back in business and time to de-throne the giant

Hell yeah! I'm back in business! The UPS man dropped off a little package for me yesterday and I have a feeling things are going to start picking up here @ riding with dogs. Somebody's got keep the tri-cities cycling bogger world alive.

Thank you Moonshine & Jackson, I couldn't have asked for a better Father's Day gift. I'll put this little guy to good use this weekend at Dupont. I have plenty of ideas in mind for my newest film. I'll finally get to put my new chest mount to use that I got back in April.

Speaking of sorry a$$ blogs I know I've complained here before about the lack of blogging that is in my sidebar. I created a small amount of activity the last time I said something and started moving blogs into categories from the more frequent bloggers to the sorriest. I've even deleted a couple since then. After a year of inactivity I don't see the point in keeping them around I mean come on, why waste the space? I've been toying around with the idea of putting together a list of celebrity bloggers, you know the more famous folks that we all read on a regular basis. I've put this off for a while because everyone knows who they are and I wanted to try and keep it all local but my local peeps just keep letting me down.

I know some of my posts lack in entertain value from time to time but sometimes just getting on here and writing whatever comes to mind with no real purpose can sometimes generate some really good posts.

Ok enough of that, last night my plans were to get out and run the Crazy 8's course, an 8k running race that is coming up in July. I usually slack off in my running during the summer due to my much stronger interest in cycling. I decided I needed to step it up a bit since every year I get my a$$ handed to me by Ironman Chris Dillow. Last year I tried my best not to beat him but just keep him in view but that didn't happen. It's such a popular race and the turnout is so huge that the start of the race is a real cluster. I tried my hardest but ICD was bobbing and weaving through the crowd like a pushy little mexican kid at the amusement park. I dabbed right in an effort not to run over some fat guy who shoulda started at the back and Chris went left and I never saw him again. This year I will not lose him so early in the race. If I have to grab a handful of his shirt or throw a rope around him I will keep him in my sight. His wife Joy suggested on Facebook that I throw a stick or something at him but I might get arrested for that. She said she would do the same but I can't bring myself to do that. Maybe I'll just sneak into his house the night before while everyone is asleep and steal his running shoes. I have a feeling he using something illegal in his shoes to increase his speed. I'm not sure what but everytime he takes a step I swear I see sparks coming off the soles of his running shoes.
My training plan? I'm not going to just run more, I'm going to run when it's nasty outside. Hot weather, bad traffic, tornadoes you name it. I've even been driving home from work everyday this week with the windows up, the heat blasting and pop country music blaring on my stereo just to get me in the A$$ whipping mood.

red hot mama

As stated in my last post I found a crack in the Mamasita and all it took was one phone call on Monday to Salsa from my LBS and a new one was on it's way. By Friday I had the new frame in my possession. Now that's what I call customer service, I hope I have the same service with my next frame which I'm still waiting on by the way.
When I got the new Mamasita home I removed all of the protective foam and padding so I could snap a few pics for selling purposes.

I was impressed with the details in the graphics, some manufacturers simply paint their frames slap on a logo and call it good but with Salsa you get a mini work of art.

At first I wasn't too keen on the red paint scheme but after getting a closer look I'll have to say the graphics are pretty sharp and if I hadn't already placed my order for another frame I would really consider riding the red Mamasita.

If you know someone looking to buy a 29er I'll cut them a sweet deal. I also have a Reba SL 29er and a Salsa Delgado/XT 29er wheelset to go with the frame that I'll add for just a little more $$. With this set up you could easily swap over the rest of the components from a 26" wheeled bike and make the move to 29.

Not much riding for me this weekend, Melinda and I managed to squeeze in a short ride early Friday but that was all. My entire family made the trek to come in town for my youngest sister's wedding shower. We leave in less than 2 weeks to head down to Savannah for a long weekend to see her get married.

While the girl's were doing all things foo foo and sipping fancy punch at the bridal shower, my bro in laws, future bro in law, Dad and I all hit Boone Lake with a slew of kayaks. We put the boats in at Winged Deer park and headed up the lake towards Sonny's Marina as our destination for refueling. Sandwiches, nachos and a few beers were consumed followed by a few entertaining minutes feeding the larger than normal carp that hang out near the dock waiting for the occasional greasy french fry to be tossed their way. If you toss enough into the water I swear you could walk on water like Jesus did but only for a few minutes or as long as the fries last.

The faster this week passes the better, Fri we're hooking up the ECO and heading to Dupont for some camping, singletrack action and good times with friends around the campfire. It looks as if I will be taking the Karate Monkey only this weekend I just hope my legs are up for the thrashing they'll get from only having one gear.

cracks, cams and new stuff

About a week ago Melinda and I had just returned home from a ride at Bays Mtn. and I decided to hose off the bikes rather than take them inside covered in mud and grit. As I was washing down the Mamasita I noticed a small line on the seat stay in the paint. Upon closer inspection I realized that it was a crack that circled almost half way around the tube. Damn! I imediately called my LBS and got things in motion. Within 2 days I had a new frame in route to the shop without having to ship my old one in for inspection. Now that's what I call customer service! The only difference about the new frame is the color, instead of grey I am receiving a red one, the only color they make it in.
The crack in the frame turned out to be a good thing actually. I was planning to sell the Mamasita but now instead of selling a 2 year old frame I'll have a brand new one still in the box. I have no plans of building this bike whatsoever. I do have a new ride in the works but it's currently on back order so I'll be rolling SS it until it comes in.







Speaking of singlespeeds it funny how much you slip when you don't ride the singlespeed for a week or two. I've been riding the Mamasita quite a bit especially at Bays Mtn so the first ride on the Karate Monkey in a couple weeks was a bit tougher. Hopefully I'll get in a few more rides before we head to Dupont for a long weekend of camping and riding with friends. It would be nice if the new ride came in this week as well but I don't think that is going to happen.

Speaking of new things Melinda ordered me a new Hero cam for Fathers day! It should be arriving at my house in a couple of days just in time to shoot some video at Dupont.

There is a new race in Kingsport this year, the "White Lightning", nothing really to get too excited about. It's a road race that covers some of the local roads I ride already. I mis-read the dates and was planning on doing this race along with an 8k run that evening. Turns out the W.L. is the following Sat. and Melinda and I will be camping up in PA at Raystown Lake and riding the new Allegrippis trail system. If you've not heard of Raystown check it out on the web, the rumor is this place is sweet! 30 plus miles of fast singletrack built by IMBA, what's not to like about that. I might just have to go out and buy more batteries for the Hero cam and another SD card so I can shoot plenty of footage for your viewing pleasure.

me and my new little f-bomb dropping friend

Busy times lately has keep me off the computer hence the lack of blogging. It's not that I haven't had much to talk about just no time to say it. Melinda and I have been in full project mode, you know same as always at the first of the summer, new cellar door, redesigning a few of the gardens, planting a few new plants & flowers and some repainting. In our spare time we've been out in the woods so blogging has taken a bit of a backseat, sorry. I think we're almost done for now and we should be focusing more of our attention to all things outdoors.

I recently joined the rest of the world in technology & bought a smart phone, you know one of those fancy phones that does everything but cook dinner for you. My old phone was on the skids and when I went in to get a replacement the deal to upgrade was too good to pass up. I've been putting off this upgrade for a while due to the really expensive cost that comes along with a smart phone but I finally figured out a way to get it close enough to my original bill to pull the trigger. While it did take some work to get the hang of using these things I will say I can see the benefit in having them. I can quit worrying about how much time I spend wasting away in front of the computer screen when I really should be outside doing something active. Think about it, today more and more people stay inside and experience the outdoors via their computer or TV. With the smart phone you can get the best of both worlds by taking your virtual world outdoors with you. I will admit it's still not ideal but I think it's better than nothing. I do feel nervous about taking my phone on the trail with me. Being such an expensive gadget I'm worried ruining it riding around with it stuffed in my jersey pocket. My last phone survived for two years that way with no problems but as expensive as this new phone would be if I had to replace it I feel nervous about it. So now I make sure I've always got a small ziplock bag to carry it in with my helmet and gloves. Ahh the wonders of cheap locking plastic bags. As cool as this phone is I will say I've had a few rough spots with it. The other day I was in line to get a haircut and I was texting Melinda when I must have accidentally hit the wrong button and my internet radio kick on at full volume. Needless to say the song that came on wasn't anything that should be played in public. The station, "Classic Hip Hop", the song, "Straight Outta Compton" by N.W.A. If your not familiar with N.W.A. there were "F-bombs" being dropped in the Hairstyles beauty salon like nobody's business. Luckily the place was not crowded but the ladies who worked there definitely got an earful. Conveniently I panicked and couldn't seem to make it stop for what seemed like hours.

My little "F-bomb" dropping machine is the new Droid. I really like the I-phone but I also like to actually make phone calls when I want to without having to be right next to AT&T's only 2 cell phone towers in TN. I know the I-phone is much cooler but what good is a phone that can't get a signal?

Speaking of upgrades a couple of month's ago we decided it was time to upgrade Melinda's wheelset on her mountain bike. We did a bit of research online and she decided to go with a set of Mavic SLR's. Of course we bought her wheelset through our trusty LBS instead of buying online but we did have to wait. Mavic evidently was a bit behind on production and we were told it would be mid July before we got them in but surprisingly they showed up last week. Our good buddy Alan was kind enough to save us a trip to the bike shop and met us halfway at the local short track.

photo cred. Scooby Snacks

I got those bad boys mounted up the very next day with a new set of tubeless tires. Now all the mountain bikes here at Riding With Dogs are fully tubeless.

No that's not a 2.5 DH tire, the camera angle was a bit skewed, it's a 2.1.

more Raccoon, more fish tacos & a late night learning experience

Yes it's been a week and I'm still talking about our trip to Chatt. last weekend. I could have put this all in one post but it would have been long, less creative, and over in one read leaving you with nothing else to do with your weekend. I mean hey, somebody has to pick up the slack for all the lack of blogging around here. My side bar of blog lists is growing some serious cobwebs. If it wasn't for Alan and his never ending search for the perfect used bike bought at a ridiculously cheap deal or AC's ramblings about whatever he's thinking about while brushing his teeth we would have nothing else to read. So until somebody comes out of the wood work and writes something on a more regular basis I'll continue to stretch a single weekend into a week long blog adventure. Who knows maybe I'll resort to making up stories if I get really desperate. With all that goes on in Dustin's hood I'm surprised he hasn't written anything lately, car wrecks, http://dirtfest.blogspot.com/ and boating mishaps. So with that said I'll wrap this Chatt. trip up and move on to another subject in my next post.

Monday morning I woke up fresh hoping the rain had held off but it didn't the ground at the Back Yard campground was saturated but I refused to let it get me down. I still held onto hope that Raccoon was going to be rideable. I got in no rush to get to the trailhead early so that hopefully any wet spots might dry out. Breakfast was on the grill that morning, wholegrain pancakes, turkey bacon, eggs and coffee (french press style). Sorry I'm making myself hungry too just thinking about it. It was excellent! We basically just hung around till noon that day doing nothing, the rain came down off and on and several times throughout the day I said forget it, no ride then the sun would come out and I'd change my mind. Somewhere around lunch time we decided to head downtown and hit a taco joint, Taco Mamasita for lunch. Probably some of the best fish tacos I've had in a while and an excellent beer selection to go with it.
The sun remained out all through lunch so I said screw let's go ride no matter what the cond. after lunch. I didn't have to twist Andy's arm but the girls decided to stay in town and do some more shopping. All I heard was talk of bed spreads and curtains but all I was thinking was singletrack.

Andy and I left the girls at the taco joint and headed back to camp to grab our bikes. Upon arrival at the trailhead there were a few folks just rolling in from a ride and the word was the trails were in good shape. We wasted no time just in case Mother Nature had another round of rain in store for us. This time we decided to hit the rest of the trails we had missed on Sat. What can I say about Raccoon Mountain, that place is awesome even after the rain. The trails drain excellent with the help of a bit of sand and some good trail building skills from the fine folks of SORBA. My hats off to those guys. Our trip last year we missed a trail called Six Flags or either it was new but it branched off of part of Megawatt. Six Flags started up a slow climb just like a rollar coaster but once you reach the top hang a right or you will miss all the fun. The decent was a series of screaming downhills that send you right back up hill with little or no effort, bermed turns and as much speed as you can handle for the entire ride.
Raccoon is full of rocks that really put your technical skills to the test, there were a couple of spots that had me and my measly 80mm of travel off the back of my seat or off the bike all together. By the time we reached the end we had covered every inch of the place and then some due to a wrong turn or two. My legs were toast but I was very pleased that we decided to go ahead and ride, we only ran into a few puddles here and there.

Back at the Back Yard campground Melinda had almost everything squared away for the trip home so I showered quick and we hooked up the ECO said good bye and hit the road for Kingsport. Most of the drive home was uneventful except for the rain that harassed us through half of the drive. As the last hour of the drive hit we were cruising down I-81 sometime around 10pm in the rain when we felt a really weird sensation. Before I could figure it out Melinda said "we've got a flat tire!" I pulled our rig over realizing it was probably one of the ECO's tires. The tire that blew was on the road side and with all the traffic speeding past us I couldn't even get close to the wheel to inspect it. I had no other choice but to limp it down to the next exit ramp which thankfully wasn't far and into a gas station so we could get out of the rain.





By the time we pulled into the gas station we had completely destroyed the tire NASCAR style along with the fender. Had we driven it any further we would have probably damaged the rim as well.





Never having used the jack in my truck it took me almost 20 minutes just to figure out how to remove it. When I took the tire cover off the spare I was surprised to see it wrapped up like a burrito in what looked like aluminum foil but relieved to see it was a normal tire and wheel not one of those little donuts.





Even through the stress of the situation Melinda saw good blog potential and documented the whole process.





The slightly damaged fender.

Today I finally got the new tire replaced and discovered a cut in the tread about an inch long. About a half mile before we flatted we had passed a couple of cars with the same problem so my guess is there was several somethings laying in the road ruining tires.
It's funny that the flat happened when it did because I was just thinking about whether or not if I was prepared for such a situation and if my sewer dump line would remain intact due to how low it hangs down. Luckily there was a couple of inches to spare because the Back Yard campground was lacking a dump station and we had a full tank. That would have made for one nasty situation and probably a hefty fine had a cop seen it happen.

That's it folks no more stories from our Chatt. trip. Now go and write something of your own.

wild boar, snakes, black bear, & fish tacos

Sorry for the delay folks, Ma had me tendin' to my chores. Back to all things dirt.

Sunday morning Andy and I headed southeast out of Chatt. toward Tanasi to check out the trails while the ladies hit Atlanta & IKEA. I know, how could I pass up a chance to go to Ikea? ....umm just kidding. Anyway as we drove in I was amazed that I had forgotten how beautiful that area of TN is. Mountains, lakes & the Ocoee river, wow! We cruised along side of the Ocoee for several miles watching the whitewater rafting cats do battle in their short little kayaks. I think I've just found another hobby.


We cruised into the Thunder Rock campground and met up with our tour guide for the day an old college buddy of mine, Greg Barker. He and I both got into mtn biking after graduating ETSU but have never got to ride together. Luckily for us this was his home turf and there was no need to take a map. Right off the bat he informed us that we might encounter turkey, wild boar, black bear or the dreaded copperhead snake. It wasn't 5 minutes later as we cruised up the first trail we ran into our first snake. Luckily it was just a Garter but 50 yards later we saw our first Copperhead. Turns out luck was with us because while the Copperhead was big and mean looking it was also dead. It was the last snake or any type of wildlife we saw for the rest of the day.
When I think of back country riding I think of all day trips on rough trails cut into the side of a mountain with little in the way of civilization. Tanasi had that feel but the trails were a bit more groomed and were well taken care of. There were no highways near by or sounds of the city, just miles and miles of singletrack snaking through the woods climbing and descending. I don't think there was a single trail I disliked, everything was awesome, even the climbing wasn't that bad.
My three favorites were the Chestnut Mtn Loop, the River View Loop (which has no view of the river) and of course the all downhill badass, Thunder Rock Express. Damn that trail was fast and fun, I had heard good things about it and it lived up to everyone of my expectations and then some.

The T.R.E. dropped us off just up the road from our cars and we regrouped and discussed hitting another trailhead. Greg B. made a quick call to check the weather, we had been running from a T-storm what seemed like the entire ride but never felt a drop and we learned a nasty storm was in the area and headed our way so we decided since we were going back to Raccoon on Mon. we would call it a day and go grab lunch.

Once again I forgot the camera so I have nothing to show so you'll have to take my word for it that Tanasi is a must do. Plan to spend the weekend riding and whitewater rafting, camp at the Thunder Rock campground which is located at the trailhead and along the banks of the awesome Ocoee river.


Andy and I headed to the Whitewater center to check out the action. Just as we pulled into the parking lot the T-storm we heard about unleashed it's fury and had us running for cover. We grabbed a quick sandwich from the deli and sat outside under the patio and watched the kayakers surf the rapids.


That night we regrouped back at the "Back Yard" campground and met up with the girls to see what damage had been done in Atlanta. Luckily we had just enough left in the bank to eat dinner and pay for gas to get home home.

We cleaned up and hit downtown Chatt. for some dinner and frosty beverages. The restaurant of choice was the Blue Plate, kinda of a modern spin on the old school diner. Everything was decked out in a weird blue decor. At first I thought our dinner was going to be just ok and then I found the fish tacos. They were a bit fancier than I was used to but still very tasty.

One the way home I decided that stopping for ice cream was a good idea and everyone agreed. Sadly there were no ice cream shops open that late so we had to settle for a tub at the grocery store. After cruising the freezer isle and making my selection I headed toward the check out line to pay for my goods. I guess the tall boy PBR's I had a dinner were working their magic and I had started my white boy imitation of b boxxing or beat boxxing as I walked through the line. I really wasn't paying attention when the cashier asked me if I had anything to go with that. "Go with that I asked?" thinking he was referring to my ice cream. He said "no the beat" then he proceeded to imitate my b box tune. Rather than be embarrassed I said yeah and told him to continue while I added another sad white boy beat. The next thing I knew the manager standing at the end of the line added a deep base beat. While our beat box session would have made the Fat Boys cry I was pretty impressed that the grocery store employees had decided to join in rather than look at me like an idiot. When I got out to the car I told the story to Melinda & Abby who of course didn't believe me until Andy who had witnessed the whole thing from the next isle confirmed my tale.


The rain that had hit us earlier at the Ocoee followed us home pounding us every chance it got and making me wonder if we were going to get to ride the next day. Off and on it rained the rest of the evening sometimes ridiculously hard. Later that night just before I crashed out for the night I said a little prayer to God asking for dryer weather so Andy and I could ride once more before we had to go home.

a country boy breakfast and singletrack for lunch

Memorial Day weekend, ahh what a good time. Originally our weekend was supposed to begin Fri afternoon with us hitting the road to Chattanooga with the ECO in tow and the bikes on the roof but a slight change in plans kept us at home till Sat morning. Really this was a good thing as both Melinda and I were exhausted from the the work week.
Sat morning we hit the road early and met up with Abby & Andy and tore up some Cracker Barrel. We seem to get several CB gift cards every year so when we go, we go big. Country Boy breakfasts for all my friends. In the parking lot we saw a set up similar to ours but not quite as cool.

I dig the little camper but they're missing a few things: dogs, bikes, and a little shower for Melinda.

We also saw this really sweet Rat Rod, if your not familiar with the Rat Rod style google it and take a look around. I was jealous of this guy's ride.

Once we were finished gorging ourselves on all things hillbilly we loosened our belt buckles and got back on the road to Chatt. We attempted to get in at the local campground but being Memorial Day weekend everything was booked and I'm kinda glad we didn't as I'm sure it would have been a circus. Thankfully Abby's sister Leslie and her husband let us crash in their backyard and turn it into our our little mini campground for the weekend. The one cool thing about this campground was, it was free and they're house backed up to a small brewery, The Moccasin Bend Brewery, which of course we had to visit.

Never having been on a brewery tour I can't really rate how well it was but for a small brewery that I had never heard of run by a couple of guys who seem to take they're beer drinking seriously, it was pretty fun and interesting.

We sampled everything they had on tap which was around 8 or 9 beers plus the tour for only $8.
The brewery wasn't much to look at but the beer was good and that was the most important part.

Our original plan was to hit Raccoon Mountain for a ride first thing but it wasn't hard to sway us into the brewery tour. Although the ladies decided to pass on riding Andy and I were determined to get a few miles of singletrack in no matter what. We came to ride and that's just what we did.

I've been dreaming of Raccoon Mountain ever since we had last visited and I wasn't about to pass up a chance to get to ride it again. Unfortunately I forgot the camera and I'm still without a Hero cam so no pics or videos. Father's Day is coming up, soooo..... maybe I'll have a new cam by then, hint hint.

Just as anticipated Raccoon was awesome, we were a bit short on time and with a few beers in our systems we only rode half of the trail system which was still longer than a ride at our local trailhead so I was satisfied for the moment. We took a bit different route than last time and included the lower part of Chunky which held up to it's name. The upper section of Chunky is really geared towards the guys with no fear and more travel than I have in both my mountain bikes combined. The Mamasita like to go fast but stay closer to the ground.
With a Memorial Day style cookout on the agenda we finished up the ride with enough singletrack to shake a stick at and headed back to the backyard campground for the evenings festivities.

I'm gonna have to save some for tomorrow as there is too much to tell in one post and I have a lot of unpacking and cleaning to do. We didn't get in last night until after midnight and the bikes are still on the truck. Next on tap, Tanasi!

doing the dirty work

Sorry for the delay, after writing the post about the race I was drawing a blank on what else there was to say about Hungry Mother and the Night Owl. If you've got something important to do go ahead you won't miss anything exciting here, if not read on and hopefully I'll entertain you.

Last weekend was was a first for a couple pieces of equipment for me. One the Magicshine LED light that has been super popular mainly for it's bright light and really low price. I attached the MS to my helmet and threw the tiny battery in my jersey pocket. Normally I run a camelbak on my night rides b/c the Niterider batteries I own are twice the size and weight of the MS and the weight really pulls on my jersey, something I hate. The MS battery is so light it's almost like it's not even there. The MS light itself is super light compared to the Niterider headlamps, something else I'm super picky about. The Nightrider over time would pull my helmet forward driving me crazy b/c I was constantly adjusting my helmet throughout the ride. Once I had the MS light in place I was set and there was never a time during the race that I had to make an adjustment. Just prior to the start of the race I rolled onto some singletrack in the park lit my lights and made sure everything was pointing in the direction I wanted them to.
Not that I needed another light I went ahead and mounted the Niterider to my handlebar because I could. I figured the more light the better. The MS out shined the NR by a long shot. At first I though my NR wasn't working because I had both beams focused on the same spot. I can't believe I used to race with only halogens, how did I see anything? I might just sell the Niterider and buy another Magicshine, that would almost be cheating with that much light. I could turn night into day.

The other piece of equipment tried out was the new Yakima Bow Down kayak racks on the truck. Loading them was quite a bit easier and it left alot more room on the rack for our bikes which took less time getting everything adjusted. I did have one boat come loose on the way back but not so much that I lost it on the road. It stayed put thankfully, it could have been bad had the boat slipped off the back and hit the camper or road at 70 mph. The reason for the boat coming loose was not really a defect but more of a miscalculation on the mounting. I mounted the Bow Downs exactly according to the directions but now I know there is a need for adjustment. I think Yakima might need to rework their directions. One plus of the Bow Down was the bottle openers that were on the end. You can never have enough bottle openers, especially when camping.





The past couple of weeks leading up to last weekend I discovered a clog in the ECO toilet. I think a roll of regular toilet paper might have snuck into the camper somehow and hid itself among the RV friendly paper. I tried just about everything except Drain-O which was my last resort. I filled the "black water" tank up with water and enough chemical for a whole summer of camping in hopes that it would break down whatever was causing the problem. As soon as we hit the campground I made a b line for the sewer dump station, a place that has generated many good stories for me, and unloaded the tank. As it dumped I heard and felt something move through the line hopefully a wad of tp and ever since we've been clog free.







Everytime I dump the "black water" tank Melinda gets nervous, we had a rather bad experience the first time we did this. Evidently I didn't have the hose clamp screwed on tight enough and once I opened the valve all hell broke loose. I'll skip the details and leave that to your imagination but that was the first time I ever saw Melinda get over her fear of driving the truck with the ECO attached as she was so embarrassed she decided to get out of there before someone realized what we did. The problem was, she left me standing, I thought for a minute I was going to have to walk home. Now everytime we purge the demons Melinda runs me through her mental checklist and stands over top of me to make sure I don't screw up. She must be feeling better about the situation these days since she took the time to snap a pic of me doing the dirty work.

This weekend we are off again with the ECO in tow headed to Chattanooga. Unfortunately we were not able to get into a campground due to it being Memorial Day, so we are setting up camp in a friends yard. No big deal, the campground is nothing special and we're really only going for the riding which more than makes up for it. Raccoon Mountain with the ladies on Saturday and Sunday while they're going shopping we're going to hit Tanasi, should be a good trip.

I should have bought the monopoly game........

The 1st Annual Night Owl went off without a hitch. It was my first race @ Hungry Mother and also my first ride using my new LED headlamp, the popular Magicshine. I had my reservations about racing the Night Owl early on since a majority of the course is double track with very little in the way of technical features. This being the same weekend as the 12 Hours of Tsali I was torn between the two. Just about all of my friends went for the Night Owl due to it's lower costs, close proximity to home and local folks organizing. Tsali is at least 2 hours farther, about $50 more in race fees and put on by guy from Florida and by the conditions of the trails in the previous years it doesn't look like he really gave back much.

With all my options layed out I decided to do something different and support the local guy by racing the Night Owl. I knew the course would not be as fun to ride and the race would be alot shorter but the weekend as a whole was much more fun I'm sure of that. I attend races more for the fun of the whole experience than the glory of winning races. If I was just in it for the glory I would have given up long ago.

We hit the road early Fri and arrived just after noon to find a majority of the campground empty and any site we wanted. We ended up scoring a spot right next to the creek perfect for two dogs who like the water no matter what the temperature. The campground was excellent, nicer than many I've stayed in. The only thing I can think of that was annoying was the unusually nosey campground hosts. An older couple who took it upon themselves to try and attempt to be best friends with everyone and give them all sorts of worldly wisdom. Saturday morning, just after breakfast as Alan, Andy and I were discussing race strategies they came tooling through the campground on their golf cart just like they did every 30 minutes looking for someone to talk to. This time they were armed with Monopoly board games from the gift shop which they tried in vain to sell to us. I told them I was broke after paying $20 in fees just for my dogs to stay with me.

Enough about the campground, I know your really here to find out how the race went. The weeks leading up to the event we were sure that the turnout would be low since it was the first year for the Night Owl and the fact that it was sharing the same date as the 12 Hrs of Tsali. The day of the race were only 10 pre-registered riders and 8 of them were camping within the 3 sites surrounding me.

The NTMBA wrecking crew.

As we rolled into the starting area we were pleasantly surprised to find close to 40 racers, a majority of which were entered in the sport class. My plan was to stay put in sport and see what I could pull off. I knew with the big climb half way through the course I needed to stay ahead of most of the pack including mountain man Chris Dillow. Hungry Mother is kinda known as a roadies' mountain bike race course with double track and very little in the way of roots & rocks.

As we lined up behind the expert class I positioned myself right on the front line, something I normally don't do but I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. My plan was too go out hard get up front but not so hard that I blew up before I reached the climb.

With a quick word and a go we were off like a bat out of hell. I stomped it hard but some cat on my outside stomped it harder got around me and lead us all out at the most blistering pace I've ever ridden in a race. I had a very bad feeling right off the bat and I had no choice but to continue because everyone of my friends and half the field were breathing down my back. The first mile and a half circled the lake not really doing much other than making us spend alot of energy. I really wish I could have seen it on video. Right before we hit the first bridge I heard and felt Chris make an attempt to pass but the bridge proved to be too narrow and rather than go for a swim he backed off but only for a moment. In less than 50 yards he was around me and pulling away. I knew right then this was going to be a tough race. I managed somehow to catch Chris again and regain 2nd but in the process Fat Tony & some other guy got by us both. Great, even more people to race hard with. As the trail got a bit more technical I somehow managed to pass Anthony and then I heard a crack of rock against aluminum followed by an OH SH*T! come from Fat Tony. I looked back saw that he was ok and took advantage of the situation and put some distance on them and attempted to catch my breath.

As we reached and began the climb I knew it would only be a matter of time before Chris caught me and he did, and once again he passed me. Not long after that we caught the guy who started this craziness and that ridiculous pace. Evidently his gas tank was running dry but I didn't trash talk him one bit as mine was feeling the same. Twice in the past 2 weeks I did this same climb and stayed in the saddle the whole time. That night I was out of the saddle standing and mashing a 1x9 as everyone else was spinning their granny gear. The further we climbed the more the lights ahead grew closer, we were catching 1st place I thought to myself. As I proceeded to pass I realized we weren't passing 1st but we had caught the tail end of the expert class.

I tried my best to get by Chris the whole way up the mountain but it was all I had to stay on his wheel. I just stayed put looked for an opening and hoped one came before we reached the top. None came but we did catch another expert rider just before our turn off. I know what you're thinking, we should have been racing expert but we had a shorter climb so we were able to spend more energy climbing faster and if anyone was sandbagging it was our leader who was no where in site.

As we reached the top and started descending I was all over the back of Chris's rear tire trying not to be pushy but I could feel another rider getting antsy behind me as well so as soon I had the chance I gave it all I had and sprinted by hoping no one followed. The guy behind me must have done the same because he was on my back in no time. My sprint past Chris left me with nothing as the trail turned back up hill and the guy was able to get around me.

I knew my chances of regaining 2nd were getting slimmer so I chased hard down the mountain keeping him in my sites until my handle bar light decided to drop and point at my front tire. I thought seriously about just letting it hang the rest of the race since I still had my Magicshine but my bar light was mounted to and open ended mount and it would have never stayed put. I slowed down managed to unplug the light with one hand, remove the light and shove it in my jersey pocket all without stopping. That move alone moved my chances from regaining 2nd from 50% down to 10 or 15%. I hit the gas and decided to keep as much distance between me and fourth as possible.

As I rounded the lake I felt like crap but I pushed on looking over my shoulder everytime I heard the slightest noise thinking 4th was gaining on me but I never saw any lights. I finally realized what the noise was that kept me looking over my shoulder. The cable that was running from my battery up to my handlebar light had unraveled and was now flopping wildly against my tire and once again rather than lose valuable equipment I slowed long enough to fix the situation.

Even with 2 slow downs I still managed to maintain a respectable 3rd, actually my first podium in a solo mountain bike race.

to be continued...........

race preparations gone all wrong

How many things can I possibly do make myself not ready for a race? It's 4:37 am on Fri morning and I've been up all night. This week has been a bear at work, lots of work going on. I planned to let my legs rest all week in an effort to be strong for Saturday's race at Hungry Mother but instead I'm sore all over and I feel like I've got shin splints from standing on concrete all week. Hopefully I'll be able to turn it around in the next 2 days and be ready for that nasty climb half way through the course.

Yesterday afternoon I was getting everything ready for a weekend of camping and an just before I was supposed to leave for work I decided to take my hitch rack off and replace it with the hitch for the ECO. The last time I did this, two months ago, I found that the stabilizer bolt/hitch pin had gotten rusty and was difficult to remove. I should have replaced it but I didn't and so guess what, this time it didn't just stick. When I tried to free the bolt the piece, (not sure what it's called) inside the 2" tube broke instead allowing the bolt and it to spin freely while not allowing the bolt to come out. I ended up having to break out my hack saw and cut the head of the bolt off just to remove my bike rack. I guess now I have to replace the bolt and the part that it screws into.
As long as next week runs smoother than this week I should have a full race/camping report complete with pics. Still no video, I've yet to purchase a new Hero cam, but Hungry Mother's trails are that interesting anyway.

greenbelt on steriods?

What can I say about the trails at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion VA. They're definitely not singletrack trails but they are fast, steep when the going goes up, and loose. It kind of reminds me of a greenbelt on steriods minus the pavement. Had they gone the singletrack route, Hungry Mother could have been a very popular place to ride.

I met up with Alan yesterday morning in Ingles parking lot and he rolled in with yet another new to him bike. I think he has had more bikes in the past 2 years than I have had in a lifetime. How he switches bikes so often as a full time college student I'll never understand.






We decided a change of scenery was needed so we headed up to HMSP to reacquaint ourselves with the trails before we show up for the Night Owl race in two weeks. I'm glad we did, the trails really aren't that technical but at 30 miles an hour the descents can be very sketchy, especially with loose rock scattering the trail and blind turns that if your not careful can send you flying down a steep embankment. No worries there are plenty of trees to stop you before you reach the bottom. The course starts out with a semi flat doubletrack trail that circles the lake before entering the woods. Once in the woods the course winds around for a couple of miles doing nothing really spectacular and then you begin the climb and it sucks in sections. Steep in sections and long especially if your racing the expert class. I was able to climb everything on the sport class section but we opted to see how nasty it got if we stayed on the expert course. Some of the sections on the expert course were so steep I had to walk for loss of traction. I was running a 1x9 setup so there was no spinning for me. 3/4 of the way up my left knee was beginning to protest because of lack of a proper warm up and pushing too big of a gear climbing. Several times I thought surely we've reached the top only to round a turn and find yet another climb that went further than I could see and I started having my doubts about upgrading to the expert class. Currently I'm registered in sport but I'll probably wait till race day to make my decision of whether to stay put or not.





Once we finally reached the top I told Alan to go ahead, his descending skills are way better than mine and with that he disappeared from my sight. I've really got to work on my downhill skills, I guess you can say I'm a bit of a chicken. Throughout the descent there a several dips in the trail meant to divert water off the trail but at high speed can easily divert you off the trail. With the loose rock, everytime I hit one of these I would leave the ground get squirrely and come very close to the edge. The turns have absolutely no banking whatsoever so once again the loose trail made it difficult to stay on course. Don't get me wrong it was alot of fun but add darkness and multiple riders to the equation and I can see it will make for some interesting stories around the campfire later that evening. New brake pads are a must before this race.
This is definitely will not be a singlespeed friendly course with the steep climbs and long flat runs the geared bikes will leave you in the dust. If there was a singlespeed category I would consider it but their isn't.

If you don't get a chance to pre-ride the course or are not even able to attend keep your eyes peeled for a video on Alan's blog as he's the only one with a functioning Hero cam right now.

wanna be the coolest kid on your block?

I've got so much going on right now I've had trouble putting together anything for a decent blog post so if I tend to ramble a bit this morning I apologize. Nah forget that.

Our AC has been out for almost 2 weeks here at the house but luckily Mother Nature has been nice to us and kept the temps down while we entertain estimators with dancing girls and drinks trying to get the best deal possible. So far everyone has given us a quote but one and I'm about to go ahead with the decision process without him. If I have to wait this long for him to give me a price how long will I have to wait for him to install a heat pump. I guess the dancing girls weren't a good idea after all.

In other cycling related news I heard that the Bays mtn race this year will finally include some singletrack. I know, I know we heard that same story last year but we have to think positive here. If the course is not what the rumors say it will be then I may just lead a boycott and go rogue off the course and hit the singletrack anyway. I'm tired of gravel road racing. If the rumors are true then yeah for us. I took it upon myself to ride what is rumored to be the course and I really enjoyed it. Maybe because the singletrack was a ton of fun and I had a hand in building it. It really makes it that much more exciting to ride trails you help build. The course will be tougher this year because instead of the roadies big ringing it down a gravel road they'll be fighting through the twisty stuff with me breathing down their neck looking for a place to pass. At least that's the way it's playing out in my head. I clocked the course at just a mile and a half longer than last year and the fun factor much higher.
I don't plan on stopping there, next year I'm going to push for even more singletrack.

If you haven't already made plans for this weekend go ahead and sign up for the 2nd Annual Bike @ Bays put on by the fine folks of NTMBA. It's going to be another huge success this year with a ton of door prizes, demo bikes to ride that you've been gawking at online and don't forget free food catered by Texas Roadhouse. So go ahead and visit the website to get signed up and get your free pass.

It looks as if the rumors were wrong and the Bristol Challenge is back. A triathlon/duathlon held at Steele Creek Park in Bristol. I did this one 2 or 3 years ago and scored a 3rd place finish right behind Mr. Dillow who is a much faster runner than I am. Did I mention that it was my first ever duathlon? Maybe I'll get to do it again this year if my schedule will allow, currently all of my vacation is accounted for. I'd like to give Mr. Dillow another run for his money. Or I might just let it all hang out and go for the tri since I now own a kayak. Maybe

I know you've probably already seen the t-shirt all over the internet, ok maybe just the local forum or FB but they are in. The big ole box is currently sitting on the guest bed directly behind me. You know you want one, you'll be the coolest kid on your block I promise. $15 is what it takes to own one of these bad boys and don't dilly dally around thinking you can wait till we're hurting to sell the last 10 and score a deal. These things are going fast, I've already sold half of them and I just picked them up yesterday. So if you want one act fast, send me an email, call me, send smoke signals, whatever it takes but trust me these baby's are a one time run. In other words I won't be making anymore, once they're gone they're gone and if you wait you'll be sorry you did. Don't worry I won't say I told you so, I let Alan do that.

don't miss the boat!

Just finished the 2010 NTMBA jersey design. I tried to make the changes small to appease those who don't like change and make it a bit fresh for those who do. If you want one let me know ASAP. All jersey orders must be paid in full prior to placing the order, I can't afford to pay for them myself. The deadline to get yours will be June 7th so get your check book out now.



See the price list here.

click pic to make biggie

In other cycling art related news the new T-shirts will be ready for pick up this coming Monday. I'll only have 55 and some folks have already reserved their's.

$15 will get you one of the coolest shirts to hit the street or trail.

They won't last long so be quick like a rabbit.

mom and dad tackle the creeper

Last weekend my parents rolled into town and planned on bringing their bikes along just in case there was a chance to ride. I guess it runs in the family so I decided this would be a good time to expose them to the VA. Creeper trail which up until the day before my Mom though was paved. The weather forecast was looking good and everything appeared to be in our favor. Instead of the usual round trip ride we opted for hiring one of the local shuttle services to take us to the top of the mountain and ride down. We had quite a crew with 8 adults and 4 little ones sharing 2 carts pulled by their Dads'.





As we loaded up in the shuttle a few rain drops began to fall on the windshield of the van and I heard a few uh ohs. The whole drive up we looked east, west and in the direction of our destination trying to figure out if we were going to get wet.
As our luck would have it we arrived to find the parking lot dry but as soon as we took off down the trail within minutes the rain began to fall. Everyone tried to remain positive but as the rain soaked us I had a feeling this might be the first and last trip to the Creeper for most of our crew.
After a while we could see a break in the rain and we managed to ride out of it. The only problem was we couldn't stop and enjoy the scenery because every time we did the rain would catch back up to us.





One of my biggest concerns before the ride began was how will the kids do. For the most part they seemed to really enjoy themselves despite the bad weather.

My Mom actually had a smile on her face even though her legs were covered in the infamous Creeper trail grime. She even stated at the end of the ride that she would like to return and do it again.

While we were loading up our bikes in the shuttle parking lot I was checking out my Dad's really cool antique Schwinn cruiser when I noticed not only was the bike an antique but so were the tires. They were so dry rotted and cracked I was afraid we were going to spend a long day walking instead of riding. Of course I jumped at the chance to return the lecture he gave me when I turned 16 and got my first car, just like an automobile regular maintenance on a bike is a must. There will be no doubt what to get him for Father's Day this year. My Mom even threatened to buy him a new bike.

Although most of us were soaked and some covered in grime to my surprise everyone agreed a return trip was definitely a must. We ended the day with dinner and drinks at Bella's Pizza in Abingdon and luckily for me the famous Bourbon Barrel Stout was on tap and it definitely lived up to the hype.

In other non cycling related news my cycling friend Jason, also one of Johnson City's finest had the opportunity to pull over the Mayor of Johnson City for speeding recently. Unfortunately the Mayor was not on her best behavior and some of her comments to Jason as he cited her were a bit uncalled for. Props to Jason for standing up to her and doing his job regardless of her threats.

zzzzzt... zzzzzzt..... zzzzzzzzzzzt.. zzt.. zzt.. zzzzzzzzzzzt..

It's been 2 years since the last time I went under the needle and had some new artwork done by my good friend Tom. The last time I went to see him he was the owner of 2TonTat2. Since then he sold the business and went out on his own to slow things down a bit open up a new shop and focus more on his art and riding his bike.
For a while I have been thinking about completing the piece I've had on my left shoulder and upper arm. The space left was the inside of my bicep. My plan was to keep with the cycling theme but keep it simple. I've seen alot of cool stuff lately as more and more pro cyclists are sporting full sleeve tattoos. I've been thinking about a script font tattoo for a while so I called up Tom told him what I was thinking and the place I wanted it to go.
Of course Tom did not disappoint me when I walked into his new tattoo/bike shop to inspect what he had drawn up for me.
I thought I had a cool bike room but Tom really took it to the next level with several bikes ranging from a custom cruiser a sweet dirt jump rig & various other dirt machines.

About an hour and a half later I walked out with a brand new tattoo and a big smile on my face.

I think Melinda was a little skeptical at first but once she saw the finished product she was impressed.