Tuesday Night Ravings

Do you ever go to the grocery store and like the next day you come home and there's like not a freaking thing in the fridge?

Yeah, I'm having one of those nights. Mom and Tasha went down to Harry's this weekend to do some shopping and I don't think they came back with anything. I was looking for something to go with my spaghetti but we didn't have any accessories. So, I made my self some toast and I was going to have a nice PB&J but NOOO somebody didn't get some peanut butter.

Well I have to give them some credit, they did get some PB and some Jelly but nobody had the notion to mix up the PB!! Duh! How do you have a PB&J with out PB! WTF!!?!?

Luckily this hasn't been a base training week. Base training is a bunch of long, long miles (have you ever heard of a short mile? Whateva) usually on super cold days with gusts of 30 mph cross winds. It's designed to build a "base" to your training (think of building a house, what's the first thing you build?). THOES days it gets really weird, you develop cravings of some of the most random stuff: PB, Lay's chips, milk, and raspberries are just some of the stuff I crave during my rides.

I guess I should take this time to explain how the whole NRC thing works. In order for me to get on the national mountain bike team for the world championships I have to do one (or both) of two things. One, I can win the national champs in Vermont in July. Or two, I can be leading the National Racing Calendar (NRC) by July 30th. The NRC is a collection of races all over the country, they are all given a category ranking. So a local SERC race is a Cat 4 and a big NMBS race like the one in AZ is a Cat 1 or 2. You get more points for wining a Cat 1 than you do wining a Cat 4. The idea is to hit some of these bigger races to boost my national ranking. The race in Maryland was a Cat 2. I won that race so I got some good points toward the national team. The key to wining the NRC is to do really well at the next three Cat 1s: the NMBS in Park City UT, the national champs in VT and the NMBS at Sugar Mountain in NC.

But if I win nats then I will have made the team so the NMBS at Sugar doesn't matter.
Park City is still a ways off (June, I think) so the next weekends are filled with other local races. This week end of course is Ducktown in TN, after that is the Ranger Run in my home town, if you're in area please come by and check it out. It's a good race with a lot of potential of getting bigger. Right after that race I have to drive up to Sewanee to attend my sister's graduation. The weekend after that one is the 12 Hrs of Tsali, another good race, I've never done a 12 hour race before so it should be interesting. And....that's about as far as I can remember.

Well I should probably do something useful so I hope you had a little more to eat than I did.
Peace,
TC

UCI Greenbrier, MD

This week end we headed up to Maryland for a Cat 2 NRC race.
I'll explain the whole NRC thing later, I actually need to finish a paper for Literature so this blog has to be short.

Anyway, nice place but, the course was pretty boring. Just a climb, downhill, some gavel road, then a super steep climb, another decent, a really, really rocky climb and a somewhat techincal downhill to the Start/Finish.

Had a good start, slotted in behind this guy from Maryland, I think. I had no idea who was strong and who these people were, because I'm used to racing the guys back home. Andy told me to sit in the first couple pf laps and see what everybody else did.

Well I let this guy go on the climb and decent and caught up to him on the road I passed him on the next climb and this Trek guy followed me. I lead part way up the steep climb until I fell and had to run a bit. The Trek guy passed me and I latched on to his wheel. I followed him for the rest of the lap and coming through S/F I wanted to do some of the pace making so I went to the front. That was the last time I saw anybody in my class.

I think I won by two minuets. Didn't feel great but I didn't feel bad either. A local race, Ducktown is next week end and I would like to win it, it's a climbers course with some long climbs and decents. I just hope it rains.

I'll come back someday and fill ya in on what else happened. Got to finish da paper.
Peace
TC

Ramdom Stuff and SERC Athens

I haven't posted anything in a while so I better do something to catch up.
Don't have a ton of time to write so I'll try to finish some time in the near (far) future

Athens went really good, attacked from the start and soloed for a lap with Rober Marion chasing me down, I grabbed his wheel for the 2nd lap and about half way through I dropped my chain. Had to stop and put it back on and I tried chasing but I crashed
3rd lap I was down about 20secs chased for the whole lap and missed out on another hundred bucks for first. Bummer.
But I did beat Ryan Woodall and Andy. And I'm ranked number one expert in the nation
boom daddy

up coming stuff, Friday I leave for Maryland and a NRC race come back some time Monday

the week end after it's Ducktown which I'd like to win since the course suits me-long climbs and decents
the weekend of the 12th is the Ranger Run at the ranger camp, this is my only "local" race so I have every intention to win it and show off to my friends and family who support me all year long

NORBA AZ

ok I'll skip the non racing stuff to save typing
TT was Friday afternoon, I just wanted to post a decent time and not lose too much on GC took off with out pre-riding which was kinda interesting because I couldn't really open it up because I didn't know what was coming, felt good but my heart rate was through the roof (I'm guessing it was because of the flight and lack of sleep) to my surprise I got 2nd by 5 seconds felt really good because I had plenty left in the tank. Found out who beat me too, a freaking 16 year old kid from CO? Cody Cox, pretty good but doesn't have the endurance for a cross country race

Super D was up the next day and I found out that I was the 3rd from last rider to start, not bad, I didn't think it would take that long to go through every body and I could do a quick pre-ride of the xc before the short track. I was wrong. I got up to the top at 3 and didn't go off until 5 (short track started at 6:40-I was a little pissed) to make matter worse they sent all the little 10 and 12 year olds off in front of me, so here I am blasting down the mountain trying to avoid running over our future cross country stars
again I didn't go really hard, more worried about the ST and XC, took no risks and rolled in 3rd-another surprise

I didn't even get undressed or picked up my medal after the Super D just drove straight to the ST. It was mostly in this really rocky field with some small whoop dee dos and a long slightly uphill finishing straight on pavement, I decided to switch to my cross tires (Kwicks) for speed-by the way I got the wheels in time but could carry any Stan's on the plane and couldn't find anybody who was selling it cheep either. The race started pretty fast but there were only 9 guys and non of them were really any good- Cody did not race saving his legs for Sunday. Neither did Ethan Gilmore. I waited till about 10 minuets in and I could tell that I was opening gaps on the rough stuff even with my tires so I put in a dig at about 8min to go and soloed the rest of the way

XC- ok I saved everything for this race, put on the new wheels, felt pretty good and I was sitting 2nd on GC 6 seconds behind Cody (the ST didn't count to the overall). I didn't to completely take off from the start so I got into the single track 2nd and sat on this guy's wheel for 3 or 4 miles (10 mile loop done 3 times) until he crashed on a corner and I took over, I had no idea where I was going so I figured that I'd just set my own pace and follow the next guy who passed me. I could hear them behind me with a little gap so I rode tempo on the next climb, a little more gap rode tempo again-they popped so I had no idea where I was going, I had no one to draft, and I didn't want to be out front this early so whadda do? Put my head down and went. Rolled through feed with about a 90sec lead and just as I left I felt the front go a little soft.
take a break while I tell about my flats-I knew there was a good chance I'd flat since I didn't have any Stan's so I built up a spear set of wheels, I had about 10 tubes, about that many CO2s in the feed zone and had a CO2 and a tube on my bike
so I figured that I could run it till went completely flat and put a whole CO2 and sprint to the feed zone switch wheels and put in a really fast last lap, it started going really flat about 5 minuets later so I hopped off stuck the CO2 on there and pressed the trigger and...nothing happened-there was no air in the CO2. So after that I was screwed, and I thought I was a lot further on the trail than I was so I kept on walking around the course-I ended up walking for 2 hours to the Start/Finish and I still had another lap to do. I had the overall locked up too. Bummer.

the good thing is that everybody knows who would have really won, punks-I was the only one who dnfed
oh yeah check this out: my average heart rate was 160-that includes about 5 minuets of walking so bump it up to 165. My average was just a little harder than a endurance ride max was 186 and my ride time was like 1.10.37
needless to say, I had plenty left in the gas box

so they haven't come out with results for the overall and I didn't look, so I think Cody might have pulled it off he was about 2 or 3 mins back on the first lap but he could have had enough cushion to take it
Ethan had a really bad day finished 30 or 45 mins back from the winner (who was a downhiller) he stopped to keep me company for a little bit
In the end I had a totally suckful XC race, I got beat by a friggen downhiller and a 16 year old. Arrrgggg. Just wait till VT.

GSC Macon

This week has been a real roller coaster ride. It started with me getting sick right after FL. So it wasn't until Friday that I decided to race. I forgot to get pre-registered again so I paid another 8 bucks bummer, maybe next time I'll remember.

The course was in Macon Georgia which was really nice for a change since I didn't have to drive 3 plus hours back home. In fact we got home at like 4 o'clock which was pretty sweet because I could finally get me home work done on time.

Da race: Tash and I got there pretty early (2 hours before the start) and they had just started putting up the banners and everything. We drove around a bit while I showed her the finishing climb and the lake, bathrooms, etc. It was freaking freezing too. Probably about 40 degrees. Not much but not what I've been used to. So it was kinda funny because nobody wanted to get out and warm up they just wanted to race and get the heck outta there. My "warm up" consisted of sprinting up every hill I could to get really warm.

This race is part of the Georgia series and it's not as competitive as the SERC which is the whole south east. But still, there were some pretty fast people there: Woodall, Johnston, Luke (sorry I can't spell your last name Luke), Vertle, Cummings. To make matters worse the race started with a climb straight up the side of a hill, super steep-not something you want when the legs are cold.

Got a bad start but made up some time on the climb, first lap looked good I was sitting in fourth position behind Luke, Ryan, and Andy. About a quarter way around the first lap Woodall started going off the front and Andy went with him. I tired to bridge across and I almost made it when I wiped out on a descent. I still don't know how I did it either, it was a really smooth part of the trail. I guess I kinda rode off the side of the trail and lost the front wheel.

Well it really, really hurt and I had to stop for a second at the side of the trail, usually when I wreck I sit of the ground and do a quick assessment of all the organs and such before I jump back up but, the only thing going through my head was: "Gotta get back up to the front, gotta get back up there." The way you can tell if your doing good in these races is when your able to make the front group for a least half the race and still be around in the finale. So far I've been getting closer and closer to staying at the front.

So, after a supa fast body check I hopped back on the bike and took off. The nice thing was that my leg and rib actually stopped hurting about 5 minuets later, good. It took me two laps to do it but I was able to catch up to Mike on the start of the third lap. By this time Andy and Woodall had taken off. Mike and I rode together for the rest of the race until he dropped me on the last lap. But I had my coke and gels so I was happy riding by my self for a bit. Then I noticed Luke sneaking up on me again-full gas till the finish.

Ended up 4th over all, which isn't bad but this doesnt compare to a SERC race. The GSC races are nice because you can catch up with all the people who don't drive 8 hours to FL for a SERC. Most of these people I knew while I was growing up so it's good to hang out again.

So, Tash left for Tuscon today and I think she's in Little Rock right now so I hope she's having fun. This week end I'm hitting the SERC at Columbia Tennessee and after that it's a week until the opening NORBA in AZ.

SERC Reddick

OK, I'm back. Sorry it took a while, been sick and the dsl has been down. Before I get started I need to give some background. Last year I was riding my old Kona Nunu for the race because the team machines hadn't come in yet. Half way around the course I clipped a rock and ripped my whole derailleur off the frame. Luckily Andy had his old bike too so I could race that.

This year was no better, I was almost all the way around the course and my freaking crank fell off. I had to hoof it back to the car and get the tool to fix it-bad news I stripped the bolt that hold the whole thing on. Once again Andy came to the rescue, I nabbed the crank off Dustin's bike (more on that later). The legs felt good, Tasha was a little worried about this hill at the start. It was a steep 100 meter long, off camber, slippery drit climb about a half mile away from the start. I told her to run it to save time. No such luck for me, I was racing pro the next day and if you can't make it up the hill then you're going to be fed to the ravenous spectators ( in other words you'd be dropped). So FSA and all that.

Had a good meal that night at Panera and did some shopping at Publix. I was going to try the Coke trick which is taking a bottle of flat coke at the end of the race-you get enough caffeine and sugar to turbo it to the finish.

Race day started with Andy waking me up so he can have somebody to talk to-thanks Andy. Got registered, watched some of the Beginners and made fun of this kid who had his dad write his number on his calf-backwards. It was a little cool at the start so I warmed up with some arm warmers and an undershirt. The legs felt good, not great so I was a little hesitant about how my tactics would play out. It was nice being the first group to start, you just roll up and your off, no waiting around.

Got a good start, third into the woods made it up the hill the first time and I was on Andy's wheel-everything going good. Travis Livermon made it up to the very front and set the pace for the first lap. It wasn't very fast though, so I felt really good. Earl then went up the front on lap 2 and started to push the pace. He attacked Andy and got about a 10 second gap Andy was about 5 seconds ahead of us-the lead group of four: Me, Tinker, Robert, and Woodall.

Now I was in good position because Andy was ahead of me and I was blocking for him in my group. But just before the climb I hear this really soft, almost girlish voice: "On your left".
BAMM!! There goes the, what: 5 time 24 Hour National Champion, multiple World Cup winner, and has probably been RACING twice as long as I've been alive. What am I gonna do? I have to protect my team leader but I'm racing Tinker dude! Anyway, I had to get on his wheel and I tell you what, man, he was bookin. We were hauling up that climb. I stayed on his wheel for the next couple of miles until I got caught on a tree, letting Robert and Woodall go by. Just as I was trying to get caught on to those two I flatted. It was a slow fix too, probably about 2.5 minuets. Anyway I shot me back to 11th place. The worst thing about the flat was that it dropped me off in the middle of no where-there was no body coming past that I could hook up with and get a ride up the front. There was no way I could get motivated either. Bummer.

So to make a long story short, I cruised in 10th out of 16. An OK result. I was a little disappointed about flatting, but it happened just as the legs were starting to hurt. On to Dustin's bike. Dustin Broadaway is a new guy on the team. He is a Beignner racer out of Macon. We had ordered his bike with SRAM components but it came with full 2007 XTR. He only paid for SRAM so we had to swap out all the XTR stuff. In the end I got some brand new XTR brakes and a rear derailleur. Bad A dude.

So I've got to run down to the bike shop to fix both bikes up for the coming weeks (Tasha will take my FS out to AZ while I race the hardtail at Columbia). Sunday I think I'll hit the GSC race in Macon and depending on who comes out I'll be favored to win the whole shebang.
Peace
TC

Greenville Training Races

Finally I got the first race of the year out of the way. It was sweet, I was cruising the net last week end while I was sick and noticed a Training Race in Greenville, SC. Why not? The first race is hard not only because it's the first real effort of the year, but you have to make sure you have everything ready before hand, in order to prevent mishaps from occurring. I got everything ready on Tuesday before the race, but I still found out that I had printed off the wrong directions. Luckily my sister saved me by printing off all the directions.

Anyway on to the races, that's the good part. They were about 5 miles off the I-85 just after the Greenville exit. The course was at this huge air force base. Tash went off at 9:00 and I raced at 11:00 so I helped her get ready and all that good stuff. Actually I helped this other dude too because he got there late and I pinned his number on. The rest of time I just sat around trying not to expend too much energy. I was thinking, this is a road race, so they're going to start slow and just cruse for the first couple laps right? So I didn't really warm up, it was about 55 degrees so I wasn't too cold. Roll up to the start and get the whole spiel about: "be nice, stay inside the course, show your number, etc." Oh yeah, this was supposed to be slow right? Wrong, it was freaking balls to the wall for the whole race.

I hadn't pre-rode the course so I had no idea what was coming up, nothing too bad though, just a long but gradual climb a little down hill of about 1.5 miles and then a climb of about a half mile, flat and then gradual down hill almost for a about a k and then another k to the end. Not my type of course, but it wasn't bad. When I get to a race course I don't think how bad it is or whatever but how I can use my strengths to win. Nothing much happened expect it was attacking the whole time, I got in a break mid-way through the race but we were caught about a lap later. In the end I kind of ran out of water and needed some more sugar and energy for the finish sprint.

The next day went better, we got there a little earlier and it was freezing, probably like 40 or so. Cold enough for me anyway. Tasha went off at the same time and her race went really good, she got like 10th or 11th in a field sprint. Next came mine, I figured I spent a little too much energy in the break yesterday so I decided to sit at the back and conserve. Everything went like it was supposed to, lap three I started to move up to the front. At the top of the climb on lap four I decided to put in a little dig to see if anyone would go with me. When I moved off the front nobody went with me. I stayed out for a half mile and still nobody came a cross, but I was opening a gap. So I was like, "Let's commit." Just put my head down and opened a 30 second gap. The whole time I was just looking at my power meter trying to keep it above 300 watts. The crappy thing was that I got caught about a mile from the finish and then everybody blew by in the sprint so I rode in after that. Got like 35th, I think. I don't really care anyway, it was more important to get the training miles in.

Anyway, next week is the SERC race in Reddick, FL. I felt really good during the time I was out in front so I think I'll be in pretty good shape. It's a really, really fast course in Reddick but really fun at the same time. I'll be racing the Pro/Semi-Pro class too, so that will probably work me over a bit. We also have to drive back that night too, because I have to go to school the next day. I'm soo tired of school and it's just going to get worse.

Thanks for reading and keep the rubber side down,
TC