A day in the life of me.

Season wrap up

2011-11-30T21:20:00.016-05:00

Wow.Has it really been August I posted last?Amazing how time flies.Believe it or not I have done a few races in between then and now.Since my last post here the only races I did were the last few races of the chain buster series.Since I've raced every race since it's inception it's hard to miss a race when this series is going on.I actually have two streaks going;the chain buster series, and also the snake creek gap series.I haven't missed a race at either of these events in the last six or seven years.

The last chain buster race I posted anything about was the second race of the six race series,and it was at fort yargo state park located in Winder,Ga.The forth race was held at tribble mill park located in Grayson,Ga.This is my least favorite place to race.The course is brutal in the fact that it is a short loop and has no flow once so ever(to me at least).Fifty miles here feels like a hundred.Even though I ended up winning this race it wasn't because I had a great race,it was more because I just lasted longer than anyone else.Attrition was my friend and everyone else bailed out.My win in this race gave me the lead in the series with two more races to go.

Me looking like a dork on the podium

The next race of the season was located at jackrabbit trails in Hayesville,North Carolina.Jackrabbit trails are my favorite trails to ride but not my favorite to race.

The views are spectacular

The trails are super fast and flowy with absolutely no technical features.This is a course that takes no skill to race and the person with the biggest cardio engine usually wins.The reason they are my least favorite to race is because there are no places on the trail that slow anyone down,it's like a road race on dirt.I had a really good race,did as well as I possibly could,and came in second to the guy I was in the points race with.This made it where I was one point ahead in the series with one race to go.The final race of the year would be a must win race if I wanted to win the series.

The last race of the season was held at Oak mountain state park in Pehlam,Al.I've only raced here once and was excited about racing somewhere relatively new.I knew there were technical aspects to this trail system and was hoping the promoter wouldn't "tone it down" for this race.I drove up the day before to get in a practice lap and wasn't disappointed.This was my kinda trail,a 'real" mountain bikers course.I knew I had a slight advantage in this race simply because I felt like I was a little bit better of a technical rider than my competition.

I usually go into these six hour races and ride/race at my own pace.I never really feel like I'm racing.I just ride and typically can ride at a steady enough pace that I do well at the end of six hours.Since all the marbles were on the table for this race, I knew I needed a different strategy.This race I was going to make my competition beat me.My plan was to stay out front and make him chase.The way I figured it, one of two things were going to happen;I would blow up or he would blow up.I lined up on the front row and had the mind set that this was going to be a two hour race.I was going to treat this race like a sprint race and not a six hour race.

The start of the race.I'm number 139.

My goal was to stay out front and make my competition beat me.I had to have everything go exactly right for this to plan to work.My competition(Bill) is mentally tough and probably better than I am on most days.I really don't like the feeling of being out front and this isn't ever my strategy.I typically work my way to the front as the race progresses.Staying off the front adds so much more pressure always wondering "where he is." The following day my neck was the sorest part of my body from constantly looking over my shoulder for six hours.Long story short,my plan worked.The first lap my time was 55:57 while Bill's(my competition) was 56:16.The entire lap I could see him behind me.I honestly thought he too had a different strategy for this race and instead of blowing off the front like he normally does, he was now choosing to just sit back and 'mark"me.If this was his strategy I was surely in trouble, since I was giving 110 %. If he was just sitting back not exerting much effort I would certainly blow up before him.I pedaled going as fast as possible.

Second lap was equally close.Bill actually passed me at one point when my chain came off,2 miles later I passed him back when his chain came off.This would be the only time he was in front.Lap two times for me was 58:12 while Bills lap was 58:43.I built around 30 seconds on him on lap two.This was going to be a long race if I couldn't shake him any better than this.Lap number three I could see him behind me for around the first half of lap .Once we got to the technical section I would lose him like the two previous laps.Once the course settled down he would be right back behind me.Lap number three this didn't happen.I kept thinking I was seeing him behind me,and in my mind I was.By the end of lap three I hadn't seen him in awhile but felt for sure he was close.I stopped long enough to grab another bottle and headed out to lap four.Lap three times.Me 1:01:30.Bill. 1;05:09.I had built three minutes.

Bill had fallen off by over three minutes on lap three,which would explain why I didn't see him.I had no idea where he was and knew it was a strong possibility that he was within one minute of me. Lap four I never did see him,( I saw him at least thirty times,) kept going as hard as I could.Lap four I found myself in a world of pain and was cramping in several different areas.I was cramping in places that I've never cramped before.I stopped a couple times and tried to stretch knowing that at any minute I would see Bill come up on me.I would do my thing as fast as possible and then get going again.The cramps in my legs would come and go and as long as I didn't try and stand I seemed to be OK.I knew if I could make it to the technical stuff by lap five, first,then I could actually win this thing.Lap four time.Me 1:06:30.Bill 1:14:10.I had gained even more time on him on lap four even though I didn't realize it.I was still racing like he was right behind me.I was hurting.

Lap five I stopped for only long enough to grab another bottle.I was hurting seriously now and was wondering what this lap had in store for me.It was comforting to know it was the last but I was really struggling.Could I make it to the half way point without getting caught?If I could then I could win this race.I pushed as hard as I could looking over my shoulder every chance I got.I bet I saw ten different racers who looked just like Bill.I would think to myself,"damn,there he is.He caught me."My race up until this point had gone flawlessly.I was getting super tired and tiredness reared it's ugly head once I go to the technical part of the trail. Stuff I was riding with relative ease, earlier, now felt like the hardest thing in the world.I avoided catastrophe several times and then finally hit a rock the wrong way and flipped over my bars.Luckily I didn't land on anything sharp or pointy and was able to remount my bike and continue on. fortunately my spill was at the end of the last hard part of the course and the rest of the loop was flowy and smooth. All I had to do was not have a mechanical and not crash and I had this race in the bag.

Exiting those woods for the last time was the best feeling ever.I was totally spent and could not imagine having to go any further if I had to.I rolled toward the start/finish and saw Bill already in street clothes drinking a beer. I did the fifth lap without him even behind me.He realized I was too far ahead and decided he couldn't catch up on lap five so he called it quits.Amazing the things that go on in your head while racing.The entire fifth lap I just knew he was close behind. I was ecstatic that my plan actually worked just like I had hoped.Very rarely does a plan work so well for me.It was great talking with him afterward so we both could give each other our" play by play"of the race.The following three days I could hardly walk my legs hurt so bad.

Podium shot.Bill on the left with blue shirt on.

I've been thinking about what to do in 2012 and have narrowed it down to two choices.One choice is to strictly do races I've never done before or either just take the year off from racing and do more social type ride stuff.The problem with choice 'one" is that there's not many races I can think of that I haven't already raced in over the last several years.The only races I would really like to do are way expensive simply because they are out west.Leadville 100 is one example.I guess I'll figure it out at some point.2012 is going to be a year of change for me so I'm not really sure how everything is going to pan out.Guess we'll see.mark duffus cycling mark duffus macon mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus twitter mark duffus fitness

Fools gold 2011: The good,the bad,the ugly

2011-08-21T08:12:00.017-05:00

Yesterday,August 20, was the much anticipated 50 mile mountain bike race called the fools gold.This race has a 50 mile option as well as a 100 mile option.This year the race was staged out of the Montaluce winery located in beautiful Dahlonega,Ga.

This race,no matter what state my fitness level might be in at the time,is always one of the toughest races of the year.The race travels through the mountains of north,Ga. and has an ass-load of climbing on both gravel roads and single track.Considering my lack of fitness this year I had no idea how my body was going to hold up for 50 miles of some of the toughest climbing the south east has to offer.
I've raced this race the two previous years so I kinda knew what to expect .This year,the start location changed ,which also changed the lay-out of the course a bit.I never had the opportunity to scout out the course beforehand so I really wasn't 100% sure as to what to expect.I did know the worst climb of the day was a little bit farther in from the start which would allow for more of a warm up before getting to it which is a good thing.

(Photo credit Dean Thorton)

The good: I have done so many of these type races I know exactly how to set a tempo that will work for me.Sometimes my tempo works out well(in the end)sometimes not,but I always ride within myself and refuse to get caught up in racing/trying to keep up with others..There's nothing that cracks me up more than seeing some racers blow by me early in a race only to see them out of gas a short time later.This race was no different.The first 15 miles of this race was the absolute worst;it consisted of the worst climb of the day.Couple that with not being entirely warmed up and you can rest assured the next hour or so will be a sure enough suffer fest. Coopers gap is ,IMO, the worst climb on the course and consist of a multi mile gravel road grinder up and up and up the mountain. At one point it feels like you will never get to the top.These type of climbs I really struggle with and feel super slow.

(course profile) Can you guess which climb is coopers gap?

Once cresting the top of Coopers gap ,the mountain offers a bit of a reprieve with a few 'white knuckle" descents down loose gravel roads. One wrong move and you will slide out and end up eating gravel. That wouldn't be a pretty site considering the speeds in which a bicycle can move down these roads.As well as not being a really good climber I really don't consider myself to be all that good of a descender either.I ride cautiously simply because I really can't afford to hurt myself.This racing is amateur stuff so why take unnecessary risk.Today was different. I was descending like a mad man and feeling really comfortable doing so.I couldn't even tell you the number of racers I passed there were so many.I passed the first aid station, without stopping,knowing the next challenge will be Bull mountain.

Bull mountain also marked sag/rest stops 2 and 3.Instead of leaving any nutritional supplies at these aid stations I decided to take all my nutritional needs with me.Carrying the extra weight with you does have it's disadvantages but I feel not having to stop at each and every rest stop ,in the long run, saves on time.Sometimes these rest stops can be chaotic with all the other racers who are stopping.This can result in lost time. If you aren't moving forward at all times you are losing time.In these type races I've learned that every second counts.By carrying my own stuff with me it allowed me to be able to roll through rest stop 2 without having to stop.Who knows what a couple minutes here and there will do to your overall finishing time?I knew I'd be passing back by this same stop in around 12 miles then I could top off my drink bottles which should get me through the rest of the race.

Bull mountain starts out with a long climb.This though is my kind of climbing. Not too steep with more rollers than straight up climbing.Even though the total ascent is a bunch ,the climbing didn't feel all that taxing to me.This section of trail offers just enough flat spots throughout the climb to allow my legs and lungs to catch a breather in between climbs.These flat spots are just enough to allow you're legs to rest for a second and also for you to catch your breath allowing me to feel strong the entire climb up..This is also the point in which I started catching a few folks who I know are typically faster than me.Up until now I had no idea how I was doing,I was just riding my race.Once I started seeing people I know are faster than me I knew I was doing pretty good.We were 30 plus miles into the race and I was actually feeling really good.I wasn't feeling fatigued and my legs only felt tired on the steepest of the bull mountain climbs.I was actually passing more people than were passing me.That's always a good sign.

Once finished with the bull mountain lop you get spit out at aid station 2/3 again. This is the same aid station I passed upon entering the bull mountain loop.This time I had to stop to top off my bottles.The volunteers at this station were awesome.I didn't even have to dismount my bike.While the volunteer filled my bottles I chugged down a coke which was a godsend.Within 2 minutes I was rolling again.
(photo credit Dean Thorton)

The bad:After finishing up bull mountain I was pretty sure the hardest part of the course was finished.Funny how ones mind forgets about these races from year to year.Right after leaving the aid station I noticed my cycle computer stopped working.I stopped to check it out and noticed the magnet was gone. The magnet is located down on the spokes.It's purpose is to sense the tire rotation and that sends the info to the computer which tells you how far you've been and other things.I CAN NOT stand not knowing how far I've been or more importantly how far I have to go."No biggie" I though since I also had my garmin 305 which also tells me the dame thing. I rolled on.Once rolling again the course took me to a short portion of single track.I was still feeling strong and fast and passed 3 or 4 more people on this section of single track.In the back of my mind I kept thinking "I can't believe how good I'm feeling." Maybe I wasn't in as bad a shape as I was thinking I was? After this section of single track it pops you out onto another section of gravel road.I guess this is where whoever was marking the course started getting lazy.Up until this point the course had been marked oh so good.The gravel road took me to a 'T" intersection. I notice immediately,upon approach,that I don't see any obvious marking telling me which way to go. I came to a complete looked both ways and noticed a course marking down the road a little bit and off to the side. Cool,I turn left and start going in that direction.I also see another ribbon attached to a street sign which in my mind conforms I'm going the right way. I lay the hammer down trying to create a bigger gap between me and the guys I passed previously on the single track.This is the point where my race went from really good to really bad.

This section of gravel road is,for the most part,downhill.I was making incredible time pushing the biggest gear I had.I kept looking back to see if anyone was catching and they weren't.The farther I rolled the more I noticed there were no course marking confirming I was in fact going in the right direction. I was conflicted because I was seeing a ton of bicycle tire tracks in the dirt.I got to a spot in the road that looked awfully familiar and decided to stop and wait to see if any other racers were coming.About the time I stopped a jeep happened upon me.I flagged him down and asked if he noticed any other cyclist coming this way;he said 'no." This is where the 'F" word became the norm instead of 'yippee.".

As I said earlier,I race these races at my pace.Upon learning I was going the wrong direction I turned around and started backtracking as fast as possible.Not a good thing to do for me.I came upon 2 other racers,we stopped,talked about the situation for a sec,and even though I wasn't absolutely sure if I was going right or wrong decided to back track to the last flag I saw.Off I go again at break neck speed. I could feel it in my legs,I could feel my body temperature rising,I could feel a level of discomfort that I hadn't felt all day.Before getting to the last flag I came upon 4 more racers that did the same thing as me. We stop for a sec,talk about it and all decide to keep on backtracking.I get back to the flag hanging from the road sign and STILL don't see where I went wrong. I stop,look back down the road and notice through the trees, and off to the right,some flagging tape.The entrance to the turn I missed was about the width of a bicycle.The flagging tape was hung up inside of the trail head.Unless you were looking that way you wouldn't see it.there was no sign on the road directing your attention that way and the trail entrance was so narrow the average person wouldn't even know there was a trail there.Not sure how much time I lost but I would venture to say it was around 20 minutes or so.20 minutes in bike racing is an eternity.Insert "F" word again.

I'm not sure about the average racer but there is NOTHING that will get "into my head" worst than getting off course while racing.All I could think about was how much time I lost and that all those people I passed earlier were now probably far ahead of me.Now I'm expending what feels like 10 times more energy trying to catch up to people that I had passed 30 minutes ago.It sucked !Trying to go faster not only expends more energy but it also makes you take more chances than you normally would. Of course this can mean bad things will happen.They did. New single track,very narrow tread,got too close to the edge and wiped out hard jamming the side of my knee into the ground at an awkward angle.When it hit I knew it was going to be an injury.I could feel it. I got back up and continued on knowing that once I stopped moving there would be a price to pay for that crash.(Today I can hardly lift myself up)The crash also bent my front break rotor causing it not only to drag but also causing it to make the most gawd awful squealing noise ever. . Combine a mini bonk and an annoying squeal and you will have the "F" word said numerous times over the course of the next few miles.

The ugly:I finally got to the next rest stop to see a handful of guys I had passed on bull mountain. I grabbed a couple shots of coca-cola and continued on. My garmin wasn't working now either so I had no idea how much farther I had to go.I just know I was tired,was getting chills and wanted off this "f"ing bicycle.The constant squealing my rotor was making made me want to do bad things to my bicycle but I continued on hoping that this nightmare would soon be over.The remainder of the ride was nothing short of Chinese water torture.The last few miles were on pavement and in direct sunlight.The temperature felt like it was 150.I finally rolled into the start/finish with a time of 5:29 seeing several of the fast people I passed earlier already eating lunch.

A couple action shots

This one obviously was taken while things were going well.

While this one was taken after things started going really bad.

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A tribute

2011-06-07T07:30:00.016-05:00

Well,it's been right at a month now since Tracie's death, and I still can't get over the fact that it's happened,that she's gone.I think instead of getting easier with the passage of time, it actually seems to be getting harder.The thought of death, and it's total finality, is whats hitting the hardest.Thinking of all the the things Tracie will never do or see again is hard to think about.Tracie is gone, forever....FOR-EVER.How can that be?

It's amazing when someone close dies how it will make you analyze your own life. Not sure if that's common but it sure has been happening to me.It doesn't help much being in a "transitional" stage of my life right now, where I'm basically starting over.With all the goings on in the world it's hard to be optimistic about anything right now.Thinking too much I guess.In due time it will be all better again.In due time.

Anyway,it took me several different attempts before I felt like I finally got the video "right."I would save it, and then think of something else I should have put in it , and then re-do it again..After 3 or 4 attempts I think it's done. Couldn't ask for a more perfect song.I think when the time comes that I can actually watch it without tearing up,things will be "better." I can't seem to stop thinking about her.

Forever gone.........

2011-05-29T20:59:00.014-05:00

A few weeks ago I was all ready to tell you about my performance at my last 6 hour race. The race was on Saturday May 7th and for once I felt really good. It was the best race I've had so far in 2011. In short I went from 3rd to 1st with less than 5 miles to go in the race. It felt good to get to stand on the top step during the award ceremony.

Two days later I learned of a friend's death. Describing her as just a friend is probably trivializing our relationship a bit but in the end that's what we were, for the most part.Even though our communications were mostly limited to either email or text messages, I still thought about her in some shape or form most every day.Now that she's gone I realize just how often I use to think about her.When I heard the news I wasn't surprised AND shocked all at the same time. It took several hours for the news to sink in.As the days wore on the realization of her death got harder and harder to accept. The thought of her being gone, forever, was something my brain was unwilling to process.My friend was so full of life and had so much personality.To say she was a "character" is the understatement of the year.It would be safe to say that in all my years I have never met a single person quite like her and more than likely never will again.She was unique.I can honestly say there is no one person who could me laugh longer or harder than she did.

It's been 3 weeks since her death and I still feel terribly sad about it all.It still feels like just yesterday that it happened and I still feel like her being gone forvever just can't be.I have an empty feeling that just won't seem to go away.We dated for most of 2010 and I find myself thinking back to this time last year each and every day.Thinking back to what we were doing or where we were going.Yesterday( a year ago)I had to put my dog of 15 years down.I remember after getting home from the vet,to make myself feel better, I decided to go for a bike ride. When I returned my friend had removed all my dogs belongings and placed them in a place I wouldn't see them. She knew the reminder of my dog's stuff would be upsetting to me.Everything she put away is still in the exact same place she put it one year ago today.I remember every minute of that day and wonder how in one short year my friend can be gone.More than likely this exact moment,last year, she was here,with me.I find myself looking ,and re-looking, back at pictures and am fascinated how vivid my memory is of everything that had to do with when the picture was taken.The memories have been overwhelming and I find myself remembering the most trivial of events.Everywhere I turn seems to be yet another reminder.

It's times like this I so wish I were a better writer. I have so many thoughts running through my head ,and so many things I'd like to say ,but just can't seem to get them out.Even though death has been rearing it's ugly head around me quite a bit lately, my friends passing is the closest it has come to me.Maybe that's why accepting her death has been so hard? Maybe it's because her death was so tragic and senseless. She was so young and had so much life yet to live.Driving down the same road she traveled so many times thinking to myself she will never see this again.So many memories. Thinking of all the things she will never see or do ever again.Wondering how her children will do and feeling sad my friend won't be a part of their lives anymore.Thinking of all the things she enjoyed doing and knowing she will now never do them again.....ever.Death and dying is so final.A death filled with so many "what if's" makes it even harder to accept.Maybe this is how things were meant to end up. Maybe the old cliche' "shes in a better place now" isn't just a cliche' but the truth.No one but her will never know that,I guess.I can only hope she's is ,in fact, in a better place now.If anyone deserves that she does.

A text I got from Tracie not long ago.

"Life is an ongoing joke man,consider all the characters....people you let in....you did so for a reason...mature growth...is to make a decision of whether or not they will be in your book."

She will be in my book for sure.

Rest In Peace Tracie.
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Back in the saddle again.

2011-04-17T20:37:00.011-05:00

So, way back in January, one of my resolutions was to keep my blog up a little bit better than I had been doing. As you can see I've sort of dropped the ball and let the ol' blog get behind once again. Before, when the blog got behind, it wasn't because I didn't have anything to blog about but more that I was just too lazy to type stuff up. Fast forward to present day and it's the opposite. I really don't have all that much to blog about simply because I haven't been on the bike or racing much as of late. The few times I have raced (recently) are best to be forgotten and not rehashed on here.

Anyway....here I am and back at it. My work/school schedule has eased up a bit this quarter and I've found time to actually ride my bike more than once every week or so like I had been doing for the past several months. So, with a little more free time I've been getting in some much needed saddle time on a fairly regular basis. I don't think I've been this out of "bike shape" since I first got back on a bike 7 years ago.

On one of my recent rides I got to thinking that one thing I have never done before (on this blog) is review products that I use. Since I'm not one of those team riders, who get all their equipment for free, I hope the things I spend my hard earned cash on work as advertised. I am a racer but consider myself more of a recreational rider and not a hard core, balls to the wall, hucking off everything in sight, kind of rider. I like my tires to be on the ground at all times if humanly possible. That being said let’s review our first product.

What really got me to thinking about doing reviews is this; the other day I was riding and had recently installed a new saddle bag. I was thinking to myself(while riding) how much I really liked it.Why? Because I could not hear it at all when going down bumpy hills. Nothing I hate worst than having to listen to a saddle bag clang up against the bottom of your saddle when going over bumps and such. This one was as quite as I’ve ever heard. Around 8 miles into my route I got off my bike only to realize the zipper had popped open. No wonder it was so quite down there, huh? The saddle bag I was using is the Aero Wedge Pack, medium. The bag is a topeak product.

Bag in real life

In general ,this is the ultimate saddle bag. What I really like about it, compared to most others I've used, is the way it attaches to your saddle rails. As you can see in the picture they use adjustable straps and no stinking Velcro. This allows you to get the bag as tight up against your saddle as you want which in turn keeps it from clanging up against the bottom of your saddle. Something else I really liked was it seemed to be the perfect size. It seems like most “medium” type saddle bags are either too big or too small. I carried a 29r tube, multi-tool, (2) co2 cartridges and co2 inflator, all of which fit perfectly in the bag.

As mentioned earlier,the bag had only one snafu and that was the zipper came un-done and everything I had in it came out and was scattered in my wake on the trail.I back tracked the entire 8 miles and ended up finding everything except my park multi-tool. When I first noticed it was open the first thing I thought was that I didn’t zip it up very well. I just so happened to take a picture of my bike right before I set out on my ride and sure enough, it was zipped up nice and snug. Not sure what happened to be honest.I had also driven 60 plus miles to the trail head in the first place.If it were unzipped I think my stuff would have scattered way before 5 miles into the trail.

I haven't given up on the bag. I took it back out today and am happy to say that the zipper didn't fail. I must have checked and rechecked 20 different times while riding just to make sure. Why it popped open the first trip is anyone's guess. Hopefully it won't happen again.If the bag doesn't cost me anymore tools I will be convinced this is one of the best saddle bags I have yet to try.Time will tell.

CYCLECROSS !!

2011-02-27T21:21:00.004-05:00

Went up to Dahlonega this weekend to help out with the southern cross cycle cross race.Only regret I ever have when volunteering for a race is it ALWAYS makes me wish I was racing.This race wasn't any different.Would have loved to seen what I could have done on this course on a cross bike.

Not too much to report.Volunteering was fun.Seeing and helping all the racers was really fun.The day was absolutely gorgeous with highs in the 70's.

Next week is finals week for school.It's going to be great to wrap up a quarter of school and get a 2 week break from it.Hope to get in mucho riding in while I'm off.

Thats it.Here are a few pics from the weekend.

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chain buster 6/9 race# 1

2011-02-16T22:47:00.006-05:00

This past Saturday I ventured up to Watkinsville,Ga. to compete in the first race of a 6 race series.The series is promoted by chain buster racing.This is another series I've been doing since it's inception back 5 or 6 years ago.The previous races I competed in the longer option but this year I decided to give the 6 hour option a try.

This year,since the series is longer,the first race of the season got moved up by about a month.It felt good to be racing with somewhat of a chill in the air and absolutely no threat of rain.The day was forecast to be nothing but beautiful with crystal clear skies and high temps in the 60's.The only thing that was less than perfect was certain parts of the trail ,which were wet and muddy,but after a few laps even those areas began to dry up and become perfect.

I had mixed emotions about racing this particular race.I hadn't been able to ride much the month prior and I knew enough about the course to know that it's super tough when on top of your training much less when you're not.I think I've been racing for so long that when a race like this comes up it's impossible to just say "no" ,no matter what the circumstances,so bright and early Saturday morning I made my way north.

If I had any reservations at all about going they quickly disappeared once I got up to the race venue.Racing is fun and all but what makes participating in these events so great is being able to socialize with all your cycling buds that you haven't seen in awhile.Showing up at a race venue and seeing/talking to friend after friend really is special.I think I could go and not race and still have just as good a time.
Before I knew it it was time to line up on the starting line and get started.I had no real expectations and planned on riding super conservatively just so I could last the entire 6 hours.

The first 3 laps went off without much trouble.The course was wetter than I was thinking it would be with one particular section of the trail being super slippery.This section was probably about a mile long and had some of the most slippery mud I've ever ridden on.Some parts of it felt like ice and you had to be super careful going into corners;otherwise you would find yourself off the trail and on your back.A few of the uphills were super tough,my back tire wanted to spin up under me after each pedal stroke.Going up these hills felt like they were taking 5 times as much energy as they would had they been dry.

Lap 4 I started fading/getting tired.This is the part of the race when I start questioning why on earth would I want to ride a bike for 6 f'n hours in the first place.One thing that is cool to reflect on is the things you think about while on the bike.I guess that's your brains way of trying to keep your mind off of the pain and suffering your body is going through.Unfortunately no matter how many "other" things I thought about one thought kept coming to mind and that was I want to stop/quit.My legs were running out of gas and my neck and back was killing me.

Cyclist can say what they want about racing in the the 'mountains" but (to me) these lap type endurance races are the toughest races out there.Not only are they tough physically but the mental battle a racer has to deal with is torture.Lap races you have your pit you go by every hour or so which to me is like the finish line over and over and over again.Each lap you can call it quits right there if ya want.It's amazing at the mental games you have to play with yourself to keep on going when your body wants to stop.

I played the mental game with myself on lap 4 and told myself just one more lap (lap 5) and I would be calling it a day.I basically got through lap 4 and 5 by telling myself that this is the last lap for me.By the time I finished lap 5 I saw I had enough time to get in one more lap.The cut off for this race was right at 6 hours.I had a little over an hour to get back in,otherwise the lap would not count.I had a little mental battle with myself for a few minutes and decided to go out and get one more lap in.I knew it was going to hurt and hurt it did.The worst part was at one point having to come off the bike only to be attacked by massive cramps in both quads and both hamstrings.Both my legs locked up so bad all I could do was fall like a tree and hit on them trying to make the cramp/s go away.Fortunately as long as i was pedaling my legs wouldn't lock up.I just have checked my watch 30 times during that lap and half the times I had convinced myself there was no way I could get back in time.Once I got within ear shot of the transition area I could hear them announce that we had '2 minutes" left.At that point I knew I would be able to make it back an that my 6th lap would indeed count.I can't remember being that exhausted in quite sometime but did feel a sense of accomplishment and perseverance for going back out for 'one more lap."The effort netted me a 2nd place finish (in my respective category) and ended what turned out to be one pretty damn good day despite the pain and suffering.mark duffus mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus cycling

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Snake creek gap 2

2011-02-09T22:39:00.007-05:00

Once again this February's Snake creek gap race proved to be a wet one.I can't remember the last February that it hasn't rained and rained hard prior to the February edition of the snake creek gap.Last Saturday made no exception and it rained and rained and rained more several days prior to the time trial.

Last year (and the year before) I DNF'd at the February race.last year was one of those that I wished I would have never went.The conditions (to me) were awful and I ended up bailing at the halfway point due to a busted chain and terrible time.It was a really tough decision whether to even go this year or not.The list of reasons to not go far outweighed the reasons to go.I really only had one reason to go and that was to keep my 6 year streak alive of not missing one of the races.I've started every single race since this series began with the exception of the very first year.Not sure why the streak is important but I knew if i didn't at least go that I would really regret it afterwords.

Instead of driving up to Dalton the night before I decided to head up the morning of the race.The weather was so bad I really didn't want to risk driving for 3 hours in it.That meant I'd have to get up at 4 in the morning to make that 3 hour drive.When that alarm clock went off it was all I could do to drag myself out of the bed and get rolling.The voice of reason was beating me in the head telling me to take my ass back to bed.

It rained the entire drive up to Dalton which wasn't something I was hoping for.I had hoped that maybe it wasn't going to be as bad "up north" but from the sight of all the puddles i knew they had been getting drenched just like I had been here at home.Still having flashbacks from last years race (see pic below) I decided not to risk trashing my bike and instead of doing the 34 mile option to only do the 17 mile option.Even though the 17 mile option isn't a walk in the park I felt a little bit like a wimp bailing on the 34.

Last years creek crossing.The creek was deep and it was in the low 20's.This year it thankfully wasn't nearly as cold.

The voice of reason spoke to me once again and I couldn't think of any good reason to do the 34 mile option.to me the 17 miler is way more fun but to some it's not the manly thing to do.I justified my choice by thinking of all the pros and then the cons.Not only that but the 17 mile option (to me) is more fun anyway.The 34 mile option I'm just trying to make it to the end,the 17 I actually feel like I'm racing.I also thought to myself that I have nothing to prove to anyone so what the hell,mountain biking is suppose to be fun so let's have some fun.

Once we got shuttled to the start I hoped up into one of the semis to help unload all the bikes.bad move on my part because a line had formed to start the race while I was unloading bikes,this resulted in me starting dead last.each rider would go off individually at 30 second intervals.The line to start was really long.I used the extra time to try and get warmed up as much as possible knowing I would need it.The start of the race is a one mile granny gear climb that will make your lungs and legs feel like they are about to explode.

My race went off without a hitch.I went fast when I could and slowed when I felt I needed to.My fitness isn't nearly what it's been years gone by so I've been riding conservatively trying to find a rhythm that wont result in me being curled up in the fetal position on the side of the trail.I went hard but not too hard and only felt like I was going to cramp once.that was towards the end so I'm guessing I pushed just hard enough.

I got finished in around 2:21 which was good enough for a first place for the day and second place overall in my category.I missed my goal time by about 10 minutes and think I could have came really close had the trail not been so soft.It was really nice to get finished soon enough to be able to go back out on the course and take some pictures and chat with some of the racers as they were finishing.The best part of doing the 17 mile option was getting back home at a reasonable hour and being able to get at least some stuff done.Driving 3 hours,racing and then driving back three hours is no fun.

a few random pics

the soggy parking lot pre race

a random racer making his way through the rocks
mark duffus mountain biking markduffus cycling mark duffus photography

IDIDARIDE 2011

2011-01-24T22:04:00.008-05:00

This past weekend I ventured down to White Springs Florida for the 17th annual 50 mile off road challenge.The locals call it the "ididaride,I like to call it tons of fun.I can't really remember how many times I've done this ride but would venture to say at least 6 times over the past few years.One of my local buddies (from here in Perry) took me one year( when I first started mountain biking )and it has been on my yearly calender every year since.

Not too much to say about it other than it was a ton of fun as usual.This year the trails were as dry as I've ever seen them which increased the "fun factor" two fold.In addition to a really fun ride i also got to do some camping out on Friday night at stephen foster campground.One of the nicest facilities I've ever camped.Unfortunately I could only stay one night and had to come home after the ride on Saturday.

If you're looking for one of the funnest social rides around go check out the local mountain bike chapter here http://www.suwanneebike.org/ididaride.htm

Couple random pics of yours truly I picked up from here and there.

mark duffus cycling mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus photography

resolutions and racing

2011-01-09T17:19:00.010-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone.It's been awhile since I've updated here.With a new year I figured a pretty good resolution would be to keep my blog updated a bit better.I have to admit that facebook is the main culprit in the lack of blog updates.So much easier to write a sentence on facebook than several on here.

Lots of changes have been going on in my life the last few months.I've sold my gym business,started a new job and come this Monday will also be a full time student.In between working a bunch of hours I've also been trying to keep my fitness level from completly going into the trash can.

For the last year I've been shopping the gym around.To be perfectly honest I simply got burned out on the business.The constant turn over rate began making me a bit jaded.It was so tough seeing so many people who need to exercise quit over and over over again.This past October I found a buyer.I am still personal training there but no longer dealing with day to day operations.

Another reason I decided to sell the gym was because a few months before I sold my gym I took a job in the physical therapy department at Middle Ga. Orthopaedic.I figured once I sold my gym I would be needing a new career path and physical therapy is still in the same general area that I've been in for 20 plus years.It didnt take long for me to realize I couldnt run and business AND work a full time job too.Since I had never even been to a therapist I figured it would be a good opportunity to get my feet wet and see for myself if it would be a career I would like to persue.So far I've enjoyed it tremendously and have decided to persue a career in it.I start school tomorrow.

Now to more important things....RACING !!!!I did my first race of the year yesterday.The snake creek gap time trial up in Dalton,Ga.This will be the 5th year I've competed in this series and it's by far the toughest race of the year for me.The race consist of 3 races;one in January,one in February and one in March.The object is to use all 3 opportunities to post your fastest time.

The weather is always unpredictable so you never know what to expect from month to month.Yesterdays weather conditions were as perfect as you can expect in Dalton in January.Even though it was cold my choice of winter wear was spot on and I was perfectly comfortable the entire ride.I never got too hot and never too cold;that in itself is unusual for me.

Besides the weather being unpredictable my bicycle and how it operates is also unpredictable when it comes to racing this race.I can go all year without a single problem but more often than not when I race this race it seems something always happens.Yesterday the niner air 9 perfomed flawlessly and totally rocked(no pun intended)this course.

With all the hours I've been working, and the crappy weather, I haven't had much time to do any riding.Even though I have been hitting the gym as often as possible I haven't been thinking it's been doing much for my cycling fitness.I went into this race not knowing if I could even finish.My bike conditioning is probably as bad as its been in the last 8 years.My one and only goal was to keep moving forward whether it be on my bike or on foot.

I rode very conservatively the entire race trying to save as much energy whenever possible and concentrated on a soft pedal stroke and not tensing up my upper body.I was surprsed when I pulled into the halfway point and was only about 10 minutes off my usual time.Even though I felt good I still tried not to over do it knowing that this ride can come up and bite ya at any given time.My legs started feeling all the climbing at about mile 10 and the last thing I wanted to do was start cramping.I resisted the urge to click into a bigger gear and stayed in a smaller gear spinning the pedals and not mashing them.

The 3/4 of the way mark I found myself about 15 minutes off my usualtime.I attributed this to my smaller gear choice.I still didnt want to take any chances knowing that the last 9 miles are the toughest.I was thinking in the back of my mind that I was doing way better than I thought I would do and was actually having fun.Amazing how much funner a race like this is when you actually feel good.I passed many a rider on the side of the trail complaining of cramps and reminded myself that could be me.I felt a twinge or two in my calves which reminded me to keep my gear small and my cadance fast.My plan worked for I never did cramp.I made it through the last 9 miles with no issues once so ever.I crossed the finish line in 4:41 which is only 20 minutes slower than my fastest time ever.Considering my fitness level I'm more than happy with that time.Very rarely does everything go "right" for me at this race but yesterday was pretty damn close.

I was rummaging through some stored away t shirts and came up with all my tshirts from the snake creek gap.Have every shirt except the very first one.Hard to believe its been 7 years of doiung this race.Time sure does fly.

Next on the agenda is the ididaride 50 miler in White Springs Florida January 23rd.mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus cycling mark duffus photography

Once again....

2010-11-01T21:32:00.003-05:00

Once again I've let this blog slip and haven't been keeping it up to date.Tons of stuff has been going on since my last post back in May so it's not like I haven't had anything to blog about.I guess with the popularity of facebook ,and it's ease in keeping things up to date in a sentence or less,by blog has been sat on the back burner.

The chain buster endurance series wrapped up in October at jackrabbit trails in North Carolina.I finally had a really good race and finished 3rd.Managed to get in 100 something miles in around 11:40.What was more impressive was that I did it on a brand new bike;a bike I hadn't ridden until race day.

The chainbuster series finale' was also the same day a series which started back in March.I ended up winning the 12 hour solo catagory.I'm thinking this year will be the last of me doing any 12 hour races.They just dont seem as fun as they use to be.mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus cycling mark duffus marietta ga.

12 hours of fort yargo aftermath

2010-05-06T20:47:00.008-05:00

Was really excited about getting back on the bike and riding again for this race.My shoulder started feeling better a few days prior but I still wasn't sure how it would feel once on the trail and especially after 12 hours of riding on a trail.I was more worried about being off the bike for the two weeks prior to this race than I was about how the shoulder was going to feel.Once we arrived at the park and got everything set up I decided to give it a trial run just to see how it felt being bounced around.I only rode for about 10 minutes but was surprised at how good it felt.Funny thing is that my shoulder hurts more off the bike than it does on the bike.....yeah me.

Race day rolled around pretty fast and we awoke to overcast and muggy conditions.Not sure what the humidity was but it felt like 100 %.The forcast had around a 40 % chance of rain predicted for early and everyone hoped there wouldn't be a repeat of last years mud fest.I'm happy to say the area saw very little rain the entire day and conditions were superb.

Not much to say about my race.Felt pretty good for the first 50-60 miles.I riding my own race and trying not to get gaught up in over doing it.During lap 6 I started feeling the effects of not being on the bike for the last two weeks.My legs felt good but just weren't producing any power.I was rolling but anytime I came upon any climb at all I felt like I was hardly moving at all.Luckily at fort yargo there isn't a whole bunch of sustained climbs,just a bunch of little stuff that will eventually run you down.

When it was all said and done I ended up with 9 laps,105 miles in 11.5 hours.I wanted to stop at around lap 7 but my pit boss (Tracie)kept insisting I was in 3rd and 20 minutes from 2nd.Needless to say ,after finishing that 9th lap and finding out I was never even in 3rd,I was a bit pissed but in hindsite I was thankful she told me that,otherwise I would have stopped/quit way earlier.My 9 laps was good enough for a 5th place finish.

Race number 3 of this endurance series is June 10.Hopefully I'll be in a bit better shape and can do well enough to finish on the podium.

Tracie...my awesome support person.

view from our pit.

me cruising on the air 9

mark duffus cycling mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus marietta ga.

first sprint race of the year

2010-04-21T07:57:00.009-05:00

This past Sunday I decided to do my first sprint race of the year.Not really a big fan of the short and fast stuff mainly because I'm just not that good at it.I prefer the long, 6 plus hour rides/races, where you can settle into your own pace and just ride.Sprint racing is balls to the wall as fast as you and your heart/lungs/legs will go for close to 2 hours.Total misery in my opinion BUT a necessary evil.No training ever invented can simulate the work out you'll get while sprint racing so I decided "what the hell",let's do some racing.

Saturday night didn't go too well and I ended up getting very little sleep.I remember looking at the clock and it was 3:30 a.m.I was already dreading having to get up in 2 1/2 hours to make that drive to Columbus.The alarm went off at 6 am and I was out the door by 6:45 feeling surprisingly awake.

The drive to Columbus was uneventful and I got to the race venue around 8:15.Was good seeing several of my racing friends already getting ready.After chatting with several folks and getting my registration packet I was on the bike and ready to go.

My race started around 9:30 and standing on the start line the only feeling I felt was dread.I knew from experience that the next couple hours were going to hurt.Little did I know that the hurt I was going to feel wasn't at all what I was expecting.

The gun went off and my group went screaming off onto the course.A pretty bad crash happened in one of the earlier groups so I made a mental note to take it easy at the start and try and make up places as the race progressed.

I was way at the back once we hit the first turn but managed to pass a few folks before hitting the first tight section of single track.I noticed immediately that I was feeling really well aerobically and didn't feel at all like I was 'blowing up." Typically, the beginning of these races make your heart feel like it's going to explode.I settled into what felt to me was a pretty fast pace(for me) and concentrated on picking off as many of the front runners as I could.By the end of the first 10 mile lap I had passed 2 racers in my class and could see another not too far in the distance.I told myself to keep on doing what I was doing and before long I would be reeling in at least one more racer.

As I was starting my second lap I couldn't believe how good I was feeling.I hardy ever feel "fast" while racing but today I felt like I was riding really well.My niner air 9 was blowing my mind at how well it was carving through the tech sections of the trail.I'll go ahead and say it again but this bike feels better and better the faster it goes.It really makes me feel like a better rider.

My goal the second lap was to continue what I was doing and I knew without a doubt I would catch at least one other racer.I had no idea what place I was in but knew I had to be top 10 which for me is good racing in this fast skinny guy class.

First mile or two of the second lap went off without a hitch.Was feeling really strong and fast still.I was cruising along just like I had done on the first lap and it happened.I hit a drop I didn't see on the first lap and before I could react I was lying on the ground seeing stars.I've hit the ground plenty of times but this,by far,was the worst hurt I've ever felt.The drop had a tire size hole on the other side stopping my entire momentum causing me to go over the bars.The first thing that hit the ground was my head followed by my shoulder.Usually when I've hurt myself in the past the pain comes on gradually,this time it was instantaneous.After picking myself up off the ground ,and getting my bike's handle bars pointing straight again,I continued on hoping no one would pass me.First thing I noticed once rolling again was my front tire had lost almost all it's air.Was so low that any little turn made the bike feel like it was going to wash out.I had hit the drop so hard it made my tire "burp" almost all it's air out.I absolutely hated having to stop and put more air in it but knew I couldn't continue on without doing it.I hadn't been stopped long and two racers in my class passed me......."%$#&*" I mumbled to myself.

Once remounting, and continuing on, I felt like I was riding really cautiously and feeling like I had a hard time finding my rhythm again.I was feeling really slow.My shoulder hurt but didn't hurt really bad unless I was going downhill.I felt a knot rising up and couldn't help but wonder/worry that I had broken something.The distraction of worrying about that really slowed me down making it almost impossible to concentrate on riding.

I finished the lap without getting passed any more but I also couldn't get my two spots back either.I ended up finishing 8th.I left the race with my arm in a sling.By the time I got home I could hardly move and the following morning I was in total misery.Amazing how even the smallest movement will make an injured shoulder scream in pain.The following day it felt much better but still have considerable pain.Made and canceled a doctors appointment hoping it will feel better by weeks end.If not then I guess I'll go have it checked out.Next race is in a couple weekends and I'm really hopeful that it will be ok by then.

Only picture I could find of me from the race.This was towards the beginning of the first lap.I'm in the green almost out of the picture.Note the two fast skinny guys hot on my tail.

Chain buster endurance racing

2010-04-12T21:08:00.010-05:00

March 13 brought the first of a 5 race endurance series.As in previous years the firsr race of the year was going to be only 6 hours with no 12 hour option.6 hour races really arent my cup of tea but considering the venue my only hope was to be able to last 6 hours.heritagepark in Athens is by far the toughest course of the 5 and racing it for 6 hours is really tough.I was really relieved to see that this year the promotors decided to change the course up a bit.The course was fast and fun with just enough tough stuff to keep ya honest.

The week prior I started getting sick which was weird since the same thing happened last year.Last year my sickness hurt really bad and resulted in me finishing 22nd with only 2 laps in 6 hours.I really hoped the same wouldn't be in store this year.Also,just like last year,the area recieved some pretty good rain the night before.Fortunantly that was a non factor and the course was in awesome shape with only a few muddy spots.

Not much to report with this one.My race went really smooth with the exception of an unexplained warped rear wheel.Not sure where that came from but fortunantly it held up during the course of the race.My niner air 9 performed flawlessly and the carbon lefty fork felt smooth as butter.In the end I somehow managed to finish in 3rd place.The weather kept most of the really fast guys out but I'll take whatever I can get.

"HELLO?? Fresh BOTTLE?????"So maybe the first lap wasn't all that good but the next 6 were smooth as butta.

Podium shot.Totally unexpected

WHOA!!

2010-04-12T20:53:00.003-05:00

Time really does fly when you're having fun.Once again I've been neglecting this page.I can't believe I haven't updated since February.Let's see.What have I been up to the last couple months??

The first weekend of March brought the last race of the snake creek time trial series.The previous two had brought nothing but bad luck so I hoped this last chance would bring a respectable time.My previous two times totally sucked.The weather,compared to the previous two,was awesome.Was really nice riding with conditions so good.

Going into this race I new I had to have a near perfect race to be able to get on the podium.Very rarely does the snake race offer many "perfect" opportunities and this one was no different.Not sure what kinda curse this place has but every race seems to bring some sort of bad luck.4 miles into this one and my bad luck raised it's ugly head.....broke chain.I have never in 6 years of racing broken a chain during a race.4 miles in and I thought to myself,"this is going to be yet another one of those days."After freaking out thinking that I didn't have a chain link(I finally found it)I was back on the trail and racing again.The chain took me 10 minutes to get fixed.Not too bad but I knew I couldn't afford any other mishaps.

The rest of the race was awesome.I was only not moving for around 3 minutes the remainder of the race which is really good for me.The snake creek race has a tendency to really take its toll on my low back which causes me to stop more often than I'd like.This race my back was a non issue and I only had to stop a couple short times.

I rolled across the finish line at a little over 4 hours,close to an hour better than my previous attempts.If not for the busted chain I could have had a new personal best.My time was good enough for a second place finish.

On the trail

podium shot

snake creek number 2 aftermath

2010-02-10T09:02:00.003-05:00

Not sure what it is about February and the snake creek gap but nothing good has happened the last 2 years during that month.Last year I recorded my first ever snake creek DNF after 4 years of racing.This year was the same outcome.

Let me begin by saying the trail conditions were absolutely terrible.If I would have known how bad they were I would have passed on this one and took my chances in March.I'm usually pretty lucky at choosing to do races no matter what conditions are predicted but this one I was way off the mark.I had known it had rrained up there a few days prior.To say the trail was wet would be the understatement of the year.I have never seen so much water flowing down,across,beside a trail in my entire life.I should have known it was going to be a bad day when the first creek crossing was more like a small river.The water was so deep that it came up to my hips.There was no chance at all of riding through it so the only option was to walk.

The snake creek time trial is around 34 miles in length.The route is divided in even halves.I made it through the first half in pretty good shape.My time was off by about 15 minutes but I knew the second half wouldn't be nearly as wet and muddy.The second half has many,many rocks.I had been experiencing a tiny bit of chain suck on the first half but it was totally manageable.I chose to not stop at the half way point and continue on without lubing my drive train.I figured if it wasn't messing with me then why tempt fate.

The second half begins with a couple mile relentless climb.I hadn't got no more than a half mile into it and my chain started jamming up making it impossible to pedal.I had taken some chain lube with me so after fighting with it a couple times I decided to pull off the trail and lube the chain.I hoped this would do the trick.It didn't.I started back up the climb and it instantly chain suck again.Was frustrating because it would totally lock up.I tried shifting back into the big ring and it was no better.Upon further inspection I noticed I had several bent links in my chain.Not really sure how that happened but decided to call it a day.Hopefully March will be better.

2010 race season

2010-01-28T19:45:00.003-05:00

I've added the 2010 race season to the side bar and it has nothing but what I've already done this year.I think instead of planning out a season I am going to race as I go.Hope to do some stuff I've never done or atleast one big race I've never done.Probably not going to do the cohutta 100 this year even though I would love one more chance to redeem myself.That thing killed me the last 2 years even though I did feel a bit better last year.

Only thing I'm sure of is that I will be doing the chain buster(formerly known as dirty spokes)endurance series.They've added a couple races to the bunch and it looks like it will be really fun.Other than that I'm not really sure what all I'll be doing.

ididaride 2010

2010-01-27T07:20:00.005-05:00

After a 2 year hiatus I finally made my way back down to White Springs Fl. for the 16th annual 50 mile off road ride known as the ididaride.One of the things I like most about this organized ride is being able to stay and camp the entire weekend.We stayed at Stephen Foster campground which is less than a mile from the ididaride's start/finish line.Once you park your car there's no need to start it back up until it's time to head back home.Stephen Foster has to be one of the nicest campgrounds I've ever stayed which makes the experience all the more better.

Our home base for the weekend.

The temperature was perfect and trail conditions for the most part were awesome.Some of the forest service roads were semi flooded but that was simply nothing more than an inconvenience.My bottom bracket hates me but is getting some TLC as we speak.The single track was in awesome shape and the route offered some awesome views of the suwannee river.

My ride group for the day.Grant Lockwood,me,Monte Marshall

Next up is the second race of the Snake creek gap time trial.Can't wait.

frigid snake creek report

2010-01-04T18:39:00.008-05:00

The 6th annual snake creek gap time trial series began this past Saturday to temps in the teens.To say Saturdays 1st race of the season was 'cold" would have to be the understatement of the year.I've raced up there with temps that cold but what made this race a bit different was the fact that the temperatures never rose above freezing.Everything that had any moisture at all in it froze within minutes of being outside.This lead to a very interesting 4 plus hours of riding considering it was almost impossible to find anything thawed out enough to actually drink.

I went into Saturdays race with the mind set that it's just a ride and not a race.I have really let myself go over the last few weeks and the scales were weighing in at around 220.Can't remeber the last time I weighed in at that much.Combine the weight with not riding much over the last few weeks and I had a feeling I was in for a sufferfest.Even though I felt totally unprepared I was excited to be racing the snake again.I was also excited to be riding a borrowed niner bike(thanks Charles)My trusty cannondale rush is in the shop getting some much needed love.The niner rocked BTW.

Without going into any long gory details I will say that I had an OK ride considering my conditioning.My biggest problem of the day was cramping.That started about half way through and a couple times they put me on the ground whimpering like a baby..Not being able to drink was the main culprit.being out of shape didnt help much and having to push way too big a gear for around 10 miles wasn't good either.My derailur cable had come loose and rendered my three easiest cogs useless.Luckily I figured out what was going on with 9 miles to go.Those easy gears felt oh so good the remainder of the ride.

Even though my time didn't reflect it I can't say enough good things about the niner bike.29 inch wheels through the rocks had me riding over things I've never been able to before.I also didn't feel nearly as tired after the race as I normally do.I joked to my buddy that I only dropped the "f" bomb once.Thats how I rate the snake.A one "f" bomb race is awesome.Typically I'll drop it 10 or more times.Word of advice.Never EVER ride someone elses bike when you don't have any money.Now I've gotta have me one but don't have the funds to buy one.

Couple race pics.

deep creek crossing 1 mile in

Next up is the second annual southern cross cross race up in Dahlonega,Ga.Temps are suppose to be super cold once again with the highs only predicted to be in the upper 20's.Brrrr mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus mark duffus mark duffus cycling

Yes.I am a slacker

2009-12-22T19:01:00.009-05:00

Lack of post doesn't mean lack of activity .Lack of post really just means that I'm too lazy to write about my cycling adventures.Since I only have one or two people that follow this I figure it's not that big a deal to be a slacker every once in awhile.

Since I last visited this blog,way back in october,I finally competed(and I use the word "competed" very loosly)in a couple cyclecross races.Now if you've never raced a cycle cross race you have nooo idea how hard being on a bike for 30-45 minutes can be.Man,that is some tough racing.Not sure what makes it so tough but it feels like a 30 minute time trial.Heart rate is maxing out the entire time.I really thought I would do better than I ended up doing but quickly realized I have a lot to learn before I'll be at the front of the pack with the big guns.

The last couple weeks I've had a nasty cold that has kept me off the bike.Got to do some good riding this past weekend up in Juliette,Ga.Amazing how fast one can lose fitness when it takes so long to acquire it.

Guess thats it for now. mark duffus cycling mark duffus mountain biking mark duffus duffus georgia

Helen 6/12 hour aftermath

2009-10-12T18:44:00.013-05:00

This past weekend marked the last race of the dirty spokes endurance series.The series started way back in March and finished up this past Saturday in Helen,Ga.

After racing a 6 hour race last weekend I was less than thrilled about racing again the following weekend.This time of year I have a tendency to not be as enthused as usual.In addition to that the weather was also suppose to be not so good.Also,my knee has been hurting since last weekends race and I wasn't really sure how long the knee would even hold up.I had only ridden one time the week prior and it hurt like a mutha.Since I had already pre registered for the race and paid for a cottage for 2 day's I figured I would suck it up and head on up.The local MTB group was having a festival up there as well so I figured if I decided not to race i could at least partake in some of those festivities.

I got to Helen around 2 and set up my pit area,talked to some friends and did a short pre ride.My knee wasn't feeling too bad which was a relief.

After getting my pit all set up I went to check into my cottage.I had no idea what to expect.The only reason I opted for the cottage is because this was the only thing that didn't cost 200 bucks a night.I reserved this place way back in April and it was the last one left.Oktoberfest is going on and getting a reasonably priced place to stay was nearly impossible.I was pleasantly surprised at how nice this place was.

The cottage resembled a beer keg from the outside.

The inside looked like a log cabin with lots of wood.Really nice and beat the hell out of a hotel room.The cottage had a kitchen,living room,bathroom and bedroom.The bedroom was a loft.It also had a back deck with a really great view.

Back to the race.Woke up bright and early and went to eat breakfast at the Unicoi lodge.Can't beat a breakfast buffet.After breakfast i loaded up my car and headed to the race venue.

It had rained some the night prior and was suppose to rain even more during the race.I was hoping the course wasn't going to be muddy.I went into this race as usual thinking to myself that it was going to be more of a ride than a race.I had originally signed up for the 12 hour option but decided since my knee had been bothering me that I would change and race the 6 hour option instead.The 6 hours of dauset last weekend spoiled me.It's really nice racing for 6 and then being able to hang out for the remainder of the race.

The race got started on time and it was good to see a good turn out of racers.My race went off without a hitch.I felt like i was riding as good as I have ever ridden.My body was feeling good,nutrition felt spot on and I was making really good time.Wasn't really sure how well I was doing but tried to keep a steady pace for the entire 6 hours.The only snafu was on my last lap when I over took a switchback( a switchback i had already ridden 6 times) and endo'd over my bars.Luckily neither me nor my bike were injured.

In the end I ended up finishing 2nd in my class.More importantly was how great I felt.Nothing on my body(except my knee) was hurting.My knee started killing me on the last lap.

Podium shot.I'm on the left.

All in all it was a great weekend.Got to see several folks I haven't seen in awhile and the weather was perfect.

Next on the agenda is the Gainesville college 6 hour race in a couple weekends.\

Dauset 6/12 hour race report.

2009-10-04T18:07:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was the 4th (or 5th) annual dauset 12 hour race.I've competed in every race since the inaugural race.The first few years I did the 12 hour solo option.Last year I was part of a 4 man team(we got 2nd) but this year I decided to do the 6 hour option.This is the first ever 6 hour race for me and surprisingly I liked it more than I thought I would.

Since I have a 12 hour race planned for next weekend my goal for the dauset race was to treat it as just a training ride.Of course that plan lasted all of about 10 seconds.Once the gun sounded I was in pure race mode.Funny how that works.

Won't really bore you with a lap by lap account but have to say that for once I felt really good.Don't think I was passed for the first 3 laps and was passing others like crazy.I was feeling strong and not feeling at all tired or winded.It helped that the course was kinda easy but was still fun non the less.

Ended up finishing with the top group that ended up getting 7 laps and last I heard I finished in 8th.Not bad considering 5 of the racers ahead of me race in the expert class.

Next Saturday is the last race of the dirty spokes series in Helen.We pre rode the course today and there is plenty of climbing.Next weekends race is going to be tough.

Best vacation ever.....almost

2009-09-27T19:14:00.024-05:00

No words can describe the feeling nor beauty I get from my visits to New Smyrna beach.This story is best told in pictures.

Checked into the room and this was the first thing I saw upon looking out the window.Was a prelude to a very special week.

This is why I go here year after year.No people.

One of the highlights of my trip was joining in on one of the local group rides.

Last day there I got up real early so I could take some shots of the sun rise.There has never been a day in my life that had such a contrast between the time the sun rose and the the time the sun set.

Here are a few of my favs.

The sun trying to make it's way above the horizon.

The sun making it's first appearance.

Cheapest therapy you will ever get.

And my favorite picture of all.If I would have known what life was going to throw at me later that day I would have never moved from this spot.

mark uffus perry,ga. mark duffus perry,ga. mark duffus perry,ga. mark duffus perry,ga. mark duffus perry,ga. mark duffus perrry,ga. mark duffus perry,ga. mark duffus perry,ga. mark duffus perry,ga.

Lots of catching up to do....

2009-05-27T10:53:00.009-05:00

Once again,my lack of post aren't reflecting a lack of stuff to talk about.Not sure why I've been neglecting my blog as of late.One reason may be because I've become addicted to facebook.Really easy to keep friends up to date on stuff I've been doing.Even better is that I can typically keep them up to date in one sentence or less LOL

Anyway.....guess I'll start way back at the last of April/first of May and the cohutta 100.As I had mentioned in my last post I had hopes/illusions of grandeur of finishing in 9;30 hours or at the very worst under 10 hours.didn't happen.I did beat last years time by 15 minutes or so but still bonked hard at the end.I did manage to "last" a bit longer than last year.Instead of bonking 70 miles in I felt good up until around 85 miles or so.Just can't get my nutrition dialed in I guess.To this day the cohutta is the toughest thing I've ever done.

Me at the finish.Have never been so happy(well since last year anyway) to be off my $%^&#@ bike

Next up was the fort yargo 12 hour race.Really wasn't sure how this was going to go seeing since it was scheduled for the following week end.Long story short.My legs and me felt awesome.It rained like a mofo.I finished 4th.I really feel like if it wouldn't have rained I would have been top 3.The rain made the course treacherous(to say the least)Between chain suck and the absolute wrong tires it was taking me forever to do a lap.Wish I would have been keeping up with my standings.In the end I was only 10 minutes out of 3rd place.

Me all finished up.Muddy mess to say the least.

Next up was the Georgia state single speed championship race.Hadn't really planned on doing this race but seeing since I had nothing else scheduled and have never raced this race(always had something else on the schedule) I decided to give it a shot and make the drive up to Athens.

I hadn't ridden my single speed in close to a year and have all forgotten how tough it is to acclimate yourself to only one gear.I took it for a ride the Wednesday prior to the race and couldn't believe how much stuff I had to walk.
Long story short is ..sprint races are hard as hell.Heart felt like it was about to explode for an hour straight.There are very few times you can recover while riding a single speed,especially at a place like hawks creek.I did start to feel better after the first lap and settled into a groove of sorts.Stayed in 2nd place most of the race and just couldn't close the gap.Finished 2nd.

Zoegetics update.Been involved for close to 6 months now.Have been learning more about people than anything else.I've come to the conclusion that it's not network marketing that deserves the bad rap but the people that get involved.It's amazing how close the gym business and network marketing resembles each other.What I've noticed both in the gym business AND zoegetics is how little dedication people have in either.They'll pay to join the gym/zoegetics give it a 'try" for a few weeks not get instant gratification and QUIT !!I really don't know how most people even make it through life with such attitudes.

Anyway...I'm still making it work for me and as excited about the possibilities as I was in the beginning.The only way not to make network marketing work for you is by quitting.

Mark Duffus

The cohutta 100

2009-04-22T20:08:00.003-05:00

Well folks,the kidding around is just about over and it's time to do some serious racing.The cohutta 100 is this coming Saturday and then the following weekend is a 12 hour race in Winder,Ga.If everything goes as planned,for both weekends,I will have back to back dirty 100+ mile races.

First order of business is this weekends cohutta 100.Staged in ducktown Tennesse this race is one I did for the first time last year.Even though I had ridden 100 miles on a mountain bike before this was the first point to point 100 miler I had ever competed in.My goal last year was 10 hours.I suffered some serious bonking the last 20 miles and missed my goal by 40 minutes or so.My goal this year is 9.5 hours !!!

I'm really excited this year because I know exactly what to expect.The big lesson learned last year was to not get cocky 80 miles in thinking I had the race whooped simply because I was feeling good.I never imagined only 20 miles could be so tough and i made the mistake of not paying attention to my nutrition.That's when the "bonk" came into play and in all honesty barely felt like I was going to be able to finish.I will not make that same mistake this year.The weather is suppose to be way better this year too.Shouldn't be nearly as wet as last year which will be nice.

In zoegetics news.yep,I'm still at it.have never learned so much about human psychology in my entire life.In the beginning I didn't understand people who weren't interested in even learning about this exciting new opportunity now I don't understand the people who actually get into this thing and do absolutely nothing.I promise to elaborate on this more when I have more time.Kinda sleepy right now.One thing I will say is that if any of you ever hear someone say "yeah,I was in one of those network marketing companies before and it was a big rip off." you can bet your bottom dollar they got in one,kinda tried for a week or two to be "successful" and then gave up.

Anyway,enough about that.headed to bed.

Mark Duffus

Update.Yeah I know,I'm a slacker

2009-04-01T20:06:00.004-05:00

Really haven't much felt like blogging as of late.Writing doesn't really come all that easy to me so unless I have something specific to speak of I usually just let the blogging start to slip.But to be honest,most of the time I just don't feel like doing it :-)

Since we've talked before I haven't been up to all that much.Spent about a week and a half not feeling well.Was off the bike for an entire week and then had to force myself to get back on it.I think I made matters worst by camping and racing right when I first started feeling sick.Just so happened that it got cold and rainy this race weekend which didn't make the situation any better.The race I'm speaking of was the first of 4 races in the dirty spokes endurance series.The dirty spokes series is a 4 race series that ends in October.The first race of the series was a couple weeks ago and was held in Athens,Ga at heritage park.This race is the only 6 hour with the rest being 12 hour races.Needless to say I didn't do very well.I decided to call it quits after only 3 hours of racing.Just wasn't having fun and when it's no fun there's no real reason to continue on.

Last weekend I drove up to Brevard North Carolina to participate in a save the trails ride.Was suppose to be tons of fun since it was being held in one of the most popular mountain bike areas in all the south east.Unfortunately in rained the entire time I was there so I didn't get to do the ride.

My view for 2 days

I did get to sneak in a forest service ride in between down pours.

Zoegetics is still doing really well.Learning a lot about network marketing and even more about people. One of these days when I have about 3 hours I'm going to sit down and write all about it. LOL

Heritage park 6 hour aftermath

2009-03-17T09:01:00.004-05:00

Some races just aren't meant to be I guess.My weekend started out with a sore throat on Friday.A sore throat the day before a race is never a good sign.I was really hoping to feel better come race day but the decision to camp Friday night and the fact that it was 40 degrees and a steady wind blowing all night really didn't help much.

The weather forecast didn't seem too promising either.Temps were predicted to stay in the mid 40's with a 60% chance of rain.The cold was there but fortunately it never rained.I've figured out if you really(REALLY) don't want it to rain then hope it does rain.Works every time.The rain stayed away the entirety of the race.Humid and cold has to be the worst though.That had to be the coldest 45 degrees I've ever been in.

Didn't sleep too well Friday night which was unusual since I drank about a half bottle of NyQuil before going to bed.Would sleep in 2 hour increments it seemed.Woke up around 7 am to the sound of racers arriving at the venue.Had some major chest congestion,and a mild headache, but other than that didn't really feel all that bad.

Not really sure of the number of racers at the start but it seemed like there were maybe 150 or so.I'm guessing the chance of rain kept many at home.Before I knew it we were lined up and ready to go.I got a good start and went into the woods 1/3rd of the way from the front of the pack.I thought I was feeling pretty good considering the fast start.

A mile in and we came to a complete stop.Bottle neck going over some roots stopped everyone in their tracks.No biggie since I was expecting this to happen anyway.Was kinda nice having a chance to catch a breather so no complaints here.My first lap I felt like I had never ridden a bike before.I fell not one,not twice but five times.Heritage park has tons of roots and with the little bit of rain the night before the roots were slick as ice.Amazing how fast you'd get body slammed into the ground if you didn't hit one of these roots at the perfect angle.

Long story short(since I'm tired of typing already) is that I just never felt good.I was hoping after my first lap that I would start getting a 'second wind" but after my 3rd lap I realized that just wasn't going to happen.When racing becomes a miserable experience then it's time to pack it in and live to race another day.I decided to call it quits after 3 laps (27 miles).I usually feel kinda bad when a bail early on a race but this time I had no regrets.I couldn't wait to get home.

new personal best

2009-03-09T21:34:00.002-05:00

Finished with a time of 4 hours and 16 minutes which is a new personal best for me at the snake creek time trial.Less than 2 minutes out of 3rd place in the overall.

Will write more when I get the time.

Still alive??Yes I am :-)

2009-03-05T08:49:00.003-05:00

Lack of post typically means I haven't had much to blog about.Life the last few weeks have been pretty much the "same ol' same ol'".Trying to ride when I can,working,and trying to keep the bills paid in this economy has pretty much been the gist of my life as of late.Every time I think I've seen the worst from the economy it seems to get a little bit worst.Being a business owner I am seeing first hand just how bad it's getting.I use top be a news "hound" but these day's I hate even turning on the television.Talk about "gloom and doom". Geesh.I wonder how much more antidepressants are being bought lately?Maybe that would be something goo d to invest in these days??

This coming weekend is the grand final' of the snake creek time trial series.Since I totally sucked last month I am hoping this final attempt will go off without any problems.I've been trying to make sure I am a bit better physically prepared than I was last month paying extra special attention to my nutrition and flexibility.My best time this year has been 4 hours 33 minutes.I would really love to be closer to 4 hours this time.Everything,and I mean EVERYTHING,has to go perfect for that to happen.

Zoegetics is still cruising along quite nicely.I am so thankful that I jumped on that opportunity when it presented itself.

That's it for now.Catch y'all later

Mark Duffus

Just have to laugh

2009-02-14T23:29:00.006-05:00

Since I became involved with zoegetics,and have been posting updates on my blog,I can't believe how my visitor count has shot up.Of course most of the visitors are being directed to my site because they are googling "zoegetics."I guess now that the word has got out about this new company there are a bunch of people looking for information.Although most of the search words are simply "zoegetics" it makes me laugh to see what some of these people are typing into the search bar in their search for zoegetics information.Here are a few examples.

Zoegetics scam (atlanta ,ga)

ZOEGETICS SCAM (gray,ga)

pyramid sceme warner robins, ga (macon,ga)

zoe life, pyramid scheme (macon,ga)

is zoegetics a good pyramid scheme (athens,ga)

zoelife pyramid scheme (reston,virgina)

My favorite inquiry is the one where someone is wondering if zoegeics is a "good" pyramid scheme LOL

OK...for you folks out there who have been so preconditioned to think that there is no other way to make money other than reporting to your job,clocking in,working for 8 hours,clocking out and then getting a paycheck on Friday,I'm here to tell you.Zoegetics is a REAL company.Zoegetics has REAL products.The ONLY difference between zoegetics and any of the retail establishments that you love to frequent is that they pay distributors instead of advertisers.Why is that so hard for some people to comprehend?

Not sure if any of you out there have noticed but our economy is going to shit.People are losing their jobs every day.Unemployment is at an all time high.To me it's a no brainer to think that if I need to buy something why not buy it from myself and make a little money in the process?I don't know anyone out there that couldn't stand to make even a little bit of extra money.

Zoegetics has been a godsend to me.Being a business owner I have seen my business fall off dramatically over the last few months.My new year resolution was to figure out a way to start making some extra money.The last few months,prior to joining the zoegetic team, I've had to dip into savings to pay my bills.I am so thankful to have become a part of this company.The only regret I have is that I didn't hear about it 2 months earlier.

Remember a few post ago when I mentioned I came in second in the contest zoegetics was having?Someone sent me a picture of the stage presentation.This was taken at the national kick off in Atlanta a few weeks ago.Thats me on the right(green shirt) and Jay Vaughn president and co founder of zoegetics on the left.Gawd I look like a dork :-)

In other news LOL..Had a great week on the bike.The weather in these parts has been really mild and with the exception of some high winds,the days have been really nice.
Took my trusty cannondale rush to the shop on Monday to have the front wheel rebuilt.Was hoping to have it back by this weekend but it's looking like mid week before I'll have it back.Not a big deal since it was rainy today anyway.

Speaking of rainy days.Not sure what got into me today but I did absolutely nothing.Didn't wake up until about 10.I did manage to finish up a load of laundry and after eating breakfast i retreated to the couch where I stayed the remainder of the day.I think I napped not once but twice LOL.I guess I'll have to make up for my laziness tomorrow and get in twice the miles.

Guess that's it for now.My new friend Alesia has been commenting that I need to update my blog so here it is Alesia :-)Enjoy ;-)

Mark Duffus

Snake creek time trial #2 aftermath

2009-02-08T12:07:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was not a good day to be on a bike ,for me, at all.Funny how some days you can be on top of your game while other days things just totally suck.Well yesterday things just sucked.Not sure why.I felt good,the weather was better than last months round,but everything that could go wrong did go wrong.You know you're in for a bad day when not 2 miles into the race you miss a turn and end up having to backtrack a couple miles.Luckily a gate made it obvious that me and about 10 others had made a wrong turn.You would think after as many of these things I have done in the past that I would have noticed the missed turn.Nope,I just followed the group not thinking a thing of it.I was noticing a few things that didn't looked right but never even realized we were going the wrong way until one of the lead women started heading back my way yelling(at the top of her lungs) "MOTHER F'r over and over again.That made me laugh.

So once we got back on course I tried to put the miscue behind me and just go about my business at hand.We still had a long way to go so that 5 minute detour certainly wasn't the end of the world.Funny how something like that gets in your head though.

The first 7-8 miles of this thing is always the hardest for me.It seems to take me forever to warm up.For the most part,this 7 miles is nothing but a gradual climb.Once I get finished with the first section I always feel like I've settled down and I can just fall into my own rhythm.Not today though.Today I felt like I just could not catch my breath.Even on the few sections that I can typically get my heart rate down nothing was happening.My heart rate was staying pegged.My low back was killing me too.The low back is always an issue but today it seemed way worst.
Not only was I feeling terrible but 3 miles into this thing I hit something and broke a spoke then 5 miles in I make myself endo and bash my knee up pretty good.Today is just not my day.

So in a nut shell I'm feeling like i haven't ridden a bike in 2 years,my front wheel has a broke spoke(wasn't sure if that thing was about to taco at any minute or not)and my knee is killing me from the crash.I'm not even 7 miles into this thing yet.I want my mommy LOL

Anyway,to make a long story short,things never did get better.I reached the half way point 20 minutes behind my normal time and decided to call it a day.Out of 4 years of doing this race I have never not finished.Today I just didn't have the mental toughness to continue on.

Didn't take any pictures but did get a couple videos.

This is of one of my two falls.This isn't the one I hurt my knee on but one after that fall.

snake creek fall from mark d on Vimeo.

This one of the final descent.

snake creek from mark d on Vimeo.

Zoegetics signs up it's first celebrity

2009-02-04T09:41:00.003-05:00

Dan Reeves,former head coach of The Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons and super bowl champion, has just signed up to be part of zoegetics.We wish him well in his new endeavor and want to say thanks for having faith in this new company.

Late edit.....had 153 hits on my site today from google and the search word "zoegetics".Lots of curious people out there all of a sudden.Good for me :-)

Keep those emails coming .If ya want to know about this company first hand then just shoot me an email at markd33@alltel.net

Another zoegetic post

2009-02-02T21:39:00.006-05:00

Sorry.....seriously.I'm not trying to sound like some network marketing freak on here.I know how those people can be.To be honest,I'm writing on here about zoegetics mainly so some of my friends and family can see how this plane called "zoegetics" is taking off.It seems that me telling them about it is doinging no good and I really want them to at least sit down and hear for themselves what this is all about.Have ya ever felt like grabbing someone by the shoulders and yelling"will you please sit down and at least hear me out for 30 minutes.?"

OK....so tonight was the 5th seminar in as many weeks that we've had here in Perry.As I mentioned in my other post this thing has grown from 5 people the first week to close to 150 people this week.We had to move our meetings to the Holiday Inn in Perry just to accommodate everyone and we were still cramped in a 150 person conference room.Amazing.

To my few friends out there who I've mentioned this to.I've only talked to maybe 10 of you.A couple of them I know could use some extra money but the others I talked to because I know they would totally kick ass at this thing.PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE come sit in on one of these meetings.If it's not for you then that's cool but making assumptions about something you know nothing about could literally cost you thousands of dollars.If ya can't make it to a meeting let me know and I will come to you.

Gawd I must sound like a nut.................

And one last thing.To those of you that happened to stumble across my page because you were google searching "zoegetics" Feel free to shoot me an email if ya have any questions.I'm just a regular guy who's never been in one of these things before.I would love to answer any questions or doubts that you might have.My email is markd33@alltel.net

Our weekly meetings are every Monday night at 6:30 at the Holiday Inn in Perry,Ga.

Last weeks meeting.Close to 65 people

Tonight's meeting.One half of the room.

Other half of the room

whirlwind weekend

2009-02-01T09:25:00.010-05:00

Well not really, although it did seem like there just wasn't enough time to get in everything that I really wanted to.

As some of you may know,this past weekend was the national kick off for zoegetics.The event was held in Atlanta at the Sheridan inn.Friday night was dinner and a chance meet and greet the founders while Saturday was the kick off for the company and an entire new line of products that will be introduced over the next few months.Between the dinner ,and kick off, I would venture to say there were at least 500 people in attendance.Was amazed at how many states were represented ,especially since the company has only been "word of mouth" up until now.I think the farthest city I heard mentioned was San Diego.I even met someone from San Diego who actually reads my blog.Most of the cities represented were right here in Ga.

I guess the highlight of the weekend was finding out that I placed second in a "promoter" contest that zoegetics had been running since December.The top 12 producers were recognized and given a weekend stay for two at Henderson village which is really close to Perry.I was surprised to hear that I came in second out of 12 producers.Not bad considering I've been involved only since the 10th of January.Only disappointing thing about receiving that "honor" is that to date I have yet to be able to sit down with any friends or family and explain what an exciting opportunity this is.Even though the people in that social circle of my life are the ones that could benefit the most from something like this they seem to be the ones that are always too 'busy" to sit down and JUST LISTEN for 30 minutes.Of course we all know "too busy" really means 'not interested."Still don't get that.I can understand why a person might choose not to get involved with something after learning about it but why make assumptions/decisions on something you know absolutely nothing about especially when someone is volunteering their time to come tell you about it? I am just so glad that I wasn't so short sighted that I too refused to listen,and trust me,I was just as skeptical as the next guy.Oh well.

Needless to say this entire experience has been one of the most exciting things to happen to me in a very long time.I can't wait to see what the future holds for me and this company.If the past few weeks have been any indication then the future,without a doubt,looks very promising to say the least.

One last observation,I promise.In the last few weeks,since I posted anything about zoegetics on my blog,my hit count has gone through the roof.Gradual at first,but more and more every day.That's how network marketing works.retail pays millions in advertising while network marketing pays millions to its reps to tell others about it.In reality that's the only difference between retail marketing and network marketing.That leads me to my observation.When I look at where my "hits" are coming from it will tell me if my blog is referred to them through Google.It also shows me what search brought them to my page.It's amazing at how many people use "zoegetics scam" in their Google search.Seriously,have we become so programmed that we think if you don't buy something at walmart that it is somehow a scam?To me,its a no brainer.If I'm going to be buying a product anyway ,why not buy it from a company that will pay me back for buying it?? Zoegetics is a real company run by real people who make real products.They haven't invested millions in something that they hope will fail.If I fail as a rep then they fail as a company.Why would they make it where everyone fails?Anyway......

One of the few pictures I took at dinner

OK...enough about that.You know a weekend can't come and go without some biking being in the story somewhere.I was suppose to do a ride down in Florida this weekend known as the "ididaride."This is one of those rides ya look forward to all year long.Unfortunately since the zoegetics kick off was the same day I had to make the tough call and forgo the ididaride.

There was no way I was going to miss that and not get any dirt miles in.On my way up to Atlanta(Friday) I met a mountain biking friend for lunch ,to visit, and also (of course)to tell him about zoegetics.After lunch he invited me to go for a ride on some trails that are known as the 'secret trails." LOL I could tell you what trails these are but of course I would then have to kill you ;-)

Even though the trail system was pretty stacked it was still a bunch of fun.I have never seen 6 miles of trail jammed into such a small urban area such as these.Like I said,even though they were really tight,they were still a lot of fun to ride.My only regret is that I didn't have more time to ride some of the other trails that were part of this system.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early and hit Chicopee trails in Gainesville,Ga.These have to be my favorite metro Atlanta trails of them all.Unfortunately the trails were wet/muddy and by the time I figured out it wasn't going to get any better it was too late to turn around and go back.Riding in the mud is absolutely no fun not to mention the havoc it wreaks on your bicycle and it's components.By the time I got out of there I was wishing I had never made the trip.

After the ride I made my way down to the zoegetics kickoff,sat through that and then made my way back home here to Perry.

Today(Sunday) I am sitting here waiting on it to warm up a little bit so I can get in some road miles.Planning on a 50 miler here in a bit.Of course later today it's all about the super bowl.Go Steelers :-)

Zoegetics

2009-01-29T20:33:00.004-05:00

Life is good at zoegetics.if anyone out there in blogger land would like to HEAR ABOUT an exciting opportunity feel free to shoot me an email.

markd33@alltel.net

Interested in being the first in your town to introduce the zoegetic line of products to your friends,family and neighbors?

Lemme know and I'll travel to you to show you too can start having your own seminars just like the ones that are popping up all over the place here in middle Ga..

my first zoegetic check

2009-01-28T20:49:00.005-05:00

Not bad for 2 weeks worth of work huh?

Learning a lot about people and psychology.One thing I've noticed is the people who could really use the extra money are the ones who wont even give you 5 minutes of their time to listen about this opportunity.I've only told a handful of my firends and have not had a single person take the time to even sit down and listen about this exciting opportunity.
Of the first 6 I signed up all were either physicians or pharmacist who make pretty good livings as it is.I guess they saw an opportunity and jumped on it where as those who don't have it(money) see nothing more than their next pay check.Hmmmm...maybe that's why those that have it have it and those who don't don't....

That is all

busy busy

2009-01-18T09:19:00.006-05:00

Think I'm going to have to start an additional blog just to cover whats going on with my new zoegetics venture.Needless to say this has taken off faster than I ever expected.I've gone from a skeptic(3 weeks ago) to so excited that I want to just grab people by the shoulders and tell them to "LOOK AT THIS OPPORTUNITY."

The more I talk to people the more I don't understand what makes people think the way they do.One thing that has surprised me about telling people about this new company is how receptive most are.What I find funny is how others have such a preconceived opinion and they don't know a single thing about this company..They'll call it a scam or that it's just like "this" or just "like" that when the fact of the matter is that if they would just open there minds up for 3 seconds they would realize that it isn't.Keep in mind that I'm not saying just because they do listen that they'll want to get involved I'm just wondering how some people can be so close minded when listening to the facts about something isn't costing them a penny.Some people are so preconditioned to the fact that if something doesn't involve getting up,going to work,working 9-5 and getting a pay check on Friday that it is somehow a scam.Same thing with a product.If they can't go to the store and buy it then somehow that's a scam too....funny.

This is whats zoegetics is all about,in a nut shell, for those of you still reading.First of all ,zoegetics, is introducing one of many health supplements.They decided to net work market it simply because that was a cheaper way to get it on the market.Advertising cost millions of dollars but me talking about it cost them nothing.The first product in there product line is something that 95 % of the population is lacking in.That is fruit and vegetables.This is something that the USDA says we need and not zoegetics.The main reason people don't take in enough fruits and vegetables is because it just isn't doable.It takes a ton of time and effort.Zoelife is a pack of 13 fruits and vegetables that have been ground into powder form.Pour it in a water bottle and bam,you've done what the USDA recommend you do every day.So,you buy a product that is actually good for you,something you need every day.This is a real product made by real people distributed from a real plant right here in Warner Robins.Yeah it cost 57 bucks a month but could you imagine what 150 servings of fruits and vegetables would cost ya a month?

Now this is the part that sold me on it.I buy this product,I really like it,I tell a few friends about it and I can make some extra money just by doing that.I can't tell you the number of other products I buy in a year that I do that exact same thing.The only difference is that there is not a chance at all of making a single dime.When I was told that if I chose to tell people about this product and all I had to do was get 2 of my friends to also buy this product and if they too told two and they too told told that I would make $1,000 I was sold.Hell the first time you did that would be paying for this product for a year.You get that to happen and this thing isn't costing you a dime.The thing about it is I don't feel like I'm "selling" anything.All I'm doing is telling people about something that I like.This is only one way to make a little money from this.What if i offered you a job to report to on Monday and told you that every time 10 people bought our product i was going to pay you a grand?Think you'd be interested?

Anyway....that's pretty much all about that for now.I'm sure most of you would rather read about my mountain biking misadventures anyway :-)if any of what I just said sparked any interest feel free to go to www.zoegetics.com.If ya look on the left sidebar and go to "webinars" there is a video that tells you all about the company and compensation plan.

Now...some biking news.Been riding the hell out of my road bike the last few weeks.The weather has been less than ideal for mountain biking with a bunch of rain as of late.Also got in several hours of trail work done out at arrowhead park last weekend.Our club had borrowed a dingo( a trail building machine)so I went out to try and get in a little more trail before we had to take it back.unfortunately the dingo decided to break down again so I only got to use if for around 3 hours.That is a whole other blog entry of its own.

No real road riding news.No close calls or mishaps.Been feeling really strong on the bike as of late and have been upping my weekday ride times.My ride time schedule had been 1.5 hours M-W-F and then 2 hrs T and Th.Last weeks I upped that to 2 hours every day except Friday.I also started to be a more consistent with my weight work out which I do on M-W- and Friday.Been doing a workout that involves all my major muscle groups but have been really concentrating on one legged leg exercises.One leg squats,extensions,presses,curls and step ups.Really going to try and get them stronger which I hope will result in more pedal power.

Haven't been on my mountain bike in two weeks and decided to head up to Dalton to ride the snake creek t/t course yesterday.Really wanted to practice the 1 mile rock section since that is one place that really slows me down and eats into my time when I'm racing.The weather forecast called for the low of 16 and the high of 24.Perfect riding weather.I love it when my drink bottles turn to slush.Nothing better than a cytomax slushy.
Had a good ride,really tough but of course was happy that I did it.Super sore today.Only thing that sucked about the cold was it froze my shifting cable which meant I had to pretty much ride in the same gear the entire ride.Note to self:never wash your bike the day before you go on a sub freezing ride.Seems if the water got down in the cable housing and once I got below freezing the cables froze up.Live and learn.

Thats pretty much it for now.couple pics from yesterday.

We got to ride in the snow.kinda cool

The only other person crazy enough to join me.me (L)and Drew :-)

a video

snake creek with drew from mark d on Vimeo.

Oh.... the current issue of the fat tire times.Imagine my surprise when i saw that it was me on the cover LOL

Nothing ventured nothing gained?

2009-01-06T20:38:00.007-05:00

So one of my gym regulars is talking to me the other day and starts telling me about this new health 'product" that is being distributed locally.The company has only been in existence since October and the 3 originators of this company are all local successful business guys.Seems as though a local guy (Benny Graham)has developed this supplement that contains all the nutrients you need to equal the daily recommended allowance of fruits and vegetables.We all know how hard it is to eat the 6 servings of fruits and veggies day.The product is 100 % natural with absolutely no preservatives.

Benny had originally intended on marketing his new product just like any entrepreneur would,shopping it around to whatever chain store would take it, but before he had any takers ,was introduced to Jay Vaughn who for the last fourteen years has worked either part or full-time as an independent distributor in the network marketing industry, reaching top Level status in two organizations.These two decided to instead of traditional marketing that they would embark on a network marketing planning strategy.

As we all know "network marketing"(at times) has had a bad reputation.Some like to refer to it as a "pyramid scheme" while others think that if it sounds 'too good to be true" than it probably is.In most cases the later is sometimes true.What most people don't realize ,or remember, is that there are several success stories when it comes to network marketed companies.Amway has been around since the 1950's for instance.Mary Kay is the same thing as well.

Anyway...so this guy is telling me about this brand new company.It's being called zoegetics .(www.zoegetics.com)The whole time he's telling me about it the only thing that's going through my mind is this is just another one of those get rich schemes.I'm skeptical but agree to let him invite a couple people to the gym for a presentation.I decided I too would attend just to check it out and see what the deal was with it.

I was really impressed with this guys presentation.The product seems solid enough on the surface.I've been in the fitness industry long enough to know that until the FDA starts to regulate supplements that we'll never know what's really in them.I'll do my own case study on myself and report any benefits I find.As bad as i am in getting in the daily doses of fruits and vegetables,anything has to help me.

I also liked the fact that 3 local business guys were involved and that the main money guy (Steve Davidson)invested so much of his own money into this venture.This guy is no dummy when it comes to business ventures that's for sure.He made millions already off a product he invented called odoban.Some of you might even use it.He too lives here in Perry.

The biggest factor that got me interested is that this company hasn't even been launched nationally yet.That doesn't happen until January 31.To date there are less than 1,500 people in it.Just think of companies like amway and where you might be now had you jumped on board when they too were "new."Typically when these network marketing opportunities come along they are well into themselves with hundreds of thousands of people already participating.To be able to get in at this early of stage was the most important selling point to me.Who knows where this thing might go.They are hoping to have a million people on board by years end.

To become an independent distributer of this company also means that you buy into the company, essentially making you a stock holder.The initial investment is minimal(compared to some) with the fee being $397.00.This $397.00 gets you 70 packets of product as well as brochures and a dvd.You also will be charged $57.00 a month and will receive 30 servings of product each month.Zoegetics isn't just stopping at one product.About every 3 months they plan on introducing another product to the line.Here's a list of upcoming products.

* Zoé Life™ Weight Management
* Zoé Life™ for Kids
* Zoe Life™ for Seniors
* Zoe Life™ Pops (Freezer Pops)
* Zoé Life™ Natural (Make-Up)
* Zoé Life™ Hair (Shampoo & Conditioner)
* Zoé Life™ for Pets
* Zoé Life™ Fountain of Youth” (Anti-Aging)
* Zoé Life™ Clean (“Green” Home Care)
* Zoé Life™ Natal (Baby Line)
* (No Inventory Required)

Now ,the best part of it all is how you can make money from this great product.To see the many different ways go here.

http://www.zoegetics.com/Development/Website/Commission.html

And click on download the compensation plan brochure.

I know this sort of thing isn't for everyone but who knows what might happen?If you feel like you might want to learn more about it feel free to shoot me an email to markd33@alltel.net

I plan on having a speaker at the gym to answer any questions this coming Monday at 6pm.everyone/anyone is welcome to come take a listen for themselves.

http://www.eaglevoicemail.com/mp3/jyvn1204.mp3

a couple more snake pics

2009-01-05T22:05:00.005-05:00

Found a couple more pictures that were taken during Saturdays snake creek gap time trial.Check out the fog would ya?Pretty cool lookin' I think.

Happy new year and the snake creek gap

2009-01-04T13:29:00.012-05:00

Well the new year got started off with a bang in the ride department.Between the 28th of December and yesterday I've managed to get in 187 miles and 14 hours of ride time.Didn't really plan on all that, seeing since the snake creek gap time trial was the same week,but it just seemed to happen.

One of the rides that accounted for a lot of that mileage was the 6th annual(?) bike store bike ride.This ride has really turned into an annual event.Not sure how many people were in attendance but I would venture to say at least 70?I remember the first year there were 7 of us.The ride started out at a very casual pace but (as usual) half way through it turned into a hammerfest with about 8 folks breaking away.Funny how that happens.I have to admit it did feel good going fast and the group of guys in the "breakaway" all rode really well.

The new generation of local hammerheads and Stan whos been a local hammerhead for a long,long time ;-)

group shot

Yesterday was the first race of the 3 race snake creek gap time trial series.This will be the 4th year in a row that I've competed in this annual event.Seems like every time I race this race I have some sort of an "issue."I can go all year long and not have any mechanicals but when racing the snake it seems like if something can go wrong it will go wrong.

This year seemed no different in that the conditions were less than ideal.The area must have received a ton of rain because the course was as soupy as I think I've ever seen it.In the back of my mind I was wondering what kinda drive train problems would haunt me this time.

I got to the venue about an hour before the shuttles were scheduled to leave and couldn't believe the parking lot was already full.Seems the first race of the year had brought out everyone.The drive from Marietta was foggy and misty and from the looks of the road it looked like the area had a good drenching over night.Only good thing about the weather was that it wasn't freezing cold.

pic from the parking lot

After getting registered,socializing,getting me and my bike ready it was time to load up on the bus to be shuttled to the start line.This race is a 34 ish mile point to point race.The organizers shuttle you to the start and 34 miles later you finish in the parking lot where you parked.

45 minutes ,of the longest bus ride ever, we arrived at the start.I've never been so happy to get somewhere in my life.That bus ride is torture.It's finally time to get this thing started.

Once the race got started things went incredibly smooth.I couldn't help but notice how sloppy the trail was and was really hoping it wouldn't make my bike start acting up.With the exception of losing my gel flask (and only source of energy) my ride went off without a catch.Even with all the mud my bike felt like it was rolling on it's own.

One thing that helped tremendously was hooking up with two super fast/cool women for the first half of the race.They were setting a comfortably fast pace which motivated me to try and keep up even when I wanted to slow down a bit.I made it through the half way point 10 minutes ahead of my usual time and riding with these two really helped setting a super smooth tempo.The view wasn't too bad either :-)

Beth Roberts

Jennifer Smelser

Anyway......struggled through the second half the best I could.Even though I was feeling fatigued physically my legs were feeling really strong.Last year I suffered with some pretty sever cramps.Fortunately that didn't happen this year. Don't really remember much about the second half other than that I got really cold,I thought I was going to run out of water and the fog made it all seem like a dream.Funny how no mater how many times I ride this trail I can never remember the course and more importantly how much farther I have to go.

In the end I crossed the finish line in 4 hours 33 minutes.I was 3 minutes short of the 4 1/2 hour goal I had set for myself.My best ever time was 4 hours 50 minutes so even with the terrible conditions I still posted a personal best by almost 20 minutes.My January 2007 time was 5:06 while my January 07 time was 5:09.This years January time was better than 30 minutes faster.Now if I could just knock off 30 more minutes. :-)

I cannot say enough about my cannondale rush.I know it wasn't me that made up the difference in time but the bike.I went the entire race without a single problem.Considering the conditions that in itself is a miracle.Hopefully next month the trail won't be as wet and we'll see what the bike can really do.

post race - tired fer sure

My how time flies

2008-12-15T19:09:00.012-05:00

Yep,seems like time has got away from me again and I've neglected my blogging duties.As I sit and write this I can't believe that it's already been 6 weeks since I last posted.The last 6 weeks have been nothing short of a blur with something happening every weekend it seemed.

Lets recap shall we?

November 1st I went up to the north Ga. mountains to take part in a "Halloween" ride.Good times for sure.

The following weekend was a benefit ride for addictive bike store owner Scott Hodge ta fort yargo state park in Winder,Ga..Scott was injured in a motor cycle accident so several hundred of his friends pitched in and had a benefit for him.If only all of us could be so lucky to have so many friends.

Then on the 16th of November our MTB club hosted the 6th annual dauset festival.This year was a first in tnat we also included a dirty duathlon.

No time to slow down now.The next weekend(November 22 for those of you keeping score at home) it was up to Dalton,Ga. to ride the snake creek time trial course.Man was it cold that day.

Of course the following week was turkey day.Sheri did an awesome job cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Still no rest for the weary.Weekend after Thanksgiving(Nov 30) we went down to sunny Florida to do a Florida championship race.Unfortunately it started raining really bad before the sport race started so I decided not to race.Even though I didn't race Sheri got to.She had a blast even with all the rain.

That brings us to last weekend.Not a good weekend at all.I came down with a major case of food poisoning or something late Friday night.Was one of those things where you wake up in the middle of the night heaving your guts out.That lasted(the heaves)all day and night Saturday.Couldn't tell you the last time I've thrown up. There has to be no worst feeling.The worst thing about getting sick,besides actually getting sick, was that it forced me have to miss our clubs work party out at arrowhead park.Even though I got over the heaves in a day it took me close to a week to start feeling close to 100% again.

This past weekend brought even more mountain bike related stuff.I made my way up to Roswell,Ga. to help out with a trail work party and to also learn how to operate one of these.

This coming weekend is yet another trail work party out at arrowhead.No wonder I feel so beat........I still need to start my Christmas shopping.

Also ,you may have noticed I started trying to plan some of my 09 race schedule.Just "a few" ,off the top of my head, that I want to do and the total is already up to 10 races.So many good races out there so little time/money.
I'll probably add a couple more as soon as I figure out what my "big/something different race" is going to be for the year.Every year I try and do at least one race I've never done before.All I'm sure of at this point is that it's going to be a hundred mile race.Kinda waffling between the mohican 100(Ohio) and the
lumberjack 100 (Michigan)We'll see I guess.Still not sure if I'll do any XC type races in 09.Think I've come to the conclusion that I just don't enjoy the sprint type race much anymore.We'll see I guess.

That's it for now.Hopefully it won't be 6 more weeks before I update again.

Gainesville MTB rumble recap

2008-10-28T06:05:00.013-05:00

This past Saturday the 13th annual Gainesville college 6 hour mountain bike rumble took place.Previous years I never really took much interest in doing this race.Long drive,end of the season burnout and lack of funds where all contributing factors in my decision.Last year ,however, I made the drive up there to try and sell some raffle tickets and decided right then and there that this year I would do the race.Local,grassroots and tons of fun.On top of all that the proceeds went to charity.Sweet.

I had originally planned on doing the 6 hour race as a solo rider.Not my strong suit by any means(too short and way too fast)but figured what the hell.Then on Wednesday a buddy of mine called and asked if I wanted to do a two man team.After thinking about it (for a nano second) I agreed.Since he too is a Clydesdale we decided to enter the Clydesdale category.Our team name?"Team sand bagger."Our goal was to rip the legs off anyone who got in our way.

The day prior, rain doused all of Georgia pretty well so I didn't get to make it to the venue for the traditional pit set up and pre ride.That was ok though since I was pretty familiar with the course.I've ridden the place many times and was pretty confident there wouldn't be any surprises.Saturday morning we arrived bright and early to set up our pit.

After getting everything set up,registering and siting around waiting forever the race finally got started with the lemans start.Luckily my team mate(Big Chris) agreed to do the run.This way he could watch his son (Brady)do his first ever race.

Brady ready to rumble

Racers getting to their bikes after the lemans start

The plan was for Chris to do two laps and then I would do two.After those 4 laps we would then decide what our strategy would be for the rest of the day.

Chris' children cheering daddy on during the run.Aint they cute?

Our plan went off without a hitch,no crashes or mechanicals.Each and every lap was scary consistent with both of us doing 30 minute laps for the 6 mile loop.In the end we ended up with 11 laps.Even though we were in the Clydesdale category we ended up riding more laps than any other two man team out there that day.Not too bad.

Can't not mention that my g/f Sheri decided to do her first ever race as well.She entered the solo category and ended up with 4 laps and had a total blast.Looks like I might be losing my support person now cause she's hooked on racing and already looking forward to whatever is next. Oh well.

Couple pics from the day.

Podium shot

My team mate "Big Chris"

Me making my way through the field portion of the course.The combination of 30 mph winds,soft ground and thick grass made it a struggle.

Gainesville 6 hour: 1st

2008-10-26T20:14:00.002-05:00

Details later

conyers 12 hour aftermath

2008-10-14T18:21:00.016-05:00

I headed up to Conyers Friday afternoon to set up my pit area.Since I was more than familiar with the facility I wasn't feeling rushed about getting up there in time to snag the "perfect" spot.There is a huge field that has more than enough room for anyone planning on racing.Since I had raced there plenty times before I was pretty sure I knew what the set up was going to be.

After an uneventful two hour drive I was unloading my car right where I had imagined I would be setting my stuff up.Since no locals where planning on doing the full 12 hours I decided to pit in the solo area which was really close to the start/finish.

My pit

After setting up my pit area ,Sheri arrived, and we decided to take a spin around to check out the race loop.

Since this race director decided to only use one side of the normal race loop I was curious to see how he was going to get 8 plus miles out of something that is typically only 5 miles long.With the addition of several horse and walking trails the new and the old trails blended in well making for what ,at first, seemed to be a much easier than normal loop.With the addition of a bunch of double track it seemed like there would be several more places to recover than normal.The loop would still be challenging just not a torture fest like some lap races are.That was an observation after riding ONE lap.I would have a much different opinion after riding 13 the following day/night.The lap ended up being around 8 1/2 miles with somewhere around 1200 feet of ascent per lap.

Race day came bright and early the following day.The skies were cloudy,the temps were cool and very breezy.I was worried my pop up wasn't going to be there when we got back but fortunately it made it through the night.Setting most everything up the day before made race morning go off without a hitch for the most part.The only equipment snafu came when I was checking my cleat screws only to find one(of the two)that hold the cleat on the shoe was stripped out and free spinning.Wasn't much I could do about it since it would neither tighten up or come out.Since I had a back up pair of shoes I wasn't too concerned but couldn't help but think to myself how much it would suck to lose a cleat out on the course and have to one leg pedal back in.Fortunately that never happened.

Ten minutes before the start I decided to take a quick spin just to double check the bike and spin my legs out a little bit.I made a quick loop and headed for the start/ finish.By the time I got there it looked like everyone else was already there.I didn't really want to start in the very back so I maneuvered my way towards a familiar face in the middle of the pack to wait for the gun to sound.Starting at the very back of a race like this is never a good thing.Since all skill levels typically do this sort of race getting caught behind a bunch of slower riders is typically the norm.

Me chatting with my bud "big Chris"waiting for the gun to sound

As I was standing there talking to my buddy "big Chris" I noticed my garmin GPS wasn't on my bars.I knew it was just there and must have somehow lost it when I went on my short pre ride.I looked on the ground around me,didn't see it,then started to head back to for it.I really didn't want to lose that thing.Just as I got to the back of the pack I heard the announcer say "40 seconds".Crap !!!Should I go look for it or start?I decided to go ahead and start but now I was totally in the back.Once the gun sounded I pulled over to tell Sheri(my pit boss)what had happened and to beg her to go look for it.This put me even farther back.

Me pulling up to Sheri to ask her to go look.Do I look panicked?She did eventually find it,which was a great relief.

The entire first lap was spent trying to work my way through the entire field of racers.That was no easy task.I encountered log jam after log jam.Seemed like every little obstacle had a traffic jam behind it.I keep telling myself I had 12-13 hours to go but I was on a mission and didn't want to waste any unnecessary time if I could help it.

After the first lap things seemed to clear up on the trail nicely.I was feeling fast and strong.Seemed like I was passing a bunch of people all the while thinking to myself that I was going too fast too early.I held a pretty good pace for the first 3 laps limiting my pit stop time to less than 30 seconds.I started getting really tired around lap 7.

Won't really go through a lap per lap account.Can say though,like most other 12 hour races I've done, that subsequent laps were"peeks and valleys."I'd feel really good for a lap then terrible for a lap.My feet would hurt for a lap,traps another lap,tri's another,then everything would feel better,then repeat the process all over again.Weird how that happens.Only major/consistent problem I was having was a nauseated feeling in my stomach.Was one of those feelings that felt like if I could just go ahead and throw up I would feel better.At one point I came really close to stopping and trying to make myself heave.I'm guessing that my stomach wasn't use to all the energy products I was force feeding it.I was bound and determined to take in at least 300 calories an hour.Not taking in enough nutrition was not going to knock me out of this race if I could help it.

Crossing one of the 3 creek crossings
(photo by Carl Mesta http://www.mestaphotos.us/)

My goal was to stay within two places of another racer who was only 15 points behind me in the overall points for this particular race series.I couldn't finish any less than two spots behind or I would drop from 3rd(in the series)to forth.I really wanted that 3rd place finish.The series started back in March and consisted of 3 races.

4 laps in I was in 5th place but still only two spots behind my rival.I've done enough of these races to know anything can happen in 12 hours and usually after 8 hours the standings start to change.8 hours of racing is usually what separates the men from the boys,after that it's all a matter of determination.My goal was to keep moving and not waste any time in the pits. I felt like I was doing a pretty good job at that so far.

On around lap 8(or so) I was told I was in second place with one guy 11 minutes behind and another 20 minutes or so.On around lap 10 I was told(on the trail)that the guy I needed to beat was out of the race.This is where knowing who my competition was would have come in super handy.I was pretty sure I could hold onto my 3rd overall spot no matter what happened but wasn't sure who the other two guys were.Could one of them be the 5th place series guy?How many points was he behind me?Could he bump me out of 3rd overall if he beat me?No time to guess now so I kept pedaling on.

Lap 12 I was certain would be my last.I was so happy riding that last lap knowing that would be the end.I was tired,my legs were cramping,I was cold and hungry.I came into the pits and luckily the first place guy was analyzing the score sheet.He was a lap up so he didn't have to worry about doing another.He told me I had two people behind me who could potentially do another lap .If they did another lap ,and I didn't, they would pull ahead of me on the very last lap.With the encouragement of a few fellow racers they talked me into doing one more lap just to be safe.Not only was I going for a 3rd place overall(my original goal)but now I was going for a second place finish in this race.Surreal to say the least and totally unexpected.Would have never thought in a million years I would be fighting for a second place finish.After the was over I found out I was one lap up on the two behind me.Better safe than sorry for sure but dayum that was tough doing one more lap.

That last lap was total torture and felt like it would never end.I had 'plenty" of time to get back but it felt like an eternity making that last loop.One mile from the finish one of my lights went out.A little farther up the trail and it started raining.Being so close to the finish neither could have timed themselves any better.I crossed the finish line in 12 hours and 40something minutes and secured myself a second place finish.I have never been so tired and so happy at the same time,ever.

Finishing one of many laps in the dark

After 3-4 years of doing 12 hour races this would be my first ever podium finish.Top three(overall winners) from right to left.

Being finished never felt so good

2nd

2008-10-12T18:58:00.002-05:00

2nd place in the race at conyers

(13) 8 1/2 mile laps

100 something miles

15,600 feet of ascent(according to my garmin)

12 hours 40 minutes ride time

3rd overall for the series

I'm tired

More later

next up:12 hours of Conyers

2008-10-08T19:29:00.008-05:00

The last of the 3 race series known as the dirty spokes endurance series is happening this Saturday.Have to admit I'm getting a little bit giddy just thinking about it.I haven't raced an endurance race since the beginning of May.

The race is being held in Conyers at the international horse park.This is the same place they had the 1996 Olympic mountain biking.Only one side of the 8 mile loop will be used and not the "tougher" side which is 80% granite.Even though the granite side isn't being used the course will still be plenty tough.Lots of climbing will be happening on the 8 mile loop.

I have quite the challenge going into this race in that currently I am in 3rd place overall for the 12 hour series.4th place is only 15 points behind me and pretty much wins every race he enters.What that means is,assuming he wins this one too,is that I can't place any worst than 3rd to hold onto my 3rd place overall standing.A feat that will be next to impossible.

Unlike most races where I know I have no chance of winning and therefore just ride with no real expectations nor strategy,this race I am going to try and push myself farther than ever before.I know I can't out ride the top 3 but what I can do,unlike most of my other endurance events,is KEEP MOVING.I have a tendency to waste a lot of time at my pit and over the course of a 12-13 hour race those five minute pit stops end up adding to a ton of time.

I'm feeling really confident and prepared for this race.Compared to the two months prior to my last race(yargo)I have close to 400 more miles under my belt.The last month I've been averaging 10-11 hours a week in the saddle.Not a ton of hours compared to some but 2-3 more hours per week more than is typical for me.The last few weeks my legs have felt incredible.Only thing lacking in my 'training" schedule has been long,LONG training rides.Just couldn't seem to find the time to spend 5-6 hours at one time on a bike.We'll see how much that comes into play this come Saturday.

In other news.Went up to Chatsworth Ga. this past Saturday and rode Windy Gap,Milma and Timms.I've never been there before and even though it was some really tough course conditions I had a blast.The climbs and descents were both crazy steep.

Check out the elevation profile.(especially that descent at the end).Talk about holding on for dear life.

Few more random pics.

The group.Great group no doubt.

Me on one of the descents.

Thats it for now.

dauset 12 hour race report

2008-09-22T19:23:00.004-05:00

Where to start?As I mentioned in my previous post,a local guy asked me to join his team for the 12 hours of dauset mountain bike race.I had done this race the previous two years as a soloist but hadn't planned on doing it again this year.When asked,and after he told me who all was on the team,I jumped at the chance.I knew this team had a great shot at pulling off a podium finish.Bad thing was that I was the slow guy.Never a good thing to be the slow guy on a fast team.Not only was I probably the slowest but I've raced one(count em'- ONE!) sprint race this entire year.Racing on a 12 hour team is way worst than even a sprint race in that the entire time it's your turn to race it's an all out, heart exploding,wanna puke,time trial effort for close to an hour.Not my specialty by any stretch of the imagination.

Since I haven't done any speed work in like 9 months I decided to pay a visit to the race venue the day prior to ride a lap at all out effort just to see what I could do.This was a blessing and a curse all in one.A blessing because it gave me some sort of an idea as to what lap times I could post but a curse in that I was really feeling it in my legs the next morning.I did though learn a few things that I could use to my advantage the following day.One of those things was to not go out like a banshee right from the start.I did that in my pre-ride and blew sky high about 4 miles into the loop.Wasn't going to let that happen come race day.

The following morning came bright and early.Was nice not having a ton of crap to take with me since I decided to keep it low key for this race.No table,no pop up,no lanterns,nothing but the necessities.I didn't even unload anything from my car but instead decided to just pit from there.This worked out ok for the most part but was inconvenient a few times.Was really nice at midnight when it was time to head home and I didn't have to load anything other than my bike back into the car.

Anyway,before ya know it it's time to race.It was decided that I would go second in the rotation which was way cool with me.I was ready to go.What I didn't expect was for our lead off rider to pull off a lap that left everyone else in the woods.Our guy was the first guy out of the woods which meant it was up to me to do my best to keep us in the lead.Talk about pressure.Don't think I've ever been in "1st" place like that in any race.What a surreal feeling being in the woods,all by myself,knowing that I was in 1st place.......pressure.

The quite didn't last long and in that lap 4 or 5 people passed me.I recognized a few of them as 6 hour solo racers so I wasn't that concerned but wasn't sure if any 4 man team racers had passed me or not.My lap went really well with the exception of my hydration bladder not working when I needed it to and my low back frickin' killing me as usual.Lesson number one for the day.ALWAYS,ALWAYS check your equipment before going out on a lap.My hydration pack had water in it but when I went to suck on the tube all I got was air.Damn I was thirsty but at least it wasn't 100 degrees like years passed.Other than those two miscues my lap felt great and for once I felt really fast.My lap time was 45.99 which bettered my pre-ride lap time by almost 3 minutes.Out of the 15 laps our team did that was the 5th best lap time put down all day.Not bad for an old fat guy huh?

Unfortunately my 'speediness" didn't happen on my second lap.Not exactly sure what happened but my legs,for the first few miles,felt like they were on fire and had absolutely no power.My guess is that I didn't warm up nearly enough.It took at least the first 5 miles to start feeling good.The first 5 miles were nothing short of a torture fest.Finished my second lap in 49 minutes and some change.Still not bad but 3 minutes slower than my first and you just can't be giving up 3 minutes a lap every time ya go out in a close race like this one.The only positive about my slow lap was the number one team also had slower than usual lap and only beat me by a minute and some change.We were still top 3.

Lap 3 came before ya knew it and I spent at least 35 minutes prior to it warming up.There was no way I was going to ride another lap and feel like crap again if I could help it.The proper warm up made all the difference because I made the first few sections with no problem/stress.My legs felt really good and once again I felt like I was flying.

Couple things happened on this lap that are worth mentioning.At the very beginning of lap me and another guy started around the same time.We were pretty much matching each other pedal stroke for pedal stroke.He stayed behind me for around 4 miles or so.Usually having someone ride my wheel really ,REALLY gets on my nerves because it distracts me.Usually the noise they make is what causes the big distraction.I asked him several times if he wanted to go around but he said I was going at a good pace and he'd hang back.He was being really,really quite back there so it didn't bother me.I think it actually made me ride better knowing someone was back there.Even though he passed me, eventually he never got very far and it was nice having someone just a little bit faster to chase.I actually caught and passed him on the climbs ,but once it leveled off he would pass me back.I mention that because it helped me with this..

3 miles in one of our competitors caught me.I had just given up first place and the bad thing was that this guy raced expert and I knew he was a helluva lot faster than I was."Dammit man",I can't let him get away.I told the guy in front of me,who I had been pacing,that that was our competition and I had just lost first.The guy kept hollering words of encouragement the entire lap."Catch him Mark" he would say LOL.My goal was to not lose this guy because I knew if I did than that meant I was slowing down.Every time I looked at my heart rate it was 190 plus but I could still see our competition just ahead.Even though he passed me he wasn't gaining all that much ground.When we approached the start finish he was maybe 30 seconds ahead.My time was 48 and some change.Job complete.I fought off an expert rider and didn't lose too much time for the team.

After my 3rd lap it was still neck and neck and the decision was made to alter our rotation to try and match up our faster guys towards the end.That meant I was 'benched" but was OK with that.The plan looked like it gave us the best chance of winning this thing.Evidentially the plan worked well because we had tied it up going into the very last lap.Our next to the last rider and their next to the last rider came in at almost the exact same time meaning that it was going to be a last lap race.Couldn't have asked for a better plan because we had our strongest rider matched up against their strongest rider.Their strongest rider was 16 and is some sort of phenom.In the end youth got the best of us and we ended up coming in second by less than two minutes.

Talk about an exciting race.Race for 12 hours and it still comes down to the last lap.Can't ask for anything better than that.Hats off to everyone on my team.Everyone did the absolute best they could.We didn't have a single mechanical nor a single major crash and our race went about as flawless as anyone could ever hope for.Really can't ask for more than that.On top of all that the weather was absolutely beautiful.

The team from left to right

Mike,me,James(our pit bitch)Monte and Tim

Tim headed out for his last lap.See the guy in the blue right behind him?Thats who we were battling it out with the entire day.That's how close it was going into the very last lap.

Mike coming in from his last lap.Our lap number 14

"BLAH"

2008-09-19T11:03:00.005-05:00

Yep,that pretty much describes my mood this entire week.Guess it's post vacation stress syndrome or something.Just can't seem to snap out of it for some reason.

Even with the blah feeling, I've had a really good week in the saddle.By Wednesday I had already logged in over 100 miles.Tuesday I even managed to make it out to thomson trail(for the first time in at least 4 months)and rode 4 laps(20 miles) without wanting to commit suicide afterwards.Riding 5 mile laps over and over and over again is B-O-R-I-N-G to say the least.I guess not having visited the place in awhile helped with the bore factor.

Wednesday I was asked to join a team for the 12 hours of dauset which is this coming Saturday.Hadn't planned on racing it this year ,for a couple reasons, but since the guys team needed one more ,due to someone bailing, I figured what the hell.12 hour races on a team, to me, are tougher than solo due to the "sprint a lap,rest a few hours,sprint a lap,rest a few hours" factor but it will kinda be nice to something that resembles a sprint race again this year.I've only done one sprint race all year long.

Wanted to send out a huge kudos to specialized.A few weeks ago,while riding, I hit the outside of my specialized s-works mountain bike shoe on a root and tore the round knob that tightens the lace up completely off the shoe.Needless to say without this major component the wire lace wouldn't tighten the shoe down rendering the shoe useless.I was told by customer service to send it in so they could evaluate the situation.I love these shoes and was really hoping they could be fixed.I was never expecting a replacement since they were a little bit older than a year.Specialized has a year warranty.When I got home from vacation there was a brand new pair of shoes waiting on me.I was so happy to have a new pair and not have to shell out 300 bucks for another pair even though I would have in a second.Have I mentioned how much I love those shoes?

That pretty much covers it for this week.

Back from the beach

2008-09-15T20:30:00.010-05:00

Of course the week went by lightening fast and now its back to reality.I guess I can't complain too much considering the week before we were suppose to head down to Florida there were three hurricanes lined up in the Atlantic all of which looking like they were going to hit the eastern side of Florida.

The seven day forecast was looking a bit sketchy with most of the middle of the week rain chances well into the 60% range.With Fridays forecast looking to be the best we decided(as usual) to leave here at 2 am,get to the beach around 7:30am and be able to get in several hours of beach time until time to check into the room.I really hate wasting the first day driving.Unfortunately when we got there we must have caught the tail end of hurricane Hannah because the weather was terrible.Nothing worst than being in Florida when it's pouring rain especially since we had to wait 7 hours before we could check into the room.

Before we went down to the beach we decided to go see if we could find this trail I had read about on MTBR.From the directions it didn't seem like it was too far from where we were staying and since it was pouring rain we figured we go find it just for future reference.

We didn't ride the trail just yet(too wet)but instead decided to go ahead and check out the beach.Figured if nothing else it would be a good place to park and maybe catch some Zzzzz's while waiting on the room.

Hannah greeted us upon arrival

After trying an failing to check out the action from outside the car we decided to try and take a nap.Didn't have much luck at that either.

Finally got checked into the room around 4 and took it easy the rest of the day.

The rest of the week consisted of laying on the beach all day and then getting in some sort of a ride.Tried the road a few times but the winds were incredible so ventured over to spruce creek trails a few days and took in what that place had to offer.

Random pics from the week.

Hated having to wake up to this every morning.......not

Scenic overlook off the trail

Got sand?

Walking on the beach at sunset

Once Hannah moved on the rest of the week was filled with blue skies

Now its back to the grind and I'm already missing the beach.

gone to the beach

2008-09-05T00:07:00.002-05:00

see y'all in a week

health care in the good ol' U.S of A

2008-09-02T07:05:00.004-05:00

If you have health care provided for you then consider yourself lucky I guess.I'm not so sure that helps or hinders those of us that have to pay for our own though.I guess when a medical establishment sees a patient it must be nice knowing they can charge whatever they feel like. Knowing beforehand that insurance is going to pay for whatever they charge must be nice and hey if insurance decides it doesn't want to pay then go after the patient for the money,they'll pay one way or the other.

Since I am self employed I've pretty much had to buy my own health insurance for the last 6 years.I started out using blue cross.After the first year they would increase their premiums by 50% every 6 months.....crazy.My new company is a little bit better about not constantly raising monthly premiums.The bad part is that with a 1500 dollar deductible they really don't pay for anything either.I pretty much pay 250 bucks a month with a 1500 dollar deductible.Needless to say the very few times I actually go to the doctor doesn't even come close to meeting the deductible so year after year not only do I pay my monthly premiums but also pay for anything/everything else.What a racket huh?I pay the insurance company 250 bucks a month and still pay for anything medical I have done......nice.Yeah I know,if something catastrophic happens then I'll be glad I have it.Whatever.

So several months ago,way back in January, I fell on my mountain bike and hurt my leg.It was one of those hurts that just wouldn't go away.After 2 months of it still hurting I broke down and went to have it x-rayed at one of the local med stops.Since I'm use to having to pay for everything medical I've gotten use to asking up front how much everything cost.The doctor visit was "x" amount the x-ray was "x" amount the x-ray tech to read the x-ray was 'x" amount I was told.So I tell them I trust the doctors opinion and don't want the x-ray tech's opinion nor the charge.Well it seems I have no choice.I have to have a second opinion no matter what I'm told.I guess a doctors opinion isn't good enough so not only am I having to pay for the doctor to tell me nothing is broken but I'm also having to pay for an x-ray tech to tell me the exact same thing.Now what other profession makes you pay for second opinions?Or as far as that goes how many other professions make you pay for anything you don't want to?Maybe it makes sense to some people but it doesn't make sense to me.Maybe if it were terminal cancer I was having diagnosed but either a bone is broken or it isn't.I'm pretty sure a doctor is fully capable of diagnosing that for me and doesn't need a back up opinion.

I was talking to one of my gym members who's wife is having all kinds of medical problems.He was telling me the nightmare he's going through with the medical billing.One story he was telling me was that she was scheduled for surgery early one morning but it was postponed till the next day.They were told this upon arriving at the hospital the morning of the scheduled surgery.Instead of letting them stay in a hotel that day they made them stay in a hospital room overnight.Keep in mind that it was in no way their fault that they had to stay an extra night due to the surgery being postponed.When he got the bill for the one nights stay in the hospital room it was for $3200.00!!!!!!And we wonder why our medical profession here in the U.S is in shambles?

Final note on this subject.I in no way think I or anyone else should get free health care but come on,at least make it affordable.If less people were defaulting on medical bills then medical bills wouldn't be so high.Medical bills are so high cause so many people are defaulting.......get it???

On a more positive note -I did get in some really good riding the last few days.Went up to Atlanta for the weekend and got to ride Conyers on Friday.This is the same place that hosted the 1996 Olympic mountain biking event.That place is tough fer sure.On Saturday we made our way up to Gainesville,Ga. and rode chicopee trails.Super sweet single track.

Yesterday I broke down and hooked up with a small road group out of Warner Robins.I haven't ridden with the local road group all year long and I have to admit it was kinda nice riding with someone again.Even though it rained most of the ride the ride was really fun.

That's it for now.Have several more things to bitch about so stay tuned.

Things that make ya go "hmmm"???

2008-08-27T06:51:00.007-05:00

So a few weeks ago my lawnmower decided it didn't want to start.My grass was already way over due for cutting and I was headed out of town for the next 5 days.I really didn't want to let it go even longer without cutting so I decided to call one of the local landscapers to see if they could come out and cut it before I left.

In my entire life I have never ever once hired someone to cut my grass and had no clue as to what to expect when it came to cost.I looked in the yellow pages and happened to come upon AAA landscape.Fortunately they were in Perry so I gave them a call.I explained my situation and asked if they could come out and cut the front yard only.

My front yard takes me all of 30 minutes to cut with a push mower,edge and blow so I don't figure it can be all that expensive for them to come out and cut it.For some reason I momentarily flashed back to when I was a kid and use to cut some of the neighborhood yards.Now what was it I charged?Maybe 15 bucks or so?Surely it wouldn't cost me more than 45-50 bucks for them to come out right?

The guy says he can come out,which was great,and what makes it even better is that they can come out that day.Sure enough,when I get home later that afternoon my yard had been cut.Wasn't all that pleased with the job(clumps of grass scattered about the yard) but at least it looked a bit more respectable and it would have to do until I got home from my trip.Hopefully by the time I got back in town my lawn mower would be out of the shop and all would be back to normal.

So a few days ago I get the bill.I guess the bill itself wasn't all that bad in that they charged my $55.00 even though at first glance/thought I did think that was kinda high.Sure am glad I didn't get the back yard cut since it is 3 times the size of the front.What has chapped my ass is they charge me an EXTRA FEE for GAS!!This charge was 7 bucks.

OK,I know what you're probably saying,"it's only $7.00".I know it's only 7 bucks and as big of a cliche' as it may sound it's not the amount but the principle of the matter.Why on earth are you going to blatantly charge me extra for gas? One would assume that would be part of operating expense no?If you are going to milk your customers for gas money at least hide it in the overall fee and don't charge me fing extra.

Seriously,who the f do they think they are big oil?I guess maybe I should start charging a gas fee to my gym members?I mean I do have to pay for gas to drive up here to train them right?I am so tired of feeling like every time I turn around someone is trying to nickel and dime me to death it's not funny.

Sweet revenge though.I was telling this story to one of my personal training clients(a doctor) who uses this same company for his business.He got to looking through his previous bills and could not believe what they were charging him for gas.To mow is 1/2 acre lot the fee varied anywhere from 50-75 bucks.How much gas would that buy?Now multiply that by however many customers they have that day.How do they even come close to justifying charging people that?Once again another shinning example of people trying to stick it to you whenever they get a chance.My client told me today he would no longer be using AAA lanscaping so HA!!!

Tomorrows rant will be the health care system and how it totally sucks.

Good times at fools gold

2008-08-18T07:55:00.009-05:00

I'm so glad I decided at the last minute to head up to Dahlonega to help out with the fools gold race.Since I couldn't do the actual race what better way to be a part of such a great event than to help out.I got really lucky in that I was assigned to the timing area and not only got to see most everyone cross the finish line but also got to mingle with/see lot's of friends.

Not much to say other than I had a great time.The weather was beautiful and everyone seemed to be having the time of their lives.

Few pictures.
Jeremiah Bishop.Winner of the 100 mile option.7:39

Shane"sweetheart"Schreihart Winner of the 50 mile option.4:03

My "post" for the majority of the afternoon.Couldn't have asked for a better vantage point.

Me taking a second to chat(even if it doesn't look like we're talking) with local riders grant Blankenship and Mike Brown post race.

Sheri and me after I snuck in a ride

What I'm doing over the weekend

2008-08-14T21:11:00.004-05:00

I'll be doing fools gold(volunteering)

And Sherri

Not necessarily in that order either.I'm stoked.See y'all Monday.

two days in a row...ha!!

2008-08-13T20:27:00.004-05:00

Was a rainy day in Georgia today which was ok since we were really needing the precip.
Had a pretty short day at work so I decided to check the radar and head out to east Macon park to try and get started on some much needed trail work.

The radar looked like most of the heavy stuff was headed out of here so I felt pretty good about making that 45 minute drive to east bumble other wise known as east Macon.Over the last 3 weeks I've managed to put close to 600 miles on my car traveling back and forth to work on trails.Sure wish there was a gas allowance.

Main goal for todays one man work party was to do some trimming.The trail system out there has/had a ton of overhang type in the trail so I set out to clear as much as humanly possible.Never thought using loppers for 4 hours could make ones forearms so sore but it sure enough did.With all the rain during the day the temps seemed quite comfortable and I actually enjoyed walking around that place.

As corny as it may sound,while I was walking, I was having a ton of flashbacks to my early days of mountain biking.My second ever race was at East Macon which was 6 months after I started riding.My first ever race was a few weeks earlier and I finished 13th and almost died.I was bound and determined to do better at this race so with a month in between to prepare I rode east Macon probably 4-6 times a week.I still have my times written down from each ride I did.It's funny to look back on them now and how slow they were.All the 'training" ended up paying off because I ended up getting 3rd in that race.I would have got second but ran off the trail and lost some time right at the end.The 3rd place guy passed me while I was trying to get my chain back on and I never could catch him.Everytime I ride or walk by that spot in the trail I remember that.That was the best finish I had that year and my only podium finish.

Not only was east Macon my second ever race but it was my first ever organized work party.Can't remember how I found out about it but I remember showing up not knowing a single soul.Wish I could remember who all was there but can only remember two people.As I recall there were only about 5 people in attendance which goes to show not much has changed around here when it comes to people giving back a little bit.One of the people I remember being there is still very active in both racing and helping out which is pretty cool considering this was 6 years ago.It's really amazing revisiting a place like that and remembering so many trivial things.

When I got home it started looking pretty safe to try and get a ride in.Even though I was pretty tired from walking around at east Macon I made myself ride.Since almost all of July was spent working on trails I ended up getting little/non riding in.The first of August I was bound and determined to start riding regularly again.It took two weeks to feel like I had any energy at all and then last week got a massive head cold mid week.That totally messed up last weeks schedule..This week ,no matter what, was am going to ride and ride I did.

Yesterday was one for the best rides ever( at least in a long time)The wind was either at my back or nonexsistant the entire 40 mile loop.My legs felt great and I ended up averaging 19.5.Today was a repeat of yesterday with wind and average speed.Hopefully my conditioning is starting to come back around a bit especially since I still have the 3rd race of the dirty spokes endurance series coming up in October.I need a staler performance in order to hang onto my 3rd place standing in that series.

Guess thats it for now.Really looking forward to the weekend.Decided last minute to head up to Dahlonega,Ga. and help out with the fools gold mountain bike race.Really wanted to race this thing but have got way too out of shape.I imagine once up there It's going to be torture watching everyone else race but oh well,there's always next year.

Long time no blog part 2

2008-08-12T20:00:00.011-05:00

Well,even though I intended to try and keep my blog up after my last post, things just didn't seem to work out as planned.It's not like I haven't had anything going on just haven't much felt like sitting down and telling the world about my goings on.I really think I am experiencing burn out in several areas of my life but that's another story for another day.

Instead of going into great detail I'll just leave you with a picture journal.

The one fun thing I've done both in June and July was sneak down to Florida for a few days.I can see myself living here sometime in my life time.

(my secret getaway spot)

The months of June and July also brought on a ton of mountain bike related work.With the Georgia championship season finale' the first weekend of August and new developments with arrowhead park it seemed as though every weekend was filled with some sort of trail work.

(one of my favorite work party pictures)

Now we're in the month of August and still have a bit more work to do with one more race and also a festival in November.We will be hosting the Georgia state championship series

race info here

at east Macon park the first weekend of September.The race was originally planned to be held at arrowhead park but with the tornado damage there was now way that was going to happen.Changing venues is going to be a bit challenging(to say the least)considering the trail system hasn't got any attention in the last 3 years but in the end I'm sure our small MTB club will pull it off.

In addition to the single speed race we are also trying to get our November festival planned.This year is going to be a biggie since we're also using it for a fund raiser to rebuild arrowhead trails.

To donate go here

If you or anyone you know might like to donate to this worthy cause feel free to.OMBA is a non profit organization so any/all donations can be used as a tax deduction.

Long time no blog

2008-06-17T20:31:00.010-05:00

Wow,has it been a month and a half already?Time flies when you're having fun I guess.To be honest it's not that I haven't had anything to blog about(quite the opposite to be honest)it's just that I really just haven't felt like blogging.To be honest writing stuff like this doesn't come easy for me.I guess what I'll do is make this a multi part post since soo much has been going on.I'll start after the yargo race.

I had decided to take a couple months off from 'training" after the yargo race to concentrate on trail work.My plan was to substitute some of my ride time for trail work time.It's been a couple years since any additions had been made to our beloved arrowhead park trail so I thought,since no one else seemed to want to,that I would be the one to step up,sacrifice some ride time,and get the wheels rolling on some trail expansion at arrowhead.Little did I know that not a week after my grand plan was hatched that arrowhead would be all but destroyed by tornadoes.

A couple pics of the destruction

I have to admit that after seeing the damage first hand I didn't feel like much of anything could be done about the place.I tried to access the trail at five different locations but found debris blocking every point of entry.I wanted to see if the interior of the trail was as bad as the exterior.Arrowhead would just have to wait for awhile.

In addition to arrowhead trail being affected we also had another one of our local trails affected by the storm.Even though the damage wasn't nearly as bad as arrowhead park was the "pig trail" sustained just enough damage to make it unridable.We decided to have an impromptu weekday work party to access and hopefully clean up the fallen trees.Our hard work payed off and we got nearly all of the trail cleared within around 6 hours or so.

Once the pig trail became ridable again it was time to now focus back on arrowhead park.In between the original assessment and now(3 weeks later)I had received several emails with encouraging words,mainly from people who had experienced the same thing with parks in their areas.What made these emails mean so much is that each and every one was a success story of sorts.Maybe there was hope for arrowhead after all.The only way to even see if there was any potential in getting the place back up and running was to just get out,with chain saw in hand ,and do what ever you could do.Unfortunately only 3 of us decided this idea was important.Don't even get me started on how many people ride that place compared to how many gave a shit as to if it was destroyed or not.
Anyway,the 3 of us got out there and surprisingly made some pretty good headway.After close to five hours of work we managed to get around a mile of the trail cleared.The damage was pretty intense but it was nice to be able to reclaim at least a small portion of trail.

Before

After

Guess that wraps up the month of May.Still lots of news to report on so stay tuned.

yargo race report

2008-05-05T11:10:00.007-05:00

(photo compliments of Carl Mesta www.mestaphotosus.com)

Really don't have much to report on this one to be honest.This had to be one of my smoothest races ever and I never really experienced the highs and lows that often accompany being on a mountain bike for 13 hours.When I say "highs and lows" what I'm talking about is feeling really good at times then really bad .During the course of and endurance race like this I'll repeat these mixed feelings over and over during the course of the race.I guess by force feeding myself each and every lap I kept myself at a pretty even keel.Wasn't going to go through what I did at the cohutta 100 again thats for sure.

Really had no idea how well(or poorly)I was going to do or feel.As I mentioned in previous post,yargo hasn't been very good to me over the years.My biggest concern(as usual)was whether or not my back was going to hold out.There has got to be nothing worst than feeling good everywhere except in my back.

The race got started under over cast skies.The temp was perfect of not just a little bit cool.As usual ,my plan was to ride at my own pace for as long as I could and let the chips fall where they may.It is so hard to not get caught up in the excitement of the race once that gun goes off but I kept reminding myself that 13 hours is a long time and this isn't an XC type race.I swallowed my pride as many a rider passed me on that first lap.

As I said earlier,my race went pretty smooth.No close calls no mechanicals no bonking,no crashes.Of course my unreliable polar 720I decided it didn't want to work right so I had no idea how fast my laps where.I felt like I was running pretty consistently.Even though I stopped each and every lap I tried to limit the amount of time spent in the pits.I haven't done the math yet but I felt like my stopped time was limited and consistent. Of course every time I stopped I had at least one person ready to get me whatever I needed.Thanks a bunch to Beth(Bmac)Debbie,Grant,Sheri and Jake.

My back starting hurting pretty bad during the first lap and got me to dreading what was in store for me the rest of the day.Not sure why but for some reason after that first lap the agonizing pain subsided.Not sure what happened.I did start using more of my suspension.I was riding with the front fork locked out most of the first lap and the rear shock in the pro pedal position.That trail was so smooth I had a hard time justifying using all the suspension the rush had to offer.I was also popping 3 ibuprofen every pit stop.I'm guessing it was the combination of the two that helped. After that first lap the back pain was manageable and stretching it out while riding seemed to be all the relief it needed.

Somewhere around lap 6 or so my specialized shoes buckle thingy decided it wanted to break.I have a pair of the s works mountain bike shoes,which I totally love.A wire attached to a ratchet type device is what tightens them up on your feet.Once the wire breaks theres nothing keeping it tight anymore so I had to ride about 4 miles with the shoes barely hanging onto my foot.Luckily I had another pair of shoes with me.

Not sure if it was the shoe malfunction(me having to compensate with my left leg more than right leg) but 6 laps in and my right knee started hurting a bit.Odd thing was it didn't hurt in the typical place but more towards the upper/outer part of the knee cap,almost on the side.Usually when my knees start hurting it's the lower center part of the knee cap.Luckily the pain wasn't all that bad and didn't hurt all that much while pedaling.Sunday morning was a different story and I could hardly walk.

The biggest mistake I made during the whole race was the decision to swap bikes on lap 9.The main reason I did this was so I could already have a secondary light system ready to go.My eyes aren't what they use to be and I decided to run two light set up for the night laps,one on my bars and one on my helmet.Using a different bike I could go ahead and have the light system on my bars and ready to go without wasting any extra time in the pits.The "other" bike was my specialized stumpjumper.From the time I started pedaling up the first hill I knew this was a bad mistake.

I'm guessing the type tires I had on the stumpjumper 9way more mud type tires)was what made the big difference but it felt like I was trying to pedal a tank.The bike felt like it had absolutely no momentum compared to the cannondale rush.Hills I rolled up with ease on the cannondale I was now having to stand and pedal up on the stumpjumper.Needless to say that lap took 10 more minutes than the previous lap and wasted no telling how much of what little energy I had left.

My goal in this race was 10 laps.I kept telling myself if I could do 100 miles at the cohutta I certainly could do 120 miles at yargo.I pulled into our pits after lap 9 with about an hour and twenty five minutes before the official cut off.Since I hadn't seen for myself where I officially stood ,and since I really wanted to get that 10th lap in ,I set out to try and get number 10.Getting back on the rush was like a godsend but 2 miles in I was beginning to question my sanity.Someone told me that doing another "wouldn't make any difference" in the standings and for the first time all day I was beginning to bonk.Should I just turn around or plug on and see what happened?
I must have looked at my watch 50 times during that lap and could not believe how fast time was flying by.I kept trying to calculate how long will it take me to get from here to there and telling myself if I can get to this point by such and such time I'd be ok.

I knew I was getting close to the end and was looking for this group of people who had a pop up set up kinda close to the trail.I knew if I could make it to them by a certain time that it was just a short distance to the last road crossing and then a fast downhill to the start/finish.I had 5 minutes left and just wasn't coming upon them,my last land mark.Little did I know that they had packed up and left already.

I had already came to peace with the fact that I wasn't going to make it back in time and that my lap number 10 wasn't going to count.Just about the time I lost faith I could see the highway and hear cars.I had already passed my popup/people/last land mark and didn't even realize it.This meant that I was one last little uphill from the road crossing and more importantly the downhill to finish.I clicked into my big ring,popped out of the saddle and sprinted towards that downhill.I could hear someone saying something over the bull horn but couldn't make it out.I crossed the finish line in 12:59:17.I only had 40 seconds to spare.Close call fer sure.

All in all this is one of the best races I've ever had as far as how I felt.I never once got "miserable" which was very sweet.The final tally was 10 laps in 12:59:17 with a total of 123 miles.All of which was good for a 5th place finish in the open sport division.I think the 123 miles is a new record as far as distance goes on a mountain bike.Now if I could just figure out a way to get a bit faster.

Run over by a truck

2008-05-04T14:29:00.004-05:00

Yep.That's pretty much what I feel like today,well,from the waist down anyway.
Yargo cometh

and yargo goeth

Once the dust settled I ended up with 10 laps,120 something miles and 5th place overall in mens open sport.

Details later.

12 hours of yargo cometh

2008-05-01T09:28:00.004-05:00

Not sure why but I am having a totally hard time getting excited about this race.I've raced this race 2 years in a row and both times it's been a torture fest for some reason.One of the biggest problems I have with this particular course is it seems like it reeks havoc on my lower back.Crazy thing about this place is there's only one (half way) substantial climb while the rest of the course seems relatively tame but a lap is well over 750 feet of climbing.All the climbing is short little (what I call) "bursty" type of stuff which to me totally zaps my energy and puts strain on my lower back..

Last year I quit after only 6 hours and attributed that to doing over 100 miles( 2 weeks prior) at the bakers dozen.I just did not have the mental toughness to keep on going.Crazy thing is that,like last year,I've also done a 100 mile bike ride/race 2 weeks prior to this upcoming race.I hope I don't suffer the same fate as last year.

One really good thing(unlike last year)is that this year this race is part of a 3 race "endurance" series.I'm hoping that will be all the incentive I need to make myself keep on going.I plan on doing all 3 races so not doing as well as humanly possible would all but kill any chance of placing well in the overall.

Another positive thought I've been trying to think is that I just did a 100 mile race with 13,000 feet of ascent in 10 hours and 44 minutes.If I could get over 100 miles at this race(10 laps)I'm pretty sure that would land me a respectable finish.10 laps there would be half the climbing I did two weeks ago and have 3 more hours to do it.

I definitely like the point to point races better than going around in circles.The point to point races forces you to finish(or die in the middle of no where).The lap races you can quit whenever and passing by your pit every hour or so gives me just one more reason to lolly gag.Seeing people kicked back in the pits makes me want to join them. LOL

In "preparation" news.I,m way ahead of the game as far as getting my stuff ready which is nice for a change.Just got in from grocery shopping for race day snacks.Thats usually a last minute,rush around,type thing.So one less thing to worry about.My bikes should be ready to go.Don't even have to clean them up.Since gas has got out of control I've only ridden my MTB once in the last 2 weeks.Just can't justify spending gas money to drive to a place to ride my mountain bike especially when I can ride my road bike right from my front door.Although I would rather ride my mountain bike exclusively.So many things suck about riding on the road compared to mountain biking.Did a nice and fast 30 miler on the road yesterday and my legs felt awesome.Good to see/feel them coming back around finally.

So I guess thats pretty much it.All thats left to do today is go home,do some laundry and pack up the car.Hope to be heading out at a reasonable time tomorrow afternoon in time to set up our pit area and do a little it of a pre ride.

Gas...ouch

2008-04-28T06:46:00.004-05:00

70 bucks to fill up today and let me tell ya,that hurts.Seems like just yesterday that 50 dollars was painful.Wait a minute,it was just yesterday.Remember the good old days when it took maybe a year for the price of gas to rise 10 cents?Now it does it overnight.

As I've said in a previous post,I don't blame the oil companies for jacking us around.If we're going to be stupid enough to waste it like we do then why not make as much money as humanly possible.What pisses me off is that we as a country have no other alternatives.

When I got home yesterday the first thing I did was rig my commuter up with head and tail lights.Since I only live 2 miles from work there is no reason to not bike to work.I told myself I was going to try and go the entire week without driving my car.So much for that plan,it was raining when I got up.

Oh well.....guess my plan will have to start tomorrow.

In more important news.Got in a half way decent ride yesterday at dauset.The rain gods must have been looking out for me (for a change) cause it seemed like it rained everywhere except dauset.I got up a little bit early and tried to get in a few miles before meeting my new friend Sheri.

Taking someone new mountain biking is always such an eye opener.The things I think are "easy" are quite the challenge for a beginner.Really puts things in perspective.

Guess thats it for now.The 12 hours of fort yargo will be this coming weekend.I've had a history of not doing very well at this particular venue so I'm not really sure why I signed up for the 12 hour.6 hours is soo much more fun.Guess I like suffering.

"Only 8 miles to go and mostly downhill"

2008-04-21T17:24:00.010-05:00

If I could have got my hands around that 8 year olds throat that said that I honestly would have choked her to death j/k.If it was "only 8 miles" that had to be the longest most grueling 8 miles I have ever ridden.I'll come back to this later.

My alarm clock goes off at 5 am but I had been awake since 4:20.I had my watch,the hotels alarm clock and my phone set just to be sure I got up.Ended up not needing any of them.I got up,took a shower and made myself eat a croissant with some peanut butter on it.I had absolutely no appetite(which is very unusual)and almost gagged while trying to force feed myself.There was a hardees right across the street and I didn't even stop by for a country ham biscuit combo.That should pretty much sum up how nervous I was.

After showering I start loading up my car.A steady mist was falling and it looked like it had rained pretty hard over night.By the time I started to head to the venue the rain was coming down even harder,"great" I thought to myself.I get to the venue and begin to get me and my bike ready.It's still pitch dark but people,cars and bikes are everywhere.

With everything ready I make my way towards the start line.I get 3/4 of the way there and realize I had forgot to grab my bottle of aleve and enduralites.I turn around to go back to get them.By the time I got back to the start line the pre race meeting was over and we had maybe 10 minutes to the start.I wanted to get towards the front to take some pictures so I kinda skirted around everyone and surprisingly enough made it to the front of the pack without pissing anyone off.Doing so was way worth it because I got some great pictures of the big guns.I had really hoped to be able to meet up with Floyd Landis the day prior but the start was the only time I got to catch a glimpse of him.

After snapping several pictures I made my way towards the back of the pack.

Before I knew it the siren went off and off we went.Only 100 miles to go.

The route started off with a 3 mile paved road climb to single track.The road climb was uneventful for the most part.I kept a steady spin and was surprised that my legs weren't screaming at me.Having not warmed up at all I figured the starting climb would be a torture fest.Seeing and chatting with Sandra Tomlinson may have helped.Did I mention that every time you'd turn around another MTB superstar was somewhere to be seen?

Once getting to the single track it was pretty evident that it had rained long and hard.The trail was really wet and my maxxis crossmarks were doing terrible.I felt like I was on a sheet of ice.Luckily everyone was settled into a nice steady tempo and we,for the most part, exited the single track in the same order as we entered.

I won't go into a mile by mile description of the race but I will tell you that for the first 75 miles or so I felt really good.Yes,the climbs were tough but nothing I couldn't do in my middle ring.Having to sit and spin for what seemed like hours on end was really taking a toll on my low back and even though there weren't many opportunities I tried to stand and stretch it out every chance I could.That was the only problem I was having at this stage of the race.

A couple observations from the first 70 miles.First thing was I could not believe how far 10 miles was.Most rest stops were anywhere from 10 to 12 miles with one being 19 miles.I thought to myself before the race that getting from rest stop to rest stop would be a piece of cake.'How far can 10 miles be" I thought to myself.I could not believe how long it took to get to rest stop number one.Second thing I noticed is just how many awesome mountain bikers there are out there.A few were flying by me like I was standing still.

Here is one of the many pretty sites I saw all day.I saw lots of stuff i wanted to take pictures of but couldn't stop.When I saw the sun shinning through the mist I knew I had to stop and take a picture.

As I said earlier,up until around mile 75 or so I felt awesome.I did have some semi tough times early but it seemed like the more miles I got the better I was feeling.This was to be the beginning of my end.Does the word "BONK" mean anything to you?

I borrowed this paragraph from Eddie Odea's site.
Wikipedia describes “bonk” like this: In endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, bonk or hitting the wall describes a condition when the athlete suddenly loses energy and fatigue sets in, usually caused when glycogen stores in the liver and muscles are depleted, resulting in a major performance drop. I would add that one will most likely become irritable & loses focus.

I think "feeling like you could strangle an 8 year old girl" should be included in there as well.

I had been doing so well with my nutrition early on.Was drinking lots of water,taking my endurolites and making sure I was getting in around 300 calories every 30-45 minutes or so.What happened was I started feeling so good that I totally stopped thinking about taking in enough calories.After leaving rest stop number 4 you would have thought I was on the home stretch.The lay of the land had flattened out,the roads were dry and I was frickin' flying.Unfortunately me feeling good came to an abrupt stop once we hit the hills again.By the time I realized I was bonking it was too late.Anything solid I tried eating just wouldn't go down.I ended up spitting most of what I tried to eat back out onto the ground.

I wont go into any gory details about how I was feeling.If you've ever truly bonked you know how I felt.I got to a point where I just got off my bike and started pushing even though the route was very ridable.People I had passed a few miles prior began to one by one pass me back.I made the biggest mistake ever in that I lost site of the big picture(finishing strong) and didn't pace myself.

I don't remember much about the next few miles.I still had two rest stops to go but it seemed like for every one quick little downhill we had there were 10 more steep uphills .My odometer seemed like it was standing still even though I was moving.

I finally make it to rest stop 5 and am told theres a 3 mile climb coming up.Theres a racer sitting there leaned up against a tree who looks like a total zombie.The entire time I was at the rest stop his expression never changed.He was just staring into space.I grab the last of my food and make my way to rest stop number 6.

Once again I can't believe how long it takes to cover 10 measly miles."Is this f'n rest stop EVER going to get here"?"When will these hills stop?!!!!"Can I make it??!!!!I think it was about this time that I made up my mind that if I ever finished this god forsaken ride that my racing days were over.'I'm finished" I proclaimed to myself.I don't think I have cussed that long or that hard ever.

Someone had told me the day prior that once you made it to the last rest stop that you could about coast in to the finish.How wrong they were.I made it to rest stop 6 and the beginning of a section of single track.Of course this section of single track was a steady steep type climb up,up and up some more.I was getting so discouraged that I would just get off my bike and start pushing.It reminded me of getting beat up and no matter how bad the beating was the "beater' just wouldn't stop."When is this going to end"?

I finally get to the top of this single track climb and pop out into a bit of an opening.I'm hoping to get back on some gravel but am quickly directed to more single track.This stuff is tight and rocky.I'm not thinking clearly and every obstacle within 10 feet of me I manage to hit.I stop again out of frustration and lean against the side of the trail.2 more riders pass me.I get back on my bike and hope this single track is over soon.

Once again after what seems like an eternity I finally exit this section of single track at the same spot I entered.As I'm exiting theres a young girl(8 or 9) who proudly says 'only 8 miles to go and mostly downhill)I smile,say thank you and begin my "8 mile descent".WHATEVER!!!!

Once again it is one climb after another.I totally didn't get how you can be on top of this FREAKIN' mountain and still somehow be climbing.HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE !!!!!??????I began to chant 'only 8 miles to go and mostly downhill" louder and louder and louder.Every new climb I would grit my teeth,let out a few expletives and swear I would never ride a bike again.I really hope no one was within ear shot because I'm sure I was making a spectacle of myself.

These last '8 miles" honestly felt never ending.I should have been rejoicing in the fact that I was almost finished but I wanted off this bike and I wanted off right this minute!!!!!I want my mommy !!!!!!

This is about the time I started getting really pissed off/fightjng mad.Every new hill I came upon I would jump out of the saddle tell the hill to "f" off and attack!!!!"you are not going to win" I would tell each and every hill.Surprisingly enough I ended up catching and passing 3 riders towards the last section of single track which made me feel a little bit better.

Once exiting the section of single track I see something familiar and know I am almost finished.I tried to crank it up a bit but had absolutely nothing left.I kept looking back to make sure no one was gaining and lucky for me they weren't.I crossed the finish line in 10 hours 45 minutes and some change.Missed my 10 hour goal by a bit but more importantly I also bettered the 12 hour low end goal as well.Crossing under that finish line was the greatest feeling in the world and once again reminded me why I do stuff like this.

Funny thing is not 4 hours later I was already thinking about next year.

Cohutta 100 :the aftermath part 1

2008-04-20T20:35:00.013-05:00

Where to start?There was so much going on at this event I hardly know where to start.Let me begin by saying this has to be one of the best run events I've ever attended.Everything from registration to planning,scheduling,course markings,rest areas,awards,everything was right on cue.Super kudos to new leaf adventures for putting on such an awesome event.I couldn't even imagine trying to coordinate an event with over 500 racers involved.

Got there Friday afternoon around 2;30 or so.The weather was beautiful.Found a place to park and made my way down to registration.Every time I looked up there was another big name.First person I noticed was the team dickey dude..he has to have the best blog out there.Always entertaining to say the least.I asked for a pic and he said sure.

I continued on to get registered and who other than Trek team rider Chris Eatough himself is standing there checking out a map of the course.I can't believe my eyes.After standing around trying to get the nerve up to ask him for a photo, for what seemed like forever, I finally asked if he minded me taking his picture,which he didn't.He then asked if I wanted one of us together.Did I ever.How very cool.

Chris Eatough and me

After talking with Chris I went ahead and got registered and left my drop bags at the drop pick up stations.I then ran into my buddy Jeff Duckworth.

We talked for a sec and decided to go for a short little pre ride.As we were headed up to my car,so I could change, who but non other than Danielle Musto passes us.I told Jeff I needed to turn around so I could go ask her for a picture.Now I know how the papparatzi must feel.Once I caught up to her she graciously allowed me to snap a picture.

Between all the MTB superstars, and several of my friends, it took me forever to get back to my car to get changed.Once changed Jeff and me went for a short pre ride.Even on our pre ride we couldn't get away from the superstars.While standing on the trail who other than Harlan Price and company come riding up the trail.Harlan would end up getting 5th or so.Not sure how the other two did but I'm thinking the bearded guy may have won the single speed category.

After our short pre ride I chatted with a few more friends and loaded up.

Once getting back to my room I double,triple and quadruple checked my bike.I could not believe how anxious/nervous I was feeling.I never ever get nervous before a race like this simply because I go into them thinking of it as more of a ride than a race.I guess it was the feeling of the unknown that had my nerves wound up.

Race day is only a few hours away.More tomorrow.

Off to do the Cohutta

2008-04-18T08:08:00.003-05:00

The time has come to head up to Tennessee.This time tomorrow I will be two hours into probably one of the hardest things I've ever done.Yes,I'm feeling very anxious.

If I disappear you'll know things didn't go as planned :-) j/k

I want them both

2008-04-17T16:13:00.007-05:00

Think they will understand?

New and Sexy

Old and reliable

In all seriousness I'll probably end up taking the cannondale for 2 reasons.The first reason is that she's lighter and really feels like she climbs better than the stumpjumper.Second reason is that I really like having the full lock out option on the front fork.Seems to make climbing a ton more efficient.

What worries me is not having any/many hours in the saddle on the cannondale.Whats my body going to be feeling like after 6 hours,7,10,12 hours in the saddle if the bike doesn't fit me as well as I think it does.

I think I'm going to take both just incase and preride both tomorrow.Guess I'll make my final decision Saturday morning.

Have pretty much spent most of the afternoon prepping both bikes and getting all my nutrition ready.This is what all I'll be taking.Some of it will go with me while the rest will be scattered throughout 3 of the rest stops.

Torn between two lovers

2008-04-16T15:12:00.007-05:00

I recently have been forced to make one of the hardest decisions of my life.I have till Friday to choose between one of two girls.Hard to believe I know ,but it's true.What makes this decision so hard is pretty typical and a problem men have been faced with since probably the beginning of time.Choosing between old and reliable or new and sexy.Decisions,Decisions.

I won't use any names here simply so both girls involved can remain anonymous.I will however refer to them as "choice one and choice two" just to try and keep the confusion to a minimum.I'll begin by saying that both are near and dear to me and I'll always hold a special place in my heart for both of them regardless of who I decide to go with this weekend.

What makes this decision so tough isn't uncommon at all.Choice one has been with me for awhile.She by far has been my longest relationship I've ever had.She has never ever let me down and has ALWAYS been there for me.Unfortunately she's getting a little bit old now,isn't quite as attractive as she once was,and to be honest just isn't able to get around as easy as she could when she was younger.Sure she has always been there for me but I just can't help but be attracted to the younger models out there.Is that so wrong?I am a man and everyone knows men age so much better than girls.I mean am I suppose to be seen with an outdated model if I don't have to be?

You may have guessed by now that choice two is new on the scene.She literally appeared out of nowhere.You know the old saying?"Expect the unexpected" especially when you aren't even looking?I was surfing the net one day,minding my own business,and there she was.I just could not believe she was available.I could not wait to pick up the phone to make the call and once I did,before I knew it,she was mine.I was nervous at first but once we met it was love at first sight.I really didn't know what to expect.I had been with the same girl for so long that I really thought the ride with her would be tough but oh how I was wrong.From the first meeting it was absolute true love.Ive never felt anything that felt as good as she did.Usually it takes me a while to get use to something new like this but not with her.From that day on we have been inseparable.I even took her out of town with me this past weekend and she performed flawlessly.I honestly couldn't believe how well she did.

But now I have to choose only one of them.Why does life have to be so unfair?
Stay tuned.Tomorrow the decision will be made and posted.Will it be old but reliable?Or will it be NEW and SEXY!!

The Cohutta cometh

2008-04-16T06:28:00.007-05:00

It's official.I am now starting to get nervous.Signing up for the Cohutta 100 several months ago seemed like a great idea.I had starting thinking about trying something 'tough" this year last year and figured this would be a good race to try.Unfortunately life got in the way of totally preparing for it and now I'm nervous.I can't remember the last time I've gone into a race worried about whether or not I would be able to finish or not.Now that I think about it I'm pretty sure I've never gone into a race wondering if I could finish.I will have tons of incentive though seeing since if you don't get to the last rest stop by a certain time then you are yanked from the race.Your number plate is taken,you are DQ'd and you get no official time.Damn that would suck.

Was just looking at who all is racing this race and can't get over some of the big names.Here are just a few.Floyd Landis,Chris Eatough,Mark Hendershot,Ernesto Marenchin,Shey Lindner,josh tostado,Harlan Price,Andy Johnson and Garth Prosser.I'm sutre there are plenty more big names who I don't know about.This is going to be one helluva race to say the least.The Chris Eatough,Josh Tostado,Floyd Landis battle should be of epic proportions.I'm going to try my best to get some pics of all the big guns.

First XC race in awhile

2008-04-14T06:58:00.005-05:00

Since the bakers dozen endurance race was postponed/canceled last week I decided to go ahead and sign up for the Georgia championship race number two at flatrock park in Columbus,Ga.I wasn't really planning on doing any XC racing this year simply because I've raced most every course in the area already.With the cost of everything going up(especially gas) I limited most of my race choices this year to events I've never done before.After having to watch everyone else race at arrowhead a few weeks ago I kinda got the XC bug.In addition to the 'bug" I also wanted to redeem myself a bit since last year I recorded my first ever DNF at flatrock.

Flatrock park is a flat and fast 9 mile race loop.When I say fast I mean crazy fast.Doing a race here is more like doing a road crit.When doing this race expect your heart rate to be pegged the entire ride,there is no place to take it easy.Since the place is so flat anytime you let up at all you'll be losing ground to someone behind you.

I managed to make my way up there the Wednesday prior to get in some practice time and have to admit I felt awesome.The new Rush felt absolutely great.This is the kinda course that even if you aren't a particularly fast rider (like me) the course still will make you feel "fast".The entire Wednesday pre ride I felt like I was flying with very little effort/distress.I knew that would probably change under the stresses of race pace.

Fast forward to Sunday.Fortunately the weather front we had pass through the state cleared out and didn't look like it dumped too much rain on the race venue.Sunday morning was beautiful and you couldn't have asked for better weather.The temps were in the upper 50's.Last year I think the temps were close to 100. I got to the venue in plenty of time to set up my pit area,socialize a bit,and get in about 5 miles of warm up practice.I felt really good.After riding I had about 15 minutes before the race started and was able to stretch out a bit.

The race started fast and furious with 21 of us lined up at the start.I got off to a great start, right off the line, but bobbled a couple times not being able to see where to go.At one point I was elbow to elbow with another racer.Luckily neither of us went down.2 miles into the race everyone was pretty much spread out and it was every man for himself.

Not much race action to report.I personally felt like I did the absolute best I could do.That might sound like an odd observation but very few races do I look back on them and can honestly say I gave %110.This race I rode hard the entire time,rode well and felt really good.Once the initial shock of the start wore off my heart rate came back down and I was able to settle into a nice pace.

When the race was all said and done I ended up finishing 10th out of 21 riders.I had 3 riders within 50 yards of me for what seemed like most of the race but just couldn't reel them in.I was happy with a top 10 and like I said earlier,felt like that was the absolute best I could do.

The Cohutta 100 is next on the schedule and is happening this coming weekend.I wish I could say I'm prepared but to be honest I'm not.I've been getting in some consistent ride time lately just nothing more than 3 hours at a time.Hopefully I'll make the cut off times and will be able to say I finished my first ever "dirty 100".

SWEET !!!

2008-04-04T14:39:00.006-05:00

So I was surfing our local MTB web site the other morning and noticed a bike for sale.Wasn't really in the market for a new 26r but checked out the add anyway.I could not believe what was listed and for how much.The cannondale RUSH was something I had thought about getting when they first came out but those thoughts have changed to thinking more along the lines of a sweet 29r geared bike.

So I gave the seller a call just to confirm what I was seeing was true,which it was,and I'm now the proud owner of an 08 team issued cannondale RUSH.I've got to ride it for about 10 miles already and I couldn't be more pleased with how well it fits,feels and rides.

A few pics for your dancing and dining pleasure.I can't stop looking at it.

Gas prices...HA!!!

2008-04-01T19:03:00.002-05:00

I have to laugh when I hear people complain about the high price of gas.Why do I laugh you ask?Well,there's a couple reasons.

The first reason is because most people don't do one thing to try and conserve.Something as easy as slowing down a little bit helps.Have you been down the highway lately?People drive like crazed maniacs going nowhere.I read somewhere that for every 10 miles an hour you slow down you can gain one mile per gallon in fuel efficiency.

Another reason is what people choose to drive.How many gas guzzling SUV's do you see going down the highway with only one person in it?As far as that goes how many cars in general do you see with only one person?I love seeing news interviews interviewing people filling up,complaining about gas.Ever notice what they're filling up?(9 times out of 10 it's a SUV.

Top story on the news tonight was that truckers organized a "slow down" to protest high gas prices.I say "THANK YOU" truckers.They have got to be the most dangerous drivers on the road.no telling how many lives their slow down saved today.I can't tell you the number of times a trucker has run up on me even though I was going 10 miles an hour(or more)over the speed limit.

Along with the trucker story they also mentioned how much profit "big oil" was making.I say "so what"?Hell,if we Americans are going to be so stupid as to waste,waste,waste then why not make as much money off us as possible?Isn't that the American way?

It's simple folks.Want gas prices to come down? QUIT WASTING GAS !!!!

couple cool pics

2008-03-31T14:24:00.002-05:00

From yesterdays race

Exhausted

2008-03-30T21:07:00.003-05:00

Our mountain bike club hosted the first race of the Georgia championship series mountain bike race series today.The last two weeks have been totally dedicated to getting the venue ready for the race(which is why I haven't posted anything as of late) so my days for the last two weeks have basically consisted of working,trying to get some sort of a quick ride in and then driving the 30 miles to the park to do various types of trail modifications.I think all in all I've spent close to 40 hours at the venue over the last two weeks.

Won't go into great detail about the race today but will say that everyone seemed to have a really good time.We dodged some sort of 'out of nowhere" weather maker that supposedly dumped all kinds of rain every where except on us.The temps got colder as the day went on as well which made for great racing.I on the other hand was miserably freezing all day long.

Wanted to post a couple videos but can't seem to make it work now.Will post later.

6 hours of heritage the aftermath

2008-03-17T06:48:00.006-05:00

photo credit Carl Mesta
http://www.mestaphotos.us/mestaphotosus_small/RACE_PHOTOS.html

This past weekend the first of 3 races that will be making up the dirty spokes endurance series happened.All week the weather forecast looked really bleak with rain being predicted to move into the area on Friday and continuing on into Saturday.Seemed hardly fair seeing since the week prior had,for the most part,been beautiful.If with the "doom and gloom" forecast I went ahead and headed to Athens anyway.I've learned over the years of racing that no matter what is predicted in the way of the weather that you'll never really know what it's going to do until the time comes.Why not do something because something MIGHT happen.

So I get there Friday afternoon and secure our camping/pit area and set my stuff up in preparation for the next days race.It rained on me on the way up but by the time I arrived at the venue the skies had cleared up somewhat.The venue had a huge pavilion. Even though it was raining when I arrived I was able to pull my car up under the pavilion keeping me and all my stuff out of the weather.We also were able to camp out under the pavilion which was super sweet.

After getting all our stuff set up we were able to go for an abbreviated pre ride of the course.Even though it had been raining the course was in pretty good shape.I pre rode my single speed 29r and was really happy with how it felt.Those big tires were super grippy and I decided that if it rained anymore over night that I would go ahead and race the single speed the next day and save my geared bike from all the mud and muck.

After the pre ride we got cleaned up a bit and headed to Madison for some Italian food.After getting a belly full we headed back to the venue and settled in for the night.Once again,camping under the pavilion was so nice.Being out of the weather felt so nice.The temps were really mild and you couldn't have asked for any better circumstances.

The night seemed to pass by fast.I slept in the back of my car for the first time(I usually do the tent thing)and slept ok.I did wake up a few times but for the most part my sleeping arrangement was comfy.I did hear it rain few times over night and wondered how bad the course would end up being.

I woke up around 6:30 to the sound of thunder.The a.m storms that had been predicted had arrived right on time.Fortunately they didn't hang around for long and the sun unexpectantly came out.It was a beautiful morning.

The race started at 10 and it felt like forever before we actually got started.I was really stoked about getting going and wondered how long the weather would hold up for us.I decided to start the race on my single speed,let the course get ridden in some,and then change to my geared bike.I really didn't want to risk all the troubles(chain suck mainly) associated with riding in muddy conditions and figured once the course got ridden in for awhile that it wouldn't be too bad.

The first lap was pretty uneventful.The decision to ride the single speed was way,WAY tough and it only took about 2 miles before I was regretting choosing the single speed over gears.It felt like it took forever to get finished with that first lap for some reason.The first couple miles was a log jam of racers so there was a lot of stopping and starting.Going slow on a single speed is really tough so the first few miles were agony.Once the racers started to separate things got a bit better but my gearing was too high for me and I found myself having to stand and pedal a lot which in turn started killing my low back.I was so happy to see that first lap end.

As I was approaching the start/finish area I remembered that I had forgot to lube my chain on my geared bike so before I could go out for my second lap I had to take a second to lube up.The race loop wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be but I still wondered if my bike would do ok.The chain and cassette are getting a bit old and I was hoping they would last one more race and not plaque me with any dreaded chain suck problems.

For the most part laps 2-5 were a total suffer fest.Funny the things that go on in your mind when you do things like this.Of course the most common thought is why the f am I doing it in the first place.Of course not training right contributes to the suffering so I have no one to really blame except myself.Lap 6 I started feeling better but I honestly think it had to do with knowing it was my last lap than anything else.Mental toughness is another area I really need to improve in.

The rain held off the entire day right up until the last 4 miles or so and then the bottom fell out.The rain felt great.The lightening was a bit scary but seemed to help me to get my second best lap time of the day.One lightening strike had to happen less than 100 yards from me and that really made me step it up a notch.

In the end I ended up doing 6 laps(60 miles)in around 6 hours 50 minutes.I was totally whooped.

This is funny

2008-03-06T21:42:00.006-05:00

Same ol' same ol' going on this week.Work,eat,sleep,ride...blah,blah,blah.

This makes me smile everytime I watch it..Funny stuff

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Week in review

2008-03-04T15:08:00.004-05:00

Talk about one unmotivated SOB.Yes,you would be describing me ,as of last, to "t".The week after the biking Bleckley ride I talked myself out of riding all 5 days that week.Typically that wouldn't be all that big a deal but considering I did about the same the week before, and considering the snake creek gap time trial finale' was the following weekend,not riding at all was the last thing I needed to not be doing.

So even though I felt totally unprepared for the last time trial I headed on up to Dalton anyway.I knew with all the negative vibes I had going on in my head that if I was going to really do this thing then I needed to commit somehow.I knew the chances of me 'blowing it off" when my alarm went off at 4:30 race morning would be pretty good.Getting up that early to drive 3 hours to race is hard enough as it is so I decided to go ahead and book a room up in Dalton and drive on up there the night before.I figured that way I would at least be up there already and the chances of talking myself out of doing the race wouldn't be as great.

I left for Dalton sometime around 6:30 and had my fingers crossed that the Atlanta traffic wouldn't be a total nightmare.Getting through Atlanta wasn't all that bad but once to the north side of Marietta traffic was gridlocked.To make matters worst the 40% chance of rain that was predicted ended up being 100%.It rained non stop all the way from Marietta to Atlanta which is a good 60-70 miles or so.

It was after 9 by the time I got to Dalton and was so glad I had booked a room in advance with expedia.com.I was glad because I kept hearing the front desk tell people the place was all booked up while I waited to check in.Once I made it to the front of the line,with reservation in hand,I tell them my name and reservation number.They can't find my name and then proceed to tell me that they were over booked.Great.Fortunately I was able to find another place without driving around for too long.Morale of that story is that I will NEVER use expedia.com again.

I get my room,order a pizza and settle in for the night.That 40% chance of rain is still soaking things outside and I begin to wonder if I should have even come in the first place.I've ridden that course before when it was wet and swore I would never do it again.There was really no way I could improve my overall standings and I didn't see any point in trashing my bike,riding through all that slop,for nothing.I hoped it would stop early enough to give the course some time to dry.

I wake up the next morning and the first thing I did was look outside.It looked to me like it had rained the entire night.Everything was soaking wet.What to do,what to do?Should I just pack it up and head on home?That really was my first thought but then began to think how stupid it was to drive all the way up there and not do anything.I figured I would go ahead over to the venue and scope it out a bit just to see what the word on the street was.

As I headed over to the venue I had the best idea ever.Instead of doing the 34 mile option I would see if I could just do the 17.I knew it would be 'just for time"but didn't care.I wouldn't have to subject my bike to all that muck and I could still get in a good ride.It would also be cool to see if I could better my 17 mile time from 3 years ago.

Riding the 17 miler was probably one of the best rides I've had in forever.Having suffered through the 34 mile race the last two years it was so nice to go into the 17 mile option and actually feel good for the entire thing.Couldn't have asked for anything better.My bike did great,my body and mind both did well as well.I rode as hard and fast as I physically could and felt great from beginning to end,something that hasn't happened there in awhile.It felt so good to feel strong for once while racing the snake.

When it was all said and done I finished with a time of 2:21 and some change.I bettered my previous time by more than 10 minutes which felt really good.To put my time in perspective ,the all time best time anyone did ,in the 17 mile option ,was 1:58.To be less than 30 minutes from the fastest time posted,for me,felt like quite an accomplishment.It also felt good to be one of the first ones finished so for once I could enjoy all the post ride food and drink.Typically by the time I finished the 34 mile option everything was already gobbled up.

Sunday I felt really really good so decided to join Monte Marshal for a ride in the piedmont.Won't go into too much detail but had a really good ride.Ended up with 3 plus + hours and 40 something miles through the beautiful piedmont.Only regret I had was that I didn't bring a camera;tons of scenery up that way.

Guess that's it for now.hopefully this up and coming week will bring plenty of saddle time.

Down with the sickness

2008-02-24T10:12:00.007-05:00

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It seems like the last few weeks almost everyone I know has been sick in some form or other.I've been on a pretty good streak the last few years and haven't been getting sick.That all changed last Saturday when I succumbed to the sickness too..

From reports I've heard from other people I guess I got off lucky.I didn't have to miss any work and my only real symptoms were more or less those of a head cold.Odd thing about me being "sick" though was how tired I felt for 5 days last week.All I wanted to do is sleep.And sleep I did.Last Sunday between napping and sleeping I bet I got in over 13 hours just Sunday alone.Monday through Friday if I wasn't at work I was at home either napping on the couch or under the covers in my bed.Luckily by Thursday I was feeling some relief from the head cold but still feeling a bit on the "drained" side.

Needless to say last week wasn't a very steler week on the bike.Last Saturday I got in around 3 hours of saddle time up at dauset trails and then tried to ride a little bit out at thomson trails on Wednesday.Still wasn't feeling motivated to do anything Thursday or Friday which was sort of understandable since the weather was rainy and dreary both days.Out of 7 days last week those were the only days I got to ride.

Even though I hadn't really planned on doing it I decided on Friday to go ahead and do a recreational organized ride put on by the Bleckley county chamber of commerce.I knew if I didn't force myself to do it that more than likely I wouldn't be able to motivate myself to do anything on my own.I've done this ride several years prior and new it was always a really good ride.What better way to give myself the kick in the pants I needed and go ahead and join in on the fun.

I wasn't really sure how strong I would be feeling but decided to go ahead and sign up for the metric century option.I got up around 6am(which was damn hard)and headed to Cochran which was about a 45 minute ride.The weather was suppose to be clear but the entire ride there I had to use my windshield wipers.even though it wasn't raining hard there was enough moisture in the air to warrant running the wipers.Luckily it wasn't cold and the thermometer in my car read 60 degrees.

Not much to say about the ride other than I did much better than I thought I would.We did ride in a misty type rain for most of the ride and even though I was soaked to the bone it wasn't all that bad. The pace was crazy fast right from the get go but I managed to hang the entire 64 miles with the lead group.I half way contemplated cutting my ride short at the 50 mile option but decided to suck it up and finish it on out.One good thing about the fast pace was the ride felt like time was flying by.Our group had close to a 22 mph average at the last rest stop.One mistake I made was not drinking enough which lead to some cramping issues with about 4 miles to go but other than that things went really well.I ended up finishing the ride 3:03 which was 15 minutes faster than last year.I only stopped once during the 64 mile route and that was only for 3 minutes.

Me with a few locals riders before the ride.

Today I managed to get in another good road ride.Even though I had planned on taking it easy, and staying in back, once the pace got pushed fast I ended up pushing a little harder than planned.I was surprised how well my legs felt ,and with the exception of a few hills, I ended the ride feeling really strong.Hopefully this upcoming week will bring some quality ride time in along with the motivation to do it.Motivation has been hard to come by as of late for some reason.

2008-02-14T10:54:00.002-05:00

Where did the time go??

2008-02-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

Can't believe it's been over a week since I've posted anything.It hasn't been because I've had nothing much to write,to the contrary,it's been because I've been super busy.

Not sure what got into me two days last week.On Tuesday I set out for a road ride and as usual had to literally force myself to do it.I have got to be one of the most unmotivated people there is.Once I finally got dressed and rolling I decided to try a different route than I usually ride just o keep from dying from boredom.To you locals,I decided to do what is pretty much known as the "Thursday"route.The majority of that route I absolutely love but one of the main reasons I don't ever ride it by myself is because Elko road makes me nervous....really nervous.The entire ride was great and it was so nice to see some new/different scenery.

The ride ended up going really well and when I say "really well" I'm referring to the fact that I didn't almost die at the hands of some idiot driver.Even though I fought some killer head wind the first half of the route the second half(down elko) was tail wind all the way.From Elko all the way to Perry I managed to average 23mph.

Fridays ride was another complete shocker.Once again I really didn't feel like doing it.I headed out with a quick 25 mile route in mind but once i got out and spinning I kept on taking longer options at every turn.I extended my intended route by 25 miles and ended up with 50 miles.Not bad for a Friday ride.I think what helped motivate me to get in some miles was knowing that I had to go to Gainesville for the weekend.I wasn't sure how much riding I would be able to do while there so I figured I might as well get as many miles while I could.

So bright and early Saturday morning I headed up to Gainesville,Ga. to attend a trail building class.Not much to say about that other than I learned a lot about how to design and lay out trails.Fortunately the class got over a little bit early and a buddy of mine ,who lives up that way, met me afterwards.we planned on trying to get in a two hour ride at chicopee woods which was close by.

The ride at chicopee was awesome.Ended up with over 2 hours of ride time,20 miles and close to 1800 feet of climbing.Could not believe how tough that place is.I've only been there once before and don't remember it being nearly as tough.I think my legs were still tired from the day before and couple that with me not taking any nutrition other than something to drink made me bonk hard with about 30 minutes to go.Nothing worst than totally running out of energy on a ride.Even with the bonk factor I had a really good time.So nice riding something different for a change.

Got in another really good road ride today.Same story with not being motivated initially but once I got rolling I felt much better.Can't really come up with many excuses when the temp is in the 70's.

A few pics for all you northern folks.I love Georgia.

Yes,it is Feruary here in Georgia and yes that is my tan line I've acquired over the last few days.

Obligatory self portrait.Note the short sleeves.

4:51

2008-02-03T11:35:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday brought the second round of the snake creek gap time trial series.Once again I made my way up to the Dalton,Ga. area in hopes of breaking that dreaded 5 hour time and hopefully setting a new personal record for what is one of the toughest courses I have ever ridden.

My week leading up to the event wasn't one of the best.I did manage to get in several good rides but it seemed like whatever else in my life could go wrong did go wrong.I did feel really good about my preparation over the last month,especially compared to the month prior, so hopefully the drama that made up most of my week wouldn't effect my performance too bad.

I woke up Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m to make the 3 hour drive up to Dalton.Chip Davis was meeting me at my house and we were going to go up to the bike store and meet "bearded man" Charles Reeves and ride up to Dalton together.I was coming off about 4 hours sleep and by the time we got up to Dalton I was ready to go back to bed.It was daunting knowing that my ride was probably going to last longer than the amount of sleep I got the night prior.

After arrival we all got ready,exchanged pleasantries and loaded up onto the shuttle bus to be transported to the start.The ride felt like it took forever and the bus felt like it had 50 more people on it than it should have.Luckily we made our way up the mountain in one piece.By the time we arrived(40 minutes later) I could not wait to get off that bus.Walking out the door and into the cold mountain air woke me back up in a hurry.Before I knew it I was once again standing on the start line waiting to embark on this 34 mile odyssey they call "the snake".

The first part of this race,to me,is the absolute worst.For the most part it is a 7 mile climb.I think the reason I struggle so much on this section is because it takes me forever to get warmed up.As I'm climbing this section I start having flash backs to last months race and ,in my mind, I'm wondering what's going to happen when I reach the steep stuff and have to shift down into my granny gear.Will it shift ok?Will it chain suck,ghost shift?Will it be OK?I shift down and everything is smooth as butter.The course is way muddy and I'm hoping the mud won't lead to many chain suck problems later on in the race.

I try and get into a smooth steady rhythm of pedaling as well as concentrating on my breathing and make my way up the mountain.So far everything is good. About 2/3 of the way up, this section of logging road we are on, turns into single track.The single track is steep as well but I know once at the end of this section the hardest part will be over for awhile.I hit the single track and within the first 3 pedal strokes chain suck locks up my cranks.'Dammit" I think to myself,not this early in the race.Since I was anticipating it being a little bit muddy I decided to take a shop rag with me.This proved to be a good idea.I dismounted my bike and wiped my chain clean of the mud and muck.I thought about applying more lube but didn't want to lose more time being stopped.One of my goals for this race was TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD no matter how I had to do it or how slow.I wiped the chain off and continued on up the mountain with no problems....yippee.My bike was shifting and feeling GREAT!I got to the end of the 7 mile climb feeling pretty good.I think this was the first time I cleaned that entire section of single track.Around the last 300 yards or so of the climb I could hear people cheering at the top which was great motivation to stay on my bike.

Once to the top I reached the long steep gravel road decent.My next goal was to make it to the half way point in less than two hours.I feel like I am riding the best race ever.My bike is doing great,my body is doing great,everything is working just like it's suppose to.For some reason though my time isn't reflecting it.I'm guessing the amount of mud on my bike and tires is slowing me down a little bit.It isn't really bothersome to me but I'm guessing the accumulation is creating some sort of extra drag.I reach the halfway point right at 2 hours which is very disappointing.I felt like I was riding so strong and compared to last time,and all my problems,I only beat my half way time by 5 minutes.Oh well,maybe I'll be able to make up some time in the second half.

I get to the half way point and change out bottles.I wasn't going to do anything to my bike since it was working so well but decided to go ahead and at least wipe my chain off.I didn't want to make mistakes like last time and figured this time 'if it ain't broke don't fix it".I ended up taking way too much time stopped and after looking at my watch realized I had been at the rest stop for 7 minutes.Stupid chocolate chip cookies,they accounted for 5 minutes of stopped time(LOL) but man were they good.So after stuffing my face I'm off to tackle the last half of this race.

The second half was pretty much like the first.My bike did great,my body and mind felt really good,no cramping,only a couple times did my bike experience chain suck but overall everything was going really smooth.This is one of the only times I've raced this race that I can recall things going so well.But once again it didn't seem like my overall time was reflecting how well my actual ride was going.

The second half of this trail was in way better shape than the first half.Not nearly as much muck and mud.This part of the trail also,to me,has a few sections that are just a total blast to ride.Long flowy downhills that make you feel like you're on a roller coaster.Way fun.I make it to the last aid station feeling really good but can feel the faint signs of fatigue setting in.The last aid station marks about 8 more miles to go.The longest 8 miles you'll ever ride on a mountain bike.

I hit this last section of trail knowing that the hardest part is now between me, the finish and my goal of finishing this thing under 5 hours.Real fatigue didn't set in until about 3 miles into this section.I say "real" fatigue because this is the kind of fatigue that not only affects your body but also your mind.I reached the last major rock garden(a 1.5 mile stretch of rocks like you've ever seen)and mentally feel like I don't know how to ride a bike.I can not hold a line,I can't keep my head up,I keep looking at everything I don't want to hit and end up mounting and dismounting more time than I can remember."Will these rocks never end" I ask myself.I know that once I'm clear of the rock garden that there is nothing standing in my way of finishing this thing.Every time I think I've exited the rock garden a new section pops up.I am keeping one eye on the rocks and one eye on my time trying to do the math in my head.Can I make it back in less than 5 hours??

I FINALLY get out of this god forsaken rock garden and know I am really close to exiting the single track and making that final 2 mile paved/gravel road decent down to the finish.I clean the last tech section of the single track for the first time ever and make my way at speeds of 30 plus mph downhill to the finish.I cross the finish line feeling pretty damn good and am pretty sure I finally beat that 5 hour mark.I find out later my official time was 4:51 beating my all time best(march 07) by around 10 minutes.I'm already thinking of ways to knock more time off of next months race.
This picture was taken towards the end.Do I look like I'm suffering or what??

My bike hates me

Let the good times roll

2008-01-28T08:36:00.000-05:00

One of my biggest problems when it comes to bike riding/training is that I get really,REALLY, bored with it.Riding our local trails is fun for a lap or two but anytime I'm trying to get some substantial mileage in boredom does me in before fatigue does.Road riding is OK but when I do that too often I feel like I lose my "mountain bike fitness".Having close calls with rude drivers makes road riding something I don't look forward to as well.

I wanted to get in some good miles this weekend but since the trails were wet and my road bike is down I was limited in what choices I had.Luckily for me a couple guys had planned an epic of sorts riding gravel roads up near Juliette ,Ga.I wasn't sure how much fun riding gravel roads was going to be but at least it was something different. Wow was I surprised at how much fun,and more importantly,what a great work out riding gravel roads could be.

My morning started out pretty early.Since I somehow managed to destroy my housing for my rear derailuer Saturday evening while changing out wheels(I'm such an idiot)I had to meet Charles Reeves
(http://bikesbeansandbluegrass.blogspot.com/)
at the bike store bright and early Sunday morning so he could put new housing and cable on.Need to send a HUGE thanks to Charles for going above and beyond the call of duty and meeting me up there.It was Sunday,it was early and he was suppose to be off.How many people would do something like that for you??Not many.

So after getting my bike back up and running I headed up to Macon to meet up with Mike Brown who was going to catch a ride.We load up the car and head towards Juliette thinking we know where we're suppose to go.The ride up there goes well and we can even catch glimpses of the one and only guy who knows where we are suppose to meet.He is maybe a mile in front so finding the meeting place shouldn't be a problem.All we have to do is keep him in sight......no problem........whatever......

We round a bend in the road and come upon two other guys that were also doing the ride.They didn't know where the meeting place was either.Rick,our ride coordinator,and same guy we were following,had seemingly vanished into thin air.Our two buddies didn't pass him and we never saw him turn off...D'OH!!!To make a long story short we ended up driving around for an hour looking for him and our two other buddies who we also managed to lose in the process of looking for Rick.We finally made the decision to drive down the road just a little bit further to see if we couldn't find them.If this last ditch effort didn't work we were going to turn around (AGAIN)and ride on our own.Luckily for us as we were headed down the road we see 3 cyclist headed towards us.WOOHOOO....thats them!!!!

Once we all finally regrouped it was off to the races.Not much to say about the ride other than it was absolutely one of the best/funnest "training" rides I've been on in a long time.The terrain was challenging but didn't totally waste you.Lots of elevation but most of it was rolling type elevation and not super steep stuff.You had to work hard on this ride but it was the fun kinda hard work.The scenery riding these rural gravel/dirt roads was spectacular and for the 3+ hours we were out we saw one car.Being able to do a ride such as this on my mountain bike was the best part of the whole experience.

All in all we ended up with 3:30 of ride time and close to 35 miles.Total ascent was close to 3,000 feet.Not bad for a 30 something mile loop.My legs are really feeling it today.

Ride pics.
Group shot

Monte riding the creek crossing like a pro

"Trail?" We don't need no stinkin' trail!!

"Directions?"We don't need no stinkin' directions :-)

Elevation chart from yesterdays ride.

Link to ride stats
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4863759#

Lazy is way easier

2008-01-26T22:01:00.000-05:00

Today ,here in Georgia, was one of those perfect days to do absolutely nothing.It rained on and off all morning,the sky was gray and it was cold.The perfect ingredients for a "do nothing" day.What little bit I "had" to do I got finished mid morning and really had nothing else the rest of the day I needed to do other than get in a bike ride.

I had to change these

to these

so I could ride this on the road

I really wanted to ride this instead

Since my road bike is in the shop and the trails were too wet to ride I decided to put some slicks on the MTB and hit the road.I knew I had the tires somewhere and knew I had tubes for the tires but knew it was going to take some serious looking to find them.Surprisingly enough I found both tires and both tubes.I couldn't believe it,I'm never that lucky.I figured I would end up having to take a trip to the bike store for something but with everything found it was looking like no trip would be needed.

I take my regular tires and wheels off my bike and go ahead and start mounting the tires and tubes onto my other set of wheels.The tire goes on fine,the tube goes in fine but damn if the tube won't blow up.I try two different pumps and nothing.It's looking like the valve on one of the tubes is messed up so I end up having to make a trip to the bike store after all.

I take both my tires and my wheels up to the bike store with me,go ahead and buy two new tubes,get them mounted and filled with air and head back to Perry.By now it's close to 2 hours after I initially wanted to get my bike ride started.I get home put the wheels on the bike come in a lay on the bed for a second...really bad mistake.The bed was feeling oh so good and I kept telling myself"10 more minutes"It wasn't helping that "fletch" was on TV either.What a classic.45 minutes later I finally force myself off the bed,get dressed and head on out for my ride.

The ride went well and two hours later I was back at home ,and as usual, really glad I forced myself to ride.Funny how good ya feel after exercising like that huh?Too bad those endorphins couldn't be flowing the same way BEFORE exercise.

Now how'd that happen ???

2008-01-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

For the past few weeks I've been noticing something a little bit different/wrong with my road bike.It wasn't something that was real obvious but more like something just didn't feel right.I would notice it mostly when I was going down hill fast and especially when I was going through turns.Guess the best way to describe it is kinda like when a gust of wind hits ya and how it makes you feel just a little bit squirrelly.Something else I noticed a few days ago(but thought it was just an optical illusion)was that my left hand "drop" part of my bars looked like it was bent in some.

Well today as I was getting ready to head out on my road ride I noticed the drop part of the bar was obviously bent and it wasn't an optical illusion at all.I haven't crashed so it was a mystery to me how on earth it could have got bent in like it was.I reached down and gave it an outwardly tug and sure enough the bar moved back out.This was not a good thing seeing since the other half of the bar stayed in place.My bar somehow was positively broken.

I know I shouldn't have did what I did but since I was already dressed and since I was running a little late and since I REALLY wanted to get in a ride,I went ahead and took it out.Fortunately nothing happened on the ride.I could just see myself barreling down some hill and my bars break in half.Wouldn't have been a pretty sight.

I made it home in one piece,took my bar tape off that side and confirmed what I had suspected.Sure enough,my handle bar had broke.As I said earlier I'm not sure how it could have broken especially in the place which it did.Only guess I have is that when I have my hands on the hoods while climbing I must have really been applying some torque and snap,there goes the bar.All that weight lifting must be paying off (insert rolling eyes here)

Cohutta 100 and bakers dozen

2008-01-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

Hard to believe but race season is upon us already again this year.A couple days ago I went ahead and sent in my race applications for both the cohutta 100 and the bakers dozen.Both fill up fast so I thought I would play it safe and go ahead and get registered.

Writing that check for the bakers dozen was a piece of cake.A 13 hour race that cost only $35.00??,can't beat that with a stick.I did this event for the first time last year and had an absolute blast.This year the race is being held at a new/different venue so hopefully it will be as much fun as last years event.

Writing that check for the cohutta 100 was another story all together.$135.00 for a race is the most I've ever paid and to be honest almost didn't do it simply because of the price.It didn't make the decision any easier knowing they have a 65 mile option that was only $65.00.In the end a couple things swayed me to go ahead and "man up" and do the 100 miler.First thing was that you can't really put a price tag on things you want to accomplish.I had been thinking about wanting to do a 100 mile dirt race since last year.I've heard tons of stories about this particular race so I figured WTF.Hopefully I'll be able to finish and not get the dreaded "DNF"

In riding news.After not being able to ride much last week ,due to all the last minute preparations for the thomson festival I've been getting in some pretty good hours this week.For once I've been mentally into it which is a nice change.One thing I have noticed though is I don't feel like I have any power at all which is very unusual.Ever have one of those rides where it feels like you have a brake dragging?Thats what every ride I've been on this week has felt like.Guess it's nothing much to worry about since I'm just mainly concerned about saddle time but it is kinda odd.

Thats it from here.Thanks for reading.

Thomson festival aftermath

2008-01-21T18:37:00.001-05:00

Another Thomson festival has come and gone and once again I can say that our club pulled off yet another very successful event.The skies opened up on Friday night and decided to stay open all of Saturday and into the night.That coupled with really cold temperatures made for less than ideal conditions.Even with the nasty weather everyone seemed to have a really good time.At last count, 75 hearty souls made it out not only to participate in the festival but also to pay their last respects to Mr. Ronnie Thomson,the man in which this festival has been in honor of the last 6 years.Mr. Thomson passed away last weekend at the age of 69.He will be greatly missed.

TGIM

2008-01-14T08:53:00.001-05:00

Thank god it's Monday??LOL Never thought I would be looking forward to Monday but after all the work I did this past weekend,Monday will be a nice break.

Our MTB club had a great work party on Saturday to get the thomson grounds ready for this weekends upcoming festival.I'm always astounded at when it gets down to the "nitty gritty" how many locals step up and help out.Not sure of the final count but I would venture to say we had over 20 people take the time out of their day and come lend a hand.What is even more impressive is that several of the folks won't even be able to come to the festival but still came out to help out.

After the work party I headed home really wanting to get in a ride of some sort.I wanted to get finished with the work party by around noon but ended up staying out there until around 1:30.By the time I got home I was totally beat but still managed to force myself to go for a road ride.Even though I felt like I was riding with 2 flat tires I was really glad I forced myself to go ahead and get something in.My weeks worth accumulated time was over 8 hours which is a nice change from the last few weeks of not much.

Yesterday(Sunday)I headed up to dauset with every intension of getting in 3 hours for riding.For some reason I just wasn't feeling "it".Not sure what it was but after an hour I decided to pack it in and head home.Guess I'll try and make up today what I missed yesterday.

With all the bike related events going on the last few weeks I have got way behind on home chores.I've been so busy I haven't even had a chance to take down my Christmas lights yet.At least by cutting my dauset ride short I was now able to get home and take care of a few things and even added some unwanted excitement to my day.

On my list of things to do once I got home was to take my lights down,trim my four crape myrtle trees and cut down a pine tree in my back yard.Everything went really smooth except the cutting the pine tree down and boy did that almost go really bad.

Let me begin by saying that I don't think I've ever cut down a tree of any size before but figured it couldn't be all that hard.If the tree fell in the right direction it had plenty of space.If it fell in the wrong direction it would take out my neighbors fence and his shed.I figure all I have to do is cut the trunk on the opposite side of the way I wanted it to fall and "TIMBER",it should fall exactly where I want it to.Cutting through the tree was easy enough but once cut almost all the way through I notice that it wasn't going anywhere.If anything, it looks like it is going to fall in the opposite direction.The wind is blowing the top and it begins to lean towards my neighbor.I think for the first time in my life I had a full fledged panic attack.Why isn't this tree falling?I've cut almost all the way through but it is wanting to fall the opposite direction.I give it a good push at the base but nothing.I'm not sure what to do but am thinking at any minute this tree is going to go crashing through my neighbors fence and shed.That would be really fun trying to explain.

I'm not sure if it was divine intervention or not but about the time I was ready to start crying a friend of mine pulled into the driveway.They suggested trying to get a rope around it,up as high as possible,and pull it down.I personally thought this would never work since pushing on it seemed to not even budge it.I didn't have a rope but did have a garden hose.We lassoed the tree and began pulling.Sure enough,here it comes crashing down.I couldn't believe how easy it came down and it even landed right where I wanted it to.I was so happy that it didn't crash down on the neighbors stuff.If not for my friends idea I'm not sure what I would have done.I know I would have never thought of the rope trick so I am still thanking my lucky stars that nothing bad happened.

So now it's the start of a new week,a week that is the prelude to this weekends thomson festival.The week before an event like this is always nerve racking but I know once the festivities get underway everything will be just fine.Once again,our small group of volunteers will rise to the occasion.

Guess thats it for now.Thanks for reading.

Mark D.

It's FRIDAY !!!!

2008-01-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

Have to admit that this week seemed to go by pretty fast.Last weeks ,3 day week, seemed to last forever I was thinking this week would be a nightmare.Fortunately it wasn't.Only had one day of drama at the gym which was on Monday and only one day spent trying to fix a piece of cardio equipment.The rest of the week was drama free and gym equipment problem free .That's probably why the week felt like it went by pretty fast.

The weather has cooperated this week allowing me to get in some really great rides.I've managed to get in some good quality rides every day this week.The temps all week have been close to 70 with a rain front that moved in yesterday.Even though it looked like it might rain all day yesterday,the rain held off until last night/early this morning.The only bad thing about yesterdays road ride was the wind.Wow was it blowing.It's looking like the rain should blow on out of here later today so a nice easy road ride today and some major hours in the saddle will be happening this weekend.

After all the problems with my MTB this past weekend I've decided to go ahead and do some major maintenance on it.I sent my rear shock off to push industries on Monday to have it rebuilt.I've ordered new bearings for my rear hub(which go out every 6 months) and also a new small ring,new middle ring,new chain and new cassette.Hate spending the money but I figured I might as well do everything before the race season gets started.Hopefully I won't have any issues for any time soon.(knock on wood)I really want to get a new set of wheels but just can't swing it right now.The tax man this time of the year kills me.My current wheels,mavic crossmax,are great wheels but damn if the rear hub doesn't go out way too often.

The thomson festival is coming up next weekend and our club(www.sorbaomba.org)is busy making last minute preparations.This years event has been advertised as the biggest one yet so there is a ton of last minute stuff to make sure is done.The thomson festivasl is a yearly event celebrating Ronnie Thomsons birthday.Ronnie Thomson is the maker of thomson stems and seat post.Our club has celebrated his birthday for the last 6 years and this year,by far,will be the biggest yet.Fingers crossed that everything will go as planned.

Guess thats it for now.

Later,

Mark D.

Snake creek wins again

2008-01-09T06:35:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday I drove up to Dalton,Ga. to attempt my 7th(over the past 3 years)"snake creek time trial".This time trial is a point to point 34 mile race with close to 6,000 feet of ascent.34 miles doesn't sound like much but, to me , is the toughest race of the season.What makes it so tough is not only all the climbing but all the rocks scattered on the trail.This part of the state has an over abundance of rocks for some reason.The guys up in Dalton have three of these time trials a year.The first race being held the first weekend of January followed by another one the first weekend of February and then the finale' is the first weekend of March.

This picture was taken last summer and gives you an idea of what the rocks look like.Not your typical rocks by any means :-)

I got up bright and early Saturday morning to make the trek up to the mountains of Georgia in plenty of time to not feel rushed.Once getting dressed and loading my stuff up I noticed my back tire on my bike was flat.The previous day I had noticed my valve stem seemed to be leaking but had hoped that by tightening it down really tight the problem would go away.Obviously it didn't.Since I use tubeless tires the only way I could fix the problem is to use a tube since I didn't have an extra valve stem.I really didn't want to go with a tube so I pumped the tire up,tightened the valve stem down and hoped that it would hold air.I decided if it was flat again once I got to Dalton I would go ahead and put a tube in it.Luckily when I got to Dalton the tire was still full of air.

The drive up to Dalton was uneventful and I got to the race venue with around two hours to spare.It was nice to not feel rushed before the race.The weather forecast called for lows in the lower 20's but my temperature gauge in my car read 31.The weather was absolutely perfect.I chose to wear a base layer short sleeve,a long sleeve under armor shirt,long sleeve jersey and wind vest.Standing in the parking lot for the pre-race meeting I felt chilled which made me think I was dressed perfect for the race.I was wrong.

I caught a shuttle ride with one of my buddies Mitchell to the start and before ya knew it we were standing on the start line ready to embark on the first race of the 08 season.Even though I haven't been riding much the last few weeks I felt pretty good going into this race.Once again,my goal was to beat the five hour mark and also to,no matter what,keep moving forward at all times.Previous races I lost way too much time stopping.If I could limit that(for once)I felt sure I could cut at least 30 minutes off my time this year.

I get started around 10:50 and made my way up the gravel road.This road leads to the first climb of the day which is around 4 miles of forest service road and then around a mile of single track.The first 6 miles of this thing are almost entirely up and,to me,is the hardest part of the entire race.I couldn't believe how many people were off the side of the trail already with some sort of mechanical issue.I make it through the gravel road section in my middle chain ring but once I hit the grassy forest road I decided to shift down into my small ring.This thing is just too steep for me to use my middle ring and I need to save all the energy I can this early in the race.I drop down into my small ring and all of a sudden I have ghost shifting like mad.It honestly sounded like machine gun fire.After about 5 seconds of ghost shifting the chain promptly drops off the cassette and gets lodged between the cassette and spokes."Dammit man"I stop,spend a couple minutes trying to get my chain unstuck,get it back on the chain ring and start climbing again.Once again the same thing.Ghost shift like mad and then the chain jumps off back into my spokes."This is great" I think to myself.I'm not 3 miles into this thing and already having problems.My middle ring is doing fine but I just can't get my small ring to work right.I am already terrified that I'm going to have to ride this entire thing without my small chain ring.Not only was I having a shifting problem but I was also burning up.I was way over dressed and could only take off my vest to help with how hot I was.

I decided that since my small chain ring won't work that I'll try and adjust the barrel adjustment while riding in my middle ring just to see if that will help at all.After messing with it for,what seemed an eternity,I finally got it to stop ghost shifting.I still didn't risk shifting up into my biggest cog for fear that the chain would once again fall into the spokes.I make it up the first descent and borrow a small screw driver from a course marshal and adjust my rear derailuer.The remainder of the first half(17 miles) my bike performed flawlessly.Of course once the shifting problems went away I started feeling the first twinges of cramping.The snake will mess with you in every imaginable way possible.I really couldn't believe I was already feeling like I was going to cramp,especially this early in the race.I rarely,if ever,cramp.I was really making sure to drink a lot and had made sure to keep hydrated the week prior to the race.In hind site I think I just got way too hot in the beginning.

I made it to the half way point in around 2:05 missing my 2 hour goal by 5 minutes.I calculated that I had lost around 15 minutes messing with my shifting problem.I stop at the half way sag stop and change out bottles,suck down a gu,fill up my hydration pack and make the mistake of ,as a precautionary measure,lubing my chain with synthetic lube.I knew the second half had a couple creek crossings and I didn't want to risk the chance of having chain suck......big mistake.

I set out for the second half after 5 minutes at the sag stop still hoping to break the 5 hour mark.I knew it would be tough seeing since I lost so much time in the first half but figured anything is possible.I get on the trail and after about a mile my cranks lock up.....CHAIN SUCK!!!!WTF!!!!Not only was it chain sucking but it felt like it wasn't totally in a gear.The only thing I could think was that the lube was causing the problem.I had a rag with me so I stopped and tried to wipe the chain clean of lube.That seemed to work for a little while but after a mile or two more the same thing.I pretty mush repeated this process around 8 times(chain suck,dismount,wipe chain off)until I finally hit a portion of trail where I could keep it in my middle ring.Once again,like the first half,my bike did great in the middle ring.I thought on more than one occasion that someone was trying to torture me even more by making it where my little ring just wouldn't work.

I get to the "8 miles left" sag,stop for a sec,refill a bottle and then head on out for the remainder of the race.My cramping is getting a bit worst but only cramps if I get off the bike which unfortunately, on this ride, is way too often.I leave the last sag stop and shift down into my middle ring hoping for the best.I could immediately feel that it was smoother and it didn't feel like it was half way in gear.I finished the last 8 miles with no shifting,chain suck problems which was great.

With the tranny problems seemingly gone I could now focus on finishing the race.Everything on me felt good with the exception of the cramping in my legs.I dismounted once and my right hamstring locked up sending me crashing to the ground hard.My quadriceps were cramping the worst and at one point I had to get off the side of the trail and spend about 5 minutes stretching them out.After stretching they felt great for the remainder of the race.

I finished the race in 5:06 and once again(in hind site) thought to myself that 4:30 hours is totally doable.My "moving" time was right at 4 hours with over an hour of time totally stopped.Amazing how a few minutes here and there add up to be so much time.Once again I learned how important preparation is both in mind,body and equipment.More than once I thought to myself"like the race itself isn't hard enough"why do all these other things keep messing with me?

Even though it sounds like I had a world of problems, there were a few positives that came out of the race.The most important positive was that my back didn't hurt really bad like last year.It hurt some but that was the more normal type pain and not that excruciating type pain.Also,after the race,I wasn't totally wiped out/delirious like years passed.Not sure if that means I'm in better shape or that I just didn't push hard enough.

I also got to finally wear my new sidi diablo winter mtb shoes this weekend during the race as well.I bought them last year after the February mud fest mainly for the water proofness but never got to wear them.I was kinda worried about wearing them for the first time during a race but figured there's no time like the present.I have to say these are some of the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn.Going through the creek crossings without getting my feet soaking wet was really nice.I would highly recommend these shoes.

Snake creek aftermath

2008-01-08T10:58:00.000-05:00

Coming soon.Been really busy since Saturday but will hopefully be able to do a write up tonight.

Happy new year

2008-01-04T07:27:00.000-05:00

I know,I'm a little bit late but for some reason I haven't been in a blogging mood as of late.It's not as if I haven't had anything going on to talk about just haven't felt like writing for some reason.

I took the week between Christmas and new year (semi)off in hopes of getting tons of "stuff" done around both my house,the gym and the trails.I say "semi" off because being a business owner you never can take off completely.I took off from personal training but still had to tend to the everyday matters of the gym such as cleaning and memberships.Taking a break from people for a week was really nice.

For some reason I didn't get nearly as much stuff done as I had hoped.I did get in some pretty good ride time last week up until the rains hit.It seems like this time every year I'll get in some good riding followed by several days off the bike and before ya know it a few months have passed and I realize I haven't had any consistent saddle time at all.This week I've managed to get in only a couple of
rides.I plan on doing my first race of the season this Saturday(tomorrow) I'm sure I'll be paying tremendously for my laziness.

The rains not only interfered with training but also messed up trying to get some trail work done.We cut some new trail at one of our local trails a few weeks ago and I was wanting to try and do some finishing touches on it.Guess that will have to wait till later.Our club bought a dingo blade finally so hopefully up and coming trail work will be made a little bit easier.

This Saturday brings the first of three mountain bike time trial races up in Dalton Georgia.This will be the 3rd year I've competed in this series which ends up being one of the toughest events of the year.Hopefully I can improve on my times last year.The course is around 34 miles(point to point)with over 5,000 feet of ascent.Combine the toughness of the course and my lack of riding the last few months and I'm sure it will prove to be a true suffer fest.

back in the saddle again

2007-12-26T19:57:00.000-05:00

That has to be one of my favorite Aerosmith songs :-)and it is a fitting blog headline seeing since its only Wednesday and I already have 100 miles in for the week.I swore to myself that I wasn't going to be a lazy bastard this winter but I look back at my calender and realize its been 5 weeks since I've got in any substantial mileage......terrible.That is going to stop this week.

Had a great road ride both Monday and today.Wasn't really sure how I would do or feel seeing since it has been awhile.Mondays ride was a 40 miler while todays was a 60 miler.Since I haven't been riding I was wondering how well I would do but felt pretty good after finishing.Luckily a couple locals agreed to meet me this morning which made getting out in the cold a bit easier.Thanks Shane and Jesse.I totally dreaded getting out this morning but couldn't have felt better after finishing up.Funny how that happens.