Week #17 The Epic (90 mile) Helping Molly to a 4th place

The Epic 90 was an awesome race. April ended with racing 540 miles! After last weekend with Iowa Wind and Rock, my job was to help Molly for the entire day. My legs has seemed to recover very good but with Dirty Kanza coming up June 1st, I need to make sure I am ready.
The rain stopped about 30 minutes before we started off. Once we go going things started to warm up and it turned out to get a nice day. There was a little wind that we had to deal with, but nothing like Iowa.
Molly was sitting in 3rd for the first half of the race. Around mile 50 the bad luck set in. A huge nail punctured Molly's rear tire. The big problem was I couldn't get the nut off the valve stem to put a tube in. After about 20 minutes another rider stopped with a pliers and I was able to remove the nut. We were back on the road but a few women had now passed us. Once we got to the checkpoint around mile 62, we saw the 3rd place woman leave as we pulled into the checkpoint. Bad luck was to strike again a couple miles later. Just down the road, Molly got her second flat. This time we got things changed a little faster but this time the tire wouldn't go back on the rim very easy.
Unfortunately, we continued to chase but never saw the 3rd place woman. Molly came in 4th for the day on a very hilly course. With all the problems that happened, she had a great race. I was happy to block the wind and pull her up the hills all day.
I think it is fun to help out teammates like this. I felt really strong all day and that gives me some confidence going into the rest of the year. I am also thankful for Josh, Don and Kent for putting on a great event. The Epic is a world class event. The field was stacked with great riders, amazing (hard) course, and fully stocked checkpoints.

Week #16 Iowa Wind and Rock (340 miles of Iowa gravel bliss)

What an incredible weekend at Iowa Wind and Rock. I am still trying to go through everything that happened and it is going to be a bit longer until I process it. Definitely there are parts that I don't remember and some I probably want to forget.
I was happy to help my teammate Carrie Bax out for the event. My main goal for the race was to ride with her and support her. Unfortunately, Carrie was only able to complete 187 miles of the 340. I am really proud of the way she rode and pushing herself through some tough times out there.
Only 57 riders start on Saturday morning with 6 riders making the official time
cut. Myself and another rider finished the course after the cutoff time. I was happy with my bike setup but know a few changes for my next event like this. Yes, I am thinking about DKXL for next year.
Events like this make us understand our bodies better and to see how far we can push it. I know I thought alot about Joy during my time out there and the struggles that she went through. Watching someone go through terminal cancer totally changes how you look at life. I never really thought that I wouldn't finish on Sunday and I was fine with not making the time cutoff. I gave myself one effort at 60 miles to go since I was feeling good. About 20 miles later I knew it wasn't going to happen and that was ok.
I think this race and last year at DK are probably in my top 5 athletic achievements so far. I am so happy that I have been able to get back into shape and have success on the bike.

Week #15 Grinder Nationals 10th overall / 1st 50-54 Bizarre bird crash ruining my rear wheel!

Another great weekend in Lawrence, Kansas at the Grinder Nationals 100 miler. The race started out a little chilly, but nothing compared to last year, where is was probably the coldest ever race I have done (around 17 degrees at the start). We had a long neutral rollout on the levee. I was worried once we hit the hills the races would go full gas. Luckily everyone wanted to just keep it steady for many miles. Right after the first checkpoint, before 30 miles, we all took a nature break. The group picked up a few guys that were close behind. Once we got going again, still no big attacks up front. I kept right off the front pack as long as I could, but soon I was in the second pack. Nate Arnold worked with me for many miles. We could see the lead pack and my goal was to keep them in sight as long as I could. The other guy (Doug Steele) in my age group was behind, but I knew we had to keep pushing the pace. Once again the lead group decided to take a nature break and that was our chance to regroup with them. When we got going again, attacks started to happen. I was in the chase group with Louie Amelburu from Las Vegas and Carson Harrington from Tennessee. We worked together for a few miles when Nate Arnold caught back up to us. All of us worked well keeping the pace steady until the finish. I was happy to make the top 10 again and also win my age group. Kellar also got to help out with the awards again. She got a sweet backpack for helping. I was lucky enough to win a Lauf fork. Excited to get it mounted on the Boone.



On the drive home the weirdest thing happened. A bird (a very large one) hit my rear wheel, just destroying it. It hit so hard that it shook the car. Hopefully there won't be any damage to the frame. I have a new set of wheels that I will be using now for Iowa Wind and Rock.

Week #14 RRR Gravel Trash Time Trial

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Yesterday was the first race in the 2019 RRR Gravel Series. The TT was only 3 miles but straight into a stiff headwind. I was able to come away with the fastest on the course. The second part of the day was doing a little trash cleanup on the surrounding roads. Within just over an hour we collected 500+ pounds of trash. It is hard to believe how much stuff is just laying in the ditches. I can't understand why people think it is ok just to discard their trash along side the road.
The next three weeks are filled with races. First up is Grinder Nationals in Lawrence, then Iowa Wind & Rock, and finally The Epic. It is going to be hard but I think I am in fairly good shape right now. The big key is going to be getting recovered after each event. If we don't challenge ourselves, we won't get better.

Week #13 Spring might actually happen

As we get into April, things are going to have to warm up. I hope! It has been a long winter and the temps are starting to creep up a little. I got 5 hours in on Sunday and the gravel is drying out. There are still some soft patches and many spots of loose gravel that has been recently put down. Once it dries out the roads should be in really good shape for early summer. I started looking at the calendar and it is going to be a long year ahead. I tell myself that it is ok to take a random day off. The main goal is to race all year and not get hurt. April is going to be challenging with all the races and traveling. I know that I need to rest in order to perform well. I am also happy that the group rides are starting back up. It is nice to have the chance to ride with folks again. So far the year has been good. Just rolled over 3600 miles for the year. My goal is between 15,000 - 16,000 miles. I know that I am just a little bit behind, but there are some big mileage months ahead.