Knoxville Cycling Blogs

These pictures go from most current to the oldest. Of the oldest is the PUJ tub. An awesome bathtub that is collapsible and fits easily in the sink. Perfect for any newborn. Low is now taking baths in a bigger tub but the PUJ is highly recommended!

Yep that’s seven Makulus.

So Wednesday evening I met up with Devin and Brandon to do a few laps at Duncan’s. Brandon is a top B racer and quite quick. I have, sort of, ridden behind hind him before and I was stoked to do it again. I could hang with him, temporarily. Then the mistakes I was making and he wasn’t put time between us. I was never far behind, but it was obvious he’s much faster. Its funny when you ride over your head you tend to react and not think too much. That is a good thing.

I know, I know seems a little late to be speaking of that race still but I feel obligated to a least make a stab at a real race report even though it is mostly just for Tarik. He was the inspiration for the whole SS thing and continues with the best race reports/recaps ever.

Everyone knew it was going to rain in large quantities it was just a matter of when. Drive down Friday afternoon saw sunny skies and warm temps. Set up camp and checked in with ease, ate dinner and at some point the drops started hitting the tent. Thought alot about whether to race if it was full-on raining at the start and decided to wait and see. Morning brought wet ground but no rain as the pre-dawn ritual of eating/drinking/getting your crap together to ride in the woods all day started. Got to the start and still no rain- this was good. First trail is Brush Creek known for being soft after rains, however we were greeted to wet but firm trail surface- thank goodness! Rolled on and back to the WWC and more trail then rest stop #1 before the gravel/dirt suffer-fest started. Things were looking good, peeps of sunshine even, but I knew it was coming sooner or later. I hoped to make it to the mid-point of the race, which is also the highest elevation as well, before all hell broke loose. Climbed and climbed forever, started getting foggy but still no rain. Rolled through rest stop #3 pretty quick, with one more climb to the top before VERY long downhill. First funny person I met up with was some geared fool who when I caught said "where is the f-ing top?!" I just laughed as I passed and said "soon come" and thought " if you looked at the elevation profile at all (dumbass) you would realize there was one more UP before actually being at the top" Oh well. He caught up just as the big dh was getting ready to start as I was getting the jacket on because the rain had to be coming soon and the dh long enough that if I got wet and cold I would have died for sure! He rolled up and it literally started with light rain and some thunder and he actually said " I can't believe its f-ing raining! Do you think they'll call it (off)?" Again laughter from me and all I could think was "No, it's not a baseball game..." Then as I pedaled off thought " did this guy not look at the weather, they have predicted doom and gloom all WEEK and we should feel lucky to have ridden for 5 HOURS with NO RAIN (moron)!" More laughter, big downhill started, VERY fast fire road and then it really came. Hard rain and wind almost instantly and even though I was off the top of the ridge proper, still at pretty high elevation. Sideways rain, wind blowing me across the dirt road, can't see anything- it was fantastic and truly epic weather. Down forever and finally to safer elevations but rain continues. Rode on and up the climbs back towards the WWC and really started getting tired at the 80 mile mark. Just kept pedalling and knew at least that the last 10 were on singletrack and at least that would be fun. Last real climb up the trails, Alex from K-town caught and passed me with the "I'm almost done and happy buzz even though I've been riding all day" At first I was disappointed because I really wanted to be the first one back from K-town, but I was so tired that I didn't care. He also said " oh by the way, you just got passed by a 60 year old dude with a broken collarbone" What? I guess it was the guy that had just gone past before Alex that was climbing strong and muttered "what up dawg?" when he passed me. Crap. Got to the singletrack and it was in terrible shape- monsoon rains and lots of traffic made what was normally fun, an exercise in just staying upright. Finally got to Thunder rock, the last downhill and it was still fun- knowing I was almost done and in somewhat better shape. Safely down and then up the side of the highway into a 20mph headwind to finish- Ouch! Finished in 8 hours and 50 min. only 9 min. slower than last year which was under PERFECT conditions. Pretty darn happy with that and was very glad to get into dry clothes and sit in my car with the heat on! Waited for ED in the car and shot that video as he was finishing ( 11 and 1/2 hours!) and then we waited for T-flo, hoping he was o.k. and sure enough he finally came in and true to team ed tradition (mostly ed) he missed a turn near the end and probably did an extra 10 miles still finishing in just over 12 hours- well done T-flo! Eventually a real shower at the campground and since cooking at the very wet campsite didn't seem like a fun idea, we drove to Ducktown and had some thickburgers because that is all there is in Ducktown and they were SO good! Drank a few beers back at camp and finally went to bed (there was a brief respite from the rain around dinner). Got comfy in the tent and then the REAL rain came- harder than the hard rain we raced in. All. Night. Long. Hats off to the MSR hubba as I stayed dry all night- best tent ever! Of course, Sunday morning the sun was out and it was beautiful.

Next up 12 hours of Tsali, a week from Saturday.

When you love what you are talking about and you care about the audience, it is amazing how easy it is.  That is coming from one who used to have horrible GI issues prior to giving speeches.  I think the kids were pretty excited today and most seemed to be paying attention.  Zeke, Bruce, and I had the kids rotate through several show-and-tell stations after I gave an opening presentation.  Coach Davis did an awesome job making sure the groups moved quickly and smoothly through.  We began promptly at 9am and ended right at 10:55am, so we did not interfere with the lunchroom schedule.

I talked about the importance of exercise and nutrition.  Zeke discussed 24 hour racing and how the boys need to properly treat and respect the girls.  I even think he mentioned a paddle.  Bruce talked about bikes and safety.  Coach Davis manned the fourth station which showed a DVD of the 2009 TransRockies.  Amazingly, the kids got into that and did not want to leave when their time was up.

The funniest question/discussion was with an 8 year old girl.  It went like this:

• Girl:  How old are you?
• Me:  41
• Girl:  Oh my God, you are older that my mamaw! (Southern for grandmother).
• Me:  Really?
• Girl:  No offense.
• Me:  None taken.  (This whole time I was doing the math.)

The hardest question to answer:  Do you like being a veterinarian or a mountain bike racer?  I took Carly's way out and said both.  And of course there were the usual ones.  How many broken bones?  How many bikes do you have?  What is the furthest you raced?

If I was able to reach just a small percentage of these kids, my mission is accomplished.  Hopefully, the next time one goes grocery shopping with their Mom, he/she will say, "You know Mom, the healthiest food is on the perimeter of the store."  Or, "Dad, please come outside and play with me.  Dr. Lowery says I need at least 60 minutes of outdoor activity per day."  Or, "Pass the broccoli please."

I will be going to City Park next week.  In the meantime, I need to pound the pavement pretty hard as I am still well short of my monetary goal.

In other news, I did get the Specialized grant for some bikes, helmets, and gloves to give as prizes for the Guess How Miles I Will Ride in 24 Hours contest.  Thanks to the gracious donations from Citizen's National Bank, Athens Federal Bank, Southeast United Bank, and Jackson and Runyan C.P.A.'s, I will be able to purchase the remainder of the prizes needed.  Thank you everyone!

REMINDER!  TONIGHT! women’s-only bike maintenance class.  @ TVB. 7:30pm.

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO RIDE TO THE CLASS IF YOU CAN!  SEE YOU TONIGHT.

The 2nd Annual Poker ride was another success. Thanks so much to everyone who came out and rode, laughed and rock n' rolled. The sponsors stepped up and there are so many people to thank: Earth Fare, New Belgium Brewing Company, Jeremy Walker and Eagle Distributing, Sugars Ribs, Hard Knox Pizzeria, Bearden Beer Market, Kona Bikes, Tennessee Valley Bikes, Harpers Bikeshop, Cedar Bluff Cycles, Fountain City Pedaler, Bike Zoo, River Sports Outfitters, Jay and Jen for working the Hastie Park Checkpoint, Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-A-Way and the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club members for having fun and raising money! Additionally, others donated their personal resources to make this happen Eric Nelson and Brian Hann. And I received an outpouring of thanks too, so it's obvious this thing is here to stay.
So I took some steps to remember everything involved in putting this thing on. I made a list that will be very helpful next year.
So with all that said, here's a few more pics:

Left work early (3:45) because I stayed to 6:30 on Friday evening. I had to swing by Tennessee Watercraft to pick up some hardware to debug for the never ending project. On my way home I swung by Haw to get in a as much riding as I could before the rain. I have replaced my U-Turn Lyrik with a solo air version that also has the new Mission Control DH damper. I have never been super impressed with the Mission control damper. It didn’t have enough low speed damping and just seems over matched for anything high speed. The new DH version is much improved and to my extreme delight actually has low speed damping. No more brake dive and blown corners! Unfortunatelly I got the 170mm version because Richard had one lying around. I know how to drop the travel down to 160mm and I will be shortly. Couple the 170mm with an additional 1.4 degree slacker head angle due to my prototype Cane Creek slacker headset this bike was a terrible climber. But on the downhills it was just like my DH bike. Of course this bike has little use at Haw Ridge, but since I got rid of my Shova its my XC bike. I still don’t regret getting rid of the Shova in lieu of the Mbuzi, but I’d give it all up for a 4″ Shova. While its immense over kill for Haw and the like, this bike does allow me to train well for DH racing. Muscling and pedaling this bike at a place like Haw prepares me well for riding my DH bike at places like the TTC and even Snowshoe. It works well for 1 hour hammer fests. Stay out of the seat, hammer the corners and bomb the DH sections.

Check out the fork compression.

Monday: press 175# push press 210#
WOD 5rds200m run10 dips10 pullups6:31

Tuesday: am) Back squat 205# 5x4
WOD 3 rds600m run25 GHD back ext25 GHD sit ups13 mins and change
pm) hill repeats at concord 6 x 90s on 90 secs off
then trail run with Heath and rugby guys 35 mins
Wend: OFF
Thursday: 3x3 front squat 185#
WOD 2 rds 30 sec on 30 sec off53# KB cl and press rtKB cl and press wall balls
2 xtra rds30secs each exercieKB cl/press lft then swings then rt thn wall balls
Friday: am) clean and jerk 195# 6x1
4 100m sprints
20 tire flips
pm) SS ride with Mark at Haw ridge
Saturday: 1:30 poker run ride
Sunday: 3 hours at Foothill Parkway

Saturday Geritt, James and I headed down to the Trials Training Center to compete in a small grass roots race. They held a race there last year and it was a sloppy mud fest with lots of pedaling. This year’s course had been rerouted and was a marked improvement. In fact it had enough burl added to warrant a full on DH bike to do well. I’m glad I took my Makulu and not my Mbuzi. The open class did a combined time format, which was fun and unique. It rewarded consistency over a ‘lucky’ run. I finished 4th behind Geritt, Ethan, and Matt Griffin. Matt has been so close for a long time and its good to see him win some money. I was happy however that I beat Chris Wyatt who finished 5th. He is a natural pinner and I am always happy to beat him. I had a slow, consistent first run. I haven’t been on my bike a lot this year and haven’t done many ‘race’ runs so I was a little too conservative. On my second run I opened it up a little and was much happier with my effort. However I ran up on a dislodged rock and came off the bike. It wasn’t a full on crash but it slow me down quite a bit. Eventhough, I think my second run was faster than my first run. We’ll see when the full results are posted tonight.

Then on Sunday Geritt and I did some training runs with the new Junior on the team Max Morgan. It was his first time at Windrock and he did great. I was impressed with his abilities to sight read trails and not get scared.

Here's the owner of the company I work for rocking out at Harper's:

This second annual event organized by Thomas Gaines is sure to be an adventure!  Check points including our shop are to be reached from Earth Fare in Bearden starting at 12 noon Saturday 5/8/2010!  We will be grilling burgers, playing corn hole, and maybe some frisbee golf here at the shop!  Cold beverages too!  The event will end at Earth Fare with a post-ride party!  There is a raffle to win prizes and/or a bike with a $5 ticket entry that benefits the AMBC Club!

http://www.ambc-sorba.org/

The Burn 24 Hour MTB Challenge will soon be upon me.  Since I decided to do this, I have been told more times than I can remember how crazy I am.  Yep!  Go ahead and certify me.  All I wish is to do the best I can and have my feet survive.  The last 24 hour I did, my feet went numb for a month.  Well, Eddie of Wobble-naught fame has since improved upon my cleat placement so I am hoping that will do the trick.

Coach has got my body dialed in.  Too bad I couldn't pay her to do all the rest of the crap that is necessary when racing solo for 24 hours.

This past week has been pretty busy in preparation.  I can so far check these off the list:

1. Bikes dialed in.
2. Burn times for lights established.  (Coach loaned me lots of batteries!)
3. Pit tent waterproofed.
4. T-shirts for pit crew acquired.
5. Lodging reserved.
6. First draft of nutrition plan complete.

Unfortunately, the list of what I have yet to do seems 4 times as long.  No worries, tho', as I am sure everything will fall in place in due time.


Next week I am headed over to the Dark Mountain Trail to do another 8 hour dress rehearsal.  Then I am going to hook up with Kip and Co. and ride the other trails in that area.  I have heard numerous times that they are da' bomb!

Also happening next week is my presentation to the student body of Ingleside School.  Some talking followed by some show-and-telling should keep the kids interested!

I dialed Stumpy today in on the Haw Ridge trails.  They were in superb shape; a lot of maintenance and bridge building has been going on since the last time I was there.  Check out the Friends of Haw Ridge on Facebook!

So some things feel through for a moto ride yesterday afternoon. I had my bike all loaded and just staring at me all day while I worked. So after the cancel Meghann could tell I was bummed, so she offered to have her mom keep Wyatt for the night and we could have a date night. I was stoked! I got home and I mowed the front yard and we were off to Haw Ridge for a mtb ride. The dirt was still a little soft from previous rains, but its was plenty grippy. We rolled around for about an hour and headed off to get some dinner and maybe catch a movie. After a stop at Home Depot to buy some house necessities, we ate at Sonic and went to the 10pm showing of Kick Ass. We got home around 12:30 and had a great night. Thanks Meghann.

Rules:

Sign in by giving us your email address and contact info.
We will do a mass start.
Please use courtesy. Be safe.
This is a game of 5-card-Poker.
You will be given a list of checkpoints, this will be your spoke card.
At each checkpoint you can draw a card.
There are 6 checkpoints.
You can get as many or as few as you want. (If you get 3 aces, in the first three stops, you have a good hand.)
If you get all six, play your best 5 cards.
If you get all six checkpoints, you get a bonus card at the finish.
At each checkpoint, have your card stamped and write which card you drew next to the stamp.
Your spoke card will represent your hand.
All hands will be played at 5:00 pm at Earth Fare, where there will be food on the grill.
Prizes will be given out across the street at Bearden Beer Market, where there will be food on the grill.
Prizes will run at least 10 deep.
Poker rules apply.
Have a blast.
Buy a raffle ticket for a chance to win a bike. ~ Kona, Humu.
Poker ride pint-glasses are for sale, proceeds benefit the AMBC trail building effort.
Raffle drawing will be done after prizes are given for ride.

Tommi has feel in love with MTB'ing...and I love her more for it! She took to it like a duck to water. This lady never ceases to amaze me! She ran Kiwah Marathon in Decemeber and has had some ITB issues so the MTB was a nice change of pace. She has also started to train at THE crossfitknoxville.com...She has turned into my little training partner.

A couple months ago, I decided it was time for another cat.  Carly had been wanting one since Angel had died last year.  With spring upon us, I figured now was as good time as any and there would be a bigger selection.  I had not been fervently searching, but just waited for one to "fall in my lap."  For me, those are the ones that turn out wonderful.  It is hard to really know what you are getting into when picking a kitten and I did not want to get stuck with a "demon from hell."

So last week, Carly spent the night with Stefanie while I was racing Syllamo.  I asked her if she would check her barn loft for any kittens as I knew that "old broken leg" was residing there and it was kitten season.  Amazingly, when they did check, they found four 5 week old kittens that did not hiss, spit, and run away, but came right up to them unafraid.  Now that was a sign!  There were 2 tabbies, 1 torti, and 1 orange.  Another sign as our favorite cat color is orange.

We picked Sunshine on Tuesday night.  Using my amazing motherly powers, I was able to get Carly to change his name to Sully -- he he!  He is currently residing in Carly's bathtub while we transition him to the litter box and solid food.

It has been since 1988 since I have had a kitten.  A kitten is a lot of work and responsibility, especially if you want them to turn out right.  So I made Carly sign a contract.


No, not cruel and unusual, but responsible.  Although, as I was writing this up, I was thinking, "And I thought my parents were hard on me!"  I think I just one-upped them.  This has already gotten Carly off on the right foot.  She has been an excellent mother, going to bed just a wee bit later and getting up a wee bit earlier to take care of Sully.  She is doing all of the above and then some.  She has even been wiping his bottom after he eats to stimulate him to pee and poop.  It has made me very proud to see her in action. (Don't tell Carly, but I have already gotten attached to the little bugger, so he won't be going anywhere.)

I have also decided to apply this whole virtual pet Webkinz thing to the real world.  Sully will be Carly's financial responsibility as well.  I purchased the first bag of food, litter pan, litter, and toy.  But from now on, she will buy what he needs.  She will be able to earn money by doing chores around the house, i.e., vacuum, dust, unload dishwasher, weed the flower beds, etc.  Charlie wanted lawn mowing and washing/waxing his truck, but I do think she is a bit young for that.  Sorry, Charlie!

I guess I will see how this experiment unfolds.  Should be exciting!