Greenbrier

Outside the window of our table @ Dennys in Hagerstown we watched this happy little duck waddle around the parking lot before nestling down in the dew covered grass just beside the entrance, as if to lay claim to its territory. It made me think about my race that would start @ 3:30 that day, would I be waddling around the course looking all happy? laying claim to the territory? Probably not but never the less we finished breakfast and headed in the direction of Greenbrier State Park.
Today's race held the fate of my riders dreams. It would be a qualifier for an invite to something in the way of a National race. Also the UCI (pros that ride for a living) riders gather points from races like these for Olympic qualifiers. So the field of riders would be many and would be strong. Above is a picture of me & Jerry Bliton who was back on the bike for the first time in weeks (since some back surgery) and tooling around the course showing his support to all. Thanks Jerry as always it was great seeing you and thanks for all the encouragement! Chris & Jeremiah after a good but unsatisfying finish. Both guys are great athletes and very normal people. I spoke with both of them in length while hanging out at the Trek Tent with Stephen Hoover (Trek Regional East Team) who included me as a member for the weekend.
Michelle, Gunnar, Chris Eatough & his wife with their new baby, Congrats to them!

Heres two more well known faces... Gunnar & Betsy (bunny) Shogren.

Michelle entering her second lap for a victory in the 30/39 Female Sport group! Great job Champ!



Ok So Michelle kicked some butt @ 10:30 which leaves me to race @ 3:30. By this time of the day I'm thinking of driving home and calling it a weekend, but that isn't how you do things. No even when you're feeling like doing something else duty calls and you're lined up at the Start. I was riding the new Ferrous for its first race and was a bit concerned about how it would handle and perform with the fast, rocky course. Nothing to worry about the starting whistle blew and off the 28 singlespeeders go! Several of the guys in my group are really strong riders and one of them I have raced several times. Most of those times I came out the victor but today's stars where not aliened in my favor. Shortly into the course two riders went around me and hung out in front But within my view for the first 2 laps before pulling away on the 3rd. I did somehow manage to hang on to my 3rd place position for the Bronze. It turned out to be a very tough day for me but there's a long season ahead with many more fast competitors to square off with.



We hung around for the awards with Gunnar, Betsy, Mike & Erin Yozell, Amy Breyla & CB before packin it in and turning toward the west..


stork

Welcome to a world of Pain episode #33

Wow what a wake up call todays race turned out to be! Michelle & I rolled into the New Ken Eatn'Park to meet TJ. Some warm oatmeal, eggs bacon & Coffee and we where off to Bruceton Mills West Virginia for the Second WVMBA race @ Big Bear Lake. Since today was sunny & warm the turnout would be be big. As we arrived the parking lot surrounding the building already had tons of cars loaded with bikes and gear while their drivers filtered in to sign up. Almost immediately upon getting out of the car I'm spotted by Mike Yozell (who races many of the Mid Atlantic Super Series races with me last year). I then knew this was going to be a hard day because with guys like Mike the pace was going to be blistering. Most of the times Mike & I squared off last year I managed to stay out in front even with the handicap of my single speed but he was always a close chaser forcing me to step it up. I would be piloting my older Fisher Paragon 29er with the multi gear drive train. I spent most of Saturday piecing this bike back together because I didn't want to use the new Ferrous until I worked out my crank issues. I've always felt that I'm a bit slower on the geared bike but with reservations I brought it anyway.

The Race started off with a mass start of all expert classes and I managed to stay up front with TJ, Jeff Shaulk (Trek East Coast Regional Team) & an older training friend Andy Gorski. Jeff pulled out of site once we hit the gravel fire road so Andy, TJ & I worked together until hitting the single track where Andy & I missed a sharp right hand turn and found ourselves careening through the brush. A quick dismount and some skillfully leaping and we where back on course but a few guys managed to pass us due to this mistake. Never the less they where putting the hammer down and pulled out of site as I followed Andy. A few miles later I, along with a few others, worked our way around Andy and continued on. Somewhere around the 7 mile mark I noticed just how fatigued I was feeling and though about how badly I was pedaling this geared thing. Why can't I manage to hammer when I have more than one gear choice? A few positions where exchanged and I wasn't sure where I was placed at that moment but I did think about eating a Gel. As I ripped open the package and tasted the first bit i bobbed and weaved over the trail, suddenly i noticed it tasted a lot like dirt! No it wasn't the Gel I was now on the ground almost a foot or so away from my bike! What happened I asked myself? As i climbed back on to the bike in pure disgust I noticed the rock I hit while one handing the bar in order to squeeze the gel down my gullet. My skills suck! During my lust to taste the earthy dirt below me I managed to bang my knees and inner thighs pretty good, so as I continued on I could feel the bruising and swelling.

This is why bikers shave their legs. When cleaning the dirt and rocks out & as these scraps/cuts heal it's always better without dealing with the normal leg hair.

Ok back to the story at hand, the pain wasn't real bad but enough to notice as I started pedaling. With only a half dozen or so guys in front of me I convinced myself to up the output and cranked onward but as we neared the end of the course Mike Yozell came screaming up behind me & passed me and anothe guy (Sport Class) but just as he passed us the other guy wiped out and forced me to nose wheelie into another crash! I picked myself up only to see Mike pulling away and holding on to the gap for the finish. Nice job Mike! (also on a 29er). In the end I finished up with a solid 3rd in the Vet class seconds behind Mike (2nd) and we where behind Justin P. (1st also on a Fisher Paragon 29er).

Lets hope I get things together in the next month or I'll be needing to look for new sponsors next year like Barnes & Nobles (where I could sit and read about racing and riding).

Thanks to TO, Gary Fisher, Bontrager Components Wheelworks & Tires, Boone Ti Rings, Deans Recovery Milk, Trek of PGH, Don Mosites, Bob Myers & his Trek/Nike Products, & Serfas Glasses.

Oh yea & Thanks to everyone their who put me in the hurt locker.

Michelle Did well with a Second Place Finish in the womens Sport group.

TJ Finished up with a second also in the Mens Pro/Expert. Great job buddy, a little slow starting but as always a locomotive once you get rolling!

stork

Mingo, Mango, Mumba

Sunday rolled around to see me lining up at yet another Mingo Road race. Cold weather, raining and a steady wind, how fun! These races are a great learning tool for me. Since I never road race enough to upgrade a license (stuck w/a 4) I never do them because of the possibility of getting hurt and effecting my true loyalty to Fisher & the 29er Crew.
But somehow I manage to slide in (accepted by the race promoter) to the Cat 1/2/3 event and the risk of injury lessens because these individuals have had to race in large groups in order to earn the Cat 3 or above status.

This weeks race was missing a few riders but never the less a nice group of 1/2/3 racer where at the start line including my good friend Tim Lyons (Freddie Fu Racing). Tim treated me like his personal intern softly shouting orders to me explaining where and what I should be doing. To bad he flatted out in the first 1/2 mile but lucky for me they let him back in on our start of the 2nd lap with the restriction of doing nothing to help or hinder the group, meaning he couldn't pull or get in any ones way. He could however school me on the ways of a roadie & school me he did!

Travis get up there, Travis pay attention to those two, Your wheel should be behind their wheel, when one of those guys break you need to be with them, Travis don't do anything to kill yourself, sit in here, get ready it looks like "go" time. So I rode around a lap or 2 sprinting to someone wheel as they tried to make breaks but once they noticed it was unsuccessful they returned back to the group. Finally on the 4th lap a guy made a break on the small hill and I targeted his rear wheel like a buzzard on a gut wagon., only then he turned and said something about a teammate and he started to slow down. I'm a newbie so I pulled of his wheel and sat up only to see his teammate scream by and pull him off in front of me. I tried to bridge the small gap but working by myself was impossible as I watched them ride off. Hell with it here I am out front of the group riding solo maybe I can make it stick for awhile before getting swallowed up in the group pursuing me. Around the start finish and I see my gap growing so my mtb instinct starts to take over & I find myself wanting to make this solo thing last but with 2 more laps to go it sounds impossible to me. Worst thing that could happen? I get caught, right?, right!

I buckled down and started concentrating on a steady rhythm (no thanks to any music, road races don't allow mp3 players- how boring). Next I hear the bell and still no group behind me in sight. Excellent I did it, I pulled off a solo break in the Cat 1/2/3 and finished up with 4th Place!

Thanks to Don Mosites, Gary Bywaters, Fisher Bikes, Tim Lyons for the instructions & Lunch @ Moes & Especially Bontrager Components (my new race Xlite road wheels)

I couldn't believe the differance I noticed between these new wheels and my existing Mavic Open Pros that are laced to a King Classic Hub. These wheels seemed to freespin effortlessly and something tells me they had something to do with my success this past weekend. They felt fast, stiff & very smooth which are all good qualities!

stork