Dog Tired

And there will be no squatting to shit either.

Yup, I’m still going on about race number two in the Southern Classic Series at Hobby Park in Winston-Salem, NC. After narrowly avoiding a crash with some guy that wasn’t paying attention, I was heading out for lap two. Once again, I had to climb that giant asphalt hill, and this time it was much worse. Since I was all alone and not battling for position in the woods, I climbed even slower. It hurt like hell too. All I could do was suffer through it and get to the singletrack, where I thought I would fare better since I got to know the trail a bit on lap one.


Once I made it up that horrible climb, I was back in the woods all alone where I belonged. I kept catching glimpses of a couple of the guys in front of me, so that helped me creep along and not give up. I rolled the downhill sections much faster this time, and I felt like I had a lot more control. The climbs were still a problem though. It seemed like the harder I pedaled, the slower I got. It felt like there was something wrong with my bike, but I knew it was okay. It was my legs, and they didn’t want to work for me. Damn it.


After every switchback, I would see some guys in my class. I knew I could catch them, if only my legs would respond. Since I couldn’t climb worth a shit, I decided to go balls out on the downhill stuff, putting my own safety at risk. There are several rock and root drop-offs, and my big wheels helped me roll over them with ease. Later, I thought about that if I had been riding smaller wheels out there I would have gone over the handlebars. I had so much more control, even when I was riding out of control. The 29er stuff is here to stay for sure.


On the very last section on lap two, I was closing in on the guy ahead of me. I crept closer and closer, and I could see that he was struggling too. All I had to do was outlast him, and I could move up one place. As I was trying to catch him, I realized that he was the same guy from the last race that rode my wheel for most of the second lap. He eventually dropped off before the finish, so I thought that I would enjoy the same luxury during race number two.


I didn’t happen though. On the last little section of climbing, I noticed that I had lost some air in my rear tire. I didn’t want to stop and put a tube in it (even though I had a fully loaded Awesome Strap), so I just pushed through. When I came up on the approach to the start/finish line, I gunned it. Later, I found that he had only finished ten seconds in front of me. Shit.


When it was all said and done, I finished in 9th place. While that may sound better than last week’s 10th place finish, it was not. There were only 9 riders, so I was DFL. I gave it my all, and it wasn’t good enough. The only good thing about it was that I was only 11 minutes off of the winner. Well, I don’t know if that was good or not, but I guess it could have been worse.


Since Lunchbox and the DPC were along for the ride, they took their bikes out for a stroll too. I managed to capture the action after I “raced.”





I wasn’t as tired after the race as I was last week, but I felt worse during it than I did before. I’ll have to figure out what went wrong, so maybe next week things will be better. I don’t regret not riding the course beforehand, because that added a little excitement and “danger factor” to the race. One of these days I’ll learn not to go so hard at the start of a race though. It was still a good day to be on the bike, and it sure as shit beat sitting at home on the couch. Lunchbox will agree I’m sure.

What It Was, Was A Race

Yesterday, me, The Dirty Party Cycle, and Lunchbox traveled to the city of Winston-Salem, NC for another bike race in the Southern Classic Series. It was race number two in the series, at Hobby Park. I’ve never had the pleasure of riding there until yesterday, but I wasn’t really all that worried about it. Everyone I know that’s ridden there told me that it was much easier than last week’s race. Since I believe everything I hear, I decided not to preride the course.





It only took an hour or so to gt there from my house, so we arrived with plenty of time for packet pickup, chit chatting with my mountain biking friends, and other general nonsense. I didn’t have that usual nervous feeling I get before a race, so I started to wonder what the hell was wrong with me. My legs even felt pretty good when I was spinning around the parking area.


There was only one problem though. I was tired as hell. Little Miss Sunshine was on call for work all weekend, and it seemed to affect me as well. Hearing the phone go off in the middle of the night so she could go save someone from a heart attack had me suffering from a severe lack of sleep, so I wondered if I could even stay awake during the race. It wasn’t her fault, and what she was doing was definitely more important that me being well-rested for a bike race. Nevertheless I knew I would be in for a sufferfest.


When 10:30 rolled around, we all lined up. When we were given the signal, we all took off. Since I wasn’t familiar with the course at all, I was hoping to fight of the urge to get into the woods first. It would be a little bit of a challenge to get in the woods though, since we had to ride up this big ass hill on the way to the trailhead. I couldn’t help but pedal my ass off, and I started up the hill in third place.





It would quickly bite me in the ass though. As soon as Lunchbox took that photo, the molehill became a mountain. That shit went straight up, and I nearly came to a complete stop. A few guys went by me, but I pressed on and tried my best to stay ahead of the rest of them. It wouldn’t be easy though.





I think I entered the singletrack in around 5th place or so. My legs were burning, and my lungs were feeling shitty. Sure, I warmed up, but I wasn’t ready for this. The trail was in prime shape though, so I pushed as hard as I could to get through the twisty trail. It was fun, but I was in so much pain that I couldn’t enjoy it like I really wanted to. The rest of the pack was right on my ass, and eventually one of them went by, followed quickly by another.


We continued on the first section, and it was full of short, bursty climbs, and swoopy downhills. A combination of being too tired and not being familiar with this particular trail started to affect my riding. I was making big mistakes, and it was costing me and kind of momentum I could have been gaining. I kept thinking I was gonna fall off the side of the trail, which made things even worse.


Eventually I let two more guys go by. They didn’t get far ahead, but I was;t recovering very well from my effort either. Since there were so many switchbacks, I could see most the riders that were ahead of me on that first lap. I thought I could catch them, but I had to settle down and get some of my lung power back. It seemed like I would suffer the whole time though.


With only a couple of miles to go on that first lap, the guy who had been riding my wheel for quite some time finally got by me. Well, actually I let him by (sort of.) I told him I couldn’t pull him around anymore, and that really sucked. Any motivation I had to catch the leaders was gone at this point, and I even wondered if I could finish the race. I’ve been riding enough, the course wasn’t that difficult, and the leaders weren’t out of my reach, but I just didn’t feel like I could do it. I decided that I would somehow finish, because I don’t quit during races. That would hurt way more than if I finished last.


After winding through the last section, I rode the long downhill to the start/finish line. I got passed by one guy from another class (who was finishing because he started a half hour earlier.) As I was rolling through to the next lap, he turned right in front of me. I shouted out to him, swerved to avoid a crash, and he mumbled something back to me. I couldn’t hear if he was being a smart ass or not, but he should have been paying attention. I guess he though that he was the only person out there that day.


Yes, I’m cutting it off here. Not so much because I want to spread this out over a few days, but more because I went on a little too long today. I know y’all have a short attention span, and since I didn’t use a lot of photos today, that makes it more difficult for you to follow along. I’ll be back tomorrow to finish up this hellish race adventure. In the meantime, go check out Dicky’s new bike.

Get It Together

Told ya there would be more Star Wars. Also, there is more racing on the horizon. Race number two of the Southern Classic Series is this Sunday, and I’m as ready as I can be. In fact, the plan is to get even more ready in these two days beforehand.





I have plenty of riding to get in before I race, so I could actually end up worn out before I even get to the starting line. After a short day at work today, I’m heading over to the U.S. National Whitewater Center to get in a lap or two, but it will be far from race pace. I’ll most likely be riding alone, so I won’t push myself too hard. I don’t want to be too sore to walk over to the bar and sip on some beer afterwards.


Saturday is different. I’m most likely heading up to Winston-Salem to ride the trail at Hobby Park. Yes, the same trail where I’ll be racing on Sunday. While it wasn’t in my plans to pre ride the trail before I raced, that looks like exactly what I’ll be doing. Before you start getting all uppity with me, it wasn’t my idea. In fact, I’m only going because Little Miss Sunshine needs a driver to get here there. She is going because the Dirt Divas have one of their out of town rides there. I can’t see myself not riding if I drive all the way up there to meet a bunch of people who are riding it. That’s just silly.


Anyway, I don’t think this will give me any kind of advantage or anything in Sunday’s race. In fact, it could hinder me. By knowing what to expect, I may actually be more hesitant on the trail, instead of going balls out on an unknown course. Besides, it’s not like my fitness has improved that much in a week.





That’s all I can give you for today. I have a lot of shit to do today, so I’ll quit while I’m behind. Next week should be better, but it probably won’t. I am on the way to making a major upgrade on The Big O, but I don’t care to mention it at the moment. I’ll keep you waiting. Also, there will most likely be a race report, along with a beer report of some kind. You just stay here and wait for it.