It's that time of year

Fall has finally arrived and for me it signals the start of trail riding season! Yeah, I ride my bike all year long, but when fall gets here there is just something about it.

What about it? I'm not sure, but it triggers the desire in me to ride for fun. Just go out and do fun trail rides until I'm jelly legged. Go to hot into turns and drift the rear wheel through the leaves. Session a jump line. Maybe even build some new features behind the house? During the winter I'm usually putting in lots of miles getting ready for endurance and cross country races. On top of that I try and get some time out on the snowboard. Spring and summer bring races, high intensity training, lots of whitewater kayaking, and eventually burnout on training at some point. That's what is great about the fall. It's like a renewal for riding. I don't really need to "train". As long as I'm out riding it's all good. The weather is perfect, the trails turn into hero dirt, and I'm stoked on mountain biking all over again. I usually get up into the mountains more this time of year then any other. Which reminds me, there is a new spot in Boone, NC called Rocky Knob mountain bike park. Rocks, jumps, drops, and steep mountains. What else you want? Hitting it soon for sure.

Fall is also the time of year when the new goodies start finding there way into my garage. What kind of goodies you ask? Next year goodies that are releasing early. It's good to be in the bike industry! First up this year is a perfect bike for Fall riding. Why? Because it puts the "T" in trail riding. I'll give you a hint, it has something to do with a beer can......give up? Ok, here is a pic

Photo taken from MTBR.COM

That's right a 2013 Santa Cruz Tallboy is on the way. What made me make such a decision your asking? All you have to do is ride one and it sells itself. Super playful bike that is very snappy in the corners. I have never cornered a 29er like this bike. I'd say it corners better then a lot of 26 inch wheeled bikes. Looking forward to destroying some NC singletrack on this bad boy!

ORAMM in the house

ORAMM went off this past weekend. For those of you who don't know what ORAMM is, it stands for the Off Road Assault on Mount Mitchell. Still scratching your head? Mount Mitchell is the highest peak in the Eastern US at 6,683 feet. The mountain is in North Carolina smack dab in the middle of the Appalachians.

This race uses mountain bike trails and fire roads to go up the backside of the mountain. When you (or should I say "if you") finish ORAMM you will have raced for 63 miles and climbed over 11,000 feet. You also will have descended some technical western North Carolina singletrack. ORAMM includes such trails as the famous Kitsuma, as well as star gap, heart break ridge and climbs up Curtis Creek rd. The climb up Curtis Creek is miserable. It seems to go on forever (9 grueling miles) as it takes you to the Blue Ridge Parkway with 5-9% grades, which means you are grinding at a snails pace. This elevation profile is no joke!

I did not get to do ORAMM this year. I just haven't gotten the time in on the bike. I'm hoping to saddle up next year and check it off the list. If you have been reading my blog you know I signed up for the Swank 65 this November. It is my hope that in training for that race I'll "jump start" my return to racing and be able to get back in top form for 2013. I would like to congratulate my friend Bruce Stauffer for getting 6th at ORAMM this year with a time of 5 hrs 41 minutes! Nice job.

So annoying

Every time I try and get ready to start training for a race over the past year I either A). get sick or B). break something. Over the last 12 months I've:

1. had a surgery to repair a hernia
2. hyper extended my back
3. tore a muscle in my chest
4. stomach flu
5. 3 head colds
6. 1 sinus infection
7. broke a couple ribs

I'm trying not to complain, because even with these aliments I still have it pretty good compared to a lot of folks. It just pisses me off is all. I'd really like to be riding my bike more and getting in better fitness to get back to racing. Instead it seems I'm assuming the position:

Signed up for a big race, the Swank 65, and even got a week's worth of riding in. Then my main man (my son) get's sick and of course I'm next in line. Now the whole family is sick. Feel bad enough right now that this will probably keep me off the bike a week or two?

I keep reading about my friends out at races doing very well. I'm super stoked for them and at the same time want to be out there racing with them. I guess all this stuff is suppose to make you stronger? The old proverb "that which doesn't kill you" kinda thing. I'm still waiting to see how that plays out. Meanwhile I'll just keep blowing my nose until I look like this guy:

So I went ahead and bit the bullet

That's right folks, I actually committed to racing my mountain bike again! How you ask? Well I went ahead and signed up for the Swank 65. The race isn't until November 11th, giving me plenty of preparation time. I really love being up in the NC mountains, especially in the fall.

Nevermind the evil temptress in the picture, this is a bicycle race really deep in woods of the Appalachian Mountains. Just like the temptress in the picture, the woods in this area known as Pisgah National Forest invite you in with it's singletrack. Once your committed it then delivers a "mama said knock you out" punch. I mean with 7,000 feet of climbing in 38 miles, what do you expect. Check out the famed climb up to Farlow gap at mile 20 on the elevation profile! This climb is over 3 miles of pain up an 18% grade.

What this elevation profile doesn't tell you is the extreme difficulty of the trails here. Deep stream crossings, log foot bridges, baby head rocks everywhere, boulder gardens that would make a pro downhiller cry, and steep hang on for dear life technical singletrack where at times you cannot miss a turn or your gonna fall off the mountain. It deserves, and will get all of your attention and focus.

Cove Creek foot/ride bridge (yeah it's skinny)

Farlow Gap (one of the easy sections)

more Farlow Gap (what line you taking?)

With all the technical riding here it puts me in a dilemma. Would be great to ride the longer travel bike for the descents, but the XC race rig would climb way better, and there is a ton of climbing. It would be tough lugging the longer travel bike up the climbs as it's heavier - but going down would be a blast! My guess is (actually I'm certain) that the lighter XC rig is going to be faster overall. I guess I could just get one of these and have the best of both worlds:

Yes, that is a 2013 Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper 29er that only weighs 25 lbs and has 5 inches of travel. Crazy perfect bike for this race and for trail riding in general. What are the odds that one of these is in Jonnynails garage soon as they become available?

I'll keep the blog updated with some pics of my training rides up in Pisgah between now and race time. Stay tuned.

Finally stoked to get racing again

I've actually been riding and training a good bit lately. I decided to register for the Rivers Edge 50 miler, which is held at The Wood Run Trail System in Uwharrie National Forest on August 25th.

Check out the site here: http://www.charlottemtnbike.com/ then click the "Rivers Edge" tab

This race consists of five 10 mile laps on some fun NC singletrack. 50 miles is a chunk to bite off for my first big race back in a while, but for some reason it just didn't sound hard enough. So I decided that I'll race it on my singlespeed bike. Lucky for me they have a singlespeed class - too bad for me that most of the guys in that class have this kinda determination:

Should be fun though. I've been riding the snot outta my SS (singlespeed bike) lately and really enjoying it. I'll be on my race rocket, a Niner Air 9 carbon SS with Industry Nine wheels. The bike impresses me more and more every time I ride it. I'm always shocked at how well it gets through rough sections and rock gardens. Super stiff and holds a line like a roller coaster. Better then my old Trek Superfly 100 full suspension 29er! Stay tuned as I'll talk more on that when I do a full review on it in the very near future.

The name of my beastly bike you ask?

I like to call it Orange Crush

You draw your own conclusions as to why it got it's name

Most of you probably think I'm nuts for riding a SS bike. Your saying to yourself, why would you just want one gear when you could have a whole bunch? Truth be told I also like the geared bike, but SS'ing is fun because.....
- it's a challenge (try it and see)
-it's simple (no gears to shift - no mechanical issues regarding shifting)
-I feel like a kid again (my BMX bikes had one gear)
-I can only rely on my own power (see above-no gears to shift to make it easier)
- I feel like I'm on my moto (gotta hold momentum and pin it thru corners and tech sections)
-sense of achievment (again, it's a challenge and not for the faint of heart - or in this case the weak of legs)
- the reaction of my friends when they try and keep up with me on it (lots of cursing in my general direction)
- the look on the guys face with 27 gears as I motor by up a hill and disappear

So, I have 8 weeks to get ready for the 50 mile race. I just hope that I can stay healthy and injury free. Some of you know this has been difficult over the last 12 months. I feel like I have a chance to get a podium spot if things go right between now and then. Check back later for more updates along the way and to see my review on Orange Crush.

Blah, blah, blah

I feel like I've been talking to much about getting back into race fitness and not doing enough about it this Spring/Summer. As such I'll keep this post short and to the point so I can prepare for tonight's training session at Anne Springs - it's gonna be a beast! I finally have the itch and have started scratching it by signing up for races and training. I'm going to do a couple xc (meaning shorter distances = roughly 14-18 miles) races in July - first one is next week on July 4th at Anne Springs. The series usually has really good turnouts with a lot of racers.

After a few of the shorter races I'll be looking to do the 50 miler at Uwharrie. It fits right in with my training, which is directed to get me in peak fitness for the 6 Hour Grind race in early October. I have no illusions of winning my class in the Grind as I go up against some monsters. Speaking of monsters, I'll also be doing the Pisgah Monster Cross in September.

Just like the Uwharrie race, it fits in nicely with my training plan to get ready for the Grind. The Monster Cross is 70 miles on gravel and paved roads in Brevard/Asheville with some riding along the blue ridge. Most of the studs will be on cross bikes(road bikes with skinny knobby tires), but I'll be riding my Niner Air 9 carbon mountain bike. Yeah, I'll be at a disadvantage, but the purpose is to get the time in on the bike and have fun doing it - not to challenge for the win. I think this will serve all of those purposes. In October comes the Grind - 6 hours of racing and probably 63 or so miles on technical mountain bike trails. I'm hoping for a top 5 at the Grind. It would be nice if I could scare the leaders for a while too!!!

After the Grind I'll take a week off with no riding. Following that I'll do all speed work to prepare for the Warrior Creek point to point race and then the Swank 65k in Pisgah. I'm setting a goal of podium for the Warrior Creek race and top 5 for the Swank. More on those as the time gets closer. 

The Worm has begun turning

So I've been very non-committal as it relates to racing my bike this season. With my bad luck over the last year I just haven't gotten my body back in shape enough to handle racing, both mentally and physically. I trained pretty hard in April, but then let things slide in May. I kept riding the bike, but didn't have any structure and certainly didn't ride hard at all. Somewhere along the way my motivation faded too.

I stuck my butt in my whitewater kayak more instead. Which is great - I love paddling and I'm gonna keep doing it quite often as long as my body allows it. Seems my lower back at my "advanced" age doesn't really like the kayaking though. Even with all the strength/core work, yoga, biking, stretching, and prescription medicine I still have to deal with moderate to advanced pain everyday. Oh well, welcome to getting old - won't stop me, might slow me down a little, but not much.

I have finally gotten the itch to get back to racing, which means back to training as well. This is great news as the training is what keeps me managing my weight. When I'm training, I'm also watching what I eat. The added exercise helps too, but I've learned that it's 80% diet. Heck, in May I decided that I wasn't going to worry about what I would eat - 8 pounds later here I am. So the long and short of my return to racing is this: I have decided to race at the Tree Shaker race in 3 weeks. It's a four hour race, and I'll probably do between 36-45 miles on my mountain bike depending on how fast I'm going. My guess is 36 miles as I'm just not gonna be in top shape in only 3 weeks from now. In this race you do as many 9 mile laps on a fairly technical course as you can in 4 hours. At least it's on a course that I ride all the time - I know every single root, rock, and line around that course. You can check out the race flyer here:
http://www.charlottemtnbike.com/12Hour/TreeShaker2012.pdf

So we'll see how it goes. I don't expect to be on any podiums at this race, but I gotta start somehwere. My hope is that by the Fall this year I'll be in good shape and flying - I can worry about podium finishes then.