Soto final stages, Bump-n-Grind, Sugar Mtn and traveling hiatus....
Sorry for the delay on updating on all the good stuff. Kinda left high and dry w/o wrapping up the final 2 stages of the stage race, especially after the solid field sprint finish I left on last time. Anyways, Stage 3 was an 11-mile circuit race that had 1300 ft of climbing per lap over some relentless little rollers. I was surprised to find myself in the front of the group pushing the pace for several laps even over the steeper sections. This was all brought to a hault as hail, lightning, and flooding in the matter of 2 laps caused the motorbikes to call the race 1 lap early. This was probably a good thing as Monday brought the 4th and final stage in Spencer, TN near Fall Creek Falls State Park. In other words...a great course, some tough climbs, and a tough 76 miles in the saddle. I was impressed in my efforts to keep the pace active throughout the race and I was with the pack until the base of the 5K climb when Cesar Grejales of Navigators took off. Being a bit dehydrated left me with some uncomfortable quad cramps as I tried to stick the brutal attacks that started. I made the smart decision to soft-pedal up the final climb as my GC was already shot from missing my TT start. I had to admit I was just in it for fitness, experience, and most of all the fun of cycling. I knew that the mtn bike races coming over the next 2 wks meant way more, so I took it easy and actually finished 33rd in the GC, if I remember correctly (sorry it's been a few wks).
4 days of work for the short memorial week and I was officially unemployed (unless you can count being a Professional mtn biker....yeah right!), officially homeless in Nashville (as my lease was up June 1st), and on my way to do some hopping around the country.
My first stop after groggily packing my car following a late night going away bash thrown by my wonderful Gordian crew was Birmingham, AL for a little Bump-n-Grind. Funny name if you aren't familiar but renowned for the great 17 mile loop. I really like this race and I had a good 5th place finish last year in the Pro race. I managed to pull it off again this year with the same. I can't take all the credit as Travis Werts really motivated me when he caught me at the top of the 1st climb cranking his big-ring. The rest was obvious as we fell into our old ways of him pulling the flats by summoning all the power he could muster out of his "assquwatch" while I did the dirty work of keeping his head spinning through the single track. We did well reeling people back in and having a solid day.
Next stop...Brevard, NC at the base of Pisgah National Forest to visit my old roomie from LWC, Chris Herndon. These next couple days of riding turned out better than expected as he had visitors in for the upcoming Sugar National race. I got to ride with 4 Pro downhiller and the 3rd ranked UCI junior downhiller. Good training for honing in those handling skills. I got the chance to visit Cane Creek, meet all the execs, and run some shocks on a dyno. Not to shabby!
From W. NC I headed east to Elon to visit my "brother from another mother" as I like to call him, Kevin and his new fiance, Bryn. Really good time as I was able to relax besides the VO2 max test Kev had set up for me. Can I say, I don't like the #'s that I found out and they were actually worse than when I was a sport rider in 2000 and had the testing done. Oh well its just #s and it doesn't matter if I still crushing. One of the coolest things was actually getting a little lost trying to do some mtn biking at a 3 mile trail that Kevin and I did some hiking on. It's pretty amazing that on a map that the road looked like it connected with the park, but when you get there; there is a big section of water b/n you and the trail. So I proceeded to stay on the road until it started veering away from where I wanted to be. I took it upon myself to explore past no trespassing signs on a field access road which led to some faint four-wheeler trails in a powerline cut. To my amazement this detour popped me out 100 yds from the entrance of the trails on the opposite side of the park. Damn I'm gooooood!
Wow this is getting long, but got to touch on the final stop in Boone, NC for the Sugar Mtn National race. This was the best of the best and I could tell as I started with 80 other top ranked pros and headed up the ski slopes. I then found myself following a bad line through a rock section which led to a rear flat, frustrations with CO2s not functioning, and riding a squishy tire up the climb. This may have been good for me as stupid as it sounds b/c I was able to settle into a groove and start to have fun. I began to ride better and better as I picked 5-6 riders off per lap up each climb and several more on the downhill. I rode flawless through some of the most technical rocky/rooty sections. All in all, good day although I still haven't checked the results and have no idea of my placing.
All that was on my mind at this point was to get back to Nashville, pack up the car, and roll to the ultimate destination of Denver, CO. As I sit here now, I am an official resident of CO and yes I hate to admit it...reeled into living with my wonderful girlfriend, Heather. Too bad I am trying not to be a bum by looking for jobs and arranging our new apt, otherwise today wouldn't have been my first ride in 1wk since the race at Sugar. Sad huh! Oh well some things take priority over riding, like living.
Daniel
Sorry for the delay on updating on all the good stuff. Kinda left high and dry w/o wrapping up the final 2 stages of the stage race, especially after the solid field sprint finish I left on last time. Anyways, Stage 3 was an 11-mile circuit race that had 1300 ft of climbing per lap over some relentless little rollers. I was surprised to find myself in the front of the group pushing the pace for several laps even over the steeper sections. This was all brought to a hault as hail, lightning, and flooding in the matter of 2 laps caused the motorbikes to call the race 1 lap early. This was probably a good thing as Monday brought the 4th and final stage in Spencer, TN near Fall Creek Falls State Park. In other words...a great course, some tough climbs, and a tough 76 miles in the saddle. I was impressed in my efforts to keep the pace active throughout the race and I was with the pack until the base of the 5K climb when Cesar Grejales of Navigators took off. Being a bit dehydrated left me with some uncomfortable quad cramps as I tried to stick the brutal attacks that started. I made the smart decision to soft-pedal up the final climb as my GC was already shot from missing my TT start. I had to admit I was just in it for fitness, experience, and most of all the fun of cycling. I knew that the mtn bike races coming over the next 2 wks meant way more, so I took it easy and actually finished 33rd in the GC, if I remember correctly (sorry it's been a few wks).
4 days of work for the short memorial week and I was officially unemployed (unless you can count being a Professional mtn biker....yeah right!), officially homeless in Nashville (as my lease was up June 1st), and on my way to do some hopping around the country.
My first stop after groggily packing my car following a late night going away bash thrown by my wonderful Gordian crew was Birmingham, AL for a little Bump-n-Grind. Funny name if you aren't familiar but renowned for the great 17 mile loop. I really like this race and I had a good 5th place finish last year in the Pro race. I managed to pull it off again this year with the same. I can't take all the credit as Travis Werts really motivated me when he caught me at the top of the 1st climb cranking his big-ring. The rest was obvious as we fell into our old ways of him pulling the flats by summoning all the power he could muster out of his "assquwatch" while I did the dirty work of keeping his head spinning through the single track. We did well reeling people back in and having a solid day.
Next stop...Brevard, NC at the base of Pisgah National Forest to visit my old roomie from LWC, Chris Herndon. These next couple days of riding turned out better than expected as he had visitors in for the upcoming Sugar National race. I got to ride with 4 Pro downhiller and the 3rd ranked UCI junior downhiller. Good training for honing in those handling skills. I got the chance to visit Cane Creek, meet all the execs, and run some shocks on a dyno. Not to shabby!
From W. NC I headed east to Elon to visit my "brother from another mother" as I like to call him, Kevin and his new fiance, Bryn. Really good time as I was able to relax besides the VO2 max test Kev had set up for me. Can I say, I don't like the #'s that I found out and they were actually worse than when I was a sport rider in 2000 and had the testing done. Oh well its just #s and it doesn't matter if I still crushing. One of the coolest things was actually getting a little lost trying to do some mtn biking at a 3 mile trail that Kevin and I did some hiking on. It's pretty amazing that on a map that the road looked like it connected with the park, but when you get there; there is a big section of water b/n you and the trail. So I proceeded to stay on the road until it started veering away from where I wanted to be. I took it upon myself to explore past no trespassing signs on a field access road which led to some faint four-wheeler trails in a powerline cut. To my amazement this detour popped me out 100 yds from the entrance of the trails on the opposite side of the park. Damn I'm gooooood!
Wow this is getting long, but got to touch on the final stop in Boone, NC for the Sugar Mtn National race. This was the best of the best and I could tell as I started with 80 other top ranked pros and headed up the ski slopes. I then found myself following a bad line through a rock section which led to a rear flat, frustrations with CO2s not functioning, and riding a squishy tire up the climb. This may have been good for me as stupid as it sounds b/c I was able to settle into a groove and start to have fun. I began to ride better and better as I picked 5-6 riders off per lap up each climb and several more on the downhill. I rode flawless through some of the most technical rocky/rooty sections. All in all, good day although I still haven't checked the results and have no idea of my placing.
All that was on my mind at this point was to get back to Nashville, pack up the car, and roll to the ultimate destination of Denver, CO. As I sit here now, I am an official resident of CO and yes I hate to admit it...reeled into living with my wonderful girlfriend, Heather. Too bad I am trying not to be a bum by looking for jobs and arranging our new apt, otherwise today wouldn't have been my first ride in 1wk since the race at Sugar. Sad huh! Oh well some things take priority over riding, like living.
Daniel
posted by Unknown at 9:31 PM
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