3 Days

I've been gone almost a week. I left last Tuesday for Houston at 3pm. Was supposed to leave houston at 4pm. We didn't end up leaving until 9pm. Team MOAT calls that the Shaun factor. We drive, we rest, we eat. For almost a day it was. We arrived at West Virginia late Wednesday night. We sleep for about 5 hours, and this is when the fun begins.
We have to be checked in by noon. So we get stuff ready. Getting stuff ready for something you don't know what you're going to do with is very difficult. So I made sure I had plenty of dry socks. A couple of shirts, shoes, and a few shorts.
We show up, get the maps, and checked in. Of course we are the last team to do this. And of course everything we need is in the RV, not the van. We have about an hour to get things ready before a race meeting. The maps are 1:52000, instead of what we're used to, 1:24000. So things were a bit different!

So race start, is around 6 oclock. We worked all day getting ready, franticly, and we're prepared for the upcoming days of racing.

The start is a white water raft. Where they lottery drew who was going into which boat. Most boats had 2 teams of 4(8 people max). Our boat had our 4 person team, 1 two person team, and two soloists. Then, one person from each team had to do a short run, and swim to the raft. Lucky us. Instead of waiting on 2 people, we waited on 4! We started last, but made a pass in whitewater to come out in 3rd of our wave of boats.
A short paddle in a canoe.
Then almost nighttime, we start portaging. True to MOATs tradition, we started off bad. Went the wrong way, with other teams, and ended up losing 30 minutes easy. A couple miles of this and we were done, and off to a long nighttime ride on the bike.
We get to some points easy, then hit CP 5. We look, and again, with another team, we thought we just screwed up. So we went off solo, and tried to find out what went wrong. This is at 11pm. We go back, look around, look for roads, and even backtrack on a highway. We figure that we were right, just didn't go far enough. We go deep into the woods. Now a couple of hours later, all the teams are buzzing around here and there. It seems they can't find it either. Dave and I walk....I mean, crawl, hop, duck and maneuver to the creek. It's not there. It's been 4 hours, and we know we're in the right spot....so we bail...it's not there.
We come to TA and find some teams found it, and Dave has some words with Ronny, the race director. Later we find out that it WAS wrong....but this is after we think the race is lost(as some teams got it, and we WASTED 4 hours)
We do some walking, and hit the next day with a rappell. It was high....very high. I can't repeat the words that came out of my mouth, but everyone around me seemed to laugh at me....either my demeanor, or just the brown stuff in my pants.
The next day or so is all jumbled together....we did some more riding, walked some more, and did an O course the next night. MOAT trekked so gosh darn fast, that I literitly sucked at walking by the end. I'd either have to run, or slowly walk.
We took a nap here or there, when we would all get zombied, and hit a long 20min nap that second night, just enough time for daylight to wake us and find a point that would've been harder to find at night.
Then we get to the next bike leg. It's supposed to be 85 miles, but I'm VERY baddly chafed, and hurting. My legs feel good, but to ride just sucks. We decide to make the first CP, then decide what we will do(call it short and go to the finish).
Leslie and Dave start to argue, and I'm just in a tight spot. As Leslie wanted to get the points, and Dave was supporting me and going to call it a day.
We get to the point, and head home, tension was high, but we finally go to the last trail(3miles). Almost done! Well, except every tree on that peice of land was fallen over, and all the thorn bushes grew up. And we could find NO trail. So we walked, and walked, and rode the bike here or there. A couple of hours later, we get to TA!
We find out we're in the lead now(but we skipped CP's), and Leslie was glad, as the lead team was 8 hours ahead, and still wasn't in TA!!!
The last leg, the paddle/trek-nav, was easy. We paddled to the first point, climbed the mountain, got the CP, then trekked over to the next mountain, and found a CP, then down and up another mountain to find a 3rd CP. It just took 2 hours to find these....and we had 3 more. It was close to our third night, and wanted to get as much daylight as possible.
We noticed some canoes parked next to ours, and figured the lead team was a few hours behind.
We paddle on. Find the next CP, and its in a water fall. I'm leading the group, and a few showers graced us. Luckily the rocks were like ice climbing up, and after reaching the top of the first shallow waterfall only 13 feet long at around a 70 degree slope, I slip. The small ridges made my booty go bump bump bump and I land in fridgid water. It hurt. So I ask Dave, since we're not 'racing' anymore and just out training if it's worth getting hurt over....he said, lets get this and we can paddle on. Whatever you want Dr Dave!
So Shaun leads now, taking a different approach-the side of the cliffs. Hes about 25 feet up in the dirt, and is almost to the rocks. Then he slips. A 5 foot slide on the steep ground, then he has a 20 foot freefall to the rock bottom.
MOAT gasps, and luckily he's fine. Dave says "Shaun, what to you say we skip this one, it's not worth getting hurt!"
So we paddle on. And on. Sleep starts creeping in. So we pull up boat to boat and chat with each other, and Dave is cracking me up! This was a good moment as we were relaxing and racing, having a good time.
We finish the paddle right before dark, and I find out that we have a 10mile trek ahead, finishing it off with a river crossing. THATS IT!!! i'm almost done.
10 miles later, I get to the river, cross it. Then find out I have 4 miles of uphill to get to the finish. Mentally, I'm blown. I should be done by now. I sulk and creep up the hill. 1hour and 30minutes later, I'm at the lodge, the last CP. We did it.
While waiting on badass rookie support crew, Jeff, Leslie, Dave and Shaun Almighty took a nap in the hall. We got picked up, took a shower, ate, talked a bit, and hit the hay for a short night....waking up early and starting driving home.
We were the first to finish, but because we didn't hit all the CP's, we shouldn't win this race....we COULD"VE won this race, and was definitly the fastest team out there, as our bike/trek/paddle was above the other teams....but one 4 hour mistake that wasn't our fault made it for a good training day....days.

E FIX

Carlos had a loss in the family, sorry to say. I was going to run support for MOAT/Mannatech during this race. Since the team wasn't complete, it is up to me to fill in. This is what matters most. And as Mickey would say< "This is your whole life!"

http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.showDashboard&eventID=135

Go there, and follow us from Thursday/Friday until Sunday. 3 solid days of racing non-stop. Leave us, MOAT/Mannatech, messages and keep up with the standings. I'll be out the next week traveling and of course racing, check for a lengthy blog when I return.

I'm SUPER stoked about being able to do this. I am concerned about a couple of things.
1) A rappell....I'm very affraid of heights....but WWDBD?
2)An icewater swim.....I guess more than heights, I'm affraid of permanitly freezing my berries off
3)How many DQ's will be on the course? I mean, 3 days....I'll probably need to eat. I might treat myself to a blizzard no matter what that sunday night.
4)OMG, I'm racing with MOAT.....I hope...I pray....I dream that I can keep up with them.

Custom bikes are the latest rage. What you wanna WOOO WOOOOO?

The long weekend

After Ouachita challenge, I was sick. I drank less than 4 bottles, and maybe one honeystinger gel during the entire 4 hour race. I ate a good breakfast, but didn't eat much after. I felt like crap. No, I felt like smelly, gooey, fresh, asstastic crap. I took most of the week to recover, and did no kind of excersize. I ran on Thursday(hint hint, MARK!), and did some easy spin classes on Friday. I was feeling better after the run, and almost 100 percent on Fridays spin classes.
Then my weekend started. I got off work, and had a softball game, the season opener.
It was rad, we won, and I didn't have to use my athletic ability too much, as I had a race the next day. We drove 4 hours that night to get to Daves lakehouse, and while taking the long detour in north Austin, after making GREAT time, we were delighted to see 10 minutes of fireworks straight ahead of us on a flat and straight road. Then we were abruptly stopped due to an opening day game for a minor league team.
Fast night, wake up early, hardly any sleep, and jumped in Daves big van. We got to the race on Shaun time, and got things ready. I raced with speedy Jason. Dave and Leslie did their thing.
It went like this: 3mile run and easy nav/ 5 mile paddle and 1 mile run with boat and hole in boat/ 10 mile bike with around 1 mile run or hike section cyclocross style/ 7 mile run with hard nav and another 1 mile run with zig zagging around cactus and sharp things, and a 200 meter swim.
Leslie was killing it the first run, and forced me to man up and not get dropped by her.
Jason was Jason on the paddle, with the Shaun coming out in me to tell him how to get it together in the boat. We Titanic'd the Futura on a tree limb that wasn't seen above the water, and hit a foot long gouge in the hull. Luckily it was after we got all the points, and we were at a point were we could portage.
The bike was rough. Jason hit a tree again, and was trying so hard to go fast. I took it easy and it felt like a walk in the park, sans the park. Getting lost was easy to do, and seemed to happen the more I got to the front.
The last run/nav was on me, I took the map, and we had a 2 minute lead over Dave and Leslie. I didn't even use a compass, and hit every point. I must say, I get by with a little help from my friends. Thanks Marty the 5th beatle for walking the ropes with me. The last point was accross this big cove. And it was walking at least another 1km in some bushy, cactus filled, vine encrusted region that would surely take about 12 minutes to navigate. OR cut accross and swim 200 meters , about 5 minutes and a good break from running, hoping, dodging, dipping, and flailing around.
We ate cake, thanks to TooCoolRacing and Robin and Art for a great series.

Then came Sundays PSE mtb race at Reimers ranch. It was flat, with lots of rock sections. I had envisioned myself doing something different and going HARD. With a new crankset via Dave's shop, I was able to keep the big ring the whole race! SWEET!
We line up, about 20 of us. The gun goes, and I'm 8th. A guy stops right before the Single Track, and I'm 7th. And finally warmed up.
Fawley flats, so I'm like 6th. Then I pass Noel "the monster"Reuter and I'm into 5th. Well 4th really. Then Matt"flash"Gordon passes me, and I'm in 5th.
The train is made, RayHall, BillyKurtz,ScottHenry,ME,MattGordon.
I try to get the HARD into the race, and try to pass Scott, and we talk about having to call out a pass. Damn, last time I did that at Hville, I got screwed. Whatever, I'm sorry.
The race goes with the first lap settling in. I can do this all day. Even though I screw up every technical section and cyclocross a few others. Lap two is the same, just faster, I might be able to do this all day with some energy. I'm hanging in there. I eat a gel, and drink some water....I dont' want to feel sick again(which BTW, I think was a virus, not just being dehydrated)
The end of lap 2, Billy gets on the front, and is drilling it. I'm still comfortable, but SHOULD've moved up past Scott here. Mistake one.
Through the technical section, Billy and Ray get a 10 second gap on the rest. Scott is on the front trying to bring it back. I take a feed, and get another Honeystinger gel in the mouth. And here is when Matt goes around us. I feel 15 seconds at this point is makeupable. And continue with getting the gel down with water, so I can stop breathing out of my defunct nose. Mistake two.
The gap soon opens up to around 30 seconds, and I'm stuck in Single Track. A short climb later, and I get around Scott. I start going faster. Pushing nice gears, and a straight chainline. I'm feeling good....but my mistakes have gotten out of control.
I ride the rest, feeling faster and stronger than I should. Ended up 4th. If that gap was 10 seconds, even 20 seconds, I could've closed it. out of sight, out of mind got me here, they just got to far away.....luckyyyyy.
Oh, the superfly is cracked during these races, on the downtube....Noel style

FOR SALE: 2008 58cm Cannondale Six13 Frame
If you need the parts and wheels too, I think we can work it out.

I'm needing money to start a new sport. Rollerblading. I have the outfit. The helmet. I just need some skates, and my old hockey skates I used when I was 12 years old mysteriously disappeared over the years. And the cheap pair Jason got me at wal-mart last year was disingrated in the first ride. Ride? That doesn't sound right. The first roll? The first skate? Or would it be skute?

I finally ran this morning. 8 miles. 1 hour. I think I ran around 8mph average.
I haven't ridden all week, but I'll have to spin classes on Friday that will get taken care of direct.
I'll also get in a good full body workout in an adventure race at Inks lake on Saturday.
Then a go fast motorpacing session, sans motor, at Reimers Ranch. I hope my bike holds up to the poundings I put on it....poor Noel is too strong for his bike, and split it down the middle! Some monsters just aren't cut out for riding.
Lets see if Jason finishes this race in 1st. I'm saying his legs will. Now if his bike holds up, and he stays upright.

http://www.ouachitachallenge.com/course/images/big_racemap08.jpg

Did the Ouachita Challenge, 60 mile loop. Well, it was condensed to a 54 mile route, due to all the rain and flooding of a river.
Dave, Carlos, Shaun, Leslie, Patti, and Bonnie(and myself) all competed in the 60 mile race, and Magan did the duty of feeding us all.

It started off on some miles of road. Easy. I sat top 5 most of the time, and on the first steep gravel road, I got a gap by just riding my pace. I knew I had legs then, so I just needed to not screw it up by doing something stupid.
So, the first thing I do is almost get in a wreck, with the Trek guy who braked to get in the trail that nobody knew was there. I literitly T-Boned this guy because of a late brake action from about 30 guys in the lead.
Dave was up there, riding strong. And I went from 5th, passed Dave, to 4th. Guy had a mechanical and moved to 3rd. Then the guy leading missed a shift, and broke a spoke, which let Trek guy get a 20 second gap, and held me behind him. A couple of miles later, he pulled over because something wasn't working right, and I moved into 2nd.
2 guys were on my tail and I bridged up to the leader.
Perfect timing as we hit the bottom, and crossed a bunch of creeks, and was some flat trails. I noticed I was carrying much more speed with the Superfly that the Trek guys Fuel, and did a quick pass to take 1st. Around 15miles in I'd guess. I quickly built up a 20 second lead. Then had a PePe, and stopped to tighten my front skewer. But to my surprise, nobody caught me. So my lead was around 10 seconds(I'm estimating these, could be more, could be less). I pass a few 80 mile guys, and do some passes in the woods. I soon lose sight of the chase group.
Feed station number 1. I'm heading right, and Magan thankfully gets me to go left, for a quick feed and a 6 mile road section. 44X11 in a TT position and I make quick work like Fabian Cancellara, and can't even see the 5 man group behind(which Dave was apart of). So I knew I had a good lead.
I hit more trails, and was feeling good. Yada Yada Yada.
Then the back section, a LOOOOONG climb and some rocky sections, and I was hurting, walking, and zoning out. Did a big switchback loop, and I was almost at the top, and heard two guys about 300 meters down the mountain hitting some of the rock gardens. It was probably around 4-5minute lead as they'd have to not only climb that 300 meters, but also ride the loop around and ride the technical parts too. I got unzoned, and hit some gas.
I had no clue where I was and it felt like 50 miles already, so I kept saying right over this hill....ok, right over 'this' hill......no, well then it has to be right over THIS hill!
Then I saw a photographer, on foot. So I was kinda close. Then I hit feed station 4. Magan tells me I have about 15 miles to go, and I take my last water bottle. I ride the next section with some old Wink style flava. I shread the downhills, and used some skills that I used to throw out.
FINALLY, I pop out of the single track. Get my last zip tie tag. And the guy says, go down the gravel road for about 6 miles. And you'll stay to the left, and take the left on the highway, which will take you to the finish.

Now, if you check out the map this is the furthest left on the top, heading back towards the start finish. I'm about where the little biker dude is. So I ride. Thinking, 6 miles? Then a few more miles on pave? No worries, just ride, and you'll be there.
Well, check the map out again, and after the biker dude, you can see a split in the road, where the blue/yellow dots go right and another road goes left. I take the left. All the way to Brushy road, the next right. And then to a course marshel close to the red lightening bolt(to stop people from going down this way and cutting it short). He tells me which way would get me to the finish fastest, and I turn around.
I'm almost at Brushy creek road, and see Dave and another dude going the route I took. I tell them to turn around and we ride that Brushy Rd(which isn't part of the course) in the headwind all the way to the finish.
We came up from behind the finish and had to do a U Turn to 'finish'.
I got 3rd. Dave 4th. Carlos did good and did it in under 6 hours. Shaun flatted, and still finished with NO training. Leslie got 2nd. Patti got 3rd. Bonnie was still out when we left.

Now the guys who got 1st and 2nd, knew that I was 5 minutes up, and was asking what they'd get for 2nd/3rd. But were informed that they had won/2nd. The organizers knew something went wrong. We discussed and for a 2nd time this year was awarded a "co-1st". I know I could've won, and some guy asked Magan: "if he was lost why didn't he just turn around"....well DUH, I didn't know I went the wrong way! I guess next time I'll just stop at a point like that, wait on the next guys, and then outsprint them? Then I'd probably go the wrong way again, and get screwed because I waited.....ah, my life....what a shame.

Mulletmania!

More than likely, if you see a redneck....you see a mullet. And if you see a mullet, then you're probably going to see a guy with no shirt on. Most of the time these individuals are driving a truck of some sort. Usually an 80's style pickup. This guy proves my example:

While being a redneck doesn't apply just to the male species. Women too have succumed to the inevitible force that is Redneck, and either showing off what Male Rednecks oggle over, or waving a flag over bodyparts that don't need to be seen(unless of course you are a Male Redneck). The later subject can also be seen with the redneck weapons of choice...a beer and cigarrette in the same hand.

Even Rednecks are embarrised of tattoo's from a long night of drinking many moons ago. Here, this subject show's the hairstyle to cover a tattoo of kinds....by you guessed it, a MULLET!

No mullet talk can happen without a Redneck midget:

Now for those of you wanting to grow a mullet, which I highly discourage(unless you live in Europe, ride bikes REALLY fast, or you are of course....a Redneck), I'll throw in some hints and basic rules that you'll need.

1. Decide what kind of look you are trying to achieve. “Mullet” is a broad classification of a type of hairstyle - there are a number of sub-classifications.
Is most of your time spent in business meetings or meeting clients for lunch? Think about The Business Mullet.

Do you spend a lot of time at Wal-Mart? Is your drink of choice Bud Light? Consider the Mulletino.

The Mulhawk is a classic combination of the Mullet and the Mohawk. (as seen with the midget mullet).

2. Once you’ve decided on a “style” for your mullet, head to Wal-Mart or your local pub at 11 AM to see some mullets up close and personal. Get to know the style, because it’s not just a hairstyle, it’s a lifestyle.
3. While at Wal-Mart, pick up a few sleeveless t-shirts, or if you want, have a friend rip the sleeves off your t-shirt - this is best done while you’re still wearing it. Or get a wifebeater T shirt if weather permits.
4. Next, you’ll need a good pair of boots. Though you’ll be spending a lot more time barefoot, a pair of boots is going to come in handy for trips to Wal-Mart.
5. Buy an old junk Camaro to park in your driveway. Try to keep it under $600. Spend as many hours as possible drinking Bud Light with the Camaro’s hood up.
6. That’s really about it. Oh yeah, if you have short hair, begin your mullet by no longer cutting the hair on the back of your head as it grows out. This could take any where from 3 to 6 months to achieve the proper lengths. If your hair is longer - you lucky dog - grab a Bud Light and have your cousin cut the hair on the sides and top of the head short.

Of course, if you are more artistic, or have experience with a mullet already, you can create your own style of mulleting. For the newcomers, stick to the basic style mullets.
Now, if you do grow your mullet for Redneck reasons, know that riding a bicycle is off limits, and driving your pickup truck and throwing old beer cans at cyclists is kosher.

So get out there, and enjoy your mullet....no more sunburned necks, and you always have the party going on in the back!