Long Over Due...

Its been way to long since my last entry and I could give a laundry list of excuses but seeing as my time is so valuable right now I may as well just dive into it.

I decided that since I have a Mountain Bike I should use it and Race at Elings Park which is literally an 8 minute ride from home for me. In an effort to prepare I dusted off the Ol' Gary Fisher Sugar one and took her out on the trails the week before. The operative word was rusty. While I claim roots in Mountain biking my experience is in a sense extremely limited. While in High school I owned a Diamond Back Topanga Comp and raced once at Vail Lake and on a 2 man 24 hours of Adrenalin team. I did reasonably well considering... But the competition wasnt that stiff in the 12 to 16 category. I rode a hand full of times in college as well but nothing consistent and any gains in fitness made were easily negated and destroyed by a 6 year smoking habit (I cringe just thinking about how I used to suck 'em down).

I was shocked at the level of terror that gripped my while descending and rounding corners but also fairly pleased with the learning curve which was reasonable enough. By the time Saturday came around I had spent 3 days in the dirt and pretty sure I would be the slowest going down was fairly confident with my ability to go up.

For a pre race activation I did 1.5 times up OSM and then cruised around.

I rode to the course the morning of, checked in with the team, gave my bottles to team mates in the feed, registered, used the port-o-johns 9 times, and then headed to the start line. I was extremely nervous and had no clue what to expect. The count down came and I took off up the steep section of fire road that lead to the first down hill. I didn't know what to expect so I drilled it as hard as possible. I reached the first single track down hill with about 45 seconds on the rest of my field. About 3/4 of the way through the decent I heard on your left, and I watched in horror as two of the riders in my class zoomed right past me and were out of sight. "Drates "I thought... not 15 seconds had gone by when the course spit us out on the pavement for the steep non-technical up hill. I over geared it and let 'er rip. I passed the two who had passed me and never saw them again. By the time all was said and done and I was crossing the finish line and had over 6:00 minutes on the field... Finally, a little glory ;)

I had such a blast that I decided to upgrade and race the sport category with team mate and friend Zpack. The only thing I was hesitant about was forking over another entry fee. I did however convince the Team to pay for the second entry fee If I was able to haggle the price down... SO negotiations began, and with in 10 minutes I had the price cut in half. Not great, But it was good enough.

The competition looks a little more fierce in the Sport Category and I was feeling a little drained from already racing two laps at full throttle and wasn't sure if I had three more laps in me...

The gun went off and 'Zpack Champ Attack' took up up the fire road and had a good sized gap of 30 seconds on me, Who had another 30 on the field... The field caught me but not Seth. I hit the pavement and took a withdrawal form the pain bank and never looked back. I was about 15 seconds to Seth at the top of the pavement but fell once on the first the lap and 2 times on the second lap... By the time The third lap came around I was near full bonk mode, dehydrated, hungry, and delirious. I dug deep, focused on my breathe and pushed hard. It is one of the most gratifying feelings an athlete can ever feel in my opinion. It is the reason I ride, for those challenging moments when the body has given everything it has and while you appreciate what it has already accomplished you know if MUST give more... There is no option. You dig deep, crawl deep in your psyche and demand more. One pedal stroke at a time you accelerate and enter uncharted waters pushing your body beyond physical limits and defying all restraints... Vision gets a little blurry and time becomes non existent.

I crossed the line second with a time I was very proud of. I was about 4 minutes behind 'Zpack Champ Attack', and over a minute ahead of the rest of my field. I was stolked.

I had a blast and plan on attending the rest of the state series races. I was even featured in the sports section of the Santa Barbara News Press today. This marks the first time my picture has been in the paper for something other than a Theatrical Review.

I stuck around for a couple hours to cheer on the rest of Team Operation Domination (Platinum Perform ace) and help hand out bottles. All in all we had 10 first place finishes and firmed up our lead on the California State Series title.

and the saga continues:

M: Day of rest- felt sick so surfed the went for a day of bed rest.
T: Lunch time hammerfest.

W: Hope ranch+ Sea Ranch+ Hope ranch again in the evening

Th: OSM Time trial: new PR of 15:58 -SUB 16 MINUTES BABY!!! SUPER SUPER STOLKED!!

F: Easy spin with Z pack

The racing schedule for this weekend is two crits in LA with 'Zpack Champ attack' and then a fathers day dinner with Caitlin's Dad in LA. We are going to race smart and keep in on a leash until the final 4.

HAHAHA I just read that and realized the probability. I have zero Patience. I will do anything I can to help support Zpack... He only needs one more point to upgrade So If I can help in anyway I will. No one deserves an upgrade more.

I promise to get race reports up quicker then I have been and keep this blog going.