me half to death. It couldn't stand at first, but a few laps later it was walking around when I came by.

Kellen trying to drink water from the hose. Lucky for him, he isn't strong enough to squeeze the handle just yet.

     At the end of the week, life threw us another curve ball. My grandmother went into the hospital with some heart issues. It didn't seem like anything major, but then she had a heart attack while in the hospital. I guess if there is ever a good place to have a heart attack that would be the place to do it. She was quickly tended to, but ended up having a second heart attack. A surgical procedure to correct her heart issues failed. I was at work on Friday and got the text in the middle of the day that instead of her discharging from the hospital today, she was staying due to a mild heart attack. By the time I got home, she was on her death bed. My family said I probably wouldn't even make it to the hospital before she passed which ended up being the case.

     My Grandma wasn't in the greatest health so this wasn't a complete shock. I really thought she would have gone several years ago, but she always seemed to fight through all the difficulties from hip issues to COVID. We were just shocked that it happened so suddenly. In one single day she was gone. And this came just a few weeks after Shannon lost Gma Rosie. 

     

     The thing I found most interesting about her passing was looking back on how Grandma's outlook on life had changed in recent months. My entire life I remember her often talking about how she was afraid to die. That was 30 years ago when she was nowhere close to death, yet she was very worried about it. Ten years ago we were talking about making a will and she wouldn't do it because she didn't want to think about death. But suddenly, in the last few months, she had created a will and arranged for her burial. She even asked my uncle to speak at the funeral and told him to get started working on what he would say. She seemed to know the end was near. I think she was ready to go. She had some damage from the heart attacks, but it wasn't a high likelihood the damage would kill her. I think she was ready to go, saw the light and walked on over to it. 

     Grandma and I were not very close in my adult life. She was much more involved in my life when I was younger. She was really the only grandmother I ever had. My Dad's mother passed when I was really young and we didn't see her very often, which is a common theme with that side of the family. I barely remember her. Grandma Jane got remarried when I was a teenager and moved about 90 minutes away to Paris, TN, which meant I saw her a lot less after that. But the thing that really caused a gap between us was my bike racing. She was a big supporter of my racing at first when I was a junior, but she always thought I should give it up after high school and focus on a career and family. I always knew I could have both, but could never convince her of that. She would always tell me bikes were for kids and I needed to put them away. It hurt to lose that support for what felt like no good reason, but I couldn't change her mind. It put a major wedge in our relationship. Hopefully now she can look in on my life and realize how much good bikes have brought me.

     I shared my favorite photo of Gma Rosie in the post about her passing and I want to do the same for my Grandma Jane. The pictures below are from the summer of 1999, the summer that changed my life. I was a fat, lazy kid that spent most of my time avoiding bikes because it's what my parents did most weekends. I finally got tired of being fat and lazy and started mountain biking to lose weight. Turns out it was really fun. So was road riding. I ended up doing a summer trip with my parents where we rode the entire Natchez Trace Parkway, 444 miles from Nashville to Natchez, MS. Grandma and her new husband, Bill, joined us on the trip providing sag support each of the six days we rode. It was a crazy trip. We rode 60-70 miles most of the days, which was a long way for a 13 year-old that had just started back riding. It was hot most days. We got lost once. We had flat tires on our bikes and on the trailer the grandparents were hauling behind our van. They miscalculated our arrival time at a rest stop meet-up one day and left us out there for hours without food or water. That was probably the most interesting part of the trip, but I don't have time to tell that story right now. We camped most nights and got relentlessly attacked by mosquitos. It was an adventure, the first one I had ever been a part of and it got me hooked on the fun of bikes. Reaching the end after putting in over 100 miles the final day was such a great sense of accomplishment for me. Grandma was not only there at the finish to congratulate me, but she dumped a cooler of water of me and slapped a $100 bill in my hand, making good on a bet she made with me before we left Nashville. She was as excited as I was. That moment changed my life. Bikes and adventure have been life ever since. Thanks for being there Grandma.

Grandma dumping a cooler of water on me at the finish of the Natchez Trace Parkway in 1999

Grandma coming through on her bet with that cash money

     Grandma's funeral just happened to be on Wednesday afternoon, just a few hours before the next round of the Music City Crits Series. Grandma said she wanted her funeral to be short. There were quite a few people who hung around the gravesite after the service. That was until a dark cloud moved in suddenly and rain started to fall. I thought it was fitting for the moment, like she was telling us it was time to go.

     The rain caused a lot of traffic back-ups around Nashville. I was late to the race and had a very short warm-up. There was a car wreck three cars in front of me on I-24 that I just missed. I had to go through some of the debris. With the funeral and the traffic, I was definitely a little stressed and drained when I finally got to the speedway. I had to miss out on the family dinner after the funeral at Cracker Barrel, Grandma's favorite place to eat, but I felt like I needed to go ride.

     We had another good group of 29 riders in the Pro/1/2/3 on the fast kidney bean course for Race #9 of the series. Despite all the rain that had popped up in the area, the speedway stayed dry throughout the evening of racing. It was another fast one, but not quite as crazy as the last couple where it was 100% go from the gun. The start was hard and I found myself too far back. I ended up getting gapped and had to really work hard to pull myself back to the main group. My legs didn't feel very good, but somehow I gritted it out. Again, this was something I have never been able to do in the past. I moved up in the group immediately upon rejoining and was never in danger of getting dropped the rest of the race. 

     As I was recovering from the effort, a group of nine riders split off the front. The gap was small for a while before the elastic finally broke and out of sight they went. I was kicking myself for not trying to bridge when the gap was small, but I just didn't have it at that moment. I felt like my top end was lacking tonight. I was unable to follow accelerations seated like most of the races this year. I had to anticipate the surges a lot more so I could be out of the saddle and sprint to get the speed up to hold the wheel in front of me.

     The leading nine lapped the field at eight laps to go. That upped the pace as several teams fought for the front. I tried to stay up front, but got shuffled out as the bell rang to begin the final lap. I got blocked in and spent a lot of energy just to get out of line on the backstretch. I wound up my sprint, passing a good chunk of riders and getting myself onto the back of the group of sprinters that were deciding the podium spots. I was completely out of gas entering the chicane, but I had a ton of speed and was able to hold my position to the line. Turns out everybody ahead of me in the sprint was from the break, so I took top honors from the peloton and a top 10 on the day in 10th place. Average speed for the night was 27.7 mph. I'll take a top 10 with the kind of day I have had both on and off the bike. It was a sad afternoon, but there's nothing like the bike to clear the mind. 

     David Howe was again running cameras during the race. Check out both front- and rear-facing cameras in his video posted here and below.

Video: David Howe's onboard cams from Race #9 of the Music City Crits Series

     Stages returned my crank for the new cross bike with a power meter attached. I have it put together and have done a little grass riding on the Boone already. Cross will be here before you know it! We were also busy working at home harvesting our garlic and hanging it to dry in our barn, in addition to burning that annoying stump in the front yard. Our first fire burned for almost three days and still about 1/3 of the portion of the stump above the ground remains. This one is going to take a while.

Garlic harvest

Giant white lily bloom

Stump burning

Still have a long way to go

When we had Salem, I wanted her to be able to see flowers and watch the bees and butterflies out of her bedroom window. It took a few years to build up the flowers, but it's starting to look like I planned. 

Unhappy Campers

Posted Date: September 10, 2023

     May wrapped up with yet another night of crit racing action at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. It was Race #8 of 11 in the Music City Crits Series. I took a few days off the bike to rest after the CRAM, spending time cutting down a giant stump in our front yard. I have been wanting to get rid of it since we moved into this house seven years ago. The thing was about 10 feet tall and nearly four feet in diameter. It was not only an eyesore, but the likely culprit of a termite outbreak we had under the front porch in 2020.

    I recently bought myself a new chainsaw and just decided to see what it would do on Memorial Day morning. Next thing I know, I've got a good chunk of the stump cut off and my Dad is next to me with his giant King Rancher chainsaw to get the bottom. A couple of hours later, we had reduced it to about two feet tall, hauling off the giant chunks with the tractor he recently bought from a neighbor that was moving. Perfect timing. 

The after photo. Didn't do a before as the stump cutting wasn't planned. It just kind of happened.

     The most interesting thing about the stump cut was the nest of eggs we found in the middle. All the eggs had a hole in them and were empty. The holes were made from the inside going out. After some research on the internet, we concluded these were likely rat snake eggs. We do see a lot of rat snakes around here so that would make sense. I stopped counting after 22 eggs so the local population definitely went up thanks to this stump. Copperheads also hatch their young from similar eggs. That's a scary thought.

Snake eggs?

     When Wednesday night came around, I felt off in my warm-up. I thought I was just a little tired from the stump cutting and would be fine in the race, just like every week when I have ridden a lot leading into the race. By the end of the warm-up though, I felt weak and shaky. Something clearly wasn't right.

 

     Things didn't get better in the race. The first lap was fairly slow, then things got real. We had 25 riders in the Pro/1/2/3 race on the 180 course. Again, the super fast guys took turns doing massive pulls at the front, sometimes two or three laps at a time. The pace was high, but steady without the attacks. It was almost like a team time trial going on up there. I was getting weaker with each passing lap. The sprint off the first 180 was tough as usual, but the end of the backstretch was worse for me tonight. I actually felt better sprinting than riding at 90%. It was like my legs just wouldn't do that in-between pace. I felt awful just 10 minutes into the race, but somehow hung on for another three or four laps before finally getting popped down the backstretch on a prime lap. 

     I joined a chase group that had formed off the back as the second half of the field had already exploded. We rotated for about 12 more minutes before the group came up to lap us and we were pulled. There were so many riders already out that I got 15th, even with feeling like death. For once, I was glad to be pulled. I could hardly stand up when I got off the bike. I didn't really feel dehydrated this time, more like I was coming off a sickness. But I had been feeling fine prior to starting my warm-up. It was weird. 

     Only 11 riders finished in the front group tonight. Jonny Brown did some huge pulls and really whittled it down. He also led out the final few laps. Jacob Kuper took full advantage and came off the wheels to win in a sprint over JP Primm, with Jonny taking third. Check out Michaelee Bowes's helmet cam here or below.

Video: Michaelee Bowes's helmet cam from MCC Race #8

     It took another day, but finally the culprit showed itself. I ended up with a little stomach bug the rest of the week. My body must have been fighting it already on Wednesday. We had a DINO race coming up the following Sunday, so I only had a few days to try to recover. I did not ride on Thursday or Friday and felt better on Saturday. Or so I thought.

     This second round of the DINO Series was at Brown County State Park in Nashville, IN. We have been trying all spring to take the kids camping. Every time we have planned to go, something has come up. Once it was weather, once it was one of the kids getting sick. Salem got a spider bite on her back the day before we planned to go the third time so we ended up at the doctor getting her some cream to treat it. Finally, on this fourth try, it actually happened. We had taken off work for a couple of days so we could camp Saturday through Tuesday at Brown County. Salem actually tried to ruin this trip too with a nasty crash on her bike Thursday night. She tried to run over sidewalk chalk with her front wheel while turning around the van at high speed. It ended about as well as you can imagine. She landed hard on her face when those chalk rods rolled out from under her wheel. Luckily, she came away with only a little bit of road rash.

     We had some things to do Saturday morning before we could leave for camping. Mainly, it was to water the garden. The mid-May rains were now long gone. It had suddenly turned hot and dry. The last round of seedlings we transplanted to the garden were being baked. I was watering them twice per day to keep them alive until they established some roots. We watered them heavy as no rain was in the forecast during our time away.

     It was also forecasted to be very dry at Brown County. I decided to take the new Epic and leave the S-Works at home. I had only been able to ride the new bike once up to this point, but I felt like leaving it behind was missing out on a great opportunity to set it up on a variety of trails.

     The kids were a bit of a mess during the drive and campsite setup. Shannon and I were both so stressed out with them that we were regretting our camping plans before the tent was even up. Both kids wanted to wander off constantly. They were so distracted by all the new things that they didn't want to stop to eat, so they quickly grew hangry. Neither wanted to nap. When bedtime came, neither wanted to go to sleep. I had planned to pre-ride, but I ran out of time trying to set up the campsite and I couldn't leave Shannon alone with both kids the way they were acting. I ended up getting sick a couple of times later in the afternoon so it was probably a good thing to skip the pre-ride anyway as I clearly still wasn't over my sickness. 

Camping at Brown County State Park

An evening walk to try to wear them down before bed. Didn't work

     Thankfully, once everyone calmed down, we did get some sleep. The kids weren't much better the next day though. There was much crying and screaming as soon as their feet hit the ground. As I got ready for the race, I figured I would be packing up the campsite this afternoon and taking them back home. They were not doing well camping. The campground was completely full and I felt like we were bothering everyone around us. I don't want to be "those people."

    Once I got on the bike, all the stress went away. I rode a bit of trail on the way over to the race site, which is a few miles from the campground. It was quiet in the woods. No screaming kids to be found. Poor Shannon though, I was thinking. 

     The race course at Brown County is a tough one. It begins with a massive road climb that is long and very steep in places. After a 50-yard dash in the grass, a right turn takes you onto the road and immediately onto the climb. It is steepest at the bottom, pushing 20% for most of the first minute before leveling out to a reasonable grade. After a hundred meters or so, it is almost flat for the next couple of minutes before the grade starts to return, kicking up yet again the final minute before the right turn into the singletrack. I am on the heavy side this year and knew this start was going to be rough on me. My goal was just to make it over the first steep section with the group, something I couldn't do last year.

     The course layout alternates each year. Both options feature plenty of climbing, but one layout has a much bigger climb in the middle that really defines the race. Of course, that's the layout we were racing this year. After the road start, the trail descends, then climbs again for several minutes before getting into some flowing singletrack. This initial loop dumps riders out in a valley where a dirt road brings a short two-way section. You stay left as you navigate this road, starting to climb a false-flat as you split off the two-way portion. After a few minutes on the false-flat, the trail meanders right and begins the big climb. It is gradual at first, then gets steep in the middle with plenty of roots to make choosing a line difficult. A few switchbacks give the legs a break from the grade before it kicks up in steepness again. The top 1/3 of the climb is more gradual with a couple of technical spots before you reach the peak and begin a long descent on the other side of the ridge. This descent is rocky at first with some challenging spots. It then gets faster as you drop down the ridge. A right turn brings a small climb up to a main trail intersection where we turned right and dropped off a steep descent back to the two-way section. Once you go back through the two-way, one last climb awaits. This one is much more gradual, but still pretty long. At the top, you either go right and follow more singletrack to start another loop, or hang a left and start a very fast singletrack descent to the finish line. It's so fast going down that it is hard to pass so you need to be in a good position before the descent begins. You only have a few seconds to make a pass in the grass as you exit the woods before going into the finish chute.

     I didn't feel too bad warming up. I definitely wasn't over the sickness, but I felt way better than any other time this week. I really, really wanted to hold onto the group over that first grade. Our group was big with 18 starters in Pro/Elite. Brown County is a popular place to race and that held true again today. The opening climb was fast, but not too crazy. I was working very hard to hang on the back, but I made it with the group. I was fine until the second grade. We went into it at a reasonable speed, but then the attacks began. I tried to follow, but the legs just couldn't do it. I had to sit down and that got me gapped. I was last into the woods about 15 seconds off the next rider. 

Pro/Elite start line

photo by DINO

Me on the second row in the black

photo by DINO

And they're off

photo by DINO

Onto the road to start the climb

photo by DINO

Expert group topping the first climb

     I bombed the opening descent and was close to reaching the back of the group despite being very uncomfortable on the new bike. I basically just got my bar, levers and seat set up on the first ride. I was adjusting suspension settings on the warm-up today, basically just getting it to where I wasn't bottoming out. The front was very stiff and bouncing me all over the trail, while the rebound on the rear was way too high and wanting to buck me over the bars every time I got off the ground. This Epic came with a 60mm stem which I hate so far. I ran a 100mm on my S-Works. I know they say steering is better with a shorter stem, but it feels way too twitchy to me and has my body weight too far to the front. I am trying to get used to it, hoping to see the advantages it is supposed to bring.

    Chris Bowman dropped his chain at the bottom of the descent. I slid by as he stuck it back on the chainring. As we started the next long climb, I moved over to let him back by, hoping to get on his wheel and cross the gap to the group. He pulled away from me as I was still hurting from the road climb. I figured he was gone, but I got him back in sight for the next few miles and was on his wheel again as we hit the two-way section for the first time. As soon as the trail started to climb, I couldn't hold his pace. He was quickly out of sight again. Once on the steeper part of the main climb, I could tell I was missing some serious strength. I struggled on the more difficult sections. The leaders of the Expert group freight-trained me on the second half of the climb.

     Once at the top, I followed a bad climb with a terrible descent. I got off my line and hit a huge rock with my rim. These rims sound a bit different. They're carbon, but when you smack the rim it sounds more like aluminum. It sounded like it destroyed my front wheel. The wheel was fine though. I then caught a tree with my left hand. I reacted fast enough to not crash, coming away with just a skinned knuckle. This handlebar is a few inches wider than my old bar and that makes a huge difference.

     The Experts continued to come by in small groups as I finished lap 1 and started the first climbs of lap 2. I felt awful again the second time up the monster climb. I descended better the second time down the descent, but still hit that same tree with my left hand. It hurt more the second time. At least I am consistent. I was still very uncomfortable letting the bike go, but I caught many of the Expert riders that passed me up the climb. I was able to hang with a group of them through the end of the lap. 

     I actually felt better starting lap 3 and was picking up speed. My lap time was much better. I didn't get caught by any other Experts and actually passed several back. All 18 riders in Pro/Elite finished so I ended up 18th, nearly 20 minutes behind winner Ethan Jedlicka. I was 31st overall after all the Experts times were added in. Ouch. My worst DINO finish ever, but also the worst I have ever felt at a DINO race. Guess that'll be one of my two drop races for the series.

    Dina did not come on this trip as she was out of town on vacation. I think she hates Brown County anyway and timed that trip rather conveniently. Full results for the day can be found here. Check out lots of photos from DINO here.

     I didn't see Shannon after the initial road climb which worried me. Kellen was in need of a nap so badly that she ended up driving the kids around the park until he fell asleep, which only happened right before I finished. Salem was super tired too, but she wanted to do the kids race again, so I signed her up. This course was not very exciting with it being pretty much all grass out in the sun. Her Strider is getting too small, so we upgraded her to a 16" push bike given to us by a neighbor. It's a bit big for her, but she rides it well. The bigger wheels sure do help negotiate the deeper grass that always seems to appear on the kids courses. She was again very distracted. She was good out of the gate, but by the time we reached the turnaround point she was doing more looking than moving those feet. I encouraged her, but let her do her thing. On the way into the finish chute, she veered off under the course markings, nearly getting clotheslined by the ribbon. I tried to help her stay on course, but she wasn't listening at all. We finally got through the finish line and had a little chat. I don't care if she races or not, but I do want her to listen when she is out there. Adults are still coming to the finish as well so she has to be able to listen and follow directions. She was too tired to care about anything I was telling her. It was a rough rest of the day between the two kids. Another night of them not wanting to go to bed and another night of two frustrated parents that were too tired to sit by the fire after getting them into bed.

Salem and I getting ready for the kids race

Riding over to the start

Kids on the start line

photo by DINO

photo by DINO

Crossing the finish line

photo by DINO

Salem wanted me to accompany her to the prize box during the awards

photo by DINO

We drove over to Strahl Lake and hiked up these stairs for a view after the race

Strahl Lake

     We did stay the night on Sunday, but I had planned to leave on Monday if things weren't better. Thankfully, they were a bit better. I got in a ride in the morning. I made lots and lots of adjustments to the suspension. It still sucked on roots, but was better on jumps. I ran the flowing Hobbs Hollow trail which features something like 50 jumps. I was clearing most of them last year when Dina and I came here, but I made only two on this bike. I just couldn't get enough air to clear the gaps. I cased a bunch and almost went over the bars a few times. It just doesn't feel right yet. 

     I put on the Shotgun Seat to take Salem for a run through part of the Limekiln trail near the campground. This green-rated trail features wide trails with small humps and minimal technical features. The west side of the loop turned out to be perfect for the Shotgun. By the end of the first run through the trail, Salem was figuring out how to lean with me in the turns. We picked up significant speed through all the turns the second time though. She sings at the top of her lungs when she is excited about something. She was blasting out "Row Your Boat" the whole time. 

     I didn't want to leave Kellen out so I took him for a run too. It was his first ride on the Shotgun outside of our front yard. He is still lacking some head control, but he did well. He just kept wanting to take his feet off the pegs and do a heel clicker. He was laughing a lot initially, then got quiet near the end. All of a sudden he was flopping all over the place. I had to hold him with one arm to keep him from falling off. I leaned forward to see his face and was shocked to see he was falling asleep! I had to keep waking him up until we got out of the woods. I was glad for him to take a nap, but that was a little unexpected!

Laughing as I bring back Kellen from his Shotgun ride where he was falling asleep on the trail

     We were able to go to the pool in the afternoon and then go see the local covered bridge near Bean Blossom. Kellen didn't care anything for the pool. It was rather cold and he had enough within 10 minutes. We were able to make a fire that night and roast a few marshmallows. Getting them to go to sleep was still a challenge, but less so than the first two nights. It seemed they were finally getting used to camping.

 Showing off my bike tan at the pool.

S'mores by the fire

     That night, I woke up at 2am to loud sounds at our picnic table. I grabbed the flashlight and unzipped the tent. It sounded like somebody was messing with our tote bins, but nobody was there. Back to bed I went, only to hear it start a again a few minutes later. I was a little quicker getting up this time and clicked on the light to see a raccoon sitting on our bin full of food. I ran him off and went back to bed, thinking he couldn't possibly get the bin open. We have the kind that have a latch on each end. The kids can't even open those. He was back in about 10 minutes. I laughed as I heard him struggling with the bin lids. Then it got quiet. I was suspicious. No way he gave up that easily. I clicked on the light again to see him sitting in the opened bin eating our bread. He had opened both latches and was helping himself to our food. Shannon got up this time too. We ran him off, but the little guy only went about four feet into the woods and just sat there. He was 0% scared of us. We then had to pack up all of our bins and put them into the van as we knew he would be searching every bin now that he had made a score with the bread. The kids that had so much trouble falling asleep didn't move an inch during all the commotion. Another night of two tired parents.

     Our final morning was slow. The kids were into everything again so we were way slow packing. I almost ran out of time to ride before we had to start the drive home. The ride was short, but it was a good one as I felt like I had my rear suspension pretty close to good by the end of the ride. The front was still not right, but much better than on Sunday. I did the same descent from the race course and could tell a huge difference. And I didn't hit that tree! I still have a lot of work to do to get this bike riding the way I want it to, but I am making progress and it seems possible now. I also found my new favorite trail in Bobcat. This trail is old school with some steep descents, tricky rocks, tight turns, and exposure. It descends deep into a ravine and then climbs back out via a twisting maze. Challenging and fun in every way.

New bike at Hesitation Point

The drop-in for Bobcat

More Bobcat

Lots of ferns at the bottom of the ravine

     The drive home was rough with angry kids the entire way. I wanted to leave them on the side of I-69 at one point. This time they were mad that we were going home. Salem kept saying she wanted to camp more. I guess that's a good thing. A stop at Brozinni Pizzeria as we left Nashville, IN kept me from losing my mind. We were happy to be back home and everybody went to sleep better in their own beds. We will have to forget this weekend a little before we try camping again.

 

'Noner

Posted Date: July 15, 2023

     After starting the season with five straight weeks of Wednesday night racing, the Music City Crits Series finally took a break after Race #6 on May 10. I was ready for some rest after six races in eight days that included the crit weekend in Nashville. I took a few days off, then planned to get on the new mountain bike to get things set up for the first round of the DINO Series coming on May 20 at Winona Lake. The weather had other plans though, delivering plenty of rain to our area. It kept me off the trails and also out of the garden. I was having a hard time getting our last round of peppers plants put in the ground. I felt like my training was lacking and I was getting behind with my work. It was a little stressful. 

Trying to gets plants in the ground between rain showers. So far my little grass strips between rows are working well and keeping me out of the mud.

Rain does bring nice flowers though.

     The wet weather lasted all the way to race day at Winona Lake. We didn't get to pre-ride with the wet conditions and instead did a quick mountain bike ride at home before starting the drive. The day before the race was the first chance I have had to mountain bike since getting the new bike, so I chose to stick with the old bike yet again. There are too many differences between the two bikes to expect to be comfortable enough on the new one to fly through the trees as fast as is needed to run with the Pro/Elite group at a DINO event.

Quick break for snacks at Wilson Farm Market on the drive up to Winona Lake. The kids had been good so they got a little treat.

     Winona Lake, IN has hosted the opening round of the DINO Mountain Bike Series every year I have raced the series. It's a fun course with a great atmosphere as the race is part of a larger cycling festival in town called Fat & Skinny Tire Fest. The festival includes a road race and BMX race on Saturday as well, then a criterium on Sunday. I have always wanted to do the crit, but we have never been able to stay late enough on Sunday to do it. This year, the festival added a twilight crit on Friday night in downtown Warsaw just a few miles from the Winona Lake Village. I had considered doing it, but was on the fence as I didn't want to waste my legs and lose a lot of sleep the night before the opener of the series I was targeting for the year. The weather pushed me off the fence. It poured most of the day Friday and made my decision easy. From looking at the pictures, it rained most of the evening in Warsaw as well.

     Despite the heavy rain on Friday, the trails at Winona Lake were in good shape come Saturday morning. Outside of a few greasy spots and small puddles, it was just damp. The temp was chilly. We started the day in the upper-40s, a far cry from the 80s I was racing in last weekend in Nashville. Race distance for Pro/Elite is three laps of a 10-mile course. This place is almost entirely singletrack and is pretty flat outside of a few short, steep climbs along the creek. The course direction changes each year. This year we were going counter-clockwise, which I think has less flow and more difficult climbing.

     The start is short. It starts in grass with a slight uphill before a pair of right turns take you back down the small rise and into the singletrack. My old Epic is quite squishy these days as the stable-platform of the Brain is worn out. These kind of starts are where it shows up the most. I made things worse by missing my pedal off the line. We had eight starters and I was 7th to the first turn with one rider still sitting on the start line with a mechanical issue. I tried to hug the stakes on the inside of the turns, but there just wasn't room to move up. I was still 7th when we entered the woods. 

Pro/Elite Start Line at Winona Lake

photo by DINO

First turn

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

Going into the woods last in line

photo by DINO

     The group was smooth at first. I felt good, but knew I needed to keep my eyes open as this thing could blow apart at any time. We were all together through the first twisty sections. I got too high on a sandy berm on a descent and the berm gave way on me. I didn't fall, but lost time. As I started to chase, the group began to split. Once we reached the fast power section along the creek, the rider ahead of me had let a large gap go. I was hung up behind him for a minute, but then got clear along the second side of the creek. 

Chris Bowman leads the group off the fast creek section on lap 1

     I knew I had to get across the gap right now. The gap was 25 seconds. I felt strong, but was lacking the snap I have had in the legs at the crits so far this year. I wanted to get across to the leaders before the tighter section with some short, punchy uphills began. I got to about 10 seconds back and then slid out again in a turn, getting really close to going down this time. The turn led into a long uphill drag and I sent it into the corner to take maximum speed into the hill. I pushed it a bit beyond the limit. It didn't pay off and I was right back to 20 sec behind. 

     The effort took a lot out of me and I had to regroup through the next section. I could see a rider coming up from behind. He caught me and I let him by, hoping to grab onto his wheel. I realized as he went by that it was Rick Mezo. He was the one with the mechanical on the start. His pace was just a little faster than mine. I was able to keep him in sight despite him climbing a bit faster up the course's longest climb in the middle of the loop. He made a mistake on a downhill just after that climb and I was right back to him. I stayed with him for a while, but eventually we reached a set of climbs and he slowly pulled away from me. I felt like I was at my max, teetering on the verge of blowing up. I completed Lap 1 in 7th about 1:05 off the leaders who had now busted up.

On the last descent of lap 1

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

     I kept pushing hard in an attempt to get back into the top 5. I actually picked up my lap time slightly, but still lost time to those ahead. I did pick up a spot on Lap 2, making a sweet pass on a wet log ride. It was a sketchy move, but I had spied it on the first lap and though it would be doable if I could hold a tight line while on top of the slick log. 

     

     I continued at my max pace until about three miles into Lap 3, when I finally started to run out of legs. Up to this point, I had been having one of those rides where you can't catch your breath enough to spit so I had a wad of dribble hanging off my chin and beard. I had good legs and was able to go deep, it just wasn't enough today. I kept punching with what was left in the legs, but my lap time faded a little over two minutes. I sprinted all the way to the line knowing that times are combined with Expert riders for the payout. I had caught glimpses of them several times on the twisting sections, but had no idea if they were within two minutes of me or not. I got 6th in Pro/Elite, but 9th overall as three of the Experts did beat me on time. Payout was eight deep so I went home empty handed to start the series. Mezo recovered nicely to go through the entire front group and nab the W. Pretty impressive considering he left the start line at least 1:30 after everyone else.

Still chasing on lap 2

Smiling here on lap 2. This section was fun to ride and there were people hanging on the hillside cheering. Somebody was playing "Eye of the Tiger." It was a great atmosphere through here.

     Dina almost held me off today. She tries each race to keep me from lapping her. Most of the time I do catch her, but it is usually really close to the end. I saw her inside the last mile today. She also saw me. She picked up the pace and almost held me off. I was able to go by just a few corners before we entered the field for the finish. I probably wouldn't have caught her had I not been going so hard for the line trying to beat those Experts. She took 5th in Expert Women with a solid ride.

Expert Women take off

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

photo by DINO

Dina nearing the end of lap 1

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

Lap 2

     Salem was still pumped after her first race two weeks ago at the Sunday Music City Crits race. She wanted to race dirt, so we signed her up for the free kids race. She was again the only push bike. The little wheels didn't roll too well in the grass, but she slowly chugged her way around the loop. The course had a small piece of trail in the middle and she was pumped to ride that section. It was pretty funny how distracted she was by the spectators and other kids. She could have gone much faster, but she couldn't keep her head looking forward. 

Salem in staging

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

Finish!

     I recently purchase a Shotgun kid's seat and fitted it just before this trip. Salem and I were able to go for a trail ride together after the race. The trails here are perfect for cruising through. You don't want anything too technical when you have a kid sitting in front of you. The Shotgun Seat puts the kid under your chest between your seat and the handlebar. They have two models. The cheaper one clamps to your top tube, while the more expensive Pro model has a rail that goes from your steerer tube to your seatpost with no frame contact. I chose the Pro just to keep from clamping to my frame and damaging the paint. There is a little seat for the kid to sit on and foot pegs with loops to keep their feet stable. They also get their own set of little handlebars that clamp to your bars. All the clamps are quick-release and are easily installed or removed after initial set-up. The most difficult part is replacing a headset spacer with one that has a groove in it so the rail can clamp to it. Super easy really. Our first ride went well. She absolutely loved getting to ride the course I raced on and she got to see all the beautiful flowers that fill the woods this time of year. We saw several squirrels and ducks which she really loved too. We did about 1/3 of the loop, then cruised the road back to the Village for awards and some grub. First ride is two thumbs up for the Shotgun, but I will need more time to know if the Pro was really worth the money or not. I'll let you know as things go along this year.

On the trail with Salem using the Shotgun seat

Kellen getting some swing time with Grampy

All the kids that raced get a little prize during the awards. Of course, all the prizes are dinosaur related, which the kids love.

photo by Kyla Kuhn Photography

     The BMX Stunt Show was back again this year so we stayed to watch. The guys threw down with both ramp jumping and flatland tricks. Salem was so worn out from our ride that she was falling asleep during the show. I had lifted her up on my shoulders and could feel her head dropping onto the top of my head. Kellen fell asleep too after he rampaged through the playground. Winona Lake is a cool place and an awesome venue for the series opener. I would like to race here more often. I know they have other events throughout the year.

Flatland skills on display at the BMX show

Flare on the ramp

Video: BMX Stunt Show had a little spill at the end

     Full results from the DINO opener are posted here. Kyla Kuhn got lots of great shots which can be found here. She also was there for Friday's and Sunday's racing action.

     Gma out in Utah has not been doing well. Her health was declining fast. We actually thought she might pass the weekend of the State Crit, but she seemed to do a little better that weekend. I actually got to video chat with her right after my race that Sunday and she gave me a big wave. We were on standby for almost two weeks, ready to head to Utah any day. She passed away a few days before we left for Winona Lake. I wanted to go to her funeral, but there was a range of days where I couldn't go. We couldn't afford to fly both of us out there, but I could afford to drive. The funeral was planned for the Monday after Winona Lake, which made it impossible for me to get home from the race with Dina and then drive all the way to Utah in time. Shannon had to go by herself, but it did sort of work out well. We were staying with her parents for the weekend. They were flying out to Utah too, so she just left with them from South Bend. I really would have liked to attend the funeral, but I did get to say goodbye to Gma when we were there last September. I felt like she knew she wasn't going to make it another year until we returned. It was a different kind of goodbye from her this time. Shannon and I both felt it. I'm glad she got to see both of our kids at least once and they got to meet her. She was an awesome lady.

I shared this photo when Grandpa passed back in 2015. It is also my favorite memory with Gma Rosie. In 2014, I rode my bike up Butterfield Canyon to the overlook above the Kennecott Copper Mine. Shannon brought Gma and Gpa up in their car, which overheated as they reached the top. I had to pour my water bottle into the radiator to get them back down. It was a fun adventure with them.

Shannon teased me with beautiful Utah mountain views while she was gone.

Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon

    That left Dina and I to bring the kids home on the 8 1/2-hour drive back from northern Indiana. We were packed pretty tight thanks to some good deals at a local store. I ended up buying a bench for our front porch and Dina found a gazebo cover. It took some creative packing to get everything to fit in the van, but we made it work. I was dreading the drive, plus the four days alone with them in the upcoming week. Not because I didn't want to be with them or couldn't handle them, but I felt like they would miss Shannon and be super sad without her. Dina was more worried about the drive than me. Her baby scream tolerance is much lower than mine. They actually did very good most of the way. Kellen lost his mind once about two hours from home, but he was just tired and fighting sleep. Once he finally gave in, it was smooth sailing to the house. 

Stretching the legs at Wilson Farm Market on the way home from Winona Lake. No snacks this time, just some giant straw rocking horse riding.

Kellen helping me do some watering at home while Shannon was gone. He's a busybody.

Pool day at Dina's while I was working

     My Mom actually babysat for me two nights during the week, allowing me to do our local group ride and the next race of the Music City Crits Series. Race #7 was back on the kidney bean. I wasn't able to ride for two days after Winona Lake due to having the kids, so I did a bit more on the group ride than normal to open up the legs. I don't know if it helped or not. My legs were strong, but sluggish. I had no snap in them again, just like in the mountain bike race a few days before. 

     We had 28 starters in the Pro/1/2/3 group for another 60 minutes of action. The first lap was a little slow, but that only lasted for that one lap before the fast guys went to the front. The pace then stayed high and we were single-file. It was hard to even pull out of line and gain any positions the first 20 minutes. I got caught behind several splits, but was able to bridge each time. Like I said earlier, I had no snap in the legs. I had to anticipate the accelerations and start sprinting early to make sure I stayed on the wheel ahead. There were some pretty fast people that got shelled in the first 15 minutes. It was brutal.

     Two riders broke away at about 10 minutes. You can probably guess who they were, but I will tell you anyway. It was Jonny Brown and Jeremiah Stoller. There was a big chase for about 10 minutes before the group conceded. Things finally slowed down, but the top two were still going full-gas and lapped the field at 26 minutes. Upon lapping us, they went straight to the front and took turns doing huge pulls. It was fast, but smooth the rest of the way. I didn't get gapped anymore with the lack of accelerations, but the pace slowly wore down my legs. I had nothing left in the closing laps. I gave what I had the last lap with no real sprint left in the legs, coming home 15th. I'm officially out of contention now for the series overall which is a bummer, but I will keep trying to finish the best I can. The points scale has some wide gaps so you lose a lot of points to riders that keep getting top 5s and you come home 15th. Jeremiah again out-dueled Jonny for the win, with David Howe leading in the group for third. We got lapped tonight and still had a 28.1 mph average speed. The power numbers were lower than the effort felt so I was definitely a bit tired tonight. Maybe I did do a bit too much on the group ride the night before. David Howe had a rear-facing camera for this race. Check it out here.

Video: David Howe's rear camera from Race #7 of the Music City Crits Series

     Shannon flew back home the following day, on Thursday. Her flight was delayed so the kids and I cleaned up some old trails behind the house for Salem to ride while we waited. We still got to Nashville early, so I took them over to the plane viewing area off Briley Parkway where we watched a few planes land and take off before getting Shannon. I survived the single-dad life for a week with the help of Dina and my mom. The kids were actually pretty good the whole week with the exception of one poop incident the first night with Kellen and Salem taking a marker to a kitchen chair. 

Salem riding her bike on some fresh trails at home

Plane viewing area in Nashville. Great for kids.

     Memorial weekend followed. With no racing on tap I was able to do the local CRAM bike tour ride in Clarksville. This ride is known for sub-4 hour attempts on the 100 mile route. In the past, the CRAM was held Memorial weekend, then the Labor Day Century on Labor Day Weekend. Both took place on similar roads and were very flat, giving you two chances for sub-4 each year. They have stopped holding the Labor Day Century since COVID, so the CRAM is now the only chance. Last year, the main group didn't really seem too concerned with their time. I didn't have the legs to force the issue so we rolled around the loop in 4:12. This year though, everybody seemed ready to go for it. We had a good group up front and stayed on pace the entire day. There were about 30 riders the first 20 miles, then things gradually cut down to about 20 due to a steady wind. Halfway through, we had less than 15 riders left it the group as we fought a very long headwind section that was about 30 miles long. My speed sensor malfunctioned and was only showing 13-16 mph for most of the ride so I wasn't sure of our pace. Thankfully, I know the full loop well and always knew where I was as far as distance goes. I just had to do math in my head every few minutes. I did too many big pulls from miles 60-70 into the wind and ended up cramping at the end. It hurt, but I was able to stay on the back of the group the last couple of miles. Ten of us managed to clock a 3:57:49 ride time. One rider fell off in the final mile, but still came in under 4. We did stop once around mile 65 for about three minutes to fill bottles. The route was actually a little long at 101 miles. We had a 25.5 mph avg speed and I averaged 208 watts on the day. That's only the second time ever that I have gone under four hours for a full century. The first time was a long time ago, back around 2006 or 2007 at this same ride when we did a 3:54. I haven't really been with a good group since then so it was nice to pull it off today.

Hammering at the CRAM

photo by Aaron Casados

Nashville Crit Weekend

Posted Date: June 29, 2023

     May started off back at the speedway for Race #4 of the Music City Crits Series on May 3. It was a preview of sorts, as we would be racing the kidney bean course tonight then again on Sunday as a weekend of crit racing in Nashville awaited. The State Championship Criterium was coming on Saturday at the Max Gander Memorial Crit at Sevier Park. I was kind of pumped since I have been on good form suddenly and really like the course and atmosphere at Max Gander.

     First things first though. I had to polish off the form with a good run on Wednesday night. Another good run would be great for the confidence going into Saturday. The field was stacked again on Wednesday night with even more top Cat. 1s in attendance. Jeremiah Stoller was on the start line, fresh off a win during Speed Week the previous week, where he went for the gambler prime at 1 to go in Union City and wasn't caught. Beast mode.

 

     I have been doing three-hour rides on Tuesdays before the Wednesday crits. It's probably a bit much to do week after week, but I felt like I needed the time up to this point. It makes my legs feel a little funky, sometimes even a bit sore, but they have been strong every week. I did a shorter ride this week in anticipation of the big weekend, but I still felt powerful in my warm-up and went hard as I expected things to get crazy early just like they did last week. I learned my lesson and was up on the start line early to be up front in the opening laps.

    

     We had another great field of 30 riders for the 60-minute Pro/1/2/3 race. It was a cooler night, but perfect for the intensity we were about to be riding at. There was also some noticeable wind, blowing a headwind down the backstretch and then pushing us from behind through both chicanes across the front of the course. We started fast, but not quite as fast as the week before. I was ready this time and stayed toward the front. We quickly settled into a pace averaging just above 28 mph. Jonny Brown was doing some big pulls at over 30 mph sometimes for multiple laps at a time. Jeremiah gave him some help as well. 

     The group was single-file most of the race. It was hard to change positions really. The headwind was nice as the draft gave you a break down the back, but the wind really picked up the speed across the front and it made for some hard chases out of the chicanes when people let little gaps open up. I felt strong and found myself right at the front. There's not a lot of guys willing to pull at that speed, but I felt good enough to do a turn. Suddenly, I realized that three of us had a gap. One guy dropped back, leaving me with Daniel Jara, who won Race #2 with a late solo break. Daniel was ready to commit to the break. I was a bit more skeptical as I knew I had no business being off the front of a group that was riding steadily at 30-33 mph. But I went for it as I really want to get into a break. We didn't stay off the front for long before Jonny and Jeremiah cranked us back. Again, I think I smiled the whole time as being able to do those kind of power moves has not been available to me in past years.

     Once we were caught, I dropped back in the group and tried to recover for the finish. Two riders slipped off the front a few minutes before the lap cards came out. Our pace picked up even more in pursuit. We averaged over 29 mph for the final 12 laps of the race. It was hard to recover and even harder to move back up for the sprint. Despite our increase in pace, the two riders were too much for the group. Jeremiah Stoller continued his run of good form by taking the win over Cory Lockwood. Michaelee Bowes was on the front of the group at one to go and still held everyone off to take the bunch sprint for 3rd. I was a little too far back and the pace was very high the last couple of laps. I gave everything just to hold my spot that final lap, coming home with a solid 10th. Final average speed was 28.4 mph. For the first time ever, I saw my Normalized Power pass the 300 watt mark for a full race ending at 302. Full results are up at https://results.racedayeventsoftware.com/. Use the drop down box to pick Music City Crit Series and select MCC Race #4. Michaelee rocked his helmet cam to the third place. See his footage here.

    A couple of days later was the big day, the State Championship! When this race was announced I thought there was no way I would be ready in time, but with the sudden arrival of my form this thing was looking like a race I could be competitive in. I planned to race twice both days this weekend, doing Masters 35+ and Pro/1/2/3. This would be just my second Masters race ever. Masters came earlier in the day, then I had some time to chill before the Pro/1/2/3.

     It was a bit of a hectic weekend. Shannon had to take a continuing education course for work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That left me with the kids. My parents have been kind of pushing me away from racing the past few years, especially since the kids have arrived in our life. Sometimes I think they dislike me doing well because they think that will keep me doing this for longer. In reality, I love racing so I don't think any result is going to make me stop any time soon. You would think they would have noticed this by now. I am 23 years in now. Anyway, they did not want to watch the kids or come to the race. Thankfully, Dina was willing to help. I didn't want to leave her with both kids all day long, so we brought the kids to the race. That way I would be able to help with them all except for the time I was actually racing. Kellen is a mess and will drive you crazy if it's just you and him for an extended period of time. The dude never sits still and is always into something. 

     Our biggest fear was that the kids wouldn't nap. They refuse to nap anywhere except home and at my parents. They turn into monsters without naps. They started off well. Both were quiet on the drive down. Salem was a bit too quiet. We found out why when she projectile vomited onto the back of my seat just about a mile from pulling into the race parking area. I guess she just ate something bad because she immediately felt and looked better. She was fine the rest of the day. Dina was an absolute champ and cleaned up the van for me while I got ready and went to registration to pick up my numbers. I would've had a short warm-up if I had to do both things. There's was no way I could leave that puke in the van in the hot sun while I raced. Gross.

Race support

     My legs were great in warm-up and in the race. Masters races are a bit shorter than I like at 40 minutes, but they don't lack anything in the speed department. Like most Masters races, the 35+ and 45+ age groups were combined and then scored separately for results and the state medals. I knew I had good legs, but I still was a bit cautious after last year's race here when I ended up with the rib pain putting me out early with breathing difficulties. I also knew it would be tough because everybody brings their A game to the state championship. 

     We had about 25 riders that took to the start line. The course is a big square with four 90-degree right turns. It is slightly uphill from the Start/Finish line into and through Turn 1. The course then descends to Turn 2, and flattens before Turn 3. The third turn is the tricky one as it is the most narrow and tends to be a little slick with a lot of overhanging trees. There is a place to run off on the outside of the exit of the turn if things get bad. I have been in that yard before, splitting crape myrtles as I dodged a final lap crash in 2016. This turn has also been rough in the past, but some new pavement took care of those issues. The course slopes upward out of Turn 3 all the way up to the final turn. Exiting Turn 4 is a small downhill that bottoms out and then starts to rise again just before the finish line. The bottom line is the course is fast and the hill can hurt if somebody wants to turn the screw there lap after lap.

     The pace was high early as expected. Many moves went away, but all were quickly chased down. I followed a few, but never really tried to get in the break early on. I did want to get in the break today as I expected that to be what would be needed to go for the win on the final lap, but it wasn't time to try for it just yet. A few guys went off solo, but nobody could hold the pace alone to keep the pack at bay for very long.

Cloudy for the early laps in the Masters race

Photo by Terry Maros

Lots of little gaps as the attacks came often

Photo by Terry Maros

On Michaelee's wheel

Photo by Terry Maros

Sun is out now.

Video: Clip of the Masters coming off Turn 1 

Video by Terry Maros

     I fought to stay up front the second half of the race, pulling when I had to just to maintain my position. As I came off the front with about 15 minutes to go in the race, the break of the day launched. I was unable to follow, even when the rider directly ahead of me took off in a bridge attempt. I knew that was probably my only ticket across, but I just didn't have the legs to do it at that moment. Sure enough, David Howe bridged the gap. That put three riders off the front in the closing laps. 

Photo by Terry Maros

     It was chaos behind the last five laps as rider after rider attacked trying to get across to the break. None were successful, but two of them had a nice gap as the bell rang to start the last lap. I got to second wheel in the group as we rolled through Turn 2. I was sitting perfect. I was expecting a huge sprint off Turn 3, but the leading rider did not stand off the turn. I had to make a sudden decision. Sit on him and probably get swallowed by the entire group, or go early and just try to hang on. I went for it, sprinting by him into the climb. I heard a rider behind me as I entered Turn 4. I railed that turn and sprinted hard off the turn, pulling away from whoever had been on my wheel. Then it was all adrenaline to the line. I was beyond pumped to take the field sprint. I knew I could sprint well, but going that early was something I didn't think I could pull off. I came up just short of catching the two riders between the break and us. That landed me 6th overall on the day and 5th in 35+. One rider was not from Tennessee, so I missed the medals by one spot. So close, but I am fine with it as I am super happy just to be out there helping decide how the race plays out instead of having it all dictated to me. We averaged 26.0 mph. Not bad for a bunch of old guys! I raised my Normalized Power PR for the second time in four days to 318 watts. Congrats to Howe as he was able to get the win after bridging across by himself. He had an onboard camera to capture the win and you can see it here, or watch it below. Paul Cater also had a camera on his bike as he rolled to 2nd in the 45+. See his video here.

Video: David Howe's camera footage as he took the Masters 35+/45+ win from a breakaway.

    I did a quick cool down then shifted gears into Dad mode. The kids were refusing to nap as expected, but Dina pushed them around in the stroller and finally got Kellen to give in. He slept just long enough to not be cranky. As he woke up it was time for me to get ready for my next race, the Pro/1/2/3. We had 28 riders start the 55-minute race. Again, there were some super strong riders on the line. It was going to be a fast one for sure! 

     My legs were a little funky after the long gap between races, but they came around quickly. It was fast from the gun, but much smoother than the Masters race. The wind had flipped from this morning to a tailwind up the hill, which made for a faster climb with less bunching within the group. A prime came about 10-12 minutes in and things got wild after that. I was ok with the increased pace for a while, but the sprint off Turn 3 was brutal. You would think the tailwind would push you up to speed coming off the turn, but it pushes the fast guys too and helps them last longer on their hard pulls. The effort started to add up. I got gapped at one point, but chased back on down the hill after Turn 1. I hung on for a few more laps before finally getting shelled with several others just after the 30-minute mark. The pace was fast and relentless. The sprints just kept coming off the turns and it finally wore me down. I got in a chase group for a few laps before we finally got pulled at 36 minutes and some change, giving me 21st on the day. Average speed was 26.9 mph for the 30 minutes I was with the group, so faster than the Masters race for sure. I had a higher max power in the Pro race, with a similar average power and average heart rate as compared to the Masters. The legs were good, they just got tired and couldn't put out for two full races that were that hard. I may have survived if I hadn't done the Masters race. It was still better than last year. No lying in the Sevier Park grass this time. Jeremiah Stoller won yet again. His acceleration up the hill on the final lap was super impressive. Dude's got some jetpack legs right now. Full results for the day are posted here under Max Gander/TN State Championship Crit. Michaelee Bowes again ran a helmet cam and it can be seen here. Terry Maros was on hand taking lots of great pictures. A video he made of some of the best photos is posted below. This crit has always been one of my favorites and this year did not disappoint!

Pro/1/2/3 action at Turn 4

Photo by Rodney Humes

Jeremiah Stoller gets the win. He went about the same spot where I did. As you can see, he smoked the field.

Photo by Matthew Trask

Video: Terry Maros photos from Max Gander

     The kids were worn out Saturday night. We had to be at the race even earlier on Sunday as Dina was going to race the Cat. 4/5 Women's race right before the Masters 35+/45+. Shannon was again in class, but they got out early on the final day. It just so happened that her class was taking place only a few miles from the speedway so she would be able to join us before the Pro/1/2/3 race. This would be Race #5 of 11 in the Music City Crits Series.

     There was no puking this morning, but we had another challenge with Dina and I racing back-to-back. She raced first, so I had to watch the kids when I would normally be out on the bike for my warm-up. I thought about riding earlier to get the legs going, but she broke a cleat as soon as she got on the bike so I worked on her shoe instead of getting ready to ride. I brought the trainer in hopes of being able to ride and watch the kids at the same time. They went monkey-nuts as soon as I got on the trainer. I ended up getting in a total of 15 minutes broken up multiple times by me having to get off and make one of them stop touching the other one. I was trying to keep an eye on Dina as well. There were only five riders in the 4/5 Women. Dina made a front split of three with two Marx & Bensdorf riders. She eventually fell back from them. Shortly after, they split up as well. All five riders were solo halfway through the race. It was a windy day and it looked painful out there as they all pursued each other. Dina faded and ended up getting caught by Coreen Havron. Coreen ended up beating her. The officials kept saying Coreen was lapped, but everyone else watching knew she wasn't. Dina got called up for the podium, but didn't go. She instead let me hit the course for three quick laps before time to line up for the Masters race. I thought they got the results worked out, but they are still posted incorrectly as I type this.

Matthew Thompson and Patrick Harkins in a break during Masters 50+/60+ race. Harkins would go off solo later to win.

Dina warming up

Photo by Terry Maros

Cat. 4/5 Women early in the race

Photo by Terry Maros

Dina by herself running third

Photo by Terry Maros

Coreen Havron catching Dina late in the race

Photo by Terry Maros

Coreen in front now. It was a fun battle for a few laps.

Photo by Terry Maros

     I was hoping for a big group like yesterday so I could hide for a few laps and finish my warm-up. I was a bit disappointed to see just eight other riders on the start line. I don't know where everybody went. Yes, storms were forecasted for later in the day, but this was in the morning and it was not raining. We started slow, but then the attacks began. I could tell right away that my legs were still asleep. I've always said I need a good warm-up. It showed today when I did not get one. It was probably more important today than normal after racing twice yesterday. I was slow to get up to speed following the attacks. I rolled to the front often so that I could fall back through the group during the accelerations. That plan worked at first, then bit me. Bigger accelerations got me gapped and people sat on me. I think some of them knew how well I had done the day before and wanted to get use me. They let me blow up chasing and then attacked me. I got gapped about five laps in. The wind was howling. I knew my legs were not good yet. I could either dig in and chase, probably keeping the legs from ever coming around, or I could back off and finish my warm-up. I chose to do the latter, though I don't think I had much choice. My legs were crap. So, I rolled around watching the race unfold and doing little efforts to open my legs up. The final 10 minutes or so I started cranking it up, hopping on the back of the two riders who were chasing after David Howe, who went solo most of the race to get his second win of the weekend. Howe had front and rear cameras for this one. You can see his video here. I had front row seats to the cat-and-mouse games of the final lap and then one heck of a final sprint where Neal Coughlin pipped Peter Laskiewicz for the second spot. I was 9th out of the nine as you could probably guess.

Masters 35+/45+ group

Photo by Terry Maros

Photo by Terry Maros 

One of those times I got up front early to allow myself to fall back during the attacks

Photo by Terry Maros

Rolling around by myself

Photo by Terry Maros

     Shannon came to the track just in time to see Salem do her first ever race. She was the youngest in the kid's race and the only one on a balance bike. I led her around for a short loop while the older kids on pedal bikes did a full lap. She was pumped to hear Patrick Harkins announcing her name over the mic. He said she was the next of the Greer dynasty. It made us sound much better than we are. She was pretty upset with me earlier in the day, but finally got over it when she was able to make her own lap. She had a great time out there today and says next time she wants to do the full lap.

Kids Race about to roll

Salem on the home stretch

Little ones on the podium

     Turnout had been poor all day. Maybe it was the threat of rain. I don't know. It was just disappointing. That venue is so great and we are very fortunate to have it. I hate to see people just skip out like that on a weekend race. We don't have enough local crits nowadays anyway. Storms were definitely building to the north, but looked like they would stay away just long enough for us to get in this final race. The final race of the day was the Pro/1/2/3 and the riders showed up for this one! We had the biggest group of the day with 25 starters. A few Texas Roadhouse guys came to boost our numbers. They were on their way home from Anniston, AL after last night's Sunny King Criterium, part of the American Criterium Cup. The wind was even crazier than earlier in the day. Right before the race, the wind kicked up to 30 mph and then flipped 180 degrees. It had been blowing out of the south, but suddenly was roaring from the north. We watched a crane on a nearby high rise get blown loose and spin around until finally getting aligned with the wind. As we got our 60-minute race underway, the wind was blowing a steady 15-20 mph. The wind was cooler and dropped the temp considerably. It was quite comfortable for racing. 

     Like the past few races, the pace was high from the start. The first lap was probably the fastest first lap I have ever done with the exception of Athens Twilight. The pace stayed high despite the ferocious wind. The first 20 minutes I was just trying to hold the wheel in front of me. My eyes were crossed from the effort and I was holding the bars tight to keep from getting my front wheel blown right out from under me. We had a 28.1 mph average speed the first 20 minutes. My legs were soooo much better than this morning. There was nothing wrong with me earlier, I just needed to warm up! To give you an idea of what my legs do when they aren't primed and ready to go, let's look at my power numbers from both races. I was going all-out following the accelerations in both races. In the Masters race, I hit a max power of 896 watts. Not terrible. Then in the Pro/1/2/3 race I hit 990 watts multiple times. That 100 watts makes a big difference, not to mention the repeatability.

     A break finally went away with all the key riders in it. I had a bonked feeling the second half of the race. I think it was more dehydration than hunger. The break lapped us and things actually calmed down for a while. Rain drops would fall for a few seconds then stop. A few times it started to darken the pavement, but then would be dry on the next lap so it never really got wet or slick. We never slowed down for it that's for sure.

Salem providing encouragement

Break going clear

     The bonked feeling got worse in the closing laps. The pace slowed, but I felt worse. I was fading quickly and didn't have much to do with the sprint at the end. I was last man on the line the final four or five laps and just prayed that the rider ahead of me didn't let a gap go. He didn't and I finished at the back of the group, picking off a few riders in the last 30 seconds of the race. I saw Michaelee Bowes up ahead going into the last turn and tried to pick him off as I knew he was ahead of me in the series overall, but he saw me coming and did just enough to hold me off. I ended up finishing 16th and cramped in my right glute right on the finish line. The rain started about three minutes after we finished. Just in time! We averaged 27.3 mph in the main group. Up front, it was a super tight sprint for the win with Aaron Beebe of Texas Roadhouse barely edging out Jonny Brown for the win.

Closing laps

Photo by Matthew Trask

Photo by Matthew Trask

The finish was close

Photo by Matthew Trask

Still shot from the finish line camera. Beebe gets it.

Photo by Music City Crits

     Thanks for the great weekend of racing Nashville! I wish we had more weekends like this close to home. It seems that many of the smaller race weekends haven't come back since COVID. Full results from Sunday's race can be found here. Choose Music City Crits Sunday Race in the dropdown menu. Big shoutout to both Patrick Harkins and Michael Edens for making this weekend happen and to every one of their volunteers. 

     The racing wasn't over just yet though. Another Wednesday night round awaited after two short days of rest. Race #6 of the Music City Crits Series beckoned with a return to the 180 course. This would be my sixth race in eight days. We had 27 riders in the Pro/1/2/3 race with plenty of fire power in those 27 pairs of legs. It was another fast one, again putting the group single-file most of the race due to the pace. It was smooth though and I was comfortable everywhere except off the first 180 where the accelerations seemed to be harder tonight. My legs felt good early, but the sprint off that turn lap and lap wore me down just like at the State Crit a few days before. I was pretty tired already at halfway.

Pro/1/2/3 group at Race #6

Photo by Tami Kuper

     I felt really uncomfortable cornering hard tonight. I know we are going faster than in previous years, but for some reason the track felt slick to me tonight. I may have to make some air pressure adjustments in the future. I tried to adapt to the hard accelerations out of the first 180 by going faster through the turn. I could feel the tires starting to slip a few times. At first I thought it was just in my head, but then I lost the front wheel about 45 minutes into the race. I should have crashed, but somehow I kept it upright. That sent me to the very back of the group. A prime came a few laps later. The group picked up the pace while I was a bit tentative through the 180 and got gapped. There was no juice left in the legs to close the gap and just like that I was off the back and done. The group exploded later that lap. I chased those who got dropped just after me and ended up catching one to get a valuable series point before getting pulled at three to go. Ended up 16th. The legs were pretty shot after this one. We had another fast average speed for this course at 26.3 mph. It was another one of those races where I felt like I would've been dropped in the first 15 minutes in past years. Making progress! I was sprinting just shy of 1100 watts most laps to stay with the group off the first 180.

     Jeremiah and Jonny rode away from the field late in the race and had an epic duel. They were absolutely flying entering the chicane the final lap. Jeremiah jumped first on the backstretch and was able to hold Jonny off for the win. JP Primm was best of the rest in third. Michaelee Bowes again filmed the race on his way to 7th. Check it out here. David Howe had front and rear cameras on his way to 6th. See his footage here.

     A little down time from racing followed, then a shift over to the dirt for the first serious mountain bike race of the year as the DINO Series kicked off at Winona Lake. More on that to come!

Dega

Posted Date: June 19, 2023

      My birthday comes in late April. I'm not one to make a big deal out of birthdays, but this year I actually asked for something. I wanted a ticket to Monster Energy Supercross in Nashville so I could take Salem. She is still young enough to get in for free. Got to ride that perk while I can. The girl loves some dirt bikes and watches supercross with me every week. She likes Eli Tomac and frequently yells "I'm fast like Tomac!" while riding her bike around the driveway.

     Tickets were a bit higher than I would like though and plans ended up changing. The tickets themselves were not high, but the fees added to them were outrageous. You always know it will be quite a bit added on, but it was over 50% increase per ticket. Talladega was the same weekend. It turned out we could get two tickets to the NASCAR Cup Series Geico 500 and drive all the way to the middle of Alabama and back for less than paying for tickets and parking just down the road in Nashville. I'm up for whatever kind of racing I can get to. Shannon was willing to go to Talladega with me. Her first attempt at watching a race there was cut short by rain back in 2019 and she didn't get to return back the following day due to work. I had been trying to put together a fun event/date night for us for quite a while. We don't get to do much alone these days. I can count on one hand the number of times we have been alone the last 2 1/2 years. Babysitters are hard to come by. My Mom keeps the kids all week while we work so it is hard to ask her to keep them for evenings or weekend days. I was hoping we could get to the Nashville race in June, but we already knew nobody would be available to watch the kids. Talladega just seemed to check all the boxes.

     We rolled out of the house early in the morning and made the four hour drive to Talladega, AL. Traffic was a bit rough in the final mile, but otherwise it was a smooth trip down. The speedway provides a great shuttle system so we were quickly over to the track and walking through the Fan Zone. We had great seats right at the start/finish line. I could only afford seats high up in the third level for the supercross, yet here we sat with prime viewing at Talladega. The place was packed with over 200,000 people. The infield was completely sold out. NASCAR keeps saying they need to move into "new markets" like the Chicago and L.A. areas to get new fans, but I'll have to say that the only places I keep seeing full stands are in the south where NASCAR began. I would be trying to do more racing where the diehard fans are.

     The pre-race festivities always include a great display during the National Anthem. Every race at Talladega features a semi pulling a huge American flag around the track at full speed during the anthem, just before the flyover. We got an extra treat this year with two fighter jets that came back for a second pass with some cool maneuvers above the track as they started their return flight. I love being at events that still honor our country. Talladega always brings a redneck tear to my eye. 

Video: National Anthem at Talladega

     The racing was great too with things getting very aggressive in the pack toward the end. There was a 30 lap stretch where it was three-wide throughout the group. The competitiveness and depth of the Cup series never ceases to amaze me. Other than one car that had mechanical troubles early, the entire field was still running in the main pack with a chance to win until very late in the race when crashes started to happen from aggressive moves gone bad. That's 37 cars still in contention for 90% or more of the race. I love watching races here. It's hard to beat the sound and rattling of the stands that pack of cars makes as they blow by at 197 mph. Kyle Busch wound up in Victory Lane after surviving a late crash that ended the race following an overtime restart. That's the second time we have seen him win in the Cup series after being at Richmond in 2018. It was a great birthday gift and a really fun adventure with Shannon. We even made our first visit to Buc-ee's on the way home for some late-night grub.

Video: Three-wide racing at Talladega

     I joked while we were at the track that I probably knew some people in the crowd. Shannon laughed, but it turned out to be true. Chris Cundiff and his wife were also there. We didn't realize that we each were there until we got home. It was a shame. I would have loved to catch up with them.

     The two bikes I ordered finally came in and I was able to pick them up the day after the Talladega race. Both are pretty sweet. Finally, the wait for a new mountain bike is officially over! The Epic actually arrived with different components than what the website said. It was upgraded to the new SRAM AXS Eagle electronic. I was ready to pull the SRAM off as soon as it arrived and replace with Shimano XT. I had no intentions of trying electronic shifting either, but Jimmy convinced me to give it a try. I love the flat black look! The Trek Boone 6 was ready to go right out of the box. I can say I have never been this excited for cross before. And it's only April. One of the seats in the van conveniently broke as we tried to fold it down to make room for the bikes. We couldn't get it fixed in the parking lot so Jimmy and I got creative with loading two bikes into the weird space we had available. We made it work. Upon getting home, I immediately pulled the left crank from the Boone to send it to Stages for a power meter install. We are doing this one right!

New Epic Expert

Boone 6

     Race #3 of the Music City Crits Series came next on April 26. A good race would have been the extra icing on what had already been a tasty birthday cake. The 180 course awaited and this time I was ready for it with a little confidence that I could be there in the end. We had 31 riders on the start line for out one hour Pro/1/2/3 race. It was a stacked field tonight with some faster Cat. 1s that are Pro-level in attendance. It was the worst night to get a poor start, but that's what I did. I have never fumbled around with my pedal so much on the start of a race before. I was dead last down the backstretch the opening lap. I wasn't really worried about it, but I should have been. The pace was super high from the gun. Gaps were already opening as we came off the first turn on lap 2. I was in a bad spot. I had to make a huge effort on laps 2 and 3 to reach the main group. I got there, but then blew up. A small group of four quickly caught me and I hopped onto the back. I never really got to recover as we were rotating trying to get back to the group. I looked over to see Patrick Harkins in the chase group with me. I was shocked to see him there, but also relieved. I knew we had a chance to get back on with him in this group. At one point we were close to 15 seconds back, but we kept chasing. The gap then started to come down. You could feel the surge of energy within our group when everyone saw the gap closing. It seemed impossible, but we were doing it! After 15 minutes of hell, the group slowed and we finished closing the final few seconds of the gap. It was like being in a breakaway, but off the back. 

The twisting 180 course layout

Following Harkins during our chase

photo by Matthew Trask

     The next surge in pace popped me off the back again as I was gassed, but the group slowed again and I got back on. This time I actually recovered and was in the group to stay. A break  tried to slip away around halfway. You could see people were struggling and gaps were coming again as the chase began. I was trying to move up on the inside of the last 180 turn to stay ahead of the gaps. I went too far inside where the pavement transition from the inner oval to pit road is a big square bump. I thought I was going to miss it just fine, but the group stayed tighter on the inside of the turn this lap and I ran out of space. I had to hit the big bump. It popped a spoke in my rear wheel and I was instantly rubbing at the rear brake. 

     I was quickly into the pit. People were trying to help me hold the bike and it actually made it harder to do the wheel change. We got the wheel in at an angle and it got jammed. Once it did go into the dropouts, the chain slipped between the smallest cog and the frame, getting stuck. We had to remove and reinstall the wheel to free the chain. I missed the group coming around the next lap while fumbling with the bike. The official did not want to put me back in as he said I missed my free lap, but I pleaded and he let did let me in the second lap. I just wanted to finish the race. I didn't know if they were even going to score me anymore or not, but I did not want to quit after making that huge effort to get here.

     The group was exploding as they came around. It was hard to get up to speed and rejoin with as fast as they were going. The first break never got away, but a second attempt was now going off and the chase was furious. My legs pumped up like two giant balloons after sitting in the pit for two laps. I had no sprint off the 180s and got popped out the back with several others. I rode alone for a few laps before being pulled just as the pumped feeling went away. That's what sucks about free laps. Yes, you get another chance, but you never know how your legs are going to respond to the sudden stop and then sudden restart. It was not the way I wanted to end the night, but I still got a reasonable finish in 19th since there had been so many people dropped early. I saw a few positives tonight in the fact that I was able to sustain a high power output while chasing for those 15 minutes off the back. Like I said, it felt like being in a breakaway, something I have struggled to do in the past. In recent years, there is no way I would have closed that gap, or even stayed in the pack afterwards at the pace we were going. Single-file races usually don't end well for me, but I was there until the mechanical happened. I just need to make better decisions when moving up in the group. Results are posted here under Music City Crits in the dropdown box at the top. See Michaelee Bowes's onboard cam here, and David Howe's here.

     The busted wheel meant another drive to the bike shop. I love my Mercury wheels, but they go WAY out of true when one spoke breaks. It's usually too far out for me to straighten myself as I don't have a truing stand. I didn't have any spare spokes either. Jimmy fixed me up and sent me home with a few extra spokes in case this happens again. He knows I will hit more things. I had the kids with me and we detoured on the way home to visit the Country View Creamery for some snacks and a tub of ice cream to take home. This little Amish creamery is delicious. They mostly make cheese, but always have plenty of milk and ice cream on hand.

Snacks at the creamery

Teaching them to explore the backroads on the way home

This was a first. They were holding hands and smiling. I guess they are like me in that bike shop trips and snacks make us happy.

     The last weekend of April brought the first mountain bike race of my season at the Chickasaw Trace Classic in Columbia, TN. It rained most of the week so I didn't have a chance to ride the new bike. I really want to have everything right the first time I race it. The S-Works was more than willing to go another round. It was a chilly morning with a lot of wind when we arrived at the park. Dina and I were both racing, but at different times. I am not a fan of the schedule used for Chickasaw. Pro and Cat. 1 goes at 9am, Juniors come next at 12pm and then all other classes wait until 1pm. I love getting going early, but it is so anticlimactic for the start of such a big race. The time gap to the other races is so big that the other riders don't show up until the end of our race at best. Most come after we have all finished. You are starting a race with big payout and stout riders, but it kind of feels like a backyard get-together when you are on the start line. I think a crowd would really help the feel of the race. The past several years, the trail has been muddy early on then dries to perfect conditions for the later race. I would like to get some of those perfect conditions every now and then.

     The wind storm had trashed our trail for the last six weeks so I had done very little mountain biking this Spring compared to past years. I felt like I was in good shape overall, but I know it takes time on the mountain bike to get into the fast race rhythm. I was still a bit heavy so I wasn't looking forward to the hilly half of the loop either. The park recently closed the landfill after years of service. The covering process wrecked several sections of the trail so the course layout was different this year. We had a long grass start across an open field, straight into the massive wind that was howling this morning. We then entered the woods roughly halfway around the old loop at Rick's Trail, quickly reaching the Trail of Tears which houses most of the climbing. The following Black Hills Trail is now much shorter, dumping you out on the fast River Trail. The Ravine Loop and Death's Ditch bring a couple of late climbs before the final climb beside the RC track takes riders onto a gravel road back to the finish. I doubt that not riding here for the last year really made much difference since things were changed so much, but I would have loved a little trail time just to feel more comfortable.

     Our Pro/Cat. 1 Open class had eight riders and we burst off the line. I ended up in a gap between two groups and had to eat a lot of that stiff headwind, getting to the front group just after we entered the shelter of the woods. There were five of us in this group and we quickly pulled away from the others. Surprisingly, I hung on over the first few climbs. Then the two longest climbs came and I lost about 20 seconds. These two climbs are long and steep, and come in quick succession with minimal time for recovery between them. The front three separated themselves from the rest of us on the first climb, but I still could see them on the descent. The second climb known as "Dump Climb" is the biggest and it hurt me. I could only see Jeremy Chambers at the top of it. I chased him on the River Trail and was able to make contact. There were many people out on the trails walking. Some gave us quite a scare as they were slow to hop out of the trail. Near the boat ramp crossing, we came upon a lady with a dog. The trail split here. I normally take the left line, but Jeremy went right so I followed him. The dog was on the left and lunged at us as we passed by. I believe I would have been bitten had I gone left. It was a sketch moment.

Pro/Cat. 1 Open start

photo by Columbia Cycling Club

     I had more pace on the flats so I moved around Jeremy in hopes of keeping the front three as close as possible so we could catch them if they faded. I gapped him a bit on the Ravine Loop, but it was obvious I was climbing like a pile of bricks on the climb along Death's Ditch where he easily came back to me. We rode together the rest of the lap until we reached the feed zone. We could see the leaders out in the field about 45 seconds ahead of us. The feed zone was laid out kind of weird. They had taped off a lane to the right of the main line that was labeled "Feed Zone." It appeared we were supposed to go into that lane to feed so I placed my feed pole along the right side of the lane. Evidently, all the people handing up bottles thought the lane was for them to stand in. I don't know who was right and who was wrong, but when I got there my lane was blocked with people. I understand the confusion, but it was clear where I was going and nobody made any attempt to move. I had to weave through them and actually passed my feed pole because a guy was standing right on top of it. I went back, got my bottle and then had to close down a 15 second gap to Jeremy into the headwind starting lap 2. I yelled at Dina when I saw her and told her to go move my pole. She was close enough to witness what had happened and understood.

     The chase back to Jeremy really hurt me and I entered into the hills a little out of gas. He put the pressure on me up the climbs and it got my rib hurting. I broke my ribs in 2020 and still have issues with them occasionally at very high intensity. This was the first time it has happened this year. Once I get the rib stitch, it is really hard to get it to go away without completely stopping my ride. I finally had to ease off the pace to recover. He had 20 seconds on me after the Dump Climb. I could really tell I had not been on my mountain bike much. I think the trail was rougher than in past years and just doesn't have the same flow to it anymore. I struggled a lot and really was riding poorly on the singletrack today. Despite my best effort chasing Jeremy in the next flowing section, he doubled his gap to 40 seconds. I went all-in to close the gap on the River Trail, but lost five more seconds. I could feel my legs fading on the final climbs of lap 2 and my rib was still bugging me. Jeremy increased the gap to over a minute on me as we started the final lap. The Feed Zone was clear this time. They actually took down the tape separating the feed lane so I guess somebody paid attention enough to see that there was a lot of confusion with that layout.

     I faded big time on lap 3. My legs were good today, but I am way too heavy on the climbs. I was able to power over the hills the first two laps, but I was out of steam on lap 3. I knew I had a huge gap back to 6th so I went ahead and smoked my legs through the big hills on Trail of Tears. My rib stopped hurting after that because I faded so much that my heart rate and breathing weren't being pushed enough to aggravate it. I then dropped my chain entering the River Trail and it got wadded up like I have never seen before. I spent about two minutes getting it unwrapped before it would go back onto the chainring. Even after that, Dina was still telling me I had a huge gap back to the next rider. A few miles later on the climb up to Death's Ditch, I heard a weird sound coming from down in the ditch next to me. It sounded a bit like a baseball card in spokes. As I dropped into the ditch, I saw a rider lying in the trail ahead. I come up to see it is Mark Poore. He had stalled out on a spot where the trail rises up out of the ditch around a tree. He couldn't get his foot out of the pedal and had fallen all the way back down into the bottom of the ditch. That weird sound was him heaving on the ground trying to catch his breath. I stopped and made sure he was ok, then continued on to finish my race. Leave it to Poore to crash in front of me. He wasn't even racing today. I am so thankful that nobody was close to me because that was a weird ending to my race with the dropped chain and helping Mark. I ended up fifth on the day, way behind the winner. It was a weird day all the way around. I might be racing crits well, but I have some work to do on the mountain bike.

Pro/Cat. 1 Open podium

photo by Eddy Taylor

     Dina has also not spent as much time on her mountain bike due to our trail issues. She suffered on during her two laps, but did a respectable ride to finish 2nd in Cat. 2 Women. I enjoyed catching up with some old mountain bike friends after the race. Butch Carter and I wandered around together most of the afternoon talking bikes and NASCAR. He and Gib Morehead are now racing ebikes. The EMTB class is just a bunch of old dirt bike guys racing the equivalent of little dirt bikes. They had a great battle with Gib getting the win over another of my friends, Eddy Taylor. Full results from the day are posted here. The Columbia Cycling Club has some photos posted on their Facebook page.

Dina heading toward the finish

Cat. 2 Women podium

     It was back to the pavement the following week as the State Championship Crit loomed. More on that in the next post.

Finally Racing

Posted Date: May 27, 2023

     The weekend after the start of the Music City Crits Series was full of prep. I was doing long road rides as our trail was still not fully cleaned up from the storm in early March. I've been doing 3-4 hour hard road rides all spring on tough "classics" type routes to help me get into race fitness, gain endurance and drop some weight. We actually have a good amount of rough backroads that are a blast to hit at speed. I have so much fun going through them alone. I can't imagine ripping them with a group in a race situation. Maybe we will have to make that happen one day. I think people would be surprised by the kinds of roads we have here.

Snakes are waking up. Saw this guy on a long road ride.

Sango Tuesday Night Group Ride

Photo by Stacey Cumberland

     We've also been prepping the garden. I'm trying a new strategy this year. My neighbor has termed it "strip gardening." Last fall, I sowed a winter rye grass for ground cover during the winter. It worked great at preventing erosion and helping amend the soil. I quickly saw potential in hanging onto it for a little longer. I decided to leave it between veggie rows. I know it sounds crazy to have grass growing in your garden, but I have several reasons why I want to give it a try. First off, I will have a firm strip to walk on between the rows with grass that will keep me from getting stuck in the mud. That is a real issue in May and June each year before the tilled ground packs down again. I will only have to till the rows themselves so it will save some prep time. The rye should smother out other types of weeds so hopefully I won't have to cultivate as often between rows. With it being a cool-season grass, it should die in the heat of the summer so I won't have to mow it and it won't be stealing water from my plants during the driest parts of the year. That's my hope anyway. I know I'll have to mow it a bit at first, but even the extra clippings will just add to the soil and eventually feed my plants. I'll keep you posted as the year goes on. I figure if it doesn't work out I can always till it under just like I did in the rows.

Strips tilled through the garden

     Update on the new bike search saga: I have ordered not one, but two! Specialized finally showed they had one large Epic in stock and Jimmy at Bikes & Moore was able to order me one. I chose the Expert because it has the best build for the money in my opinion. I will never buy another S-Works. Too expensive up front, and over time, as you have to replace expensive parts once they wear out or break. The Expert comes with SRAM components, which I don't care for. I have broken every SRAM thing I have ever owned. Sure they will replace it if it's a warranty issue, but it takes weeks and is such a hassle. I already lose enough races due to mechanical issues anyway. I'm hoping to slap an XT kit on it when it arrives. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I won't believe I am getting an Epic until it actually shows up. As for the second bike, I said I wouldn't go back to cyclocross nationals without better equipment. I was serious. A Trek Boone 6 is on the way. It's on for Louisville.

     I did have a weird incident the day after Race #1 of the Music City Crits Series that I want to share. I was working from home that day and needed to pick up a package from the post office. I threw the kids in the van and off we went on the twisting backroads to our rural post office. When we arrived, I almost fell down while getting out of the van. I was dizzy and felt like my head was swimming. I had to hold onto the side of the van for a couple of seconds to get myself steady before I could get the kids out. We all went in and grabbed the package. I didn't feel right when we came out, but it wasn't as bad as when we first got there. I had also hoped to make a few other stops to run errands on the way back. As we were driving, I felt like my brain couldn't process the trees and things on the side of the road as we went by. It was like my peripheral was a blur. I was starting to think something was really wrong with me. At the next stop, I again almost fell down when I got out. At that point, we headed home as I was afraid I would not be able to safely drive home if things progressed. 

     Once back home, I felt so tired and groggy. I stretched out on the couch and immediately dozed off. I remember waking up a few times as Kellen had crawled up on me and was riding me like a horse. AT least I think he was. I may have been dreaming. I could see him, but it was like I couldn't wake up enough to interact with him. In between bouts of riding me he was piling up DVDs he had taken out of a cabinet in the living room. After about an hour, I started to wake up again. I felt like I had been drugged. I could feel the grogginess slowly going away like it was clearing out of my system. After a couple more hours, it was completely gone. I retraced my day and realized I had taken an assortment of vitamins right before we left. The next day, I took my multivitamin only to try to narrow things down if the vitamins were indeed the issue. Thirty minutes later I had a less dramatic response, but still felt groggy. The next day I skipped them and had no symptoms. I have no idea what happened. It is the same multivitamin I have used for more than 10 years and was not from a new bottle. I'm not sure if I just got a few bad tablets or what. I have not taken them since. Be careful out there guys. I am very particular on the supplements I use as the last thing I want to do is accidentally ingest a banned substance. These were from a company that tests all their batches so very strange that I had this kind of reaction. If I find out more later I will be sure to write about it. As for now, I'm off all vitamins. I can't function having episodes like that.

     Race #2 of the Music City Crits Series rolled around quickly and I found myself sitting on the start line again. This time I had some confidence after surviving the 180 course in Race #1. And this week was on my favorite course: the kidney bean. This course is wide-open fast. There are two chicanes per lap as it combines the big oval with the small 1/4-mile oval in the infield. The start/finish is on the smaller oval. We take a fast right-left combo onto the big oval and follow it through Turns 1 & 2 on the speedway, down the full backstretch into Turn 3 and then transition onto pit road before a final left-right chicane onto the backstretch of the small oval for the finish. I absolutely love the second chicane. It is narrower and feels so much faster. You can't blow the entry as there are some rumble strips on the exit to the left curve that are big enough to wreck you. To me, it has such a fun rhythm that isn't there so much on the other chicane. It's one of my all-time favorite crit sections.

Music City Crits kidney bean course map

     Another hour of speed was on tap for 31 starters in the Pro/1/2/3. I was pretty excited to have Shannon and Salem there with me. Salem wanted to go last week. She had the saddest look on her face when I pulled out of the driveway. This week, she was smiling as we pulled into the speedway. She calls it "where the race cars live." Kellen stayed home as his bed time is 7:30 which is when we start. He's pretty much a monster if he doesn't go to bed on time.

     The pace was much lower at the start than last week. There was a good headwind down the front side of the course through the finish line, which meant a tailwind down the backstretch. My legs were a little sluggish early on, so I was thankful for the slower pace. Though a slower pace worries me. It just means more strong legs left at the finish. There was some sketch in the group last week so I really didn't want 30 guys mixing it up in the sprint this week. Not only did we have the final lap crash in Race #1, but there were a couple of other crashes and some near misses. Most of them were just from poor decision making and too much aggression.

     The first half of the race was looking like a bunch sprint was coming as every move was quickly chased down. I conserved as much as I could as I followed the surges in pace. My legs were getting better as the race progressed. They were feeling strong tonight. There was a crash early when Matt Baxter went down on a flat tire. Luckily, I had just gone by him when he slid out. He had a spare bike in the pit and was able to rejoin us, although his sweet State Champ skinsuit was missing some fabric.

Video: Early race action

Video: Baxter goes down on a flat

Salem enjoying the race

Me at the front

     A break of four finally got a gap around halfway through the race and it quickly started to look serious. The chase was hard and it started to split the group. I was a bit too far back and had to work hard for about eight minutes just to move myself into a position to cross the gap to the leaders. Two more riders got into the gap between the fraying pack and the break. I followed a move to bridge to those two and found myself suddenly alone as I came up to them. I crossed the gap to two very strong riders. They sat up as I got to them so I went straight by them and kept chasing. The gap to the break was still too big, but I tried anyway as I was committed at this point. I have not had the legs to bridge any gap in a crit with this many fast guys in many, many years. It hurt, but I was smiling the entire time. Finally, I am racing instead of following!

Video: Break of four up the road

     The headwind across the front got me. I started to fade and got caught quickly. My move got us close to the break so the group really hit it hard when they caught me. I had my tongue in the chain as they went by and I couldn't get on the train. I was blown up and coming out the back. The smile was now gone. A second chase group came by. I felt like I had nothing left, but I stood up and sprinted anyway. Somehow, I caught onto the last wheel and stayed with it for a lap until things slowed down slightly. I looked up to see that we had not only joined the first chase group, but the leading break had also been pulled back. It was all back together with about 12 minutes of racing to go.

Video: I was beyond hurting here after my little move. Just able to get on the last wheel that went by right after this clip ended.

     I sat at the back and tried to recover as the lap cards came out with 8 to go. Daniel Jara went off on a solo move in the closing laps. That started a big chase from behind. I had moved back up just in time. I was in a good position going into the final lap. Daniel had a nice gap, but I thought we could still catch him. I got blocked in down the backstretch as the sprint began. I couldn't get a clear lane until just before the chicane. I rolled in on the outside and nearly ended up in those rumble strips I talked about earlier. We were going so much faster coming to the finish as compared to any other point in the race. That outside entry line is hard to manage at 33+ mph. I carried a bunch of momentum though and picked off three riders through the turn, then pipped Jacob Kuper by a wheel on the line thanks to the headwind. Being behind in the last turn actually paid off today. I had no idea what spot we were sprinting for, but I knew I wanted that point for the series. It turned out to be a sprint for the podium. The bike throw got me fifth! On the box! Daniel did a superhuman effort to hold off the field with a decent gap. I was actually gaining on the sprinter group that got a gap when I was blocked in. I really think I can sprint with these guys, I just have to be positioned better. I hit 35.1 mph just before the final chicane and sprinted at 1029 watts off the final turn. We averaged 26.7 mph for just over 57 minutes. There was a crash just after the finish line. Thankfully, everybody was ok afterwards. Race results are posted here. Look for Music City Crits in the dropdown. I have more video clips here shot by Shannon. Michalee Bowes has his helmet cam posted here. David Howe also had video onboard tonight and it is posted here. David flatted at 36 min and did a great job to stay upright through the chicane.

Video: One lap to go

Video: Finish and crash

Super cool shot of Daniel Jara getting the win

Photo by Matthew Trask

Pro/1/2/3 Podium

     I was so excited for everything that this night brought. I got to race with my kid watching. I had the strength to bridge gaps and to dig super deep when I thought I had nothing left. And I still had a strong sprint left. Plus, I got on the podium! I felt like I wasn't ready for racing this year, but the opening two races of the season say otherwise. I am shocked really.

     I leave you with some pictures from the kids having some adventures at home. I hope they stay this excited about being outside. I had a birthday adventure and more crits to close out April. More on that in the next post.

Salem is enjoying my dad's new tractor

Kellen's turn for a ride

Kellen on the trail as we attempt to clean up the storm damage

Finding morels during our trail work

180 Fears

Posted Date: May 25, 2023

     

     Now it's time to talk about all the things we have been doing so far this year and present my first race report. 

     Shannon and I took in a cool event for her birthday at the Nashville Zoo in early February called Zoolumination. Hundreds, and maybe even thousands, of Chinese lanterns are displayed throughout the zoo. They were beautiful and came in many forms from zoo animals to traditional dragons. There was even a Christmas display. 

Zoolumination at the Nashville Zoo

     It was a cold night in the upper-20s when we attended, but we dressed warm and stayed pretty comfortable. It did help that the reptile house was open and provided us a chance to warm up inside while we checked out all the snakes, turtles and frogs. With it being so cold outside, most of the animals were hiding away so we only saw an Andean bear and some flamingos who didn't seem to be concerned about the temps. This event is one worth checking out, even if you don't get tickets as a birthday gift like we did. My parents kept the kids for us. I think this was the first time we have done anything by ourselves since we had our second child. That alone would make you justify walking around in cold temps. It was nice...

Those are real flamingos

There's a seahorse hiding in there

     Speaking of the kids, they absolutely hate napping. Both of them act like sleeping will just make them miss something important that is happening. They can put up more fight against naps than I have ever experienced in a kid. Neither will sleep anywhere except their bed at home or at my parents. That has made traveling, and even running errands, a major pain. Kellen will occasionally fall asleep in the car, but you can't plan for it because the day you do he will scream to keep himself awake. I totally understand now why you see minivans driving 90 mph on the highway. They're packed with screeching children and the parent is just trying to get home before they lose their mind. There's nowhere to hide from the screech in a confined space like a car. Somebody recommended giving the kids tart cherry juice, which is supposed to make them sleepy. I'll let you decide from the picture below if it works or not.

Cherry juice got one of them right away. It took down Kellen about 20 min later.

     The results were not quite so dramatic the other times we used it, but it does make a difference. Salem actually likes it so it's easy to give it to her. Kellen is skeptical of anything you willingly give him.

     Salem is already riding a balance bike quite well. My dad got her a Strider with the optional rocker board. I had never seen that option before and would highly recommend getting it for your little one. She was already rocking on her bike long before she even understood the purpose of a bike. It made the transition to actual riding very easy. The only issue I have with the Striders is that there is no stem. The handlebar attaches directly to the steerer tube. It's a simple design, but it makes for very snappy handling, which has put her on the ground several times. Those little wheels fold up quickly when you get any sort of handlebar wobble. She's adapting to it. Thankfully, none of the spills have dampened her excitement for riding thus far. By the time we ended our backyard cyclocross races for the year, she was able to get out on the course and ride parts of it. I helped her around a full lap on the last race. She had a massive smile on her face the entire time, even though it was quite cold outside.

Trail work with Salem. Kellen is sitting in a ditch eating sticks.

She was pretty pumped to have climbed up my kicker ramp.

Finding things to show them outside

Salem riding cyclocross

Video: Salem has to make runs down the steepest part of the yard. Definitely my kid. She was fine after this spill.

     Salem has already started to move onto a bigger balance bike and Kellen has started on the rocker board. If this first stage of riding is any indication of how he is going to be on a bike, we are in for a wild ride. He already has great balance on his feet. Our backyard has a steep slope to it. Salem just got to where she could walk up or down it without falling, at 2 1/2 years old. Kellen was running down it at 13 months. He looks out of control, like a baby deer with wild legs, but somehow he stays upright. It is entertaining to watch.

Kellen is already a running man.

Easter egg hunt. It's like herding cats. They were way more interested in picking up sticks than looking for eggs.

     February and March are busy times as we begin our little pepper seedlings for the summer. The success of our recent years has allowed us to buy the things we need to start 1200+ seeds efficiently indoors. We now have multiple grow lights and seed starting supplies that make our life much, much easier. I'm always trying new methods to make it go even smoother. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. We are always refining our methods. I expected to get my hours slashed significantly in PT, but I didn't lose very much due to several people quitting in the clinics I work at. I'm covering about three different clinics right now, which is both good and bad. It keeps things from getting boring when you change settings so often, but too often keeps you from getting to know your patients. You don't get to form those relationships that make PT so great, and you have too much new. It can be tough to follow another therapist if their approach to treatment is way different from yours. My job involves a lot of new and I was aware of that when I took on the traveling portion of the job, but it is getting old after doing it for the last nine years. The fundraiser job is also picking back up for the spring school semester, but thankfully spring is less than 25% the volume of the fall.

Hot peppers will be here before you know it

     April 12 was race time! I was both nervous and excited. I was not planning to race until May. None of us were expecting the Music City Crits Series to happen this year, let alone in April, a full month earlier than we have started in the past. I was feeling strong, but nowhere near where I was last year. The series would be starting on the original 180 course, which features two 180-degree turns per lap. It is definitely the most difficult layout due to the hard accelerations out of the first 180. Last year was the first time I have finished a race on this layout in years. With no racing under my belt so far this year and not knowing what to expect, I definitely had a good amount of worry for starting with this course. My first race last year was the Max Gander Memorial Crit at Sevier Park in May and I got totally blown out by the crazy-high speed and continued rib spasms that have plagued me since I broke my ribs in a mountain bike crash in 2020. I ended up lying in the grass on the side of the course after just 12 minutes of racing trying to push through the spasms enough to get a deep breath. It was not a pleasant experience and made me more nervous for the first race of this year. 

     The races were originally planned for Tuesday nights due to some scheduling conflicts with the speedway, but somebody read the schedule wrong and Wednesday nights were actually the available nights. I had already planned my work schedule for being off on Tuesday afternoon and working Wednesday. The scramble to get from Clarksville to Nashville during rush hour added to the stress of the opening race. If you haven't been to Nashville lately, traffic is real now. The population of middle Tennessee has exploded and it is gridlock in more places than you can count most times of the day. The crazies held their cars between the lines today though so no additional backups due to accidents. I made it there fine with just enough time to register and get in a good warm-up.

     For the first time since September, I was on the start line and ready to go hard for an hour with 35 starters in the Pro/1/2/3 race. The great thing about the series beginning a month earlier in April is that it is still getting dark rather early. That means more time under the lights! We started at 7:30, which gives us most of the race in the dark. 

     The start was fast. The first 10 minutes made me work, but I hung in there. I actually felt strong sprinting off the first 180. I got gapped a few times, but always closed it down without too much trouble. My heart rate was pegged, but then I got settled in as a break of seven riders went away. They would lap the field about halfway through the race. 

Pro/1/2/3 start line at dusk.

Photo by Matthew Trask

In the black about to tackle the first 180.

Photo by Matthew Trask

     I positioned myself well most of the race, staying near the front the final few laps when the race was on the line. With each passing lap I was growing more confident. The sprints weren't as hard. My legs felt the same at the end of the race as they did at the beginning while I could see others fading. It was taking less effort to follow the wheel ahead. At one lap to go, I was sitting perfect in about tenth wheel. I was expecting a big sprint off the first 180 and was ready to dig as soon as my inside pedal was clear in the corner. We were single-file and sprinting hard. This 180 takes us from pit road out onto the main oval of the speedway. We are going up the banking of the track as we exit the turn. We get close to the wall as we straighten up, then often go back down the banking to pick up speed down the straightaway. As we came away from the wall, I heard that awful sound of bikes sliding down the pavement. The rider ahead of me darted left and I was suddenly staring at a bike bouncing end-over-end. Two riders had gone down hard after the corner. I was about to hit the bouncing bike when it caught on the seat and flipped to the right, giving me just enough room to slip by. I was hard on the brakes and had almost come to a stop. The other riders behind had more time to react and went low, carrying most of their momentum. I sprinted back up to speed, but was now last of the group and a few bike lengths off the wheel ahead. I had legs though and used that surge of adrenaline to close the gap down the backstretch and rocket my way through the group. 

Photo by Matthew Trask

     The first few riders that were ahead of the crash still had a gap. I managed to move through all the rest of the riders by the time we reached the chicane. I was blown coming off the chicane after the huge effort and expected to drop a bunch of spots as there was still a good 30 seconds of racing left before the finish line. To my surprise, only one rider caught me going into the final turn. A second would pip me on the line by a wheel. A bad start to the last lap, but still a good finish in 9th. The two riders who went down were in the break and did not get up to finish. Both took a big hit. That means I was 4th out of the pack. I will take that on a night I feared I would get a popped in the first 15 minutes. I ended up with a 25.7 mph average speed. Not too bad for this course.

     If you check out Michaelee Bowes helmet cam from the event, you can see the two riders that crashed appeared to hook handlebars as they were side by side and then slammed to the ground like the snap of a mousetrap. His video is posted here. Full results are available here. Pick out Music City Crits and Race #1 from the drop downs to see this race.

Video: Michaelee Bowes helmet cam from Race #1

     Race #2 came the following Wednesday night. More on that in the next post.

Moving On

Posted Date: May 11, 2023

     Obviously, I don't have the time (or desire) that I once had to devote to this blog. With that being said, I am still planning to post all of my writings and race reports from 2020-2022. Much changed in those three years, maybe more than in the previous 15 years of my life. There was COVID, job changes, sponsor/team changes, babies and much, much more than has shaped my life. I want to tell it all if for no other reason than my kids to be able to read it one day. And it definitely will shine a light on how I am living my life in 2023.

     It will take a while to get all that posted despite a lot of it being already written and photos ready to be added. But I don't want those of you out there who are actually interested in what I am doing these days to be left wanting.

     To set up 2023, I have to tell a little about 2022. In summary, I had a great year racing. I didn't get crazy great results, but I raced the best I ever have, especially on the road. It was hard to convince anyone of that, but I assure you I was in great shape and better than in years when I did win a lot. It just shows you how competitive the bike scene has become, both on the road and dirt. And that's a great thing. I love going out and racing hard. I'd rather race some great competition and fly through the trails or streets and finish 18th than to win everything with a small group. I just don't care about my results anymore. Sure, I want to win, but getting to my best is my goal, no matter where that puts me on the results sheet.

     I've mentioned before that potential sponsors have always said, "It's not about the results," while simultaneously using a lack of wins and podiums against me when making rider selections. Nothing has changed. I am old news. Literally old now. Not because I'm 37 years old this year, but because I'm over 20 and people only look for "the next big thing" these days instead of what is current and consistent. The search for the future often bites them in the butt, but they never seem to learn. I still found myself being questioned about why I continue with racing and am almost constantly being told to quit, even by those who call themselves "supporters." I say all that to lead up to losing all of the little bit of sponsorship help I had left. I felt like I was ignored and/or forgotten about the second half of 2022. I couldn't get the things I needed. I didn't ask for much, only the things that were promised to me. I couldn't even get the simple necessities like clothing or water bottles. Wheels couldn't be repaired or new bikes bought. Things either weren't available by the time it came to my name on the list, or nobody wanted to take the time to sell it to me. None of it was free, which is what really made me scratch my head. Why would you turn down a sale?

     I don't buy enough stuff to keep sponsors happy. They want you to spend hundreds, or thousands, of dollars on their stuff and represent them. They then expect you, as a Pro, to travel the country racing big, expensive races, but won't help you get there. Oh, and they expect you to stand on the podium every race too. The sponsor world is so unrealistic. Companies are very out of touch with how non-factory riders actually operate. Some of my sponsors cut me, some I cut myself from. They weren't helping anyway. Some were actually hurting with their negative attitude. I was already paying for everything myself, so I just moved off onto my own 100% self-funded program I call DIG Racing. The name comes from my initials with a little mountain bike, trail-building and performance twist. Whether you are digging deep to close a gap, digging a new jump or digging your knobs into a berm, digging is where it's at. The farm helps with the funding of my racing, so if you are into any of our farm-fresh options like veggies, peppers, garlic or jams/jellies, please consider purchasing from us. You get some goodies and support my endeavors in the process. I doubt I would ever get any anyway, but I'll just go ahead and say that I don't do donations. I want you to get something from me in return.

     Shannon and I now have two kids. Our daughter, Salem, was born in the mess of 2020. In February of 2022, she got a little brother named Kellen. Our health insurance and some other crazy circumstances with work left us with a lot to pay for between the two of those births. My work is still sporadic so my income is not guaranteed. I am currently working part-time in physical therapy because I can't find a full-time position around here right now. We have supplemented that with me continuing to work another part-time job helping with school fundraising, which I have been doing for several years now. The farm is also an actual part-time job now as well. We beefed it up significantly in 2020 and it has continued to grow. We now have somewhere around 1200-1300 pepper plants each summer. We almost had no choice but to make the farm bring us more income during the pandemic lockdowns. While they are all part-time jobs, it often leads to me working well over 40 hours a week, usually more like 60. If you count racing Pro as a job since it takes so much time to keep up with training, then I guess I have four part-time jobs. I know racing isn't a job as I spend way more money than I will ever make, but I still treat it that way. You have to if you want to be competitive in the Pro class.

Salem and Kellen in October 2022

Family photo from December 2022

     The fall of 2022 was a tough time for us. We wrapped up the racing in September with a fast weekend at Gateway Cup, where I raced better than I ever have. I was right in the middle of the action, especially the first night, until I got caught behind a crash on the final lap that sent me backwards at the most critical time. I was sitting great waiting for a sprint, but it didn't happen after the crash. That's road racing for you. I didn't come out with any great result, but I know I was fast and that made me happy. 

     We then took our yearly trip out west, detouring a bit to Arkansas for what turned out to be my last race of the year. I had a nasty crash at the Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series event at Devil's Den State Park. I hung a pedal in a turn on a fast downhill. There was a rock hiding behind a tree branch that I never saw. It vaulted me over the bars as I was going over the edge of a hump so I got some major airtime before landing hard on my left side. It busted both of my knees and my left hip among a lot of other small bumps and scrapes. Needless to say, it kind of ruined my race. I did get up after a few minutes and limped my way around for the next two hours to not take a DNF. I actually caught a few people and finished on the podium, but I ended up missing that podium while cleaning my wounds. I hope nobody else needed gauze from the Dollar Generals in any of the little towns around the park. 

     That was the start to our trip, which included a ride up Pikes Peak just three days later. I was super sore still, especially in my left knee and both quads. It seemed to get better with riding, but Pikes Peak was a bit much by the time I reached the top. That mountain is no joke, even without considering the altitude. I made it, but hurt a lot in my crash wounds afterwards. Plus I got sick from the altitude which kept me from doing a lot of riding the rest of the trip.

Bandage man heading up Pikes Peak. Still smiling at this point.

     Fall is the busiest time of the year now it seems. All my jobs were at their peak. PT was super busy so I was working at least three long days per week, while trying to keep up with fundraising orders. We added a few new reps to our company after some of our fundraising competitors closed during COVID. The number of schools we now partner with is at least three times what it was when I came on to start handling the ordering. Most schools also sold more per student so our overall volume was nothing short of overwhelming. I probably wouldn't have taken the job if I had this type of load initially. This job is one of those deals where I need some extra work, but this has almost become too much for a side job. Thankfully, Shannon does some of the work too so I have a little help and we still get the income. Peppers also come in heavy during the fall so we are busy picking, shipping and dehydrating. I was working from dawn to midnight most of the days in October and a lot of November until the school orders started to slow down and frost finally ended the pepper harvest. Needless to say, I didn't get to ride very much. I rode eight times in October and just four times the first three weeks of November. After that, I got a little more consistent with our annual Tour de Turkey mountain bike weekend and then got on Zwift in December. Working that much was killer on the fitness, but I didn't have much choice. Any day I can lose all my hours again and have no income so I have to take it while I can get it. I gained back all the weight I worked so hard to lose in 2022. It is so hard to cut back your eating when you go from riding 20+ hours a week to 1-2 hours. I have always done a poor job at that. Plus, I'm a stress eater and I was definitely stressed the entire fall season. I wasn't getting much sleep either between the late nights, early mornings and having two babies in the house. I was more than worn out. It was a new level of fatigue that I had never experienced before.

     I felt fat and slow in December and was not very motivated. It's hard to get motivated when you feel like you've lost everything. I had no idea if I would be able to afford to race or even have a bike to race in 2023. I've been trying to get a new Epic. Mine is literally falling apart. I break spokes nearly every ride as my 2015 bike is pretty much worn out. The bushings in the suspension are worn out and I have almost an inch of play now in the main pivot. Specialized no longer sells bushing kits for bikes that old. It also has a crack in the top tube. I tried to get a bike all of 2022 with no luck. It seems Specialized is out of stock on large bikes of all kinds. I have to stay on the shop all the time to keep them checking availability. After all the problems I had in 2020 with my Epic headset and the way Specialized handled the situation (or didn't), I really would like to get away from Specialized, but I haven't found another bike that I like anywhere near as much as the Epic. 

    In December, I was still very sore in my left knee and right quad. I never went to the doctor as I thought I was just sore from the crash in Arkansas, but looking back at it now, I think I had a small patellar fracture. It literally took me the entire winter to get the pain to go away. Riding wasn't bad, but everything else hurt. Sitting made me sore and stiff. Stretching hurt. Kneeling was terrible. My right quad was also still knotted along my VMO. I thought the rest off the bike in October and November would have let them heal, but it took consistent massage and stretching for a solid three months to get both areas healed up. It was April before I got it all worked out.

     I snapped back to my inner racer come January and really started the process of getting back into shape. While I was definitely slow from being heavy, my legs felt stronger than I have felt in the off-season in many years, maybe even ever. I feel like my foundation was still there despite the long off time. Things came back quick and the weight fell off as I worked hard, dropping about 18 pounds by the middle of April. I also spent a lot of time in the weight room, lifting heavier than I have in the past. I didn't know what it would do to me, but it made me feel much stronger both on and off the bike. It also helped me rehab all of my injuries. By April, I was lifting considerably more weight than at any point in my life, both with the legs and the upper body. I still have a lot of weight to trim off, but I feel so much better than I did in January. I also think Zwift helped me a lot. I hate riding the trainer, but doing group rides and racing on Zwift has been a game-changer. I go so much harder than I ever would by myself. Both the intensity and the overall ride volume for the off-season are higher now as I enjoy riding more on the super bad weather days when I have to stay inside.

     I still have a lot of ambitions with racing national-level events. I was excited to see Marathon Mountain Bike Nationals coming to Alabama in September. Marathon Nats was my goal for 2020, but never happened thanks to COVID. Alabama will be nice as it won't be at elevation. I felt like September would be plenty of time for me to get back to great shape and be even better than last season. Cyclocross Nationals were also announced and will be returning to Louisville in December. They'll be at Joe Creason Park again. A chance at revenge! I immediately started saving money for a cross bike as I said I would never race nationals again on a worn out bike with rim brakes and crappy tires...and I meant it. With Gateway Cup also coming in September, it seemed my targets would all be later in the season. Perfect for the year when I started training late.

     DINO was the only other racing that was looking good. Tennessee has looked pretty empty since COVID other than the Music City Crits Series, which really stoked my love for racing last season. The speedway was planning some major renovations for the winter, so it looked unlikely we would be racing there in 2023. Many people felt like the track would be out of our price range for renting following the expensive renovations, so we thought 2022 was the end of the series. Then suddenly in March, we got word that the track renovations were on hold and we would be racing...starting April 12. The series would focus on the spring and early summer, running 10 races before the middle of June. All of a sudden, I needed to be ready for the early season. I really, really want to win a race out there. I got close last year with a 2nd place behind a solo rider on the ride of his life. I was very consistent all last season and feel that if I could do thast again, I may have a chance at the series overall.

     I shifted gears into race mode as quick as possible, upping the intensity of my rides just in time for the spring-forward time change and group rides to begin. Our trail got trashed from a crazy windstorm on March 3. We had trees down everywhere. Wind speeds just down the street in Clarksville were clocked at 79 mph. It took us weeks to get it rideable again, so my main training option was road. But we sprinkled in a lot of backyard cyclocross as I feel that really helps me with intensity training.

One of many trees down from the high winds. I heard the trail at Montgomery Bell had numbers in the 90s for downed trees. Most other trails in our area reported the same.

The tree on our road that took out our power for three days.

Backyard cross

     I skipped out on the local Montgomery Bell Winter Mountain Bike Time Trial series. I decided against the February opener to focus on training as I was in no kind of shape to be competitive at Monkey Bell. That place will kill you if you aren't ready. In March, the race was the weekend we got the wind storm. We lost power for three days following the wind, so I stayed home to take care of things and start cleaning up. The thought of riding a trashed trail for my first race wasn't very appealing either. I thought I would have a new bike by April, but no such luck yet. I decided to train instead of racing the April round, more to keep stress off of my mountain bike as it was looking more and more like this bike on life support was going to have to get me through another DINO season.

     I did get to test ride a Trek Supercaliber for a few weeks in April, thanks to Jimmy Lancaster up at Bikes & Moore in Hopkinsville, KY. It was a fast bike on non-technical trails, but I did not like how it handled. The rear travel was also a bit short for my liking at just 60mm. We got enough cleaned up for me to run my own trail on the Supercaliber and my own bike. The two felt so different. After doing so much riding on the Supercaliber, my bike felt foreign, but even with me lacking confidence on it I was still able to hop onto and ride faster lap times than on the Supercaliber. The ol' S-Works is worn out, but still rides fast. I was hoping I would like the Supercaliber as those were in stock and available for purchase. I totally see why it works great on the World Cup. It rolls fast and accelerates like lightning, but all that wasn't enough to overcome the shortcomings in cornering and negotiating tech. I don't see me racing a World Cup XC anytime soon. The tech trails are the kind I live for so this bike was not for me. The biggest negative that really made up my mind for me was that the Supercaliber has a much lower bottom bracket height. That put my pedal over an inch lower. An inch doesn't sound like much, but I was hanging my pedal multiple times per lap on my own trail, all in places where I had never even scraped a pedal before. After the big crash in Arkansas due to hanging a pedal, I was not keen on lowering the height one bit.

Jimmy's Supercaliber

     I was feeling strong in training, but far from breaking any records. I was dreading the first Music City Crits race about as much as I was excited for it. My season started poorly last year at a crit and I sort of expected that again. Things went down a bit different than I expected. More about the start to my season at Race #1 of the series coming soon, along with a few other events we have attended so far this year.