5-4-08
Ft Yargo Aftermath (seems to be the new word for race wrap up)

Two 100-mile mtn bike races in two weeks. Not a bad way to start off the riding season! Yesterday's race was held at Ft Yargo State Park in Winder, GA just south of Athens (for all you Dawg fans). The weather report was 60% chance of thunderstorms but I had been praying all that God would hold back the rain or divert it or something, mostly because I don't have the money laying about to rebuild the drivetrain a second time in two weeks! Rainy mtn bike races wreak havoc on bike parts.

Anyway, all was going well -- got to the arena fine and found our pit area. Oh, I should mention that I was pitting with Xray_Ed, PedalHard, and Nikki. Duckman was nextdoor and was quite the friend by saving our spot for us when he got out there on Friday. The girls from Sorella Cycling were on the other side of Duck and it seemed that there were 30 people over there and I don't think they stopped bringing stuff from their cars until the race was over - it was an endless supply chain! On our other side was Carebear, Shane, and Scott. All in all, surrounded by good folks.

Race start was 10am and so far not a drop of rain. During the first hour and half, however, there were some very light showers on the east side of the lake which simply knocked the dust down and packed the trail in a bit better. Otherwise, the Lord heard the prayers of this sinner and diverted the rain to the south of the race! Not that I was the only one praying He would hold off the rain, mind you. Anywho...I was well hydrated and fueled and had a basic nutrition plan lined out for the day.

My goal was 100 miles then see how I felt and how much time was left. The format for Yargo varied from the Cohutta race in that this was a 12 mile lap and the goal was to complete as many laps before the time cut off as you could. I made short stops after each lap for food and bike adjustments. Some breaks were a bit longer than others but I was okay with it.

Halfway in, at the 50 mile mark for me, I made a nutrition error that you don't hear much about -- I ate too much. Most folks eat too little at these things. Well, I now had to deal with the fact that I was asking my bodt to digest this extra food while still producing the same power it had been. Nothin' doin! Miles 51 to about 65 sucked as I struggled about the course. Finally, I came to the realization that I was completely overthinking this issue and I needed to just ride my bike and have fun! After all, the I'm not honoring anyone represented on my jersey by feeling sorry for myself here. Once I got past that, I did start enjoying the ride again. Unfortunately, my average speed had dropped almost 1 mph which I had to work hard to make up. (I never did).

In summary, I got schooled by the legendary Norma Rainwater who, although we were leap frogging each other on course, finished a lap up on me. I also got schooled by Xray_Ed and Duckman who are both further along in years than I, but my consolation is that neither had done the 100 miler at Cohutta ;)

Final Stats:
Avg speed: 9.9 mph
Avg HR: 152
Total distance: 99.63 (close enough to 100 for it to count)
Mechanical issues: Zero
Crashes: Zero
Near misses with trees: several!

Pictures below:
1. Thanks to Duckman, pre-race -- No I didn't pose for this, he caught me doing a mental check on my gear
2. The mass start
3. A nice jump to have made had I known there'd be a photographer there and what the landing zone looked like. Well, that and self preservation since this was taken on lap 2.

4-30-08
Recovery and race prep

Let me just say that last week was a definite learning experience for my cycling career. I felt great after the C100 – did a 12 mile recovery ride on the road Sunday, took off on Monday, easy MTB ride Tuesday, then hit it hard Wednesday with a 1300m swim and 5k run. Then came Thursday. Thursday I met up with Tucker to ride at Blankets Creek in Canton. It’s not a technically challenging trail and is a nice place to go get some easy mileage and have fun with the ride. The first lap was a bit faster than I would have liked for a warm up, but I felt fine. I kept tabs on my heart rate (HR) though, and was a little concerned. Instead of riding South Loop, which has a bit more climbing and higher technical difficulty than Dwelling Loop, I asked Tucker to do another lap on Dwelling. I kept noticing that my HR on certain efforts was about 30-40 bpm lower than it typically is, so I really got concerned. I bowed out after that lap and decided to not workout at all over the weekend so that my body could fully recover.

So after taking the weekend off (except to cut grass at my parent’s house), I did a 10k trail run Monday then rode Blankets again last night. The legs are a bit tight which I’m not happy about but it’s manageable. I’ve been stretching (thanks to the constant reminders running through my head from Sarah getting onto me!) and I think I’ll just do some good stretching tonight instead of a swim, since I won’t get to workout until about 9:30 pm.

This coming weekend is a 12 hour MTB race at Ft Yargo State Park in Winder, GA. I was given a free entry from one of the sponsors so I want to do well. I hate that I’ll be missing Pedalpalooza with SORBA Woodstock and the Bike Fellowship gang. The goal this week is another 100 miles. I’ve heard the course is ~15 miles so if I can knock out (7) laps I’ll be happy with that effort. This course is drastically different than the C100 course in that there’s only about 100 ft of elevation gain per lap. Good you say? Well, what that means is there’s no recovery like a long downhill to let the legs rest. You’re constantly on the gas at Yargo. Looks like I’m pitting with Duckman, Xray_Ed, and Pedalpusher so it should be fun at least. I don’t know Pedalpusher, but I think I may be the youngest in this crowd so I have to make sure not to let the old guys take advantage of me! Duckman is strong and rides more in a week than I get to in a month so don’t let age fool ya! It’ll be a good day for racing!

Keep the names coming – I got (3) last week of soldiers KIA overseas. I’ve started a list for them on the left sleeve of the jersey. I do plan to wear it for Ft Yargo this weekend.

One last thing, I have emailed the race director (RD) for the Cohutta 100 about a rule violation that I committed. By accepting food from my support outside of a designated aid station, I broke the rules. I knew it was a violation but I was not really concerned with it at the time. It did not cross my mind at the finish and none of the other racers I was racing with said anything about it. It is grounds for my disqualification but I’ve not heard from the RD. I doubt anyone really cares since I came in 120th but rules are rules. If she does write me back, I’ll let you know.

Now, get back to work slackers!

4-20-08
Cohutta Wrap Up

Here's the summary with pictures.

Total race time: 11 hours 48 minutes
Total time off bike: 1 hour 19 minutes
Avg speed: 9.6 mph
Avg HR: 148
Max speed: 43 mph

Targets were:
10 hours plus breaks
Avg speed: 10 mph
Avg HR: 150

Conditions:
The weather straight up sucked for the start of an all day epic. It was raining and cold (about 50 degrees) for the first three hours. Course conditions were mush. There's nothing like slogging up a 10 mile climb at 6 mph knowing that ~50% of your energy is getting sucked out of each pedal stroke because of the mud. Once the rain stopped, it was actually pretty nice. On the east side of the Cohutta Wilderness the sun had been out and it was about 75 degrees. It was a bit cooler at the finish but who cared at that point, right?!

The brief:
The first bit of the race flowed very well on the Brush Creek trails. The downhill back to the Ocoee Whitewater Center was a lot of fun and I was able to push past some folks who were being overly cautious on the rock gardens -- something I'm not. I use those spots to make up time and work my way through the field, which worked very well yesterday. Once back at the Whitewater Center, we crossed the foot bridge and as I set up to make the left turn onto the Bear Paw trail, my front wheel went sliding on the wet pavement and I took my token digger (I always crash once at the Tanasi trails), messing up my left knee and left shoulder. All those folks I passed on the downhill and rock gardens caught and passed me right there ---GRRRRR! On the same mile, a bit further up trail, I had my only mechanical for the day -- a broken chain, which was quickly repaired because somehow the Lord only let one link come out so I didn't need a tool or anything. I just grabbed my SRAM quick link, slapped it in, and got back in the race.

Quick stop at Check Point 1 (CP1), then it was onto fighting fireroads for the next ~60 miles. I caught Jono at CP2, grabbed (4) chocolate chip cookies, some chain lube then we were off. Andrew was supposed to meet me at CP2 but we missed each other somehow so I was elated when he came rolling up behind me about 5 miles later on top of the ridge. I grabbed a sandwich, some BURN energy drink, e-caps, changed gloves into some dry ones, and since I was shaking from the cold, I had to get moving again. CP3 took a little longer for me so I could get some ointment on my knee and clean off the drivetrain since the weather was breaking and the course conditions weren't so bad. Grabbed an orange, some cookies, another BURN, maybe an Ensure and a Snickers Marathon bar and was off to Potato Patch. From CP3 along the south side of the Cohutta Wilderness, I know the road so it was nice to be on familiar grounds.

Potato Patch is just past halfway for the day which meant the worst of the climbing was done. Basically, from about mile 28 to 52 it's all climbing. Sure there are a couple little descents but they just tease you and feed you into yet another climb. From Potato Patch to Lake Conasauga is rolling and not bad. From the Lake, it's mostly downhill to where CP4 was (I don't have a clue where on the map it was but it was sunny, warm, and at the bottom of a long downhill)!

From CP4 (about 68 miles into the day) to 5 was about 10 miles. This piece was mostly flat and allowed me to stretch the legs of my Salsa Dos Niner and see what she could really do. Let me say, it was good to have big wheels!! I felt great rolling out of CP4 and managed to catch and pass several riders who were on traditional 26" wheeled bikes. The Dos Niner has 29" wheels which, once you get 'em rolling, it's much easier to keep pace. I caught these two guys who were teammates and using a roadie thing known as drafting -- basically just working together to conserve energy. As I passed them, they tried to catch onto my wheel and draft off me but I shifted up and was going to make them work for it. The next time I saw them was CP5. There was a nasty bit of a climb after the flats but that led to a nice descent into CP5.

At CP5, I took some time to grab some food because I was not planning to stop at CP6. So after yet another BURN, Ensure, beef jerky, gel, e-caps, etc, it was off to fight the last bit of fireroad.

CP 6 was at the start of the last bit of singletrack to the finish, 10 miles to go! The last section of trail is a 2 mile descent called the Thunder Rock Express, but in order to get there, we had to pay for it by doing a 2.5 mile climb from CP6....ARGH!! At the top of this climb, I got hungry but refused to stop and eat -- a mistake which caused me to suffer a bit and go slower on the singletrack than I should have. But I was pushing to make the top of Thunder Rock, knowing it was an easy fast downhill to the finish.

When I finally made the top of Thunder Rock, I grabbed an oatmeal creme pie (number 4 or 5 for the day) and took off for the final descent. I caught a couple other riders, including my friend Jono, which gave me a boost. We rolled out onto the pavement together and made the final push for the finish line.

All in all a good race and a good day. I am pleased with the results and how good I felt for most of the day. Riding in honor of Those Who Serve was a huge encouragement as well. When I started feeling down or wondering what I was doing, I looked at jersey and was quickly reminded that I was riding to honor those who are represented there.

A big thanks to Andrew for driving the course to meet me with food and encouragement and for the pictures which you will enjoy here. A big thanks to all who said a prayer or called or emailed with words of encouragement -- it truly helped get me though.

On a side note, Andrew is starting up his own photography business so if you are in the north Georgia / Atlanta area and need pictures for your youth sports team, family portraits, engagement, sporting activites, church event, whatever, drop me a line and I'll get you hooked up with him. He does a great job as you see below.

To Jono: it was a pleasure doing battle with you this day, my friend!

Pictures:
1. Starting line
2. Here we go!
3. Just an idea of how the roads looked
4. CP3, Peter (Solo Slow Guy) in the blue helmet.
5. Lubing the chain
6. Pushing through Potato Patch
7. Downhill to CP4
8. Victory!
9. Jono finishing

4-18-08
C100 Pre-Race

Race day is finally here! I want to thank all who have given me names of people you know who are serving in the armed forces and as missionaries. There are a few names of people that I've included who neither but they are special to me -- family, friends, my pastor, music minister, etc. As promised, here are pictures of the jersey that I will be wearing not only tomorrow, but for the 12 hours of Ft Yargo by Dirty Spokes Productions in two weeks and the 24 hours of Conyers by Granny Gear in 4 weeks.

There's plenty of room on the back yet so please, if there is someone who is serving overseas that I can honor with you, please let me know.

I want to add a very special thank you to Sarah for the idea of dedicating the miles and to my best friend Andrew for writing the names on the jersey last night and this morning while I packed. You are both very much appreciated!

4-13-08
Dateline: Ellijay (again)

Took off after church today for another Cohutta training op with Jono. Yesterday's Bull Mtn plan got rained out so I took the option for a 10k run instead, well two 5k runs at different paces. Today the plan turned out to be a Bear Creek / Mountaintown route, which we've one before and knew the route so we weren't worried about nav errors!

How was it? Well, GREAT! We had no mechanicals, no nav errors, and no injuries. We DID have a few snow flurries at Potato Patch (much more welcome than the biting gnats last week). We DID experience a drop in temperature. Most important, we had a great time! Total distance today was about 24.5 and the avg speed a bit low at 8.7 but if you don't know Mtn Town, there's about 23 wheel washing opportunities (creek / river crossings) and at times we felt like we were doing some cyclocross training with all the downed trees. Some of the water crossings are rideable, many are not and today were thigh deep in places. That's some COLD water boys and girls!

It was a good recon day for the condition of FS64 which helped us make final tire selection for the race. I'm sticking with my worn Kenda Klaws as they have enough tred to dig on the fast descents but not so much that they cause too much resistance on the climbs. The road is in great shape and I'm praying the Forest Service does not do anything to it this week, like adding a bunch of gravel --- that would not be fun on Saturday.

This week, I plan to rest, swim and do some weights. I'll also probably run some, but I need to get the bike cleaned up and prepped for raceday so I doubt it'll see any use this week. The cross training has been suiting me well this spring and I plan to stick to it.

Oh, there's been a change in the jersey I'll be wearing for the C100. I decided not to get a US Army jersey, but to wear a solid color instead with the names of those who are serving in our military and as contractors overseas. I got to thinking today that I might wear it for every race I do this year and folks can add names as we go through the year. It'll simply say "For those who serve" and have their names all over it. Nope, it won't be fancy, but we need them to know we appreciate what they're doing and we support them. Please, if you know someone that is serving and have not already given me their name, let me know who it is. I'm still a few short of a hundred right now.

Well, it's 12:44am and I'm going to try and get some sleep for the second time. Maybe this time it'll work!

4-9-08
Sunday Wrap Up

Summary:
38 miles, a little over 4 hours ride time, Jono snapped his rear shift cable, a truck ride, two navigational errors yielded us almost to Chatsworth -- who knew FS68 went there?! I thought it ran north / south. Lesson learned: take a map that has more of the surrounding area and better detail.

Ride Details:
The day started fine with arrival to the trailhead on schedule (by2pm) and both Jono and I feeling pumped for a great ride. Route plan was the Firewater 50 route but shifting the start to Bear Creek. There were several hikers about and all were friendly except the guy who parked his Jeep right in front of the trailhead so he, his wife, and two kids wouldn’t have to walk 20 more steps. C’mon, you come to the woods for a hike and you have to save yourself 20 steps? I’ll stay off my “Americans are lazy, self centered……” soapbox but hopefully you feel my pain on this account. The sun was shining, the trail was wet from the rain on Saturday and off we went. I decided to carry a different pack today since we were going self supported for 50 miles. I had entirely too much food packed but I didn’t discover that until later. I’ve ridden with that pack before in Pisgah but today it was too much.

Jono and I joked and razzed each other all the way up Bear Creek but I couldn’t keep pace for some reason. My heart rate was hovering in the 170’s and I couldn’t get it to back down despite a couple of quick stops on FS 68 up to Potato Patch. Once on the FS road, the gnats came out in force which was adding to my frustration – having to swat every few seconds. Thankfully the Lord cares about things about this for us so I prayed that He take do something about the gnats and soon I found that they were not bothering me, even though they were still buzzing about.

We made Potato Patch in reasonable time and made a stop for food. After about 5 minutes, we were off heading toward Lake Conasauga. We were back to our joking and racing each other on the flats and downhills, which was an event that repeated itself all day. I like riding with Jono because we push each other and have fun doing it. We were diving into turns, sprinting out of the turn, faking each other out on passes, etc – just generally having fun with the ride.

We made the top of Windy Gap in good time and started down. We got passed by two (2) dirt bikes but we made that up when one of them got stuck. It was a father-son duo and the son got his bike stuck and dad was yelling directives to him. As I passed the dad, I let him know he should be sure to tell his son’s friends that he just got passed by a spandex wearin’ leg shavin’ cyclist and his response was, “ yea, and one wearing pink no less!” I loved it! After a brief stop at the top of the rocky climb before the big descent, Jono and I dropped in. now, if you’ve not ridden Windy Gap, you have no idea how sketchy, rocky, fast, fun, and dangerous this trail really is. The switchbacks are tight up at the top. The rocks are plentiful, big and loose. Once clear of the rocks, it’s wide open whoop de doo’s and berms. There are sections of the rock gardens that I am still not sure how I got through without crashing. I left Jono somewhere along the long and just let the Salsa Dos Niner (aka PT-6) do it’s thing. As long as I can keep it upright and straight, it will flow. There are no lines through most of those rocks – you just point and go and let off the brakes until you need to adjust.

By the time you make the Milma cut off, the adrenalin is pumping, your heart is bouncing between perfectly calm and “Oh my God I’m gonna die!” Off we went on Milma, heading to Tibbs, still doing well on schedule and the ride plan. Milma is another fun trail with some ups and some downs and creek crossings and rock gardens. At the intersection with Tibbs, we decided for a food stop and to check the map. Now, the map I brought was one that basically just had the FW50 route on it and not much else of the surrounding territory. This intersection can be a bit tricky and since we had each only been there once before, we thought we made the correct decision on our route. After we started riding, and I mean 10 seconds later, Jono’s rear shift cable got caught in his chain and snapped. How the heck did that happen?! I have no idea but it’s one reason I do not like downtube cable routing. We cut the cable and Jono was now relegated to riding with three (3) gears. Fortunately, the chain was stuck on the small cog in the back so he could use his big ring on the DH runs. We knew we were to be climbing back to the ridgeline but somehow we weren’t. We came to this one climb and I thought “Ok, this is it. Elevator up!” Then we dropped again….hmmmm…..As we came into another intersection at the bottom of a climb we knew we were not where we meant to be. We checked the map….checked the compass….and decided to head East on FS 78-B (which was not on my map). We kept staying left at turns and I was hoping and praying that we would come into FS 68, below the Bear Creek trail.

After riding this FS road for longer than we wanted – and praying that we would make it to a road we knew before dark – we popped out quickly onto FS68!! We checked the compass, rode up the road a bit to the cut off for Mulberry Gap (again, not on my map), and stopped for discussion. We both thought we remembered that FS68 ran north / south and if we headed south, we could make the paved road and ride it back to the Bear Creek parking lot. So we headed down the mountain instead of up. Down, down, down, down………still no paved road. As we crossed a river and rounded a right hander, Jono had an epiphany and he knew exactly where we were. He’d been there before on another ride. He said we were near the proper start for the FW50, which is on the Eton / Chatsworth side of the mountain. I disagreed until we found a kiosk with a map. Then all I could do was laugh!

Darkness was setting in as we discovered our exact location was nearly 15 miles from Chatsworth, instead of Ellijay. We were left with the toughest decision all day – to ride up up up up to the Bear Creek cutoff or to hitch a ride. There were some teenagers hanging out nearby and I frankly did not have the legs for the climbing that was before us. We were looking easily at 11miles of nothing but up. Jono tried to motivate me for the climb, but I was having none of it. It was already after 9:00pm, we had both missed dinner appointments, he was down to (3) gears – none of which were ideal for this climbing – and I was beat from carrying too much extra weight. We opted to hitch a ride and this kid Zach very willingly agreed to help us out. He realized how bad it could get for us with the sun gone and the temperature dropping and us being so far off our plan.

We had Zach drop us at the Bear Creek cut off and we dropped in from there for the last section of trail to the truck. Overall it was a great day of riding which my body has taken all week to recover from. It’s Friday as I write this and Jono and I are planning another venture up to Bull Mtn tomorrow. It’s been a very long time since I’ve made navigational errors like the ones last week but I’m glad we were able to enjoy it and ride the week on the adrenalin and memories of Windy Gap and simply enjoying trails that we otherwise wouldn’t have known were so good.

It was great training. Tomorrow will be great training. Next week, I will swim and catch up on sleep in the final days of preparing for the Cohutta 100 next Saturday. I will NOT carry my 2000 cu inch Camelbak tomorrow. I will carry my Camelbak Mule and I will have a better ride. I’m also getting used to the iPod while I ride, it’s actually quite nice –but one earbud only—I still like to hear birds chirping and squirrels scurrying about.

Pictures:
1. Pink Turtle and Chief Hairy Scary at Bear Creek
2. PT-6 at the Windy Gap / Milma intersection
3. Big Chief finishing Windy Gap (he wimped out on the jump :(

4-4-08
Need some pictures!

I was perusing the blog here last night and realized that you guys might want some pictures. I didn't realize that I had made so many posts of just writing so this weekend I'll get some fresh pictures up -- and hopefully some will be from a big ride I'm going to do Sunday afternoon.

In the meantime, here's a litte warm up. I'm watching a friend's dog for a couple days so Mollie (my great pyrenees) had a playmate. Bear is a good dog and I'm glad I was able to help her out.

3-21-08
Easter Weekend

Just wanted to say that I hope you all have a great Easter weekend no matter where you are and what you'll be doing. If you are in town (Atlanta) you are welcome to come by my church tonight for our Good Friday service. It will be a music and arts presentation that you will not want to miss. the service starts at 8:00pm and run time is about 90 minutes. Don't forget Easter Sunday morning -- we have two services at 9 and 11:15 with a buffet lunch following the second service that's being catered by Proof of the Pudding. Details and reservations for lunch can be found at www.mountparan.com. Sunday morning service is broadcast live each week so you can tune in even if you're not in the same building. And since I'll be singing with the choir, you really can't miss that!

You are all in my prayers and thoughts as I know a few of you are having some tough situations to face this week with family illnesses, loss of a loved one, or that you live and work with the unknown just outside the front door. I hope you too take time this weekend to remember that Christ came to earth with the sole intention of dying a brutal death on a cross so that we don't have to face an eternity of torture and separation from God. It was no accident or decision of man that put Him there. That's how much God loves each and every one of us. Oh yea, and He doesn't care how messed up we think we are - He already knows that. The great thing is simply this: God accepts us -- and all of our baggage -- no matter what. I don't know anyone here on earth that does that all the time. Parents forsake their children; friends cut each other down with spite or simple meaness; people we care about don't accept us completely, but God does. We don't have to do anything, pray the right way, pay money or anything -- God, through His infinite grace, accepts us and loves us.

Ok, I know some of you tuned out a minute ago, but I wanted to share that with you this Easter weekend. Please take care in your travels this weekend and know that you're all very important to me and I appreciate the friendship and love you have shown me.

On another note, I have a post about a ride that I did last weekend with Jono Senk of Hairy Scary Evolutions located at http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=393396. There are some pictures posted as well for those who like them. I would post them up here but it's just been a crazy week here in a lot of ways so I've not gotten around to it. Chief Hairy Scary and I will be doing the Cohutta 100 together, but I fear he may have a higher pain threshold than I which should make for a great race.

That's it for now. Gotta get moving with the day, ya know. Thankfully my black tea and honey is still warm in my stainless steel Starbucks travel mug!

3-5-08
Cohutta Planning

As I stated yesterday, I have decided to go ahead and race the Cohutta 100 mountain bike race on April 19. This will be my first 100 mile race but I am getting some good training so I'm confident that I'll be prepared for it physically.

Mental preparation is always the hardest for these endurance events. A couple days ago, someone mentioned that I should dedicate each mile to someone and use that as motivation throughout the race. Well, that's where you come in. I have decided to dedicate these miles to members of our Armed Forces and contractors who are working in Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm saving some space on the list as well for a couple friends that I have working as missionaries in different parts of the world like India and the Ukraine. I plan to write these names on a new jersey from Primal Wear Clothing with the US Army logo on it and wear it for the race. That way I have the list with me during the race and I can look down and see the names of these
folks and after saying a prayer for their safety, keep on with what I'm there
to do. Here is what the jersey will look like (http://www.primalwear.com/Catalog/index.cfm?DIN=1659&catid=18&secID=1).

Therefore, if you know someone who is serving in Afghanistan or Iraq --whether they are a contractor or military -- and you'd like me to add them to the list, please send me their name and location. Same goes if you know a missionary you'd like to add. I will put this info on the jersey like this "Elbert Hwang, Afghanistan." The week before the race I will post a picture of the jersey covered with these names on this page. If I need more space, then I'll get the arm warmers as well!

I know this is a bit different, but thank you for your time. I'm sure that our
folks overseas appreciate our thoughts and prayers so let's not forget them!

Thank you!

Maybe one day I'll figure out how to change that huge picture at the top of this page!