St Joe race.

Back in 2003 I did my second beginner race at this place. I have not done a race here since then but remembered it was a fun place to ride. Mr Grumke was putting this race on, it was race #6 of the Midwest fattire series. I am still very impressed with how much he did with this trail. After pre riding the course a week prior and having a hard time following the course ( some of it was missing and you were blindly going through the woods following just arrows) I wasn't sure what to think. Mr Grumke had his reasons and when it was all said and done he put together one awesome course. By race day the course was fast and dry and I was still trying to figure out if I wanted to ride the SS are not. So with the hot conditions it was a given that I would be more efficient on the SS. The Marathon class had the usual suspects with Mitch hiding out in the back thinking the easier you go out the better chance you have making it to the end of the race. It worked out great for him taking a nice spot on the podium. The race started out really good for me with the SS. I didn't know what to expect on the first lap but everything went perfect. I got out front from the start and had all my lines pretty dialed in. The heat was a big factor for the whole race and I am glad I am finally learning how to pace myself a little better, stayed as hydrated as I could and got in 5 laps which was my goal. Zach snuck in 5 laps also and didn't finish to far behind me for second place, great job man. Missed Jason at this race, I think he would of loved this course. Also owe him a congrats on getting the State jersey from the Rhett's run race! Results. Garmin link. from St Joe race.

Great Father's Day and a great Birthday.

This one was awesome other than the hot temps!! Took the family to St Joe park for the mountain bike race that I was doing. I was pretty worried about them getting over heated but figured that they could go swimming in the lake if they got too hot. Found out later that the water smelled really bad so they never went. I should of figured that out because every time I came through on a lap they were there cheering me on. Good stuff. St Joe park I think is mostly used for motorcycles and 4 wheelers and they have a big area for them that Lucas got to check out, he was pretty stoked. The race took up most of the day but when we finally made it home we grilled up some pork steaks, hamburgers and of course some hot dogs, favorite after race food. My wife and Lucas made me a really cool present have to show some pics on that later and she made me my favorite Danish Birthday cake. Also Big Happy Birthday to Mitch got some of that Birthday cake for you next time we hook up. I will do a race report later. Hope everybody had a great Father's day!

Tour Divide race.

Here is the home page. You can follow it here, pretty cool stuff.

Happiness.

Finding happiness is like finding yourself. You don't find happiness, you make happiness. You choose happiness. Self-actualization is a process of discovering who you are, who you want to be and paving the way to happiness by doing what brings YOU the most meaning and contentment to your life over the long run. Lucas doing what he loves to do!

Rhetts Run.

The two weeks leading up to this race I have had my best road rides and was feeling better than I ever had on the mountain bike. Other than missing the SS after switching to gears for this race everything was pretty set. Me and Nick headed out early enough on Sunday morning to make sure and have enough time to get a pre ride in. I had raced here before but its been about 3 years. The course is pretty tight and twisty single track about 4.5 miles long. Lucky enough for us we had the pleasure of getting a good rain shower before the race to make things nice and slick. I don't know what we would do with out rain! It was nice to see so many familiar faces lining up in the Marathon class. Good stuff. The race started off a little slower than usual but with the wet rocks and roots there was no way I was wanting to go any faster. Nate took the whole shot which was fine with me considering this was his home course. The dude is smooth he was hooking us up with all the good lines and got us through the first lap pretty fast. Going into the second lap Nate let me lead with Jason Stiger and Jeff Winkler following closely. Thought it would be perfect to start picking up the pace. I know Jason is used to going out harder and I know Jeff is super fast so I thought at the very least we could put some good time into everybody else. Things were going great and then pop the front tire went flat without any chance of Stan's sealing it. Got the tube changed out pretty quick when I went to use the Co2 the whole end of it was gone? Lucky enough a racer had one for me to use and I was back in the race without to much time lost. I didn't get to far when I flatted in the rear, I always carry two tubes for this reason but today I forgot to put one in my saddle bag. After a few racers had offered me tubes I finally took one, I hate to mess other racers race up to help me but very appreciated!! So I was back in the race. Finishing up the second lap I saw Jeff not to far back and it gave me some good motivation to try and stay ahead of him. I couldn't believe I lost 22 minutes or so from flats, pathetic! Going into the third lap I think I was trying to hit it to hard and flatted again through one of the rocky sections. When I looked up Chad was there with a flat also. Neither one of us had any more tubes and I was pretty certain that air was not going to stay in my tires today. I had mentioned to Chad that we could walk the rest of the course over the next two hours get our three laps in and not dnf. And o yea watch some kick ass mountain bike racing. It was a ton of fun watching the cross country expert racers battle it out along with the marathon guys. It was cool to see everybody suffering so bad and still enjoying it, it was cool to get a different perspective of the race from a spectators point of view. It has been a long time since I have watched a race from the sidelines. Still amazed at how many people wanted to help us out, I think that's why I love mountain biking so much. In the end me and Chad still had some good fun with a sprint for the finish. I will definitely prepare a little different in the future. All good motivation comes out of everything!

Descendents

This group was one of my favorites back in High School. I saw them a few times back in the late 80s brings back some good memories. Listen. Hard to believe its been over 20yrs already.