Mondays Lesson

Today I'd like to teach you a very valuable lesson. Sometimes even when you have all the neccassary tools and supplies you would need to complete a successfull ride, it's still not enough. That's what I learned yesterday.

I've been very fortunate not to have hardly any flats this year. Then again, I change my tires out more frequently, which probably helps in keeping that from happening as much. Yesterday I had a flat, and normally it would be no big deal to fix it, but as it turned out, the ride resulted in me hike a biking for 2 hours in the hot, humid, stuffy jungle that's known as 4 Winds.

I got a good ride in at Rockbridge on Friday, and cooked myself pretty well since it was the last day in a 4 day riding block. I then had every intention of getting in a nice long ride down at the Lake of the Ozarks, at a trail called Honey Run. Well, as my luck would play out for the day, I got lost trying to get to Honey Run, and eventually wasted an hour driving back country roads, and ending up being overall pretty pissed. I don't know what happend, I've been to the that trail dozens of times, but it's been a few years, and for some reason everything seemed differnt. Add on the fact that I had no cell phone coverage, and it pretty much led me to fly blind. And blind I was... I had no idea where I was.

Being frustrated and in the same neighborhood as 4 Winds, I made a decision. I was going to tackle what is known as the manliest trail around. It's everything mountain biking should be. Loose, rocky, and knarly as hell in spots. 4 Winds is the kind of place that when you finish riding it, you feel like you've actaully accomplished sometime. It's not a groomed out, run of the mill kind of trail. Normally it's mostly overgrown, and they've even gone as far as to close the roughest of sections now. I had the Epic, and I was ready to tackle this beast, and conquer it in it's entirety.

Well everything was going well, until about 3 miles in I noticed my rear tire going soft. Knowing I just re-Stansd it, I grabbed my co2, and pumped the tire full of air. It sealed, and I was off and going... For awhile.

Roughly 2-3 miles later, I was picking my way up a rough and rocky incline when I hear the undeniable hiss that was a slit sidewall. No amount of Stans was sealing this one. Damn. Luckily I always carry a spare tube, and I hoped that I had enough air in my BigAir to get it pumped up enough to limp back. So I take off the spare tube that's been fixed to my bike, unmoved since I put it there back in March. Like I said, I've been lucky this year.

I slowly started the fix a flat procedure, but in the back of my head I knew that if I didn't have enough air, or the tube had somehow developed a leak, I would have one hellava long hike out. I was halfway through this 12 or so mile loop, and there was no easy way back.

I hook up the co2, and use every last bit of air it had to give. Only to hear the still undeniable slight hiss that was air escaping out of the sidewall slit. At first I figured it was the air between the tube and tire escaping, but moments later I noticed the tire getting ever so softer.

Damn. Damn. Damn. It's time to walk.

2 hours, 100 seedticks, and a pair of skinned up legs later, and I was at my car. It was a long hike indeed, and anyone of you all know that hiking in biking shoes is no fun. Toss in the fact that the trail is all loose rock, and major overgrown in spots, and you have the makings for what was one rough day in the woods.

I took some pictures of the trail, but on my old Iphone that no longer has service and I can't figure out how to upload them. The trail was beautiful in spots as I hiked back, and horrible in others. I hiked up and down the hills, crunching my cleats against rocks for what felt like a million steps.

I could have been even more pissed at the end of my day. It was a pretty much wasted ride, and it was a rough hike, but luckily I did have the right supplies as far as water and nutrition. When I flatted I still had one and a half water bottles full of EFS, and a pack of GU Chomps and a Honey Stinger Waffle. That made the hike easier. Without any of the above, especially water, the hike could have been very much worse.

I've been going sans Camelback all year, and loving it. I put everything in my jersey pockets, and it seems to make my back happy. Until I run out of supplies and I have to hike 6 miles out. You see, with the camelback, I would have had a hand pump, patches, and another tube. I would have been able to ride on. But I didn't, and I remembered why sometimes it's neccessary to overdo it, just in case.

Anywhere else and I would have been able to hike out in 20 minutes. But as it would have it, 4 Winds made for an interesting day, and in the end it conquered me more than I conquered it.

No worries though, I lived to fight another day.

Another day that will come sooner than later, and will include 4 Winds again, but this time with a much different outcome.

If first you don't succeed, try, try again...

G

Fry-day

Seems like the main topic of the bloggesphere lately has been the heat. It's been a whole bunch of whining going on I tell ya. I've always been one to accept the fact that there are things you can change, and things you can't change. The weather falls into the unchangable. So deal... Just think, if you train in this weather, you'll be light years ahead of everyone else this fall. Not only does training in the heat and humidity play well for when things cool off, but you also get the added benefit that most don't even ride in this weather. So while they waste precious dry trail time, you're putting money in the bank.

This is money in the bank. Three times this week my legs have looked like this. Two 35 mile gravel rides, and a nice 28 mile ride through the woods last night. Add in some good core workouts a few times this week, and a nice 45 minute minute early morning road ride and I've already got in the same hours I normally put in for a whole week. And it's not even the weekend!

Some things on the web front. KNC has stolen my idea. Not really, but I figured it was only a matter of time till someone came up with a way to incorporate the Shimano Di2 electronic shifting into a mountain bike. They did... and it's expensive.

Marzocchi has come out with a new Corsa 29er fork. It looks pretty sweet, but I still think I'm going with the Sid. Never have liked the look of those nickle plated sanctions that Marzocchi has, and red just isn't my favorite color.

BikeRadar did a pretty good article on the best bike upgrades that yeild the biggest gains for your mountain bike. Not expensive upgrades, but the best, cheapest upgrades. Basically the bar, stem, and tires. I'd agree, those three components can change the way your bike acts and handles greatly, and new, lighter tires can give you that extra 1mph you looking for. Above that, bar no expense cap, wheels are it. But you're looking at dropping 500-1000 bucks for a good wheelset that you can actually notice.

And the douche of the week goes to Floyd Landis! Check this video out. Yup, the beer drinking, rubber burning, exhuast fume inhaling crowd of Nascar will be pleased to find out this ex-doper will be joining the ranks of the Nascar drivers. WHOOO WEE! What a joke...

I'm headed down to CoMo tonight to get a little riding done at Rockbridge. I looked at the race loop they have posted for next weekends Show Me State Games, and it looks to be the same loop they always do. Which brings up the question, why do they include the praire loop? Makes no sense... Not only is it extremely boring, but it's wide open, and always hot as hell.

Then it's a Saturday in Jeff, with some froggin! Oh ya buddy, bringing out my hillbilly roots. It's been years, but I jonsin for some frog legs in the skillet.

Then off to the Lake for hopefully some water fun, and some Honey Run action!

One of the few weekends that doesn't include racing.

I'm going to enjoy it!

So should you...

G

Early Morning Flyer

It's 6AM, wind blowing by, body and machine slicing through the air like a knife through butter. The Sun is rising to my back, and the road is quiet. The hum of rubber and road are the only sounds I hear, along with the almost silent laboring of my breath. Sweat pours even though the tempature is quite nice. The humidity hangs in the air, causing even my machine to sweat with moisture. I push a bit harder... I go a bit faster... I feel free, because at 6am, flying just seems to come natural.

I really should get out early more often. Then again I'm not a morning person. I find it hard enough to drag myself out of bed, much less throw a leg over a bike and ride in the wee hours of the morning. However, last night my body shut down. It does that sometimes. I got home at 5 and was asleep by 5:30. I only woke a few times, and before I knew it, it was 5:30 in the morning and I almost jumped out of bed I was so awake.

Almost a month of traveling the nation, racing every weekend, and tons of riding in this heat finally cumulated to one of those 12 hour sleep nights.

On the racing news front, Topeka was a whole lot of fun on Sunday. The course was the same as last year, and the tempature was actually very bareable. I took it hard from the beginning, only dragging JPB with me up the grassy hill leading to the singletrack. I stood and sprinted out of every corner on the first lap, which is a whole lot of sprinting. The trail out at the GMansion is loaded with sharp 180 degree turns, and fast and flowy sections.

After the first lap I put it on cruise control and tried to keep a consistant pace. I was able to do so, and in the end I took the overall Expert win. JP Brockett took second, and just like that Ethos took down another 1,2. It was also good to see our St.Joe brothers as they all did very well also, taking home medals galore.

Tonight I'm going to do a little 35 mile gravel grinder, followed by the same ride backwards tommorow morning, and then the SPIN Pizza ride tommorow night.

Gotta get ready for the BT Epic and a couple double header weekends.

That's right Schottler, I got your number son. Ha ha... Well, at least I hope I'll be able to hang your wheel for at least part of that beast.

Here's to 50 miles in the Ozarks at a blistering pace.

Ethos will be there, will you?

G

Listening to For the Birds right now... Local KC band that I stumbled onto after meeting the cello player Saturday night, who also was the cello player for a show Jeremy Collins had,The Wolf and the Medallion. The show really brought home the last few years of my life, and what is my life's journey. Here's to kicking the Wolf's ass, and never letting go of what drives you in life.

Cool Friday

Man it's nice outside. Like as in perfect riding weather. You really can't ask for any better than the stretch we've had. 100+ degrees and heat indexes far above that. This is the weather that'll make a real man, or woman, out of you. If you can ride well in this stuff, you can ride well in any weather. I did notice the humidity hasn't been as horrible, but make no mistake, 40% and above humidity in this weather is still stuffy.

So bake my friends, like little potatoes in an oven. Embrace the heat, take it for what it is, an excellent training device. Drink lots, both water and beer, and make sure to get yourself a good nights sleep. Wouldn't want to be flat for the racing this weekend!

The Sunflower Games MTB race is Sunday. And it's at 9am, which means it'll only be 90 instead of 100. That's a big difference yo! The course, (Governors Mansion)is a good one. From what I remember it was very fast and flowy, with a long section of flat peagravel. Man I hope they have that there this year. I'd love to hit it with gears.

Did you all see the vid of the "A" line at the Missoula Montana ProXtc race? Aaron posted it, and it's no doubt the most insane A line I've ever seen. Maybe because I haven't raced but a handful of national events, but it's a straight up 4 foot drop off. Looks smooth, but damn, I can only imagine the carnage when a group of 50+ racers come up on it. If you're not sure of what an A line is, it's basically the fastest choice of two routes at a particular part of a given race course. The B line is easier but slower. At Nationals, the difference between hitting the rock waterfall, (A line), and the B line was like 30 seconds. Pretty big difference, but you run the risk of killing yourself. Or at least flatting out.

The Tour is hot right now. I'm pretty excited to get home and see what happens today. Yesterday was a great race, until my DVR decided to stop recording with a mile to go. Oh well, I figure I didn't miss much. I don't read about what happens, I wait to watch it when I get home. I can usually skip over the slow stuff, and get right to the goods. It's almost like Nascar racing, only much much more cool.

I'm going to go ride in the heat today. And I'm going to enjoy it. At least I can tell myself that.

Have fun this weekend, and remember, don't let the heat get ya down.

G

Listen to these Jerkwads

So smart they are... Not only can you not understand a damn word they're saying, but they even have that "smart" accent.

Really though, it's pretty interesting stuff in regards to wheel testing in windtunnels. All in the name of trying to eek out that extra 1mph.

Thank god for modern science, or else we might all still be rolling around on wooden rims.

G

Kill the Hardtail?

It seems everytime I ride this bike, that thought comes to mind. Is it even worth having a seperate hardtail mountain bike? I mean coming off the Epic to this bike is like going from floating on a cloud being tossed out of a flying car. Even on a smooth trail this thing likes to deliver the pain stick to the body.

I think a suspension fork would really change this bike. The still standing, fairly legit, reason for riding a hardtail over a dually is that its more effecient. You stand, deliver the wood, and they propel with percise precision. While going rigid allows you even less energy loss, the pounding that comes with it often overrides that energy savings. I find I actually tire sooner than I do with the slightly less effecient dually.

So I guess my plan will include buying a new Sid 29er fork, putting it on the Epic, and then put the Reba on the Stumpy. I think its going to turn out to be a great move for both bikes.

But for now, I'll be rocking my squish. The hardtail will do nicely this winter.

Let the war of opinions start, because I know there's still plenty of hardtail die hards out there.

Race in Topeka this weekend!

USA Nationals

It's was kind of a big deal...

It was staged at the base of a fairly legit mountain, and it was done up big. Not a most dominating, intemidating type of mountain, but one that you knew was going to test your might regardless. Coming from the flat fields of corns and beans meant that I wasn't supposed to do well. Already knowing you have elements going against you will sometimes play hell with your mind, or it will cause you to have no worries, no expectations at all.

I knew I had things going against me, and I had some doubts, but I choose not to let it bother me, and that ended up being much better in the end.

Trav and I flew from KC to Salt Lake, to then Boise, Idaho on Thursday. JP Brockett and KRocket picked us up, and we made the short 2 hour drive to Sun Valley. I have to give a big thank you to them for not only doing that, but then also driving us back to Boise last night so we could fly out this morning.

After arrival Thursday afternoon, we built up bikes and headed down to the venue. We ended up doing a complete lap Thursday, which wasn't on my list of crap I wanted to do Thursday. I was still trying to find my legs after Wednesday nights Spin! Pizza Ride, and the flight that morning. That and I like to take it easy two days before a race, and then open the day before.

That first lap was eye opening. It was a very up and down course. You go up, and then you come down. The climb could be segmented into three seperate sections. The first was the more loose, more steep pitches. It was tough, and a couple of good roots really threw a wrench into the rythm. I hiked a bike a few sections, and then hit the second section. This was less steep, and more open and smooth. Although it sounds sweet, it was still at a good pitch, and you were still redlined from the section prior. Then you popped out into the open, did a hike a bike switchback, and ended up at section three. This last section was a fire road that snaked it's way to the very tip top of the mountain. It was long, steep at times, and very tedious.

But my oh my, when you reached the top, it was all grins and wa-hoos from there!

A fast fireroad decent drops you into the singletrack, were you switchbacked your way down the moutain, over whoop-de-doos, blind bench cut corners, and overall loose, dusty, heaven. Down at the bottom, it was sprint through the start/finish, up the road, over the big fly over, and through this rock section before climbing back up the mountain.


It was a great ride, and I sure as hell didn't do it Friday. I was a bit sore waking up Friday morning, and besides watching KRocket get 4th in her group, and doing a couple of prologue loops, I took it easy.

The prologue lap started our race on Sunday. It was a short lap that included a very steep, not long but long enough climb to get you deep into the pain cave. It was here that I was first slapped in the face with the pain fist of US Nats 2011.

4AM on Saturday morning rolled by awefully quick.

Three hours later and I was sitting second line at the start of what would become a very fun but tough race.

It wasn't that fast of a start at the beginning of our 7:30AM start. But damn, it sure did get hard once we hit that very first climb. I sure didn't have it. I couldn't push any harder, and right off the start I was sitting 10th or so of 17 riders in my group.

We quickly re-grouped after the rock garden, but it soon broke loose again once we started the climb proper. It was a rough go of it for a bit. A lot of hike a biking, heavy breathing, and "Come Ons"! I knew that was going to happen. I knew I should have been in the very front. I knew, I knew, I knew.

But alas, sometimes what you know, and what you can truely do aren't neccassarily the same things. I should have had a better start, but I didn't, and from there on I resolved to start the pick off process.

The climb opend up after section one, and it was there that the real riding hit, and I could start picking off guys. This was also where the leaders of the next few classes started working their way up. Once one would catch me, I'd slide over, and catch his wheel. I did a pretty good job holding wheels, and made my way to the top of the mountain feeling fairly well.

Once the downhill hit, I was ready for the fun break ahead. Problem was I was sitting 5th wheel or so in a group of riders and the dust was so bad you couldn't see anything in front of you. Now that's not usually a great idea when you're flying down the side of a mountain at 18+mph. One bad mistake and you could find yourself in trouble fairly quickly.

I kept the group within site, but still got caught by a couple of riders on the way down. One would be the eventual 4th place finisher from my race. It was amazing how well some of these guys decended compared to me. I made note of that area of riding that I obviously could do better in. We just don't get the luxury of those long downhills around here, and it seems like anytime you get one riding, you want to enjoy it rather than fly down as fast as possible. Make no mistake though, it was a true race to the bottom.

Things were much more open and interesting on the second lap. I had the rider in my group in sites, with a older group rider between he and I. I kept on their wheels, and managed my way through the first part of the climb for the second time. I still had to hike a bike a bit of it, but I never stopped advancing, and before I knew it, I was on the wheel of my age group rider.

I passed him on the more open smooth section, and laid down the wood to get a good gap that I hoped would stick through the downhill and through the finish. The gap worked, but holding it didn't. I dug deep and kept the heart rate pegged at what I at the moment percieved to be the highest I could sustain.

You see, I haven't used a heart rate monitor in over a year or so. I just figure I need to go as hard as I can no matter what. Well that usually works, and if I blow up here in Missouri, I can quickly recover. Not up there. You blow up and it takes much longer to recover. At this point of the climb, we were at around 7000 feet of elevation. There isn't a much oxygen up there, so you find this happy median of going as fast as you can, without crossing the line that blows you up in spectacular fashion resulting in a epic fail.

I held that line at what I thought was the best possible. I climbed well. Really well for not ever getting to climb sustained climbs like that. Towards the top, I saw another rider in my group, and decided to push it even harder to try to overtake him before the crest. About the time that I did that, he caught wind and laid down his own attack, holding me off.

Shit was the first word that came to mind. At this point, I had no idea what postition I was in, but I knew that I just let one slip by, and that could have been the difference between a podium and not.

So the decent began, and it wasn't long and I noticed some riders behind me. Turns out the first two were from an older group. The third however was from my group, the rider who I passed on a climb. I asked what group he was in, and he replied that he was in my group. I then kindly told him he was going to have to work for it then.

Work he did, as he pulled a very slick pass on one of the last switchbacks. He took the tougher inside line, as I muscled my big wheeled bike around the slightly easier outside line. It was a smooth move, very smart indeed. I quickly jumped his wheel until he brought me to the other rider in our group who was in front of us. He quickly passed the rider, and then I followed with a pass on the second to last switchback just like I was passed just earlier. I was pretty impressed with myself. It was the move of the day, and the move that would allow me to bust my way down to the bottom in 5th place for the day.

Crossing the finish line was relieving. An instant weight had been lifted from my back. All the years work finally came to a head, and I had done everything I felt I could. I had a great race, and felt like regardless I did well for myself. I sat back, smiled, and waited for my my teamates JP and Trav to finish.

It wasn't unitl another hour or so until I got to see the final results. 5th place gave me the last spot on the podium. A minute and a half off second, and 6 minutes off our age group winner, and overall winner.

I was pleasantly disapointed. I will always be my biggest critic. But at that moment it was what it was. I had did well, and the beer was calling my name. It was a beautiful day, and with the Pro racing action to follow, nothing could have taken away from the awesome day that it was.

But I could have had that minute and a half. I should have, but you know how that goes in racing.

Should have, could have, would have.

It's all gravy baby, things could have always been worse, and all in all it ended up being a most excellent adventure.

I have give a couple of shout outs to my sponsors and my team for helping me go out and chase my dream on the side of that mountain. I also have to give a big thanks to Travis from BikeSource for helping me get my new rear derailleur put on Wednesday afternoon. They always do me well, and take major care of their racers. Definently glad to have all those people on my side, because without them I wouldn't be able to do what I do.

As for now, party on Wayne... Party on Garth.

Excellent... Excellent!

Ha. Lets ride bikes and have fun.

G

A couple of sweet bikes in front of a sweet view.

These dudes were dropping in all weekend.

My view for most of the day Saturday.

Our boy Aaron from the cornfields to thr Pro field!