A Good Idea at the Time

The start was a 2 mile downhill road which, as a singlespeeder, I wasn't looking forward to. However, it didn't split up the field at all, and the first group hit the singletrack as a mass of 40 or 50 riders. I passed a few more people before hitting the unclimbable sand hill. As I was pushing up the hill, 2 singlespeeders were ahead of me, along with whoever else was ahead of me at the start.

The course is essentially two loops of singletrack, the first one at 8 miles, and the second one at 17 miles long. About a mile into the first loop, a singlespeeder caught me and went by. I didn't know it at the time, but that would be the last time I would see another singlespeeder the entire day. The course was so different from the southeast, as there was very little climbing, and lots of sand on the course. The trails were also very non-technical, as you could probably count the number of roots and rocks in the 25 miles on two hands.

Overall it was pretty fun, with lots of twisty and swoopy sections. The climbs were small, and the 32x18 was enough to climb everything the first two laps, and only had to walk 3 climbs the last two laps. [except the sand hill, that I walked every lap.] There were some bumpy sections that got old real quick where the saddle would slam into you every pedal stroke... I needed 36” wheels for that!

My laps times were kind of consistent, running 2:03,2:04,2:13,2:13. The third lap didn't feel good, and the big minute drop confirmed it. So I ended up finishing in 8:34, for 7th place in the singlespeed. The called me up for awards and I won a handshake with the race promoter...

Elizabeth and Ed did good, with Elizabeth finishing on a SS in 10:30 [10th Womens Open], and Ed finishing in 10:04 [~10th Masters]. Go Knoxville!

Not really sure what is next up for me. I might go down to chattanooga for the SERC race next sunday. Other than that, the next sure thing on my calender is the Fool's Gold 100 miler down in Georgia in August. July always seems to kill the racing in the southeast, probably due to the terrible heat...

Heading out today for the Lumberjack 100, way up in Northern Michigan. Should be some good times of swoopy singletrack and sand. Hopefully the viscious mosquitos will not take all my blood, because I will probably need it for the race.

The 13 hour drive is going to be quite horrible, but the race should be fun. Ed and E are coming up to represent for Knoxville as well. Now to start packing...

Although I haven't been posting about it, the "Better Know a Knoxville Bike Route" quest has continued. After this weekend, I have finished 29 of the 40 routes, for 1390 miles and over 90,000 ft of elevation gain. Getting closer!

This weekend's dose of pain was 5 routes for a total of 220 miles. Started out with a nice 60 mile ride on friday on the North knox rollers. I felt pretty good, and made good time and what such. Saturday was the big day, with plans to ride a little over 100 miles. The starting location for the Coulter's Bridge routes is about a 35 min drive for me, so I'm trying to do several routes at a time when I go out there. Elizabeth came out and rode the front 68 miles with me.

We started out with a nice and flat 33 mile route that went down old walland, out to townsend, and then did the tuckaleechee loop. It was an easy ride, but my legs were already not feeling so great... The next loop we did was the toughest one, as it went straight up butterfly gap. This is a super heinous climb, and I was reduced to singlespeeding the steep/rough sections in my 39x26. The rest of the climb was steep, but manageable. We climbed an extra bit to get to the campground at the top of foothills. It was definitely worth it to dump cold water all over myself...

After some descending and flats, Elizabeth headed back home, and I was on my own for the last 32 miles. I refueled at the car, and headed on out to finish it up. My legs were hating me, and the little rollers were no fun at all. I got back to the car at 96 miles, and had to go do some bonus miles to finish off the 100.

Sunday was not as restful as expected, as 9:00 am saw me back on the road again, this time out in west knoxville for another 60 miles. It turned out pretty nice, even though my legs hated me. Afterwards we had a nice cookout and hung out at the lake. A great way to relax after a long weekend.

2SWET4U

2-SWE-T-4-U

Too Sweaty For You

I guess that kind of sucks for the passenger...

Another 100 Miler in the books. Ed and Gary from TeamEd made the trip up to Ohio with me for some more pain. The Mohican is a pretty sweet course, with 40 or so miles of singletrack, followed by mostly pavement, doubletrack, and fireroad for the remainder. The singletrack was quite nice, with lots of rolling, twisty, and flowing sections, sprinkled with rocks and tech sections. The first 20 or so miles of singletrack is almost non-stop except for 2 or 3 road crossings.

My lack of riding my mountain bike showed on the singletrack, as I was bouncing everywhere and I wasn't making very good time. I managed to wreck and bust my bad knee with the top tube early in, which didn't help. I felt much faster on the road sections, as they were mostly up/down, and had some surprisingly steep climbs on them. One fireroad climb around mile 82 had me weaving paper boy style to stay on the bike in a 32x20. I guess there are hills in Ohio... I finished up in 9:12, and Gary (ss) rolled in at 9:23, and Ed finished up in 10:30ish.

Nutrition went great, and I felt strong with just 7 bottles of Infinit and 10 clif bloks. It's still amazing to me how the infinit almost completely replaces solid food and gels. Good to see such huge 29er crew turnout as well. There were probably at least 10 or 15 team riders rockin it.

Next up is putting on the Disc Burner 6/12 Hour Race tomorrow, and then heading north to the Lumberjack 100.