Best Day Ever

This week good friend, former Knoxville resident, and all-around super bad-ass single-speed guru Tarik Saleh was in town. He let me know before his arrival that work related conference-type science things were bringing him back for the first time in three years and that bicycle-type riding would and must happen. I figured just to visit would be great as this guy is one of the best people to come around these parts and that he was the reason that I became so fond of this single-speed obsession that I still enjoy to this day. Time allowed him to come by the shop on Tuesday and catching up and much laughter commenced as well as the beginnings of a Thursday ride plan. I told him that I was off for the day and that whatever work-related things should be blown off in the interest of riding. With the recent onset of East Tennessee monsoon season it looked as though we would default to a fixie road ride as he brought the venerable Bike Friday folding fixie travel bike with him anyway.

However, I had secured a borrowed mountain bike that would fit and was a single-speed just in case mountain biking were to happen and when he called Wednesday and said he was going to blow off attending any of the talks I knew we had to go. Nowhere in town would do as the trails just don't handle rain, especially this much, very well with Norris being the exception but if you go there you might as well road ride instead. So, Big South Fork was the answer as I believed that the Grand Gap/John Muir loop would have to drain well and would provide a very scenic and super fun loop. It just so happened that The Hammer and Keith D. were available so off we went and while others sat around and bitched and moaned about the rain we went a little farther north and ended up totally scoring!!!!!! Trails were perfect and the sun was even out for most of the day. Lots of laughs, lots of ripping, beers were had and not only that after we all dispersed in K-town for our early evening activities we reconvened at the Sunsphere bar and had many drinks, many laughs, and many good photo ops. Look for those at the home of blog gold-Moscaline sometime real soon. To Tarik-very good to see you, great ride, my stomach still hurts from laughing so much, and I can't wait till Durango!

Other stuff out there

Recovery from Cohutta was way better than expected. One thing that helped was hanging with A.J. and going to a Smokies baseball game and enjoying hot dogs, popcorn, and large cups of yellow beer. Spun around Monday morning just to make sure the legs still worked and with Thursday approaching, realized that the legs were pretty damn good all things considered. I already knew that riding may not happen because my best pal in the world "Smithboy" was coming up to the mountains with his merry gang of flat-landers to do their annual hike and overnight at Mt. LeConte. Their plan was to hike up Thursday (my day off) and spend the night at the lodge and come back down on Friday. I figured that this was a perfect opportunity to do something different but still have some movement. Met up with the crew on Thursday morning and hiked up Alum Cave trail mostly with the group and then back down on my own. Makes one realize how great the Park is and how close it is and that all of us should take advantage of it and never, ever take it for granted.

Cohutta Conclusion

Big, long downhill ended too quickly but before long arrived at checkpoint #4 got water, heed and salty chips and kept moving. Eventually the flat single speed hell part started (or so I thought) that Dholmes spoke of from last year. Pedal, pedal, pedal-coast, coast, coast-repeat. This was also the first real open section of the course and the sun was strong but again I like being hot so much more than cold, it didn't bother me a bit. A little rolling up and down and then the REAL flat section began and it seeemed to last for-freakin-ever. Along the way I caught up to someone who looked familiar from way earlier in the day and sure enough it was one of the super-fast women from earlier Betsy Shogren-wife of East Coast mountain bike legend Gunnar. She had looked so strong earlier but now not so good, so we chatted for a minute and she told me that she started the day with a bad head cold and had considered not racing at all so it seemed that was catching up to her. As I slowly started to pull away, I thought I wouldn't have gotten out of my tent if I had a cold, she is definitely hard core (she ended up 4th in pro women!!). On the flat hell went and finally some signage indicated that Sylco campground was close which meant the climbing to get back towards the WWC would have to be coming soon. Sure enough right turn on FR 221 and climb, climb, climb. Nice, smooth dirt road and in the shade made this not so bad and it actually felt good to not be on the flats. Got to another checkpoint and couldn't believe I was at 5 already and sooned realized it wasn't 5 but one of the 65mile race checkpoints as the 2 courses had converged recently. So, for me this was checkpoint 4.5 and there was an extremely jolly volunteer who offered up "ice towels" for my neck which were fantastic to really wake me up and get a quick re-charge. Kept rolling and eventually the road got gravelly and loose as the rest of the forest roads had been really fun and fast, this part was sucky but I knew downhill to the last bit of singletrack was coming soon enough. Got to checkpoint 5 and was asked by someone if I wanted water poured on my head and I was like "sure". Well, he poured and didn't stop when a normal person would have a I thought, "shit I am gonna drown at a rest stop in a 100 mile mountain bike race!!" He stopped when I started gasping for air, I told everyone thanks and kept rolling. I remembered from 5 to 6 was only 10 miles and the singletrack would finally come and this would soon be over. Got to 6, though about off-loading anything I might not need anymore but just kept moving-good on water and food-only 10 miles left! Started West Fork trail and hoped to just ride it all and not walk and somehow did but by the time I got to Quartz loop I felt bad and good ole flat, fun Quartz loop was an ugly display of slower than slow mountain biking. Good little downhill on the last part gave me a recharge and rolled down Bypass and to Chestnut Mtn. fairly good. Finally got to Thunder Rock and was so happy I thought I would cry, but also realized that crashing now would really suck because even if it wasn't bad I still might not want to get up. Rolled fairly quick anyway, caught a couple of people who were happy to move over and near the bottom caught one more rider who was going pretty fast. I figured his pace was perfect, I'll follow and soon be to the road. Well, he decided to take a hand off of his handlebar going around one of the last turns and nearly crashed big time. His bike went sideways and somehow he got his hand back on and didn't die. Made it to the bridge and actually considered that I was real close to going 9 hours!! I had set my goal that 10 would be fine and 9 was possible if things were going good and I couldn't believe it. Spun my brains out down the highway, crossed the bridge and looked at the clock as I went across-8 hours 42 minutes. Very happy to be done, someone handed me the "finisher" coffee mug and I rode back over to the car. Hammered poo- I just sat on the ground for a few and was thankful to be done. Soon I remembered I had beer and a purty new mug to drink out of.....

I knew Dholmes was ahead of me all day but didn't see him around at first. When I found him he told me about his day and that he improved his time by like 20 minutes but only moved up one place in the overall. Still, 8th singlespeeder and 7:51 is incredible-such a stud and he didn't even look like he had done anything...

Next our thoughts were of Ed and knowing he has been a riding fool, knew he would easily be finished in 10 hours like predicted. No sooner had we begun speculating than here he came up through the parking lot yelling at us and came in with a time of 9 hours and 19 minutes!!!!!!!!

I just hope when I'm approaching 60 years old that I can still do this at all much less haul ass like our man ED!!!

Still out were Daughter of ED, "little bit" and new friend Stephen. Ed was sure that "little bit" might have succombed to the heat and that she hasn't done this before- not even a road century. But sure enough, because she is an extremely gifted athelete, probably somewhat stubborn (wonder where that could come from!) and just plain a bad-ass she came rolling in just over 11 hours and has even had a slight detour from the suggested route (wonder where that could come from!!). Awesome ride! We ended up gathering for the awards ceremony and some of the very average post-race food and Stephen rolled in looking tired but overall pretty damn good. I had found from talking to him the day before he hadn't really done a ride exactly like this but has ridden alot and even hiked the AT, so to just keep going is never a problem for someone with the right mentality.

Finally loaded up to head back to K-town but had to do some tailgating at the Shake Shack just before Cleveland and that was the secret to getting me and the others back home-MMMMM, milkshakes!!

More Hot Cohoota Action!

Everyone had talked about the expected summertime temps. for race day on Saturday-mid 80's and there seemed to be concern about hydration and what not. I kept thinking bring it, because I like warm way better than cold. Of course though being that we had to get up at 5 AM and were starting down by the river the morning was cool for sure. Everyone got up, drove to the WWC ate, got dressed and rolled up to the start. The announcer really didn't give a pre-race pep talk as much as he just called the pros and other heavy-hitters to the front of the pack. The start went off smooth and immediately was fast up the highway. This is when one gear and a slight uphill are both good because there is only so fast one can go. Up into the first singletrack of Brush Creek and the natural train formed-not at the super stupid fast front but with people that were moving efficiently and knew how to ride. Loop around, back to WWC up on more trail, did my favorite-River View-even though we went the wrong direction, and up to the 1st rest stop around 18 miles in. Quick water and snack and back rolling and thus the gravel/dirt road extravaganza began.

Rode through beautiful canopy, down, up creek crossing more up, then down and eventually started what seemed to be the first decent length, but gradual climb. Looked around since I was with a group and realized the pro women had caught me and so I thought that I would ride with them for awhile as they surely would be keeping a great pace. This worked for awhile until we did some descending and the road went flat and they did the big-ring, group roadie thing and were out of sight pretty quick. Hooked up with another SS guy who was from Birmingham and we chatted as we rode because the terrain was easy spinning at this point-pedal, coast, pedal, coast then the first real climb of the day came. A few miles into this one my rear tire felt soft and I began thinking, stupid new wheels, stupid tubeless but I remembered that air could get "burped" out so I stopped, hit some CO2 and kept rolling. Seemed to work as I had someone at the next rest stop (#2) check it with a floor pump and it was holding. Another quick stop and quickly resumed pedaling. A few miles later though a weird thing started happening-my legs were feeling really tired. Not a good sign being 40 miles into 100 and knowing there was alot of climbing left on the course. Just went into conservation mode for awhile and hoped checkpoint 3 which was about the halfway point would come soon and then if I could get to the big, long downhill from around 60 to 75 miles that would give lots of recovery time.

#3 came and I started hitting the HEED drink and that seemed to help my legs to come back around. Big downhill finally came and I caught a couple of people which always makes you feel good. I told one guy, that these were the "free" miles-no need for much braking!! And despite a few small uphills this downhill went on forever and for a dirt road was pretty damn fun.

I'll finish later, gots to go work on bikes..........

Co-freakin-hutta!

Saturday, Team Ed began its 2009 campaign of the NUE hundred-mile mountain bike race series in what is as local as it gets for this series with the race being held at the Ocoee Whitewater Center. For those that don't know, the big single loop (which is the best format ever because it really makes you commit to the full distance) starts with a run up the highway, then Brush Creek, down Boyd Gap, Old Copper Rd back to the WWC, up Bear Paw, Riverview, then this crazy gravel/dirt road extravaganza that takes you into Georgia for awhile or a long while, up to near the top of the Cohutta mountains, back into TN, in from the backside (the best way) to the WWC trails, up West Fork, Quartz loop, Bypass, Chestnut Mtn., back over and down Thunder Rock, up the highway to finish-WHEW indeed.

The week before started well enough for me and Ed, he was still riding some, bike was in great shape, I chose to put a bunch of new parts on (usually a bad idea right before a big event) new fancy, stupid-light wheels which required new tires (of course) and going tubeless for the first time. New chain, chainring and cog (it was time), new BB (it was way past time) and I chose to not really ride feeling like rest was important. As the weekend got closer I started thinking about accommodations because you basically had to be there the night before anyway to pick up race packets and thought camping-would have to get there early Friday cause Thunder Rock would fill up fast or cabin or Ocoee Inn. Luckily I found Stephen on knoxvillecycling message board and his plan was to attend Cohutta and get there early on Friday. He called and said it would be no problem to have myself and if anyone else showed up hang out at his campsite. This was good as everything seemed to be falling into place for a good day-lighter, blingier bike, needed rest (still waiting to get busy at work), lodging, and most important the weather was looking perfect-no rain, maybe gonna be hot by the afternoon but after this winter and riding at temps below 20 more than once, heat is a good thing!

Left work early Friday and got to the campground, met Stephen, watched an installment of the Redneck Summer Games- ropeless rock climbing, and the best event "how big of a fire can we build that escapes the fire ring an threatens to scorch the whole campground" impressive stuff and luckily no lives were lost. Daughter of ED and DHolmes showed next and were happy to find us and have a place to pitch a tent. Ed got there a little after 9 and is always perfectly happy to sleep in the back of the Element.

Did some reading, trying to relax, slept good.

More later.............

Winner, winner chicken dinner!!

As mentioned the other day, Ed texted "I won!" and finally at work on Monday we got to hear the rest of the story AND see the hardware. In classic Ed fashion it rained 3 inches the day before the race-think last year-but it sounded like the trails were good except for some mud holes here and there. Fun, fast flowing singletrack without any major big climbs made for a fast course said Ed-its so hard not to go all Dr. Seuss-and by doing 6 laps over the 9 something mile course faster than all of the other 50+ guys he got to bring home this:

Good stuff for sure, hell Ed's time would have been good for 3rd in the 19-29 class! Sounds like a quality event with good organization and post-ride meal included with entry fee. D. Holmes went with Ed and looks to have had a great ride as well finishing 4th and of course going up against the fastest of the fast.

BTW the trophy needed some modifications expertly handled by Harkleroadster to make it more personal:

Oh yeah, Cohutta is just around the corner. Looks like Ed is firing on all cylinders for sure and is going to kick some serious boot-tay!

Tale of the Dragon's Tale Part 3

Up the singletrack climb for a second time, actually felt better than the first which is probably due to the fact of having seen it already and knowing what to expect. Left on the top of the ridge this time and I'm thinkin okay, ridge top goodness that may be tech but maybe some "free" miles of twisty, flowy trail. Not exactly. The trail was super fun but pretty rocky and definitely up and down. It was amazing how high off of the valley floor the trail was and that it follow the top of a ridge and still had that much climbing. Every now and then the trail would drop a little then go right back up without many switchbacks. On and off the bike but the sun was out and just kept moving at a quick pace. It was refreshing in a way to not know a trail, not have a watch on, and not have a bike computer-no real sense of mileage, time-just ride hard until this thing was over. Finally passed the EMT-type guy who we had been told at the start was the only person on the ridge section we would see because there was only one way off the ridge (about halfway) and that he would have a phone. Smiled, waved kept truckin and for the first time started to think about the water situation. I was traveling light with one bottle and for the distance of the race and two rest stops, one seemed to be the way to go-plus I don't drink alot. However this trail was proving to be relatively slow going and I wondered if I was going to screw myself. Also, it was becoming clear that the little ups were not the "soul crushers" for sure and that there was still some riding to do. Rolled along, finally crossed a power line cut that was in the photos we saw pre-race and then started to descend a decent amount. Looked ahead across a saddle in the ridge and saw the first of the "soul crushers". I had actually tagged on with a guy that I had seen with flats earlier and he had caught me and we were doing the leapfrog thing. Walking steady up, calves were beginning to protest, water almost gone this is truly an epic course so far and there was still probably 10 miles left. Along the ridge, another big walk and just when I was about to really start cursing the arrows pointed left and that meant DOWN!! Finally some real downhill and just like earlier the downhill was super fast not technical and crazy narrow! Down, down and finally rest stop #2.

Drank water, ate fig newtons, ate pringles and was glad to just stop for a minute. As one of the fine folks at the rest stop was checking numbers I heard "we have only had 16 through" and with two others standing there with me I thought I must be on a good pace still. Someone also mentioned it was 2:30 and I quickly realized that I had just done the hardest 32 miles ever, and still had 8 to go. Back on the bike and immediately the singletrack went up and if fresh would have been a great climb-smooth, not crazy steep but at this point walking was the option for alot of it. Got on top of another ridge and the trail was like the other ridgetop-rocky, up and down just not as long. Downhill came pretty quick and was an awesome dirt ribbon with tighter switchbacks than the King and dropped down into this little valley and followed a creek for awhile. Up one more time, then down and the trail started to open up, get really smooth and fast then finally dumped out onto gravel and I knew the end was coming soon. Gravel turned to pavement and rolled around to the backside of New Castle. I pedaled my ass off because I still could and I was close to the finish. Rolled in with a total time of 5 hours and 16 minutes for 13th place so I was very happy. I stood in my riding clothes for many minutes and opened a beer and realized that was the hardest race I've ever done. The course was brutal with no free miles and you had better know how to ride or you could get seriously injured. I called Sweet Mama next to let her know that I was alive and then I really started thinking about Larry. He had definitely crossed my mind several time during the day and I was just hoping that he was enjoying the trail. I knew he would be fine because he can ride the hell out of a mountain bike and has seen and ridden every type of trail, I was just hoping he wasn't cussing me because of how long this thing really was taking. I also thought of Ed and that I was really glad he didn't come because this was not his favorite type of trail for sure. He could have done it but he probably wouldn't have enjoyed himself. About the time I was sort of feeling normal again a car pulled up and Larry and some others got out. I was glad to see him and see that he wasn't hurt and began telling me about just having hydration issues and generally a bad feeling, luckily enough where the EMT guy was which gave him an opportunity to get off the ridge. It sounded like this alternate trail-the Turkey trail-has been used in previous versions of this race and that it ended up being a super fun downhill, like the others, that took him down to the road that we had started on. There he hooked up with some fine folks that we from nearby and they gave him a lift back to the start/finish area. I knew he really was feeling bad when he didn't want a beer at first-he came around pretty quick though-and we enjoyed some food and good conversation with some other folks from Asheville and eventually got on the road. Its always fun talking about the trails and emotions after the fact and I'm truly grateful to have someone like Larry as a friend and his ride, after not doing alot of riding for a few week, is the most impressive of the day. Believe that this is the hardest course of its kind out there-harder than the Swank by a long shot. It took pro-boy winner 4 hours!!!!

BTW we killed the hell out of some Cracker Barrel breakfast food for dinner near the VA/TN border and it was so good.

Also, while we were on uber adventure silliness, others from Team Ed were at Tsali XC racing some singlespeeds. Keith "more beautiful than Derek" D. brought home best honors with a 5th place finish! The Hammer had some chain issues or he would have been in the mix as well. Maybe I need to do an XC cause if me, the Hammer, and K.D. were racing each other no one else would have a chance- and that's everyone, especially anyone else from K-town.

Late note-ED texted me Saturday evening from the finish at the 6 hour race he did near Charlotte that simply said: "I won!" Way to go ED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!