FATS: part 1

Melinda and I just returned from a 6 day trip to FATS in South Carolina. FATS (Forks Area Trail System) is an awesome trail system that is about 20 minutes north of Augusta GA. The campground we stayed at was actually in GA but only a 10 minute drive from the trailhead in SC. We left last Saturday with plans to stay through Thursday but we ended up staying an extra day because we were enjoying ourselves a little too much. We rolled into our drive 2 hours before I had to be at work this afternoon so I didn't have time to sort through any photos for your viewing pleasure.

First up I got the JET rolling with all of it's new bling the Friday before we left.




The new Fox fork was finally mounted once the wheels came in, all in white. Stan's ZTR Arch rims with Sram X9 hubs. I also scored a new to me drivetrain, not that it needed it but the deal was too good to pass up. With the new fork, wheelset and drivetrain the JET felt like a totally different bike. I had so much fun riding it that the only time I rode the AIR9 was to run the trash to the dumpster. I put somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 singletrack miles on the JET and it felt awesome!. It's amazing what a tapered steer tube and thru axel can do for a bike, not to mention a wheelset that's not bent all to hell. It's been a while since I've had a bike with a granny gear and I'll admit I'm scared it might make me a little soft. The only thing I'm disappointed in is the fact that the new chain guide system I installed a while back had to come off but the alternative is worth it.

So about the trails, FATS is like a giant roller coaster or pump track I guess you could say. I'm pretty sure it's mostly machine built with very little in the way of roots and rocks. There isn't much in the way of big climbs either, it's all about big swooping fun. Even though the trails are smooth enough for a beginner to ride with ease it would still be easy to get yourself into trouble by flying off the trail with too much speed.




One of the more popular trails, "the Brown Wave", properly named for the feeling of surfing on the bike. This was one of our favorites and one of only two that we rode more than once. I had read several articles on this trail and it held up to all of the hype and praise, I wish we had a Brown Wave nearby.

The only thing FATS lacked were technical sections, after 2 or 3 days of riding I started wishing for more rocks and roots. Although FATS was a total blast to ride I could see myself getting bored after a while if I was a local. I cleaned every trail in it's entirety at FATS the first time I rode it. I can't say that about some of my local trails. The one thing that does make riding FATS tough is the heat, it wore us down faster than a 6 mile climb. You couldn't escape it, Melinda and I were both carrying water bottles specifically just for pouring on our heads during the ride by the end of our trip.

Our campsite was one of the nicest I've stayed at in a while, we scored a sweet spot with plenty of room right on the lake. We could of easily fit two tents and two more cars in with our camper and they had much bigger sites. Our entire week consisted of getting up early, eating breakfast and then heading straight to the trails to beat the heat. When we were too tired or hot to ride anymore we would retreat back to camp, eat lunch and then head to the lake with a cooler of beer and the dogs to recharge. The dogs absolutely loved it, probably one of their favorite trips we've been on.

Unfortunately I didn't get any footage with the GoPro, I decided to wait until I got a better feel for the trail system the first couple of days before filming. Once I knew my way around and what was worth shooting I ran into a dead battery problem. I'm not sure what happened, I charged them all before I left so it's a mystery. I'm sure we'll be back for more later this year or next so I'll give it another shot then.

too be continued......

random

Been busy lately hence the lack of posts, although I didn't get any quality riding in this week I did get down to Asheville last weekend for a Bent Creek ride with some people I don't get to ride with often. Most of my usual riding crew was outta town, doing other important stuff or sitting through weddings that had no juice.

Luckily for us the threatening rain and thunder held off until right up until the very end. Had I not lead a small group down the wrong trail which dead ended into a fence we probably wouldn't have gotten wet. We were the last ones off the trail but also the cleanest riders in our group to leave. Probably the last 3 miles of our backtracking, trying to find the right turn was in a heavy down pour. It was actually pretty nice as both me and my bike were clean by the end of the ride. So clean in fact that I forgot to take a shower that evening once we got home and it wasn't until Melinda insisted the next afternoon that I did so.

On the way home Rick conned Olga and Melinda into stopping at the nearest grocery to hunt for some beer that we can't get in TN. I scored big with 3 different New Belgiums and an Abita I've never seen. They didn't have the mix-a-six program like most stores but I got lucky and found a pre-mixed pack allowing me to get 4 different kinds of my choosing in 2 packs.

I'm off to the LBS this morning to pick up the JET with it's new facelift. This bike is going to be super pimp with a lot of white bling. Alan said something along the lines of me looking like Frosty the Snowman. The wheels finally came in and the fork is on. Unfortunately I probably won't have time to ride it today due to getting it all dialed in but we have a trip to FATS coming up where I'm sure it will see much more action than the AIR9.

FATS in the heat of the summer? Yes, having a camper with AC does make taking trips like this a bit more doable no matter what the weather. This trip is just Melinda and I with the dogs, we didn't really take a vacation alone last year so we're getting one in this year but skipping the beach in favor of singletrack.

I plan to take the Go Pro and shoot plenty of video of the riding, it's been a while since my last video.

words of wisdom from the guys @ Surly bikes

Every once in a while the guys from Surly write a blog post that really makes me smile, today this one was one of those posts and I thought I would share.

Enjoy

If you think your bike looks good, it does.

If you like the way your bike rides, it’s an awesome bike.

You don’t need to spend a million dollars to have a great bike, but if you do spend a million dollars and know what you want you’ll probably also have a great bike.

Yes, you can tour on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can race on your bike – whatever it is.

Yes, you can commute on your bike – whatever it is.

26” wheels or 29” or 650b or 700c or 24” or 20” or whatever – yes, that wheel size is rad and you’ll probably get where you’re going.

Disc brakes, cantis, v-brakes, and road calipers all do a great job of stopping a bike when they’re working and adjusted.

No paint job makes everyone happy.

Yes, you can put a rack on that. Get some p-clamps if there are no mounts.

Steel is a great material for making bike frames - so is aluminum, carbon fiber, and titanium.

You can have your saddle at whatever angle makes you happy.

Your handlebars can be lower than your saddle, even with your saddle, or higher than your saddle. Whichever way you like it is right.

Being shuttled up a downhill run does not make you a weak person, nor does choosing not to fly off of a 10 foot drop.

Bike frames made overseas can be super cool. Bike frames made in the USA can be super cool.

Hey, tattooed and pierced long shorts wearin flat brim hat red bull drinkin white Oakley sportin rad person on your full suspension big hit bike – nice work out there.

Hey, little round glasses pocket protector collared shirt skid lid rear view mirror sandal wearing schwalbe marathon running pletscher two-leg kickstand tourist – good job.

Hey, shaved leg skinny as hell super duper tan line hear rate monitor checking power tap train in the basement all winter super loud lycra kit million dollar wheels racer – keep it up.

The more you ride your bike, the less your ass will hurt.

The following short answers are good answers, but not the only ones for the question asked – 29”, Brooks, lugged, disc brake, steel, Campagnolo, helmet, custom, Rohloff, NJS, carbon, 31.8, clipless, porteur.

No bike does everything perfectly. In fact, no bike does anything until someone gets on it to ride.
Sometimes, recumbent bikes are ok.

Your bikeshop is not trying to screw you. They’re trying to stay open.

Buying things off of the internet is great, except when it sucks.

Some people know more about bikes than you do. Other people know less.

Maybe the person you waved at while you were out riding didn’t see you wave at them.

It sucks to be harassed by assholes in cars while you’re on a bike. It also sucks to drive behind assholes on bikes.

Did you build that yourself? Awesome. Did you buy that? Cool.

Wheelies are the best trick ever invented. That’s just a fact.

Which is better, riding long miles, or hanging out under a bridge doing tricks? Yes.

Yes, you can break your collar bone riding a bike like that.

Stopping at stop signs is probably a good idea.

Driving with your bikes on top of your car to get to a dirt trail isn’t ideal, but for most people it’s necessary.

If your bike has couplers, or if you have a spendy bike case, or if you pay a shop to pack your bike, or if you have a folding bike, shipping a bike is still a pain in the ass for everyone involved.

That dent in your frame is probably ok, but maybe it’s not. You should get it looked at.

Touch up paint always looks like shit. Often it looks worse than the scratch.

A pristine bike free of dirt, scratches, and wear marks makes me sort of sad.

A bike that’s been chained to the same tree for three years caked with rust and missing parts makes me sad too.

Bikes purchased at Wal-mart, Target, Costco, or K-mart are generally not the best bang for your buck.

Toe overlap is not the end of the world, unless you crash and die – then it is.

Sometimes parts break. Sometimes you crash. Sometimes it’s your fault.

Yes, you can buy a bike without riding it first. It would be nice to ride it first, but it’s not a deal breaker not to.

Ownership of a truing stand does not a wheel builder make.

32 spokes, 48 spokes, 24 spokes, three spokes? Sure.

Single speed bikes are rad. Bikes with derailleurs and cassettes are sexy. Belt drive internal gear bikes work great too.

Columbus, TruTemper, Reynolds, Ishiwata, or no brand? I’d ride it.

Tubeless tires are pretty cool. So are tubes.

The moral of RAGBRAI is that families and drunken boobs can have fun on the same route, just maybe at different times of day.

Riding by yourself kicks ass. You might also try riding with a group.

Really fast people are frustrating, but they make you faster. When you get faster, you might frustrate someone else.

Stopping can be as much fun as riding.

Lots of people worked their asses off to build whatever you’re riding on. You should thank them.

dancing the bike room jig

There has been alot of moving and shaking going on at "riding with dogs" headquarters. When I say moving and shaking I'm referring to bike frames and parts. With the acquisition of not 1 but 2 Niners this past year for me, Melinda has been long over due for a new bike or frame or whatever. I've been on her to find something new but in a mostly male dominated sport there just aren't alot of choices out there for women. Half of them are spec'd low or have foo foo paint jobs and Melinda just doesn't like foo foo color schemes. After much discussion and an attempt on a demo Niner she decided to stick with the BMC but this years model. Rather than buy the whole bike, she just went for the frame and swapped over all the parts. She's been upgrading parts and really has her bike decked out. It's easily the nicest spec'd bike in the bike room.

After a couple of days of riding the new frame she complained about smacking her pedals on roots and rocks she had not previously hit. After a bit of over due research we realized there was a bit of a geometry change in the frames. Her new bike was set up to run a 120mm fork and her old frame a 100mm. I made another call to the LBS and she now has a new Rock Shox SID on the way, wow!


I spoke of moving and shaking and it's not all been on Melinda's side of the room. The JET is in the process of a facelift as well. I did a bit of researched, asked alot of questions, thought about it and then re-asked some questions and then made the call to replace the current Reba SL fork with a new 2012 Fox F29 RLC 15mm thru axel fork with the Kashima coating, I love saying that word, Kashima, it just rolls off the tongue. Anyway the part in question was my Mavic wheelset, I wasn't sure if it would convert to a thru axel but after many questions I was told it would. Well, the fork came in and I immediately went to work trying to convert the front wheel to accept the thru axel but it was a no go. I'm not placing blame anywhere so don't anyone get huffy, I should have done my homework a little better and I wanted and needed a new wheelset anyway so what the hay.


After much debating and pricing I finally placed an order, then today I changed that order to something slightly different but I'm gonna wait until the wheels get here before letting the cat out of the bag as to what.











Until then the fancy Kashima will have to reside here on the couch.


Since my discovery of the crack in my road frame yesterday I've given some thought to what to do in my predicament. I'm not making any decisions yet mainly because there is too much going on in the way of upgrades to the fat tire bikes right now but I have had my eye on a certain steel frame made by Surly for a loooong time.










I've had a soft spot in my heart for the Cross Check for sometime but due to my lack of CX racing and commuting I've never pulled the trigger on one. Maybe later in the summer if I pull a couple of overtime shifts I might be able to acquire one of these bad boys and swap over the parts from my road bike. I know it's not a true road bike but I'm not a true roadie either. I don't race on the road nor do I do metrics or centuries or anything like that. A frame like this for me could be a road bike, a commuter, and a singlespeed/geared CX bike.

I'm not making any decisions, I can't afford to right now but who know what the future holds, I'm just thinking out loud. Man that Robin Egg blue looks weird and cool all wrapped up in one big ball of steel. I like weird and cool.

my road riding season officially started and ended today

I stated earlier in the year that I planned to ride my road bike more this year and I was serious when I said that. I had a small itch to ride the road, very small. So small that I haven't scratched it until today. I had most of the day off today and I was trying to think of something easy to do to give my legs a rest but yet I didn't want to waste the day and not ride. I decided the time had come to take the road bike down off the wall and take it for a spin.

I have contemplated selling it a couple of times this summer but kept talking myself out of it thinking I would regret it. I knew I had to get out and ride it to see if I had been missing anything. I decided to do just a short ride and work some of the soreness out of my legs and try to just have fun. The thing about road riding for me is it's hard to free your mind and just ride, I'm constantly watching and listening for cars. In the woods I don't have to worry as much about this because if I come into contact with something it's my fault.

As I rolled out of the parking lot it and onto the road I went through a quick run down of all the shifty bits and brakes, everything worked smoothly and flawlessly. The good thing about road bikes is, the parts last so much longer and take much less abuse.

I wish I could say I fell in love with road riding all over again but I didn't, I didn't hate it but there was nothing there that made me want to ride more and more. I actually found myself thinking about my mountain bikes and some of the new upgrades I doing to the JET. I imagined my self slicing through the woods, leaning my bike into bermed turns, getting small amounts of effortless air off of rocks and natural dirt jumps and splashing through creeks. Yeah I'm truly a mountain biker at heart, if I was told I could only own one bike it would be one with fat knobby tires, no doubt about it.

As I pedaled along I tried to immerse myself in the road but the pavement never really changes like the trail does. There are no berms, roots, rocks or wooden structures. Occasionally you'll run across some rough or broken pavement, maybe a dead raccoon but riding on skinny tires pumped up to 110 psi really makes riding over anything but smooth pavement suck.

As I cruised back into the parking lot where I left my truck I decided one ride was not enough to give up and sell my bike. It would take some time to get back into the groove and get a feel for riding the road, then maybe I will enjoy it more.

As I lifted my bike up onto the bike rack I gazed across the frame admiring it's sleek lines when something caught my eye. I took a closer look at the top of the seat stay just above the area where the carbon meets the aluminum and wiped the road grime off the paint. I'll be damned if there wasn't a hairline crack all the way around the top half of the tube. I couldn't believe it, just when I thought I was going to re-open an old door it was slammed back into my face. Suddenly I felt that feeling of despair when you loose something special. Even though I've neglected my road bike for the past couple of years I still like to ride it and any thoughts of selling it to fund another mtn bike or some bling bling parts were washed away in an instance.

Now I'm left not knowing what to do with my situation, I really don't see myself spending any money on a new frame anytime soon. With all of the new upgrades to mine and Melinda's mountain bikes there is just no room in the budget. That and once the transformation of the JET is complete a new road frame would get passed up all summer and just collect dust on the wall.

I guess for now I'm just going to hang the broken bike on the wall until something speaks to me.

tough as iron and skull fragments

Every once in a while a group gets together and does a backcountry ride in the mountains of VA. Iron Mountain they call it and the name is fitting. It's a tough place to ride up and down. This year I've managed to make it twice which is really unusual for me. A majority of the time the ride dates are set on days I work and with the limited amount of vacation I usually have to pass.

I'm supposed to be racing the H8R in Knoxville this weekend but after a date change by the promoter AGAIN, B-Rad my teammate had to bail due to work. I hope this trend does not continue, I would like to step on the podium again and maybe for the overall. I tried rounding up a fill in for B-Rad but that didn't work so I decided to pull out myself and do the Iron Mtn ride with all of the crew.


Watching the thread on my local forum the rider number kept growing and growing. After it was all said and done I added one more and we maxed out the shuttle at 13.

Shuttle? Yep, I had a co-worker looking over my shoulder as I was uploading pics and he asked if I was shuttled to the top of the Creeper. What? This definitely was no Creeper ride!

We had a good crew rolling with us with a wide variety of skill levels making for a fun day on the mountain and no big push to hammer the whole way. We took plenty of stops, took pics, ate PB&J's, talked to horseback riders and had a good laugh at Chris's mismatched kit.


Our first attempt at this ride earlier this year was cut short due to 6 inches of ice covering the fire road ascent to Skull's Gap. There is nothing like a long steep fire road climb straight off the shuttle with no warm-up to get you moving. As we reached the top and waited for all of the crew to regroup we noticed Fat Tony and Sean were missing. Rick announced they were just a 100 yards down the road working on Sean's brakes. Andy and I decided to ride back down and see if we could be of assistance. 1000 yards later we still didn't see any sign of them and almost turned around until they rounded the corner brakes squealing. Andy layed hands on Sean's brakes and commanded them to be quiet and they did. Once he was rolling smoothly and quiet again we climbed back to the top and began the singletrack descent. As we descended I realized why it was named Skull's Gap, it was because of all the skull fragments littering the trail from previous riders who's skill wasn't up to par. The trail was rough, rocky and demanded your full attention or you might find yourself going head first over the bars adding to the collection of skull fragments.







The first, fast smooth fire road descent I noticed just how bad my rear wheel has gotten. My plan was to ride it until it bit the dust before rebuilding it. As the rear end of my bike developed a slight shimmy I decided that time had come.











On Iron Mountain the climbing while not really that long can be rough and steep forcing you to dismount and hike-a-bike often. The descents are worth it but I found myself working almost as hard going down as I did going up. Just staying on my bike and keeping my line became tough. Some descents my arms and hands ached from the beating they took and the constant braking. I'm sure my brake pads are toast now.







At the beginning of the ride I packed as much water as I could hold in my Camel Bak and in water bottles not knowing halfway through the ride we would have a water stop. Next time I'll drop about 5 lbs and only bring what I need.


About 3/4 of the way through the ride I was thinking about how lucky we had been with such a large group and no mechanicals and then it happened. A stick grabbed ahold of Andy's derailleur and decided to go for a ride into his rear wheel. Fortunately the only thing that was destroyed was his derailleur hanger. After some serious trail side work that included trying to straighten his hanger with a rock, Andy finally converted his bike to a 2x1 and rode what he could and walked the rest.






With just a little over 4 miles to go we reached an intersection that split us up. Once choice was to turn left, descend Beech Grove to the Creeper trail and ride the remaining 4 miles into town or go right, climb for about a mile and then descend singletrack into town. Chris and a couple others decided to go left while the rest of us stayed right. As we stood at the intersection trying to figure out who was going where Chris and I started trash talking about which way was the better route. It was finally decided that we would each take our respective trails and race to the cars back in town, the loser had to buy the winner a beer at dinner.


The green flag was dropped and so was the hammer, me climbing him descending. Anthony told me before we started that he thought our route was faster but I wasn't too sure. My legs were toast from all the climbing, hiking and descending but I dug deep and cleaned it. The trail followed the ridge for a while on some of the smoothest singletrack we had ridden all day. I pushed as hard as my legs would allow enjoying every inch of the trail knowing I had chosen the best route no matter if I won or lost. As the trail began to drop off the mountain it the smooth trail turned ugly. The faster I went the more I bounced around, by the time I reached the bottom my arms and legs were screaming. There were several creek crossings near the bottom which I crashed through splashing water all over me. It felt nice and helped wash some of the mud off that I had accumulated over the ride. I popped out of the woods onto the asphalt, locked out the squish, ran through the gears and put the hammer down pointing the JET in the direction of town. The JET is not really known for it's speed especially on asphalt but the only cars that passed me were the ones going the opposite way.


As I rounded the corner I stood up trying to scan the parking lot for any signs of Chris. At first I didn't see anyone but the closer I got there he stood with a big smile on his face. He pulled in 30 seconds before me and as promised I bought his first beer.

let the summer begin

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it's been since my last post. So much going on, on the home front there hasn't been much time for blogging. One adventure with Melinda after another and 2 weeks have flown by. Normally this time of year we are in the middle of some big project on the house but this year we lucked out with a decent tax return and some insurance $$ from the recent storms so we've called in some hired help. These are projects out of my league anyway, roof, gutters and driveway, my skills are only so limited.

Slowly but surely Melinda's back has allowed her to do more and more although she's been careful not to push it too far. She's been putting in some miles at the trails on and off the bike.

Our last trip to Warriors we almost stepped on this guy. I don't know how we got so close without seeing him because he was pretty big and moving our way. I had to run him off with a stick just so Melinda could get into the truck.

Last Wednesday B-Rad, Wondergem, the Beast, Jesse and myself all ascended on Buffalo Mountain for a late evening ride to the firetower. It was a punishing pace to the top trying to keep up with those hammerheads but I managed. One on top we climbed the newly reconstructed firetower and took in the view and setting sun. Well, we didn't actually wait for the sun to set but it was close. Ben was without lights so we made for a hasty decent. I'm not sure how he managed but he lead the whole group down the mountain without lights in the dark. I guess he really knows that place well. Once we rolled back into town we pulled into B-Rad's pad for some post ride refreshments, Sam Adams & PBR, what a great combination. I think I may owe Brad a couple now.

Thursday Melinda and I switched gears and headed for the Holston River for some paddling. This was Melinda's first whitewater experience and she loved it. I'm not sure I will be able to get her back out on the lake after that. The Holston doesn't really offer alot in the way of rough whitewater but it was plenty for two kids in rec boats and no spray skirts. Once we were through the first set of rapids we had to stop and empty out our boats. Melinda had taken on several gallons of water and was sitting waist deep in her boat. I guess it may be time to invest in some skirts especially if we keep this up.

I've been moving some blog links around on the right, several of the local blogs have really gathered dust, I can't say much for mine but several were 3-6 months old so I deleted a couple, moved a couple down the list and added another to the list of folks I don't know but like to read. It's seems like they are my only real source of entertainment anymore. I don't know how some of these people have the time or the subject matter to blog 5 days a week and keep it entertaining but they do. I could never pull it off.

On the race front it appears as if GRT Racing will be a no show at the H8R. Due to a last minute date change by the promoter again, B-Rad had to pull out unable to get off work. I looked for a replacement but couldn't get anything nailed down so I'm opting to use my time off for a big fun group ride with all the homies up on Iron Mountain. I'll probably get in close to the same amount of miles as this ride won't be cut short due to icy conditions. With a crew rolling 15 deep this could be very interesting.

No Hero cam this time I think I'll probably just shoot some normal pics. I've been there and done that with the video, that and I won't have time to get my gear ready to roll before we head out.

more 12 Hours of Tsali

Normally GRT Racing does most of it's movement in the field of teams later in the race. We try to focus on consistency and racing right up to the very end. It's the last 2 or 3 hours that some teams find the hardest. Either they can't handle the endurance part of the race or they went too fast too early and have nothing left in the tank once the sun goes down. Several times when Mother Nature has not played nice we kept moving even though the conditions were less than desirable while the other teams threw in the towel in favor of dry clothes and a beer.
At Tsali the course was perfect, fast and almost too easy. If you have never ridden Tsali's trails you should, it's probably some of the smoothest singletrack I ever raced on. We did move from 10th to 9th as the day turned to night but one position was all we got. The thought of calling it an early race did float through our camp but we stomped that idea quickly and continued on knowing we would regret it the next morning. Quitting early in the race has never been something I've liked. The last time I raced Tsali I went solo and although I didn't make it to the end I rode until my saddle sores said no more. It was my first ever solo 12 hr attempt and just signing up for it was a huge acheivement for me. I guess my no quitting attitude comes from the way my parents raised me. I tried every sport offered growing up as a kid and not all of them I enjoyed or was very good at but no matter what happened I was not allowed to quit until the season was over and that has stuck with me through my adulthood.

The one thing I did skip out on this year was the spaghetti, I really had no choice. Maybe the local Gone Riding admirers ratted me out because the food was not brought out until I was lining up for my 3rd lap. It was all gone by the time I pulled back into the pits, well except for the spaghetti sauce which must have been watered down since it stretched farther than the noodles. It always happens the other way around at my house. As I rolled back to my campsite I noticed an entire plate of noodles and sauce that had been dumped on the ground not far from the table it was served from. Either a mass horde of people ran over the person who was carrying that plate or they weren't impressed with the watered down sauce either.

Melinda has finished with school for the summer so we are looking forward to more road trips and more riding together. Her back pain has backed off to some degree as long as she takes it easy but that has not been easy for her. I'm looking forward to this summer and the riding plans we have, FATS is on our riding agenda somewher, not sure on the dates yet but it will happen.

At some point I really need to get some running miles in or I'm going to take a serious beating at the road races I have planned and when I say road races I mean running, not the skinny tires.

12 Hours of Tsali - the race report

The 12 Hours of Tsali has officially come and gone and being that the course was super fast and not very technical I had an excellent time. GRT Racing held strong throughout the entire race keeping our lap times right around the 1 hour mark all day. We had no mistakes or mechanicals and everything flowed very smoothly.

The team unanimously nominated me as the lead man in the race taking the reins and running in the Le Mans start. I kinda wanted to lead us out normally leaving those duties to B-Rad but he was busy in Chattanooga laying waste to other runners on Raccoon Mountain. Two weeks leading up to the race I was pondering on my strategy on what to do. My plan of attack was to start out the run which I considered short, as fast as I could, place my bike as close to the start as allowed and ride by any runners who might have been faster than me.

As we lined up for the start I tried to get as close to the front as possible but ended up 3 rows back packed in with everyone like sardines. As soon as the race started I took off hoping to weave through traffic and get closer to the front. I got hung up behind a couple of slower guys before working my way around to the outside and moved up along side the front pack as fast as possible. I did fairly well with staying up front but several of the runners were faster than I had expected.




Yes I am completely off the ground, it's how I run.



Once I got to my bike it was a cluster of runners trying to pass and riders trying to get moving and not run over anyone. Once moving I jumped on some guy's rear wheel as we weaved through the swarm of people. Once free of traffic I stomped on the gas.




Mark kept telling me he's not a runner and would be walking but obviously that was not true.



One thing I forgot was the length of fireroad we had to ride before hitting the singletrack. I had over exerted myself during the run and paid for it on the fireroad accents. I got passed left and right. It was until we hit the singletrack that I was able to get my breathing under some what of control. Just before the race I had downed a chocolate gel which was trying to fight it's way back out.

I had to back off a bit while I got my stomach under control and once that happened I was able to get back on the gas and work my way around some of the slower riders. The longer we raced the better I felt, I hoped I was not pushing myself too hard as I didn't want to blow up before it was over but I couldn't allow myself to back down with three or four riders in front and behind me. I held my pace and hoped for the best. Once in the pits I checked my time which showed 51.47, I though surely I had brought us back in at least in the top 5, that wasn't the case.

Going into the race I wondered if racing the sport class was the right thing to do. Some believe that if you have been on the podium you should move up to the next class. I think that if you win you should definitely move up the following year if you return to that same race. My pondering on whether we were sandbagging being in the sport class was put to rest as soon as the first round of laps were posted. Even though we were running fast and consistent laps we were in 10th place.

As I stood there examining lap times something caught my eye in the beginner category. The top 5 or 6 teams were posting sub 50 minute laps, faster than at least half of the sport field. Not only were the top beginner class riders running faster laps but the field was 3 times as big. I went from wondering if we belonged in the expert class to wondering if we belonged in the beginner class. The Gone Riding races obviously draw alot better riders from a larger spectrum than the races I'm used to but I have no doubt that a large portion of the beginner class did not belong there. I really wished there had been a co-ed class but I felt fine with our placement and settled into the race and concentrated on having fun.

Finally I was able to call on the JET to race knowing the course was really better suited for the hardtail bikes but I went ahead with it especially since I had seen several other JET9s and even a RIP9 on the first lap. I worried about being a bit slower on the JET but it was not by much. My second lap I turned in at 55 minutes 35 seconds. Unfortunately the entire lap was plagued by a creaking headset which I think was loose. I actually haven't taken the time to check since my Fox F29 is due in at any time.

For lap three I went back to the AIR9 to get a better feel of lap times since my first lap on it included the running portion. My third lap I felt awesome, the AIR9 felt like a rocketship. When I stomped on the pedals it immediately responded. My 3rd lap while not any faster than the second was only 6 seconds slower.

I never really thought the JET would be faster but I was pleasantly surprised at how fast it was. I plan to take it along with the AIR9 to the H8R race in Haw Ridge next month where it will be more at home with all the roots and rocks.

too be continued..............

no more water and the crossroads

I have officially lost interest in my strict training regimen, that and a busted water line down the road from my house today putting an end to my watering down the spaghetti in preparation for this weekend. Actually my dinner plans are looking like fajitas on the ECO's grill. How can I pass that up? I grew up in the great state of Texas and good Mexican food was a staple in my diet. I've never been a huge Italian fan so it's a no brainer for me.

In other bike related news I took the chainguide off the new MRP contraption to file down the insides a bit to alleviate some of the chain rub and managed to misplace it. After about an hour of panicking, thinking racing the JET along side the AIR9 just wasn't in the cards this weekend I finally found it in my hard hat at work. Yeah????





Both of the Niners are prepped and race ready, at least one half of this party will be. Me? I'm not too sure about being ready but I'll give it my all and concentrate of the fun aspect as usual.




From The Inside Out - First Look from SecondBase Films on Vimeo.


I wish I could ride like that.


While browsing the BR site I ran across these two videos, the Red Bull Crossroads. Kinda like CMT Crossroads where the take two different types of musicians and get them to play together. Red Bull has taken a freerider and a cyclocross racer and gotten them to ride together.

Interesting.........

the watered down spaghetti, complaint free blog post

With the forecast for today looking grim at a 70% chance of rain and a couple of nightshifts coming up I decided Monday would be my best day to get a ride in and lay off the bike until the weekend. I was really wanting to get over to Warriors, the land of roots, rocks and all the fun techy stuff to put the new drivetrain on the JET9 to the test but it's rained almost everyday for the last couple of days and there are several trees down so I headed to Bays Mountain instead.

Bays Mountain is quite a bit different type of terrain compared to Warriors, much more climbing and alot less technical stuff. I hear alot of people who ride Bays on a regular basis say they don't like riding Warriors because it's too hard, I really don't understand this. Warriors is a really fun place to ride alot more fun than Bays, well for now. You see Bays has alot of fireroads that you must ride in order to connect the good singletrack. The potential for singletrack at Bays is HUGE and we're building as fast as we can and the as fast as the park will allow but it's going to take some time.






The newest trail which is currently under construction is the Chestnut trail, right now it's rideable and about 60% complete so in an effort to put the JET to the test I began there before climbing to the top.






The new MRP chainguide/bashguard worked well, there was a bit of chain rub but I'll be taking care of that with a grinder tonight.






I posted up a picture of the MRP on Facebox when in came in and I got a comment from a fellow rider about one of the other designs that just has the chain guide, no bashguard. I run a bashguard and always will, I'll never understand why some people don't. Well I guess if you don't ride in places that have alot of rocks and tech stuff to cross there is no need. I just don't like the idea of bashing my chainring and chain on the rocks especially since I have only one up front.





I made this little gem a couple of weeks ago when I was still planning to go the singlespeed route. I always ran a bell on the Karate Monkey so I figured I would do the same on my new SS. Since the SS is out of the picture for now I decided to go ahead and put the bell on the JET9. The JET is my fun bike, the bike I like to play around on and try not to be too serious with.

A few days ago I was bombing down Bear Run at Bays Mountain when I came across this hole in the trail and had to slam on the brakes. The picture really does not do it justice but I don't think I could ride across it.





The tree that took away the section of my trail, it's root ball is easily the size of a small car.





Again this picture does not do it justice, I thought about propping my bike up against it to have a reference point on the size. It's freaking huge.

Other than the chain rub that occurred when I was in my granny gears the new drivetrain ran smoothly. It will definitely see some action this weekend at the 12 Hours of Tsali.

Speaking of Tsali I've been having some fun lately at the expense of Gone Riding and evidently there are some local folks who have taken it a bit personally. It's not the first time I've poked fun at them nor the first time someone has taken offense to it. The fun I've been poking is about the spaghetti they served at the last race Gone Riding race I attended, the 12 Hours of Tsali, two years ago. It was cheap, watered down and all we got for our hefty entry fee. Most races at least give you a t-shirt or pint glass, we got watered down spaghetti. Now if I was really that upset about this I would simply just not attend anymore of their events but I'm not, I'm just having some fun at their expense. This year we are getting a t-shirt with our entry fee so who knows maybe this year is different. So AC, in honor of you I will not complain about the watered down spaghetti the folks at Gone Riding served us and I would like to dedicate this blog post to you. I shall title it, "the watered down spaghetti, complaint free blog post".







Speaking of Aaron Casey and Gone Riding, he did podium at the most recent SERC race, so congrats to you little buddy. Job well done!

Well since I promised no talk of watered down spaghetti I guess that's all I have to say.

Tomorrow, I'll be back to talking about watered down spaghetti as I continue my quest in training to prepare myself if watered down spaghetti is served again this year at the 12 Hours of Tsali.





Oh yeah I did manage to get the Bike @ Bays footage together and edited.

Enjoy

Bike @ Bays and GRT Racing takes on Tsali

After some serious planning organizing and fretting all the small details, the 3rd Annual Bike @ Bays was a great success and the day rolled on flawlessly. NTMBA's annual picnic that originally started out as a 12 hour race for it's members evolved into a 6 hr race and then finally just a picnic with nothing but fun riding. As the year went by people stopped taking the racing so seriously and were having more fun just hanging out and riding with friends. A decision was made as the race attendance dwindled to concentrate just on having fun and boosting mountain bike awareness in our area.

Three years ago we took it to the next level and invited the local bikes shops to come out and bring their demo fleet. No one likes to test ride a bike they are interested in buying in the bike shop parking lot, the trails are the best way to know which bike is best for you.

This year we decided to bring the competition back in a small dose to up the excitement level and give some of the more experienced riders something to look forward to. This year we created the Chainless Bike Race, an all gravity race down the Azalea trail where riders were unable to gain momentum with the use of their drivetrain. Congrats to Ben Appleby who took home the winnings.

If you missed this year's Bike @ Bays I feel sorry for you it was a ton of fun and hopefully next year you'll make it out. We had a huge turnout and everyone really seemed to be enjoying themselves. I shot a ton of video footage and plan to put a re-cap video together so maybe it will make you feel like you were there somewhat, either that or make you more jealous. I chose not to participate in the Chainless Bike Race in favor of helping run the event and getting some great footage of riders as they bombed down Azalea. I did give my Go Pro cam to one of ETSU's finest downhillers Thomas to shoot footage of the race from the riders prospective. I think his footage will be much more interesting than mine would have. He's a bit faster downhill than I will ever think about being.

I did get a chance to get out and do some riding yesterday on two different bikes, both full squish 29er's. First I hopped aboard the Giant Anthem X and wow was I impressed. It handled, climbed and descended nicely. There were only two things I can think of that I didn't care for about the bike. One was the tires, it was sporting Maxxis tires, Aspens I think, and in the wet I felt them loosing traction in the corners and climbing in spots, the other complaint was the amount of time I got stopped to answer questions about the bike I was riding. Despite some of the negative comments I read about the Giant's looks I thought it was a good looking bike and so did everyone I passed. I could easily see myself riding the Anthem X.

The other steed I tried out was the Niner RIP9, Hampton brought one out but everytime I tried to ride it someone else was riding off on it. Mark graciously allowed me to hop aboard his brand new all black anodized RIP with a bit nicer spec'd components. I was expecting the RIP to be a slug climbing especially on the fireroads from some of the locals reviews of it but needless to say I was impressed with it. I didn't really get to rip up the downhills with it like I wanted to because the duties of running the show yesterday took priority. From what I did get to ride I have no doubt Mark will really enjoy his RIP, it was one of the sweeter looking bikes at the picnic. He spared no expense in building his bike.

Coming up this weekend is the 12 Hours of Tsali, GRT Racing is bring a 4 man team to the fight this weekend, or should I say a 3 man 1 women team this year. Andy, Abby, Anthony and I will be giving the other Sport class riders a run for their money. Maybe I should change my name to something that starts with an "A" like the rest of my team, Adam, Archie, Abe, Arnold?

All week this week I will be training for the race. Train the week before a race? Yep, every night I will be eating watered down spaghetti to prepare myself for the stuff the Gone Riding folks will be serving up. There actually might be a chance they won't have spaghetti this year because we are getting race t-shirts but I don't want to be taken by surprise if they do so I am planning to be fully prepared. We'll see if they are truly giving a little back or just trading one for the other.

Which bike will I race now that the JET9 is sporting a better drivetrain set-up? Probably both, I'd say I'll do my first lap on the AIR9 and then breakout the JET and compare lap times. I have a feeling they will be close. Speaking of drivetrains both of the bikes I demo'd yesterday at Bike @ Bays, were sporting the new 10 speed drivetrains. Talk about easy climbing, I think I could climb all day with a 10 speed cassette. Maybe next year I'll upgrade to the 10 speed stuff.

Melinda and I are going to hit Tsali a day earlier than the rest of the crew in an effort to get the nicest spot in the campground and take advantage of a bit more time camping. The ECO hasn't been called into action since the 6 Hours of Warriors Creek so I think we are ready for a few days of roughing it. Yeah I said roughing it.

riding with 2 old friends and the infamous "Trixie" crew

Yesterday after some back breaking trailwork I loaded up the two white squishy bikes for some singletrack fun at Warriors with Melinda. Upon our arrival I notice all the Trixie riders gearing up for a spin through the woods. So rather than ride with the ladies I opted to ride with the guys so they could talk all girly and stuff.

Mike T. aka the "Local Cult Hero" had texted me earlier, something along the lines of "Rodney Warriors 6". Infamous for his one liners that take a few minutes to decipher I pondered a minute or two and then forgot about it. Upon our arrival at the trail head I realized he meant "Riding Warriors at 6, come out if you think you can hang".

As we suited up and the normal trash talking began, I noticed not only were all the Trixie riders in attendance but a couple of old friends of mine were there as well. One of which I used to hang out with alot. We spent countless hours at Warriors together cursing singing and making others look like chumps on a couple of occasions. Speaking of Trixie riders, Mike I want a Trixie t-shirt dammit! All the good deals I've given you on my old bikes and the $20 you shorted me on the Karate Monkey sale, it's the least you can do.





It took me a second to recognize the Monkey with it's new fancy wheelset. The white rims, wow very nice! It almost made me throw down an offer to buy it back. I'm still pondering that offer Dirty so hollar at me if you decide to sell.





Although we didn't spend a whole lot of trail time together the Mary did hang out in my bike room for a year or so until the Local Cult Hero finally conned me into selling it to him for a ridiculously low price. Both bikes were in good shape and made me proud to see them run again.

Kind of like it's time with me the Mary doesn't see much trail time either, I'm not saying the LCH doesn't ride much... well yes I am but even if he did, he has so many freaking bikes he could ride a new one everyday for two months before any of them see a second ride. I would say he easily has more bikes in his basement than some of the local bike shops.




The new NTMBA T-shirts are finally in, no funky colors this time. Get one while you can, $15. Here today, gone tomorrow.

Today is the day that the Lord has made, it's also the day where I will make the JET9 pedal like a dream. Easier? Heck no, Smoother? Yes! Hopefully there will be alot less chain droppage as well.

Bike @ Bays this weekend, hopefully we won't see any rain but if it does I'll still ride. Those trails with their sand based composition drain better than any in the area. Yesterday while working on the new Chestnut trail I was amazed at how well it held up just after two big storms, no mud.

Chainless bike race? You better bring it!

giving a little back and a greasy chain

Things have been slacking around the blogosphere not just here but everywhere. I guess people are spending more time outdoors rather than blogging about being outdoors. It's 12:41 am and I'm stuck at work so I'll take a minute to see if I can come up with anything entertaining to say.

Rather than spend a bunch of time putting in miles on the mountain bike in an effort to boost my summer racing I've pushed alot of my focus to giving back instead of always taking. What I'm trying to say is I've been doing some much needed trail work. In the past 2 years my commitment to doing trailwork has been kinda slim, mainly due to my work schedule but I've finally found a way to work around this. I've been doing most of my trail work during the week and I've even found a few other folks with odd ball schedules to help out.

Trailbuilding can really be enlightening and fun, especially when you get to reap the rewards of your hardwork.

We've really made alot of progress with the new trail that's being built at Bays Mountain. Even though the volunteer turnout has sucked the excellent soil conditions have made thing flow smooth and very efficient.

Not only does trailbuilding make me feel good it's an excellent workout. It's not quite as fun as mountain biking but it is free and the reward for your work will last for many many years.

I can really only think of one negative thing about trailbuilding and that is the lack of help we get. With the HUGE potential that we have here in NE Tennessee for building trails and the large mountain biking population it's really sad to see how little others give back. We have a ton of opportunity for new trails right here in our backyard but we are moving at a snails pace taking advantage of it because the few who do show up can only do so much.

I can think of 3 separate projects that need our attention just at Bays Mountain that we could be doing but will have to sit on the back burner for a while. Just the other day I had to turn down a request for help building a totally new trail system because I knew we are to understaffed to do the work. I don't want to promise anything I can't follow through with and I knew it couldn't be done and I felt bad for saying no but it had to be done.

Enough of the negativity, this weekend should be a good one to stick around town for. Bike @ Bays is back again and this year will probably be the biggest yet. Really it gets bigger and better every year but this year we've gotten even more support from the local bike shops than we have in the past and we've added a new event, the Chainless Bike Race. A gravity fed race down Azalea where riders see who can get down the mountain the farthest without the aid of pedaling. Costumes have been encouraged so the spectator's view should be entertaining. I think a video recap will be a must for sure this year.

There has officially been a change in the tide in my bike room. A official attempt to sell the JET was made and the out come has been declared a failure. Some will say it was because my asking price was too high and that may have been the case but it was probably for the better. After 2 weeks on Ebay and a few decent offers one which I almost took I decided to pull the plug and keep the JET. I never disliked the JET in any shape or form, it's a great bike I just had a yearning for the singlespeed life again but I think those days may be past for me or at least on hiatus. With past back issues and Melinda's recent back injury it has gotten me thinking maybe the singlespeed gig just isn't what I need right now. The JET is a ton of fun and some of my reasons for trying to sell it where due to some drivetrain issues its had. I finally put in an order for a new rear derailleur and a chain guide to remedy any and all of the drivetrain issues I had. Another thing that kept me from truly falling in love with the JET was the lack of a proper fork, one that was meant to be on that bike. The JET is sporting a tapered head tube but since it's birth in my bike room it's been running a regular straight 1 1/8" fork. Today I officially ordered a new fork with a tapered steer tube and I went ahead and went for the thru axel. Why not go full bore and make this one bad ass bike. No more half ass building here. Vanna White is officially going to be sporting nothing but the finest duds I can afford.

I've always been a Rock Shox kind of guy but this time I went with Fox, I've heard good things about them and rather than buy a new wheelset to accommodate the 20mm Reba I'm keeping the Mavics and converting the hub to a 15mm which is what the Fox fork uses.

I looked around trying to find a good chain guide since I refuse to be normal and use a front derailleur. I run all of my bikes 1x9's which tends to hurt more on big climbs but makes me look tougher when I clean them. I gotta do something to be a little different.

The complexity of the JET9's frame due to a rear shock mount makes it difficult to run a simple chain deflector so I went with some a bit more fancy with the bottom bracket mounted MRP G2 mini. They come in a wide variety of cool colors but I decided to stick with black since I like my chains greasy.

cool video from the guys at 29nSGNL

THE OPENER from Rob Doerre on Vimeo.