Pisgah, come get some!

Mud, Mud, Mud

Mud and headwinds have kept them slowed down but still making steady progress. Spoke to Cricket earlier and they are having their share of mud and high winds on the original Tour Divide course, Cricket and Stephen are currently at mile 144 and still moving.  Near Sparwood, Canada- elev 3802 at 11:00PM still riding.

Cricket Butler has left the building!

 Cricket left Banff this morning at 9:00AM our time, 6:00AM in Banff on her quest to break the women's record at the Tour Divide. I spoke to her yesterday and she is in great spirits and ready to roll. She will be riding initially with her friend Stephen Huddle from Cincinnati but they have both agreed to ride at their own pace after getting through the dangerous snow packed passes. You can keep up with Cricket's progress at the link as her spot is now functional:

Tour Divide Leaderboard

I will also be posting her progress on twitter under the handle cbake777 for you twits out there and providing updates via text. Send positive thoughts as she will need to average 130 miles per day to accomplish her goal.

Cohutta 100 - The Tale Of The Gravel

Once again I made the trek to DuckTown, Tennessee to race in the Cohutta 100 mountain bike race. This year in tow was team mate Scott George, his first ever 100 mountain bike race, and Andrea Hilderband, returning to racing after 9 years. First let me start with Andrea. Entering and finishing a 100 mile mountain bike race as a return to the sport is insane. But if there is ever a tough enough chick it would be her. I wonder who put this race into her head - ummmmm - KELLY (once again getting people into trouble). Your spot is confirmed for next year - just go ahead and INK it on your calender!

The thing about Endurance races is they start so early - really before you start to wake up. So after we arrived at the race site, we realized the keys to unlock our bikes were back at the B&B. So we raced back to get them and made it back just in time to get ready and head for the start. The race started just as we rode up to the starting area so we were in the back. The three of us took off up the paved climb with a string of racers as far as the eye could see in front of us. Scott and I entered the single track together and settled into a comfortable pace - then I had to stop once after my seat bag fell off and lodged itself in my rear wheel and Scott, Megawatt, broke his chain at mile 18 - what a surprise:)). We spent at least 15 minutes gathering a chain tool and quick link from other racers and then had him back on route. We blew through the first check point and started the gravel road section which is about 65-70 miles long until you reach the last 10 or so miles of single track leading you to the finish. I settled quickly into a comfortable pace and Scott and I started catching and passing all the racers that passed us while we were busy with the chain repair. I looked back after a while and Scott was no where to be seen - I even waited at a switchback for 5 minutes or so and never saw him. I figured his chain broke again and so I decided to keep pushing on - he would catch me on the next climb for sure. I blew through check point 2 and started to the never ending and ever steeping climb up Potato Patch Mountain. I caught Stephen Huddle, a fellow Tour Divide racer, and passed him on the climb. Reaching check point 3 was a welcomed sight at the crest of the climb! I stopped and topped off my bottles, ate some real food and took off. From checkpoints 3 to 4, I lost my heed bottle and had to make an unplanned stop at 4 for a replacement. The heat of the day was kicking in and the stretch from checkpoint 4-5 was long and hot - I needed 2 bottles. At check point 5 I had to stop yet again - still thinking Scott would catch me at any moment. Stephen and I left together and hit the climb pacing along side one another. I would pass him on the climbs and then he would pass me on the down hills like a missile - impressive! But between all that we would end up riding with each other on and off for most of the day. By checkpoint 6, I had to stop yet again unplanned. I kinda waited on Stephen but then I took off into the last section - all single track - to the finish. It was nice to be in the shade but negotiating single track again after all the mindless gravel road riding was a shock to the system. I found my rhythm again and knew the end was near. Finishing with my best time ever and before they took the finish line down - I was in shock. Scott came in a little behind me completing his first ever 100 mile race with some good MacGyver stories to share - it is amazing what that boy can do with a skewer :)))). Scott and I cheered Andrea in, again both completely in awe of what she had just done with almost no riding to date! We all packed our finisher mugs up and started comparing our days. We all finished and with such different experiences - a little sore, very hungry, and laughing!

Results:

Cricket Butler - 9:44

Scott George - 10:28

Andrea Hilderbrand - 12:05

Link To Official Race Results And Photos:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/national-ultra-endurance-nue-series-cohutta-100-ne/results

Training Tour Divide Style !!

Teammates support one another, encourage one another and sometimes in doing so, go above and beyond- right? Our team had Chris Baker and Scott George racing the Grind in Charlotte this weekend while I headed to the Mount Mitchell area for yet another day of training on the loaded bike, Tour Divide style, with Wieczorek. After spending the day before in the cold Pisgah rain for nearly 4 hours climbing up the Old Toll Road on my loaded bike with Wieczorek, Bonnie, and Laura, and then descending Heart Break Ridge, I decided to give Wieczorek a small taste of training Tour Divide style. While we were getting ready to start our day, I attached a small frame pack onto his bike and stuffed it with 2 liters of water, no purpose other than extra weight (heheehe), a small map case to his handle bars stuffed with food and an extra bottle of gatoraid for no other purpose other than to add weight (heheehe), my custom saddle bag with my bivy and sleeping bag, and 1 of my top tube bags loaded with all the bike repair stuff. He also was carrying all his stuff for the day in a camelbak. He was loaded! He looked the part of a Tour Divide Racer and was ready to hit the climbs. He fell rather silent once the climbing on Curtis Creek started and I thought, just thought for a second, he might be struggling a little and I might have finally found a way to slow him down. Then BOOM - out of nowhere - I here click click click and he stands up and hammers it on the steepest part of the climb, looking back at me yelling to match his pace and hang on to his wheel - r i g h t......... It was inconcievable to me, as I watched him with all that extra weight on the bike, just pull away from me like it was nothing. So that was pretty much the rest of my day, trying to pace with Wiezcorek. I rode lighter than the day before but at a much faster pace than I would have if I had been alone and Wieczorek pushed hard with extra weight on the bike. We both got a hard workout in for the day but --- ummmm - I think I have developed a twitch now every time I hear click click click - I know what it means - PUSH THOUGH THE PAIN - COME ON BUTLER!!! I think I liked it better when he was silent :)

6 Hours of Warrior Creek - Race Report

This is one of the good ones. The 6 Hours of Warrior Creek has fast become one if the best run and most fun races in the southeast. The BMCC guys always do a great job and the trail is all joy. Seriously, if you haven't been, go, now. Last year the race was super fast as the trail was bone dry and it made for a very fun riding experience. This year the rain man had been pounding the area pretty good, but as the end of the week drew to a close it looked like we would luck out and have fairly dry condition for the weekend; no chance for rain. Kelly and I drove up the night before and found no puddles or wet areas around the hotel. Nice. The next morning I woke up to the sound of Kelly making his way to the bathroom.

Me: "Dude, it rained all night. The ground is totally soaked." I smirked not even getting out of bed.
Kelly: "What?" he rushed to the window and drew back the curtain. "Whatever, there's no wa...oh, man."
Me: "Wait, what?" I jumped up hoping he knew I was messing with him and was playing his own card. "Oh, man. Well, it prolly won't be bad on the course. The area under that car isn't even wet."

I was wrong. It was wet. It was cold. It was windy. It was much different than 2010. The first lap was a mess, the second was better. By the third lap it was game on; wicked fast. Kelly and I were in the duo male class and knew we had our work cutout for us. I had a good start but quickly realized my dry, hard pack tires (Bontrager 29-0) were not happy in the slime. I lost some time but was still in the top 10 when I flatted near mile 10. Ok, it's been a while since I've changed a flat in the mud and I hope it's at least that long again. Plainly stated: it sucks. Kelly and I managed to come back well on laps 2 and 3 but our fourth lap was a disaster. Kelly decided he didn't like riding over the rock gardens; tumbling through them was more his style. A high speed crash really took the wind out of us (well, him), and it was the final nail that would keep us out of the top 5. Thankfully, he's alright and will live to fight another day. We ended the day 6th out of 36 teams.

Scott "The Megawatt" George was also there racing in the highly competitive singlespeed class. It was his first race of the year so his plan was to take it easy and get some good miles in. He was riding really strong when, on his second lap, he broke his chain halfway through the course. Bent plates kept him from repairing it on the trail and he was forced to run back to the pit. He was still able to bang out 4 laps and go home with a bit left in the tank. In the end it was enough to finish 14th out of 38.

Chris Baker and Tracey Lewis were also on hand and did a great job finishing 5th in the super fast duo coed class. Always the gentleman, Baker rode the first two laps in the mess and only let Tracey go out once the trail was dry. Intentional or not, she loved it.

I also played around with the new Contour GPS camera that Bicycle Sport has at the shop. Check it. BTW, it's in HD, just adjust your settings in the You Tube box (720p). Enjoy.



C

Chasing the Swamp Fox

Its been a few days since Tracey, Cricket and I fought off Piranha flies, stomped through black swamp mud, climbed tick infested trees, and paddled through a plethora of hungry gators (well never saw any but I know they were under the boat). These few days have allow me to reflect back on Indiana Jones adventure through the Swamps of Francis Marion National Forest with great clarity. What were we thinking, who in their right minds does this for fun? It has to be less then .001% of the US population. Most if not almost all sit at home at watch other do this stuff on the ol' tube-o-matic while eating a tasty bag of Cheese puff. Well I am excited and very proud that I am now part of that .001% adventure race family. I have to admit next time I'll strap a bag of those tasty orange air puffs to my hydro pack.
As a rookie adventure racer I really had no idea what to expect. About the only thing I knew was my team needed me to be like the famous Cars character Mator. My simple job was to pull/ carry/ paddle and not complain, perfect. I was just happy I didn't have to do the smart stuff like plotting UTM, course direction, and all that fancy compass stuff. Just load me up and point me in the right direction and all will be good. Besides a streaming constant supply of food and water my needs are pretty low.
We started off with a cold early morning run around town collecting secret decoder ring stuff. Luckily Tracey was familiar with the town and the game. One catch to the game was each team had to hold onto a rope so we would not get separated. Work as a team, run as a team walk as a team was the point of the game. Once the announcer said GO! we were off straight through back yard, ditches, roads. Cricket and Tracey were like laser beams focused on the first check point. Once we arrived, we saw it was in a tree. I decided to be the one to climb it so as I waited for the few that beat us there to get up there and back down, Tracey used her smarts and ran around the tree and got the code. As she raced back around toward us, chanting lets go, let go! Off we ran to the next point. The next thought that went through my head was wow shes good!!
The second point was just a blur I don't even know if we slowed down for it as Cricket and Tracey grabbed the code with some Jedi mind trick. By now this running stuff was for the birds, we had covered 2-3 miles which is about the limit of my training so the thoughts of roller skates came to mind. I was wondering if they were legal. Just as the second check point whizzed by so did the third. Next stop was the start line to turn in the codes and pick up our passport.
Once we reached the start line I felt like I ran about 30 mile but truthful it was only 4 and I was excited about the canoe. My legs needed a rest. Oh yea about that code thing we had to turn in, I didn't know what it was then and can't remember know. I just followed the girls like a puppy, so props goes to them for getting us through the pre-start torture.
Off to the Canoe we raced, this really wasn't worried about this event, I paddled a canoe about 10 years ago so I was feeling pretty fresh and itching to get to rowing. With my extensive paddling skill I had only used a wooden oar in the famous J-stroke style. The ladies didn't have old trusty wooden paddles they had state of the art, NASA design carbon Fiber stealth paddles from US Kayak Team that we used to propel our floating chariot down the water in fine fashion.
After paddling for a few hours we hit the trail run.
Ok gotta speed up my story a little for those that are falling asleep. The next few hours we raced around the swamp on feet and bicycle searching out check point. Check point after check point we worked our way across the map until we had all 24. At around 10.5 hours we where on our way back to the finish line. With a cruising speed of 17-20 mph our mountain bikes were near terminal velocity, well at least my legs felt topped out. Once we arrived at the finish line we were a little disappointed in our 3 place finish but felt great with our overall accomplishment.
Well, I promised I would finish my first blog entry by the end of the March, all though the story got cut a little short, if your interested in more details, we can chat over some wings and beer and I'll fill your ears with all the micro moments of one of the best races ever.