Cowbell Challenged

After such a detailed search for the right tires to ride in muddy conditions, (amazingly it turns out the weathermen were wrong yet again!), the course was as dry and dusty as a wagon train heading West. So no worrying about traction for this race.

My day started off very, very early. Up at 4:30 am to get some yummies in my tummy and some good old caffeine down the hatch before heading over to Tony's for the 2 plus hour drive to Davidson. We arrived at 8:15 giving us plenty of time to check in and get our PIT all prettied up for the long day ahead.

We had 6 racers in our PIT, Myself, Tony, Greg, Marcy, and Mark. We also had the best PIT boss, Sara, (my wife). Without her help with the bottle hand-offs and nutrition replenishment I would have been much further down the list of results.

Mucho Kudos for the PIT boss!!!

Back to the PIT...we had 2 tents which provided ample space and plenty of shade from the sun, (again many thanks to the weathermen for such accurate forecasting). Once we checked in and readied the PIT I donned my gear and warmed up a little...not that I was going to race like a Jack rabbit, I just wanted to get some blood flowing to my legs after the long drive.

We started up the road in a mass start with the Pros out front. This created a nice dust cloud once we were under way promptly at 10:00 am. So off we go to see what kind of challenge the Cowbell with throw at me.

First 3 laps I turned in a sub 40 min performance. Then things slowed a little and I started turning mid 40s until my first PIT stop after 6 laps. I just did a quick one of about 10 mins and headed right back out to get 2 more laps which I held the mid-40 pace. So I was feeling pretty good about being consistent with my pacing. Then I Pitted again for about 15 mins. Again just some off the saddle time and some refuel with something I could chew. After a while you need to have something other than liquid fuel. Then out again for another 2 laps. I did number 11 in the mid-40s again.

Coming in the timing shoot I asked what time mandatory lights on was again?

The guy there said 7:30 and after a quick look at my watch I figured I could turn one more before having to PIT and get my lights on. I slammed that one at 41 mins and was feeling a little spent. So I took a little longer in the PIT. Resting, getting my lights on, taking in some water and figuring out if I wanted to pick up another 1 or 2 laps.

My goal was to finish at least 12 laps so anything else was now icing on the cake. Sara, (The PIT Boss), told me that I was pretty close to 3rd place and after a quick check she came back and said I was already in third...HOLY CRAP! I had no idea who the other guy was that could take 3rd away from me so I had no way of knowing who to hunt down. Plus now it was getting dark and I wouldn't be able to find him out there anyway.

I noticed Greg, one of the other guys in our PIT, start to sneak out of the pit to turn another lap. Greg is behind me in the race by about 20 seconds so I know he is heading out to try and lap me and take my position.

I see how you want to roll man...So game on!

I roll up on him after about a mile and hang right where I can keep an eye on him. You see I'm behind him...BUT really I'm in front of him...see what I mean?? So I'm in the perfect position to at least keep my place in the standings.

So now we're about done with lap 13 and the race is called...WHAT? I guess they didn't like the added obstacle of dodging lightening strikes or something. Since I have no reason to conserve anything I just threw it into high gear and decided to blow past Greg and hammer it into the timing shoot....and I did!!

That felt good Greg..sorry!!

Now it's wait time until the last person is off the course so we can see if I place or just go home. Looks like I just go home this time. The guy who took 3rd from me did it by 2 mins and 31 seconds...duhoooow!

I guess I should have shortened that last PIT a little.

Now I know what to expect for next year and I'll be a wee bit more familiar with who's in my category so I know who the hell I'm supposed to chase.

But I had a great race. Loved the venue. See you out there next year!!

Cowbell Countdown

Only 15 hours until the bell tolls, Cowbell that is!

Now that I have all of my gadgets and thingys all neatly packed up and organized according to expected time of use I happen to notice the weather report...NICE? Uhhh...Not so much!

Our friends, the meteorologists, are now saying rain will be upon us way before the race start. I know, I know...why trusts these guys anyway. I mean they get it wrong way more times then they get it right and they still get to keep their jobs. Must be their use of those fancy maps and graphics that secures their employment! But back to how this impacts the race!

Now I need to figure out which tread to throw down on the trail in order to keep my ass on the saddle and my head out of the mud. I don't have too many choices in my quiver anyway so I had to do some research and see what I can find on such short notice.

After some searching I've come up with the perfect tire and accessory that will guarantee plenty of traction on just about any trail condition. So check it out!

I know this will add substantial weight but what good is a light bike if you always end up on the ground.

Think I should get the mud flap package with these? They have those pretty chrome girlies on them!

Swimming in enterococcus

Although we've had a bit of a dry spell recently the good news is that Falls lake is pretty much full. Isn't this great! Now we're able to do the open water swim workout we used to do before Falls had almost dried up last year. Sort of hard to swim in that mud... So whoohooo, right?

But wait there's more!

So Friday I do my first open water swim workout, (at our secret location), in like over a year. It felt pretty good. Until of course I find out that the "legal" swimming areas at Falls lake have tested positive for; "enterococcus, a bacteria normally found in the feces of humans and many animals". Holy shit! Are you serious? I've been swimming in shit?

After hearing this wonderful news I had this immediate need to take another shower....with iodine...or alcohol wipes...or something, yuck!

I think this is a classic example of not being able to "have your cake and eat it to". We have to choose. Do we want to have the option of doing an open water swim, or do we want to have a full lake? You see you just can't have both. If the lake is full...we'll you swim in shit. If the lake is low or empty, you can't swim...BUT, you don't swim in shit! Ahhh, see now your getting it...

Now one last thought! Falls Lake Reservoir is where we get out drinking water from. Ummm good ole H2O!

Return of the dirtdawg

Okay already, so I've been away from the blog for a little while. I know that life getting in the way is just a lame ass excuse, so I'm going with "my dog ate my blog post...no really he did, all of them"!

So now that we got that out of the way shall we move on?

Cowbell is right around the corner. Only three days left to get all of my shit together, clean my bikes, rethink my strategy, plane my nutrition and relax! With a little luck and attention to detail I think I have a fighting chance at accomplishing all except the last one. I'm never able to relax before a race. I'm constantly rethinking my plan, second guessing my training and hoping my bike will fare the race with as little damage as possible. This usually ends up being a lot of worry for nothing but it seem to be a integral part of the racing process.

I had considered taking the "Snot Rocket" in case I wanted to do a lap or two on her but after my night riding incident last Thursday I'm not sure anymore. I mean the bitch totally rebelled and threw me to the ground and damaging herself in the process. It was just a badly bent front wheel. So to teach her a lesson I rode like that for another hour and a half. (You see, what we have here is a failure to communicate....) I think she is thinking more clearly these days but I just can't fully trust here yet. We'll see!

So my plan is to ride "Super G" for this little shindig. I've tweaked the position a little the past few weeks and I'm feeling much more comfortable on this baby. But we'll see how things go after "12hrs in the saddle". Now that's a good name for a MTB race...hummmm. (Welcome to 12 hours in the Saddle) Has a nice ring to it huh? I'll have to talk to my people, tune in folks!