For the past couple of years, I’ve been promoting a race or two a year, and for 2010 I’m stepping up and creating an endurance race series. The Tennessee Cup will consist of three endurance races, with overall series points.

www.TNCupMTB.com

The first race is The Ocho 8 Hour Race on April 17th at Panther Creek State Park, in Morristown, TN.

Next up is the H8R 8 Hour Race on June 5th at Haw Ridge, near Knoxville, TN.

The final race in the fall has not been announced yet, so stay tuned for that one.

We’ve got everything you want in an endurance race… The best courses, cheap entry fees, great swag including t-shirt, pint glass, waterbottle, and more at every race, dinner and beer included as well!

Infinit Nutrition has also stepped up and is providing one of their custom blends for racers during the events.

Click over to the website for more info and come check out some of the best races in the southeast…

After a long snowy winter, I found blue sky yesterday - and a long refreshing breath of fresh air! Sometime I get so involved in being competitive and pushing myself (I enjoy it so much) that I forget the pure joy of bashing about on a trail and the inner peace of being out in the woods. Now of course we all know how much fun it is to ride our 29ers, but I think many of us get into such a regular routine that other aspects of riding enjoyment take over; the enjoyment of the exercise, the camaraderie, and the thrill of the adrenaline. It is only after being inside for so long that I was able to reconnect with the simple joy of just being out on my bike in the woods.

I think the 29er heightens this feeling with its easy flowing smooth ride. I have been riding long enough that I don’t really need to pay much attention to where I am going or what the terrain looks like (race pace is a different story). I can just “sit back” and go. I put my legs, arms, and brain on autopilot and let the bike take care of the rest. Even the rock gardens just float by on days like this.

I could have ridden all day! I would have suffered afterward (muscles, family, work), but I would never have noticed while I was out there.

Cheers, I hope the same blue sky comes your way soon.

People in the office love it… “How many miles?” How long does it take you?” “It was 23 degrees out this morning!” “You’re crazy!” Exposing co-workers to my “other world” is always cause for great office banter. I don’t mind it tho, it helps the day move by. The best thing about it is I get on the bike right when I step out the door of the office. Gotta love that! I start out in Oxford at 5AM and make the 35 mile trek on mostly paved side roads to get to the office by 7AM. When the temps warm up, I can take the rail trails, but for now I’m stuck to the roads. After a luxurious day in my cube, I hit the roads home at 4:30PM. It’s 40 miles home cause I like to swoop up my 29er crew team mate Robert Herriman. He rides me back to the door, then turns around and heads back home. I love commuting on my bike. It’s a win win. I save on gas, and I save time I can use at home with my wife. So if you’re ever driving North of Detroit and see a crazy dude with a huge backpack ripping across the median, shout out a Venga! or an Alez! and I’ll know you’re reading. Thanks!

So there are many ways to make yourself known in the biking community.  You can try to be the super fast guy.  Maybe the super nice guy.  Maybe the guy that organizes events.  Maybe the guy that works on the trails.  I try to be good at all that, but sometimes you can clean up the trails in more ways than one.  Ready for this?
I made the front of our paper again, this time for “cleaning” up the trails.

Sage Brush was the first race of my season and it was probably one of the best races of my “career” so far.  There was a hard rain the day before so almost the whole course was muddy.  We started out on the road for a long climb, and my group started doing road tactics.  We were basically in a tight drafting party, which can get pretty interesting when people start pulling in their brakes in front of you and shouting.  Anyways, I managed to survive the road and make it to the awesome single track.  Like everyone on this website can confess, the 29er just flew down every rock drop and technical downhill they could throw at me.  Finally, over half-way through the race I made my move and started pushing it till the end of the race.  Right before the end I had to go through a water crossing that looked more like a river.  I flew through the water and a wave completely covered me so that I couldn’t see.  I sprinted over the finish line, soaked, to end the race in 2^nd place!  Overall, the race was extremely fun and the venue was really nice.  I look forward to the rest of the Kenda Cup and representing the 29er Crew.

With record snowfall in NC and most of the East Coast, what do I do on the second, sunny, warmish weekend of February…29er Crew Road Trip of course…to VA..to ride the mountains…in the SNOW!  Odd as it sounds, it turned out to be only slightly cooler and less windy just a few hours North of home.  Read More »

Boxes of shiney new Fisher, Bontrager and Cranskins goodies are piling up, shame the snow keeps doing the same. Every time you think it’s gone, more arrives. Hello spring, where are you? I have a pimp new Superfly waiting for the trails to improve from their current ‘disc pad dissolving in a ride’ muddy conditions so it can get used!

Still, it’s not bad enough to make me resort to a turbo trainer yet. Although I did dabble in a way more fun form of indoor cycling recently… Rollapaluza! 24 seconds of flat out roller racing in front of a baying crowd. Ace fun! I thought I was decent at spinning, but obviously not in the same league as the winner - he hit 212 rpm…

Luckily there was a break in the weather for the UK 29er Crew to meet up for the first time in 2010 at the weekend. Lots of tea, cake and talking, plus a little bit of riding for good measure.