We (Will, Amanda, Scott Belcher and I) raced the 12 hour race. I learned a lot. This was my first race of this type, kind of weird because i've been racing for so long. My light had some issues that i've already worked out, but my biggest issue was my expectations. I can not race 52 miles at top speed no matter how much i rest in between laps. I probably should have handed off another of my night laps to Will who should apparently race full time in the dark because he's really good at it!!! It went well, i ran the Le Mans start and was the first through the first lap. We finished as the second place 12 hour team and did have a flat tire in there too (so some room to improve).
Check out Amanda's ride, it's coming together nicely. She'll be hard to catch as always.
So, Amanda and i went to MO to help dad for the weekend. The whole family was there to help and spend some quality time together... while we planted some hay. The pictures speak for themselves. It was really nice out. We disked, fertalized, disked, cultipacked, planted multiple seed types, then harrowed.
ALSO, on our way over there we picked up a sail boat!! It only needs a little work, but the price was right... Free. We only had to buy the trailer for $300. Pretty sweet. It's at least 4 ft. longer than our last sail boat, which doesn't say too much for our last sail boat. just a few more 4' upgrades and we'll be "Big Time" Check out my sister, Laura, with the sail boat here.
Whew! it's been a long last couple months. Amanda and i got married and took a week long trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway (more on this later). It was awesome!
Second update is Cross season is right around the corner. I'm setting up some new CX shoes check them out here. Don't worry, i didn't have to cut up a good Maxxis Crossmark tire, as i had one that had a puncture. And the shoe is the Pearl Izumi, Octane SL 2. I'm a 43 shoe size and each shoe weighs in at 350 and 354 grams each. We'll see how they work out.
The muddy, sloppy conditions at the Mohican were the toughest I have experienced there. I was pretty glad to roll through the finish line, winning was an added bonus. 20 miles into the race I crashed on the horse trail (over a water bar) and got my bar stuck over my top tube. My front brake popped out and all the hydraulic fluid leaked out. I missed my front brake for the remaining 45 miles. My rear brake was gone last 20 miles, making for some interesting slippery descents. I only crashed twice which seemed pretty goon considering. Second place came in a mere 2 minutes after me (Heidi Shilling) and Bridgett Billiter finished in third. It was great to hang out with my old team after the race ( even though I could not see for all the mud in my eyes). My time was 7 hours and 23 minutes, which was more than an hour slower than last year. The trails weren't in terrible condition considering it rained all night on Friday and well into the morning. Mitch Graham set us up with super sweet cabins, thank goodness we didn't camp. Jake did an amazing job, finishing 8th in 6 hrs and 14 minutes... Then he raced the DINO in Brown County today, finishing top-20. We had a great weekend of racing and spending time with friends! Amanda
Instead of racing this weekend Amanda and i were going to concentrate our efforts on riding. We decided to make a trip out of it because i have not taken her to the Runcible Spoon over in Bloomington, that we'd ride over, have lunch and then ride back for an extended ride.
First off, while the outcome of our really long ride was that it started raining not even half way through, I feel even worse for my friend Casey and his friend Marcio who rode their motorcycles down from Chicago because the weather was supposed to be nice. They probably had an even worse time that Amanda and I did in the rain. We got to the Runcible Spoon only slightly wet and had a great meal. The best part is smelling the coffee being roasted 50 yards off (they roast all their own coffee - Starbuck Blows!!!). The meal was great. While eating, a man approached clenched teeth, fists raised, yelling some menacing sounding Gaelic. Something about 'Tell me to kiss your ass!! You'll get yours!' After calming this new found friend of the sport down we explained that our fearless, albeit callous, leader put this saying on our shorts and meant no harm by it. Turns out Matt O'Neill knew of some O'Donnell's back about a hundred years ago and it also turns out that Tim has a debt to pay with the O'Neill family of a whole heard of sheep stolen back in the day by some O'Donnell's. Anyway, we explained Tim was good for that debt and that we'd be on our way in a hurry.
Our ride home wasn't any warmer and it continued to rain and rain (the weatherman's version of 70 and sunny - we hate those guys). It's a good thing we had something to eat and the number for trusty team mate - John Clasen - to get us a ride home from Nashville. Thanks John, and Thanks Matt.
For the freshest roasted coffee and breakfast around stop by Runcible spoon on Sixth St. in Bloomington. www.runciblespoonrestaurant.com
When I am not riding I prefer to be sitting on the back porch drinking beer and enjoying a good book. Jake made this a lot more pleasant for me with a new porch swing/outdoor bed. I am so excited about it that I am going to post a picture! -Amanda
Props to the BCSP Tuesday night trail crew. Here we have a photo of the usual suspects starting with the back row left to right; Reed Taylor, Jerry, Violet Clasen, Dan Oren, Rob Serbent, Amanda Mckay, Jake Virostko, Jeff, front row; Mike Blanz, Benjamin Blanz, Jeffery Blanz. Sorry Jerry and Jeff, I don't know your last names.
If you see these people out riding or working on the trail be sure to thank them for their hard work.
JC
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