Saturday, September 20, 2008

Hey do I know you?

Um...I don't think you do. That was yelled at me when I rode past a group of elementary schoolers the other day. I was coming back from the Thursday night group ride on the bike path and trying to dodge parents and there little football players.

Whatever, that was a completely useless story. I was trying to tie that into my blog, but it didn't really work. I guess I'll start off with the Brevard race last week end. I do have some pictures, but I don't feel like posting any of them right now. I'll get to it later.

Anyway, the whole week before the race Thad had us building the course. We finished the last section on Thursday and had the wiring done for the dual slalom on Friday night. So, we cut it close but in the end we pulled it off. I'd like to thank everyone for working on the course especially Approachable and Coach Squirrel. I didn't really do anything except race so I really appreciate all the help that everybody did except me.

The short track went good, I think I played the tactics good until the last three laps when the lights went out. I was disappointed that I got dropped but I just need a little more training before I'll feel good in the short tracks. I got third though and I was happy with that but I still haven't gotten a W yet. The XC went better, but not much. I followed Scott for the first couple of laps and he attacked on the third and I let the gap open and tried to chase but couldn't bring back any time. Got 2nd in that race. I was pretty bummed not to win in front of the home crowd, but I was pretty tapped.

Right now I'm hanging out at home. I went home to clean the house and stuff before the college team comes and stays at the house for the North Georgia race. I just finished cleaning everything and I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the rest of the weekend. I guess I'll go for a ride and then do some home work.

Oh yeah, this is pretty cool. So like I was surfing the net as usual and I thought why not find a trail on the drive home to hit up. So I found the White Twister, also known as the Stonewall Falls trail. It's just outside Clayton. It's pretty fun, very overgrown, but a bunch of steep climbs and descents with some tight switchbacks to keep you on your toes. It's pretty sweet to be driving to or from Brevard and say: "Man, I want to go ride!" And pull off the road and go for a 30minuet ride and get back on the road.

Well, I can't really think of anything else to say so I'm out.
Latea
T

Monday, September 8, 2008

Eat-Sue (ETSU)

Um....let's start with the other people first. I have to give props to Marshal for helping us out at his first ever mountain bike race, Dan for stretching his throttle muscle and getting top ten in three events, Timmay for sticking in there and having a experience in his first A race, Chaput and Trey for doing good in the B races and Chaput going another lap in the XC for extra training, all the girls for having solid results in every event, the Matt's for getting off to a rough start but settling in by the end of the weekend, and Danny for brapping the gravity competition in his sneak line.

I probably forgot somebody so nothing against you but I just can't remember. Oh yeah, props to T-had for being coach and trying to keep me in line all Saturday.

On to my races, I just did the ST and XC. I was thinking about trying the gravity events (that thing I was talking about a while back) but it's probably better for me to concentrate on just two events for now. But we shall see in the future. The short track was a definite shock to the system as the last time I've gone at true "race pace" was back in July so that was slightly uncomfortable. There was like twenty LMC guys up at the front and they ended up dominating the race so I just rode in and tried to save myself for the XC the next day.

The rest of the day went good, I talked a bunch, hung out at the downhill, pre-rode the course and ate a ton of food. So I was happy and pinned at the same time. The XC trail was good, it was nice for a on campus trail but I am in between liking it or not. It was a fast twisty trail but it was really hard to memorizes the track and get a good flow on it. There was no "fun" sections. I'm not trying to hate on ETSU, because it was a really good track but not my favorite.

I felt soo much better on Sunday for the XC. I had gotten all that nervous energy I had on Saturday out of my system and was super relaxed. I attacked hard into the single track and pulled two LMC guys out with me. We stayed together for a lap when I opened up a little bit and put 20 seconds into the two chasers. I lead for another lap and then Aaron Bradford caught me and we rode to the end of the third lap (the race was four laps) I ended up going down really hard on a rock drop after rolling my front tire and Aaron ended up winning. After I fixed my wheel and checked my self out, I finished the race. I have no idea where I ended up but it was probably out side of the teens. That really sucks because I need some good points for qualifying for nationals. Oh well.

This weekend is the Brevard home race. We've been working on the track for a while and it's not quite finished but we should have a decent course by the weekend. It should be a good time with the Short Track, Dual Slalom, and Downhill all on Saturday and the Cross Country on Sunday. You should come over and hang out, as we are trying to have the most spectator friendly race of the season even if our courses aren't the best. About 50% of the XC is with in walking distance of the Start/Finish and we've even got a sound system up for the race. Awesome.

It's about time for class so I'd better go.
Have fun doing whatever you're doing.

Lata,
T

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Squishing Tomatoes

Since I really have nothing to do before class on Tuesdays and Thursdays I figured I might sit down and write another blog or two. On those days I have to get up at 7:30 for my 8:30 class. I don't have to but it makes things a little easier.

Everybody has been asking about what I've up to, nothing new for me but I'll try to tell you about it.
Classes started last Wednesday and since then I've been trying to get back in the groove. It's gotten off to a rocky start but I'm nailing things down with in a week. To help all the craziness of the first few weeks is collegiate mountain bike racing.

Our first race is this weekend at ETSU, it's not far but to save money we're driving up Saturday morning so we have to get up at like 5. Not too bad. I race at 9 and sit around the rest of the day to rest for the XC on Sunday. The legs are feeling pretty good, so I'll see what I can do.

Class sucks, right now I'm mostly working on my general ed requirements so pretty much all of my classes are extremely boring. This blog is more for the people who aren't really into bikes and just want to find out what I've been up to.