Great weekend of Riding, Camping and Racing down in Beautiful, Sunny Florida. Mark D. and I left out at 12:00 noon last saturday on our way to Hanna Park in North East Jacksonville, Florida. The weather was perfect not a cloud in the sky. We saw gas prices as low as $2.01 per Gallon in South Georgia. We arrived and signed in the campground. It was $30.00 for the night. We then went straight over to the Gone Riding Trailer to sign in and get our Numbers. We did our Pre-Ride Lap before we set up Camp. The facilities were nice as we were right next to the Bathroom/Showers. We ate a Good Supper at OutBack Steakhouse in Jacksonville Beach. That night while sitting round the Latern, we heard somthing running thru the Palmettos around our campsite. It was loud, sounded like sasquatch chasing a buffalo. Then out popped an Armidillo, He walked right up to where we were sitting. Mark threw a water bottle and nailed it on the head before I could get a Good Picture. I slept good hearing the waves of the Atlantic crashing in the distance.

I woke to another Sunny Day. We drove over to Waffle House for a pre-race meal, (Coffee and Grits for me). Mark's Race started at 9:30. He was in the Clydesdale Class. They did 2 laps. He ended up getting 4th out of 17. My race started at 11:30. I had 31 in my group. The start was a flat and narrow stretch with a hard right turn onto a limestone road then hard right into the singletrack. I started about midpack but fell back and let them fight it out going into the singletrack. I was last going in. The Hanna Park Mountain Bike Trail was very tight and twisty only a couple of short climbs, just humps really. The trail was covered in Palmettos most of the way with several narow, short bridge crossings. Very little room for passing so when fast riders came up behind me I would just pull off into the palmettos and stop to let them by. BIG MISTAKE, I lost Mucho time doing that. I will not be doing that again in a race. I have always done that for fast riders in tight situations. I waste too much momentum and time doing that. I guess I've been too "Nice" of a Racer. I came in last, I mean Dead F'n Last, like last of the Whole Yellow Wave. They were pulling up stakes when I came across the finish. I had a great time though, wish I woulda had more time to enjoy the beach.

ALL THE PHOTOS

Yesterday's RACE: Florida State Championships Series #2
Jacksonville, FL, 29th of 31 Sport Men 30-39, 3 Laps, 16.5 miles, 8.57 avg mph.

RESULTS

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Thursday, September 21, 2006

Road a lap and a half out at ArrowHead yesterday with the fellas from work. I rode an old bike I had found a couple of weeks ago leaning up against a dumpster. It is a "Planet Earth" Nebula. I belive that it was sold at Sam's a wile ago. Any way it just needed a seat and some tubes so I took it home and fixed it up. I put it to the test at ArrowHead. It was a little sketchy at times but I made it around. We had a Good Ride and really enjoyed riding in a pack down the fast downhills. I ended up leaving my front wheel at the parking lot. I forgot to put it in the van when I was packing up to go.

We went up to Bike Tech today and picked up Jills New Bike. She is so Proud. The only thing we may need to upgrade is the seat. It didn't come with the most comfortable one.

Well everything is set to go to Jacksonville, FLA this Saturday for the Florida State Mountain Bike Championship race #2. Mark D. and I are leaving out in the afternoon to get down there in time to Pre-Ride a lap and get our campsite set up. Should be alot of fun camping and racing right next to the Beach. I'm sure to take A Lot of Pictures.

 

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Sunday, September 17, 2006

Put in some good laps last Thursday out at Thomson. I did 3 laps without stopping. Again I was Racing a Co-Worker for his right NOT to wear a Tie to Work. This was the 4th Time we have raced since he made the challenge and came up with the terms.

I was back out at Thomson today looking to improve my CycloCross Skills. I learned alot just listening to the Conversations of Charles and Don. They expained a lot of things I was not sure of in CX. I may be re-considering racing my HARO dirt Jump Bike in the upcomming CX races. I'm going to try to create a "Frankinstien" CX bike from an old Giant frame and old parts I have laying around my Garage. My arms are sore from lifting the HARO so much today. Shane was right today when he told me I needed to "Work Out" If I planned on racing "That heavy Thing". I will have to wait to get a good CX bike. I'll see how I like CX this season then maybe next year I could get a Bad A$$ Redline Conquest.

I've been doing some drawings for a Salon/Spa that will be built in Dublin, GA. Below is the preliminary color rendering.

Today's Ride: Thomson, 2 laps, 13 mi, +CycloCross Practice

Thursday's Ride: Thomson, 3 laps, 15 mi, 1 hr 58 min

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Wednesday, September 13, 2006

My Girlfriend Jill and I put her a Bike on Layaway the other day up at Bike Tech in Macon. She has been reserching them online and picked out a girlyfied mountainbike. She is getting a 2007 Trek 4500. She claims it's "Minty Fresh". It is a Women Specific Designed Bicycle.

 

The Florida State MountainBike Series put on by Gone Riding is starting up. I would really like to make it to a couple of these races that will be held in the Northern part of Florida. There will be one right next to the beach in Jacksonville, FLA on September 24th at Hanna Park. October 8th there will be one held in Tallahasse, FLA at Tom Brown Park. Both of those would be within my range, I just have to see if my Cash Flow will accomodate overnight trips to race.

I'll be out at Thomson Tommorow after work doing a few laps. I'm also going to try my hand at dismounting and mounting thru the CycloCross Barriers they have set up there. I need to step up my training if I plan on NOT comming in last in the CX races in Middle Georgia during December.

Below are Links to a few informative articles for those of you who are like me "ClueLess about CycloCross".

Georgia CycloCross
Basics	Equipment	Techniques	Training	Racing	The Season

Great Race today out at the pig trail. There were not as many racers as I had anticipated. I'm guessing only about 50 all together. My Brother Tom, his wife, My sister and niece all came along to root me on. I was feeling good before the race and was only hoping to complete 4 laps. I started out slow and seemed to gradually get faster as the day went on. I climbed the hardest climb every time (Chandler's Challenge). My preperation for the day was like this: I started the day off with some fine columbian coffee, eight o'clock brand. I had a Clif Bar on the way to the Race. Drank some High quality H2O before the start. Half Way through each lap I ate a Power Bar Gu Packet. After two laps I drank a Water bottle full of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem. Before my last lap I ate a Gu with Caffine in it and took off my Camel Bak and rode with a water bottle. Taking off that extra weight really made a difference. I could peddle much easier. I was very happy with my Finish. I got lapped by several people. A really fun event. Nathan G. and I had a wager on this race as well. If He beat me he could take the Tie Off at work. Well even though he got off to a Fast start Looks Like He will STILL be wearing a Tie to work. Chris H. offered to make a friendly wager before the Race but I knew better than to Bet him. I probably weigh 100 lbs more than he does. He ended up Lapping me on my last lap.

I asked Charles if he would give a CycloCross class out at Thomson before the Season begins. I hope he does because I have never raced Cross and am planning on trying out a couple of races this year.

4 HOURS of PIG Race

 

Beautiful Morning for the Labor Day 5K. We arrived at the start just before sun up and strapped on our timing chips. There was a huge crowd in front of the Vineville Baptist Church. We started off in the middle of the huge pack. The course was mostly down Hill except the one long hill going up forsyth-Hardeman Ave just before College Street. We weaved our way thru downtown along Cotton Ave to the finish at Central City Park. My 9 Year old Daughter and I finshed in 44 Minutes. I was very proud of her. I quoted Don B. to her at the start line by saying "You are allready a winner just for strapping on that number and lining up at the start". My niece who runs cross country for Northside High came in First Place Females 10-14.

MORE PHOTOS

Macon Labor Day 5K Video on GOOGLE

RESULTS

Rode out at the Pig Trail this morning from 9:30 til 12:30. Managed to get in three laps. Had to dodge a bunch of Trail runners today. Seemed like they were around every corner. I stopped and got off the trail every time and gave them the right of way. The last thing we need out there is a bunch of Trail Runners Bitch'n bout moutainbikers running them off the trail. The trail is in great shape. I did my first lap clockwise then the second and third laps counterclockwise. I'm looking forward to the 4 hour race next weekend. I invited a couple of fella's I met in the parking lot to the race. They said they knew nothing about it.

Picked up our Race Packets today for the Labor Day Road Race 5K. The start time is at the a$$ crack of dawn, 7:15am at Vinevile Baptist Church. I'm just gonna stay with my daughter the whole way. I'm not gonna make her run the whole thing if she can't make it. We will have fun and it will be a good experience for her. She completed the 5K two years ago, we were out of town last year.

Was successful in fixing my girlfriend Jill's Dell Laptop today. She some how corrupted her system registry in Windows XP. It was the Software component. We just went into the Recovery Console and overwrote some of her registry files from her snapshot directory to her system32 config directory. She was stoked when we got it back up and Running. She really needs her laptop now that she has started her MBA at Mercer.