burn24 rapidly approaching, this guy

so two things are of note and interesting enough to discuss:

1. the burn 24 hour race is going to be here in four days and 4 hours... i rode some laps sunday at the venue: 5 laps in 4 hours. i figure if i can do AT LEAST a lap PER hour minus sleep time (ie 2 hours total??) then i can bust out at least 22 laps. granted, thats counting on NOT having a mental breakdown, stroke, heart attack, delusions telling me to jump in the lake, nausea, out of body experiences and/or falling asleep while riding. my goal is 18-22 laps. i really want a top 10. we'll see.

2. this guy (matt hadley):


and this guy (daniel sessford):



just finished 8th and 10th respectively at the 1st stop of the canada cup mtb series. way to go guys. they also stayed on my floor and hung out, trained, and cooked a rad dinner for me and darcy while they stayed in boone, nc recently. they're friends of friends that race bikes and we met up at the serc #4. they got 1st and 3rd there, but the canada cup had some bigger fish racing. great job guys, eh!?

rainy sunday trail running...

54 miles. 6hours 25minutes. thousands of feet of elevation gain. the burn24 is coming quick!


View Larger Map

SERC # 4 Ducktown, TN XC

at the serc #4 ducktown, tn race:



yes the 2nd place kid is 13 and the 1st is 18 but they're future u23 national team.... it didn't bother me too much. i haven't really been training for xc races so i was very happy with a 5th place finish.

now its a 7 hour training ride sunday getting ready for the burn

jg

4.22.08 maiden voyage

my fly new bike:

three top road, view towards todd, nc:

me on three top rd:

the peak, ashe county, nc:

me climbing snake mountain (from nc-88), nc (2000 feet, 6 miles, 44 minutes):

snake mountain, nc:

boone pave, umm.... gravel:

raysweather.com photo of the day april 25th, 2008:

2008 cohutta 100 mtb race

so my cohutta 100 began with a busy friday afternoon and a new saris bike rack arriving in a box for my car. my carpool buddy, ryan fawley, put together the bike rack and we got the car loaded and rolling around 5:45pm. we had some delicious quizno's and then made a stop for gas/potty break then arrived at the ocoee white water center around 11:00pm. we set up our renegade campsite behind some trees just out of the parking lot and went to sleep. we were very glad to see our friend rebecca t's car that had our race numbers/registration. thanks rebecca!!!

the bike race began with chilly temperatures, but warm enough that a jacket would be overkill. so i settled into the middle of the pack at the start line, unfortunately not being able to see floyd landis, chris eatough, harlan price, or any of the other pro's. the start reminded me of well, atlanta traffic. we stood up to pedal, clip-in, and then almost run into the person in front of us. blah, 300+ people starting a 100 mile race in a single lane of pavement was no good.

after a few miles of rolling two/three lane highway we turn hard right into the forest and onto singletrack. the singletrack was fun, but muddy due to the storms the night before. i began thinking negative thoughts about my choice of semi-slick tires but after a few miles of singletrack and a short steep that allowed us to pass a half dozen racers, i got settled with the traction that was provided. they hooked up a lot more than i thought!!! after nearly an hour we reached a creek crossing with large boulders set in it to make a sort of natural bridge. just before reaching this three fast guys (pro's who were late for the start??) passed and then managed to find themselves soaking in the creek and well, i rode right past them!! there were some spectators standing around and i'm pretty sure thats the only reason i had the skills to pay the bills. crossing the ocoee river and turning uphill led us on more amazing singletrack and to the first of many forest roads.

step 1: climb a big hill
step 2: descend a big hill
step 3: repeat for 60 miles

the only things to mention during this stage of the race are the rest stops, #2 and #3 had ziplock bags full of goodies for me!!! and i met a guy named mark from OMBA near macon, ga. we rode together for a majority of the race. the mechanic at rest area #3 was awesome. he lubed/cleaned my chain and sent me on my way with a smile. somewhere along the route i noticed a sign for jacks river trail and it reminded me of my boys (bobby, frank, jd, james) and their high school hiking trip to north georgia. it turns out that was the SAME jacks river trail/falls. i love those guys. after aid #3 we descended the long descent that is visible in the course profile:



after a long pavement/gravel/hot/dusty stretch i met up with mark again and we pacelined until i had to pull off to the side and pee. thankfully the inconvenience meant i was drinking enough (unlike my first endurance race, 07 ORAMM) so i didn't mind stopping. my nutrition plan was to eat two packages of shot bloks and drink a bottle of 2 scoops sustained enery/1 scoop heed and drink as much water as i could make myself every two hours. i was thankful for the two extra strength tylenol i took with me as well. i hit those around the 4 hour and 8 hour marks.

after all the gravel roads i managed to move a bit farther forward in the pack (from the last 1% to the last 3% or so) and rode with a nice guy with a twinsix bag for a while. he said he was from memphis and now lived in chattanooga. anyways, if you read this chattanooga guy it was nice riding with you. he bid me adieu after i kept shifting to my big ring (even at 9 hours with 20 miles to go i figured there's some way to finish sub-10 (my goal)).

entering the singletrack i tried to act happy and excited (there was an aid station with lots of people looking at me) and then caught some guy in a blue kit on a gary fisher (i think it was a fisher) and he told me to pass. i didn't really want to but i did and after a couple doubletrack style switchbacks i looked back and he was a few hundred feet back. i kept pushing and only managed to catch a few of the women on the last bit of singletrack (incredible by the way, have i mentioned the quality of the trail yet??) some kid along the way said 8 miles to go and its mostly downhill. i think someone told him that line because it made me feel better and smile but i am pretty sure i did a lot of climbing still beyond that point. cruising down some amazing stuff i rode last may (SERC race) i dumped out on gravel and some spectators told a car to wait so i could make the turn without coming to a complete stop (thanks!!) and i got into the big ring and started hammering. i'm sure all the paddlers that were driving by thought gosh those bike guys are idiots, and well, they are right.

anyways, i caught a guy with a number plate and his girlfriend/wife (who didn't have a number, maybe she was pacing him to the finish??) and then saw one more racer far ahead. i quick check of the right side rear wheel revealed we were in the same category, men's open 100, so i continued charging. nearing the bridge i had to scrub off some speed to not go over the handrail into the ocoee river below, and i knew the other racer could hear me now. i stood up and sprinted across the bridge, legs telling me to sit down, mind telling me to keep pushing and he almost cut me off!!!! i was about to pass on the inside and he nearly got me into the bridge hand railing!!! (rubbin's racing right dean??) and across the last hundred feet i was standing and sprinting and i passed the guy. i never got to tell him good job afterwards, but i did get a cool 'finisher's mug' and met up with ryan f. he grabbed me a soda and i got some BBQ chicken and rice. bliss at last, sitting on the ground, 10 hours 30 minutes after we started.

we watched the awards for some of our friends, dejay birtch 2nd singlespeed, rebecca t 5th woman (first woman singlespeed rigid), and honorable mention goes out to ryan f. he got 11th on the singlespeed. first time racing singlespeed since last summer!!! drew finished ahead of me, though not as quickly as he'd hoped, but he was fighting stomach problems and puking. so i think finishing at all was pretty dope.

i've got to thank columbus bike racing team for helping me get to events and KENDA for giving me awesome tires that turned out to work great (despite my first evaluation one hour into the race), my pseudo-coach max shute, shaw and sarah brown at boone bike for letting me have saturday off to race, my future in-laws doug and diane alexander for letting us crash saturday night at their place and supplying pizza and breakfast, and new leaf adventures for putting on a super-cool event. i will be back next year for sure. for now its a week of rest and then xc racing back at the ocoee white water center for the SERC #4. then a few weeks of preparation and long rides to get ready for the BURN 24 SOLO.

2008 cohutta 100 results (if they ever post them)

as always, if you've made it this far, thanks for reading and hopefully you're not too bored.

2008 dragon's back xxc mtb race

so its time to write about the dragon's back xxc mtb race. to start, the xxc part just means its an extra long xc race. er, it is supposed to take twice as long, er is 34 miles instead of 18 miles. does that describe what's going on?

the trip started picking ryan fawley up from ASU and hitting espresso news for some coffee. we stopped at exit 72 in VA for subway, and found a little caesar's next to subway. so we got subs, then got a hot'n'ready little caesar's pizza. the subway made for a great breakfast... so we roll into the camp area after drifting through plenty of turns on this peanut butter forest service road. sleeping proved difficult as rain dripped through the tent and kept me awake most of the night.

morning was a welcome sight. ryan had gone to sleep in the car as he didn't have a sleeping pad. after subway, some coffee (thanks aran) and registration i suited up for the next six hours...

the start was pretty unofficial. there was no gun, no whistle, people just started riding. so off i go. the road seemed to go by quickly. once we reached singletrack i could tell i my current gearing was not going to work, so i drop into my 22-34 and granny gear as far as i could. i rode a lot of the uphill that most people were walking, though i walked almost all the switchbacks, and passed probably 6 or 8 people before reaching the ridge. we'd just climbed from 1500' to 2800'. blah. i stopped and took off my jacket and made my way east on the ridge. this part is basically a blur of fog, wet leaves, roots, rocks and hallucinations. along the way i hopped off and walked some stretches that would normally be rideable, but knowing i had at least three hours to go i opted for walking (aka resting and fueling). i was popping bloks, bars, gels, and hammer HEED at random during my ride along the ridge. i wanted to make sure i didn't bonk later in the ride due to lack of food.

earlier at the start line i'd met brent jim and brad from paceline bicycles in winston. i rode with brent for a while. he'd said that they were sticking together and riding for fun, but it still made me happy when i dropped him. i think it was at this point when i noticed the dragon's scaly vertebrae remains showing through the dirt. essentially we'd been riding on what we thought was slate rocks just strewn every which way, then some were sticking vertically out of the ground and i realized it was some of the dragon's scales, well, maybe it was just rocks but either way it was OUR version of the cobbles. then i rode with chris davis from mountaingoatepics.com. his partners put on the off road assault on mt mitchell. we rode together for a while, but he left me on one of the climbs. at one point the ridge teased us with a wicked downhill that convinced me it was the descent to the road. it wasn't, and my time in my 44t was short lived. after the 18th climb the ridge had to offer, the trail opened up and it was time to descend for a while. we dropped from 3000' to 1400' in about 5 miles. that was the funnest part of the day.



the next 5 miles seemed to take longer than the previous 10 miles on singletrack. the surface of the road was either newly laid apple sized gravel, knee deep creeks, or jif extra creamy peanut butter. it really sucked. on a dry race day this part would be time to get with other riders and institute road tactics and pacelines and what-not. oh, speaking of paceline... i had not seen anything of those guys since my 'attack' on one of the ridge sections... we actually were forced to cross the same knee deep creek (ie hubs and bottom bracket deep) five times!!!! i knew my BB was toast before starting the event.... now it sounds like rice crispies when you first put milk on them. oh well.



i stopped at our campsite for water refilling and to look for my banana that i brought and forgot to eat for breakfast. my legs kept requesting that i eat a banana but i couldn't find one along the trail and THEN when i finally got to my car i lacked the motivation to find my keys and unlock my car. oh well. i hopped back on my bike and two guys standing around drinking beer who'd presumedly raced some xc category (started after we xxc started and had finished before we'd finished) set their beers down to clap for me and cheer me on. they could tell who was xxc because we had a number plate type thing on our bars that simply said XX. our race numbers were on our camelbaks... as i rolled past the start/finish many other xc racers who'd finished their event and were loading up to leave paused and clapped or at least gave some encouraging words. its silly how just a nice word or smile can make you hurt less and convince you its all worth it. anyways

i neared a xxc racer on the road and we entered the second singletrack climb together. i quickly passed this person (fully suited in dirt rag apparel. i wanted to ask if he worked there?!?) and soon found a 29'er full suspension guy with an awesome fender. i rode with this fellow for a bit and eventually passed on a section i was pedaling and he was walking. i also passed a xc girl which wasn't as nice since that didn't move me higher in the placing. it was nice to know she'd slow down the others when it was their turn to pass though!!!!! =) i passed at least one or two more people before reaching the ridge, i think they were both xc racers who were questioning their existence and current location on a 3000' ridge and the impending 1500' descent. i stopped and chatted with two event organizers at the T with the ridge trail and discussed the smiley face and sad face drawn on my grips. they wanted me to smile. all i wanted to do was catch the singlespeed XXC guy that was just a few hundred feet ahead.

i tried to force myself to ride some of the small climbs that my legs wanted to walk up, though my two feet took over on a few of them still. lactic acid is not your friend. passing another xc rider, he asked if the ridge was almost over. i told him yes, though i knew there was at least a mile to go until the downhill. the singlespeed XXC guy had held me off and i was worried that on the descent his 29er wheels may give him the advantage so i let it all hang out on super narrow super exposed trail. i also had to worry about the 29er full suspension fender guy. i did not want anyone to pass me, especially since the last passer was chris davis (mtngoatepics.com guy) before descending the ridge earlier. coming into a wet leafy rocky poorly constructed 'jump' i opted to walk and found the SS guy on the ground recovering from his attempted jump. i asked if he was okay and quickly remounted my bike and flew down the last few switchbacks and remaining trail. it was over before i knew it and i was crossing the road for the ring of mud, er fire, er mud.

this section seemed out of place for the xxc course. maybe it helped split up the xc guys a bit but after the quality of what we'd just ridden, climbing out of a mudhole on slow singletrack only to be followed by a slow muddy road was not what i had in mind. oh well, BFH.

i overtook another xc racer while trying my hardest to catch another XXC. i couldn't catch anyone and when i pulled into the finishing area i could see someone fifty feet ahead and i knew it was too late. oh well. i hit stop on my garmin and it said 5:44 total time, i beat my goal of 6 hours. there were tons of people standing around eating, listening to music, drinking beer. harlan price was one of them. i heard he won the pro xc category. congrats harlan.

the boone bike contingency was strong in the XXC... darrell prillaman got 2nd (behind a semi pro), drew scharns got 3rd, smart tom got something like 6th, ryan fawley (appstate guy) got 9th, and aran cacciola got 11th. i don't think any of those guys were happy with their results but they all should be. i later found out i was 28th out of 48. although i later heard there were over 50 starters... that made me feel good. my first XXC race ever. my first mtb race of the year (since sept 22nd 2007).

gps info here

we rode 33.9 miles. climbed somewhere around 6500 feet. ascended from 1500' to 3000' at least twice. my average HR was 156bpm. descended one five mile (yes i said five mile) downhill. four gels, two clif bars, ten shot bloks, one bottle of sustained energy and heed, one camelbak, one camelbak refill. oh, and sadly, still, no bananas. i wish i'd taken some enduroltyes. at the end of my day i could feel me stomach churning trying to trick me into throwing up, but my legs still wanted electrolytes. oh well.

it was quite the experience and quite the place to fly the columbus bike racing colors. i'm glad i could do so and finish with a (somewhat) respectable finish. now its off to NUE stop #1 cohutta 100 then getting ready for my first solo 24 effort at the BURN 24. then its wedding time june 29th with my incredible fiance. =) for now its time to sleep...

china sucks

http://www.savetibet.org/index.php

this is such a mess. i hope the olympic games opening ceremony and torch running is a disaster. blah. thinking aloud...

31.08 miles 6:13:53 5200 feet climbing

so drew and i hop in the car and drive out 221 and park on the side. we descend/hike a bike for a while and start heading down yancey's ridge. after the third downhill (on the long loop) we turn onto the 'goatpath.' we take that down some killer switchbacks and take our shoes/socks off and walk across the wilson's creek. we looked around for a while for tr 257 but couldn't find it so we climbed the "rocky road bed." it wasn't very fun and i walked probably 20% of it. oh blah. so we sit on the ground and enjoy some wonderful clif bar products. mmm.

head over to 21 jumps/schoolhouse to crocker exit. my lefty starts making a clankity clank clank. guess i shouldn't have ridden the creek crossing that was two feet deep... my little toes were cold too and white by the end of the ride. so my submerged fork still seemed to work okay, but i had to ride part of the ride with it locked out. oh well. so climbing back up edgemont rd was okay except drew was being strong and sprinted and was waiting when we got back to the 21 jumps start area. we bomb down walnut bottom (watching for the tree that has taken me and matt shanly off our bikes) and popped out on anthony's creek rd. this is basically the end of the fun part of our ride...


we're about 22 miles in and about 1300 feet elevation. our car is somewhere around 4000 feet. so the next 11 miles held something like 2500 feet of climbing. i ran out of water before finishing my last clif bar. that made eating the last half of it quite difficult and i think led to the nauseu that i felt near the end of our ride. edgemont rd was in great shape and we switched from sitting to standing a few times and i put it in the big ring and some cog with probably 19 teeth or so and stood up and gave it all i had. we could see my car and well, drew was still strong and dropped me. its fine. i'm used to being off the back.


enjoy the pictures. so afterwards, i headed to mountain jewelers in newland to check out some wedding rings for darcy and me. no pictures of those yet... thanks for reading this.

superfreak cant touch this

superfreak cant touch this


you can imagine my excitement when i saw this.

2008 bicycle racing umm "schedule"

hello faithful readers... and by that i mean the people that actually look at this because they're bored and velonews.com and drunkcyclist.com didn't have enough to keep them entertained... anyways, you know who you are. and well.

this is my 2008 'schedule'

6-Apr SERC 2 Tsali, NC
13-Apr GSC 2 Columbus, GA
19-Apr Cohutta 100 Ducktown, TN
4-May SERC 4 Ducktown, TN
23-May BURN 24hr Wilkesboro, NC
15-Jun SERC 6 Clemson, SC

29-Jun Grimes/Alexander Wedding

27-Jul ORAMM (100km) Old Fort, NC
16-Aug Fool's Gold 100 Dahlonega, GA
31-Aug Shenandoah 100 Harrisonburg, VA
20-Sep 12 Hours @ Dauset Jackson, GA

i'll go ahead and shout out to Sam Hutchens for agreeing to mechanic/support/feed/cook/stay up all night/etc at the burn 24 for me. i'm also shouting out to kenda for hooking up the Columbus Bike Racing Team with tires. i can't wait to mount up some new rubber on my new cannondale rush. the coolest cannondale rep in the southeast got me hooked up with a new rush carbon and got some trick parts hung on it. pictures will come soon...

in sad news i must say and pause to remember Scott Matty who was killed recently near Columbus, GA when a car collided with he and another rider. the other rider, jeff davis, is in critical condition. these things make me worry about riding on the road but i'm reminded that getting out on a bike is one of the best things there is, and as good as the roads are, we're taking a risk every time. i'll say i think its worth it

we're looking for a good long mtb ride tomorrow in the wilson creek area. hopefully i'll have some sort of report and maybe even pictures... i gotta get back on updating this thing for all the inquiring minds. enjoy.

yo gabba gabba

boone cross racing

Lenoir Cyclocross 2007:

Note the rad crash, yours truly, andy riding with no seat, and numerous riders running/riding the run-up.

Parking Lot Parkway, Ron Fitzwater = idiot.

Here’s My Point: Bikes turn parkway into parking Lot
By Ron Fitzwater

Here’s my point; no one else will say it so I will, bicyclists
ridding on the Blue Ridge Parkway or any other narrow, non-bike
path equipped road are a serious danger to themselves and the
driving public.

How many times have you been driving along enjoying the
wonderful feeling of being on one of the scenic rural roads in the
High Country when you come around a curve and HOLY CRAP
there they are, a pack of cyclists not two feet in front of you and
moving a whole lot slower. Your heart stutters and your throat
tightens as you slam on your brakes and hope you stop in time and
that no one behind you knocks you into the riders. In most cases
the automobile driver is able to avoid killing a cyclist who usually
continues to pedal on as if nothing had happened, oblivious or too
good to acknowledge what they just caused.

Look, I’m all for getting out and enjoying Mother Nature
and if someone wants to get their exercise on a bike so be it, but
things have gotten out of hand. At times there are so many bicycles
clogging up the roads that traffic is slowed to a crawl and backed
up for what seems like miles when you’re the last car in line, and I
usually am.

What I see as the main problem is that someone forgot to
tell all these energetic riders some basic facts about automobiles
and their impact on the cycling hobby. First of all bicycles can’t go
as fast as cars; this is important to remember because they will be
coming up behind you at a rather considerable speed. They also
don’t stop as quickly as most drivers would like them to, even
with new brake technologies, of course barring the chance that the
driver is a trained psychic, when meeting bicycles in a blind curve
brakes are moot anyway. This brings up another important point—
cars are heavy and do a lot of damage when they traverse over
bicycles and their riders.

I am sorry that there are not more scenic roads with bike
paths or trails that go cross country, but the lack of available paths
should not mean that the public’s safety should be put at risk. It is
beyond my ability to comprehend how any enjoyment can be
gleaned from creeping your way up a hill with a line of angry
motorists behind you cursing you with every breath and waiting
for the tiniest extra space to squeeze between the bike and oncoming
traffic, only to be ridiculed and showered with gravel and exhaust
fumes. Really, I’m just trying to save you the trouble.

So here is an idea; why not trade in your bikes and get some
hiking gear. There are many fantastic hiking trails in the area and
the best part about it is there is not one exhaust belching, fast
moving car with bad brakes on any one of them. You could actually
see nature that way instead of staring at your front wheel, and best
of all it will get you out of my way.

Roads are made for cars and are not safe for bikes, these are
facts that are not debatable and it is time cyclists came to grips
with them. And all kidding aside the dangers are very, very real. In
what can only be seen as tragic irony, while writing this piece,
news came in that 43-year-old Lee Anne Barry, who was riding a
bicycle across the country to raise awareness for brain injuries
caused from bicycle accidents, was one of two people killed during
the final leg of the trip into South Carolina. Barry died after she
was hit by a van on rural US Highway 521. Also killed was Barry’s
riding partner, 49-year-old Thomas Hoskins, of Columbia, SC.
The pair was on the last part of a two-month tour when they were
struck by a van around 2:15 p.m. Monday.

Three more quick facts from the most recent available data
from the NTHSA; Total bicyclist deaths in 2005, 784—Up 26
percent from 2003; 92 percent of bicycle fatalities are caused by
motor vehicles, 720 in 2005, and finally, 45,000 cyclists were
injured by motor vehicles in 2005, up 9.8 percent from 2003.

Awareness by drivers and respect by cyclists for the drivers
they are sharing the road with could lower those numbers but only
by so much. So here’s an idea when cars are coming, get off the
road. After all, having to stop and start over again is better than
getting a real close look at the undercarriage of a Cherokee.

That’s my point.


To whom it may concern:

"Q: Is bicycling allowed on the Parkway?
A: Yes..." [http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/faq.htm]

I am writing in response to Mr. Ron Fitzwater's commentary about "bicycling turning the parkway into a parking lot." First of all, he states "How many times have you been driving along enjoying the wonderful feeling of being on one of the scenic rural roads in the High Country when you come around a curve and HOLY CRAP there they are, a pack of cyclists not two feet in front of you and moving a whole lot slower. Your heart stutters and your throat tightens as you slam on your brakes and hope you stop in time and that no one behind you knocks you into the riders. In most cases the automobile driver is able to avoid killing a cyclist who usually continues to pedal on as if nothing had happened, oblivious or too good to acknowledge what they just caused." I would like to respond by saying that bicycles are vehicles under North Carolina Law (the state we live in) and that Mr. Fitzwater must certainly understand that: if he were "driving along enjoying the
wonderful feeling of being on one of the scenic rural roads in the High Country" and came upon a slower moving car (also a vehicle), tractor (also a vehicle) or slow moving farm truck (also a vehicle) that he would need to slow down appropriately and then pass such vehicle when it is safe (ie, when double yellow lines don't exist and/or away from the crest of a hill) and that if he was traveling so fast that "[his] heart stutters and [his] throat tightens as [he] slam[s] on [his] brakes and hope[s] [he] stop[s] in time" that he is clearly at fault for driving too quickly and not paying attention. If he were to come around a corner and collide with another vehicle, or perhaps i'll use the word car since he doesn't seem to understand that car ARE vehicles, that he would be at fault. Yes, scenic roads are scenic, but they are still roads, and if Mr. Fitzwater is so interested in enjoying the scenery perhaps he should slow down; I would also suggest that he doesn't photograph images while driving.

It should be noted that in many instances (especially in the high country) bicycles can "go as fast as cars." So Mr. Fitzwater, when we're descending the parkway (or other narrow scenic roads with 35-45mph speed limits) at 35-45 miles per hour, please do not pass us. I'm sure you are smart enough to not pass a CAR going 35 mph on the parkway since it would require breaking the speed limit. Please remember, as noted before, that bicycles are VEHICLES too.

"Travel on the Parkway forces us to slow down and examine a sublime nature, allowing us to drop our day-to-day cares and experience the glory around us that can appear as an unspoiled pastoral nature where cows munch bucolically near the road or as a ferocious assault from a sudden thunderstorm on a high wind-swept peak when the world disappears completely from view.
Don't even think about getting on the Parkway if you're in a hurry."
-NCNatural.com [Tim Treadwell]

Mr. Fitzwater states "Roads are made for cars and are not safe for bikes, these are facts that are not debatable and it is time cyclists came to grips with them." I would like to know where Mr. Fitzwater found his 'facts.' Last time I looked up 'road' it seemed it was something like an "an open way for vehicles, persons, and animals." [http://webster.com/dictionary/road] Mr. Fitzwater, I'm sure as a reputable writer you have sources for your facts... Would you care to share those sources of your "FACTS that are not debatable"???

I feel that Mr. Fitzwater crossed the line by writing about (using their full names) bicyclists who were killed recently and the sarcastic phrase "...cars are heavy and do a lot of damage when they traverse over bicycles and their riders." I do not care to go on regarding this subject as it is difficult for me to imagine unintentionally inflicting more pain on the families of these cyclists he mentioned. I do feel Mr. Fitzwater should apologize to these families and resist referencing such tragedies in any of his future writing.

I'd like to invite Mr. Fitzwater to come ride bikes with me in the beautiful high country of Watauga County; I'll even provide the bicycle and a helmet. I'm sure we both have narrow scenic roads to cycle. I would like to assure Mr. Fitzwater that he would have a enjoyable time riding a bike and that I will even wait on him if it is necessary. I would also like to say Mr Fitzwater's "point" is not very well received by anyone i know.

Lastly I would like to suggest that the editor of the Mountain Times Ashe County Edition publishes opinions in the editorials section and saves the rest of his newspaper for articles based on facts. Thanks for your time.

Joseph Grimes
Boone Resident & Road Cyclist

I included some extra reading in case people haven't picked up their driver safety handbooks recently:

"Bicycles
Bicycle riding is an important means of transportation, particularly for traveling to and from work and school. Because bicycles are vehicles, bicyclists must obey the same traffic laws as other drivers. Bicyclists usually ride on the right side of the lane, but are entitled to the use of a full lane.

Pass With Care
A bicyclist staying to the right in their lane is accommodating the following drivers by making it easier to see when it is safe to pass, and easier to execute the pass. Drivers wishing to pass a bicyclist may do so only when there is abundant clearance and no oncoming traffic is in the opposing lane. When passing a bicyclist, always remember the bicyclist is entitled to the use of the full lane...
Think Bike
Bicyclists can be expected on all roads except where expressly prohibited. Bicycles are narrow and typically operate at the right of the lane, so may be obscured and difficult to detect. Avoid the Left Cross, Drive Out, and Right Hook types of potential collisions shown below." [http://www.ncdot.org/dmv/driver_services/drivershandbook/chapter6/bicycles.html]


"20-150. Limitations on privilege of overtaking and passing.

(a) The driver of a vehicle shall not drive to the left side of the center of a highway, in overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, unless such left side is clearly visible and is free of oncoming traffic for a sufficient distance ahead to permit such overtaking and passing to be made in safety.

(b) The driver of a vehicle shall not overtake and pass another vehicle proceeding in the same direction upon the crest of a grade or upon a curve in the highway where the driver's view along the highway is obstructed within a distance of 500 feet.

(c) The driver of a vehicle shall not overtake and pass any other vehicle proceeding in the same direction at any railway grade crossing nor at any intersection of highway unless permitted so to do by a traffic or police officer. For the purposes of this section the words "intersection of highway" shall be defined and limited to intersections designated and marked by the Department of Transportation by appropriate signs, and street intersections in cities and towns.

(d) The driver of a vehicle shall not drive to the left side of the centerline of a highway upon the crest of a grade or upon a curve in the highway where such centerline has been placed upon such highway by the Department of Transportation, and is visible.

(e) The driver of a vehicle shall not overtake and pass another on any portion of the highway which is marked by signs, markers or markings placed by the Department of Transportation stating or clearly indicating that passing should not be attempted.

(f) The foregoing limitations shall not apply upon a one-way street nor to the driver of a vehicle turning left in or from an alley, private road, or driveway." [http://www.ncdot.org/transit/bicycle/laws/laws_bikelaws.html]

12 hours of dauset: round and round and round...

so saturday, with the charity of boone bike giving me saturday off work, i participated in my first 12 hour solo mountain bike race. things started on friday, getting my stuff, darcy's stuff and then darrell's stuff loaded into my car and hitting the road. we started with a stop at BP giving some money to big oil companies and then to THE MAN at back yard burger. anyways, the burger was good. 6 hours later we were in jackson, ga. on the way we stopped at a gas station that was closed inside, but had a slot to put money through and get drinks/smokes/snacks through. it reminded me of why i love boone. i dropped darrell off at his hotel and proceeded to the trail/park area. we set up our tent/sleeping bags with the help of paul hein and ed hamilton. we both fell asleep quickly.

before sun was up we were loading our tents/gear/clothes/selves into our cars and moving our stuff down to the pit area. paul and ed scored a great spot right on the trail before it re-entered the woods.

we set up two of our KENDA tents and chairs and coolers and super cool cardboard box with homemade handles and bikes and more. after a quick (for me, but not most people) registration and a couple bagels, we were lining up for a lemans start.

i forgot to turn on my garmin gps computer so when i got to my bike i turned it on and waited hoping to get a quick signal. to my dismay and three minutes later, it was still searching, so i started riding (after the entire field was gone) and set it to work with gps OFF. things were still good, it told me my time, heart rate and elevation all day long. it's hard to describe what happened for the next few hours. i passed a bunch of "just doing it for fun" type riders and finally found some 12hr solo guys. i rode with a handful of different people trying to keep a slow and steady pace and not chase after each 12hr team racer that passed us. i rode with a guy named travis from douglasville for a while. he seemed to be a very formidable competitor. we took turns setting pace and passing each other for our first three or four laps. each lap is between 10-11 miles.


my first few pit stops were good. quick and efficient, though i stopped for 10-15 minutes once to change shoes and eat beef jerky. i was gulping down hammer sustained energy and heed for a while, getting a new sustained energy every three laps and a new heed bottle every lap. i was knocking out a few endurolyte tablets every other lap or so. i basically stuck to my plan of liquid diet with the exception of beef jerky. my mom kept offering chips/trail mix/granola/etc but i was like NO!!!! i'm sticking to my plan. the beef jerky was tasty because of the salt, and the taste stayed with me for most of the lap, and nutritionally i knew i needed some sodium and protein.


the only cool thing to mention during the first 6 laps was that i almost laid it down coming into the start/finish area full speed big ring pedalling across gravel with people everywhere and my pride ready to crawl into a deep dark cave and stand back up and scrape gravel from my skin and lower extremities, but i somehow kept the bike upright, sliding, but upright and unclipped my left foot and sort of moto-slid and scrubbed off speed thanks to my handy avid juicy ultimate brakes.



aside from that, its worth mentioning at the start, my goal for day the was to get 7 laps. i thought 7 laps would be good, but would allow for some stretching time and sitting around time. i kept moving things along, strapping lights on my helmet at the beginning of my 7th lap, which was surely to be during dusk. as 7pm rolled around and i finished my 7th lap, i realized i needed to set a new goal. and i also thought briely, well i got my goal of 7laps, time to stop. hahaha. that didn't happen.


as i coasted into the pit area after my 7th lap i said "two more." so i went out and rode two more laps, stopping only to get a fresh bottle of HEED between laps. as i was out on my 8th lap i started thinking about times, could i make it back to the start/finish before the cut-off time to go for another lap?? after i passed three 12hr solo riders i really got juiced up. and i started thinking about chopper reid and what he says. somewhere in my head i got thinking i had to be finished before 10pm with my last lap, but i don't think that is actually the rule. anyways, i rolled in after my 9th lap and looked at my buddies: Paul, Adam, Darcy, Mom/Dad, Cartec (Charlie) and said, i'm doing one more. i could feel myself moving up the rankings as i rolled out for the last lap and my parents worrying about the lighting situation. well, they were right!! as i was riding one of the last doubletracks i noticed my handlebar light was fading so i turned it off. usually they'll turn back on for a while after a brief rest, so then my helmet light was fading, turn it off turn on handlebar light. after a few more iterations of this process i was riding with no lights as matt hargrove and another racer pulled up behind me. i didn't know matt was there until he announced it, and the other guy had HID so i rode in his beam for about three miles. he pulled ahead and i convinced myself that riding his wheel was safe as long as he didn't go down. as we entered the moonshine section for the last time it opened up, the HID guy pulled away and matt was a little ways behind. i rode in the moonlight and matt's far off beam until he caught up, and we rolled into the finish together. i could hear bruce as usual... saying "we've got more racers coming in... one of them doesn't have any lights. i shrugged my shoulders as i passed him and finished my 10th lap and was essentially applauded and laughed at all at the same time. i rolled down to our pit area and laid on the ground.



afterwards we were worried about charlie, but he's okay i think. okay enough to type a long blog post on sunday, two days before i finished mine!!! congrats to ursula sandefur and nicki sutherland who 1-2'd the wmn's solo 6 hour race. also congrats to darrell's team "mean bean" who won the team 12 hour race. so anyways, i finished 14th out of 39 people or so. i am very happy with my ranking saturday and very happy that i continued to re-evaluate my goals as the day went on. i see more 12 hour solo events and 100 mile races in my future and maybe, maybe maybe a 24 solo next year at the BURN in wilkesboro. for now, thanks to:

my beautiful fiancee darcy, my mom and dad, frank and lingo for coming down from ATL, paul, adam, perry, matt, tom, ed, cartec (charlie), my pseudo CTS coach max shute, andy for letting me borrow lights and a spare bike even if the lights cut off!!!! dave terri and austin and joe for putting the race on, bruce for talking all day, carl mesta for taking incredible photos, kenda tires for hoooking us up!!!!!! shaw and sarah brown for letting me have the weekend off and the Columbus Bike Racing Team for supporting me even though i've moved away.

2007 bridge to bridge century ride

the 2007 bridge to bridge century traveled from lenoir, nc to nc-181, a 12 mile climb and then followed the blue ridge parkway for at least 10 miles, then turned back on us-221 towards grandfather mountain then went up. not just up, straight up. by the end of the ride we were a mile high and on top of the world. or so it seemed. it was my first century ride and well, with how i fared, i may try for more in the future. but 12 hour solo mountain bike racing is on my schedule for this weekend. i'll probably get some pictures posted monday or tuesday. for now, all you get is this:


wondering how many more switchbacks?!? thankfully, the last one was about 40 feet ahead with a short downhill twenty feet to the finish. wheww.

6 hours 12 minutes 100 miles 9275 vertical feet 8 enervit tablets, etc... haha
212th of 499 finishers. blah.
jg

labour day 2007

before you give me shit about typing labour with a u lets remember: this is my blog. on your blog, spell labour with no u: labor.

okay, now thats out of the way.



check it out: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3852539

later.

HELP THE BMCC BOYS!!!

please, even if you've never ridden there, say some good words about the trails at dark mountain and OVT. the bmcc guys are trying to lobby for a grant to buy a trail building machine, and if you appreciate mountain biking, please go to this website and help them!!!!!!

http://www.myhometownhelper.com/ViewProject.aspx?tell=2&id=29233

Dark Mountain 8 hour sesh. & water bottles. lunacy new bike

so tuesday august 28th included an alarm clock going off at 5:59 am. working for 45 minutes at boone bike in the 7:00 hour. a delectable bagel from mountain bagels. and a 45 minute drive to wilkesboro. i got suited up, got a wheel on my 'new' bike, and got rolling.

i should amend, the 'new' bike is little more than a new frame with my old tired parts and fork and wheels. but it has a nicer shock and cranks, so its 'new' in my mind.

here's the motionabased gps map & more

i won't type much more, just let the pictures do the talking:












i don't have a picture of my gps afterwards. i was pretty wrecked at that point... it would say:
7:54:08 ride time
50.5 miles
6.something average speed
26.9 mph max speed
140 bpm avg hr
168 max hr
7000~feet of climbing

i'm okay with that. the hardest part of the day:

cleaning these things!!!

thanks for reading.
jg