Even the turtles were caught off guard with the low temps. This was my first ever sighting of a frozen turtle in a pond.
Ending winter with a trip to sunny Florida to open up the season.
Our fun Florida trip included the Daytona Supercross
Florida also brought my first Pro mountain bike race in quite a while.
Back at Chickasaw after missing this race in 2013.
It was the year of the drone. I saw many of these used for filming and photos at events this year.
This photo sums up the start to the season. Every race was hard and some of the training rides were harder. This was my first conquer of the Death March loop in 2014. I did it again later in the year and completed my longest road ride ever at 136 miles.
Racing the Athens Twilight AM Qualifier Criterium on a SRAM pit bike after getting hit by another rider early in the race, breaking my rear derailleur and hanger.
I made it into the Athens Twilight Amateur Finals for the fifth straight year. Only got to do this thanks to Eli Wemyss loaning me his bike after mine got destroyed in the qualifier. Didn't even have time to change clothes between races after searching all day for parts to fix my bike.
Back on my bike at Roswell on my birthday. I said all I wanted for my birthday was a derailleur hanger so I could race Roswell...and Decatur Bikes made that happen for me.
Showing some progress in South Carolina. A good finish at Spartanburg followed by finishing a difficult race in Gaffney at Speed Week.
Getting our garden going.
Finally talking Shannon into doing a group ride in May at the Little River Bicycle Tour in Hopkinsville, KY.
Nashville gained a new race venue this year as Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville was the site of a Wednesday night crit. series all summer.
Racing under the lights at the Music City Crits Series at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.
We had a much bigger garden production this year. This was almost a daily occurrence...
...which lead to lots of this. Shannon canned a lot of veggies for us.
Getting back to downhill mountain biking at the BUMP & Grind Air Downhill brought my first podium of the year.
I love this picture from one of the Music City Crits races. There's a cool reflection in the puddle as I attack off the front through this turn on the speedway.
We made many of our race trips about more than just the race. On our Ohio trip we visited King's Island.
The barrel ride. Fun idea. Check that one off the list.
Rainy nights at the Crossroads Classic in North Carolina.
Finally finished a big Pro/1/2 race in the main group on the final day of Crossroads, at the City Park Circuit race.
One of the most fun races I have ever done, the Run Rotary Night Trail Race.
I finally found my groove at the Gateway Cup. I raced well in the most competitive races I have ever been in. And I remembered how to relax and have fun on my bike. It turned my season around and even changed my outlook on life.
A week after Gateway Cup, I finally got to celebrate a win. It was a complete surprise at Lock 4.
First ever visit to Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming on our way to Utah.
Cold, but beautiful camping at Curt Gowdy.
Curt Gowdy trails with my family. It was the first time going out west for my parents.
Gnarly canyons and trails hidden deep in the network of trails at Curt Gowdy.
One heck of a view at Curt Gowdy.
One of my all-time favorite pictures. Also from Curt Gowdy.
Beautiful climb up the Snowy Range Scenic Byway just outside of Laramie, WY.
Fun on the dirt jumps at the Green River Bike Park in Green River, WY.
Green River desert riding.
The Green River in Wyoming. So peaceful after a day full of riding in the desert.
I visited my favorite viewpoint as soon as we got to Utah. Jordanelle Reservoir from the top of Bald Mountain
A real road painting like "Stud Jens" brings a smile to my face on a long, hard climb like Pine Canyon.
This year's trip to Utah finally saw me completing all three climbs over Guardsman Pass in one ride. It was a tough, but rewarding day.
Taking my parents to the top of Bald Mountain at Deer Valley finally showed them what I have been talking about for the past two years.
Fun watching at XTERRA USA in Ogden, UT. Next year, I want to race it again.
I followed up spectating at XTERRA USA with a long ride around the Nordic Valley, complete with climbs up Powder Mountain, North Ogden Canyon (shown here) and Old Snowbasin Rd.
Making tons of progress in my downhill/freeride confidence and skill levels in one day at the Canyons Bike Park in Park City, UT.
My favorite milkshake in the whole world comes from Granny's Drive In in Heber, UT. Of course I got one this year.
One of my favorite pictures of this year. Picking grapes at Gma's house out in Utah.
A long climb up Butterfield Canyon brought a killer view of the Kennecott CopperMine.
This had to be one of the most fun days of my life. I had so much fun riding my bike, seeing a killer view with Gma and Gpa that they had never seen before, getting Gma to pee in the wilderness for the first time in her life, and limping her overheated car back down the mountain to West Jordan. What a day!
First trip up Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah.
It was a year full of hard decisions about work. So far, I would say we made the right ones. I am enjoying mixing physical therapy with delivering cookie dough. Thew new job has been really fun. And the old stress is gone.
An awesome day on the bike at the Cross the Farm Cyclocross. It was a great course and I had fun both racing and spectating. I even grabbed a pair of podiums and made the end of the Pro/1/2/3 race exciting.
I had my fair share of mechanical issues this year. In addition to my troubles at Athens, I also lost three seats over the course of the season. And had more than 10 flat tires while riding in Utah.
Running brought me a few podiums to end the year, including two wins in my age group. I enjoyed running and even got close to my goal of completing a 5K in under 20 minutes. The 20:01 I ran at the Claus for a Cause 5K in Clarksville was by far a new personal best for me.
Using my skills on the logs at the Red Kite/Halcyon Cyclocross helped me gain a Singlespeed win in cyclocross, something I have worked hard at for a while.
I also got to use my skills on the steep hill on the Red Kite/Halcyon course. It was the most fun and challenging course feature I have ever encountered in a cyclocross course.
Cyclocross is always fun. It's more laid back and there's more time for hanging with your friends. Friends like Tom, Eddy and Ben.
That does it for 2014. It was a good time, but I am ready for 2015. It's full steam ahead for an even better year. Thanks for hopping on the bus with me!
It's the end of the year, so time to look back on my race season. It was a much busier one than in recent years. I raced 58 times, up from 33 last year. That was even better than in 2011 when I hit 56. It may look busy and long on the calendar, but I don't feel like I raced any more than last year. I enjoyed racing more and really had a good time all year long. I did 34 criteriums, more than my total number of races last season. I also did more mountain bike races this year and I hope to do even more next year. I did not race a single triathlon, but I do intend to change that next year.
The results were better as well. Last year I had just one win, while I pulled out four this year. All four wins were very unexpected. I did the come-from-behind win at Lock 4 in September, won a pair of 5Ks in November (APSU and Springfield) and finally got that Singlespeed win I have been chasing for so long in early December. That win last year was my only podium, while in 2014 I was on the podium 14 times. You can see all my results for 2014 here.
There were two black spots on the results this year. First, was two DNFs. I dropped out of the Foothills Road Race early in the season voluntarily after being dropped early in the race. The other DNF was due to a crash at the SERC race at Ocoee when I skinned myself up and broke my seat. That one does not hurt as bad because there is no way I could have safely ridden two more laps with a seat rail poking out at my leg.
The second black mark to me was that I got pulled 14 times in 2014. That was more than the 10 times I got pulled in 2013. I know I did bigger races in 2014, but I still want to eliminate that number. It has been a goal of mine over the past few years and I don't see much progress in that area. The big Pro/1/2 races are still a bit too much for me to handle right now.
Finish Breakdown
Wins: 4
Top 3s: 14
Top 5s: 18
Top 10s: 26
DNFs: 2
I raced in 10 different states this year, more than ever before. My home state of Tennessee was where I raced most often, but we also did quite a few events in North Carolina and Alabama. I rode my bike in 13 states in 2014.
States Raced In: 10 (6 in 2013)
Tennessee: 27
North Carolina: 7
Alabama: 6
Missouri: 4
South Carolina: 4
Georgia: 3
Ohio: 3
Indiana: 2
Florida: 1
Kentucky: 1
I rode over 6,600 miles outside this year. My mileage total does not include miles logged on the trainer as I do not have a speed sensor on my bike. The total time, however, does include trainer time. I put in 555 hours on the bike and 11 hours on my feet running. I raced for 918 miles and over 51 hours in 2014. That's a lot of time to focus and hammer!
Estimated 2014 Riding Miles:6,625 miles Estimated 2014 Running Miles: 74 miles Miles Racing: 918 Estimated Time Riding: 555 hours Estimated Time Running: 11 hours Time Racing: 51:05
I want to thank Shannon for all her continued support this year. She keeps me going and has backed every hard decision we made in life and bike racing this year. Also, I want to thank Maxxis and First Endurance for their continued help. They are the only companies that have shown any interest in me and I thank them very much for sticking with me when I wasn't doing quite so well.
In 2015, I plan to keep pushing hard at criteriums and in mountain biking. I would like to do some Enduro events on the mountain bike and get back to triathlon. You can expect to see me racing a little bit of everything next season. I'd love to get a new bike, but I doubt it will be in our budget. My Titus Racer-X is now eight years old and the Trek Remedy is nine. Even my Redline cross bike is eight years old. But they are all working so I will keep racing them as my legs are much more of a problem than their age. I did recently get some new MTB shoes for next year. I had been racing and riding in the same pair for over four years. They were worn out and uncomfortable, but it was all I had. I'll be rocking a new pair of Pearl Izumi's when the season starts.
Thanks again for reading and for all the support I get here on the blog. I hope some of my nonsense gets you motivated to go outside and do something fun. Look for a review of the year in pictures soon as we wrap up an awesome 2014.
I've written a few times about my bouts with hamstring pain since January when I was training heavily for a half marathon. For the most part, the pain went away as soon as I stopped running. I had maybe three days during the summer where it returned during a bike ride. The pain is always just pain. There's been no cramping or other symptoms. It has always felt pure nerve-related to me. Stretching my hamstring and performing femoral nerve glides reduced the pain. Each time the pain came during the summer it was gone within two days. It irritated me, but was not really a big problem.
I returned to running in October. I started with low mileage because I felt the pain had been due to a quick increase in mileage in January. Things went good for two weeks, then I had some mild pain in the same spot. All the work on my hamstring during the year had greatly improved my flexibility and reduced the compression around the nerve in the upper part of my leg. I was able to pinpoint the pain better this time, and now it feels it is coming from lower down my leg, below my knee. After some poking and prodding in that area, I found lots of muscle spasm on the lateral side of my lower leg. Massage from Shannon and on the foam roll took the spasms away and I was able to keep training, thinking I had a hold on it this time. I am now thinking that I have some sort of posterior compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome is where the fascia and muscles are too tight in an area. When you exercise and blood flow to the muscle increases, there is no room for expansion. The fascia, muscles and nerves are affected by the pressure of the increased blood present in the area. It makes sense that this could be my problem considering I have fought issues with tightness for as long as I can remember.
Things were good until the week after Rudolph's Red Nose Run. I had some pain and muscle spasm after the race, but again it went away with our treatment and was not a factor at the Red Kite/Halcyon Cyclocross. I did a very slow and short mid-week run with no pain. I also did my first strength workout of the season and was sore all over. Things were not looking good late in the week, but by Saturday everything felt good again so I embarked on my weekend double.
The double began on Saturday morning with a cold running race in Clarksville, the Claus for a Cause 5K/10K. The race was held at one of Clarksville's top CrossFit gyms, CrossFit Solafide, and raises money for a local charity that provides gifts to less fortunate children at Christmas. My attraction to the event was the flat and fast course. And the fact that I was still a little upset about not making the sub-20 minute 5K yet. This seemed like the best place for me to do it.
I felt great in warm-up. Today just felt like the day to tear it up. There were 147 runners on the start line. Both the 5K and 10K races started at the same time. It was a fast start, but not as fast as some of the other races I have done. I was 4th place overall early on and felt sluggish, which was quite the opposite of how I felt in warm-up. One young runner was out front by about 15 seconds after a mile and I was on the back of the first chase group of three. I passed 3rd place at one point, but he passed me back almost immediately so I dropped in line and got what little draft I could off him. We clicked off the first mile in 6:04, my fastest ever mile by one second!
The "flat" course was very challenging. It was gradually uphill on the way to the turnaround of the out-and-back course. I hit the turnaround in bad shape. I was fading quickly. My pace was now down to 6:24/mile. I needed to hold a 6:25/mile to go sub-20. Two of the runners ahead of me went on for the 10K at the turnaround, so I was now in 2nd overall. Only the young runner was ahead. He looked to be fading as well, so I held on to hope that I could catch him. Slowly, I started to eat into his 15 second lead. Shannon was out running on the course and gave me some motivation as I started the final mile. The course may have been gradually downhill now, but it was not even remotely close to being enough of a decline to allow for rest or help you gain speed. Running on a consistent grade was actually hard. I am used to going up and down hills, which changes the muscle groups used.
My leg began to ache slightly at 2.5 miles. It was not painful, but it was there. I was still slowly gaining on the leader and was now about 7 seconds back. My pace was down to 6:29/mile and holding. If I could pick it up just a little I could make sub-20! I pushed hard to catch the leader, but just could not get there before the last turn and start of the sprint. He still had 5 seconds on me as we started sprinting. My pace was still at 6:29/mile. I had stopped the bleeding, but was not gaining on my pace. I gave up on the sub-20 and just went after the win.The kid had a good sprint left and pulled away from me as we started our sprint, but then I started to gain. I was coming on too late though and he held me off by 4 seconds! I saw the clock as I was approaching the line and was astonished to see I was going to be close to the 20-minute mark. I crossed the line in 20:01. I couldn't believe it! So close to my goal! I am happy with doing my fastest 5K ever, but to be two seconds off my ultimate goal was a little disappointing. My average heart rate was lower today than at past races at 171, but I still hit 180 in the sprint so I know I had decent legs.
My leg felt ok right after the race. I had intended to ride home from the run, but the weather was still 34 degrees after awards with a stiff wind and a light mist falling. Not riding was a good decision as my leg began to hurt before we got home. I attempted to ride the trainer to spin the run out of my legs, but the pain quickly worsened. The afternoon turned into a massage and stretch session to get the leg good enough to race the Crossfire Cyclocross on Sunday.
We had a fun Christmas party Saturday night with the guys at Frank Miller Fundraising. They are the group that handles the cookie dough deliveries that I help out with when I'm not doing PT. I ate too much. The food was so good! I would say it was the best food I have ever had at a Christmas party. We had fun too, playing games that tested how well the employees knew each other. I was surprised that only two people knew I raced bikes. And I was surprised to learn things about others, like one races sports cars, one is a parole officer and another got banned from all high school sporting events in Tennessee for fighting in multiple games during high school.
I really do enjoy doing the cookie dough deliveries. I work with good people and the harder we work the faster we get done. My friend Austin and I usually notice funny things in the schools. Things like funny signs or things the kids have drawn. One school that was made up of all female teachers had a poster of Ray Rice on the wall in the cafeteria. After all the drama in the news about him hitting his fiance in the face, you would think a school full of women would have quickly taken that poster down. Yes, it is the little things that keep us entertained. One of the prizes available to the top seller in each school is a sno-cone machine. At the same school that has the Ray Rice poster, we had a 1st grader try to trade us a half-eaten chocolate chip cookie for the sno-cone machine. I'll have to give him credit. It was a bold trade and he sure was a smooth talker for a six-year-old.
Who taught these kids to write?
Ray Rice uses protein to keep him running...especially after he punches his fiance.
Shannon worked on my leg again on the drive home from the Christmas party and by the end of the night, I was feeling pretty good, but still a little scared that it would ruin my races. I had made it all year without having pain at a race and now it seemed that it would get the best of me in the last race of the season.
My leg felt good Sunday morning. Again this week, Singlespeed was the first race and Pro/1/2 was the last so I was going to be here all day. The Crossfire Cyclocross was held on a farm in Franklin. The course was short, but really fun. The layout featured some fast open sections, but also some challenging turns and obstacles. Most of the course was grass, with a few dirt sections thrown in. There was one pair of regulation-height barriers and also a pair of big logs to jump. And of course they found some mud to run us through. Overall, the course was dry except for the one mud puddle. And it got bigger and deeper as the day went on. The course also featured a section where we went through a barn which was a fun addition to the loop.
Crossfire course map
It was an easy warm-up for me before the Singlespeed race. I only did one pre-ride lap on the course to save my leg. Spinning on the road was much easier than churning my big gear around the course so I kept as much stress off the leg as possible. My strategy worked as I was able to race with no pain. I had a good start and was never farther back than 4th. Mike Edens got the hole shot, but then had a hard crash in one of the first tight turns. We shuffled a lot of positions the first lap. I was leading at one point, but then Justin Lowe passed me. I hooked onto his wheel, with Cayce Tiesler holding my wheel. The three of us had a small gap by the time we hit the barriers on the first lap.
SS and Juniors on the start line
I was the first to make a mistake out of our group of three. I hung my pedal on a steep dirt bank and it forced me to put a foot down and dab my way up the bank. Justin got a small gap here and then went all out to make sure we couldn't get back across it. I knew he was strong, so I upped my pace right away, gapping Cayce. I slowly pulled away from Cayce, but could not close down on Justin. He held 7-8 seconds on me the rest of the race. He had found a narrow line where he could bypass the first log in the pair of logs, while I was jumping both. I saw his line choice, but he was slowing down so much to squeeze around the log that I thought it was faster just to bunny-hop both. Halfway through the race, the ribbon was moved so he could not go around the log anymore. I was glad to see him have to jump both because he was slower going over two than one, but I don't know that I like them changing the course during a race. I have had it happen to me a few times and was not really happy about it.
I would gain a few seconds on the open sections where I could get my gear turning, then he would pull away in the tighter sections. As is usual with my gearing, I just couldn't accelerate fast enough out of the turns. The gap stayed basically the same despite all my trying. I pushed him all the way to the end, hoping he would make a mistake like I did, but he did not. Justin grabbed the win, while I took second. Edens wound up rebounding to take third ahead of Cayce. I held a 172 average heart rate and hit a max of 179, both of which are good numbers for me in a Singlespeed race.
SS podium minus Edens
I did a little cool down, then went to the car to get into some dry clothes. As I stepped off my bike I felt a twinge in the leg. I immediately went through my stretches and even pulled out my massage stick to try to loosen my muscles. I needed them to last one more hour!
In between races, I chatted with friends and watched some more racing. Justin went 2-for-2 when he won the CX 3 race as well. Eddy Taylor, Ben Howard and Pam Tanner were there again. I got to talk with them for a while and then watch them race. Tom Faerber also came out today. I have not seen him in about four years so it was great to catch up with him and watch him ride as well.
Me, Tom, Eddy and Ben
A rider goes through the barn during the CX 3 race
Cayce Tiesler on a SS mountain bike during the CX 3 race, his second of three races today
Justin Lowe hits the mud on his way to the CX 3 win.
Here's some pictures from the Masters race taken by Jeffrey Davis. The logs were a bit of a problem in most races.
photo by Jeffrey Davis
photo by Jeffrey Davis
Eddy rode them with a smile on his face.
photo by Jeffrey Davis
Eddy in the barn
photo by Jeffrey Davis
I had my best Pro/1/2 start of the year. There were only five of us, so I wouldn't have had to fight my way forward through much traffic anyway, but getting a good jump off the line always jacks up your adrenaline a little more. The favorite for today was definitely Jeremy Chambers. He has a been a little faster than me the past few years, but I feel like I have been closing it down recently. Today seemed like a good day to give him a run. I was on his wheel early, then lost two spots. I wasn't slowing down or getting gapped, I simply got passed by somebody that wanted to move forward. Peter Young was there on his singlespeed. He was at a disadvantage on that bike, but he did not race this morning so he had fresh legs. And I knew he would be a challenge for me because he held me all the way to a sprint finish in the Singlespeed race at the Red Kite/Halcyon Cyclocross last week.
Jeremy was like a rocket while the rest of us battled to be first chaser. Nago, Josh Lewis, Peter and I all swapped positions the first lap, with me finally emerging into 2nd by the end of the first lap. Jeremy had 5 seconds on me. I pushed hard on lap 2 to get to him, but lost more time. I was now 8 seconds back. My leg was feeling good so I kept pushing hard. Still, Jeremy slowly pulled away. He put 5-6 seconds on me per lap for the majority of the race.
By halfway, I was 30 seconds ahead on third place and began to focus on just extending that gap. Then my leg started hurting after 36 minutes. It never got bad, but it was there. I went into survival mode to ensure I took 2nd. My rear tire had felt soft the whole race. At first, I thought it was just in my head, then later I could feel the tire rolling in the turns. With 2 laps to go I stopped in the pits for a bike change. I didn't want to ride my singlespeed, but I had a big gap now on Peter in 3rd. I had lapped Josh and Nago at this point. Nago had been way ahead of Josh, but Josh had hooked on my wheel and I drug him all the way up to Nago where they then had a good battle for 4th. When I made my bike change, Josh came back by. He thanked me for the earlier help by pulling me around the last two laps.
I finished 2nd yet again this weekend, about half a lap behind the winner Jeremy Chambers. Peter was a good minute behind me in 3rd, while Josh took 4th and Nago 5th. I had fun racing the course, but really it was a boring race to watch. It seems that all the Pro/1/2 races are boring these days. We never have more than 5-6 riders and it seems we get spread out all over the course after just a lap or two. It turns into a time trial more often than not. The spectators always start out excited, but you can see their interest waning after two laps. By the end of the race, half the crowd has already left and those still there have their back turned to the race as they chat with friends. I sure wish we could get some more attendance at these local and regional races to put on more of a show.
Pro/1/2 podium
photo by Joy Chambers
Below is a little video I shot during the CX 3 and Masters races.
Crossfire CX race video
I was glad to make it through the day with minimal pain. The leg was a problem, but it did not change my finish position or ruin my day. I am glad to be on the podium, but three 2nd places in one weekend is annoying. I want to be on that top step again instead of best-of-the-rest. I was caught in the crossfire all weekend: in the crossfire of trying to train hard for two different sports, and in the crossfire of Justin Lowe and Jeremy Chambers.
The season is now over for me. I am not tired of racing mentally, but it seems my body is ready for a break. I am going to take a few days off to let my leg heal, them slowly return to riding with some base miles. I have had another nagging injury as well. I crashed after our night short track at Tour de Turkey. I was cooling down and not paying attention in the dark. I went through a ditch outside of our marked off course and went over the bars, slamming my seat into my coccyx. It hasn't affected my riding or running, but it is sore. It's amazing how many little core muscles attach to your coccyx. Every time I move I feel the soreness.
I did 58 races this year, so I guess I deserve at least a little time off! Thanks for reading and look for a wrap-up of 2014 to be posted soon.
Fixing my Racer-X turned out to be a little more of a job than planned. I was expecting to put a drop of epoxy on the cable stop, then rivet it back to the seatstay. That would have been easy...if the cable stop had been the same size as my old one. The replacement was much bigger and had the rivet holes in different places. With the help of my Dad, we lined up the front hole, then drilled a new hole to make the back line up. It scared me a little because I have never drilled out or riveted carbon before. Several mechanics assured me it would be fine. The old hole was filled in with epoxy and the new cable stop was riveted into place. I let it set in place under a clamp for a few days to ensure the epoxy set up correctly. Hopefully this weekend I will get to ride it for the first time...and hopefully everything holds up. I really don't want to buy a new seatstay for this bike They are not cheap.
Last weekend was a crazy weekend. It started off on Friday with Rudolph's Red Nose Run 5K in Nashville. It has become sort of a tradition for Shannon and I to do this race. I worked really hard to prepare for this year's event. I wanted to break the 20-minute barrier and finally get on the podium at this very competitive race. My only concern on race day was that I was doing this race after a rest week. Sometimes I feel terrible after a rest week. My body just seems to like being tired more than fully rested. But Tour de Turkey was tough and I needed some recovery time.
It rained all afternoon and continued to pour as we prepared for the race. The only good thing about the weather was a warm temperature. I did my warm-up in a downpour and was soaked immediately. My shoes are not the best for rain, as they have vents drilled all along the sole, making it extra-easy for the water to get to my socks and feet.
The rain stopped as we lined up. This race usually has around 1200 runners, but the weather scared away many this year. Still, over 400 runners took to the start line. I started about 30 from the front. The promoter put all the small kids on the front few rows. I understand that you want them to feel special and get to start at the front, but it is dangerous. There are some very fast and very serious runners at this race and making them run through a group of slower children who are running all over the road is just asking for someone to run over a child. Heck, you can't even see some of the smaller ones in the crowd because they are so short.
Rudolph's Red Nose Run 5K Course Map
It took me a while to get through the pack of kids. I tried to be careful while being fast. The course began with a flat section around the back of LP Field, then turned left onto Woodland St. for a climb up over the Cumberland River. I was in 7th overall as we turned onto Woodland. I could not believe I was that close to the front! I was still irritated though. I was the first runner off the back of the lead group. That seems to be my place at every race. I felt like I started slow, but I was holding a 5:33/mile pace as I started climbing the Woodland St. Bridge. I knew that was too fast for a course this tough. I wanted to finish fast today, so I backed off on this first climb to save a little for later.
The front group began to split. One runner was alone ahead of the rest and a few runners were coming off the back. I began trying to catch the stragglers, but was getting caught myself. By the time we reached the top of the hill, I was 11th. I then lost another spot as we turned onto 2nd Ave. and began descending. My plan for this race was just to hold on the best I could up the first two climbs, then gain time back on the descents. I remembered the descents being steep and you could almost fall your way down with a fast cadence.
The first descent was nowhere close to as steep as I remembered and I gained little time. I wanted to stay on a 6:20/mile pace and was already behind at this point with a 6:24. Then came the long climb up Broadway. In the past, we have climbed about 80% of this hill before turning around. This year, we did all of the hill plus a few hundred meters more on the other side before turning around. This hill destroyed me. I just couldn't settle in. My legs felt stale. I knew I was running hard, but I was missing that ability to dig deep into the red zone. I don't think I could have blown myself up if I had tried. I just couldn't go that hard today. The rain came back and pounded us all the way up the hill. I watched my pace slip down to a 6:43/mile by the turnaround. That was demoralizing in itself. I kept pushing hard though. I may not make sub-20, but I could still have my best 5K time ever.
I lost one spot going down the hill on Broadway, then gained one back. I was now running 12th and could see several runners who were fading ahead. The rain stopped again as I reached the third and final climb of the course over the steep Shelby St. Pedestrian Bridge. It is a shorter climb, but it is tough with a steep grade at the bottom. I gave it all I had up this one and did manage to push myself a little harder. The descent off this bridge is steep and I managed to gain some time down this one. I came up short of catching a group in front of me. Six of us finished within 15 seconds. I was 12th overall with a 21:09 time. My pace was a 6:49/mile. It was my fastest time ever for this race. I was disappointed to not get closer to the sub-20, but the course was way harder than I remembered. This is definitely not a place to go for a PR. I did achieve one goal however, as I made the podium in the 20-29 age group, taking second place. They gave us a nice mug full of tasty snacks. The winner was just ahead of me in the group I was chasing. So close! After the race, we watched the fireworks that kick off the start of the Nashville Christmas Parade, then headed home. The rain was starting again and I was not sitting out in it for a parade.
Once I got home, I downloaded my Garmin data and felt a little better about my effort. While I did not feel great in the race, I matched my effort from the Springfield race last month. I had the same average heart rate at 177 bpm, and maxed out one beat higher at 184. The data also confirmed that the Rudolph course is indeed harder. It featured double the amount of climbing as Springfield. So I guess my time was not so bad when you consider I was just 22 seconds slower while doing twice the amount of climbing in a rainstorm. I'm still not giving up on that sub-20. There's another 5K in Clarksville this Saturday on a course that is almost completely flat. If there ever will be a chance for me to achieve my goal it will be here at the Claus for a Cause Run.
Shannon also did Rudolph with me. She trained less this year than in year's past, but she still made it through the tough course and fought off the rain. She had bib number 276 and finished 276th with a time of 36:04. I'm hoping this will springboard her to getting back on the riding/running wagon that she fell off of when the weather turned cold. So far, I'd say the run helped as she has been up early a few days this week for some ride time on the trainer.
We were asked to help out with the Festival of the Nativity at the church this year. It's a three-day festival of Christmas and specifically the nativity that is open to everyone for free. It's a cool event as people in the community donate their nativity sets to be on display. There were many, many nativities on display this year. There was also an art room of nativity-themed pictures and paintings, a room themed as Bethlehem back in the day, a live nativity and multiple musical performances by everything from family and school choirs to renowned local singers.
Shannon and I were in charge of the costumes for the live nativity and for the Bethlehem room. We helped people get dressed which can be a challenge. Clothing from that time period was quite intricate with the many layers they wore. We found people to fill in for us on Friday night while we were at the run. Saturday it was all us. We kept all the volunteers straight and on task. That was a challenge as well. The live nativity people kept wandering out into the crowd. At one point, only Mary and Joseph were on stage. Shannon had to wrangle up the angel, shepherd and all three wise men. It kind of defeated the purpose of having a live nativity if they were off somewhere else walking around. We also staffed the Bethlehem room with merchants and Roman soldiers. That room sort of turned into the kid zone and was a zoo just about every time I walked into it.
The festival continued on Sunday and I missed the first few hours because I was back in Nashville for a race. This time it was for the Red Kite/Halcyon Cyclocross at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. We were literally right next to the Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville where the Music City Crits. took place back in the summer. It was a flat grassy field with one small hill to keep everyone at least a little honest. This was a first-year event promoted by a collaboration of two local bikes shops, Red Kite Bicycle Studio and Halcyon Bike Shop.
I not only underestimated the drive time to the race, but I also forgot there was a Tennessee Titans game going on as well. We had to detour around town to avoid game traffic. I got to the race very late, less than 30 minutes before the start of my first race, which was in Singlespeed. I like 45+ minutes of warm-up before a hard effort like cyclocross, but that was not going to happen today. After registering and changing, I had just 13 minutes to warm-up. That was enough time for one lap of the course and a few quick dynamic stretches.
Course map for the Red Kite/Halcyon CX
I was in no hurry off the start line. It was flat and windy. Chances are we would be drafting at least some in this race. Thirty minutes is not a long race, but it is long enough that you don't have to go all-out the first lap. Usually, I get a poor start and then build my speed up over the length of the race. I have been so close to winning a Singlespeed race, but can't seem to break through. I am always coming like a freight train at the end, but run out of laps. I guess that was in my head on the start more so than the lack of warm-up. I started slow, but was quickly into the top 5.
Singlespeeds and Juniors roll to the start
SS start line. I'm in all black on the green bike.
The group was slow 1/3 of the way into the first lap so I went to the front. I hammered one straightaway and found myself with a gap. Near the end of lap 1, I had a bigger gap, so I punched it. I didn't want to go hard so early, but I was not about to let them catch me so easily. I was going to make them earn that gap back into the strong wind. Peter Young came across the gap to me by the end of lap 1. The two of us pried open the gap even more in the early part of lap 2. The start missed the only hill on the course, so lap 2 was our first time up it. It was very steep and off-camber. There was a ditch to hop at the bottom that killed what little momentum you had coming into the hill, making it nearly impossible to ride on a singlespeed. At the top was a 180-degree left turn on the most off-camber part of the hillside. The descent down was off-camber and steep, leading you into another tight turn at the bottom. The camber and steepness made for some real carnage during the race. It was hard just to run up the hill and make the turn, let alone remount and make the turn at the bottom.
I was blown up by halfway through lap 2. My chest hurt and my legs were toast. I went out too hard. I kept waiting for Peter to pass me, but he stayed on my wheel. That was smart because I was doing all the work. But I was content to do the work. It allowed me to slow down to my pace and recover some. After two laps, I was still leading Peter with Jason Bolt chasing about eight seconds back. Lap 3 was even slower as I tried harder to recover. I felt like I was soft-pedaling, but my heart rate was not going down. Again, I waited for Peter to come by, but he did not. It was setting up well for me. If he had come by on laps 2 or 3 I don't think I could have upped my pace any at all.
We got the bell after lap 3. Jason was still about five seconds back, but made the junction to us as we started the hill. I ran it slow this time. I felt like I made a lot of mistakes the first two times up the hill because I ran too fast. I couldn't get my feet back into the pedals and was out of control going into the turn at the bottom of the hill. This time up, I remounted perfectly and made the turn with ease. I kept the pace low as I wanted to encourage Peter to come by now. I felt recovered enough to follow him and wanted him to do some work. Shannon had not come to the race so she could be at the nativity, but my Mom was there and she was yelling at me, "You're doing all the work!" But again, that's where I had wanted to be.
As the final lap wound down, I put in a few good digs on the windy sections to ensure Peter stayed behind me going into a set of large logs near the end of the lap. I no longer wanted his help. We had all been dismounting for these logs so far, but I knew I could bunny-hop them. I did it in that one pre-ride lap I got in earlier. I led us into the logs and hopped them both, them immediately went into a full attack. Peter was strong and he was able to close the gap down with a few turns to go. We had dropped Jason so it was now going to be a duel.
Me hopping the logs
On the attack now
My strategy now became to just go hard and make him pass me. My big gear was better suited to this course, but I was still a little slow coming out of the 180 turns. There was one just before the finish, but Peter did not take advantage of it. The finish was a slight uphill in deep gravels with one main line up the middle, then came a hard left turn onto pavement for a short 150 meter sprint. I punched it again just before the gravels to ensure I hit the good line first. I was going to make him pass me through the deep gravels or through the turn, neither of which did I think he could do. Peter was unable to get up next to me until we came out of the last turn. I saw his wheel briefly new to my back wheel, but that was as far up as he could get. It was an exciting finish and my first win in Singlespeed since my first singlespeed race way back in 2010.
It was that close.
As soon as we crossed the line, we congratulated each other. That really was a fun race. I enjoy being a part of exciting finishes like that. Peter put his arm around me as we spun across the grass. The first thing he said was, "Tell your Mom I'm sorry for making you do all the work." It was so funny! It is still cracking me up now just thinking about it. Apparently, he was going hard just to stay on my wheel, that's why he never passed me during the slower laps. There's a video posted below of our Singlespeed race thanks to my Mom. She was having a hard time filming in the cold. You can see her shivering a few times!
Singlespeed podium. I had already changed for the Pro/1/2/3 race before they did the podium.
Video: Singlespeed race
It was good to win, but that race really hurt my body. Pushing that hard without warm-up changed the way my body fatigued. I felt different. The legs were already burning and rather flat. I spun around between races to keep warm and to try to spin my legs back to feeling good. I was going to need another good start in the Pro/1/2/3 race to be able to keep up with the hot dogs that were in attendance. Andy Reardon, Johnny Brown, Jeremy Chambers and Craig Evans were all in attendance. Craig finally got a cross bike which will make him that much faster. My only hope was that he did the Masters race so hopefully he was a bit tired too.
I caught up with a few old friends between races, like Eddy Taylor from Clarksville. I grew up riding with Eddy at the local group rides, but now that I don't do the rides as often, we never see each other. I had fun cheering him on in the Masters race. He is getting the cross bug. It's fun for me to see someone else having so much fun out there. I also got to see my high school gym teacher, Pam Tanner. We were always scared of her as kids because she is so fit and ripped. She started doing triathlon and mountain biking right after I graduated and we used to see each other quite often at races, but lately she has not been racing so this was our first meeting in several years. It was good to chat with her and see her out there in the CX 4 getting the cross bug as well.
The weather had been nice all day, but the wind picked up and clouds moved in for the Pro/1/2/3 race. I had to add a layer of clothes right before the start to block out some of the cold wind. This course did not suit me against these stronger riders, but I was interested to see what I could do against them compared to the last few years. I had a good start, but the top three opened up a gap on the rest of the field almost immediately. I hit a stake in the second turn. Instead of passing riders to be able to cross that gap to the leaders, I was closing a gap on 6th place.
Andy, Johnny and Jeremy were the three that jumped out front right away. Craig and I had to take up the chase and were 4th and 5th after a few turns. I followed Craig early on, as he was hurting me on the power stretches. But he slowed after the log crossing and I went around him. We were a good 10 seconds back after lap 1. Jeremy Nagoshiner was hanging on Craig's wheel. It was three chasing three.
Johnny crashed on the hill the first lap, taking Jeremy down with him. That let Andy open up a nice gap on just the second lap. I did not attempt to ride the hill. It was safer just to run. I saw Johnny making it in practice, but he crashed just as many times as he made it. I tried it twice myself and wound up on the ground both times. The turn was too sharp and slick with that much camber. The course was even more torn up now with all the people running up it in the other races. There's a video below of our first time up the hill.
Video: Pro/1/2/3 first lap up the hill
Craig tried to ride it, but simply didn't make the climb. He gave up a second or two to me, but nothing major. He stayed with me on lap 2, but we did start to pull away from Nago a little by the end of the lap. After the fall up front, I thought I might could catch Johnny and Jeremy, but no way. They were way faster and were back to over 10 seconds ahead again. Andy took full advantage of their mistake and had pulled away to a 15 second lead.
Andy Reardon leads
Johnny Brown in 2nd
Jeremy Chambers in 3rd
Me and Craig Evans battle for 4th
I battled with Craig for another lap. I gapped him over the barriers and up the hill, but he pulled me back on the windy open sections. I gapped him again over the log crossing. He and I were both hopping the big logs, but I was doing it faster so I got away a little. Again, he pulled me back on the following power straight.
My goal became to just get rid of Nago for good and then see what happened with Craig. On lap 4, I gapped Craig over the barriers and then he fell on the hill. He was trying to ride it and it was not working out for him. I hit all my lines well that lap and turned my fastest lap of the race to get a 10 second gap on him. Like in the Singlespeed race, I was going to make him earn it into the wind if he wanted to catch me. By the end of lap 5, he was fading and I started to pull away. I was now comfortably in fourth, but the three leaders were pulling away from me. Andy was still leading at the halfway point of the 60-minute race, with Johnny chasing alone at 40 seconds, then Jeremy another 20 seconds back in third. I was a good 1:45 back in fourth.
Johnny Brown
Jeremy Chambers
Me
Craig Evans
In the second half of the race, I started trying to race the course. That's one thing that makes my practice races at home different from real racing. In a real race you wind up racing the competitors more than the course. I am a rhythm rider and getting into my groove against the course is better for me than racing a rider. I knew I had to stay on it or Craig would catch me. I kept pushing and kept pulling away from him. I felt like my speed was staying the same, but I was consistently dropping three seconds on my lap time every lap. I was fading. But Craig was fading too.
The last four laps I rode the hill. I had not planned to ride it, I just hit it hard one lap and the next thing I knew I was at the top and turning. The third time I even rode it without sticking a foot out through the turn. There was a big crowd on the hill and they were going crazy. Apparently, Jeremy and I were the only two that could ride it consistently. I think the key for me was gearing. In practice I tried it on my little ring. The gear was too easy and my power caused the rear tire to spin so I had less momentum at the top to swing out for the turn. In the race, I big-ringed it. The gear was tougher, but I was smoother at turning it over and the tire kept traction. I will keep that in mind at future races with tricky hill climbs. There's a video below of me making it smoothly, shot by Tammy Richardson.
My first time making it up the hill
Coming back down
Video: Dustin makes the hill
video courtesy of Tammy Richardson
Craig chasing in 5th
Andy won the race by almost a minute over Johnny. Jeremy was third and I was fourth. The last few years I have been lapped by these guys whenever I raced them. I was way back today, but far from being lapped. I was probably 3/4 of a lap behind Andy at the end. That's a long way back, but showing progress. I wound up being the last rider on the lead lap as Craig faded badly at the end and was caught by Andy. Some race footage is posted below, again thanks to my Mom.
Jeremy runs over the logs
Final lap for me
I finished 4th today.
Video: Pro/1/2/3 Men's race
It was nice to make a little money and race hard with some good riders. The course did not suit me and my legs were off after the morning race, but I did well considering. I usually can't ride with Craig on any course so beating him on this course was a good achievement for me. I had to rush home after the race. I dropped off the bikes at home then drove to Clarksville to assist Shannon with the end of the nativity. Sunday night went much smoother than Saturday. The volunteers stayed on stage and all costumes came back with all their parts. I had the good job of fetching food for our workers from the hospitality room. That job was nice because they fed me cookies too!
I have another double-weekend approaching with the Claus for a Cause 5K on Saturday and then the Crossfire Cyclocross in Franklin on Sunday. It will be my last run and last cyclocross of the year. I'm hoping for better legs at both since the rest week is behind me now. Thanks for reading!
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