And So It Goes

Wow. My last post here was in 2017 and was definitely typed on a laptop. That was one city, one job, one kiddo, and a whole heck of a lot of living ago. 

And man have things changed. I have two wonderful kids who a navigating having two homes like champs. I have a fantastic partner who puts up with my baggage. I work for an incredible shop with an amazing team of people who have my back. 

But some things haven’t changed. I still ride bikes. Less than before, but now with different purposes and goals. I still live in Appalachia, though a little further north than when I last posted. I still love to read, make art, and cook (and eat). Just have less time to do those things (except the eating bit). 

I have some goals for this orbit that we’re currently on. Be more present for my family and friends. Be less harried at work. Get back into better shape (process not outcome based goal). Make art more consistently. 

We’ll see how it goes. I would say that I’ll post here regularly, but the last time I did that it took me 7 years to write my next one. Maybe I can cut that down by a few this time. 

Dean

The last post I published was well over two years ago and was titled "Don't Screw Up". That has become a mantra to me now more than ever. A little over 9 months ago Jess and I welcomed a beautiful baby boy into our family. Dean is a chunk of a kid who loves to explore and get into trouble, which is how I imagine most 9 month old beans are. He lights up when Jess or I walk into a room and lights up our hearts when we see him after a long day at work or out riding. 

With him around though, "don't screw up" has a whole new meaning. He already repeats the sounds we make (including the tittle of the only Denis Leary song I know). He loves bicycles (especially their tires which are fun to chew on). And cords, he also loves electrical cords, which terrifies the crap out of me (I never realized how many cords we have around our house). Forget baby proofing, by the way, he just finds the next thing that isn't baby proofed, until your completely exhausted and forget to re-set the fastener on that started it all, and he's back in the hosier cabinet. 

Someday I would like to get back to posting on here roughly once a week like I did in the beginning. It keeps my mind sharp and lets me put the world into perspective for myself (and others, hopefully). With Dean around, I can only hope for once a month, which is much better than I have managed over the past 5 years.  

Don't screw up

Seven months ago I bought into a bike shop. It felt good. I was 27, owned part of a business, was married to a gorgeous and brilliant woman, and had a cat and a dog. Things seemed pretty strait forward. Don't screw up.

I did a few races over the course of the year. I messed up a couple of those. Crashed. Bonked. Didn't prepare enough. I finished all but one, and still won money for that one. Overall though a pretty good year on the bike. Don't screw up.

November was good. Awesome time spent resting and recovering from a long season. A great month at the shop. We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving in Cincinnati. I had some amazing rides without any point. It was a good month. Don't screw up.

December started well enough. Jess and I were hitting the gym. I was kick starting my training year. We made a trip up to Roanoke and Farmville to visit Jess' dad and my sister. And we screwed up.

We got sick. Jess had the worst of it so she went to the doctor and I kept working. And kept getting worse. And kept screwing up. Finally after a week of being sick, I went to the doctor. Two hours later the verdict was in. Pneumonia and some form of flu.

I screwed up. Now after a week of being stuck at home with short forays out into the world. I am starting to feel better. I still get tired easily. I still cough up a lung if I change the angle of my torso or the temperature of the air I am breathing.

I have effectively screwed up the beginning of my training season for next year. I messed up almost all of Jess' and mines Christmas plans (except for Christmas day itself). I put more pressure on my partners at a time of year when no one needs it.

The point of this rambling is this... growing up, being an adult, means screwing up. You make mistakes. You don't prepare quite right. You let your guard down. You get sick. What you have to remember is this. It's not about not screwing up. That is something that is easy to loose sight of when everything is going right. What makes life worth living is pushing yourself. Your going to fall down. And maybe that means that isn't the right path to go down. Or maybe it just means you need to go about it a different way or with more gusto.

So with everyone's favorite resolution day on the horizon, don't screw up... go for broke instead.

24 Hours of Rocky Hill

Well it's over. 24 hours of mountain biking in Texas. Good friends, good food, good trails. Horrible idea. But that is what we do.

Every year Jared and I did something stupid in college. Pre-dawn bike ride though Cincinnati. Check. 120 mile road race in Colorado on little training. Check. 24 hour race solo with no ultra experience. Check. XXC race after a summer of rehabbing from injury. Check.

Since we both left Damscus, it has been difficult to get together for these grand adventures. We both have done "stupid things" just on our own without the camaraderie of old. So this year I braved this Texas heat and dust and signed up for the 24 Hours of Rocky Hill. Jared has a history of doing well there. I was coming in not having raced a 24 hour race in 4 years.

Things started out pretty good with me leading the men's solo division and Jared sitting pretty in 2nd for the first couple of laps. I put in two of the fastest solo laps over the first two laps setting myself up for the fastest lap award. Unfortunately I paid for the effort and seeded first to Jared after a three or four laps. What I didn't know was at this point Jared's fork was blown and he was riding with a bottomed out fork. After a few laps we were riding together just as we were forced to turn out lights on.

Then Jared flatted. And flatted again. At this point my back and neck were beginning to go (note to self, work on core). So I did what any logical person would do. I went out do another lap (#10). It sucked. I ran off the trail a few times from sheer tiredness. I ran off one time because I simply couldn't turn the bike quick enough. So after what felt like forever, but was really about 2 hours, I dragged my sorry hindquarters back into camp.

By this point the eventual winner had passed Jared and I and wasn't slowing down. I was sore, tired, and dejected. Jacob attempted to get me back out on the bike. Jess even threatened me from afar. No use. I told Jared to take my bike after he dragged in from his 11th lap. I put on some dry clothes and passed out. 2 hours later, Jared walked into camp dragging my bike with him. Another flat. So we fixed it and both decided to see how we felt in the light of day.

Fast forward three hours and I felt like a million bucks while Jared's body was beginning to feel to pain of riding a hardtail without a working suspension fork. So I did what stupid people do. I headed out for another lap. Jared and I had slipped back to 4th and 5th overnight, but we still had a chance of staying in the top five. Until my body reminded me halfway through that last (11th) lap why I had gotten off the bike in the first place. I couldn't control the bike. Off the trail left and right. So I limped it back in and asked Jared if he wanted a go. Not a chance.

Jared and I both finished 11 laps, though by finishing his in 13 hours to my 19 he stayed ahead of me in the overall. Jared too 5th and fell to 6th by the 24 hour mark, but by that point we were enjoying delicious burgers and milkshakes a few miles away.

All in all I had a blast and can't wait for next years race. And maybe, just maybe 24 hour worlds a few weeks before that. Now that would be really stupid. Though maybe next year I will flip my number plate if I get 13.

Enjoy doing something stupid.

RIP Kobi

My family lost a very special member today. Kobi was our black lab/malamute mix who had been with us since 2001.

He traveled everywhere we went, usually in the back seat of Suburban with me. He had this nasty habit of letting really ripe farts rip hile back there. He also liked to sneeze in my face. For some reason Rex got her own row.

When we first got Kobi, we had a dog who would come by the River House on the weekends and hang out. He was a purebred black lab named Bubba. If Bubba's name was mentioned, Kobi would jump up and rush to the door to greet his best bud. Even years after Bubba had stopped coming by, Kobi would still perk up at the mention of his name.

Another word that Kobi learned quickly was "pumpkin." And then "p word." And then he finally figured out that if he stared down my mom around 8 pm he would get his heaping spoonful of canned pumpkin for dessert.

During my junior year of high school I came down with whooping cough. One night, after weeks of coughing until I threw up, I coughed so hard that I threw my back out. My phone was out of reach and my parents room was upstairs so I banged on the wall to get their attention (and maybe some ibuprofen). They never heard, but Kobi heard and came down. He knew I was pretty bad off, so he jumped up with me on the bed and curled up next to me. With him there I finally fell asleep.

My little cousin Mikayla grew up with a house full of dogs and cats, but one of her and Kobi's most endearing moments came when she was visiting us. She had straddled Kobi as he lay on the floor, half asleep. She then stuck both hands up his nostrils! Kobi didn't growl or move. He just opened his eyes looked up at me with the "please help me NOW" look. We got Mikayla off of him and he quietly got up and wandered over to the door to be let out, not wanting to deal with us humans any more.

As he progressed in years, he developed some breathing issues and arthritus. And he became about as deaf as door nail. This last issue made life with him all the more amusing sometimes. My mom sometimes wondered if he was deaf or just getting better at selective hearing. During my last visit home he did't hear us come in the house at 4 am. However, after a few minutes of us greeting mom and unloading the car, Kobi poked his head out the bedroom got a goofy grin on his face as he tried to trot over to me. He didn't move as well as he used to. He couldn't go out in the sun because it made his breathing worse. He didn't swim any more. But he could still welcome me home like an old friend.

So here is to an old friend, no longer with us. May you enjoy wherever you are as much as we enjoyed being part of your life. And may Bubba be there to greet you with a heaping dish of pumpkin. Go in peace my dear friend.

Back on the Bike

Wow... it's been over a year since I last posted and a lot has happened. I have attended my first national championships (ouch), given up on carbon bikes, changed jobs, and last but definitely not least, gotten married. I am sorry that I have not documented any of this for you.

After looking back at some older posts and re-evaluating why I write and what it means to me, I am going to change the track of this outpouring to follow my every day life a little more and my racing a little less. That makes a lot of sense seeing as how I am racing a lot less these days. The new purpose of this will be to talk about the life of a bike mechanic (thrilling), living in north east Tennessee (sometimes exciting, always tasty), and being a new husband (sometimes a challenge, but also always tasty).

On that first one I will write a little bit tonight. I have been working in bike shop for over seven years now in three different states, under four different store names, and six different locations. I have worked on everything from yard sale specials to 20k dream bikes. Dirty mountain bikes that are ridden hard and put away wet. Polished road bikes that never see the wet of spring. Triathlon bikes that have not so pleasant fluids relieved on them.

I would love to say that is a joy to work on all of them. That I get some pleasure out of making something that is not working properly, work fluidly again. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. There are bikes that I work on just to get their corresponding tickets off of my desk. There are bike the I get working to the point of good enough, because to get them working perfectly would just take too long or cost too much money. These can be Walmart bikes and they can be crazy carbon race bikes. Usually the first, occasionally the second. But then there are the good ones.

Every once in a while I get a bike handed to me that is special. It is not necessarily because it is a nice or expensive. Quite often these bikes look rough. Old. Worn out. Tired. What makes these special is that they are more to their rider than just a bicycle. These are the ones where the customers say, "Do whatever it takes." They don't care about the labor or the parts that need replaced. They just want their rides back.

I have a few of these bikes myself and it always wonderful to get back on them after they have been out for the count for a while. Everything just clicks. I find the perfect position on the saddle. My hands find my favorite place on the hoods. The cleats find the the pedals without a look down. Everything just clicks. Just like it should. And the ride. Oh, the ride. A weight lifts off of my shoulders and my legs feel fresh. The bike glides without any effort and responds to my every thought. Sublime. Perfect for the moment.

Enjoy the moment.

Let the games begin.

This Sunday I will start my proper race of the season: the Tsali Knobscorcher in Bryson, NC. I have had a great month and a half of buildup to this. And then today happened. I was off. Jess worked the morning. And I had now excuses to get out and ride. Except for the freezing rain. So now with the first race looming this weekend, I have fallen off of my great start. Oh well this is life.

Maybe tomorrow will be nicer.

Long time no post... again

Sorry to have neglected you all for close to a year. Life has gotten crazy and slowed down, and now gotten crazier again. I am at the start of a new race season and also at the beginning of an exciting new adventure... marriage. Yup. Jess and I will be tying the knot this coming Fall. 

I will try and update here every couple of week on how my riding and racing is going . You might even catch me rambling about wedding planning and such. So here is to another year and me being a better blogger. 

Cheers!

Bays Mountain Challenge

Had my first race of my "proper" season this past Sunday at Bays Mountain Park in Kingsport, TN. I had hit two OMBC races back in Ohio in the Spring, but had not tapered or prepared for them in any special way. This was my first target race of the year which kicked off my two months of racing nearly every weekend.

Being close to home and on a Sunday, Jess was able to sneak into the CAT 3 women's race and was on her way to winning the overall and her category when she missed a turn. 2 hours later after running out water and having to find her way back off of the mountain she rode up the gravel road to collect a nice goody bag of gear for her efforts. Hopefully the course will be a little better marked next time.

My race started off well enough with a great starting climb that pushed me into the top 8 or so. After a bit of gravel road antic we hit the single track were I began catching riders. That is until I felt my rear end begin the wander. After re-inflating my tire and sealing it I quickly caught the two racers who had passed me while I was fixing my flat, only to have the rear go out again. This time the seal seemed good, so I began hammering away and took back both positions I had lost and began catching more riders on a long gravel climb to the top of the mountain.

Slowly working my way through the field at the top of the ridge my heart sank as I heard the unmistakable hiss of air blowing out of my rear again. This time I was out of CO2 so had to turn and walk back to the finish line to pull out. Next time I will have better tires and a spare tube on me in order to finish what I had started.

This weekend brings two days of racing. On Sunday I will hit up the Knoxville SERC race. On Monday I will go back to Bays for revenge on a slightly shorter coarse.

I'll fill you all in next week.

The Fall

This coming weekend is my first race back since taking the time to make the move to Tennessee and start my new job. To say I am excited to get back to racing is a large understatement. My coach has specifically scheduled me to not stay up the entire night before the race. Like I would ever do that.....

In other news. I crashed last Sunday. Pretty hard. Slid a bit down a gravel road. Spent a good chunk of time lying in the road and on the side of it trying to get my bearings. Thankfully Paul has the presence of mind to carry a phone when he rides and Shelly has the unique ability to turn her phone on a minute after someone calls her. So Shelly and Paul hauled by sorry, skinned behind out of the woods and got me the proper materials to begin the mending process. Thank you guys so much.

I will post a detailed race recap on Sunday or Monday. Until then...

HAPPY TRAILS!

Hey all.

Just a quick update before I head to bead. Jess and I have moved to Johnson City, TN so that Jess can attend East Tennessee State University in the fall. I am working at The Bike Shop with some pretty cool people. And I am training my butt off in the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. I have never been in better shape in my life.

My first race back will be in a few weeks. Hopefully I will be more regular with my posting now that things are beginning to settle.

Enjoy the last few days of Spring.

Big News!

So I have a lot of big new since my last real post. I will list them in order of importance (to me at least).

I have a new bike. It is a Superfly Elite 29er hardtail that with my own personal touch weighs in just shy of 21 lbs. I will dedicate another post to breaking the build down and adding some photos to boot.

I have a coach. I have been working with a cycling coach since early December and am seeing some amazing results. It is going to be a good year on the bike.

Jess and I got a dog. Her name is Daisy-Mae. She is a 4 year old beagle/lab? mix who has enough energy to power our whole apartment (at least it feels that way when we walk her). She is an amazing trail dog that can hold 25 mph for at least 2 miles (decided to slow her down when she almost slid off the gravel road we were on). Her other favorite hobby is falling asleep with Jess.

I proposed to Jess yesterday while on a trail ride with her and the pup. She said yes (talk about butterflies in the stomach) and the ring fit, so we are now officially engaged. Let the wedding questions begin!

I will have some more big news in a couple of weeks and a first race report in 3 weeks. I hope you all have had an awesome winter and spring. Bring on 2012!

Off to Frost Bike

Hi All,

I am heading out tomorrow for Minneapolis, MN for Frost Bike. This is a 4 day long trade show put on by the largest vendor of bicycle parts and accessories in the US. So, in other words, I will be ogling all the new toys and technologies while freezing my butt off in the colder portion of the Mid-West. The night I get back to Cincinnati I will turn around and drive to Cleveland to hit up Ray's indoor park for a day. Then a day of work and Jess and I head back to Roanoke.

I will try and post some pics and some of the exciting news that I have been keeping the lid on over the past few months.

Catch you on the flip side.

Damascus, VA: Help us win Coolest Small Town!

Hi all,

Just found out that my adopted home town of Damscus, VA has been nominated for the Coolest Small Town in America award. And has made it to the final 10! Now it is up to us to raise the votes needed to win this  award. Bellow is a brief description of the town.

Damascus, VA

(Population: 1,066)

It calls itself Trail Town, USA, and the title is no hyperbole. In addition to the fact that Damascus’s main street runs on top of the Appalachian Trail, the town serves as a crossroads for a half-dozen wilderness and cultural pathways. The town commemorates its unique location with an annual Trail Days celebration in the spring that gathers hikers and other outdoorsy types for three days of free concerts, film screenings, and, of course, guided hikes. For tired travelers looking for a touch of comfort, the 12-room Damascus Old Mill overlooks Laurel Creek and is a stone’s throw from the Virginia Creeper Trail—no one rests for long around these parts! For an extra pick-me-up, there’s always Mojoe’s Trailside Coffee, whose “trail magic” drink mixes espresso, ice cream, and caramel into a sweet concoction for a burst of quick energy.

So get over the following link and vote for Damscus!

America's Coolest Small Town 2012

Happy New Years!

Just wanted to say Happy New Years and a big thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past season. Everyone who reads this blog, encourages me at work, pushes me in training, keeps me awake on the drive to races (Chris, Luke, Jess, Jacob), and supports me in any other way... Thank You!

Also if anyone is interested in a great photographer, Dave Witt, one of my coworkers took this shot at the Harbin Park UCI race. 

Winter Hibernation

As you all have undoubtedly noticed... (or not)... I have been quite delinquent in my posting the past few months. I have had a few races (more on that later), a little travel, a cold, an injury, sold a bike, bought a new one, and completely procrastinated on this whole Christmas shopping thing. As usual.

First off- racing. I wrapped up both the DInO and OMBC series. My last race in the DInO series was a giant blowup. We ran flat out for 21 miles with no let up. Halfway through the second lap I was running second when I just ran out of steam. Had I raced more conservatively I could have held on for a podium, but instead I went for broke and wound up one step out of the prizes.

 My last OMBC race went much the same, except for the fact that I didn't eat breakfast before the race. And my left foot and calf cramped. And I wound up two steps off the podium. The good news out of both of these races is that I preserved my finish in both series. 1st in CAT 2 19-29 for DInO. 5th in CAT 19-29 in OMBC. Not bad for my first real season of racing.

I have also jumped into a few cross races. A ton of fun, but no results worth mentioning. That's what cross is for me though, the fun of racing without the stress.

As usual, for my sisters birthday. Only this time, I came back home with a sprained foot and ankle. From stepping in a hole. While spinning my cousin around by her feet. And dropped her on her head. She's ok. I am still limping around two weeks later.

And I still need to do my Christmas shopping. So with that I am leaving you all for a few weeks. At least. I'll have some exciting news on the other side of the holidays tune back in.

A long two months

It has been a while since I posted last, around two months actually. Longer than I would like, but life gets in the way sometimes. Over the past month I have raced in a handful of races, picked out a fourth place and a fifth place in two highly competitive races in Indiana and Ohio, raced (and stayed upright) in my first cyclocross race, and fell in love with road riding all over again.

There comes a time towards the end of every Summer that I get burned out on riding. I still enjoy going out for a romp in the woods, but I can't stand to go out and train on the road. It usually hits me late August or early September and last for a few weeks. This year it has taken me a full 5 weeks of not touching my road bike to get it out of my system. Last Tuesday Justin talked me into a hilly little route around Mitchell Memorial Forrest in Cincy. 34 miles and 2300 feet of climbing later I was back in love with skinny tires. The next day was my last group ride for the year with one loyal customer showing up for a pleasant evening ride. And Friday morning began our weekly staff ride. All in all it the perfect time of year to be on the bike. Brisk mornings that call for arm warmers and vests. Warm afternoons that leave you exhausted, but not soaked with sweat.

Last Thursday also brought about my first hike in quite a while. Jess and I headed down to Red River Gorge, KY for some hiking and light bouldering. Here is a shot of the Double Arch that we climbed up and around.

After that amazing week, I capped it off with an awesome dip into cyclocross. What a hoot. 30 minutes of all out racing in the mud and grass with piles of logs and barriers to run over... whats not to like as a spectator or a racer. Besides the lung searing, leg tearing pain of it all for the racer. All in all I had a blast and moved up form dead last (39th) to 19th over the course of 4 laps. Next time I will get a call up somehow and try and get a top ten. 

Well time for bed. Enjoy the awesome Fall!

One edit before I hit the sack: I took the Doing INdiana Outdoor (DInO) Series 19-29 Cat 2 championships for 2011! Should be getting a jersey sometime this Winter. 

Brown County riding and Soulcraft video

Over the past 8 days I have logged four days, 10.5 hours, and over 90 miles at Brown County. One ride came in at 27 miles and 1700 feet of climbing. Another included 32 miles of single track and over 2700 feet of climbing. For those of you who haven't ridden Brown County, make it a priority (if you happen to be in the Mid-West). BCSP offers everything from beginner friendly low climbing routes to trails like Green Valley that are like an extended pump track along a ridge line to routes like Hesitation that drop you several hundred feet with rocks and roots to bounce off of. Probably the best part about BCSP is that on weekdays there is hardly any trail traffic. Weekends sees a bit more use, but as far as I have seen, there are never too many people to ruin the experience.

For those of you who will never get out to Brown and hate me for sharing about this gem that is so far away here is a neat little movie from the guys at Soulcraft Cyclery.

FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.


Enjoy!

Full Service Racing/CORA- Revenge of Mt. Mother- Harbin Park

This was a race that wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't going to race, but I have found over the past couple of months that the best way to train for racing is to race. So I drove out to Harbin and met Chris and his friend (and photographer) Randy. It was a surprisingly nice day... not too hot or humid.

For those of you who have never been to Harbin Park, here is one racer's description, "75% uphill, 5% level and 20% downhill." That pretty much sums up the course. Mt. Mother is a steep (some have measured it out at over 20%), loose, rutted beast of a hill that has a short, equally steep and loose run in. Each lap came in around 5 miles with a little over 500 ft of climbing. The cruel and unusual gang at Full Service Racing (ahem...Phill...ahem) put on the show, much like their wildly successful Hueston Woods race (a race I observed from a hammock atop the longest climb).

Chris was to race two laps while I was in for three laps of torture. My goal was a good workout. I let almost everyone go ahead of me down the grassy slope and into the single track. Slowly I picked up my pace and began picking people off... not in order to move up, but instead to go faster. I began catching some of the earlier waves towards the end of my first lap. I just kept chugging along passing people, hoping for the end, hating my lack of handling skills, passing more people, praying for the wretched race to be over.

Then I finished. I find finishing races very anticlimactic. There are rarely people cheering for you. Occasionally someone says your name over a loudspeaker. You find a nice patch of grass (hopefully near a water cooler) and lay your bike down and drench yourself as you try and consume as much water/Gatorade/recovery bar as possible in the short window that athletes have to stuff their faces after exercises. Harbin was no different. I rolled over the Chris (Mt. Mother + recovering knee = not good), sat, talked, drank, ate, drank, talked with random racers and friends, and drank some more.

Phill called us all over for hoagies and awards. Chris and I weren't expecting anything, but somehow, during my hour and forty minutes of suffering I had passed everyone in my age group save for one hardy soul. The photos throughout this post are courtesy of Randy. It is now time for me to hit the sack and get ready for my second trip to Brown Country in three days! I will post some thing about said trips in the next few days.

Kenda DInO- Versailles State Park

Hot. Everything about this race screamed hot. A fair bit of climbing, dusty trails, humidity through the roof in the woods. Hot. In the shade my Garmin was reading 92 F. That's hot to be forcing yourself to ride at your limit for an hour and a half.

But that is what we got at Versailles this weekend. Jess somehow had the day off so we drove out and met Chris at 7:20 in the morning to set up our pit area. Nice canopy and rocking folding chairs thanks to Chris (btw... rocking folding chairs are on my Christmas wish list- they are the perfect post race chill spot).

My race went off first at 10 am. We had about 10 or 12 guys in my start wave. I had pre-ridden the first mile of the course and felt very confident in my tire selection. Bontrager XR 0- a light tire with very little tread, but great roll. From the bullhorn (we don't use guns to start races here in the Mid-West) I jumped in to second place for the fist single track section. At the first gravel road crossing about 600 m into the race, I nearly took out some spectator by sliding out under the tape. Evidently my tire choice wasn't too hot.

For the rest of the race I was second guessing my line choice and sliding through turns like I was riding a road tire on ice. I had guys passing me left and right on some of the tight descents. I always caught and passed them on the fast flowing sections and the long climbs, but would give my advantage away at any sort of technical descent.

On the last fire road climb and subsequent single track slog, I build up a decent lead over what I assumed was sixth or seventh place. I then descended the rock garden to the finish line like there was not tomorrow. I didn't bother resting my index finger on my brake lever, just gripped the bar and let the bike bounce.

I gave this race more juice than I have ever given a race. I just let it all hang out there and ripped the climbs and the last few descents. Evidently that payed off, because I wound up placing third in my age group and start wave, which should bump me up nicely in the DInO overall. Here is me at the finish line, just thank full to be upright and done.

After about an hour of cooling off, Jess and Chris started their respective races. Jess met a few trees and rocks along the way, but ended the race with a nice sprint. Chris met a kid who couldn't quite stay on the trail, but never the less raced to a nice 2nd in the intro class. Looks like it's time to cat up! Here's Jess ripping the first section of single track.

For Chris' take on the race check out his blog @ Will Climb for Downhills.