Rock Hawk Photos

Hanging out Chillin' before we get racing

This was the "Steep" drop-off at the start of the race

Some of the new section this was a serious technical second half of the trail

I was glad to see this line the second time I came around

Hopefully I won't have to race the guy on top of the stand in the last two GSC races might stand a chance at being up there at the top of the stand!

All Photos courtesy of Mesta Photography

Let the Healing Begin

We all started at the same time but.....

Gary started getting his lead right off the bat and .....

He kept it all the way to the podium!


Well after getting lectured by my Dad and wife about the danger of being 40yrs old and having a severe deep bruise on my thigh that takes up my entire thigh especially since the bruising kept spreading. Don't even ask what I dealt with when i told my parents I raced after having the injury, that was a lecture waiting to happen. Anyway the visit to the Doc proved to be exactly the waste of time I thought it would be, lets do a X-Ray, well not broke(duh! think I figured that out Sunday) here is some 800mg Ibuprofen(Army cure-all)and take it easy on the leg. Meanwhile I have a spot that giggles like I have a water balloon stuck in my thigh, gee wonder what that is? Anyway I am icing it down for a while and taking the Ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation and taking this week off of training(that will be the hardest part of healing for me I am already itching to hop on a bike). I don't feel quite so bad today on the time split between me and Gary today since he would have placed top 3 in 4 of the sport age classes with his speeds yesterday I felt like it was a deja-vu with Ron Fields last year! Anyway I will be keeping busy at work this week and then up in MI for the 4th of July so it may be a while before the next post, or ride for that matter but it looks like I will be going to Ft Mountain so if you happen to be out at the Pig Trail in July I plan on doing a lot of training out there for the season final I Will See You on the Trail!

Rolling at Rock Hawk GSC #6

It was a good weekend of Camping and Racing out at Rock Hawk Park this weekend. Gary smoked the rest of us as usual however me and Steve had a pretty good race going there. It was a good finish 2nd place again I am glad Gary is focusing on the SERC series otherwise I might not be having any 1st place finishes this season! Tomorrow it is off to the Doc to see what he says about the leg as the bruising from Thursdays spill has now spread to the entire thigh pretty much, good thing I will have about a month to recover before the race at Ft Mountain I think I will need it. Anyway tomorrow I should have some pics and more details to follow. Thanks for reading.

OUCH!!

Well that was exactly what I was thinking as I went flying into the dip at the bottom of the fast single track out at Thomson today. That was because a second before I went flying into the dip the front tire caught some of the loose sand on the outside of the trail sliding it sideways and before you could say deep tissue contusion I was laying at the bottom of the dip bike on top of me. So a serious elbow abrasion, sore shoulder(not sure what might have happen there) and a sore raised area the size of a fist later(will get some pics once the bruising comes out!)I was up and walking it off. I managed to hop back on the bike and ride out at a decent pace even put a little effort into the last stretch but was definitely not going for a second lap. While it probably will put the kibosh to any riding I was planning tomorrow we will have to see what if any impact it might have on the race abilities this weekend. However if Tiger Woods can play the U.S. open with a injured knee and double stress fracture I think I can manage to race a mountain bike with a bruise, abrasion and some muscle aches so I am still planning on competing. So I am resting this evening and getting packed up tomorrow to head out to the Camp grounds at Eatonton on Saturday and with all the local riders that are planning to be there it should be a great weekend. So if your going to be out there I Will See You on the Trail!(Hopefully I won't be laying on it when that happens!)

Clemson Cruisin'

These Guys provide me with all the equipment and support so.........

I can get up here at the end of the race using..............

The training and discipline I learned here

Well it was another fun weekend of MTB racing this time up in Clemson, SC. This weekend was the GSC make-up/SERC #6 race with a ITT on Saturday evening. Unfortunately it looks like we lost one of the top competitors in our class Francisco Alba to a back injury - hopefully he can come back before the end of the season. The TT was a good preview of the more difficult sections of the trail with some good climbs and technical areas involved in the course. Race Day was great with good weather and the course was in perfect condition. We had our usual consistent group size with Francisco there to cheer us on and try to motivate me to beat Gary who is the fastest out of our group (right now). We got a good start and a few seconds on Gary when he started turning at the wrong spot on the course, however being the good sports we are we hollered back at him not to turn as we kept going(we will take any advantage we can get!). Anyway we hit the second hill and that was pretty much all he needed to take the lead, I dogged him all the way to the end but just couldn't quite get there to catch him. I will have another chance this weekend at Rock Hawk so we will see if I can use some of the single track to my advantage. I am going to stick with the same training plan this week since I am racing back to back weekends for the past three weeks and try to keep myself fresh without burning out. So if your out at Thomson on Wednesday or out at Rock Hawk this weekend I Will See You on the Trail!

Ellijay - Thomson on Steriods

That is what I was thinking as I went around what was probably the longest 5 mile trail I have had to race this season. I remember why I said last season if I hadn't missed a race by this point I would use this as my drop! The layout was a little different this year as we just had the two laps instead of the short lap added on to the standard lap to make the distance. That gave all the riders the chance to do all the hills twice...YEA! Granny was getting rode hard on the second lap, I went with a plan on the second lap I would either be in the big ring or granny gear which seemed to work well for me considering the finish. I am considering running the SERC race at Clemson this weekend coming up and using that as a makeup for the Ft Mountain Race but that would cost me 15 bonus points which I might need so I will have to work the math and see.

Either way this week I plan on spinning the legs out this week and thitting a spin session or two during PT if I can. I have the ARMY Birthday run this Friday which I was planning on running with my son as a fun run and just have a good time. Hopefully I will have a decision for this weekend by then and figure out what I am going to do, I hear it is a pretty fun and fast course so I know I would enjoy the course regardless. The finish definitely made the drive worth it and the race was definitely a challenge and one fo those courses when you finish you know you earned it. So if your out there on Wendseday I Will See You on the Trail!

Preparing for Ellijay

Well this past week has seen more time on the trainer and in spin classes than I have since I returned home in April in preparation for GSC #5 at Carters Lake. This is to get ready for the terrain up there since we don't have the hills to train on down here so I have been working the trainer courses with some good elevation changes. Sunday I went on the road ride with the group from The Bike Store for Derricks B-Day it was a pretty good ride with a casual pace for the most part with a few areas where we picked up the pace for a little bit but for the most part was fairly casual and enjoyable ride which was good because the temperatures were up there quite a bit. I went through 2 water bottles of accelerade in the first half of the ride and refilled with water and gatorade when we stopped at the store. Was pretty happy with the ride though I haven't had the Trek SL1000 off the trainer in a while so it was good to get it out on the road. I was also trying out my prescription Tifosi sunglasses which have done great for me on the past couple of endurance races and GSC races they allow the air flow through well and are pretty light and stay secure on my face during some pretty hectic terrain. So the rest of this weeks training will consist of PT all week with one or two more spin classes and a trail ride out at Thomson, weather depending. The wife decided to make the trip up to Ellijay this weekend with me so we will be heading up on Saturday so I can get in a preride so if your racing this weekend or out at Thomson this Wednesday I Will See You on the Trail!