Tuesday, November 17, 2009

bikes beer boys weekend 2k9 - asheville

blue skies - all weekend!


hanging in asheville/fletcher/pisgah with evan daniel and matt (and kinsay. thanks for letting us invade your house!) - super fun

food before:


food after:


SQUIRREL - start


matt - squirrel gap


evan - crossing cantrell creek


cantrell creek (cool camera water setting):



me on fs-5018:


black mtn i think:


daniel - horse cove


matt - the smile sums up the day:


pisgah - ranger district - SQUIRREL!


gps after:


all of my pictures are HERE.

Monday, November 09, 2009

NCCX #5 - salisbury photos

so i raced in salisbury sunday. after a lackluster start (racing last place for half a lap) i managed to pass a few other super slow people (like myself). anyways... photos (by a lovely darcy):

nccx #5

Sunday, October 25, 2009

nccx #2 - raleigh cx 3 recap

well. today i woke up at 5am. drove to raleigh and raced my bike in circles. for my first CX3 race i was quite satisfied with 22nd of 39 especially after starting on the last row. jesse pipes and andrew stackhouse also raced cx3 behind/with the barrage from LMC university. i can only assume their guys won since i never saw them after the whistle. rachel vandenendende and alison forkner also were there in the wmn's pro/1/2 field. i was also quite happy to hold off the 1-2 punch from two inland-BTD guys who took turns attacking. i don't understand these 'tactics' other than trying to go fast and build a big gap through the trees, sidehills, and barriers. anywho.... photos:


dropping charles kutz:






from the series i call 'passing':






stackhouse domination:

rachel v @ barriers:


p.s. photo credits go to darcy grimes. THANKS SO MUCH for loving me and going to the race and cheering for me and taking awesome pictures!!!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

my new fisher roscoe

my 2010 gary fisher roscoe 1. mostly stock + conti mtn king & rubber queen (1100gr!) tires. weighs in at 30lbs 15oz. not bad for 140mm all around and 15QR front fork/wheel. i'm excited


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

sabatoge

So all of you don't have to sing "blah blah blah blah blah its sabatoge!!" at the bar anymore:

I Can't Stand It, I Know You Planned It
Ima Set It Straight, This Watergate
I Can't Stand Rockin' When I'm In Here
'Cause Your Crystal Ball Ain't So Crystal Clear
So, While You Sit Back And Wonder Why
I Got This Fucking Thorn In My Side
Oh My God, It's A Mirage
I'm Tellin' Y'all It's Sabotage

So,So,So, So Listen Up 'Cause You Can't Say Nothin'
You Shut Me Down With A Push Of Your Button
But yo, I'm Out And I'm Gone
I'll Tell You Now I Keep It On And On

'Cause What You See You Might Not Get
And We Can Bet, So Don't You Get Souped Yet
Scheming On A Thing That's A Mirage
I'm Tryin' To Tell You Now It's Sabotage

Why; Our Backs Are Now Against The Wall
Listen All Of Y'all This Is Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all This Is Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all This Is Sabotage
Listen All of Y'all This Is Sabotage

I Can't Stand It, I Know You Planned It
I'ma Set It Straight This Watergate
I Can't Stand Rockin' When I'm In This Place
Because I Feel Disgrace Because You're All In My Face
But Make No Mistakes And Switch Up My Channel
I'm Buddy Rich When I Fly Off The Handle
What Could It Be, It's A Mirage
You're Scheming On A Thing That's Sabotage

Thursday, September 24, 2009

recovery drink experiment - silk

so i've seen beth frye drink slim-fast after bike races, i've read online and in runner's magazines about chocolate milk and i've also noticed that most chocolate milks contain high fructose corn syrup AND about 400% of your daily sugar requirements. this leads me to my experiment with SILK chocolate light soymilk:



i figured cyclocross training racing would be a good time to experiment with recovery drinks before the real racing begins in another month or so. i think it will work out well -OR- i'll be running to the trees to throw up.



we'll see

Monday, September 21, 2009

Shenandoah Mountain 100 & 2009 bridge to bridge

well. the SM100 happened. i took over an hour and a half off my previous time finishing 10hrs 35mins.

moving along...

after deciding to partake in the 2009 bridge to bridge incredible century bike RIDE on monday i had few days to train and even fewer to start making up excuses...

jonathan lubkeman and I worked (like top 10) the first 35-40 miles. it seemed like 6-8 people were and when we got back into the bunch speed slowed to 18-19mph. i realized this was not the smart thing to do about 2 hours in. oh well, i felt it on 181/221. this year it was 55 miles to 181 instead of 49.something.

181 went by okay. got bottles from jimmy gragg twice. the brp from 181 to BR was a second wind and i descended to price park with little braking. first cramps came at sims pond. great. 221 was super foggy at first, catching cars that had previously passed us. getting past holloway was a relief and soon i had 100 miles on my ticker. good thing we had six more to go. getting inside the gate was helpful but it seemed steeper than two years ago...



once inside, only mark smith passed me. he started at 11... one guy that i caught kept unclipping, walking, then climbing back on to sprint. confused by his ways i let him go but other than mark i think i kept it moving then. the last straight came quickly and i expected more switchbacks but every few seconds a roar of applause, etc would come from the small crowd. then turn right. done.

oh, the start was dry. it only began raining ~1 hour in. thankfully the next 5.5 hours were consistent rain, although the exposed sections of GM had tremendous winds. like get blown around on the bike going 3mph. brakes worked mostly the whole time although i had to open the rear brake qr for standing climbing because the wheel would scrub the pads. gears began to deteriorate ~75 miles in on the BRP near roseboro rd. that became annoying. my time ~6hrs 45mins or something.

thanks a bunch to jim gragg for his ticket and driving and bottle fills, trevor critcher for safety pins, ray reid for yelling something at me on 181, and darcy for standing in the rain for hours at the top of a cold foggy place.

Friday, July 31, 2009

utah business trip

so i've been on summer hiatus. no excuses. racing a little. i was kinda disgruntled after the worst race i've ever participated in, i mean the cowbell xc challenge... a much better/more fun race on july 12th iron mtn 100k was AWESOME and i rolled it in 6hr 49mins for 19th place in men's open class. the next day i boarded a plane and traveled to snowbird utah for a business trip. pictures:






sworks sl3 with di2 electronic dura-ace




super cool rad gnar!! epic marathon 29er feat. SRAM XX 2x10 wowsers!!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

tomorrow marks mine and darcy's one year wedding anniversary. we decided to celebrate it saturday night with dinner at gadabouts (our caterer last year) and the lazy bear lodge (our lodging last year) and then followed it up with hiking down hunt fish falls trail in wilson creek pisgah. pictures:

a view upstream on lost cove creek:


someslowguy and his wifey. she was swimming:


happy couple with crazy florons or boy scouts or something in background:


an ant carrying some of our picnic lunch away:


happy anniversary darcy. =)

p,s, we get to eat our frozen chris bennett cake in a couple days. yum

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Massanuttan Hoo-Ha. more disturbing facts

a week ago i made the trip to harrisonburg, Va saturday night after work for a midnight arrival to the fawley estate. thanks ryan. bike racers in the harrisonburg area awoke to clear skies, really warm temps, and a pretty fun day of bike racing.

my race was only one lap so i tried to make my way to the front of our pack before we got on the tight twisty stuff and basically rode a good solid 12.5 mile race without much to write about. it was really really rocky, muddy in spots, and downright dangerous in a couple spots. the ridge was good and it dumped out and after a couple short climbs and some ripping fireroad we're doing this crazy sidehill chute to the finish. i roll across the line, they tear off our bib number and staple it to a wooden board. pretty high tech. i got 3rd. i'm not unhappy with 3rd or anything, but i really would like a 2nd place, or better yet, the win. for now i'll settle for 3rd and look to the cowbell XC with my eyes set on the top step.



in other news i stumbled upon some disturbing facts:

Mens Cat 2 (19-29) Cross Country Rankings in NORTH CAROLINA
(right-click to bookmark these settings)

2009 Name License
Rank Points Results
1 120 2 Charlie Ledford 290837
2 95 2 Christopher Hoina 267918
2 95 2 Kell Bond 292854
4 87 3 Mark Ryan 274564
5 60 1 Daniel Sapp 190986
6 50 1 Joseph Grimes 242647
7 45 1 Jarrett Ficker 249334
8 11 1 Andrew Martin 284342

oh well, if any of the races i do would submit results i'll be way high up that list. BFH

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Shoot-Out at Angler's Ridge - Danville, VA - 3rd place

boone bike (and appstate's thatcher's hurt) dominated the xc shootout at angler's ridge today in danville, va. beth, megan and andy (collectively known as the winner's carpool) won their events: women's pro, women's sport 30+?, singlespeed (respectively). in the men's sport category thatcher finished 2nd. joseph finished way behind thatcher in 3rd place. kim marland finished 2nd in women's sport 30+ and eric was killing it until he had some unfortunate mechanicals and a torn sidewall. the marland little guys did a great job as usual though i did not hear their placing.

thatcher and i lined up with a few other guys for our race and i managed to clip in and get off the line really well and was first around the sharp left-hand corner and first into the woods. the beginning of the 'short loop' was not very fun. it was classic city trail. cram as much mileage into a few acres type riding. the course began to flow a bit more and i could not hold my pace so some greensboro sandbagger eric jackson and thatcher both came around me and i did not see them again until the finish line. i completed the short loop and was beginning to feel better as i started my second lap. i was passed by a few 30+ sport men but each time they got near i tried to pick up the pace a bit and ride with them until i'd fade. i finally caught another sport 19-29 racer and was in 3rd place at that point. i kept the pace high and never saw that guy again. whew! i continued on the long loop and had to bunny hop a black snake. crazy! the rest of the long loop was fun and i stood on as many climbs as i could. my legs were threatening to cramp but i managed and could hear the band playing at the finish line so i hammered and switchbacked and voila! pavement. stand up, sprint, look back, cross the line. andy tells me thatcher got 3rd. i'm 4th. no. andy is wrong. i'm 3rd. podium. sweet. i tell the guy that won our category i did a 24 hour solo race a week ago. he shakes in his boots... podium pic:



in other news drew scharns continued his return to xc racing with a 3rd place finish in the men's expert 19-29 category at the bump n' grind KENDA CUP event in alabama. semi-local ryan fawley was riding a great race drafting off scharns until a a flat and an ejected seatbag ended his run.

high country racers essentially destroyed the competition at mountain bike races across the southeast. i'm sure dean lyons beat up on a men's 40+ criterium somewhere as well. congrats to all.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

burn 24 hour: 6th place. 23 laps. 170 miles. jetson's rocket car feet...

so may 23-24 marked the 9th annual burn 24 hour mtb race. it was held at the dark mtn trails at the kerr scott reservoir in wilkesboro, nc. sam, megan, and i met friday morning to stake our claim to a pit area for our RV/tent city. it was quite nice. friday night darcy and i prepped food, ate pizza, and stayed at the hutchens estate to avoid driving as much saturday morning.

saturday morning flew by. we're prepping clothes, lights, batteries, food, shoes, bikes, minds, and all of a sudden its like 11:56 so i make my way over to start/finish to do the run. blah running in bike shoes with stuff in my pockets. not fun. basically the next few hours involved riding my cannondale f29'er then realizing i started out too hard again (like last year) -AND- a hardtail is not the ultimate 24 hour racing machine. so i got something like 4 laps in 3 hours, at a bit too much food, and my hands/arms hurt. so i switched early to my trek fuel ex and it was kinda odd at first, being back on circus wheels... i just kept riding my bike. trying to make quick pits and getting back out there for the next few hours and soon it was nighttime so i did a clothing change and got my helmet with lights installed on my head. ready to go.

it was quite nice to have a change from the oh-so-sweet-fake foods that we all know and love. i went with hammer sustained energy, hammer heed, and clif shot electrolyte apple drinks. i kinda slowed my intake of these and switched to plain water and small cups of chicken, along with almonds (i'd been eating these since 1pm). i got kinda beat down and began cramping a lot so instead of stopping to stretch i realized you can grit your teeth, go to the small chainring, and keep pedaling through leg cramps. thankfully i had no arm/hand cramps although they were fatigued. our local massage folks muscle works advised me to stretch my hands/arms while riding and so of course, i listened. after a few slow laps with 22-34 as my primary gear we got the coffee going so i was feeling alot better mentally and physically. my legs cramps were quickly gone. yes. coffee (espresso strength. thanks donovan) is an ergogenic aid. my wonderful wife darcy was there helping sam with feeding me and just in general trying to keep me happy. soon we got into a decent groove with nighttime food stops including chicken, coffee, and soup. i kept riding through the night, saw shaw, sarah, chelly, dan w, paul e, and others. seeing my friends from boone was quite nice and gave me a boost.


midnight seemed to come quickly and eric marland turned out a fast lap for his birthday. i just kept on trucking and soon 3am was here. these night laps were hard and i resorted to thinking about silly things to keep a smile on my face. i thought a little about my honeymoon trip to ireland, although soon my real positive thinking turned to positive hallucinations or something. i had a thought about my feet involving small fairy like creatures that were flying along helping to push my feet in cirlces. soon this morphed into small jetson's style rocket cars existing attached to my pedals instead of feet. these rocket boosters definitely helped get me through the night. the night laps were fun and it was nice to know i'd ridden through the 3-5am hours which i slept through at last year's burn.

at some point it rained and made the trails a bit more difficult as there are lots of small roots peeking through the trail as a result of erosion and the huge numbers of riders this trail sees. i know the rain started and i thought this is nice. its cooling things off. then i hit a root section and thought twice... soon morning came and boy it was a relief to look up through the trees and see blue sky peeking through. i did another clothing change at some point in the morning, and climbed back on the bike determined to stay in my middle ring a bit more, like i did my last few night laps. it seemed easier to go faster in the middle ring even though my legs barely worked anymore. soon there were just over 2 hours left and i thought maybe i can sneak back through the start finish at like 11:58 and have time for another lap.

nope. my brain and my legs and my ischial tuberosity did not want to do any more laps. i told sam as i came through around 9:55am that 'i think i have time for two more laps.' sam and darcy both gave their approval and i could tell they were glad i was still thinking positively. after my 22nd lap it was around 11:05a i thought i have to go out for one more. i should surely can finish it before 1pm and so off i went. it was very hard to ride some of the steeps on the fish dam creek trail although somehow i made it. the climb up the entrance trail on the frontside was hard too, but i kept telling myself this is my last lap, step up. do it!! i cruised through the snake switchbacks, which i had been cleaning all day, night and day and found myself at the lowest point. i went to my granny ring and began climbing the snake trail to the checkpoint and i had to get off and walk my bike. i did this last year as well and i did not feel ashamed either time. people passing (through the night AND morning) would realize who the solo racers were and tell me great job solo -or- keep it up, last lap!!! and this stuff combined with the words of encouragement from our boone bike team and the betty project and other locals made for a very motivating last lap. after passing the teeter totter i realized the hardest part of the lap was over, then climbing out of the lake loop was tough, but i knew every pedal stroke got me closer to being finished, and seeing my wife and friends for hugs and high fives. erik nielson caught me and i quickly realized he was the winner (finishing his 29th lap), we talked for a moment, congratulated each other and made our way down the fireroad and through the DH course. coming out of the trees the last lap is something that is indescribable.


hearing cheers from BMCC tent, magic cycles, middle ring mafia, other random team tents, then from our tent city gave me the boost needed to stand up and sprint even though it was unnecessary. i tossed my bottle down to get rid of excess weight and stood up and gave it all i had through the straightaway and around the grassy twisty stuff for the last time. as i could hear the announcers they called out rider 133 another solo rider is finishing up its joseph grimes. i again heard cheers, applause, and at the same time silence. nothing at all. i zipped my boone bike jersey, crossed the line. and slowed to put my head on my handlebars. i don't really remember everything at this point except that plenty of people i knew and didn't know continued to tell me great job. i drank my recovery drink and tried to spin around easily enough to get back to the tent without completely falling over. i soon learned i got 6th place out of 38 solo riders. 63rd place overall out of ~120 teams/solos/duos. that our boone bike boys got 2nd to inland construction a team made of pro racers while successfully dethroning the middle ring mafia. i heard it came down to 40 seconds. wheew!! the betty project seemed disappointed to finish 2nd, although i was very proud of them and grateful for their positive words through the night and morning. i found a chair, sat in tent city, and drank and ate. i think i did a better job eating than last year as i weigh the same now (a few days later) as i did before. maybe the burgers and chips and ice cream was a bad idea monday... anyways.

thanks to all. having smiling faces and encouragement lap after lap through the night and morning hours kept my legs moving. shaw pointed out 'Sun May 24, 2009 1:00 pm Replacement middle rings are in stock at Boone Bike and Touring...' sam, darcy, christie, brown, mrs brown, eric, kim, fawley for push-offs, dj thatcher, matty, andy, megan, eric, beth, caroline, kathleen, melanie, chuck, dc, matt, evan, kinsay, daniel, wendy, jason, martin and anyone i may be forgetting... thanks for being there and making this year's burn great.

**RESULTS ARE UP**