I thought I was done with this blogging thing

I have been considering dropping out of the blog world because I have felt anti-social and borderline redundant. Not to mention the massive time gaps between entries that seem similar to an annual highlight reel. While all this is true, there are several new opportunities on the horizon for 2010 and hopefully they will help bring the key pecking magic back. Or at least give me something new to ramble about.

It has been a hard winter around my place. A few late season injuries kept me out of the racing scene and it has been all downhill from there. After returning home from Durango and the SSWC, I had one last 12hr race to hit then it was going to be a quick turn towards cyclocross season. Well at the last 12hr event, I crashed on a muddy downhill on the first lap and hyper-extended my wrist trying to save myself after the bike just shot out from under me at full speed. I hit the ground with my hip first, then on the wrist, then continued to slide down the hill in the slick, orange Georgia clay. I was totally stunned and just jumped back on the bike without thinking. I was trying to shake it off and get back into the groove but each bump and root just caused more and more pain in my wrist, not to mention that my entire left butt cheek was hanging in the wind. Finally after a couple more laps, I had to pull myself out of the race since I could no longer take any descents without out nearly coming to a stop. Oh well, we had a good time for the rest of the race and I worked on my social skills since that was all I had to offer that day.

After a few weeks of healing up, the next event took place. This one was a totally out of the blue kind of thing and those are the ones you have to watch out for. A shoelace in the chainring caused a crash that broke 2 ribs and bruised 2 more...there went cross season, It took nearly 3 weeks before I could actually take a deep enough breath to even consider getting back on the bike. I started out easy by commuting to the bike foundry and then slowly started picking up the efforts. Once I could do a push-up I felt it was time to get back to business and try to salvage some of the off season. That was just a couple of weeks ago, but at least the time off the bike has me feeling like riding all the time again. I have not taken much time off the bike over the last few seasons and sometimes a forced hand is better than you can imagine.

After a lovely Christmas at home, for the first time in 12 years, I took a little time for myself. A few fellas loaded up and went down to Dalton for a recon mission on the Snake Creek Gap course. What an adventure...that place keeps you on your toes the entire time. Totally relentless and unforgiving. You think, well it's only 34 miles, that is not bad at all. Then you try to think about all the other places that you have ridden that were harder or even longer, but somehow, it doesn't seem to help. But that is the fun in it. Then on Sunday a ton of Knoxville peeps came down to Raccoon Mountain and we had a lovely time there. I got to see a couple of people I have not seen in a while, rode with some people I never have before and we all met up for beers after. What a wonderful weekend.

Now with the first Snake Creek Gap TT on for this Saturday, I can only hope for the best and have a good time. I never have high expectations for the January installment, more of a will to compete and a reason to train this time of year. I will be on a new team for 2010 and have a few new sponsors as well, so there is much to look forward to this year. While I will be keeping the 12hr format as my primary focus, there will be a stage race and a few 100 milers in there too...just too keep things interesting. Many thanks to my new home with the Motor Mile Racing team out of Chattanooga, Lynskey Performance, Industry Nine and Maxxis. I look forward to seeing you all out there and cheers to great riding in 2010!

On the road again

Well so far the travels have been better than expected. It is pretty awesome when you just let things happen and have no real expectations. I have had a loose itinerary and a few places I wanted to stop but nothing more put together than that. I have known that Thursday starts the Durango experience that will be the SSWC09, but the rest has been open. I made it to Hayes Kansas on Monday night after about 15 hours of driving and that was an experience all in itself. I feel for the folk that live in Kansas. I am sure it can be nice, but from first impression, I will not be looking to stick around for any period of time in the future.

Tuesday morning I left for Colorado and got a call from my pals at VeloNews to see if I still wanted to swing by and have a ride and a visit. We set up an appointment for Tuesday morning and I kept driving. Well as it turned out, while I was fishing through my maps I found a few bits of info about Estes Park that I still had from 2003. So that was it, I was going to Rocky Mountain National Park for the night. The plan was to get as high up in elevation and start riding in an effort to get acclimated to the altitude. So as I was passing through Boulder around lunch time I called Kevin back and asked his recommendation for lunch. Well as luck had it, he and David met us for lunch on Pearl Street. That was a great surprise and then we were off to RMNP via Lyons. When in Lyons, we stopped and picked up some Dale's Pale Ale to help with a night of camping.

The night in the park was killer. We grabbed a primitive spot and I suited up for a few hours of altitude training. I know I started around 9000ft and rode up to nearly 11000ft. It hurt like hell. No matter how hard I wanted to go, I just could only creep along. There were times that I would feel good then go hard, then have to settle down again. I played this little game for about 2 hours. By the time I made it back to the camp spot, it was time for the hammock and some down time. I wound up sleeping in the hammock all night and to wake up looking at the Rockies was so sweet.

We cruised back into Boulder to meet up with the new tech editor at VeloNews. Zack was a great guy to meet and we spent about an hour talking about the Lynskey brand and the three bikes I brought along on the trip. He shot some photos and then Kevin, Nathan, David and I hit the bikes for nearly two hours ripping up some road, gravel and greenways. It was awesome. I love it that these guys are retarded for cyclocross. You could just tell they were fired up about cross season.

From there we rolled down to Golden for a quick stop at Spot Brand to see Frank. I have been working with these guys for some time and many of them I have talked to on the phone or emailed a hundred times, so it was nice to meet them all in person. We talked shop and took the nickle tour and then we had to hit the road. Time to drive down to Monument for a little R&R and staying with friends. So far that has been amazing. I got out today for a nice ride from the house and hit the lower base of the mountains and am still trying to get used to this this air. I feel like I am recovering quicker, but still not there yet. I am off to Durango in the morning to meet up with the Endless Bike Co. crew. The Run What You Brung show will b going down tomorrow night and that should be a blast. I will shoot some video and photos and try to post them no later than Friday morning. More to come soon.

Where have you been?

It has been way too long since I spilled off on the blog and I am pretty sure that many of you have completely bailed on me. It is not like there was nothing to report on in my life, but it seems more like I have been doing the exact same thing nearly every week that it has become borderline redundant. As I sit here on the eve of departure, I thought it would be right to pick back up where I left off so many months ago...
All is well and life is good. I really mean it. Work is great, riding has been great and life has been amazing. I truly feel blessed and fortunate. I have been looking forward to this day for some time. Tomorrow I hit the road to embark on a two week adventure. Durango here we come. SSWC09 is next weekend and along the way, I plan on visiting some of the cycling industry's finest. Stories, news and videos will be posted regularly throughout the next two weeks. Tales from the road that should be too good to be true are anticipated. Next guaranteed stop will be Thursday night in Durango. Thanks to Tom @ Norse Cycles, we will be hanging out with some top custom builders and racers at the Run What You Brung, custom bike show. More info here. The plan is to drive straight to Fort Collins and start working our way South. More to come from the road.

I went to a party and there was a bike race...?

Tsali...It is hard not to bring up the name and not begin to think about all the good time that have been had there. Well in classic fashion, this trip was nothing short of a good time. I bailed the bike foundry a bit later than anticipated, but the bike world needed some extra love that day so I hung around. The biggest bitch with rolling solo to such an event is the lack of opportunity to get a decent spot let alone a spot at the campground unless you arrive a day or so early, especially on a holiday weekend. Good news for me my mate Sam did just that...arrived on Wednesday to guarantee the choice spot in the woods that weekend. Camp spot 10 is the shit and you should all know it. And yes, it was ours. I made in through the valley around 8ish and met up with the video squad of Craig and Allie who were there to shoot the race. Rumors of Bishop were abound and he and Silvey went on a B double E Run. I made quick work of tent city and worked straight into chill mode with the video crew. The boys returned soon enough and we started the weekend off right. A few Fat Tires in a can, which is the bee's knees IMO, but being in the metals fabrication business I think aluminum is the perfect vessel for coldies and that is about it. The evening rolled on for hours and there was no shortage of complete amateur comedic relief.

The morning came quicker than expected, as usual. Some light breakfast and a morning Coors got things started off in the right direction. We sat around the camp spot and finalized the last few bike details and picked right up where we left off the night before. After we staged our bikes up the long ass gravel road it became real that it was nearly go time. I want to segway into this next part by saying that I hate to run...seriously, hate it. Like, I only run when the cops are coming and when we have to do a La Mans start. Well that went just as expected, sketchy, crowded and awkward. So when I hit the bike, I went off like mad. It was part adrenaline and part get me the hell out of here...I want single track. Since I cannot remember when the last time I was at Tsali and did not pre-ride the course, I had no clue when the road stopped and the trail began. The pace was solid right from the start and I felt really good for the first few hours and started to slow down a bit due to some wicked leg cramps that came out of nowhere. I totally underestimated the humidity and heat because it felt quite nice out. I made a longer than usual stop after the 5th lap to re-group and change my kit...I noticed that my jersey was really salty thus explaining the cramps. So I sat down in the creek by our camp spot for a few minutes and changes jerseys, grabbed some food and went back out on the course. I was rolling along pretty good not having any idea where I was on the leader board and at this point did not really care. I was just out to do as many laps as I could without totally destroying myself. When one of the fella's I was racing came by me like mad and I was sure that he had lapped me while I was chilling in the creek. That just sealed the deal for me because I was not moving that fast and had no real desire to do so at that point. So I turned a couple more laps and called it a day. For some reason, I lost a lap after the results were posted, but no big deal to me, I was out of the running by that point anyway. I made my way back to the camp spot and hung out for a few more hours before calling it a night. It was a great trip and I always have a blast at Tsali. It is everything it is cracked up to be and more. Now for a few weeks off before my shortest race of the season at Raccoon Mountain. It is too close to home to not participate.

Dirt Sweat & Gears Recap

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words...then this shot should sum up the entire 12 hours race then. Even with 9 seasons of mountain bike racing under my belt, I have never ridden in conditions like this. I think that my first 24 hour race at Snowshoe, WV was probably the worse mud and rain I had seen until this weekend. Half way into the 2nd lap the trails were nearly impossible to ride, even on the down hills. You could ride the field section after the start finish, then a small open area along the trail where my pit was located, then back to pushing. At one point, I would have to use a stick or my glove to scrape off as much mud as I could, then walk about 300 yards, then repeat the process again. I stopped and hung out for a while after my 2nd lap and was hoping for it to rain harder or just dry up and neither was the case, so I called it a day and socialized. I feel very fortunate to be in a position to race for money, but this weekend was one of the times that I was grateful to not need the cash that bad. When the most laps completed in 12 hour event was 5, you should get the idea. It has been the season of rain so far this year, no real complaints because we really need the rain, but it would be great to have a race where it missed us. The SSUSA event is up for debate at the moment, but the following weekend is the 12 hours of Tsali which I am already registered for...hopefully that will be a dry day, but no matter, I am sure that it cannot be worse than what we rode in at DSG. For a complete breakdow, some cool videos and photos check out Cycling Dirt...if their coverage doesn't get the message across, then you just don't get it. Thanks to Clay and Grant for putting on the event and all the racers and sponsors for making it awesome as always.

Guess Who's Back...Back Again...Jamie's Back, Tell Your Friends

It has been so long since the last post that I was thinking about abandoning this blog for good, but something just keeps me coming back. Mainly for my friends and family that I do not get to see that often, but also as a reminder of what has been going on and an exercise in communication. So with that disclaimer officially noted, here we go. Not sure where to start exactly...How about with the fun stuff first. Since my last post, there have been several bike races and a sustained internal injury. At the second Snake Creek Gap TT in February, I wound up puking about 10 miles into the race and could not hold it back. So there I was on the side of the trail just going to town and yelling at my shoes. While I was putting in a solid effort, it was not enough to cause that level of sickness. So I bailed out at the half way point very disappointed and felt defeated and confused. In bike racing, we have all gone to the point that you thought you were going to be sick, but rarely does it actually happen. So after that weekend, I made a few calls to some local bike racers/doctors that I know and told them what was going on and if they knew someone who could check me out. Of course they did...so I went straight to the GI specialist and we came to the realization that I had herniated my stomach and also had an small ulcer. So the hernia was pushing into my liver and gall bladder, which caused the gall bladder to excrete too much acid and then the heavy physical stress of mountain bike racing all added up to some torn up insides. I had to make some serious changes to my diet, eliminating all the wonderfully bad foods like coffee, milk/dairy, red meat and spicy foods and take daily medication from now on. I just went in for my follow up appointment and I am feeling much better and everything looks good. So my efforts were not in vain, but my physical duress trigger will always be there.

I made a trip down to Athens Ga with Mike V for the first of the Dirty Spokes events at Heritage Park. This was the first time that I raced in Athens and at a Dirty Spokes event. This was the first in a 4 race series that started with a 6 hour race. It was rainy and a chilly 38 degrees when we rolled out and it never got much better. I cranked out 5 laps and came in 5th, which was not as well as I hoped. I ran into a bunch of people that I had not seen a while and even hung out with the Terrapin Brewing Team for some post race support. We loaded up the car and made the trip home just in time for dinner.

I spent the next few weeks hitting up our Tuesday night and Thursday night rides and added one long day each weekend just to keep it fresh. It has been great since Tuesday has become the game of finding the hardest road route possible and then racing each other up and down the mountain. Great fun but hard on the system. On Saturdays I have been riding to Raccoon Mountain from my house which is a decent 50 miles depending on which way you go over Lookout Mountain. Even then it has been hard to get the distance that I feel I need. So I made a decision to use the month of May as my trial by fire into better endurance shape for the rest of the season.

It started last weekend at the 2nd Dirty Spokes 12 hour event at Ft. Yargo SP in Winder, GA. I have never been here before either, but I heard that it was a fun, fast course. Once again, Mike V and I hit the road. Similar to our last trip to GA, the weather was terrible and it rained like crazy all the way down. We woke up to some decent sunshine, but that lasted long enough to start the race and get a few laps in. Then the sky opened up and it poured, big time. So for the next few laps it was a mess and only got worse. I hated to call it a day after the 7 hour mark, but I really felt like we were destroying the course and I was tired of being muddy. You could not wear glasses because they would fog up from the humidity, so you had to take your chances and try to limit the amount of fine sand that you got into your eyes. I am still digging out sand from my eyes days later. All in all it was a good time and it was too bad that the sun did not remain because the few early laps were awesome and fast, but that was very short lived. Once again, it was nice to see all the folks that showed up at the race. We packed up and hit the road.

This weekend is the Dirt, Sweat & Gears 12 hour event which I hope will have better trail conditions, but it is not looking good so far. I will have a full race report next week. Following the DSG will be the SSUSA event and then the 12 hours of Tsali on the 23rd. This is going to be the make it or break it month for me, so either I will get this 12 hour thing or I will keep trying until I do. I really like the format and have been enjoying the new trails, but it seems like the only way to "train" yourself for a 12 hour race is to just suit up and go around as many times as you possibly can. See you Fayetteville this weekend!

Gratitude...It's like that ya'll

Today is Gratitude Wednesday and I would like to start by thanking Jason at Edge Composites for all the killer stuff this year. First off, the 38mm carbon clinchers are just awesome, plain and simple. I have been riding these wheels for a few months now and I am still impressed each time I ride them. From daily riding, to serious training to actual commuting, I have not taken them off my Helix since they arrived. Totally sick...and well worth the money. Skip the silliness of having a "training" wheelset and a "race-day" set, the Edge stuff is solid and built to be ridden all the time. So thanks again. It is amazing the fun you can have with your fellow Industry peers especially at an authentic Bavarian restaurant after a few liters of beer and some ass paddling by a random chick followed up by a ride in the back of a pick-up truck down the Las Vegas Strip. Enough about that, but you should have been there.

On the second part of my gratitude list is my friend Paolo from Prologo saddles. Once again, another great person and someone who is way more passionate about something I have given little thought to over the years. While I always understood the benefits of a quality saddle, I usually went with something tried and true and just repeated. For years I ran the Flight and now I wish I had met Paolo years ago. They really think through all the details and design features when coming up with a new saddle. I have a Scratch on my road bike and a Vertigo Ti on the mountain bike...I am all about them too. Each has it's own unique feel, but at their suggestion I went with this setup. I have switched and will never look back. And don't just take my word for it, check out their elite pro list on their site and tell me you have not heard of any of those guys.