Been forever

So what. Mainly that means lots o' riding. Finally spring has sprung so no more snow, booties, giant gloves and the like. Warm temps, not much rain, and no question the most perfect dirt that East TN has seen in years!!! Been to the Bahamas for R and R, but right back to it with big dumb rides most notably at Tanasi, mostly getting ready for Cohutta which is only one week away now! Team Ed racing season officially started yesterday with the very local Ocho 8 hour race at Panther Creek State Park. The results are posted yet but Ed texted and said he did 7 laps in 6:50, so it sounds like he is kicking it just like always- Way to roll it ED!!

Dirty South Tuesday night beat-downs have started as well, with the first being what I expected but maybe with a different cast of characters than I would have thought. Bhann strong as always, jason is always ready but I haven't seen him alot, JoelM from work was in there and is VERY strong as was evidenced by everyone when he beat them down at Knoxiecross, and Sean a very accomplished XC racer and up and coming endurance racer too. Good fun and very fast!

Time to rest and eat and drink lots of water this week and see if the winter riding pays off on Saturday. BTW, lest I forget Duncan is in the almost great white north or maybe just New Jersey, but at any rate is racing and flying the Team ED colors and hopefully giving those yankees the beat down! Go Keith!

Winner winner chicken dinner!

Knoxiecross has been happening, but I've been too busy training- doing longish rides then getting back for the little man's b-ball games on Sundays. Well, after catching good-natured grief for not showing up to any, I figured I'd jump in the last round especially since it was at Morningside park, site of the very first Knoxiecross. Best part was that Saturday night I stayed up until 2 and had many beers, so the morning brought doubts about going but again I didn't feel like hearing it so off I went, running late of course and with half a lap warm-up it was ON! Got in the masters group with the geared plastic wonderbike and after so rubbing with the Hammer and some karate on the first dismount/run-up, I was ready to race. Myself and Sean E. quickly got a gap on the 2nd lap and from there it was me and him and eventually I slowly creeped away from him ( he had just raced the 4's, so very strong to jump right in the masters ). It felt good to win something and I wished I didn't have to leave so I could have shown those SS boys how its done!! Ha- don't know if anything would have been left, plus friend/co-worker/cross phenom Joel M. is crazy strong and stomped it down real good. Reminds me of J.T.- if JM rode half as much as he did he would crush the Pro 1/2's as well. Good stuff, maybe next year I'll do more of them. Hats of to the TVB crew, they were "tail-gating" drinking, cooking and cheering like mad and made it a great atmosphere!!

Finally......

......mountain biking (mostly) singletrack-style!!! Had all day to go ride- nowhere to be, nothing to worry about except that it was freaking snowing again!! Looked at the radar and southern East TN looked clear-cold, but clear so off to Tanasi I went. Great alternate drive, because of rock slide you have to use highway 68, and time to trail was pretty much exactly the same. A few flurries but then the sun was out and the trail conditions were fantastic. Largely dry and fast and FUN! So nice to ride the new bike on some real trails and just be out in the woods. AHHHHH!!!

More winter fun?!?!

Yes, the winter that would never end or at least it sure is making riding outdoors more interesting. Two Thursdays ago found that the Park had much more snow than anywhere near town. Stayed warm and it sure was purty!

Oh my my, oh hell yes, honey put on......

......your plastic SS party dress. Yeah thats it. Pics are weird cause I sent them from photobucket while the computer was fried. Anyway, its super bitchin', stupid-light (18lbs.) and yes I'll be kicking your ass aboard this fine machine at a hundred mile mountain bike race real soon (I hope- always fun to trash talk a little!) The other bike was fantastic and this one does everything better. Can't wait for warm, dry, fast single-trackin'.