2013 Simple Joe’s Training Race Series

Each year for the past 10+ years, Bill Seitz and his GSMR team have put on an excellent “kick-off-the-year” training series up in a rural valley near Gadsden at the Camp Sumataunga. I signed up to race all three races, but I forgot about a church program Analise and Josiah were going to be in for the 2nd race. I won the first race in a tight field sprint after numerous attacks from me and plenty of other riders all failed to produce a lasting break. Will Hibberts took the second race this year from a race-long break including Mark, Jacob Tubbs, and a few other strong guys that ended up setting the new course record fastest lap time. In the last race, Mark Fisher, AJ Meyer, and I got into a late race break with just one 10 mile lap left to go before the finishing climb. Then on the finishing climb (as you can see in the video below), Mark dropped me and AJ like a rock to win on the Chandler Mountain climb. I ended up holding on for 2nd with AJ just behind in third.

CHANDLER MOUNTAIN FINISHING CLIMB
Dist:        1.00 mi (0:07:01)
Climbing:     607 ft
          Min   Avg    Max
DFPM Pow    0  348.5   602  W
Aero        0   15.2    74  W
Speed     5.3    8.6  14.9  mi/h
Elev      136    467   745  ft
Slope     0.2  11.03  18.4  %
Caden     45   64.7    92  rpm
HR        156  182.5   189  bpm
NP:367W IF:1.24 TSS:18 VI:1.04
3/3/2013 4:43 PM
35 degF; 990 mbar

2013 Southern Cross Race Report

Me and race promoter, ultra mtb racer Eddie O'Dea at the awards presentation

Quick summary
1st place overall! Thomas Turner dropped me about halfway up the first climb, but I ended up catching him again just before the start of the final descent (35 miles later) before he dropped me again on the descent. He had a good 20 second lead by the bottom of the descent, but I was able to catch him again on the steep rollers back on the road. I attacked on the last steep hill, got a small separation, and then drilled it as hard as I could on the final drag back to the winery. It was just enough so that I could make it through the winery and still hold onto win!

Heartrate data
Annotated heartrate/elevation/speed plot (click to enlarge)

Heartrate zone/time/avg speed summary

Strava course segment comparison

THE DETAILS
The heartrate/elevation/speed data above pretty much tells the race, but here is how the race played out with as many details as I can remember. It was cold at the start with temps hovering around freezing and expected to stay there all day. By the top of the first climb, there was fresh snow (just light dusting) on the dirt road with some ice and slush in some of the ditches alongside the road. One glimpse towards the top of Springer Mountain, and you could see all the trees dusted with snow and shining bright white. At about that same time, it started to snow again — just some light flakes but enough to make it epic.

But back to the start — the opening cyclocross course was more difficult this year with some slick sections that seemed to slow everybody down. Some mud and a little bit of ruts made the opening cyclocross course tricky, only Thomas Turner (Jamis) was able to ride the run-up, but even then his rear wheel was slipping so he wasn’t able to get away from the rest of us who were running. Leaving the winery, we were straight into a stiff headwind and I was able to chase onto a group of about 15-20 riders including: Thomas, Garth Prosser, Gerry Pflug (racing singlespeed this year), Michael Simonson, Jerry DuFour, James Monk, and maybe 10 other guys. I looked back just before we made the left turn off of Hightower about 3 miles into the race, and there was a second larger group of maybe 20-30 riders only a few seconds back. Once we made that left, though, Thomas drilled it and I knew that there was no worry about the second group catching back up to ours. Thomas stayed on the front the entire time with Michael, Garth, and I taking turns trying to hold his wheel through the steep rollers.

Pretty soon there was just five of us left at the front: Thomas, Garth, Michael Simonson, Jerry Dufour (from Birmingham!), and me. This probably would have been the Top 5 for the race, but Jerry double flatted. Thomas set a brutal pace whittling the group down to just me, Jerry, and Michael. Then about halfway up the climb, Thomas hit one of the steep sections hard, and in short succession Jerry, Michael, and I all came off. This made for a lonely race because we didn’t come off at the same time (maybe spaced a couple minutes apart?). I quickly lost sight of Thomas, and he had 3 minutes by the top of the climb (time split from the aid station volunteers).

Snow, ice, and mud across the top of Springer Mountain made for a tentative descent — even though the descent itself was mostly dry. I started to feel better by the Cooper Gap climb and settled into a good rhythm on the climb, which basically consisted of hard tempo on the flatter sections and then standing up and drilling the steep sections. Fortunately, it was smooth enough that I could lock out the front suspension and torque on the bars pretty good to aid the standing up sections. The farther I got up the climb, the more I was realizing that there wasn’t anybody catching me. So this gave me a lot of motivation to push it hard to the top of the climb. Going through the aid station, I drilled it again through the rollers and still felt good through the next rollers, where I have felt pretty bad in previous years.

Then at the bottom of the first steep step of the descent (see heartrate/elevation plot), I flew into the next steep climb and could see Thomas about 3/4 of the way up it — maybe less than a minute ahead!!! I drilled it up this climb and nearly blew myself up in the process as my legs were screaming by the top. Fortunately, there was a long downhill before the next steep roller, and I settled into a more reasonable rhythm on this second climb and caught Thomas at the very top. Even on his cross bike (with me on my mountain bike), he dropped me on the long descent and had a good 15-20 second lead by the time we hit the pavement. I was able to catch him again on one of the last rollers before the sharp turn, narrow road, and steep paved climb. I attacked on the steep climb knowing that I would need a good lead going into the winery if I was to have any shot at winning. I got a little bit of separation, but he was still right there (only a few seconds back) as I turned onto Hightower.

I had been psyching myself up to try and ride the final run-up, but there was a car that got in my way driving slowly down to the run-up so I didn’t have any momentum and decided to just run up it. By the top, Thomas still hadn’t reached the bottom so I felt much better about my chances to hold on. Still, I kept expecting him to come flying by at any moment so I didn’t let up until all the way up the final steep grassy climb across the ditch and then onto the pavement for the last tenth of a mile to the line! So happy to win Southern Cross … that also makes for a nice odd mathematical progression of 5th in 2011, 3rd in 2012, and 1st in 2013!

The final 30% run-up plus 100% at the bottom

Skiing and cycling – an unscientific comparison

So I mainly just wanted to upload a video of my kids in their first ski race yesterday, but I thought I would compare and contrast cross-country skiing and cycling as part of the post. First, the video:

Josiah is the boy taking off running without any ski poles. Analise is skiing next to my wife at the back. One of the things that my wife and I connected on when we first met each other back in 2001 was the similarities between her cross-country ski racing and my bike racing. Kristine first started to ski when she was only 2 or 3 years old. And she would ride in a backpack with her father skiing even earlier than that. Through elementary, middle, and high school, Kristine ski raced in the winter eventually earning a full scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay to ski collegiately. I didn’t start bike racing until high school and college, but I dove right into it so that I experienced many of the same things she did: from the travel with a small group of guys usually to a very rural area, parking in fields (snow covered fields for her), and then taking your body to the limit racing against others. Also, the training – most skiers run or bike in the off-season to maintain the aerobic fitness required to excel in the sport. Up here in Wisconsin, many serious bike racers (Greg Lemond for example) switch to cross country skiing and ski racing to maintain aerobic fitness for biking when it finally thaws out late into spring. In Alabama, I’m fortunate to be able to ride year-round. Part of the adventure of biking for me is the ability to travel from point to point and explore new places so much more efficiently than if you were running. Skiing has the same allure because you are able to travel through the woods and explore trails much more efficiently than snow shoeing.

As far as the racing goes, I’d compare the ski racing more to mountain bike racing or cyclocross racing on non-technical courses with more of a notion of “getting the hole shot” and pushing yourself mostly alone or chasing one or two skiers just up the trail without as much drafting as in road racing. Still, there is a drafting component particularly at the elite end of the sport where the speeds are much closer to 20mph than 10mph, and there tend to be large groups of skiers able to maintain the same speed throughout the race. The tactics are different because of this, but you still see skiers attack each other and change pace to try to drop the others. Cross-country skiing at the winter olympics is by far my favorite winter sport to watch … not the least because of the way the skiers push themselves to the absolute limit. In any close cross country ski race finish, the skiers will fall over as soon as they cross the line because there is not enough energy left in their muscles to support their body weight. Cyclists push themselves similarly to that extreme, but because we aren’t standing up we can usually manage to keep the bike upright as it coasts to a stop. Although in one close finish this past year, three of us sprinting at the end of the 105 mile Rouge Roubaix race all fell over on the side of the road into a grassy yard … completely spent, utterly exhausted, but also undefinably happy – and we were only sprinting for 2nd place!

Of course, I buck the trend a bit when I visit from Alabama … bringing my mountain bike and enduring the cold weather for a week in some truly epic rides rather than cross country skiing. Today I’m traveling point to point to Heartwood cabins where Kristine and I had our wedding reception back in the summer of 2003. We’re going to spend a few days up there so Kristine and her dad can do some good cross-country skiing on the trails up there … while the kids enjoy ice skating, sledding, and a little bit of skiing. I’ve got a three hour ride planned to get there today, and then a couple four to five hour rides planned for the next couple days taking me through the snow mobile capital of this area (Danbury, WI), and across the St Croix into Minnesota. Heartwood looks completely different in the winter covered in snow, but that’s the beauty of the northwoods – each of the seasons up here transforms the land into a completely different amazing world.

Dale, Kristine, Anna, and Kat finishing the 2012 Birkie 50KM ski race together

Family ski 2007 – from front to back – Analise, Aunt Anna, Aunt Kat, Kristine, Josiah, Papa Dale, and Uncle Hal. I was out there too, but I took the picture.

Bamacross Sloss Cross

The 2012 Bamacross series finale was held today at the historic Sloss Furnace abandoned steel mill. The course was epic for water, rain, mud, and location. I’m sure there will be some good pics up on facebook that people will post. I’m going to try to link to a couple of them here on this blog in the next day or two. The atmosphere at the race was just amazing — people grilling out under the highway underpass, music pumped up, people banging loudly on steel drums next to the course, cowbells ringing, people cheering, people heckling, people having lots of fun.

Annotated course map (click to enlarge)

Sloss furnace and the airport (on a clear day).

The course was just amazing … located right next to the abandoned steel mill, plus the start/finish stretch underneath the highway, plus active trains and train whistles on all three sides of the course during the race, and then the puddle lakes in the central part of the course and the muddy river that formed on the back stretch of the course from an inch of rain that started this morning and never let up through all the races. I did the race on my hard tail 29er running low pressure hoping to get some extra grip out of the wide tires. But in the mud, those wide tires just skidded across the top of the mud rather than digging into it.

In any case, I probably still would have finished DFL even if I had borrowed a cross bike. I started the race with old brake pads that needed replacing. So by the end of the second lap, I had no brake pads left at all … seriously no braking at all! Fortunately, the mud was thick enough that in most places you could just stop pedaling and the bike would slow down quick enough to make the turn. Still, there was a couple places where I had to unclip and dig my heel into the ground to slow down enough to make the turn.

Lots of mud – underneath the bridge next to the historic steel mill. (Click to zoom out and enlarge. Note that is not the bike I used in the background. Also, that is my backpack on the ground for the commute there and back.)

It was a really fun experience, especially since I got to cheer on all the other racers who lapped me (everyone from both the 1/2 field and the 3 field which started a couple minutes behind us). Afterwards, Craig Tamburello (Brick Alley) helped me a ton by switching out brake pads from Alan Barton’s dad’s mountain bike so I could safely ride home. Thanks tons Craig and Alan!! Here’s a picture of Alan riding through one of the lakes on the course:

Alan Barton rides through one of the lake puddles. (note the airplane on final approach to BHM in the upper left corner of the picture.) Photo by Theresa O’Fallon (facebook)

What a fun experience, the atmosphere and the people are great. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the skills to corner in the mud, but I definitely want to try it again next year. A couple updates from this morning … I forgot to post my heartrate data (see below), and also Paul Roberts got some great pics from the race including one of my friend (and former teammate) Jacob Tubbs with Scott Staubach in the background in a pivotal part of the Masters 35+ race with them eventually taking 1st and 2nd.

Paul Roberts photo of Jacob Tubbs and Scott Staubach at a pivotal moment of the Masters 35+ race with downtown Birmingham visible in the background (click to enlarge)

Paul Roberts picture of me through the mud. Note the ziplock bag to protect the garmin. (click to enlarge)

Heartrate plot for Sloss Cross 2012 (click to enlarge)

Palmarés Updated, 1993-2006

1993 – After my first mountain bike race – the 1993 Cumberland Classic at Sewanee, TN. 6th in the juniors and 25th in the beginners (there were 100 people in the race!)

I started this post earlier in the year when I decided to update my racing results dating all the way back to my first mountain bike race in 1993. My latest foray into mountain bike racing (winning the Chain Buster Battle at Oak Mountain 9 hour race on Saturday) has had me reminiscing into how I first got into mountain biking back in high school in 1993 so I thought I would go ahead and wrap up this post. Most of it centers around Oak Mountain. In fact, if you go back even earlier to the late 80s, my dad and I used to do road biking on a 10 speed (eventually 12 speed) with down tube shifters at Oak Mountain. We’d park outside the park at the info center and then ride in through the front entrance. I’d always start out fast and ride off ahead of him and his work friends, but then even before we made it to the golf course I’d be tired so my dad had to ride with me slowly the rest of the way to the spillway in the back of the park and then back to the car. Probably a couple hours for the 15 mile ride.

Fast forward to 1993 – my junior year of high school, and two of my friends on the math team (Steve Montgomery and Jeff King) were into mountain biking. Steve said his dad had a mountain bike I could borrow, so the three of us set off to Oak Mountain one day after school in two cars. We parked Steve’s Bronco II at the picnic area parking lot and then piled into Jeff’s jeep and hauled ass up the Peavine Falls road (seriously don’t know how we didn’t roll that jeep) up to the overlook area near the end of the red trail. We took off up the red trail and then turned left into the BUMP downhill. I don’t remember my first experience with blood rock, but I assume we walked it. We flew down the trail past what is now the berm (I don’t think there was a berm back then) to the twisty section of the downhill, popped out onto Peavine Road followed it for a tenth of a mile or so to reach the Johnson’s Mountain climb. It started out with a tricky entrance with a short log bridge over a small creek crossing, and then the super steep trail with the rubber run-off protectors across the trail every few feet. I eventually could clear all that on a good day, but I definitely walked it that first time up.

From the top of the steep section, you had a nice pine-straw covered straight gradual climb until a couple twists at the steeper section near the very top of Johnson’s Mountain (super fast coming back the other way) at the park boundary. Then you came down through some tight small trees, small logs turns entering the rocky bumpy section (where I would sheer a seatpost off in a ride the next year) that is now the opening climb for Johnson’s Mountain (when coming from picnic area parking lot). My first big wreck was on the downhill after the giant log (the log is long gone and replaced with some rock steps now) where there are some wood trail run-off protectors now. There were no wood steps back then (unless we were going so fast through there I forgot about them), just a fast downhill with me going right off the side of the steep hill falling halfway down to the creek at a high rate of speed.

Then it was up the shallow switchbacks and the fast straight section (now called Foreplay) across the horse trail intersection into the long set of twisty turns (now called Mr. Toads) through the picnic area parking lot down to Steve’s Bronco II for the shuttle back up to the top. I think that was it that first day out, but eventually we got into good enough shape to not need the shuttle any more, and we would just start out in the parking lot head up the climb to the red trail, turn around at the top and then come all the way back down adding on the lower section of singletrack by the paddleboats. This section was an out/back trail that wasn’t finished. We would ride it through to the end and then just keep riding a ways through the woods before turning around and heading back up. After buying my first mountain bike from James at River Oaks Cycles in Hoover (the Mongoose Alta shown in the top pic), I made this trip pretty much an every day after school experience. The lower section of trail was finished shortly after all this began so eventually I started to park at the old boy scout road just past the golf course where the lower trail section ended. I would ride from there all the way up to the Bump trail, turn around and ride back.

By April of 1993, I raced my first mountain bike race — the Cumberland Classic in Sewanee, TN — where I finished 6th in the juniors and 25th in the beginners (our fields were combined). There was more than 100 people in the race (IT WAS HUGE!!!) and I still remember starting and climbing out of a gravel parking lot area, racing across some huge field by a barn or something, and then a double track road before making the left into the singletrack. Whenever I think of “hole shot”, I still have this mental image of the gravel hill, followed by a wide open field leading to a double track leading to a lefthand turn onto singletrack overlooking a valley far below that made me think I was in an airplane (which I had never been in before). Later in the year, during the start of my senior year I would see a flyer for the Bull’s Gap time trial and race that as my second race (see pic below), following that up with two more mountain bike races (the Maddog Mountain Bike Race in Springville, Alabama and the Suck Creek Classic up in Chattanooga, TN).

Brian Toone – Bull’s Gap Time Trial 1993

Eventually, I’m going to link these pictures onto my results page, but in the interim, I’ve included a gallery of pictures that I scanned in from 1993-1998. If you are wondering how I could remember these results from way back then, I still have my “bike racing photo journal” (see pic below) that I kept which included a description of the race, the number of people in the race, my result in the race, as well as two or three 35mm snapshots. When I started college at Clemson, I kept track of everything in a Microsoft Access database (see other pic below).

Photo journal of bike racing I started my freshman year of college
Screenshot highlighting some 1997 entries from my microsoft access database of racing and training

1993 – After my first mountain bike race – the 1993 Cumberland Classic at Sewanee, TN. 6th in the juniors and 25th in the beginners (there were 100 people in the race!)

1993 – Cumberland Classic – finishing up in 6th place – it was just one lap

1993 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race – NORBA beginners field strings out heading towards the singletrack

1993 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race – NORBA beginner

1993 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race – NORBA beginner

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – lined up with other NORBA Beginners

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – I remember telling my dad as I passed by that I needed to get clipless pedals after this race

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – creek crossing

1993 – Suck Creek Classic – triple down arrow section shortly after the hole shot

1994 – Jackson, MS – AL/MS state road race championship juniors field

1994 – Clemson collegiate mountain bike race

1994 – the Cow Chip Classic

1994 – the Cow Chip Classic, sport category lines up for the start

1994 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race, Springville, AL – I stop for a pic with my mom before the start

1994 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race, Springville, AL – the sport category lines up for the start

1994 – Maddog Mountain Bike Race, Springville, AL

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – the juniors field lined up for the start of the mall criterium

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – the mall criterium

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – the mall criterium

1994 – the juniors field just before the start of the road race at the Natchez Cycling Classic

1994 – the juniors field during the road race at the Natchez Cycling Classic

1994 – Natchez Cycling Classic – my first view of the Mississippi River

1994 – Rocket City Mountain Bike Race – Hunstville, AL – the sport category lines up for the start

1994 – Rocket City Mountain Bike Race – shown is my Schwinn Series 70 mountain bike, which I raced on until 1999 and then kept as a commuter bike until it was stolen in 2004 at UC Davis

1994 – Rocket City Mountain Bike Race – Hunstville, AL

1994 – I lapped the field with Dan Hubbard from UTK in my first collegiate race (Cat B, Michellin Classic) – I ended up taking 2nd even though I had Bert and Pat to help lead me out – my sprint was awful – no power

1994 – the Natchez Cycling Classic time trial – aerospoke front wheel – very flat 2 miles out and back on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River

1994 – my first and only cat 5 race. I upgraded to cat 4 based on my collegiate results

1995 – finishing 21st in my first assault on mt mitchell. i probably only weighed 125 pounds in this pic.

1995 – Coming out of the chicane in the Augusta criterium – cat 4

1995 – Augusta criterium cat 4 – my clemson teammate Pat just behind. He was a great sprinter – probably won this race

1995 – Clemson Collegiate Road Race – off the front

1995 – Clemson Collegiate Road Race – off the front

1996 – Clemson dirt criterium – precursor to today’s cyclocross mania. I lapped everybody except for the 2nd place rider. In retrospect, I probably should not have been racing the B category. My teammate Bert Hull did pretty much the same thing in the A category lapping everyone and winning by a long way.

1996 – Life College parking lot crit in the rain

1996 – Auburn collegiate criterium – 5th place, my best finish in a collegiate A criterium. I attacked on the hill on the last lap taking two riders with me who both passed me at the line for 3rd and 4th. Up ahead, GSU teammates Dave Martin and Shannon Hughes lapped the field taking 1st and 2nd.

1996 – Cleveland Park on the back stretch – is that Travis Sherman in the Auburn kit?

1996 – Cleveland Park start finish area – somebody in the pit

1996 – Tour de Bloom, winning a prime in the Cat 4 race

Tour de Bloom criterium – I made it into the winning break in the Cat 4s, which gave me enough points to cat up to Cat 3 at the race and then double-up to race the Cat 3 race where I believe I just finished in the pack

1996 – Virginia commonwealth games – Blue Ridge Parkway outside of Roanoke

1996 – Cleveland Park race during the Michellin Classic weekend – rounding the final corner in the collegiate race

1996 – Cleveland Park race during the Michellin Classic weekend – Cat 3

1997 South Carolina Road Race – 1st place, Cat 1/2/3 state championship. I didn’t have a camera with me so when I made it back to Clemson I snapped this pic of my bike and my car. The race was at the Donaldson Center in Greenville and I won on a solo breakaway but finished same time as the field sprint won by my roommate Bert Hull who earned the state championship medal by winning the field sprint since I was out of state.

1997 – McMinnville road race finish – this was the Cat 3 finish. I had been away solo for 15 miles. Note the field approaching very quickly. I barely held on to win.

1997 – McMinnville road race – happy to have won the cat 3 race on a long solo break

1997 – McMinnville time trial – shortly before the start, note the litespeed bike and the Lemond time trial bars

1997 – McMinnville Criterium around the high school – I tried to race aggressively (here I am attacking) and my finish in the crit was good enough to keep me in 3rd overall for the weekend

1997 – Augusta downtown criterium Pro/1/2

1997 – Augusta downtown criterium Pro/1/2 – in break early (shown here). Post-race analysis: “So close, so close, so close. Attacked hard with 3 to go and caught the National Junior Champ (Eric Walters) with 2 to go, but we got caught with 1/2 lap to go. I still finished 15th in the sprint.”

1997 – Clemson Collegiate A criterium – how did this break not stick with UF, GSU, Clemson, and UGA all represented? Answer: it looks like it was my fault … post-race analysis: “Did not place in any primes. Was in a four up break with 5 to go, but I could not pull through and we got caught. Felt pretty good, but heart rate not quite as high today.”

1997 – Georgia Tech Collegiate A criterium – “I felt pretty good. I did not seem to be working nearly as hard on the climb as everybody else. I also took the corners much faster than everybody. I tried a solo break on a prime lap and made it to the top of the hill before getting caught. On the last lap I went hard b/c Bert was in good position. I was too tired to attack on the hill as I had planned.”

1997 – James Madison stage race – my Clemson teammate Bert Hull and I drove up to Charlottesville and stayed with my grandparents for the two day race. I flatted out of the road race but was allowed to start the time trial. Bert won the overall after passing six or seven people during the hillclimb timetrial up to Skyline Dr.

1997 – Pro 1/2 Crit for Kids in Columbia, SC – does anyone recognize who the national champ is? Wikipedia says it was Jonas Carney that year. Is that him? Or is that Eric Walters?

1997 – PeeDee road race – national champ present again. This was the only race my Grandma on my dad’s side of the family ever got to see me race.

1997 – Tour de Pocono pro-am field

1997 – Tour de Pocono pro-am field strung out (this was pretty much the entire race … single file through the motorcycle infield and then half a lap around the Nascar track)

1997 – Tour de Appalachia in West Virginia and Ohio – I always looked like a chipmunk

1997 – Athens twilight Sunday race in Conyers, GA. I had placed 2nd to George Hincapie the day before at the Assault on Mt Mitchell

1997 – Assault on Mt Mitchell – me with my parents shortly after finishing 2nd to George Hincapie

1998 – me and Daniel road tripping to Jacksonville for one of the first collegiate races of the year. We played follow-the-leader / tag through a car dealership until midnight shortly after arriving the day before the races. Tied my best collegiate A criterium finish (5th place) during the race the next day.

1998 – Jacksonville, FL – me warming up before a cold rainy collegiate criterium

1998 – Jacksonville, FL – Daniel before the start of his juniors race on Sunday

1998 – Jacksonville, FL – me before the start of the USCF pro/1/2 race on Sunday

1998 – Georgia Southern collegiate A road race start – I finished well in this surprisingly hilly course. I think Travis won it on a solo break.

1998 – Collegiate National Road Race near Ceasar’s Head, SC – I flatted out, but my teammate Bert Hull (middle) was in the day-long break before it got reeled back in towards the end of the race

1998 – Collegiate National Criterium in downtown Greenville, SC – I won a points prime fairly early in the race and then finished towards the front of the field sprint

1998 – flowers for Carol, our SECCC coordinating official, during the nationals award ceremony banquet

1998 – Athens Twilight – first of three races of the day, this was the amateur 2/3 race qualifier.

1998 – Athens Twilight – first of three races of the day, this was the amateur 2/3 race qualifier. Travis Sherman and I started a two-man break that eventually became a ten man break which stayed away … good enough to qualify for the finals race setting up an attempt at “epic triple”

1998 – Athens Twilight – me resting before the start of the amateur finals race. I would finish near the back.

1998 – Athens Twilight – neither of these is me, but I think one rider is Jesse Lawler from UGA, which means that I was just out of the frame to the right as we got popped and pulled together fairly early in the race.

1998 – McMinnville, TN pro/1/2 road race – lining up at the start. The red team would win … literally, the whole team.

1998 – McMinnville, TN road race – I won this race the year before as a Cat 3, this pro team swept the top four positions the next year in the Pro/1/2 field. I finished with the pack.

1998 – McMinnville, TN high school criterium – lined up at the front before it started to rain … post-race analysis: “Lots of rain. Didn’t corner very well and got stuck at back of pack. Had to chase out of every corner. Got dropped and pulled with 5 laps to go”

1998 – Columbia, SC crit for kids

1998 – NC/SC time trial – two things stand out in my memory about this race for me … I just barely missed breaking an hour in the 40K tt (by a few seconds) and I had just gotten a ticket for speeding on the way to the race

1998 – NC/SC time trial – my teammate Bert Hull on his homemade drop bars (probably winning or podiuming)

1998 – NC/SC time trial – my teammate Scott McDowell and his wife Rachel before the start

1998 – Espoirs (U23) national road race – Cincinatti, OH. This course would be perfect for me now, but back then it was basically a giant 10 mile crit course spanning two states with a couple of big climbs from the river. I only lasted a couple laps before getting dropped and then rode a couple more laps before getting pulled. There’s a very good chance I could win a national race on a course like this today!

1998 – Espoirs (U23) national road race – Cincinatti, OH. We rode up onto an interstate as part of the course. Loved it.

1998 – Roanoke stage race – road trip with Daniel and his friend from Brazil whose name I can’t remember but who once biked with me from Clemson to Greenville to the start of one of the training races. He didn’t speak any English, and I didn’t speak any Portuguese so we settled on Spanish … izquierda, derecho, en frente de

1998 – Roanoke stage race – Saturn pro rider Tina Pic (I think) everybody at Clemson had a crush on her

1998 – Roanoke stage race – me right before the start of the Pro/1/2 hillclimb time trial up the old road to the zoo. Oh if I could only race that again… I probably finished near the back of the pack.

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – flying out from Greenville, SC on my third plane trip ever, first time flying with a bike

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – driving from the airport through Boston to Fitchburg

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – view of Wachusett Mountain with its hilltop finish for Saturday’s road race

1998 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic – view of one of the glacial rocks sitting in the middle of town near Sunday’s crit course

1998 – Tour de Toona – before the opening prologue

1998 – Tour de Toona – one of my all-time favorite features on a road race course – gravel hill climbing through a corn field heading into a double track section through the woods … all at 25+ mph

1998 – Tour de Toona – one of my all-time favorite features on a road race course – gravel hill climbing through a corn field heading into a double track section through the woods … all at 25+ mph

1998 – Tour de Toona – either before or after the last day’s downtown Altoona criterium

1998 – UTK Knoxville rolled a tubular on easy ride around Knoxville, fell and ripped my cycling shorts … had to race in “holey” shorts the whole weekend. The road race picture shows my normal rear training wheel paired with my American Classic racing front wheel

1998 – UTK Knoxville Collegiate A road race – right after winning the race

1998 – UTK Knoxville Collegiate A road race results – 1st place!

2001 – Reno, NV – shortly after winning the Cat B collegiate road race. I was fascinated by the snow on the mountains … my first time biking anywhere remotely near snow.

2001 – Reno, NV – Cat A field strung out climbing the hill on the crit course. I had finished 2nd in the Cat B race earlier with my teammate taking the win. My other teammate, Jeff, won this Cat A race solo. UC Davis had a very strong team and would go onto win nationals (without me) either that year or the year after

2002 – Davis, CA – after another year of no racing and only riding 20-30 miles a week (on my mtb to/from the lab), I catted down to C’s and placed third as part of a 1-2-3 podium sweep of the Cat C road race

2005 – Camp Sumataunga, AL – with my beautiful wife and newborn baby (8 months old) I started back into bike racing in 2005 making it into the break in the A training race in the spring. Later in the year, I would race in the Mad Potter’s stage race placing 3rd in the Pro/1/2 road race in Biloxi, MS only two weeks before Hurricane Katrina would completely wipe out the town.

2005 – Camp Sumataunga, AL – me in the break during the A training race. I believe that is Mark Simpson pulling at the front and me hanging on at the back

2007 – Greenville, SC – my best result up to that time and my last race as a Cat 2 was placing 3rd in the Greenville Cycling Classic just behind Geri Mewett and Bobby Sweeting. I would place 2nd the next day ahead of Geri.

Photo journal of bike racing I started my freshman year of college

Screenshot highlighting some 1997 entries from my microsoft access database of racing and training