2009 X-Bar Shootout

Eldorado, TX 05/17/2009 Good old X-Bar. This year the very technical course added some rain on Saturday to add a little mud into the mix. Actually, because of the wet conditions they cut out a few miles of the course, and we ended up racing an approximate six mile short course.

I had a little problems in the beginning of the race with mud making some of the baby heads a little slick. I had a little crash on one of the downhills which put me behind a little. I eventually caught up to the rest of the pack, but couldn't hold on since I burnt to much energy try to catch back up. Though, other than the crash I had a relatively clean ride.

I ended up in eighth place and Ryan got second.

2009 Single Track Stampede

Dripping Springs, TX 04/05/2009 This was a very fun race that was just a short drive from San Antonio. What made this race so much fun was that my teammate, Ryan Campos, was out in front of most of the time. It gave me someone I knew to chase, and caused us to come up with the nickname of "Shake and Bake" for our duo.

Right after the start of the race was a big pile up because of all the over anxious noobs. After I cleared the crash, I caught back up with rest of the traffic, which included Shake. Shortly thereafter was a long climb. On the climb, Shake and Bake were derailed in a bad spot by a dude walking his bike up the hill, which directly led to us getting passed by a lot of people.

Once past the climb, the Cat 3 course was super fast and flat. Basically, it was kind of a boring course from here on out. I passed Shake about a quarter of a mile before the finish, and I ended up finishing 17th. Shake was 18th.

The Warda Race

Warda, TX 03/29/2009 This is a very special race for me since it marks the first anniversary of my first mountain bike race. Last year I finished 27Th out of 37. This year I was looking to make a big impact.

I had done so well this winter competing in duathlons, I thought I would try something different for my warm up this race. During the duathlons, I always felt very good on the bike after my runs, so I thought I would try doing a 20 minute warm up run for the race. It sure felt good to get my heart rate pumping.

Consequently, this will always be the race I remember for my legs feeling like they were on fire. Naturally, I have always felt pain in my legs from pushing myself to my limits, but this was unreal. Instead of backing off and spinning it out, I kept pushing. The pain lasted the entire first lap.

During the second lap, when my legs were finally warmed up, I had a great ride, reeling in all kinds of riders that were in front of me.

Never again will I run as a warm up for a bike race.

Rockyhill Roundup

Smithville, TX 11/09/2008. This mountain bike race was only special because it was attended by none other than Lance Armstrong himself. I did not get to race against him, but I thought it was cool anyway.

As far as races go, it was another poor showing for me. The heat I was in had 40 people in it at the start, so I needed to be fast out of the gate if I wanted to finish well. I made a critical mistake by starting out in to high of a gear. So everyone pulled away as I struggled to get up to speed, putting me behind some very weak riders. To make matters worse, this course started with some pretty strenuous climbing, which would not be a problem for me, except all the people walking their bikes up the hills.

Once I was at the top, there was a bomber downhill, and another big climb riddled with more bike walkers. After this, I found myself alone in the woods, as all the better riders that had good starts were able to put some distance on me. After a few lonely miles, I caught some riders that made this a race.

Actually, a rider caught me towards the end of the race, so I had a good battle to retake my spot. One of the things that made this battle interesting is that while I was trying to take my position, a kid from the kids race ended up between us in the single track. I found this very frustrating, and is one of the reasons I will be moving from Cat 3 to Cat 2 next season, even though I'm not sure I'm ready.

Any way, I got past the kid, but not without rubbing his tire. Now before you accuse me of intimidating a twelve year old kid, this happened on accident. I would never do that on purpose to a kid.

Once I got around the kid, I shifted into the big ring for the last climb, because the race ended in a huge downhill sprint. As it turns out, I reclaimed my position right at the finish line. Even though, it was only 19th place.

As a side note, since there were 40 people in my heat for this race, and none of them could ride a mountain bike very well, and having kids on the course during the race, I have decided to cat up to Category 2. I had always envisioned winning a bunch of races, and being forced to cat up, but instead I'm moving up without fanfare because of snot-nosed kids. Maybe I'm just a better racer in my own mind

BTU Power Pedal

Bryan, TX 10/12/2008. Well, what can I say. This was one of those races where I found myself wondering why I'm doing this. As it turns out, these are the kinds of thoughts that you have when you are in the trough of the over-training curve.

The weekend was going great up to the race. Tim picked me up early Saturday morning at the house, and we drove to Academy Sports where we met with Rick, Jim, and Drew. From there we headed to Bryan.

Once in Bryan we unloaded the bikes, and completed a nice pre-ride of the course. After that we set up the team area, checked into our hotel, and went out for dinner.

Everything leading up to the race was going well too. At the gun I had a great start, and hit the single track in 6th place. After getting slowed up in some turns by a slower rider, we hit a jeep road, and I was able to pass. I could see the lead group of four up ahead riding in a pace line, so I put the pedal to the metal to try and chase them down. As I was gunning for them, I was not making to much ground, and I could hear someone closing in on me fast from behind. Tim rocketed past me like I was not even moving. He was actually able to catch the lead group before hitting the single track again, and the guy that was slow in the twisties passed me to get into the next twistie single track. So I was behind a bum once again.

It did not take long for me riding on this guys wheel to get around him again, but since I was over-trained my mind was wondering, and I could not concentrate well on what I was doing. I ended up sliding going into a corner and two guys got by me. This was just a small set back, and I was not to concerned. I settled back in and caught one guy pretty quickly, and the second was within sight.

This is a good time to stop and let you in on what some of the symptoms of over training are. First, your legs go dead, and you feel like your 300lbs heavier than normal while pedaling your bike. Second, you loose enthusiasm over riding and exercise in general. Lastly, you become so fatigued that you begin to loose concentration on what you are doing. It is almost like bonking.

I was riding down a stretch of single track where I could get a good look at who was behind me, and I was trying to look for some friends when I wandered off the single track, and a bush reached out and tore me off my bike. Now this was not a small crash. I landed on my shoulder and went skidding down the trail. When I hit the ground, the wind was knocked out of me. When I came to a stop, I looked and saw that my bike was not on the trail, so I just laid there to catch my breath. I'm not sure how many people went by me, but I sure got a lot of comments from other riders surprised to see my lying on the side of the trail in such an easily ridable section.

Eventually, I got back on the bike and did a quick recovery spin. I was very frustrated, but at the feed zone Rick, Jim, and Drew were there to cheer me on. Which actually did make me feel a great deal better, until I crashed head-on into a tree.

I did work my way back to 16th place which was a disappointment, but what was most important is the life lessons I learned from the weekend. Sometimes, it is not only a good idea to take a few days off to rest, but it is probably recommended. Finally, any race is fun as long as you have positive people there to share it with you.

Camp Eagle Mountain Bike Festival 2008

August 31st, 2008 Camp Eagle Classic Mountain Bike Festival

As you can tell from the pictures, I now race for Team Sage Cycles. I was having a great race, and was somewhere in the top 10, but I ended up crashing.

Earlier in the race I hit a rock, and bent my rear derailleur hanger. Therefore, I only had 3 gears I could shift into. They were low gears so I could climb well, but would spin out during the downhills.

Eventually, I burped out all the air in my front tire on a drop, and went endo. I tried to repair my tire, but my CO2 cartridge was a dud so I could not finish the race. This was very disappointing since it was the best mountain bike race of my life up to this point.

Anyway, at least I have a few good pictures in rememberance of the race.