Man, where to start. First of all we'll get my update out of the way. I have been doing a lot of half ass training and some fun traveling instead leading up to this race. So, to say the least I wasn't and still am not in peak condition like I was back in Feb/March time frame. Hey, I don't get paid to race so of course I have to dip into life's other fruits! Anyhow, what I'm getting at is that I have in the past month fell off the wagon a little more than in years past for me this time of year.
So, with that said, I had a middle of the pack time of 1:24:23 at this year's race. I also experienced the worst cramps (both quads) that I have ever had in my racing years including all endurance races.....OUCH! They still throb as I set here typing.
The weekend began with me meeting Matt, Andrew, and Paul at Oak Mtn on Friday afternoon for a preride. They all came over from MS and I was eager to host/put them up at my crib for the weekend. Cecilia decided to crash at my mom's in Childersburg. No way was she going to put up with 4 mtn bikers on edge for 2.5 days (can't say I blame her either). After a quick easy preride, we all head to Cahaba Cycle to meet and greet some pros. We got there while a Q&A was going on with Gary Fisher/Subaru Mtn Team. We got signatures from Willow, Sam, Heather, and JHK....KEWL! Had to get a pic with Willow of course. They all were very down to earth. Then, wings and brews at Hooters.
Sunday began early. Race time for me was 9:00am. It went well, fast pace at the start then after settling down and got the heart rate at 175ish I was good to go until the cramps mentioned earlier. Other members of Bike Link Racing had a great day. Geoff finished 7th in 35-39 cat2, JD got 2nd in 25-29 cat2, and Gavin kicked tail with a 2nd in 25-29 cat1. He turned an awesome 2:22:54. Not far behind in 25-29 cat1 was Xterra standout/friend/coworker, Omar Frasier, in 5th with a 2:27:34. Those are killer times for 2 laps at Oak Mtn. Congrats fo sho! My boy Matt got 16th out of 25 in 34-39 cat2 in his first ever BNG. Andrew on a borrowed, too small, first time on a SS, and first BNG as well got a very respectable 9th out of 15 in 19-24 cat2! Below is my after race pic. I didn't do my personal best but I left it all out there on the trail and was the fastest I could be for that day. LOL!
Next we all got geared up for the Pro Women's race and it was everything we expected. Me, C, mom, Matt, and Andrew ran up and down Pevine Falls road cheering and taking pics. It was a great race. We made it down to the start/finish line to catch team mates Georgia Gould and Catherine Pendrel sprint for the finish. Catherine egded out Georgia right at the end to take the top spot. Katerina Nash (also with Luna Chic and pictured with me below) came in third.
Next was the men's race and me, Matt, and Andrew spent most of the time on the single track cheering on Pro's that we usually only see on the web, in magazines, or on TV. We were indeed like little kids all over again. It was a good feeling to have such elite athletes at my very own home trail and to help promote the wonderful sport of mtn biking in the south. Below is a pic of Adam Craig and Ryan Trebon cranking it out.
The men's race had a great sprint finish with Sid Taberlay with Sho-Air/Specialized edging out Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski at the end. 2009 BNG is something to remember for a while. I was getting not so into riding/racing unlike I use to be. It's great to have an event like this to get me stoked back up. A special thanks to BUMP, which I am a proud member of, for putting on such a great show. Also, I can't forget how good it was to see a lot of good friends from MS and a few from LA.
Saturday: We decided to sleep in a little (at least me anyhow) the rest of the guys got up a little earleir and went out for breakfast. Me, all I need is a cup of coffee and a breakfast bar. We found that Andrew cracked his frame (Giant Anthem) at the top tube/seat tube weld. We go by my bike shop to let the mechanics for my race team take a look........verdict=yep, cracked frame and unrideable. Now Andrew is wondering if he is going to be able to race. I mean the guy is 6'9" so it isn't very easy to find a bike to fit him. We squash that for a while and head to Oak Mtn. Everything started with us walking to the Kona trailer and start chatting it up with Ryan Trebon. Andrew tells Ryan about his misfortune and how it's hard for him to find a frame to fit since he is so tall. Trebon relates because he is like 6'6" and tells Andrew that he will hook him up with one of his old frames when he returns to CO. How friggin' cool is that??? They swap contact info and we'll see how things pan out. Just cool to offer I think. Next I go by the Luna Trailer and spot Georgia Gould, I wave while she is eating inside.....she acutally stops eating and comes out and begins to have one of the greatest BS sessions with us. We all went on for about 20 minutes and she is very passionate, comical, and humble! After that I went out and performed my volunteer duties with BUMP as course marshal for the pros practice. All went well...............then, fajitas for dinner. We get home and I set Andrew up with my Felt Solo Nine SS. It a large frame with a 410mm seatpost so it fit fair enough. He did ok with it during the race. It was better than watching for sure according to him. So all that was good stuff.
Sunday began early. Race time for me was 9:00am. It went well, fast pace at the start then after settling down and got the heart rate at 175ish I was good to go until the cramps mentioned earlier. Other members of Bike Link Racing had a great day. Geoff finished 7th in 35-39 cat2, JD got 2nd in 25-29 cat2, and Gavin kicked tail with a 2nd in 25-29 cat1. He turned an awesome 2:22:54. Not far behind in 25-29 cat1 was Xterra standout/friend/coworker, Omar Frasier, in 5th with a 2:27:34. Those are killer times for 2 laps at Oak Mtn. Congrats fo sho! My boy Matt got 16th out of 25 in 34-39 cat2 in his first ever BNG. Andrew on a borrowed, too small, first time on a SS, and first BNG as well got a very respectable 9th out of 15 in 19-24 cat2! Below is my after race pic. I didn't do my personal best but I left it all out there on the trail and was the fastest I could be for that day. LOL!
Next we all got geared up for the Pro Women's race and it was everything we expected. Me, C, mom, Matt, and Andrew ran up and down Pevine Falls road cheering and taking pics. It was a great race. We made it down to the start/finish line to catch team mates Georgia Gould and Catherine Pendrel sprint for the finish. Catherine egded out Georgia right at the end to take the top spot. Katerina Nash (also with Luna Chic and pictured with me below) came in third.Next was the men's race and me, Matt, and Andrew spent most of the time on the single track cheering on Pro's that we usually only see on the web, in magazines, or on TV. We were indeed like little kids all over again. It was a good feeling to have such elite athletes at my very own home trail and to help promote the wonderful sport of mtn biking in the south. Below is a pic of Adam Craig and Ryan Trebon cranking it out.The men's race had a great sprint finish with Sid Taberlay with Sho-Air/Specialized edging out Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski at the end. 2009 BNG is something to remember for a while. I was getting not so into riding/racing unlike I use to be. It's great to have an event like this to get me stoked back up. A special thanks to BUMP, which I am a proud member of, for putting on such a great show. Also, I can't forget how good it was to see a lot of good friends from MS and a few from LA.Next up for me should be a couple of SERC races. One at the end of this month in Chattanooga, TN and one next month in at Mt Cheaha in Anniston. I'll keep everyone posted. Ride on!
Oh yeah, Matt busted his ass again! Sweet.............
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