Short But Sweet Race Report 11/22/08:

This should've been called Short But Painful. This was my first time I raced on a track built for motocross racing and this was actually the first time the race track was being used for a mountain bike race a la BMX style.

I had gone out Thursday night for a practice run at the D-Tronics MX Park in Donna, (http://www.dtronicsmxpark.com/)my first time out there and my first time out on my mountain bike in a long time. After one lap I was beat. The Monitor, the local newspaper had shown up to do a story on the upcoming race and the mountain bike club and to take photographs. (http://www.themonitor.com/articles/mountain_20169___article.html/donna_org.html)
My bike got a flat on my fourth lap. I walked the bike out to the bleachers, walked over to the concession stand and got myself a beer.

I arrived Saturday evening and registered for the big boy category, otherwise known as the clydesdale category, meant for participants weighing above 200 lbs. Only three had registered for the clyde category. Originally it was only going to be a 10 minute race but since we had only three people in our category, they threw us in with the sport category and now had an additional five minutes added to the race.

It was a mass start and I was right in the middle after the race had begun. I was right with the pack until I got stuck behind a slower rider and could not get around him. By the time I got around him, mostly everybody had passed the both of us. I finally got around the slower rider and huffed and puffed my way down and up the track.

The motocross track is impressive. It is approximately half a mile in length with twists and turns and berms and hills. It was cool racing at night under the big bright lights with music blaring from the speakers and spectators rooting for everybody.

The only thing I heard was my gasping for air and my heart thumping. Midway through my fourth lap I felt as if my heart was going to explode and my tar stained lungs collapse. Just as I was about to call it quits upon completing that lap, the race officials told me the race was over. Those fifteen minutes could not have come sooner. I was relieved it was over, as were my heart and lungs. It may have been short, but it was anything but sweet. Either way I at least was better than somebody else that night. I got second place in the clyde category. Did I mention it was kind of chilly that night? Mikeytoe, first place in the clyde category is to the left of me. The rider who won third place had left before the awards ceremony. Picture taken from missiontrails.org website.

Tour das Hugel Ride Report 11/15/08:

I was greeted by a chilling cold front, howling wind, and Devil as I rolled into Austin friday night. Not having seen Devil in a while I stayed up longer than I should've talking about about good times sounding like a broken record reliving the past. I finally got some shuteye at about 2am. It was a cold cold night. I had trouble sleeping because I was so cold and kept questioning myself if I should do the ride or not.

Joshua called at 6.30am. He was already airing up his tires at Zilker as I was driving west on Parmer. I got on Mopac and arrived at the park as they were handing out the maps for the first loop before heading out. Joshua and Melissa met up with me while I was getting ready and we were soon off.

The first couple of hills weren't that bad at all. Nothing like the climbs at Garner. Or so I thought. We later encountered roads that looked more like walls than roads at all. Some I could do, some I couldn't. I tried the zig-zag approach on some but gravity proved to powerful as it quickly brought me back down again. The winds and cold weather didn't help much either. Joshua easily sailed up the climbs while I huffed and puffed all that I could feeling like my heart was going to explode. We quickly lost sight of Melissa as we headed down a wrong turn. We tried to catch up to her by turning on a side street and going the opposite way on the right path but were unsuccesful in finding her.

The best part of going up was knowing that a nice downhill was sure to follow. And there were plenty. Joshua says I am brake happy but I believe I am life happy. Going 40mph down hairpin turns is plenty for me but not for Joshua as he would pass me catching up to cars, drafting behind them until they either sped away or it was time to attack another climb.

By the time we reached the second rest stop I was about to call Devil to come pick me up. My speedometer read 32 miles and I was happy with that. Joshua convinced me to at least finish the first loop and after a couple of PBJ sandwiches we were off again. It was here where we also learned that Melissa had bailed out earlier.

A couple of miles later we were headed down the Capital of Texas Highway and looking to turn on Westbank to lead us back to the park. We were looking for that road and for any orange arrows indicating the turn like the ones we had seen throughout the ride but did not see any. We hammered on and pretty soon found ourselves at the intersection with Mopac. We had missed our turn but rather than turning around we went south on the Mopac. First off we should've gone north, second of all, we were riding our bikes on the freeway!

Thoughts of a news reporter broadcasting live saying something like two cyclists from out of town participating in the Tour das Hugel got lost and ended up on Loop 1 where a driver slammed into them from behind killing both of them kept playing through my mind. Luckily that section had a nice wide shoulder and we made it to the next exit a couple of hundred feet later.

We found out that we were riding south instead of north like we should've been. The only other option would be to ride back on the freeway again but the northbound section had no shoulder as it was the exit for 360. Joshua said, "we'll just have to chuck it". Riding on the freeway with a wide enough shoulder was bad enough but now you have cars exiting the freeway doing 60. "Thats just asking for trouble", I told him. "I'll let you go in front", was his response. Thoughts of the news reporter chimed in again except this time the possibility of that happening was greater. I was thinking maybe I could just call Devil to come get me, I would go back to the park, come back and get Joshua. I had held Joshua back this whole time but this time he wasn't letting me.

Joshua clipped in and took off down Mopac. I rode up the overpass to try and get a picture of him riding down the freeway but by the time I got up there he was no longer to be seen. Any minute now he would appear below me or so I thought. Where the hell is he? I waited and waited but nothing. Maybe he got a flat. I rode back down but did not see him at all. I rode back up and nothing. There was no way he could've ridden that section of the freeway in that short of time. Or so I thought but a couple of minutes later I get a call saying he is already at the park loading up his bike. It took him longer to come pick me up in his truck than it did to go to the park on his bike. We load up my bike and I get in the truck, cold, sweaty, relieved, and even though I didn't finish the whole tour or the first loop for that matter because we got lost, hell we actually did more than the first loop come to think of it, I felt good at what I had done. I finished up at 43.38 miles in 4 hours and 4 minutes with a 10.6mph average.

Unlimited Sport Adventure 3rd Mountain Bike Race Report 11/9/08:

I did the first one back in September. Missed the second one. I payed for the whole series. I wanted to participate in the last one.

The last time I rode my mountain bike was the time I rode with Joel. Already more than a month ago. Since then I had taken off my clipless pedals because I had lost the screws to my cleats and had messed up my shoe trying to use some other screws I purchased at the hardware store. Rather than going to the bike shop and just getting a pair of replacement cleats like I did the other day, I put the platform pedals back on. At the time I thought I had put them on correctly but did not find out till race day that I put them on wrong.

Lined up with the rest of the racers in my category, I was ready. I was happy to be back on a mountain bike. 5,4,3,2,1,Go! Off we went down the unpaved parking lot, turn, onto the sidewalk where its straight for a good 400 feet or so till we enter the Brownsville trails backwards. I am starting to breathe heavy, heart is pounding, but I'm feeling good. We enter the trails and are immediately met by switchbacks. It must've been the 3rd or 4th switchback when I hear a yelp as a rider goes down hard. In the corner of my eye I saw a neon green team kit. The same kit I should've worn that day if I had gotten up earlier that morning and looked for it. Out on the trails I always stop when I see or hear a rider in distress but this was a race. The show must go on. Ruben was there, camera in hand to help out if needed. I continued and so did the rest. My pedal started feeling weird. I thought to myself it was because I had grown accustomed to riding clipless. We exited that small section and were on our way down a bumpy straightaway along side the canal, and then it happened. On a small little climb the pedal had become so loose that making it proved to difficult and then the pedal fell. The walk of shame began. Luckily I wasn't too far from the staging area, unluckily I wasn't too far from the staging area. In total it was at most 1/4 mile I had raced. My first DNF ever. Very depressing. The rider who had fallen, Tony G from San Benito, came in 5 minutes after me. His fall messed up his rear derailer. We spent the rest of the race with Jaime and his boss's chocolate lab, Rocky, the Cactus Cruzer mascot. I'll see you next year Brownsville.

Riding with Monsters Ride Report 11/8/08

I arrived at Exxon on a chilly Saturday morning around 6:45. Rhonda was already there waiting comfortably. Miguel and Gustavo showed up a bit later. Four riders total this
Saturday morning. We took off west down Military at a nice pace of 17-20mph. We continued up Bryan to 495 where Rhonda broke away from our small group.

I knew that once she left that I was in for a world of hurt. Gustavo and Miguel quickly picked up the pace as we continued on our 30 mile non stop ride. I quickly learned that these people I was riding with were monsters. The wind had no chance against these monsters! Even though I tried to do my part and help pull, I soon found myself in the back trying to guess where and when we were going to pull over for a breather. Having never ridden this route there were many options. Would it be the watermill, one of the many gas stations littered around the route, the park? I realized these breed of monsters do not need oxygen or water but instead live off the pain and suffering of the weak.

We finished off the 30 miles in about an hour and a half time. My top speed was 31mph going down Ware Rd., within 5 miles of our destination. Definetely one of the fastest rides I have been one. I look forward to the next ride with the monsters. Here is a picture of some new wheels I got along with the route we took.