Cohutta 100 and 35er

Our camera was not working, so these are pictures from a kind soul, Ronnie Fields.

Wow, what a crazy, muddy, but fun race!

I was lucky, as my bike shifted as well as can be expected in the mud. I was only out a few gears and have had enough chain suck in the past to know that I was incredibly lucky to be able to pedal. That kept me smiling the whole way. I noticed that my front tire would not hold air the day before the race and Shey and I decided not to risk replacing the stans with no air compressor. So, I took a Co2 cartridge with me to add air as needed. That worked well.

This a fun, fast and beautiful course. Good stuff all around.

Suzie broke her ankle, so I wanted to hammer to find a volunteer to give them detailed directions to her. I didn't want to take the time to add air, then, so I made it through the first few muddy downhills with a squishy tire, but reinflated before any major decents, after that. Gave quick directions to 3 different volunteers to make sure she would be found asap and I'm sure 20 other riders did the same.

Jansen and Everett had a very fun and fast race. I didn't see them laying on the side of the trail during my ride, so I knew all was well. Bruce eventually got Jansen's name and age right at the start, so he was smiling, too. (Jansen, not Everett and he just turned 13) Everett hit hard on a bridge, so he wasn't smiling quite as much. Shey NEVER smiles.........

All four of us had a ton of fun and Jansen won some pretty cool prizes.

While I was scoring, I heard this incredible noise in the distance and I said, " I bet Aimee is coming in" and, sure enough, she was making her way across the bridge. I am soooo proud of her. She had another amazing race! Very cool!

Kate had a major mechanical which left her on the side of the trail with a sad look as she tugged at her chain. She got it moving and finished the race in a darn good position!

I wasn't sure if we could use ipods so I took mine off, which left me talking to myself for most of the race. I'm sure the guys around me thought I was totally crazy, but what's new? I sang each time I had to add air to my front tire. I chose an Avril song, which is quite poppy. It made me calm down so I wouldn't loose too much time from fumbling around with the CO2 cartridge.

The food was great. The tshirts, hats and mugs were great. The trail and foliage were great. The volunteers were awesome this year. They were very clear with directions as I came through. (last year, there were a couple times that I wasn't sure if I was still on the race course or not)

And you guys....our cabin was AWESOME!!! It makes it feel so weird to drive back into Atl and all the noise and buildings, because the cabins and homes are tucked into the moutains, where it is so peaceful.

A big thanks to my buddies for coming over to hang out for a bit and keep me company after their races. They are so understanding and would only talk when racers were not coming in. I've got the coolest group of buds and family around, for sure! It was very cool to have so many friends in one place this weekend.

Big, big thanks to J and E for all their help after their race. I know you guys were tired and you are always volunteering to help whenever needed. It's always cool to hang with my boys!

Kari

Columbus GSC Race

The weather was AWESOME!!! Couldn't ask for better!

Shey (pro/semi-pro), Jansen (sport 19-29) and I (expert women 0-199) raced xc this weekend, while Everett worked the feed zone and helped the Bergers score the race. (yep, he broke his xc bike AGAIN!)

Crazy morning, as usual. So, Shey decides that we need a CIRCUS TENT to create shade for all the young racers. He said there was no problem bringing it, because we would just strap it to the top of the car......yep, it screamed on the highway!! So, we pull over twice and he ends up putting it in the car. Two adults, two teenagers, two 70 lb dogs all our gear and food and a big/huge/gigantic canopy right in the middle. Right-O and we're on our merry way.

The trail was perfect with just the right tackiness to keep the dust down. The course is flat with tons of tight stuff like Pig Trail, so you have to have your mojo goin' on or you clip trees like crazy!

Shey got to mix it up with two Canadians and Jansen had 15 guys in his field. This was his first race in the 19-29 sport age group, so he was anxious to see how he would do. 3 out of 6 of the ladies were Sorellas in the expert field. Shey was talking to the devo juniors and didn't get in a warm-up, but Jansen and I got to hit the dirt road for a few minutes before line-up.

We started off by heading into a field which gave the ladies time to sort places out before heading into the single track. This was much better than the dash for the woods in the past couple years.

The young guys come up first and their adrenaline is pumping, the middle aged ladies chuckle.... Then I hear "hey Mom!" as Jansen flies by. Very cool!

I stay at a moderate pace, since this has been a crazy year and I haven't put the miles on my mtb that I had hoped for. I think, "remember, you have 30 miles to do and you don't want to be crawling those last 10!"

I come through the feed zone and my older son is there with my bottle, damn...I totally forgot to drink...very unlike me. So, I gulp what I can and take a new bottle.

After the feed there is a fun, flat, twisty section. This has always been my weakness. I can't turn, but I've been working on it and I didn't screech to a halt as often as I have in the past. (Shey's buddy was making fun of him through these sections......let's just say that Shey is a shifter....)

Funny second lap story: There is a guy out there in mesh basketball shorts and a cycling jersey. Very nice guy. I see him in the twisty area at the end of the course and I call out "passing on your left" he says "okay" and moves to the left and hits the brakes. (yes, when you are tired, you hear and think all sorts of weird things and we have all moved to the wrong side before) If was a fast section and I hit him pretty hard, tire to tire, and I go flying over the handle bars. The funny part is that I land right in a pile of leave with my mouth WIDE OPEN. I jump up and spit out leaves which are in my mouth, up my nose, stuck to my chin, etc. I wish there was a video! I jump back on my bike and the guy immediately apologizes. It obviously was an accident and not intentional and I tell him it's not big deal and laugh as I spit out more leaves. Then, I take off.

Well, I come across this guys AGAIN in the field. (yes, I just left him in the woods, but he appears again) I start laughing and I say, "Okay, it's me again and this time I'LL GO THE THE LEFT AND YOU STAY ON THE RIGHT AND WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T HIT YOUR BRAKES.....he starts laughing and says Okay." I tell him he's doing great out there and I head out for my third lap.

Nothing eventful in the last lap. I was just happy to be done and I was STARVING!

Jansen had a very exciting race and sprinted to the finish with his buddy Luke. Those two took first and second which was really neat, after their battles last year in the junior category. Their race is always exciting to watch and I hated to miss it.

Everett has been a great help during the dirt races that he decides to volunteer instead of race.

Though he is a road and cross racer, he still hits the dirt with us every week and he's a ton of fun to ride with.

It's good to be out there again and the day could not have been better. I took the dogs for a walk and they played in the lake for awhile. We all got to visit with our friends before packing up for the 2.5 hour drive home.

Cohutta is next!

Kari L.

Jansen's B-day!!!

Yep, he is officially a teenager. Jansen turned 13 this month! After our road race, we booked it home to clean up before his buddy Danny arrived.

After they hung out for a bit, we headed to Mad Cactus for burritos. Then, at home, we ate this awesome cake from Southern Sweets...who makes the BEST cakes, ever! Of course, they shot each other silly with water guns and stayed up late doing those obviously necessary things, like watching X-Files.

In the morning it was pancakes and the candy rain! We were sorely disappointed that Danny actually remembered his umbrella this year. We had grown accustomed to seeing him in our super cool Shamu poncho from Sea World. This is the fate of anyone who does not remember his umbrella for our candy rain.

As the guys get older the "candy" turns into cool airplanes, money and other items that could cause a concussion. Still, they turn their umbrellas upside down to catch the most loot, at the risk of getting beaned in the head. Smart guys these are!

HAPPY 13TH !!

Gainesville Road Race

The boys and I all race the Gainesville Road Race on April 5th.

This is a GA Cup race, so the course was not marked well, the results were not posted for protest and the results were wrong. Typical of this series. Many racers missed turns, which put guys leading the pack....chasing the pack, instead.

Everett's lead car led them off the course and they ended up on a highway where they had to pull over in a parking lot in the cold rain and wait for another car to come find them and take them back to the course. I will say that these juniors handled this with grace. No complaints or anger, dispite their disappointment, again, in this series.

Here is Jansen's race report:


Last Saturday was the Georgia Cup, Gainesville race. It was the first road race I’ve ever done. (I’ve raced xc for three and a half years) So, I raced the juniors eleven to fourteen category. At the start line, I looked at the competition. The category consisted of mainly Frazier Cycling juniors with a wide range of ages and abilities, one guy who was even taller than me, my teammate Sean and me. The tall guy had a sweet steel lugged Colnago!

When the race was off we started in a slow moving mass of blue and white. After a while, three guys ended up at the front. Tall Colnago kid, Sean and me. In that order. As the race went on riders kept popping off the back, until, after a long hill, I looked back and no one was there.

We rode the rest of the fifteen miles in a breakaway pack of three. Sean and I tried to pass the Colnago guy, but he would have none of it, so the three of us came down the final stretch together. Sean pulled away with me right on his wheel. Then, I moved around for the sprint and we came in first and second. Very cool.

The awards were very frustrating because they didn’t post the results for a protest period. Then when they were posted they were wrong. We did get our medals...eventually, after standing around in the cold for 45 minutes, but the results on-line are still wrong and my name is nowhere to be found.

I had lots of fun and got to see friends and teammates that I don’t usually get to see, since I’m a mountain biker.

Conte's Grand Opening

Hey, Hey! We have a very cool bike store in town, now! It's on hwy 138, on the way to the International Horse Park trails.

Three 'tri' guys own the shop and are extremely nice guys. Brian is in there all the time and Brent and Trent hit the shop any time they can.

They are part of the Conte's bike shop chain and have over 300 bikes in the shop, including, Litespeed, Quintana Roo, Specialized, Electra, and Giant. These bikes run from fun, low-end, starter bikes, to 'oh, that costs more than my car' bikes.

Jansen has been fortunate enough to be able to volunteer his services a couple days a week. We really like the new mechanic that they have hired, who is moving from Virginia. Eric has already taught Jansen some great mechanics tricks.

Good luck to these guys. They are already busy with customers!

Kari

ING Marathon 2008

Ah, now that we have taken our nap, I can tell you about the GREAT day we had!



Today was the ING Marathon and we were fortunate enough to be able to ride safety for an amazing group of wheelchair racers.

The boys and I pre-rode the route yesterday, and I'm so glad we did, since we got lost a couple times. It really helped to know the turns and any bumpy roads, pot holes, sharp turns, etc. I wish I had taken pictures on the pre-ride because this route was beautiful. It takes you all over Atlanta and you go by some amazing old homes and parks. (and a Ben and Jerry's)

It was pretty cold this morning, but the rain stopped just in time for the 6:55am race time. We left the house at 4:30am and it was in the low 40's. It never warmed up, but it got a bit windy.

Our cyclists lined up by the curb and took off with the wheelers as they came by. These athletes were truly an amazing group. The boys rode with the first and second place female racers and one of them was from Australia. I rode most of the way with a very friendly guy from Marietta. He loved the downhills and detested the climbing. His rhythm was great, though, and he pulled all those hills so that he could cruise right on down the other side.

Lots of flats for the wheelers today. Probably due to the amount of broken glass that was on the street from the tornado that hit the area a couple weeks ago. I couldn't see it, but I'm sure there were slivers along the start.

Huge shout out to Kindle! This girlie just started riding the Sorella Stone Mountain rides like 8 weeks ago and was out there today mixing it up! She grows stronger with each ride and was a great asset to the wheelchair racers today. (I'm not just saying that because she brought me a bottle of wine last night...really :>)

Leslie Shapiro heads up this whole volunteer group and does an awesome job each year. She is our lead volunteer Sorella and a wonderful member of the board, as well. We couldn't do it without her.

We got the chance to hang out with Mattie today, too. Cool, even though he didn't bring us any BBQ or hamburgers or anything!

We are really looking forward to next year and hope the weather is a bit more agreeable.

Kari

Fulton Flyer Devo Team Dinner 2008

Saturday night (after the chilly junior clinic) we had the Fulton Flyer Devo Team dinner.

It was really great to see the whole group together and the amount of talent that these young men and women bring to the table is pretty amazing.

(I promise to try Jafer's pasta next year.)

I am thinking of making special tshirts for the U23 men.

Thomas - Mr. Lethargic (look it up)

Oscar - Check out my hair

Jafer - I'm in Control - back- Yes, I am, dammit

Joey - How did I get talked into this? or perhaps - Don't let the kit fool you, I've never seen these guys before in my life.

This is a very strong group of women. If it were not for Rose and Alex, I would be riding with men ALL the time!

The old guys...I mean Masters.

Kari L.

Junior Race Clinic March 8, 2008

The four of us had the opportunity to meet some very cool young men this past weekend.


We held a race clinic for junior racers who have competed in the past and want to improve their technical skills.

Five young men came out in the very cold weather. Snow flurries were blowing around early in the morning and the wind across the field was incredibly strong.





These guys were TOUGH with a capital "T" for coming out and braving the cold. (I'm sure their parents wanted to stay in bed where it was warm.)




We were the ONLY crazy people out at the Horse Park in the morning!



All these riders showed great skill and it was a ton of fun to work with them.



Thanks to all who came out to ride and learn!


We will have another junior clinic for first time racers and one or beginner riders. So, watch for the flyers.



Kari L.

D.C. on Sunday

We had a great dirt ride on Saturday and our Sunday ride had been canceled with a good chance of rain.

So, the boys and I decided to head to Washington D.C. for the day. They are my favorite traveling buddies. They don't read EVERYTHING in the museum and they cruise through at just the right pace! Love it!

Tons of fun!

We took the metro to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Air and Space and then walked through the Holocaust Museum.

Next time we'll look up Sam, Jennifer and Javuan for lunch! (I didn't realize Sam was RIGHT IN the city)

February Weekends

One of Everett's pieces..........

The schedule looks something like this:

Saturday - Shey goes for a long xc ride. The boys and I sleep in, but that's a secret.

The three of us head out later in the morning for our xc ride somewhere local with friends. Yargo was a ton of fun last week! Love the new section! Any added length is much appreciated. The boys spend the rest of the afternoon building electronics, blacksmithing, reworking their rc car track, shooting large rocks from their homemade catapult, digging to china, etc

Sunday - I ride xc while the boys hike or ride for fun. Then we head to Stone Mountain for their training ride on the road. Clean up a little and head to evening mass. Our favorite mass buddy is Aimee, although she can be a bit disruptive. (we pick up a little more excercise with the kneeling/standing thing....he-he)

Kari

Thomson Day Festival 2008 Ronnie Thomson Remembered

PHOTOS BY CARL MESTA.....THANKS!!!!!

My family decided to hit the Thomson Day Festival this year, since they have been so incredibly supportive of our cycling community for so many years. Saturday was pretty cold and we knew it would rain, so we slept in a little later...love staying in my warm spot!


We got to the festival at about 10:30 and the 420 race started at 11:00am. So, we registered for the festival, race and renewed our subscription to Dirt Rag magazine. This left us with 10 minutes to change. Well, we weren't in the Hippie Van, and it took way more than 10 minutes for the four of us to knock elbows and finally get on all the layers of clothing that we needed to stay half-way warm.


All four of us missed the start of the race, but it was for 4 hours and 20 minutes, so we figured we could make up some time. Shey started first, then J and E about 10 minutes after him, then I was about 5 or 10 minutes after that.

It was pouring rain and very, very cold. The trail was SUPER cool. Very flat, but with lots of fun turns and twists, so sliding through those in the mud was very exciting. Of course my brakes started to become weak about half-way through the first lap and there were enough rutted and muddy downhills to make that a bit scary. I adjusted the brakes, but still they were not working so well. I completely expected this as I've raced so many muddy races, where you end up with your feet as your brakes. Well, I finally realized I had had a total BRAIN FART and was adjusting them the wrong way, so mid-way into my second lap I corrected them and wahlah....my brakes are back!! (this was after I slid a good ways through the forest after blowing the turn and finally bailed off the side of the bike to stop. Of course, this was VERY entertaining to the guy behind me!)


The feeling in my feet would come and go. They would go numb after the creek crossing, then would come back a bit on the climbs. As long as I kept moving, I was fine. It was funny to listen to the grown men grumble about the trail, their brakes, the rain......man, we are outside!! What could be better! I would take that over fluorescent lights in an office ANY DAY!!!!!





Shey lapped me twice and laughed at me the second time, because he couldn't believe I was still out there. Jansen also lapped me once and he was having a great time and was in a very good mood. Everett was waiting for me after the first lap, with a "you've got to be crazy to think this is fun" look on his face and he headed to the car to warm up.



The bridge washed away by the fourth lap and was laying sideways further down the creek. I put my bike on my shoulder and jumped onto it, then to some wood that was only a couple inches under the water, then on to the shore. Numb feet for 15 minutes after that little ballet number, each time!!!

The voluteers RAWKED and screamed every time we came through. All the ladies out there did a great job of playing in the mud and riding their best. I was very impressed with them all!


So, for our family entry fee we got: four Thomson certificates, key chains, Firehouse sub sandwich packs for lunch, yummy spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and cheesecake for dinner, and sweetwater and Nike shirts. When we subscribed to Dirt Rag we got brake cables, too.



Pretty good swag! Now, hopefully that will all cover new brake pads we have to buy....I'm off to wash the mud out of our spandex......





Kari L.

Tour de Felasco

The family headed down to Florida for some warm weather over the weekend. We arrived late on Friday and woke up to rain Saturday morning, oh well a little water never hurt when its warm out. The small stream under the tent was a slight problem and put us a little late for the Tour de Felasco. No matter, no rush, no race.

The ride was highly recomended by a few folks and we all had a great time. Very fun trails and a great place to spend doing some base.

Lifes not worth living if you can't pull down your pants and slide on the ice!

SSWC 2008 here I come

Going to Napa California in August, taking the Carver with me!

Why Is Kansas City in Missouri?

Well, we recently got back from the strangly named Kansas city. We went to the nationals cyclocross race. I didn't race, (been slacking off this season) but Jansen did. For his race, (which was on Friday) the thick mud left over from the previous day had frozen into concrete-hard icy ruts. In a nutshell, it was nearly impossible to ride the stuff, but Jansen managed. He placed 16th, I think. Lesson learned: When it comes to icy ruts, use mountain bike wheels. You can glide right over the slats, while other racers with thinner wheels will slide into them, impeding speed. The next day (Saturday) it snowed. Probrably the first snowstorm i've ever been in. I loved it. Lots of snow to goof off in. Most of the other people sharing our tent (Dan, Daryle,Oscar, etc.) went out and raced on this day. The course was very slick due to ice and snow, as well as the unfortunatly re-churned gloppy mud. As the day came to a end, Jansen and I managed to convince Jim and Adam to have a snowball fight. This reseulted in Jim and Adam tackling each other, as well as Jansen and me. We didn't get a movie of the ensuing ludicraty, but we did get several photos, which I am sure will make way onto the blog at some time or another. Afterwards, we left for the hotel, swam a bit in the lovly heated pool, then got up at 4:30 and flew home. It was quite a ... interesting experience. I really did like the snow, 'specially since we never get it around here.