Arthur at the Park

If you can turn this into this, you know you have done good.

We went to Arthur at the park in Forest park on Saturday. Other than the lines being really long it was a lot of fun. Its amazing the feelings you get out of a simple smile. Happiness comes in different forms, Saturday it was seeing how happy Lucas was sitting on Curious Georges lap, Sunday it was 4 laps at Council Bluffs including a early morning night lap to get ready for the 12hr in a couple of weeks.

24hrs of Mohican

This race was tough, from the time we left on Friday til we got there it rained, it down poured when we arrived. After we talked to the promoter asking what the trails would be like and he said its Mountain biking, I was thinking he took it the wrong way. I mean we didn't just drive from STL in the rain to hang out in our tents. So me Mitch and Chad were stoked, we got the tents and everything set up between the rain drops and were off to Pizza hut for some serious food. By the time we got back it was time to go to bed. I don't think sleep was a problem for any of us.

When we woke up it was still raining a little, Mitch did up some killer bagels for us for breakfast. I stacked up what I thought would be the perfect amount of energy for the next 24hrs. Getting everything ready for a 24 isn't easy we spent a good part of the morning getting everything ready. I went for a little ride on the trail and figured out pretty quick that the trail is mostly rocky and rooty with pretty much no mud build up on the bike. I had a good feeling this place was going to rock. O yeah I almost forgot about Mitch's crud catcher he maid for us before the race that was helping big time!

The race meeting went well and we decided we would ride the first lap together. The run is always a pain in the butt but luckily it went quick and we were off into some killer single track, I am still amazed at how many people were walking the first little climb because there were a lot more bigger climbs to come so I find out later. The first lap was good we passed a lot of people and got the course dialed in. With the first lap out of the way and the field pretty spread out it was cool to just cruise the course. The only thing I noticed that would become a big issue later was the humidity and the effort you had to put out to get up some of the climbs.

The first half of the race went by quick, at some point I had a lap lead over Chip Meek but he made it up pretty quick while I took a little nap and tried to deal with some stomach problems. Mitch was pacing himself good and riding very strong. Chad had some early issues with a tire, and a small dear that kicked him pretty good, it was to early to be hallucinating so I was buying his story!! Anyway he seemed to still be having a good time. Through the night was fun but could of been a lot more fun if I could of got rid of the stomach problems. never could really eat much and at this point soaked three jerseys from sweating, weird stuff.. Me and Mitch rode some killer night laps together hard to believe we were riding some of the technical stuff just as fast as we were in the day time.

Coming in off of one of the night laps around 4am my light went dead not a big deal I was on the last little down hill back to the campground, but the stomach issues were still there and my motivation had been gone for some time now, that doesn't happen to often and pretty much never happens on the bike. If I remember right Mitch was there and we decided to sleep and wait for the sun to come up before going out on another lap. I think Chad was there but don't remember! Well the sun finally came up and it was nice to not have to use lights. The rest of the laps went good, Me and Mitch ended up riding a bunch of laps together which helped me out big time. You cant complain when you take second in a tough race like this, Mitch took a super strong third and I was stoked to make it through another 24. Looking back on it I stayed hydrated enough but wasn't taking in enough calories. In a 24 hr race one little thing can change everything, and everything changes everything!! This place is and was a great place to do a 24hr race, good food great showers and a super tough course. what else could you possibly ask for!

Greensfelder race.

This race went great. Last year I did 12 laps in 3hrs and had enough time to do another but with the rain set in I chose not to. This year the goal was to do 13. Brad and Zach were there and ready to race and I knew these guys were going to be tough. My strategy in a race is always to try and set a good pace and stay consistent. In this race that kind of went out the window off of the start line. Took the hrt rate to about 175 and kept it there for probably the whole first lap. The warm up lap helped big time, all of my lines were pretty dialed in and everything felt great. The first lap I got a little bit of a lead but not as much as I wanted so I went out on the second lap with the same effort as the first. This is never a good idea in a endurance race and I figured i would pay for it later. Later never really came and I ended up just having enough time to do 13 laps. Brad and Zach were never that far behind I dont think they missed the cut off time by much, great race guys.. Cant complain when a race goes this good. It was awesome having my Father in law and the rest of the family there cheering me on on every lap thanks big guys!!. stats from the race.

simple motivation

What motivates you! This has been beating in my head for a while and has given me the conclusion that for every reason I have to give up there is ten more not to! Ride on...