Basket Case ride

I was planning on hitting the Basket Case ride on Monday since baseball and stuff were over, but as the work day drug on, I didn't think I would make it. Then a last minute text from Nick asking if I was going and said I still had 40 min., I finished up what I was doing and headed home. I quickly grabbed some gear and made sure the boys had something they could make for supper. I noticed on the way that I was pushing it for getting there for the start time. I sent Nick a text saying I was on the way. I am sure I looked a little strange texting on a bike rolling along at 25 mph. I did use the talk to text option so I was not trying to type everything.

I was thinking I was smoking my legs too much trying to get there especially after racing on Sunday in that heat. I assured myself that it would be ok since the pace is normally not bad and usually a shorter ride. I was pleasantly surprised when I got there and saw a big group of riders. They were waiting on me, but I really only got there a couple of minutes late. Then I heard what the route was going to entail and I wished I didn't send the text. We went right back up the road that I just came down and headed back toward my house. Dammit!

The route choice had a few more hills than I expected, but I was fine with that. Well, that was right up till we hit the first climb of the ride. It seemed that some wanted to get a better work out and next thing I know I am pushing it hard up the climb. As soon as I got to the top, I was thinking that was not the best idea. I am going to really tear my legs up when I am supposed to be doing a recovery ride. I did back off the next climb, but soon enough I was hammering up another one.

There was 11 riders in the group. We stayed together fairly well with only one falling back a little on and off. Who wanted to push it, hit it hard on the climbs and then eased up for everyone to regroup. This continued for the rest of the ride. After a little bit, the legs were not feeling too bad, so the climbs were a little more fun. The turning point for the ride was at one intersection it was asked what way we were going and I could not believe it when I heard the answer that several suggested. We turned left and headed farther out instead of straight and back toward home.

Not only were we heading farther out, but we were heading in a direction that had a few more decent hills. The Duff road has always been my go to road when I want some more miles, but still get some good climbing in. As I get stronger it does not seem as bad as it once was, but there are still a few good climbs. Everyone seemed to be riding well and having a good time.

When we got to the end of the Duff road and regrouped, it seems that a few were ready to head back toward the house and went their own way. When everyone was there, it was decided to go on toward Ireland and get even more miles. This part of the ride was at a little easier pace. I think there were a few that were really feeling the ride. Some have not gone that far yet this year. That is great!! It is awesome to see people push their limits and comfort levels.

Toward the end of the ride a few wanted to head back home a little quicker than we were going, so they pushed the pace up and off they went. I could have joined them, but I figured I would hang with the back of the pack and make sure everyone made it. Good thing I did as one of the riders who took off had a chain issue and the chain was stuck behind the cassette. He tried to get it out, but it just would not budge. Walking he went on. We headed back and someone went to pick him up. I headed home to get my tools so I could fix his bike when he got back.

It was a great ride and by far the hardest Basket Case ride I have been on. Since I rode from home and back, I ended up with 40 mile. The average speed was down some, but part of that was the slower pace we took at the end and I forgot to stop the timer at the end of the Duff road. I have the auto stop turned off for MTB riding since the signal can get dropped some in the woods. It was way more than I wanted to do to my legs, but it just might have been what I needed. Some good climbing and still some spinning. I am not sure how much I will be able to get out before Sunday's race, so it is good to get what you can while it is there. I hope to continue to join this ride and see how everyone progresses and see how the group ends up.

Cherokee Park KPS Race

This weekend was the next round of the Kentucky Point Series at Cherokee Park. It was also the first race of the 6hr series. I had really wanted to do this race ever since it was put on the schedule, but some things happened and the calendar was filled with some other obligations, so I did not make the trip to Versailles to ride my SS for as close to 6 hours as I could have. But, I do hope to make it to another one.

With Saturday's schedule filled I was left with the only option of racing the Cherokee park race. I have never been there and was not sure what to expect. The trail had a shorter loop, so I did not have a lot of high hopes as to what was actually there. So, as the evening was running late on Saturday night, I was not too worried about it. A storm was blowing in and raining hard, so I was not sure what the conditions of the trail would be in. The wife was having a good time at the wedding, so I was not pushing her to go home early. The week leading up to this was filled with a lot of late nights and not near enough sleep, so what can one more night hurt.

I woke up very tired and if I did not have a passenger, I might not have gotten out of bed to go race. The drive was not that far, but I still didn't want to drive it. I loaded up anyway, got everything else ready and off I was. Soon enough we were heading down the interstate to the land of unknown trails. The park was super easy to find and plenty busy. I was shocked to see how many people were using this park to ride, run, walk dogs or all kinds of other things. It is great to see that many people keeping active.
Reluctantly I signed up and then got ready. I knew there would be a few fast guys there and in my current state, I didn't have high hopes. The Breck's duo that usually kicks my arse decided to enter their SS's in the Cat 1 class. That did not hurt my feelings at all, but they are great guys and don't mind at all getting beat by them. I kind of had some small hope that I could at least keep up with them for a longer amount of the race since they both entered the 6 hour race the day before. I still didn't expect to beat them only to hang on longer.

Photo credit: Sherri Thompson

I did get a little spin in and see a small section of the trail. There were some great sections with berms and rollers. I could get used to that! I made my way to the start feeling better than I thought I would. I finally remembered to turn on the Garmin since it takes a little bit to start. I was not too far in the front of the pack because they have been starting the group in different waves. Then I realized that all of Cat 2 and SS were starting at the same time. I guess I should have noticed that when I looked at the flier. I watched Cat 1 start and go around the field. As we moved toward the line I had an oh shit moment as I realized my gloves were still in my jersey pocket. Dammit!! I quickly grabbed them and started to put them on, but to no avail the whistle blew and the race was off, with me trying to put my gloves on while riding.

I finished the grass section way in the back of the pack. I did pass a couple of people on the road section but there was quite a bottle neck going in to the woods. I just tried to stay calm and ride with the guy right in front of me. One guy wrecked and we got around but still back farther than I hoped. I just rode what I could and passed riders as it seemed needed. I know I passed at least one ss rider, but other than that I am not sure. I did see one in front of me on the switch back section and thought I would be able to catch him, but that never happened.

On the second lap I found myself stalled out on a hill when I hit a root and fell to the right. It was a good drop off on the ride what was bad enough, but the bigger problem was that my back wheel was half way past a tree. So, with all of my weight and the bike falling to the right, the back wheel did it's best to try and hold me up, but I was just too much for it. When I got back up to the trail and on my bike, I noticed the back wheel had one heck of a wobble. The tire was rubbing on the frame pretty bad. I rode it for a little bit trying to figure out what to do or see if it got any better. It did not. I could have just finished the race with the wheel the way it was, but I didn't want to damage the tire or the frame in the process. I hopped off and leaned the bike over a little and stood on the skewer to try and bend the wheel back in to shape some.


I got back on the bike, but it was still rubbing on the frame. I only went a little farther down the trail before I figured I needed to try again since I was not packing a spoke wrench (well, maybe I actually did have one and didn't know it). This time I stood on it a little harder than the last time. I saw the wheel fold in half and figured I just really screwed it up. I immediately let up on the pressure expecting to see spokes fly or at the very least a flat tire, but I saw nothing. Humm.... did that actually work? I spun the wheel and it was no longer rubbing on the frame. Sweet!! Not sure how that worked out for the best, but I will take it. I jumped back on and could go a lot harder. It was time to see if I could catch any riders.

I didn't ride bad the last lap. I could tell I was more tired and worn out, but I did catch a few riders and passed them. Too bad none of them were on a SS. I ended up 6th in class. There was a good turnout of SS'ers at this race especially since two of the regulars raced the Cat 1. I am very happy with how well I rode considering how tired I was, but I can't help wondering where I could have finished if I had started a little closer to the front. I know there was a lot of ground lost on the first lap. My main goal is to ride as strong as I can and keep getting better. Some day I would love to have to line up with the Cat 1 guys again, but not sure I can get that fast again. It had been probably 20 years (and 30+ lbs) since I have had a Cat 1 license and at that time it was called the Expert class. One just never knows how it will work out. I keep getting faster every year, maybe I will make a big leap in performance at some point. If I could just climb at the speed I think I should be able to climb, I would be a lot faster than I am now.


I would like to recommend anyone that has a chance to ride the Cherokee Park trails, make sure and take the opportunity. The trail was full of good things. Rocks, roots, jumps, berms, creek crossings and anything else you could want in the mtb trail. It may not be the longest trail out there, but I sure wish it was in my town. I would also like to thank the Bicycle Sport/Rooibee Red Tea Off Road racing team for putting on such a great race that ran very smooth!!



Hopefully I can get a ride in or two this week. Next weekend is the DINO race at North Vernon. Maybe I will be able to put a little better effort in there on the Niner. She will have disc brakes by then. Even with some concerns about the brakes on the Misfit, overall they did a great job at the race and only squealed a few times.The brakes on the Niner should be even better, so I sure hope to see an improvement in my riding. Hope to see you there.

Wednesday night meeting

When I got a text stating that there was going to be a meeting on Wednesday night, I quickly checked to see if I would be able to attend. With everything going on lately, I have not been able to get out and meet up with everyone for the weekly ride. Once I knew the kids were going to be taken care of, I happily responded that I would be attending. Times were finalized. I did a quick once over on the bike and hoped it would be good to go.

There was possibly going to be three of us riding, but one might not be able to make it. I was not feeling too good the leading up to the ride. I hoped I would have a little in the tank to hang on, but I knew if it was only two of us the pace would be only what I could handle. The more riders you get, the more difficult it is to keep the pace down.

I didn't have a lot of motivation to get out of the house, but knowing I had someone waiting on me helped push me out the door. I was tried and not feeling right, but I really needed to get a ride in. Brian met me down the road from my house and we headed over to the wait area. We paused at the meeting place waiting to see if Kurt was going to make it. Just when we had thought he was not going to make it and an easier route was in mind, he came in to view and shortly after we were off..........heading for the hills. Ugh.

We started out with mostly the same route I took a few weeks ago when a race was rained out. I didn't feel bad when we started. I had a little punch in the legs for a few short climbs, but the punch didn't last long. The legs were feeling heavy and weak. The big problem was that we had not even hit the big hills yet. I downed a Honey Stinger gel hoping to wake the legs up. It seemed to work for some sections, but when we went up, there was just no power. I could climb, but not at a very good pace.

They waited for me at the top of the climbs. They didn't seem to mind, but it bothered me a lot. I would hop on the wheel as quickly as possible and try to keep them moving at the pace they wanted to ride. Some hills were better than others, but none of them were anything that I had hoped for. I know I have been struggling climbing at speed, but this was even worse than I am used to. As soon as it leveled off some I was rolling along at a good pace. I was happy with the speeds we could carry considering how bad I felt like I was climbing.

Maybe some of it is just in my head. Maybe they were just climbing really good too. They tried to tell me I didn't climb that bad, but it sure didn't feel like it. It could be that I am getting quicker and just expected to climb stronger than I did, but was still faster than earlier this year. It is hard to tell. I have to do some segments in Strava to compare.


Overall I was not that upset with myself. I was not feeling good and still rode fairly good. We put in 42 miles and averaged 18 mph. I think the average was a little higher, but we slowed down at the end of the ride to chat some as the group was splitting up and as we went through town. Now I just hope the legs can recover good enough for the race this weekend. I can only hope to be able to put in a good effort to feel good about myself. Not sure results will be too much to be concerned about. It all depends on who all shows up. The way it sounds, I will be at least chasing Todd and Steve around trying to see how long I can keep them from dropping me. I betting it won't take long.

If you are not doing anything on Sunday, head on over to Cherokee Park to join in on the fun. I know it should be a blast for me. Riding on recovering legs and I just put on some hydraulic disc brakes that are squealing like crazy. I sure hope I can fix that before then or it will be no question where I am riding. The housing is on the short side, but hey it is working. I have a new housing and bleed kid ordered. I figure I will make it just a little longer as soon as I can.

Riding the storm out

I actually had some time open in the schedule to join the Basket Case ride. This is a no drop ride and the speeds are typically a little slower than some of the other groups that I ride with.  I decided to take the Surly because it had been a while since i have rode it and I figured I could use the climbing work out.

I was running late getting out of work. I still had to go home and get my stuff together for the ride and take the boys to soccer camp. When I got home they were not ready. This really did not help with my current stress level. I got on them about getting ready and then preceeded to get my bike and stuff together. It turns out that we were all ready earlier than we really needed to be. They were ready, so I went ahead and took them to camp. They could sign in early and off I was for the ride.

I was still early, so I decided that I would do a little pre-ride carb loading and had a Man Eater waiting on everyone to get there. Shortly after that, it was time for me to finish getting ready. The turn out was less than what I have seen on previous rides. It was probably the chance of rain that scared most off. I had trouble getting my phone in to a zip lock bag. Ever since I have changed cases, it does not fit real easy in the bags that I seem to grab. I can't seem to find the other style when I need one. Otherwise they are always laying around everywhere. Go figure.

The first thing I notice was that my bars were not straight. I am not sure where that might have happened. I don't remember having any wrecks. The problem is that I didn't bring any tools. I really need to work on getting gear to carry on this bike. I plan on starting to use it to comute to work soon and not having tools is no way to be late for work. I did try to straighten them, but it did not work, so off I went feeling a little more off then I already did.

It did not take me long to wonder if I brought the wrong bike. With the group being smaller and the excitement to ride was high at the start, we were rolling along at over 20 mph. Normally that would not be a problem, but the gearing that is on the Surly makes it a little tough. I can spin 20, but much over that and I can't sping it fast enough for very long. It was a good thing that some rollers showed up and intersections to slow the pace to a more manageable pace with only shorter sections being too fast.
The first option for our route did not look good by the time we hit the deciding intersection. The clouds were really dark and rain certain. We decided to turn another way and try to avoid the cloud. We did avoid it, but it seems that the rain was following the clouds. The wind really picked up, it started to rain and then we saw several lightning strikes. Probably not the best idea to be on a bike much less the only chromolly bike in the bunch. Nothing like being the designated lightning rod.

To put is mildly, we got soaked. It was really raining and the wind was blowing hard. It made for one interesting ride. We did turn to head back, but at one point it seemed to lighten up and it was decided to go on a little more. No sooner than we headed away from home it started to rain again, just not as bad as earlier, I think. It was hard to tell. I could not see anything. Sweat was running in to my eyes. They burned so bad and I could not get them to be any better. I just saw what I could and hoped I didn't run in to anything or anyone.

We made it back safe and I think everyone had a good time considering the weather. It was a nice hard ride. Much more than what I thought we were going to do. I am not sure what average we had since I have not down loaded the file yet, but I know we went 20 miles. Nothing huge, but it was not supposed to be. It was the best shake down ride after a race I have had so far. Maybe because that is one of the only shake down rides I have done. I am just glad that I didn't take a geared bike or I would have a lot of work to do to get it running good again.

French Lick

Saturday was the next stop on the Dino series at French Lick. The weather actually cooperated the week up to it and had everything nice and dry. We were lucky enough to miss a couple storms that were supposed to hit the area. With the trail being dry did not play along with me not spending any time up there. I figured it would be a fast pace for sure.

I woke up that morning with my legs already hurting. I felt like I went for a big ride the day before, but I have not been on the bike all week. This was not a good sign. I got ready and headed to the venue as early as I could. With Nick having to work, I had picked up the canopy's and was in charge of getting them set up. I showed up in plenty of time to get a good parking spot and a good place to get the tents and bike rack put up.

With all the setting up and catching up with a few people, I was not ready as early as I should have been to allow me to go do the short cut loop. At this point I was not sure it if would help or hurt me even more. I was just not feeling the way I had hoped I would. Since I didn't head out for my warm up and could no longer contain myself, I had to have a little Man Eater. What could it hurt?

There was a good turn out for the 40-49 class at the start line (seemed like more than the results show). I took off pretty good, but didn't want to get too far up there with the way I felt. I was probably sitting mid pack as we hit the woods. There was a long train heading up the hill. I passed a couple of people and let some by. I was trying to find my comfort area and keep moving. I knew I didn't have the legs and had plenty of time yet. I was not riding bad at all for how I felt, well that was until one of the last bigger climbs on the blue section. I was still climbing, but my legs were really feeling it and I slowed down.

I did well in the flatter sections and the parts that went down hill. Other than that I was not real happy with myself. I would have people come up on me pretty quick and some that passed only for me to almost run in to them as soon as the trail went down hill. I guess the good thing for me is there are only a couple sections where the climbing was an issue and a lot more places where I was going down hill.

The results have me listed in 18th in age group (it was 17th yesterday, so hard telling). I guess that does not sound too bad, but not really where I want to be at all. I don't figure I would be a contender with out a lot more training, but I would like to get closer to the top 10 overall. I really think it would be a possibility if I could just get some more time on the bike. Bike time is hard to come by depending on everyone's schedule. It seems like the season is in full swing and too late for me to improve as much as I would like yet this year. I am sure I could get faster, but not sure I can shave a minute a mile off in the next few weeks while I race every weekend at the same time. Oh well, it is what it is.

The times on the results do have me actually going faster this year than last year. Not by much, but at least it was faster. The trend for everyone else was that this years time was slower. Even the winning time was a few minutes slower than last year. Not sure what would cause that since the trail should have been faster than the wet trail we had last year. I also don't remember any new sections that would have added time. Not sure what the reason is for that. One option is that the timing chips record the times differently than they used to. We will have to see if this trend continues on other trails that we race the same as last year.

I did pick up some disc brakes this weekend and hope to get them on the bike soon. The set I was putting on the SS has the front brake hose too short for my bike, so I guess I will learn how to deal with that this week. If the parts are not here, I just might have to put the other set on that bike. I sure hope they make a change for the good in my riding. I am sure if I can stop better, I should be able to go faster. We shall see.

Same as it ever was

The more I hope things change, the more they seem to be the same. There are several things that keep me from riding my bike on a more regular basis. Most of those things I would not trade for anything. Just as I thought my schedule should have been clearing up, it seems that I have gone another week with out finding any time to ride. At least I had a good training weekend last weekend. A good ride on Saturday and a suffer fest in the pouring rain on Sunday. You just can't practice that stuff. But, I still wish I could have spun the legs out some this week.

This weekend is the French Lick Dino race. Unlike most of the other trails in the series, I actually know this trail some and it should help me out some. I said should. Unfortunately this will be my first trip to French Lick this year, I think. I also didn't make it up there much at the end of last year. I know there have been some sections that have changed either by work or by weather. I guess I will just have to wing those sections. So, not only have I not been riding much, but I have not been riding there either. It should be interesting.

I did start working on the Misfit. I was shocked to find that the bottom bracket and the head set were in good condition. They only needed a little cleaning up and most of that is because it had been a while since it has been torn apart. My brakes on the other hand really are toast. There is very little pad left and it is no wonder I could not make the brakes work. I still need to try and swap out the front wheel to the other set. I had a lot of trouble getting the back wheel to seat up, so I have been hesitant to work on the front wheel. I wanted to make sure I had time to get it fixed before I needed it.

I also have a set of hydraulic brakes that I will be picking up this weekend. I am looking forward to getting them on my bike, but what bike do I put them on? It is only one set of brakes, but I have two bikes. My first thought was to put them on the Niner since that is what I race more. But, I am also planning on racing next weekend, I am just not sure what race I will attend. There is the Tri-State 6 hour race on Saturday and the next Kentucky points series race on Sunday. Technically I guess I could race both, but not sure that would be a good idea. No matter what race I attend, the bigger problem I have is that I am leaning toward racing that race with the SS.

That leaves me with a half fixed bike to race next weekend and fixing a bike that I will not be racing. I guess I could race the Niner in either race, but I really like my SS. The 6 hour race only has an solo open class and there is no way I could compete with those guys. Not sure I could compete with the other solo SS guys either, but I am pretty good at suffering on the SS for a fair amount of time for some reason. My other thought was to race the Cat 2 in the Ky race. I had said before that I can't compete with several of the front guys and the turn out is not big enough to make it seem worth it. The other problem with that is if I don't race, it only hurts the turn out for that class. It would be nice to see more guys out racing the SS class, but my luck they will all be more Cat 1 racers and not really help me at all. The real answer is to just get faster. Anyone know how to brew some beer that has similar effects as EPO would?

The tents will be up tomorrow, so stop by for a visit. Hope to see a lot of people out there since the weather is supposed to be much better than most of the other races so far this year. See you there!!

Canal Creek trail

Last weekend was the White Lightning race at the LBL Canal Loop. I have wanted to make it down there to race since back in the 90's. I really don't know why I never made it in all those years. The last few years have had some other conflicts to keep me from making the trip. So, when the weekend was cleared up by not going out of town for work like I was supposed to do, I knew exactly what I was going to do on Sunday.

Since I had never been there and the drive was a little longer than I prefer to make in to a one day trip, I headed down Saturday. Some other things ended up happening and I ended up with a passenger for the trip. Dean joined me for the drive and it was great to have someone along to keep me awake. We left a little later than I wanted, but it was still all good. We got there in time to stop by Wood N Wave were we met up with one of his buddies from the area. They were nice enough to hook us up with some room on their camp site. It was close to the loop and a nice set up. It would have only been better if I was staying in the sweet camper the one guy has.

We made sure the site was going to work and headed over for a lap. The trails was great! Lots of old school feel and plenty of roots. There were a few good climbs that were a little interesting on the SS, but nothing that I didn't climb. The only thing I was worried about was the pace. We were moving along pretty good, but we did take some breaks. The trail was nice and dry except for a few small sections. My jersey on the other hand was not. It must have been humid out there because my jersey was soaked. I turned my phone off because I was worried it might get wet.

After the ride, we went back and cleaned up before heading in town to eat. I was not sure where we were going, but I was not too worried about it. We showed up someplace I was not expecting. It was basically a Dairy Barn in KY. There was a long line and seating was out side only. The main issue I had was there was no bath room. After all the drinking, I needed to find one or a place to hide. Good thing there was an IGA across the street. The food was good and the shake was even better.

After we ate we headed back to camp. With the driving, it did not take that long to get there even missing the turn the first time, but not before we hit an armadillo. Not sure I have ever seen one of those. He should have stayed were he was and he would have been fine, but he didn't and we wasn't. Camp was set up and we crashed not long after. I do love my new tent. I can't believe how sweet it is!! I am looking forward to using it again, but not sure exactly when that will be. I have to work on that one.

Morning came quick enough and we were off to the start area. We first parked in a place that we were told we might get a fine for parking there. So, we headed down the road farther and found something more ticket friendly. I headed up the hill and signed in. Talked to a few friends on the way back to the car and got ready as quickly as I could. I spun around a little bit, but nothing I would say was a good warm up. It started to drizzle some on and off. I figured we might get wet, but someone said it was not supposed to last. I believed them since it was only a 10% chance anyway.

Sitting waiting for the start it ended up raining a little more with a few times of really coming down. The SS class started pretty far back in the group. I figured this would give us a lot of carrots to catch. I needed something to chase as I looked around at the start and knew where I was going to fall in place with most of them, way behind. I kept up at the start and as we went in to the trail. I had some hopes as to keeping up for a little while when Steve or Nick looked over their shoulder and asked if everyone was on. I thought sweet, a group ride for a little while. That might have been the thought, but my legs didn't think so. I kept with them for a little while, but the legs felt heavy. Probably from not warming up correctly and some from the hard ride the day before.

The way they felt, I figured the second lap would really hurt, so I backed off some and went my own pace. I started passing a few riders and finding my groove. The rain continued to come down and at times was pretty hard. The trail was a lot wetter than I would have figured already. It was more like what I would have expected on the second lap, not the first. I didn't ride too bad, but probably not as hard as I should have. I did spin out on a hill or two that I didn't expect. The back brakes were starting to not work correctly and one of the times I was off, I made a quick adjustment to the pads.

The rain let up for a few minutes and gave me hope, but that did not last. It then came down even harder and continued. The trail was getting to be a mess. I was getting mud splashed in my face non-stop. The glasses did not stay clean. At this point I was thinking that I really should have put that SKS down tube fender on. I had no idea the trail was going to end up like this after the way it looked the previous day.

The next lap and a half is kind of a blur. I rode everything I could. I stopped several more times to adjust both the front and back brake, but it ended up not mattering since I didn't have any brakes at all. Not sure why I continued to pull no the brake lever, but I did. At this point the trail was really not a trail anymore. I was riding down a creek. A flowing creek, with some lakes thrown in. I could not longer wipe dirt out of my eyes or take a drink that was not gritty. I was now kicking myself in the ass for having a fender, but not having it. I was just ready to get back to the car.

Surprisingly enough, the legs were feeling pretty good. Not as strong as I would like, but much stronger than they were earlier. I climbed the switch back climb both laps. I was not sure I would be able to do that the second lap. When I came out of the woods, I just hammered up the hill to the finish. I was so ready to be done. I headed straight for the lake and went for a swim with everything still on. I was just trying to get some of the mud off and it kind of worked.

We waited around for the awards. The sun finally decided to show it self and really start to warm things up. I gave Dean my extra jersey since he was going to be on the podium. I see a lot of TBRA races have an actual podium and he wanted to look good on it and his jersey was toast from the race. He did have the jersey on, but there was no podium to stand on, just some quick awards and everyone went on their way.

We loaded up and was heading north. Only a little bit on the interstate I was getting ready to close the windows and it seemed like something blew out of the car. I asked where he put the jersey since I figured it was in the back seat. Nope, he had it on top of the car since it was locked. Dammit!! Now we need to turn around to go back and try and pick it up. I did not want to loose that thing. The first turn around had a cop sitting in it, so I was not going to turn around there. I went all the way to the next exit and as I was exiting, I saw a message on my phone. Shawn was apparently behind us and saw the jersey. He stopped and risked his life getting to the middle lane to pick it up. He caught up to us at the exit and we make the exchange. I was very thankful that he did that, I am not sure how long it would have taken us to turn around and go back and find them. I guess it was a good thing the cop was in the turn around or hard telling when I would have seen the message and how long we would have been looking for the jersey.

I enjoyed the weekend and the race even with all the rain. It would have been more fun with out the rain, but nothing I can do about that. I will make another trip down there and try to enjoy more of the area. Once again I am happy with my riding, but really wish I could be a little stronger. I know I was not as fast as I could have been so it is hard to tell exactly, but I need to save a minute a mile to find myself in contention for the front. Not sure if I can do that quickly enough or not. Especially since I am only getting to ride once a week right now and that is a race. Baseball is now over so I really hope to free up some more riding time, but it might be too late to make enough improvement this year. I know you build on each year, so maybe next year I will be closer to where I want, maybe not.

Some BCSP fun

This week was scout camp. There was a few boy's who had baseball games during the week, so I took this opportunity and the need to help out, to try and do two things at one time. The plan was to take the boys back to camp Monday night after their games, camp in the HNF, ride Tuesday and then take them back to town for the games on Tuesday. This was all changed when the games for Monday were cancelled. My good idea was not going to work out exactly the same, but I still was down to bring them home on Tuesday. So, I ended up heading up to fat cogs house to hang out a while and catch up.

Tuesday morning we headed over to the park to get some riding in. This was good for me since I don't spend a lot of time up there and with the race being postponed, it was a good chance to freshen up my memory. Lyle was waiting on us since we were prompt in our arrival time. We decided to park at HP and ride out from there. The main goal was to check out the race loop. I have now only rode Green Valley 2 times. I still don't think I know it, but I do know I had fun riding it. Most of the other trail was fairly familiar and I knew where the hard places were coming up.

I was sure glad I put the bigger gears on the SS. I would have not liked the gearing I ran for Ft. Duffield. It was also a good time for me to figure out that some things need to be tightened. My chain was a little loose when we started, but it was more than I care by the time we stopped. I may need to remove that extra link I put in there and see if the sliding drop outs will work that way. My crank arm also came a little loose toward the end of the ride. I tightened it up, but I need to check it out before the race this weekend.

Along the way we ran in to someone I have not had the pleasure of meeting yet. Jerome was hanging out next to the trail and after a little chat with him, he asked for a lift to enjoy some more trail. Fat cog was more than happy to share some free space in his pack and let him tag along for the ride. I think Jerome was up to his gnome tricks as he seemed to really distract fat cog from his riding. It was nice to have a more casual ride, but I think Jerome was having a little too much fun.

The plan was to ride the other side of the road from HP next, but with all the fun that was being had, we ran out of time. I could have gone on myself and rode some of it if I had known that the train was not going to make it to the top of the hill any quicker than that. Jerome had decided to take a break and found a new spot to hang out on the HP climb and a lot of the extra time was them saying good bye. By the time I realized I should have gone on by myself, I only had a little less than an hour to ride and that was pushing it for me to get where I needed to be on time. Good thing I didn't push it because it took a little longer to get there than I thought it would.

This weekend I will be making my first trip to LBL for the next race in the Kentucky point series. It should be fun. I just hope the SS is tuned up good and ready to roll. The plan is to just have fun since there are several very fast guys who will show up from Tennessee. I really need to re-think my racing the SS class. I would be better off racing the SS in the Cat 2 class since most of the SS guys would line up in the Cat 1 class. Maybe some day I will be as fast as I need to be, but until then I guess I will just hang out at the back of the class and hope for mechanicals.

another rain out

Well, as one might have thought, the BCSP Dino race was postponed because of weather. This left me needing to get on the bike and most places too wet to ride. I was thinking about a gravel ride, but was not sure.

We had to do some things in the morning and by the time all of that was done I was not feeling very motivated to go ride and I was tired. I checked in with a couple of people to see if they were riding, but they all were busy. Having someone to go ride with is always easier to get motivated for than a solo ride. I am not saying that I don't like solo rides, but if I am not motivated and there is someone waiting for me, I just feel more excited about getting out. The wife was great and was not going to let me sit on the couch all day. I really wanted to, but it was not going to happen.

I figured I would go out for an easier spin on the road bike just to get some miles in. That thought started to fade shortly after I left the house. For some reason my route of choice was in the direction of the hills. The reasoning of "if it was going to be easy, I might as well work some" seemed to make a lot of sense at the time. So off I was heading for some good climbs.

I had a few sections were I was moving along at a good pace and others that were slower. I was just happy to be out on the bike and enjoying the sun. I struggled some on the first couple of hills, but I did make it up. I was ok with this as I was still going for an "easy" ride. A screaming downhill had me getting set up for a tough hill that I have not seen much this year. It was very hard on me, but I did manage to find my way to the top.

The next section had some more climbs, but they didn't seem as bad. I even thought it was a good idea to roll out to the overlook section at Patoka Lake, you know, since it was just an easy ride. I sat there a little bit and ate some Honey Stinger chews and took in the view of the lake. Not a bad place to hang out. I even thought I needed to take the wife up there for a picnic sometime.

The ride back to the main road was not too hard, but I was still starting to feel some of the climbs in the legs. I continued around the loop climbing a few more hills. At the next intersection I was not looking forward to the ride back in to Dubois and the hills that would follow. I thought it might be easier to go farther down the road and cut over to Celestine. Well I ended up taking the wrong turn and the shorter hills that I thought I was going to climb were about another country block over. The hill on the route I did take was plenty big. This hill really hurt and I could only inch my way up it, but started feeling a little better afterward.

I decided to cut my route a little short and head back the short way to Schnelville. The short way has a few more climbs than I remembered, but at least it was shorter. All was going well and I was glad to be getting closer to home. That was all up until I hit the intersection to head back and it had a road closed sign. Humm, I didn't know that was going to be there. I took a chance and went around thinking that surely I could get around the work area. Well that was not the case. It was a bridge out and I really didn't feel like getting my feet wet trying to walk across.

I then turned around and headed back to the sign. At this point I was not sure what way to turn. I was not looking forward to riding the highway the one direction, so I decided to turn the other direction. I really dreaded this decision. It was a couple of climbs and then I was at St. Anthony. From there I was actually heading home, but still had a ways to go. This direction had two of the biggest hills I had to climb of the day. I didn't think they got much bigger than some of the ones I had already climbed, but I was wrong. These hills really hurt bad. I have no idea how I climbed them with out getting off. I was sure glad the dog that came out near the top of one was not looking to bite me. He just wanted to bark at me. There was nothing I could have done at this point but lay down and let him eat me.

I finally made it back to the road I was on with the bridge that was out. I was relieved to be even closer to home. That was until I went around the corner and remembered the last climb on the Schnelville road. Yet again, I some how managed to crawl up it and keep going. I was completely shot at this point and it was all I could do to keep moving toward home. When I finally got there I could hardly get my bike in to the house. After a shower I hoped on the scale and I was 5 lbs lighter than the day before. I am sure most of that was water weight.

Overall the climb was what I needed. I just didn't plan on it being that hard. A easy ride would have been nice too, but I am not getting out often enough to have the only ride of the week be an easy one. Baseball is getting close to being done, so I hope to get some more miles in soon. The ride ended up being 44 miles and I climbed just over 3,000 ft. of elevation. Not too bad for an easy ride.

edit:
Note: This was Sunday's ride. Sorry this didn't get posted in a timely manor. I was too tired.