2009, what a year!

It is hard to believe that 2009 is coming to a close. That old saying is definately true, "the older you get, the faster the years go by." Here is a quick look back at just afew of the 2009 highlights.

The year began with a couple of group trips down to Oklahoma. The first trip took us to Roman Nose and the other to Lake Murray. Both of these trails are really sweet rides but Roman Nose is the real deal and has become a real favorite of mine. The race season kicked off in March with the "Hills of Hell" at Lawton, OK. That is always an enjoyable trip but it was abit dissapointing this year because the course had been shortened to about 8 miles. Fortunately is sounds like they will have this back to a 15 mile layout for 2010 and we are already gearing up for that ride. I competed in several of the "Tour De Dirt" Series races. Even though I only raced in 4 of these events, I was still able to accumulate enough points to finish 5th overall. In these four events, I took 2nd at "Roman Nose", 2nd at "Tour De Lizard", 1st and "Red Dirt" and 4th at "Lake McMurtry". Congrats to Marty Desmarteau for winning the class. I plan on making it to 7 or 8 of the 10 races in this series in 2010. The month of May had us cranking in the always tough "Wilson Fat Tire Race". This is an exciting 15 1/2 mile layout and brings out a big crowd which includes most of the top riders in Kansas. I was able to shave almost an hour off my time when compared to 2008. I have logged many miles on this loop in 2009 and find my self craving this trail almost weekly. Bob Nicholson does a fantastic job maintaining this trail and now has added even more singletrack and has increased this to a 17 mile loop. Rode the "Cramp Alexander" race in Emporia in July and took first in that great event. Linda and I teamed up to race "Cruise the Blues" in late August and we brought home first place. I was able to race in my first 24 hour event in October and was it ever a blast. Teamed up with Brandon Kuhn and did the "24 Hours of Moab". In addition to the race we were able to ride the ultimate trail, "Slickrock". That was a great experience and one that really gets your competative juices flowing. The "Chamber of Horrors" ride on November 1st on the Arkansas River here at Great Bend is a ride, not a race. But, it is 40 tough miles with some great riders and is a must event each year. The year ended with the always tough "Coronado's Challenge" at Lindsborg just before Thanksgiving. This gruling 4 hour race is a good benchmark to tell just how much I have progressed throughout the year. In 2008, I finished 3rd in my class and this year I was able to bring home a first place while completing 5 laps.

Those are the highlights of 2009 and yes indeed it was a great year. We are currently putting the finishing touches on the 2010 race schedule and I will post the details on that in the next week or so. It is shaping up to be an unbelievable list of challenging events and it definately helps to keep me focused and training hard.

Until next time, stay "Clipped In and Crankin".

Maybe we don't have it so bad

Doug and I talked about riding outside tonight but in the end we both agreed there was probably still to much snow on the trail and the dirt roads are pretty muddy. For those of us who love to ride mountain bikes, this time of year is difficult. Spending hours on a trainer is pure hell but it is a necessary evil if you want to keep your fitness level up. Tonight I was doing some blog surfing and ran across an interesting read. This guy is a mountain biker living in Alaska. Yes...I said Alaska! I guess maybe we don't have it so bad here in Kansas and perhaps I just need to suck it up and ride. Oh well, looks like the weather this weekend will be decent so hopefully I can get in a ride on the Arkansas River trail one day and a Lake Wilson ride the other day. So, next time you think it might be to bad outside to ride, just think about the guy in Alaska.

Here is the link to Bicycles and Icicles blog:
http://alaskabikeblog.blogspot.com

Until next time, stay "Clipped In and Crankin".

Blanket Race = Round #1

Perfect fall weather greeted a total of 24 racers at the first race of this years Blanket Series MTB race which was held on Sunday, Nov. 29th. The venue for the race was the Lake Barton trail located just north of Great Bend. The course layout isn't very technical but the tight twisty forest trail definitely keeps you on your toes. The race starts with a 1/4 mile all out sprint of wide open grassy trail and big sweeping turns. Once you drop into the 2 mile forest loop, there are only afew good spots to pass. So, the start of this particular race is critical. As expected, Doug Chambers jumped out to a quick start and had the lead as he entered the tight forest section of the trail. Hot on Doug's wheel were Jon Shank, Brad Smith and Dave Nily. I had a decent start and found myself crank to crank with Morgan Stevens. I was able to gain a slight edge and my momentum carried me past her just before we entered the forest section. As the racers wound their way through the first lap of the forest section, Doug had began to create some distance between himself and the other riders. I managed to work my way up to Gary Mick who was running in 7th place and after riding his wheel for several minutes I was able find a space to squeeze past him just before the climb up the dam. After scaling the dam,riding the crest and dropping back into the old lake bed, I picked up some decent speed and headed towards the half-way point of the race. I finished out the first lap and was about 1/4 of the way through my second lap when Steve Dutton caught me. I was abit surprised to see him since I am usually eating his dust. However, Steve had busted his seat mount during a pre-race lap so he had been nursing his saddle up to that point. Steve was content to let me set the pace until the half way point of the second forest lap and I sensed he was ready to make a move so I eased over and he accelerated past me. Steve was able to create good space between the two of us and as we exited the forest and began the 1/4 mile cruise back to the finish line I had hoped to close the gap. However, he had no intention of that happening and was able to maintain a comfortable buffer between us. Crossing the finish line, I found myself in 8th place and I was happy with that considering how talented the seven riders ahead of me are.

Here is a final run down of where everyone finished and their race times:
1) Doug Chambers/20:45, 2) Jon Shank/21:05, 3) Brad Smith/21:24, 4) Dave Nily/21:36, 5) Jeff Stevens/21:51, 6) Brandon Kuhn/21:57, 7) Steve Dutton/ 22:08, 8) Mike Johnson/22:22, 9) Gary Mick/23:35, 10) Morgan Stevens/23:42, 11) Bob Nicholson/24:10, 12) Dodge Nily/24:43, 13) Alex Moyers/24:45, 14) Mark Flynn/25:00, 15) Ron Leiker/25:12, 16) Jim Lemen/25:13, 17) Wes Miller/25:28, 18) Danny Reimer/25:29, 19) Brian Holdsworth/25:43, 20) Austin Jacobs/26:15, 21) Paul Jacobs/26:36, 22) Ernie Garza/30:31, 23) Joni Stuckey/30:33, 24) Emma Flynn/31:58

Race #2 was to be held this past weekend at Coronado Heights near Lindsborg. However, the large amount of snow and ice reduced this race to pretty much just a ride and only a very limited number of participants was on hand.

Race #3 will be held at Lake Wilson on Jan, 17 with race #4 being held at the East Loop of the Ark River trail at Great Bend on Jan. 31.

Until next time, stay "Clipped In and Crankin".

Kicking this thing off

Well...after reading and following the numerous blogs of my fellow bikers. I have decided to join in the blogging fun. So, here it is, "Clipped In and Crankin" is born. I will do my best to post weekly and more often if possible.

This blog won't be just about me. It will also be about the numerous riders from the Great Bend, KS area. It is amazing how many great riders we have from this area considering we only have a population of about 15,000 people. Obviously Doug Chambers has had a huge influence on getting people around here on a bike. Besides Doug, other top notch riders from this area include; Steve Dutton, Jon Shank, Dave Nily, Jeff Stevens and Morgan Stevens. In the 2 short years I have been riding I owe alot of my improvement to this group. When you ride with these guys you either get better or you just quit riding. Fortunately I have gotten better and I am always looking forward to the next ride.

I will never forget my first group MTB ride. My wife Linda had been riding for several months and I decided to see what it was all about. We loaded up the bikes and headed to our local bike shop, Golden Belt Bicycle, for one of the Thursday night group rides. We ended up riding the local Lake Barton trail which is a pretty mellow trail but for a first timer it was a challenge. After 2 laps and 5 miles of dancing with trees, bouncing over rocks, spinning over roots and one end-o, I was done. I mean really done! I was bleeding, hurting, pissed and confused as to why anyone would want to do something like this. In fact, I even commented to Linda that this was BS and I would not be doing that again. Well 2 1/2 years later and I am hooked. This years hectic event schedule included "Hills of Hell", "Wilson Fat Tire", "Cramp Alexander", "Cruise the Blues", 4 races in the "Tour De Dirt Series", "Tour De Lizard", Coronado's Challenge" and the big one, the "24 Hours of Moab". What a great year it was and I am having the time of my life.

So there you have it, my first blog post and we are off and running. I will post up again in afew days. Until then, stay "Clipped In and Crankin".