Bringing Up The Rear

Since I jumped up to the next class in the Summer Series this year, I’ve really been struggling. Sure, I usually race my way into shape during the season, but I guess I’m still a little bit disappointed in my performance thus far. My new “classmates” aren’t really any faster than me, but they can maintain that speed for the entire race. I’m usually falling off about halfway through the first lap most of the time. I gotta figure out a way to maintain my speed during the entire race. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a serious racer boi by any means, but I would like to be at least a little bit competitive. Maybe it’s the shorts. Damn.


Anyway, last night’s race was more of the usual, with the exception of the start. We raced at North Meck, a rooty and twisty trail in Huntersville, NC. The trail is only 3.5 miles long, so that meant that I would have to do four laps. I actually got there early enough last night to get in a warm-up lap, so I felt pretty good before the start. Since the trail is so short, we had to line up our bikes in a field on the other side of the parking lot, run about 100 yards to get to them, and hit the trail. This crazy Lemans-style start was supposed to spread us out on the trail, and I guess it worked for the most part.


I sprinted for my bike, hopped on, and hit the trail in about 9th place. I pushed and pushed to hang with the faster guys, but as usual, I fell off about two miles in. I felt okay, but I just couldn’t maintain my pace. Still though, I pushed as hard as I could, hoping that I hadn’t fallen to last place. Just then, I noticed one of the guys from the Skeleton Crew race team was in hot pursuit. I had no idea if he was in last place, but I wasn’t about to let one more rider in my own class get by me. It would be a duel for four laps, because this guy just wouldn’t quit.


There isn’t any kind of rivalry with the guys from the Skeleton Crew, other than a friendly one I guess. Still, I found myself pushing hard to get away from him, and it worked for the most part. I would lose him for a while, then back off. All of a sudden, he would appear out of nowhere. It continued like this up until the final lap, when he started closing in. Shit. Would he catch me? Did I have enough to leave him in the dust? I decided that it was now or never at this point. There were plenty of places to pass, so I had to leave him for good this time. He could easily catch me if I didn’t. On one of the downhill sections, I shifted into the big ring and mashed away. I was hoping that my weight, the big wheels of The Big O, and the high gear would be enough to lose him.


Well, I guess it worked. I took off like a bat out of hell, and I never saw him again until the race was over. He later told me that he was trying his hardest to keep up (that was obvious), but that he just didn’t have enough in the end to catch me. I don’t know exactly where we finished, since I never bothered to check the results. I’m not sure if anyone in our class finished behind us, but it was fun to battle it out for the race. It was the closest I’ve had to any kind of competition during the series so far. So, I guess we’ll be duking it out for last place for the rest of the series. Should be fun.

This just in. An unfamiliar bike was spotted with the B-43 logo in the race series.



Yes, that’s right. Another member of the B-43 team joined the ranks of competitiveness. Little Miss Sunshine finally decided to give racing a try. She entered in the Beginner Women’s category, with a field of five women. After a hard fought battle, she pulled out a well-deserved 3rd place finish. She was all smiles when she was awarded her medal.



Lunchbox also raced last night, although his performance was a bit more like mine. He doesn’t really ride to win, but he has a good time out there. The kids in his class are mostly sandbaggers anyway, with the top two or so being sponsored by “real” teams. Still, it’s good to see him get out on the trail to race. He tried to have a little soundtrack while he raced, but he had a few technical difficulties. Lunchbox is all about the style, I guess.




It’s nice to see the whole B-43 family/team out in force. Now, if we could just get the Dirty Party Cycle out here too. He hasn’t been around here in a while, so it may take some convincing. Also, Mr. Shepherd and Senor Oeste would both love this shit, but they are 600 miles away, representing B-43 South. Some team, huh? We really gotta get our shit together. Nah, that would make us too serious. Being serious kinda sucks, so just go have fun on your bike.

The Grind Continued (Just For The Sake Of Dragging It Out)

With lap three in the books, I was fairly pleased. I knew for sure I could get in two more laps, so I actually started thinking about going for a total of six. I stopped in the pit area for the usual exchange, and made sure I ate enough food for the long haul. During Warrior Creek, I didn’t eat nearly enough, so I was at least doing better in that aspect this time. I rested a little longer though, just to make sure I would have enough energy to continue. Total pit time after lap three: twelve minutes. I saw Doug cross the start/finish line, but he appeared to be heading for the bathroom or something. I took off again, and saw Lunchbox waiting with the camera:



Yep, I was really smiling. Three laps, twenty-eight and a half miles, and I felt good. I big-ringed it down the gravel road and got ready to tear it up for lap four. As soon as I got in the trail, I clipped another tree. Shit. This time it was my right leg, but it didn’t really faze me. I was worried that I was making dumb mistakes out there, and they would get worse. Luckily though, I didn’t hit anymore trees on that lap. I started to feel a little tired about halfway through, so I popped a couple gel shots and dug in. I still had plenty of time, so I backed off a bit to regain some of my focus.


When I finished lap number four, I actually felt like I had accomplished something. All I had to do was one more lap to meet my goal, but I had time to do two more if I planned it right. I headed for the pit area and sat down. After wiping my head with a cold towel and drinking some water, I loaded up my pockets with more food. I ate another sandwich and grabbed only water this time for the trail. I was starting to get a little sick of the Cytomax. You can only drink so much of that shit I guess. I headed back out for lap five feeling okay. It was around 3:30, so I had to hurry if I wanted to get in two more. Total pit time: sixteen minutes. Shit, too long.



Lap five would prove to be interesting. I managed to avoid cramping for the most part, but I knew it was coming. Every time I stood up for a climb, I felt a little fatigue in my legs. I shifted to a lower gear and tried my best to spin on the climbs for there on out. I bombed the downhills with reckless abandon, and at one point I nearly rode into the river. The stupid mistakes returned, capped off by another tree incident. Five laps so far, five trees touched by my extremities. It was so ridiculous that I had to laugh, even though a few of them hurt a little.


Lap five would prove to be too much for me. My slower climbing had pushed me over the edge as far as having enough time for six laps, but at least I would make my goal. At one point I even rode the wheel of one of the super fast guys for about two minutes. I don’t know where the hell that shit came from, but it was fun while it lasted.


When I heard the now familiar sounds of the crowd at the finish line, I fought my way through the fatigue and climbed out of the trail. I crossed the finish line at five hours, fifty-one minutes with a total of 47.5 miles. I met my goal, and I didn’t feel even close to as bad as I did when I finished Warrior Creek. By the way, Doug didn’t go out for a fifth lap, so I met my secondary goal as well. Maybe there is something to this whole 29er thing, or else I am actually getting better as the “season” goes on.


We tore down the pit area, enjoyed some fine frosty beverages, and headed home. Another endurance race in the books, and I really enjoyed it. I ended up in 22nd place out of 31 riders in my class, so there were a few people out there that sucked worse than me. My Awesome Strap held on tight, and luckily I didn’t have to dig into it for anything. No mechanicals, serious crashes, or even a flat tire. It was a fine day indeed. I think I’m really starting to like this endurance racing stuff.

Grinding Away

So yeah, this past Saturday was the 6 Hour Grind On The Greenway in Fort Mill, South Carolina. I survived, obviously, since I’m here talking about it. It’s safe to say that my second solo endurance race went pretty well. My goal was to complete five laps on the nine and a half mile course, which I felt was a lofty one since I struggled mightily at the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek last month. I’m new to this whole endurance racing thing, but I kinda felt like I’ve learned a few things since the last one.


The day started out sort of early, with me packing up the usual crap. The Big O: check. Cooler full of food: check. Tools: check. Tent and chairs: check. Cooler full of tasty beer: double check. Can’t forget the beer, right? Anyway, I got everything set up, listened to the pre-race briefing, and I was ready to “race.” I had no idea if I could last six hours out there on the trail, but I was gonna give it my best. At eleven o’clock sharp, the race started. I took off with the pack, and settled in at my usual position near the middle.



It was pretty much a logjam most of the first lap, so I hung in there and kept up my speed. Even though I was trying to pace myself for five laps, once again I got caught up in the “racing” aspect of it all. Damn it. I felt fine though, so I kept it up. The trail was in great condition, and it was super fast. The fact that I was riding big wheels this time made it that much easier too, what with the abundance of roots and rocks on the trail. I did however, clip a tree with my shoulder on a descent, but it didn’t disrupt my flow too much.


When I completed the first lap, I wasn’t even breathing hard (a first for me.) I felt great actually, and my time wasn’t too bad either. I came in at just under an hour, so I headed over to my pit area for a water bottle exchange and quick chow down of food. My buddy Doug (from last year’s summer series battles) was sharing the pit with me, but he hadn’t made it back yet. I actually thought he was ahead of me, until Lunchbox told me the news. I grabbed a full bottle of Cytomax for the bike, and drank about half of a bottle of cold water. After shoveling in a sandwich and a couple of Fig Newtons, I was ready to go again. Total time in the pit: four minutes. Not too shabby.


I hit the fire road that led to the singletrack at full speed, hoping to get in a better lap time for round two. I felt so good that I didn’t even think about the trail as I rode it, instead relying mostly on my instincts and awesomeness to get me through. I was actually surprised at how fast I was going, especially since I was trying to pace myself. I would pass a few people here and there, and a few people would pass me. I kept up my speed, but once again I clipped a tree (with the opposite shoulder this time.) So far I had hit two trees. I was batting a thousand. I started to get a bad feeling, but I kept up my crazy (for me) pace.


When I came up to the start/finish line again, I still felt pretty awesome. Two laps for a total of nineteen miles. Another hour or so lap, and I was a third of the way finished. I decided that I would take a little bit longer break this time, just to make sure I could get in three more laps. I ate a shitload of food this time, and grabbed another bottle of Cytomax to go. Lunchbox told me that Doug had asked where I was, and he seemed hellbent on catching me. I was just about to hop back on my bike when I saw him come up to the tent. I said, “See ya later Doug,” and I left. Total pit time after lap two: nine minutes.


I took off at the usually blazing fast speed on the fireroad, since I wanted to make sure I got a good lead on Doug. Even though I was out there to see what I could do, I also made a new goal: to beat Doug. If anything, it would give me a reason to push harder. I knew I had enough time to complete my goal of five laps, but I had to keep my body fueled up to keep from cramping. This weighed heavily on me, but I kept up the pace.


Lap three was just as fun as the first two, but I was starting to get a little tired on some of the climbs. Also, I was afraid to push too hard since I could jeopardize my chances of being cramp-free and meeting my goal of five laps. Luckily, my big wheels kept me moving fast through the downhill and flat sections to make up for my slower climbs. I couldn’t let up though, since I thought that Doug would overtake me at any moment. I was a little careless though, and whacked yet another tree, this time with my forearm. Ouch. I didn’t crash, but it did force me stop for a moment. I gathered myself and continued. I could hear the music and crowd noises now, so I knew I was almost finished.


Three laps in the books, and I was having a great time. Would I meet my goal of five laps, or crash and burn as usual? Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the “race” report. There was just too much shit to talk about for one blog post. Besides, I wouldn’t want to bore you to death in one sitting. I’ll spread it out over two days to make the pain last that much longer.

A Little Late To The Party

As much as I wanted to be here, I was M.I.A. on this blog last Friday. Instead of coming up with barely entertaining reading material for my legions of fans, I went on a little bike ride. Actually, it was the Mayor’s Ride and Breakfast, which was a part of Bike! Charlotte. This short ride was a way for cyclists here in Charlotte to make ourselves known to the masses, by parading through the city on our two-wheeled machines. Our local mountain bike clubs, the Tarheel Trailblazers and the Dirt Divas , decided to do a little “ride to the ride” so to speak. We all met up at a local shop, Uptown Cycles.



After everyone arrived on the scene, we headed out to the real meeting place, the Dowd YMCA. We had plenty of time for a nice, leisurely ride.




When we arrived at the Y, there was quite a large crowd gathered. Some of the local news teams were there too.




I knew this was going to be a big event, but I soon realized why so many news people were on the scene. I looked over and saw a limo pull up, and I wondered which local celebrity was inside.



The mayor was already there, so who could it be? Well, after hovering around it like a teenage groupie at a Backstreet Boys Concert, I found out that the limo belonged to Bad Idea Racing, and the local celebrity was Charlotte’s very own Rich Dillen. I know how he feels about the paparazzi, so I quickly snapped a photo before he caught me with the camera.


Lunchbox said, “Look Dad, it’s Team Dicky. Let’s pretend not to notice”


I guess he has better deals with Cane Creek and Backcountry Research than I do, or else Dirt Rag is paying him a crapload of money to write for them. Either way, I need to step it up so I can get limo rides to local events. I bet that thing even had a bar in it, stocked with PBR and other fine beverages. Lunchbox even commented after he left, saying “I like his moustache.” Weird.

So, what were we talking about here? Oh yeah, the Mayor’s Ride. Our recently elected mayor, Anthony Foxx, said a few words before we took off, so we all listened to his non-political speech.


“Hooray bikes!”

And just like that, we were on our way. Hundreds of two-wheeled human-powered machines took to the streets, and we somehow managed to squeeze in there.




We headed right into the city, hoping to get there before Chilly Willy and his friends ate up all the free breakfast.




We parked our bikes, stood in line, and got our breakfast and free t–shirts. Luncbox was happy to have his.



All the good seats were taken, so we lined the steps of one of our local banking headquarters and chowed down.



It was a fun ride, and I guess we raised some awareness for cyclists here in Charlotte. The food was good, the t-shirts were pretty cool, and we got to see a lot of our cycling friends on a beautiful Friday morning in the city. I can’t wait for next year to do it all over again.

Speaking of waiting, you’ll have to do that if you want to hear all about my adventures at the 6 Hour Grind On The Greenway over the weekend. I know you all came here to see the “race” report, but I had to talk about the Mayor’s Ride first. See ya tomorrow.

Learned My Lesson

I guess this whole mountain bike “racing” thing I’m doing is a big lesson in and of itself, but yesterday it looks like I just took the hardest class. Last night’s race in the Summer Series was a bitch, to put it bluntly. What did I learn? Well, for starters, you can’t arrive on the scene at 5:45 for a race scheduled for 6:15 and expect to get in a proper warm-up. After getting to Renaissance last night, I barely had time to register, change my clothes, and take my bike for a quick spin in the parking lot. Even after doing all that, I forgot a few things. While heading over to attend the pre-race briefing, I realized that I had failed to affix my number to my bike. Mistake number one. Next (as I realized at the start line), I had forgotten to grab my music playing device. No big deal, right? Well, actually it is, since I have grown fond of having a soundtrack while I “race.” It helps me get through the “tough times” in the race. Mistake number two.


Anyway, even though it was plenty hot outside, I didn’t get warmed up properly. While I was waiting during the pre-race announcements, I began wondering if I was ready. I looked around, and most everyone else had been warming up, some even well before I arrived. This would later prove to be the biggest mistake of all. Nevertheless, I waited for the start.



Notice that I’m rocking the Diamondback jersey in the above photo. My buddy Doug (to the right of me in the photo) noticed too. He asked, “You’re not riding for Cane Creek anymore? What about Middle Ring Cycles?” I told him that I was doing my own thing now, but I still had the support of those fine people. In fact, I told him, I’m getting more love than ever before (somehow.) I guess I’m just trying to promote the whole B-43 thing these days. Don’t worry companies over there to the left, I still love ya.


Now, onto the actual race. The start line is at the bottom of a big gravel-covered hill, so when it was my turn to go, I took off and tried to keep up with the pack. Most of the guys in my “new and improved” class are way faster than me, but I tried to hang anyway. I actually didn’t do too bad and I entered the trail in about 7th place. Wow, I thought, I actually managed to stay competitive on a climb. I gave all the credit to The Big O, since I haven’t really been working too hard on my bike fitness. I would hang with the group for the first mile or so.


Suddenly, my lack of warm-up caught up to me. I got the now-familiar punched in the stomach feeling, and it hurt like hell. My pace slowed a lot, and the rest of the pack began passing me by one at a time. I decided to slow down and spin for a bit, since technically this was my warm-up and I needed to recover. I was in for a long race.


I suffered through the first section, watching as everyone passed me by. Every time I started to recover, I pushed harder, which of course led to more pain. When will I learn? When I came out to the big gravel hill again, I was hurting more. The hill seemed bigger this time, but I somehow managed to make it up. When I crossed the start/finish line, I started feeling a little better. I entered the second section and pushed hard. I spun out on one of the climbs, and that made me have to get off and walk. Shit. I never walk my bike during a race, so I figured I must be in big trouble. The highlight of that moment was when two women riders passed me by, and I took the opportunity to cheer them on. One of the riders, my friend Doc, was celebrating her birthday (by racing I guess.) I sang a quick happy birthday, which put a smile on her face. Well, at least I was having fun.


Also while I was in the second section, I passed a guy on the side of the trail that appeared to have a flat. Since I was going so slow, he had a chance to ask me if I had any CO2. I said yep, and proceeded to stop and grab one for him. He said, “You don’t have to stop.” I told him it didn’t matter, since I was have a shitty race anyway. I dug into my Awesome Strap, gave him his cartridge, and got back on my way. By the time I exited the trail, I was starting to feel great. I guess lap one was my warm up. I hit the trail again for lap two, hoping that I could make up for lost time. I was alone in my class, but I had plenty of company for the other riders in their own groups.


I gave up the spandex shorts, because well, it made me look like I was taking this shit too seriously.

I was really making good time, or so it seemed. The gap had grown too large for me to catch up, but it didn’t matter. I rode as fast as I could, and finished the race feeling good. I didn’t feel so good when I found out I got last place though (21st out of 21), but I quickly got over it. Next time, I’ll get out of work earlier so I can get in a good warm-up lap before I race. That was a hard lesson to learn, but I won’t forget it for sure. I guess I’m no spring chicken these days, and I’ll have to spend a little more time preparing my body for this kind of torture, er fun. Yay.


I may or may not be here tomorrow. I am doing a ride with the mayor of Charlotte (me and hopefully about a thousand other people) for Bike Charlotte bright and early in the morning. Maybe you’ll be lucky and I’ll give you a report when I finish it. If I do, it will be late morning/early afternoon. Oh yeah, don’t forget that this weekend is also the 6 Hour Grind On The Greenway in Fort Mill, SC. My second solo six hour race, and of course I’m not ready. I’ll share my pain on that one next week.

Drawing a Blank

When I hopped on here this morning, I wasn’t sure what the hell I would talk about. Usually though, I have some kind of plan, even taking notes the day before, gathering photos, etc. Just like the title says, I am drawing a blank. There hasn’t been a whole lot of excitement the past few days, so what do I do? Well, I just remembered something: we had an event over the weekend that I forgot to mention.


Sunday was kind of a big deal. It was the regularly-scheduled Tarheel Trailblazers Kids Ride, but this time there was a twist. One of our local trails, Fisher Farm, just recently had a new section added. So, Sunday was a grand opening of sorts, plus a cookout to celebrate the kickoff of Bike Charlotte. We decided to incorporate the kids ride into this event, and it worked out well.


We arrived on the scene bright and early to set up our stuff. While we usually just meet up and hit the trail, this time I wanted to be a little more visible. We setup the popup tent we had, and hung up our National Mountain Bike Patrol banner. Before I could get the camera out to take a photo, the wind picked up. That would prove to be fatal for my little popup tent, as it took off like a kite and sailed towards the bushes. Damn it. After salvaging the canopy, I was left with a twisted hunk of unusable metal.



No worries though, as there were plenty of other tents that survived the gusts of wind. I will have to acquire another tent for this weekend though, since I'll need some sort of shelter for the 6 Hour Grind On The Greenway. I'll worry about that later I guess. We pressed on, gathering up to head out onto the trail for the ride. It was a beautiful day.





I didn’t get any photos of the ride, because I was riding sweeper in case any of the kids (or adults) fell behind. We had a great ride, especially since this was the first time we’ve done this ride at Fisher. I think we will include this lovely trail in our future kids rides. When it was over, we gathered around the grill for some food, socializing, and fun.



After the food, I grabbed the uni for some one-wheeled trail fun. My legs were toast though, so that didn’t last long. It was a good day though, and everyone had a blast.


Yeah, I know it’s not much, but you should know that I can’t hit a home run every time I write something on here. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Tonight is race number two of the Summer Series, so at least I’ll have a race report for you. We are heading to Renaissance tonight, a trail that I don’t really care too much for. This will be another new adventure for The Big O, so I’m kind of looking forward to it. Let’s see if I can keep both wheels pointed towards the trail tonight.

Racing in the Park

This past Saturday was the 37th Annual Dilworth Criterium, held in one of Charlotte’s most beautiful neighborhoods. Since we hadn’t been to the previous 36 events, we decided to head out there to watch some roadie action for the first time. Now, I watch roadie stuff on TV on occasion, but I don’t really follow it too much. Since I do in fact own a road bike, I like to see if I can pick up any riding tips by observing those who are a little more experienced than me. I am a mountain biker first, but riding a road bike seems to help my overall “fitness” (not to mention it lets me drink a little more beer than I normally would.)


The roadie stuff started at around 8:00 a.m. I think, but we arrived fashionably late at around 9:30 to watch a few of our local cycling friends compete. I guess anyone can race in these races, save for the pro event at the end of the day. It proved to be pretty interesting, as they hauled ass around the .7 mile loop during the races. There was a pace car, which was driven by some of our local cycling pals, and it was neat to watch it make the sharp turns on the course:




There was also a police car leading the pack. While there isn’t usually anything odd about a police escort in a roadie race (I guess), this one was different. In my efforts to remind you all of the coincidence number, 43, I quickly noticed that the police car was adorned with said number:



Anyway, here are a few photos from the event:







The race promoter, my friend Neal from Charlotte Sports Cycling, loves to see kids getting on bikes. This event was no exception, so he held a kids race. It was cool to see the little ones racing, and they all received medals when they finished.





I took a little video while I was out there, just so you could see how fast these racers were going around the loop. This one is from the pro class, and they were really fast. I have no idea who any of these guys were, but it was still pretty cool. Although I didn’t witness any horrific crashes, I think this video shows the potential for injury.



Lastly (but not the last event of the day), they had an adult tricycle race. This shit was hilarious. I didn’t find out how to enter the event, or else my ass would have been trying to race these funny little three-wheeled machines. It was a relay-type race, and it was by far the most entertaining event of the day. Check it:



While I didn’t get to rock the tricycle, Little Miss Sunshine somehow managed to steal a ride on one:



It wasn’t a bad day at all. A little spectating at a bike race, plus a little socializing with some of our bike homies. Hell, we even went to a comic book store for some nerdy action.



See y’all tomorrow.